Anna's

So the family holiday part of my journey has come to an end. It was sad to see them go, I will miss you guys lots!

Getting to my hotel in Denver was eventful. I managed to talk my way out of paying a $50 fine for being overweight at the airport (50 pounds is all that's allowed? You gotta be joking!), and avoid paying $80+ for a taxi, instead hitching a ride with a bus driver then getting a taxi closer to town, all at 2am in the morning! (Don't worry mum I was safe). Thankfully I've had much worse airport experiences and everyone was very nice and helpful.

I'm staying at the Denver Technology Center where my company has their office. They put me up in a hotel close by that comes fully equipped with a kitchen! On Monday they also gave me a car! Not bad for an intern I think.

I haven't been able to see much of Denver so far, first the lack of car, then the lack of time and sleep. But what I have seen has been very nice, saying that the area I'm staying at is full of offices and hence yuppies.

Work experience is good. I'm at the Denver affiliate of ThyssenKrupp who I worked with last summer. I'm learning alot and people are nice. I've had so many conversations about Australia, from AFL to the weather and wayy too much about vegemite. I had no idea one could talk about vegemite so much! But I'm having a great time and I'm going to make the most out of my time here!

Things to love about America: 99c a lb cherries (in San Diego), I'm in heaven!

Crossing from Vancouver to the US again was a pain. A sign appeared just before we got to the border warning us that the process would take 2 hours, I didn't quite believe them, but sure enough, it took exactly two hours. Although it was one of the most pleasant queues I've been in (and I've been in alot of them since I've been over here). Everyone except the driver got out of the car and we (along with our Chinese/South African/Canadian friends - and I thought I was culturally confused) played frisbee at the parks next to the queues, which I'm sure exists purely for this purpose.

By the time we got into Seattle it was late afternoon, but we managed to witness some of the bizarre lifestyle that exits in Seattle. At the Seattle centre (where the Space Needle is - think Grey's anatomy/Sleepless in Seattle) there were latin bands playing with people dancing to them, and even more strangely, a group of white people dancing a west african dance that flaps the arms around looking like you're trying to fly, and jumping up and down like you're trying to touch the sky... bizarre stuff.

Seattle was nice though, I liked it. It seemed to possess the laidback lifestyle typical of the west coast, without the brashness of the Californians, yet a hint of New York sophistication. Then again I might be full of it.\

SAN FRANCISCO 

We only made it to the ridiculously hot Medford, Oregon the next day, but another day got us to San Francisco. First impression, I loved it. The chaotic nature of China town, the hills, the big tall buildings!! Next day bought reality. No matter how much reading I have done, no matter how many movies I have seen of San Francisco, nothing prepared me for quite how steep the hills were, and quite how many there are. I felt like I was going down Splash mountain in Disneyland (think boat going down a steep hill). Mum was driving on the first night, she made it as far as the first big downhill, then stopped dead in the middle of an intersection, refusing to drive further, while horns honked furiously around her! I can understand why though, you can't even see the bottom of one of those hills.

First stop was to the Golden Gate bridge, faboulous! The cables are huge, the engineering is mind boggling, considering it was built some 70 years ago, and it's really quite lovely. We spent most of our day in Exploratorium, an American version of Sci Tech, meaning that it's hyped up, more displays and sooo much more fun than Sci Tech. Angie loved it so much that she didn't bother eating and drinking for six hours, going strong even when the rest of us had collapsed from exhaustion and hunger. They have some pretty fascinating displays though, everything from physics to medicine to biology to engineering. It's very clever how they can demonstrate chaos theory just from rolling a metall ring in a plastic round bowl. It was exhausting, but fascinating.

Next to China town, where there are more tourists than Chinese, where it's dirtier and more chaotic than China, but some of the food is quite commendable. Then to Union square where Louis Vuitton and Gucci lined the streets, after a bit of wondering around we decided to rest our feets, taking the bus back to our hotel. The bus ride was interesting too, a homeless guy and a dramatic old lady making a scene.

The next morning we visited the Crookedest street in the world, where a street zig zags down a hill, so a horse and carriage could be navigated in the early days. A ride in the famous cable car was needed before leaving San Francisco, it was good fun, even though ridiculously overpriced.

Overall verdict? I liked it, even though I wouldn't live there, I would have rather sculpted calves though.

LOS ANGELES - AGAIN

Driving back to LA was painful, especially the stops. At 5pm we made a stop in the middle of California somewhere, and the temperature was 115F, that's over 46C! Guess how well I coped with that. LA wasn't quite so bad though, thank God.

We did the Hollywood thing, walk of fame, Chinese theatre, wax museum and Guiness book of world records museum. It's not worth the hype.

LA Chinatown was nicer, full of traditional styled buildings, we spent a few hours there looking at silk umbrellas and other trinkets. Downtown was a different story, streets filled with shops owned by Mexicans lined the streets, and I didn't see one single white person or Asian. It was interesting to see where the locals hang out anyway, but I wouldn't shop there.

The next day we drove around the suburbs visiting various shopping malls and doing quite a bit of useful shopping. Angie finally got her beloved dance mat, after we drove around for hours looking for it.

Saturday the 22nd July was insane. We drove from LA to Tijuana, Mexico first thing in the morning to get my visa reissued. After witnessing how long the line was, we hopped back straight in the line to get back in the States, which worked out to be a good thing because I was in a three hour line. After some begging and cutting in line I managed to get out in two hours. So I didn't see much of TJ, slightly disappointing, but I got to know the street by the immigration department real well. We drove back to LA, then I had some half and hour to pack my bag to make it to the airport. SO RUSHED.

After another one and half days of driving we reached Vancouver, passing through Montana, Idaho and Washington. Montana is a funny place, they have towns called Amsterdamn, Belgrade, London, Bethlehem etc, maybe they think they're vast mountainous areas are not enough. I can just see the cowboys from Brokeback mountain up those huge moutains. Quite pretty, but a pain to drive, especially since the Americans don't believe in the speed limit or indicating.

Vancouver is lovely, we have explore the beautiful Stanley Park, where you feel like you're in the middle of a rainforest. Again Angie was much more interested in the racoons, they do look cute, I have only seen squashed ones on the road before that.

Today we visited Gas town, where the number of homeless and drug filled people outnumbered tourists, and downtown (where are all the shops?? Why can't I find any?) Nice city, reminds me somewhat of Perth, but bigger, yah!

After another full day of driving through Utah, Idaho and finally Montana we reached Yellowstone at night, where my mum's dream of staying in a little wooden cabin was fulfilled.

The next day was spent exploring the weird yet wonderful Yellowstone National Park of Wyoming. First stop was the Old Faithful, a geyser that regularly shoots water over 10m high into the air, a natural fountain if you like, something about a constriction that builds up pressure. On the way we saw stopped at Fountain pot and saw bubbling mud pots (looks like porridge boiling) and smelly sulfur thermal hole things... if only I was more geologically inclined then I'd be much better at these descriptions I'm sure. But there are many unusual if not strange and smelly (sulfur, think rotten eggs) natural phenomenons in Yellowstone.

The full beauty of the park was evident when drove to the lakes and the snowcapped moutains were the backdrop to a huge alpine lake. Beautiful!

The most stunning part of the park would have to be the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Death defying drops to the river below, with yellow coloured cliffs (hence the name I guess) intermixed with streaks of red and brown, and a gorgeous waterfall in the background. Absolutely amazing! Again more pictures when I figured out how.

My mum nearly had a heart attack when we drove to our cabin in another part of the park that night. I drove and it was dark and the road was narrow and windy up and down a 2800m mountain. With no barriers on the side, a sharp drop into the rivers below and virtually no country driving experience on my side, I'm only glad we made it.

Last stop at Yellowstone was the Mammoth Hot springs the next morning. A bizarre volcanic rock formation that contains pools of sulfur and bacteria, quite pretty too look at, but it smells as bad as it sounds. The rocks forms a small hill and in parts natural step like structures are visible with water from the thermal springs flowing down it. Quite beautiful, again smells like crap.

Bisons (Buffalos) are everywhere in the park, big ugly yet likeable animals. Angie took about a million photos of these creatures, as well as elks and deers, no bears though :( I was hanging out for one.

Yellowstone was amazingly beautiful, but it was huge and virtually inaccessible without a car since there is no public transport in the park. Highly recommended!

5th July

We went downtown during the day which was a huge disappointment. Downtown is old and rundown, filled with tiny seedy casinos, and cheap dirty souvenir shops, I couldn't believe this was Vegas.

I convinced my mum to walk to strip with me that night, which makes a pleasant change from the stifling heat of the day. This was the Vegas I was expecting. Bright lights, show girls, endless shows. Get this Celine Dion has her own store in one of the Casinos that sells everything Celine Dion you have ever wanted! I was most impressed with the singing//dancing fountains of the Bellagio (think Oceans 11), and the beautiful interiors of the Caesar. Although after Disneyland I think one is somewhat immune to the bright lights, frivolity and bizarreness of Vegas, since Disneyland was way more overboard.

6th July

Since Bellagio was as far as we made it the night before we attempted Vegas during the day (BIG MISTAKE, SOOO HOT) doing New York New York, the Monte Carlo etc. Pictures speak a thousand words so I shall attempt to upload some photos soon.

Angie was not impressed with Vegas at all, and we had to drag her out that night to see the strip, not to mention bribing her with ice-cream. She rather we stay in our nice hotel room. Circus Circus has a huge indoor amusement park complete with rollercoasters, and pirate ships, and millions of arcade games that has been amusing her for the past few days. I can see why slot machines are relatively more boring.

7th July

We drove to the Grand Canyon that night, after much delay during the day packing up Vegas. We arrived there just in time for one last glimpse of one of the seven wonders of the world, and it sure didn't disappoint. Canyons 1 mile deep greeted us, with the fading sunlight reflecting off their many layers and colours adding to the effect. The colour was almost greyish in areas, creating a foggy effect. Pictures doesn't do it justice however.

8th July

Another morning dedicated to the Grand Canyon, and totally worth it. We took the shuttle bus to the various lookout points. And since we were early (for once) we had much of the Canyon to ourselves. My only disappointment was the Canyon didn't echoe when we screamed into it. Why is that? More dramatic cliffs, more colours, views of the Colorado river with people rafting down provided entertainment. And it was nice to simply just sit there and take it all in. I was at the Grand Canyon... eeck!

We drove through much of Arizona that night to the Morman land of Utah. There was some pretty dramatic landscape in Arizona, huge rocky mountains surrounded by deserts, pretty dry and barren in most areas. But then the landscape would suddenly change to big plains then mountains again. Makes the driving more interesting if not scary.

After my feet had completely dropped off in Disneyland I continued to detach it from my body by spending another day in Universal studios. I didn't particularly love the place. It was sooo hot, so many people, lines were long and people were cranky. The tour around the studios was interesting, and Katie you're going to love this, I went to Wisteria Lane! Yes ladies and gents, Anna has officially seen the residences of Gabrielle etc, it's very cute place really.

I forgot to mention that we went to a live version of the Fear Factor show. Remember the stupid American show that made people hang for as long as they can, eat a cocktail of fish intestines and pigs eyeballs? Yeah a live version is even more stupid and cringeworthy. The only entertaining part of the whole show was when a girl in the front row jumped/screamed/cried when a fake turrantula spider was thrown on her. The poor girl wouldn't stop crying and is probably traumatised for life now but it was highly amusing.

Then I continued to turn black when we visited the San Diego zoo and Seaworld in the next two days. I have to say the Perth zoo has a better setup than this world famous San Diego zoo, much prettier. But they do have some bizarre animals, my favourite being the bearded pig... look it up guys, bizarre animal. Seaworld was great! The best was the dolphin and Whale show, it was hilarious. The Americans certainly know how to put on a show. The trainers rode around on the dolphins and whales, and one even stood up on the whale's nose as the whale stood straight up out of the water, if you imagine how big a whale is you can imagine how high the trainer went out of the water.

We've been in Las Vegas the last few days, the sin city certainly lives up to its reputation at night, but in the day time it looks like a tired old city. As soon as we turned into the city we were greeted by a shooting which blocked off half of the city, and another siege was underway as we went past on the bus yesterday. How fitting really. More on Vegas next time

After three days of Disneyland and Californian Adventure park my feet are about to drop off, I'm getting premature arthritis in my knees, and I notice strange things happening. You start to think that Mickey mouse shirts are the norm, giant goofy hats look cool, and there's nothing wrong with a grown man wearing minnie ears around, all part of the ploy to get you to buy their stuff I think.

Disneyland is amazing! It's an experience to be had and kinda hard to put into words... If you're looking for thrill rides then maybe it's not the place for you. But there are countless rides based on a Disney movie or theme, all with incredible details put into them, each character, each object is perfectly designed to be perfectly incredibly like... WOW... What an amazing piece of engineering really. What strikes me is the perfect working order of everything, each little character waves exactly in time, the line moves at suprisingly 'fast' pace due to the great number of instructions everywhere. There's people telling you to line up, to move to aisle 4 and 5, to step out to the right and exit out the left... It's been heaps of fun even if a little crazy. I shall edit this as I get more sleep and think more clearly, who knew disneyland would wear me out more than clubbing...