USA-Roadtrip-2017

Day 16 was a travel day and 17 was spent catching up with family so not much action on the blog front. This entry is therefore about Day 18. This is my second time in Canada, the first being a school trip to Toronto and the Quebec province skiing. Cat has been here once before too visiting, as did I, Niagara Falls and Toronto. Today was really fun, seeing the area around Vancouver in a town nearby called Mission where we're staying with my Uncle David and Auntie Anne. We were given the guided

Day 15. Cliché title? Glitz and glam papering over the slighty grotty cracks in the desert? That can only mean one thing, Vegas baby! As I write today's entry we are flying northwards to Vancouver to spend a few days with my Uncle David and Auntie Anne. Our route took us over directly over Death Valley. I was able to spot the valley from above by recognising the road structures, a favourite game of mine from the air! In the distance the view is framed by the High Sierras - oh and there's La

Day 14. Ok, let's get this out the way. WE FLEW IN A HELICOPTER TODAY!! For both of us, it was our first time and it was fantastic fun! A real buzz. People told me that the Grand Canyon was... big (I'm looking at you Ben). They weren't wrong. It is, in fact, quite big. One might say grand. But. In the last 2 weeks we've seen some pretty amazing stuff. Lots of canyons. Lots of rivers. Lots of scenery. I was pretty much averagely "whelmed" by the Grand Canyon. Apparently this is a word accord

Day 10. 473 miles in a single day. We saw a whole lotta nothin' today as we crossed from one side of Nevada and out the other into Utah. We took the long way round Area 51, something to do with my allergy to the Interstate, using the E.T. highway as we did so. We journeyed past the Great Bowl and roads so long and straight we started playing guessing games for how long until the next corner. The record? 17 miles!!! Arrow straight through mile after mile of desert, no wonder people start seeing t

Day 9. Words fail me but I'll try anyway. 49C. That really is hot. That was the maximum temperature recorded by the car in Death Valley today. We continued our roadtrip from Mammoth Lakes, in the mountains near Yosemite, to Beatty on the edge of Death Valley National Park. Rewind. The first portion of our day involved driving South and descending (thank god!) down to around 3700ft where we pulled off the highway and visited Manzanar, a Japenese internment concentration camp during WWII. P

Day 8. I'm feeling rather bleary eyed this morning after less than 4 hours sleep. We rolled into Mammoth Lakes after leaving behind the Bay area in the morning at around 10pm. At an altitude of 8000ft (2450m) I'm really feeling the effects when trying to sleep. Perhaps that's not too surprising given that we're effectively in a town on top of an Alp. It's like a cruel joke. The conscious part of my brain is able to tell me that I'm fine and not about to suffocate but the moment I nod off that

Day 4. Suburbia. Stifling. Still. Safe. Suffocating. The natural habitat of the American. Everything you could seemingly want or need is catered for, usually with a few minutes drive. And yet, I couldn't ever see myself living there. Too bland. Too... homogeneous. The town high school was nearby, a massively massive place. The Pioneer Valley Panther's Football field proved quite alluring for a drones eye view, would love to catch a game for real one day alas - schedules didn't quite permit

There was a Starbucks next door attached to a grocery store which had, like most things here, a really astonishing amount of cheese. Not good cheese though, just slightly different types of pre-grated or different rubber compounds like hard, medium and soft.

Day 2. We began the day around 9.30am by walking a couple of blocks to a bike rental place nearby, as recommended by our Airbnb host. It didn't open till 12 though - time for plan B. Uber! It was only a couple of miles to the beach and the Uber fare was estimated at around $9, approaching what it would cost us to drive and park there - I really wanted to try and avoid that madness. So, we opted for Uber pool instead bringing the estimate down to $5.50, much more agreeable. I think Uber itself