Arrived!
16:20 - Boston - Michael & Benji
Having endured our only slightly delayed seven hour flight, much enlivened by a bet about the 0-60 speed of the aircraft which was settled by sending the very friendly Virgin air hostess to question the captain and copilot (15.72, they old us...Zihao won), we arrived in Boston to beautiful weather.
We checked into our hostel, a scruffy and 1930s decorated house in the rather seedy Koreatown area of Boston, run by a fairly entertaining American guy.
Much of our time so far has been spent attempting to find the best quote for renting cars for the rest of our trip. Much haggling and negotiaton has occured. As we write, we're in a classic greasy cafe about to
seal the deal on two Ford Escapes, after finding a company who are waiving the young driver surcharge as a summer deal.
Tonight we're heading out for our first true American meal - a steak in the centre of Boston.
Tomorrow we'll be catching up on tourism in Boston, including visiting Harvard, and Friday we'll head out towards New York, visting Walmart along the way!
Harvard & Cars
20:00 - New York - Zihao & Michael
So, we left Boston this morning. Yesterday, we visited the second best educational establishment in the world - Harvard University. Alec, keen as ever, was up at 5:30am to run up and down the steps of the spectacular Harvard Stadium 37 times, and was able to give us a bit of a tour after we'd woken up. Of course we had to visit Harvard Business School, which was truly magnificent, and left Zihao wishing he'd worked harder for a 1st in order to apply for an MBA there. Meanwhile, Benji was sitting outside dreaming shooting something out of the sky.
Alec and Zihao also managed to wangle a run around the central University library (usually closed to the public) by claiming to be prospective students visiting from Oxford, which contained one of the original Gutenberg Bibles.
After Harvard, we were keen to lock down the quote for the cars we'd been given. As expected, this was not quite plain sailing. After an epic one-hour round of negotiation with Hertz's computer (with the help of the incredibly friendly Hertz employees), we managed to get our hands on a dubiously gold Toyota RAV4 (seemingly a popular colour here) and a silver Nissan Rogue.
After a slightly nail-biting drive back to the hostel (seriously confusing intersections and pedestrian priority), we got to stickering up our new-found toys. Difficult. Benji's expertise from his previous exploits with a Jag was what pulled us through most of this process, despite a few early hiccups. We finished the stickers after enjoying dinner at a local bar with live music, and retired to bed in anxious anticipation for today's journey.
This morning was an early start (6am) to avoid the totally crazy locals in rush-hour. However, this plan was quickly dismantled when we got separated within a mile from setting off thanks to a last minute lane dive by Michael, and ended up having to face the rush hour onslaught. But we quickly fixed this situation and before long, were skilled negotiators of the mad American highway.
After a few beautiful National Scenic Byways towards New York, we have arrived in our hostel (seemingly after driving through China!) which is incredibly conveniently located in the middle of Manhattan.
New York
22:45 - Washington DC - Benji & Alec
On our first day in New York Alec went for a run in Central Park getting slightly lost and ending up running for a little too long! We then walked down a market street where we had breakfast (Michael had his best crepe EVER!). We mustered the energy to climb up the empire state building where Zihao overheard an old man telling his grandson that a few years ago a plane had flown into it! We had magnificent views from the top overlooking the entire city and being able to see some of our destinations for the next day, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
That evening Alec set out to find a healthy, cheap, and oriental restaurant, but on arrival, after a long walk, it was closed, so instead we had a burger, in a wonderful bistro called Georgios.
For our second day we set out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. As we bordered the ferry there was a 50 gun salute because of the 4th of July. It was a touristy day but well worth it, although Alec did suffer under the sun. Ground zero isn't too far from the Statue of Liberty, so we went there. It made the events of 9/11 shockingly real.
We met with one of Michael's friends, Kevin Levenberg, who took us to a Korean restaurant where the food looked interesting, but was defnitely worth the experience.
The fireworks display for the 4th of July that evening was reputed to have cost 80million dollars, and was definitely the biggest diplay seen by any of us, including some 'smiley face' fireworks. Kevin then tried to prove to us that American beers were as good as, if not better than English beers, but the fact that they didn't come in pint glasses meant this was a lost battle.
On our last day in New York, we met one of Benji's friends, Rupert Cadbury, who was also in Rendalls with Alec. We had a great late brunch, despite having had some complications on the subway. Tourism having proved tiring, we spent the rest of the afternoon with Vincent Sadlak (A fellow Oxford student having studied E+M) lounging around Central park.
That evening, we got given tickets for a comedy club by a fellow hostel resident who claimed the event was being covered by the ABC network. There was a two drink minimum purchase and we were dubious about it being covered by the ABC network but it was a fun evening. We were shown to our seats which were a little out of the way, Alec having seen a pretty blonde enter before us stated that he would find us another place to sit. Alec returned trying madly to wave us over which we preceded to do. We sat down and saw that Alec had nessled down next to this pretty bolnde who turned out to be an Aussie. The comedy commenced though was slightly drowned out be the nattering of Alec and his new found friend. Having endured some entertaining act and some not so entertaining acts Alec's lass left without a fairwell, the poor chapp was devistated at this sudden departure and needed some comforting.
We woke up very early the next morning in order to the miss the New York rush hour which as we later worked out actually lasts 24/7, but the exit from New York was nonetheless easy enough and we were well on our way to arrive at Billy's house on our hottest day yet, 39 degrees celcius. We decieded to have a picknic outside much to Michaels annoyance who insisted that there was a McDonalds across the road. Michael then picked out some cheese and some chocolate buiscuits and we then proceeded to find a table outside. With the suns rays buring down upon us we made a hasty picknick with the bread toasting itself in the sun and Michaels choclate.
We pushed on to arrive at Billy's house just after lunch, to the wellcome surprise that there was a pool. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and regaining our energy after a hectic few days in Manhattan. In the evening we watched the film "The Hangover", which Alec hadn't seen, to remind ourselves what is in store for Vegas.
The Nissan is dead, long live the Subaru
19:55 - Washington DC - Michael & Zihao
So, now for the rest of the story to DC. On Tuesday, after our very sunny picnic, we had driven to Billy's house in Monkton, which was half an hour outside Baltimore. Billy is a friend of Alec's from Oxford's who had rowed in Isis with him while studying for his Masters this year. Billy's house was fantastic and the swimming pool was a welcome relief, making the soaring American temperatures (nearly 40 degrees) rather more bearable. Alec, Benji and Zihao played Wiffleball (effectively backyard baseball) with Billy while Michael chilled out in the pool. In the evening, Billy's mum provided us with a truly fantastic dinner of steak (with an amazing steak sauce) and crabcakes - the sheer amount of food challenged all of us, even Alec!
On Wednesday morning, we drove with Billy into Baltimore to enjoy lunch in the inner harbour. Michael was very excited to experience first hand this high-crime city featured in the television series The Wire. We were in for a somewhat more comprehensive Baltimore experience than we had bargained for. On returning to the car, a spread of shattered safety glass greeted us where the rear right window had once been. Benji's bag - containing passport, documents and Bose headphones - was missing. In a bizarre twist of fate, probably attributable to the narcotics-fuelled state of the assailant, Michael's nearby iPad, laptop and luggage were untouched. Benji, with typical street wisdom, immediately took to the local alleys to look for clues. Amazingly, not 200 metres away, he found his bag, complete with passport and papers, although alas his headphones were still missing. Nonetheless, a lucky escape.
Our experience with Baltimore police was thoroughly entertaining. After Alec's phonecall, an incredibly friendly officer turned up at a distinctly unrushed pace. After ascertaining that we had full rental insurance, the officer congratulated us profusely (he said he would hug us if only he were Russian), and decided the whole affair was hilariously entertaining. As it turned out, he'd worked for a rental company previously, and knew that the full rental insurance was fairly comprehensive. We then had 20 minutes of banter with him, where he told Michael all about The Wire - apparently it's the best American copy show ever (and the only realistic one). The crew had had hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment nicked from their trailers in the first ever week of filming, so we felt in good company.
By 4pm, we were on the road towards Dulles Airport to pick up Mole. Michael and Benji's journey in the Nissan was now rather louder, and rather less effectively air conditioned than before, but turning the music right up made the experience feel even more like a USA roadtrip than any journey yet. True to the policeman's word, the airport Hertz replaced the car no questions asked. Indeed, the Hertz lady was equally congratulatory on our having chosen the full insurance. At $20/car/day more the basic cover, we had deliberated about it significantly. As it turns out, taking it was definitely a good choice! Even better, the our beloved but rather basic Nissan was replaced with a Subaru Outback, a vastly superior car to the Nissan and very good looking in white. The car will need to be stickered up with some of our reserve stickers in the next few days.
With Mole picked up, we made haste in our new convoy towards Washington DC, where we were to stay with Alec's friend Tripp (incidentally a dedicated Baltimorean who was mortified to hear of our experiences in his hometown!).
Washington DC, Hilton Head Island, Savannah
23:45 - Atlanta, Georgia - Mole & Zihao
Upon arriving in the leafy suburb on the edge of Georgetown (via some in-town 'offroading' by Michael and TomTom), we were greeted by Brian, one of Tripp's housemates. Soon after settling in, our host Tripp, whom Alec had met through the Society of Cincinatti, made his first appearance on the scene and we all instantly knew that it was going to be an exciting few days. Almost instantly, it was suggested that we have an American style cookout that night, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Out tired motley-crew decided to have an early night in preparation for, what would prove to be, a truly epic day of sightseeing. After a quick breakfast, we headed straight for the White House, followed immediately by the Washington Monument. Zihao remarked that he had spotted a group of travelling Amish folk, causing a stir of excitement in the group. Mole and Benji sped off to investigate further. The group then ambled over to the Lincoln Memorial, which, as Zihao noticed, was far more crowded than in the movies. So as not to be late for our lunch-date with Mole's DC-based friend Pete, we hastily made our way to one of Washington's more 'fabulous' districts on its air-conditioned metro system.
After lunch, we trundled over in DC's 40 degree centigrade, 95% humidity heatwave to the vastly impressive Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Highlights included the actual Apollo 11 landing module and excellent photographic exhibit, featuring each of the planets in our solar system, but the children's exhibit was thoroughly enjoyed by Benji and Alec. Upon leaving the museum, we headed for Capitol Hill. Having reached the large fountain in front of the iconic building, it was voted that we should go no further towards it, and instead turn back to get into the relative comfort of an air-conditioned cars.
Despite the group's heat-stroke fuelled protestations, Mole uncharacteristically insisted that we walk the mile or two to the Jefferson Memorial, who we later found out was a personal hero of Mole's. En route, in typical fashion, Michael greatly misjudged his own height, and blundering into a tree sent his San Francisco Giants cap hurtling into the murky water below. Had it not been for a group of tourists passing by, seeing Michael's plight and helpfully suggesting that Michael use a stick to fish out his cap, it would surely have sunk to its watery grave, and we would not have seen Michael retrieving it from the water 'like a buffalo', as one oriental member of the group remarked.
Having reached the memorial of the great man, the entire group concurred that the journey had been well worth it and we took a well-deserved rest inside, while reading choice passages from Jefferson's writings. With the day's sightseeing over, we headed back to Georgetown to the promise of another delicious cookout, where we met an eclectic group of friendly and lively individuals who both showed us an excellent time, and offered much advice regarding where to visit on the rest of the trip.
The following day, we had a thoroughly cheerful itinerary, first visiting the Arlington National Cemetery (where JFK was laid to rest) in the morning, before wandering through the Holocaust Memorial museum in the afternoon. The situation was remedied in the evening with a thoroughly enjoyable meal and drinks in the nearby Georgetown (where Tripp seemed to know literally everyone). This was also the first time we encountered rain on the trip, which was in fact quite pleasant, given the horrendously hot temperature in Washington the day before. Having enjoyed the evening with our host Tripp, Mole's friend from Eton, Pete, and our lovely friend from Oxford, Jo, we retired to bed for a ridiculously early morning to drive to Hilton Head Island - a journey that would end up taking around 15 hours.
It was on this journey that we got our first taste of driving in bad weather. Thunderstorms had been threatening to roll in for days (Michael's weather app on his iPhone showed a full week's worth of little grey clouds and lightning bolts), and it finally did on this journey. Visibility was at times reduced to a less-than-ideal 5m, and we saw many poor souls broken down on the side of the highway. The feeling of pity soon gave way to a "better you than us" mentality. After a few hours battling the elements, we stopped for lunch at Wilbur's BBQ - a restaurant recommended to us by Michael's friend Kevin, who we'd met in New York. Wilbur's was the first place where we encountered the southern accent, which amused us for a short while.
Back on the road, we enjoyed, via audiobook, the musings of one Karl Pilkington, which entertained us until we arrived in Charleston for dinner. Parking the cars on the street for the first time since the Baltimore Incident, we were somewhat paranoid about being broken into, but we returned from our dinner at Wings Cafe to find everything exactly as it should have been. For the final leg of the journey, we decided to each follow our GPSs and meet at Hilton Head, and so the two cars went their separate ways. Alec soon realised that the Toyota was in fact extremely low on fuel, and unlikely to be able to make the 100+ mile journey, and so we had a mildly entertaining/alarming half an hour trying to find a petrol station en route that accepted UK debit cards at 11pm. Finally finding fuel at a BP garage, we were well on our way, and arrived at Hilton Head Island at roughly 00:30am, to find that Michael and Benji had arrived a good deal earlier.
We stayed with Benji's uncle James, aunt Anna, cousin Hugh and canine companion Suki, who all took excellent care of us. After a hearty breakfast, Hugh took us to the beach and explained the rules of horseshoes, boules with and difference, and American football. Benji then took the opportunity to introduce Hugh and his friends to the game of rugby. Rather embarrassingly, the team consisting of two Americans and a Chinaman thrashed the majority British team, despite only a scant knowledge of the rules. Unbeknownst to us at the time, running around on the beach under the harsh midday sun would later take its toll on each of us to varying degrees in the form of quite serious sunburn (a fact that Mole and Benji would later take advantage of by slapping Michael's seemingly glowing red feet. Michael's yelps of pain and cries promising vengeance were most entertaining). Our spirits could not be broken though, with the knowledge of yet another cookout being just around the corner. Needless to say, it did not disappoint and we went to bed with our appetites happily sated and thirst slaked for a relatively early start the next morning. Bidding farewell to our gracious hosts, we headed to Savannah, Georgia; famously the setting for Forrest Gump's opening scene.
Once in the centre of Savannah, we met Preston and Barbara, friends of Alec, again through the Society of Cincinatti, at their lovely home. We had been told to look out for French and British flags adorning the threshold, which proved to be a refreshing change from the ubiquitous stars and stripes, which for those not well versed in American 'culture', is proudly displayed at every petrol station, school and public loo in the land. After a very refreshing drink with our new hosts, Preston, who works as a tour guide at some of Savannah's most historic sights, and has even co-authored a popular book on Savannah's history with his wife Barbara, offered to take us on a tour of the city followed by lunch at a local eatery. It was an offer that we couldn't and shouldn't refuse. The two hours or so that we spent with Preston in the centre of Savannah proved to be incredibly insightful and enlightening (especially as Savannah is a place about which none of us knew a great deal). A personal highlight for Mole was having a group photo taken at the spot where Forrest Gump sat waiting for the bus with his now infamous box of chocolates, but the whole group thoroughly enjoyed our time idling through Savannah's historic squares and streets. After returning to our hosts' home and seeing Preston's beautiful studio (Preston being a skilled and prolific painter), we set off for Atlanta, Georgia, from where our saga continues...
Atlanta
23:55 - Memphis - Mole
Our next stop was Atlanta, Georgia. Preston had warned that the journey would be quite uneventful, as it required travelling along a featureless highway, and, true to form, he proved to be quite correct. After checking into our motel outside Atlanta, we went out for a quiet dinner. Running late as ever, our dinner did indeed turn out to be very quiet - we were the only people left in the restaurant by the time we left at 10pm, which allowed our jolly, corpulent waiter to focus all his attention on us, waddling over to our table at every opportunity to enquire as to our collective contentment. The food promptly appeared and was both plentiful and well-cooked. Back at our motel, things were less sedate. Realising that we were lagging woefully behind our blog writing schedule as a result of eight days in a row being entertained by generous and entertaining hosts, we attempted to rectify this until Zihao fell asleep halfway through the blog post. With no end in sight, we decided to leave it until the next day.
The following morning we set off for the Georgia Aquarium, famous for being the largest on earth. It lived up to the hype and was enjoyed by all; the sea-otters and Beluga whales being particular highlights. Next on the agenda was a burger restaurant tantalisingly named 'The Vortex', recommended by the Malkin family. As a helpful reference point, we were told that it was directly opposite the 'Bulldogs Club', a notorious haunt for gay, black men. The Vortex's menu had everything a growing boy could possibly want, including an excellent selection of domestic and imported beers, and a burger list that puts Burger King and McDonald's to shame. Mole sensibly ordered some buffalo wings for the table, only to discover once they arrived that the rest of the group would not be sharing them. In an act that could only be described as reckless bravado, he insisted on finishing all twelve by himself before his burger and fries arrived. This would later prove to be his undoing, as the restaurant's portion sizes perpetuated the American stereotype. The best was yet to come. Alec had succumbed to peer pressure and ordered the Superstack Heart-Attack (pictured on the right). Even Mole nearly fainted at the sight of this mountain of cheese, meat and starch. Paramedics on standby, Alec, brimming with confidence, ploughed on and came perilously close to finishing every morsel on his plate.
Bloated and nauseated, we trekked for thirty minutes through down-town Atlanta to reach our second tourist spot of the day, the World of Coca-Cola. It turned out to be an extraordinary homage to all things capitalist, with the express intention of proselytising all who enter to the cult of Coca-Cola, ingeniously charging visitors $15 for the privilege. By the time we left, Michael, who famously shuns all things fizzy, actively wanted to like Coke, so impressed was he by the brand. Making full use of Atlanta's dwindling twilight, we all went for a swim and invented a fantastic game with a bouncy-ball from Coca-Cola. Sadly it wasn't long before Mole managed to hurl the ball into a neighbouring street, never to be seen again. As we searched for a quick dinner in the local area, the sheer choice on offer was such that Zihao, in panic, reverted to default settings and demanded we drop him off at the local Hong Kong Buffet. After eating, we retired to our beds with thoughts of our next destination, Memphis, Tennessee, fresh in our minds...
Memphis
19:35 - New Orleans - Alec
Although Nashville was originally on the itinerary, we opted to go to Memphis as Nashville has recently seen some bad flooding, and thus, one of the main attractions for Zihao, the Gibson Guitar factory, was closed. Memphis has much interesting history surrounding music and the blues, which was therefore the focus of our visit.
We used the same tactic as in Atlanta, in that we chose a hotel on the outskirts thus providing a cheaper rate, a swimming pool and easy parking. On our first evening, after a dip in the pool and a play around with our replacement of the Coca Cola bouncy ball from Atlanta, a Nerf ball, we headed for dinner in Memphis. I had found a seedy looking bar on the internet, which used to be a brothel until the early 90s, but seemed like a good place given that famous music players such as Ray Charles, Howlin' Wolf, Albert King, Etta James and the Rolling Stones had all used it as a hang out. The girls that used to work in the brothel were the inspiration for the song 'Brown Sugar' by the Rolling Stones (so the bar claimed). We walked into a mostly empty bar and did not get a hugely warm welcome from the bar hostess (who probably looked a lot older than she actually was given that, as all of us agreed, she probably took a lot of drugs). Anyway, the beers and food were cheap, but the evening was a success mainly thanks to the owner who was an interestingly mad individual and spent some time talking at us about how amazing his bar was. He showed us around the premises (which were a lot bigger than first met the eye) and insisted we sent a postcard from England, something we all agreed to but almost certainly won't happen. He also signed a picture of BB King and Elvis standing together, not that we asked for it, or that the picture was even taken in his bar, but we all agreed he rated himself fairly highly, and this provided some sort of explanation. Despite some early scepticism, he proudly showed all sorts of pictures, including one of him and Orlando Bloom on an old copy of the New York times which proved there was some truth to his many stories, and the bar perhaps did deserve its placement as second coolest bar in America as rated by Esquire magazine.
The following day we had a few tourist attractions planned. The team split, Zihao, Alec and Benji went to the Rock and Soul museum, while Michael and Mole went to the Civil Rights museum, which was built around the preserved motel where Martin Luther King was shot. We then rendevoused at Rendevouz, a restaurant recommended to us by Benji's Uncle and Aunt, reputed to have the best BBQ ribs in the world. For those who hadn't really eaten ribs before, Michael, Alec and Benji, they certainly deserved their title, but for real connoisseurs, Zihao, and Mole, they were extremely tasty, but maybe not the best ever. Following a tour of the Gibson Guitar factory, where Zihao left with job application form in hand, we went to Mole's much hyped "march of the ducks" at the Peabody hotel. Effectively, a hotel in Memphis has ducks march to and from their residence - the fountain in the lobby - at the beginning and end of each day. They used the lift to reach their residence on the roof. It was somewhat of an event with at least 200 spectators, but was a little bit of an anti-climax, mainly because the usual roof access of the tall building following the duck march was closed for a rooftop party. Nonetheless Mole's relentless enthusiasm towards it kept us all entertained.
That evening, after killing some time in a bar, we headed as planned by Zihao to BB King's blues bar. The burgers were excellent, and the music was enjoyed by all. Enthusiasm towards blues music varied within the group, from Zihao, who was practically ecstatic, to Mole, who was mostly uninterested and focussed on eating his wings (as usual), although possibly the two grannies that danced consistently on their own throughout the evening might have claimed the enthusiasm prize from Zihao!
Next stop, New Orleans!
New Orleans
10:00 - Austin, TX - Mole
Memphis flowed seamlessly into New Orleans, at least for those of us fortunate enough to be able to sleep in the car. Alec also turned 21 (more on that later), allowing him to drive one of the rental cars. We had an excellent lunch at Walker's drive-in, arriving a few hours later at St. Vincent's Guest-house; the hostel where we would be spending three nights, to find an enormous, slightly dilapidated building, which covered an entire city block. Our journey in had taken us through some unmistakeable Katrina damage. Even our hostel had clearly seen better days, but we were all keen to escape the city's stifling humidity. After overcoming a minor problem checking in with the surly manager, we were shown to our well-proportioned, en suite rooms. We quickly smartened ourselves up, later realising that we were best dressed and most handsome young men in the city, in order to celebrate Alec's milestone birthday. At the top of our to-do list was visiting Pat O'Brian's, which Tripp 'The Legend' Onnen had recommended, situated just off Bourbon Street. Their signature cocktail was the Hurricane. To this day we know nothing of the Hurricane's ingredients, suffice it to say that it tasted ferociously strong and was a girlish cerise in colour. Alec later managed get one for free by sweet talking our waiter Earl.
We all left well-fed and, with the exception of designated driver Michael, well 'lubricated' and set off in search of merriment. We were not short of choice; Bourbon Street houses a seemingly never ending line of bars and clubs, catering for every niche and persuasion. Not enjoying the first place to which we dragged Alec, despite Benji's expert 'schmoozing', which got the birthday boy in for free, he insisted that we find somewhere where the employees were significantly more fully clad. Alec had seen a bar earlier, in which most of the clientèle had been dressed in shirts and blazers, and sensibly decided that we should give it a go. Most unfortunately, upon revisiting his suggestion, the group found the place full of lecherous old men and equally unappealing women of a certain age. We took this as a sign and headed back to the hostel.
Travelling had obviously taken its toll by this point. The next day was decidedly less touristy and we all made use of the hostel's algae encrusted pool, before enjoying, for a change, a fairly hedonistic night of food, wine, women and song. This lead us first to the Creole Creamery, specialising in a huge variety of exotic ice-creams, which Michael and Mole had found out about on America's excellent Food channel. Alec's choice for the evening was the Maple Leaf Jazz Club. The group soon found itself in control of the venue's pool table, where Alec and Zihao expertly hustled some friendly locals. Michael and Mole sadly proved to be somewhat less effective in our final game. By this stage, Zihao, who must have had at least two units of alcohol, was suddenly overcome by a wave of exhaustion, nearly sliding off his bar stool on numerous occasions, despite the loud funk music emanating from the live band not more than twenty metres away. We took our leave and went straight to bed.
Sunday was also very leisurely. However, we did manage to pack in seeing Inception at the IMAX cinema, having read rave reviews. This was quickly followed by yet another recommendation, this time from the local pool players from the previous evening's jazz club, in the form of dinner at a burger restaurant called Port of Call. The next morning we packed our bags, checked out of the hostel and set off for Austin, Texas, from where our adventure continues.
Texas & New Mexico
19:45 - Flagstaff - Alec
After New Orleans we decided to take a different route, travelling through Texas staying at Austin and Lubbock, and then onto Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The Monday morning leaving New Orleans had high chances of being the day where Michael, Alec, and Zihao were to receive their Oxford results. Unfortunately the internet was down so we left trying not to think too much about whether or not results were out. While on our way to Austin though, Michael received a text from Elisha (a friend from Oxford) saying results were indeed out. Elisha had told us a week before that results would be out 'most likely in the next day or two', so she had been the cause of unnecessary and frantic checking of the internet for nearly a week, but finally, it was results day. Finding internet on route was not easy but we did at a random motel, and we were all thankful to have 2:1s. This allowed spirits to remain high, and not have anyone worry that the amazing life they had planned for themselves would not materialise thanks to a 2:2.
After lunch in an all you can eat of anything you could possibly dream of eating place, we drove to arrive in Austin. Thanks to Mole, who bought a whole load of new bouncy balls, we were able to have another fun game in the pool chucking bouncy balls. It was once again short lived, as Mole once again managed to lose the ball. We went back to our rooms, and after the long day of driving, chose to have a take away pizza and go to bed.
The following morning in Austin brought some unsettling news, Benji, who needed to retake an exam, was unable to do it once back in England in September, and would have to take it on the 27th of July, either back in England or in a British Consulate on that date. The 27th of July happens to be when we will be in Las Vegas. It seems that Benji will now be taking his retake from Las Vegas - at least meaning he avoids an expensive flight home.
After breakfast, Michael, Benji, Zihao and Mole all went to a fulfill a longstanding desire to shoot some guns at a range in America (where better than Texas to do this?!), while Alec stayed to do some admin. 50 rounds each with a Glock 9mm handgun and Colt AR-15 semi-automatic with AGOG sights were fired. The winners: Michael on handguns, and Zihao on rifles. There was some disappointment towards Benji's performance given his good knowledge and general chat on this subject matter!
After a good lunch chosen by Mole, we went to Barton Springs Pool, a large outside lake fed by a natural spring, apparently a popular place in Austin. There was some dragging of feet to get everyone there - Zihao was not so keen for lack of knowing whether there was going to be a paddling pool, and hence, somewhere for him not to drown given his swimming ability - but we all eventually made it there. It was a large lake with a lot of algae. Michael advised Mole not to jump in with his glasses in case he lost them. Michael, listening to his own advice carefully, chose to jump in with his glasses, losing them immediately. There was a large search party, helped by a friendly couple there on holiday, with the husband working at Microsoft. No glasses were found, but we were invitated to a party that evening. Unfortunately, we never received the email with the details, so assuming he had forgotten, we went out for dinner by ourselves.
Leaving Austin and heading to Lubbock, we chose to stop off at an large outlet shopping centre. The dodgy New Orleans hostel had come back to haunt Michael and Mole; Michael had picked up an ear infection from the pool and Mole was now plagued by bed bugs (which were contagious, so however much sympathy he had from all of us, he had become somewhat of a temporary outcast!). Nonetheless, this allowed Michael and Mole to visit a walk-in clinic and experience expensive but very efficient US private healthcare. We arrived in Lubbock where we got into our familiar routine of a swim followed by dinner.
The following morning we finally got around to putting the remaining stickers on the Subaru. Since the Nissan got broken into and we swapped it for the Subaru, we have failed to put stickers on it, which had been the cause of some restlessness by Zihao. Soon, the cars were matched up with stickers on both.
It was a scenic drive to Alburquerque through some beautiful roads. Needing a picture or two in this sort of scenery we stopped off and timed it when there wasn't too much traffic to get a picture taken in the middle of the highway and on the railtracks, despite Michael's protests! We arrived in Alberquerque and resumed our routine of a swim before dinner in a local restaurant. Michael and Mole also insisted on a short visit to the house of Walt, the protagonist from their favourite series Breaking Bad. The following day we headed off to Page, Arizona.
Utah & Arizona
17:00 - Las Vegas - Michael
After Albuquerque we had a change of pace for a few days; the focus of our trip became not the people and towns of America but the geology and nature of its more remote parts. Heading out of New Mexico the scenery got better and better. We first headed towards 'Four Corners', a unique point in the USA where the states of Colarado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico meet. Unfortunately the monument itself was closed for construction, but it was cool nonetheless.
We then headed westwards through Utah, and our journey took us through what we all agreed was some of the most spectacular scenery we had ever seen. The roads became more and more remote, and the surrounding views and rock formations became better and better. Passing back over the border into Arizona, we drove south through Monument Valley, a region of the Colorado Plateau with impressively huge sandstone rocks rising from the desert. We continued on to our stop for the night - Page.
The following morning, we headed for Antelope Canyon, another unique rock feature, and a perennial photographer's favourite (thus Zihao's keen insistence that we go). Despite our seemingly uninterested Navajo native tour guide, it was enjoyed by all.
Following this we drove to Lake Powell, parking at the end of a dirt road and walking over rocks for 20 minutes to find a place that Zihao, on a mental solo mission at sunset the previous day, had declared to be "the best place on earth". Zihao might have oversold the location, but with calm blue green waters and a remote setting we spent a very enjoyable hour swimming and skimming stones.
We then headed south, turning off the highway after ninety minutes to drive along the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Arriving at Lipan Point, the "Most Dramatic Rim View" according to an guide website, we were not disappointed. All the cliches about the sheer scale of the Grand Canyon are true - you could not hope to understand the vast size of the canyon without visiting it.
We pushed on to Flagstaff, where we were to spend two nights. The following day the group divided. Benji revised for his upcoming exams in Vegas; Zihao finally got a haircut; Alec rented a bicycle (not a Harley Davidson, as he initially wanted to) and went on a long ride; Michael and Mole went up the "Scenic Skyride" and visited the Flagstaff Observatory, and unrestrained by the others in the group, had so much for lunch at a local pizza restaurant that they didn't eat for the rest of the day. Chatting to the barman however had led to some recommendations, both for the evening - including a bar where Mole proceeded to set a high score on the pub punch bag machine (a fact he insisted made it to the blog) - and for Las Vegas.
The next day we set off for Vegas, once again in search of the more heady pleasures America has to offer.
San Diego & Los Angeles
20:55 - San Francisco - Benji & Zihao
From complaining incessantly about the heat we were looking forwards to the cooling breeze of the west coast. Michael had continuously informed us on how much cooler the west coast is, needless to say we were all shocked at the temperature difference. The jumpers were quickly found and donned for the first time this trip. Having arrived at out hotel we proceeded to dump our bags and we jumped in the car to go to the beech. After experiencing the bath like temperature of the sea in Hilton Head we headed excitedly into the water. We were greeted, however, by the cooling ebb that would not be out of place in the north sea. It did not help that at the beech it was completely overcast though still sunny at our hotel 5 miles away due to the very strange weather. Whilst enjoying the icy throws of the water we ensued to practising body surfing due to the fact that we had no body boards. Much practice is needed and we were all rather useless. Having enjoyed our excursion to the beach we headed back to the hotel to change for dinner. Throughout our trip we have been wanting to catch a sporting game first hand, we were given that chance when looking for a restaurant for supper in San Diego where we stumbled on the Padres stadium mid game. Alec then set about trying to buy us tickets for the next baseball game. Whilst Alec was ticket hunting on the internet we made good use of the pool and jacuzzi facilities at the hotel. The time then came to go to to the ball game after a quick lunch at a diner. The San Diego Padres were playing the Florida Marlins and from entering the stadium as baseball novices we left still not knowing much about the sport. The Padres sadly lost though they did score a home run where fireworks and celebrations ran for five minutes, we learned later that the Padres are not the best of teams and a home run is a rare and exiting occasion, we enjoyed the spectacle none the less. From our brief but enjoyable time in San Diego we departed to venture to LA and Hollywood.
We passed a sign welcoming us to Los Angeles though we still had 27 miles left until our destination. We are unused to a sprawling city but to get a good impression of the sheer size of the city it needs to be seen from a height. Highways run through the city just as well as the blocked arteries of an obese American on a diet of burgers and dunkin donuts, we were in traffic non stop and it took us hours to get anywhere. Though the highly regarded fifth member was back in England he still had a hold on the trip, though rather than introducing us to a new restaurant with delicious culinary delights as well as wings he put us in touch with a lovely lass by the name of Megan. Megan, having spent a year in London, had gotten to know the infamous Mole and she had kindly invited us to stay with her aunts Pam and Helen in Pasadena, where we arrived (just behind schedule) to a thoroughly warm welcome. Megan was exactly as Mole had described - lovely, charming, and endearingly neurotic - constantly panicking about just about everything. Polite pleasantries quickly gave way to much mocking by and of all involved - including Mole. As soon as our feet had touched Los Angeles soil, Megan insisted that we took as many photographs as possible (on her beloved Blackberry) of all the fun we were having to send to Mole; and fun was had indeed. After a quick snack was prepared for Michael to stop his violent shaking, we made our way to Hollywood Boulevard (with many panicked phonecalls by Megan en route, checking directions and whatnot) to see all the weird and wonderful people of the fine city of LA. The hand- and footprints of various stars in front of the Chinese Theatre (which, incidentally, was not what Zihao's house looks like in China, despite Michael's fun fact) was gawked at by all except Megan, who was still taking pictures of all the fun we were having to send to Mole. Having ticked off one tourist attraction, we headed to another - the Griffith Park Observatory overlooking Los Angeles. TomTom, having proved itself thoroughly capable of making up routes and destinations that plainly didn't exist, led us up a suspiciously Alpine (steep, narrow and windy) road, and with blind faith we charged up. Our audacity ran out when TomTom dared us to ram through a padlocked gate within yards of our destination, and, pride shattered, we were forced to turn back to try another route. To add insult to injury, we quickly saw a rather large sign pointing us towards the observatory, which we had missed earlier in our overzealous urge to go wherever our Dear Leader TomTom directed.
Once we actually arrived at the Observatory, we were treated to a magnificent view of a smoggy LA, which provided the catalyst for a heated debate about the impact of man on nature, the concept of social responsibility (which Michael doesn't believe in), and everything else philosophical. A few more photos later (which were, naturally, sent to Mole), we joined Pam, Helen, Grace and Henry for our first dose of Mexican food of the trip, which went down very well with a healthy pitcher of Margherita and delightful conversation. Once back at the home of our lovely hostesses, we were kindly offered Megan's birthday Tequila, which we (including Michael, for the first time) polished off down to the last droplet, before piling into Megan's poor Honda to hit the town, ending up in a bar called the Yard House.
By the time we had woken up the next morning, Pam had gone to work, but fortunately we were kept company by Helen and, of course, Megan who'd managed to call in sick to work. Food was eaten, banter was had, music was played, (food was eaten, again, by Michael) and general merriment was afoot before, alas, it was time to leave, and Manhattan beach was on the cards. Bidding adieu to our wonderful hosts, we were able to convince Megan to come with us. This would later prove to be a fateful error, as we found out that a poor sense of direction is contagious, and we ended up at Venice beach instead of Manhattan beach.
Venice beach was a very strange place indeed, filled with hippies, gypsies, stoners and charlatans. We enjoyed lunch and ice cream, before heading to our hotel for the evening and letting Megan get on with her dissertation. Not minutes later, we received a panicked phonecall from Megan, admitting to the theft of our Nerf ball and pleading ignorance and begging for our forgiveness. As we all know, ignorance is no excuse, and we've not forgiven her since.
Spending an evening doing very little, we went to the cinema the next morning to see the new Salt, the new action film starring Angelina Jolie, which was a disappointment to all but Michael, whose happy as long as there are a few explosions. Post film, we headed towards the actual Manhattan beach where we spent a good few hours chilling and swimming, before heading to the Bruces' in Santa Monica - not-so-distant relatives of our own Frenchman Alec. We were warmly welcomed by Jamie and Wendy, who'd prepared for us a deliciously decadent meal of steak and chicken, accompanied by fascinating stories of corruption, pygmies, and forgery. We finished off the evening by watching the 1972 classic, Deliverance, on Jamie's recommendation, and, once it was done, felt very glad indeed that for us, the South was done and dusted.
The next morning, we watched the Owen Wilson classic, Behind Enemy Lines, and headed to Santa Monica beach to complete our LA beach hat-trick, where the sunny weather secured it as, by consensus, our favourite beach of the three. In the evening, we headed to an Italian restaurant right in the middle of the ghetto (as we later found) with Estelle (a friend from Oxford), her friend Dominic, and once again Megan, who sheepishly presented our estranged Nerf ball. Dinner was great, and was followed by our convoy (now of 4 cars) towards Hermosa beach for an evening of alcohol-fueled merriment.
The next day, we were up bright and early to make our way to Scotts Valley near San Francisco, where the adventure continues...
San Francisco
18:25 - Seattle - Zihao
In the morning, we set off along California Highway 1, which was the only route we took that was decided more than 6 months in advance (contrary to our usual practice of setting the gps just as we set off). As we soon discovered, this was a very good plan. Not long after lunch at a roadside buffet, we were thrust onto the winding highway along the Pacific coast. Gazing out to sea, we realised that we had truly complied with advertising standards and had indeed driven from coast to coast within the allotted timeframe that was specified on our vehicles ("Summer 2010"). Ronseal moment over, the beauty of the actual view itself was enough to force us to stop in a lay-by in order to take it all in and get a closer look. After just a short while the true extent of our trend-setting abilities was revealed to us as three other cars had stopped in the same lay-by. Unwilling to deal with too many hangers-on, we were quickly on the road again.
Megan (as loyal our loyal readers will remember from the previous issue), discovering that we were heading for San Francisco, had kindly put us in touch to stay the night with her family in Scotts Valley, roughly an hour and a half south of San Francisco. We arrived in Scotts Valley to be greeted by Cindy, Kevin, Hannah, Michelle and Jessica. After a thoroughly delicious dinner of steak and twice-baked potatoes (during which we were almost evicted for the offence of expressing our indifference towards the fries at In-n-Out Burger, a US fast food favourite) we were lucky enough to experience first hand apparently America's most important and enlightening cultural event of each calendar year - Discovery Channel's Shark Week, which was in fact fascinating, despite the curiously British accents of every single narrator. That evening, as we went to bed, we noticed on our phone several panicked texts from none other than Megan, wondering about the extent to which her mother had embarrassed her. Megan - if you're reading this - the extent was great indeed. It is only our sense of gratitude to you that has kept us from uploading the photo of your mother in full makeover attire - dressing gown, towel on head, face mask, cucumbers and all - who greeted us as we entered the door.
The next morning, after Alec had returned from the gym (in Kevin's envy-inducing Subaru WRX), we breakfasted and headed out for a hike (despite Michael's high-pitched protests) with Jessica as our guide. After our amble through the woodland (culminating in a stone-skimming session), we had lunch at a funky vegetarian diner before heading to the beach.
In the late afternoon, we headed for Redwood City - our base camp for the visit to San Francisco. As soon as we entered the lobby of the hotel, a grin appeared on Alec's face. Following the direction of his wide-eyed gaze, we discovered that the hotel offered free popcorn and nachos. Here, we waited for the arrival of our Oxford friends Aan Son and Angel, who were on a trip of their own from Mexico up the west coast. Over dinner at In-n-Out Burger, we heard of the decadence in which our friends had traveled thanks to a combination of the power of their currency in a third world country and Angel's usual cunning charm. Afterwards, we investigated the 'alternative' Haight Street (on Jessica's recommendation) for a few drinks before retiring for the evening.
The next morning, we drove through the city to find Lombard Street - Guinness world record certified 'crookedest street in the world' - while gawking in disbelief at the steepness of many of the roads. Megan's mum Cindy was kind enough to give us tickets to see a baseball game between the Oakland As and the Texas Rangers. Despite (or perhaps due to) the apparent lower quality of play of the teams, we unanimously enjoyed this game far more than the one we'd seen of the San Diego Padres. One highlight of the game occurred when a mis-hit foul ball sailed over towards our section of the stadium and landed squarely into a cup of iced tea that a vendor was trying to sell, splitting it clean down the middle and sending a roar through the crowd. The poor vendor, initially baffled by the apparent spontaneous explosion of his wares, recovered in high spirits after taking a few moments to gather his senses.
Post-game, we moved towards Union Square to hit the (in)famous Cheesecake Factory for dinner with Angel and Aan Son. Arriving a bit early, we decided to browse Macy's for half an hour, and it was a very fortunate decision. Mid-way through browsing, a man ran in through the door and darted into the aisles. Not three seconds later, a second man did the same thing. Zihao's initial instincts that participants of a charity marathon had lost their way proved to be grossly incorrect, as it later transpired (through the fine medium of violence) that the first gentleman was a shoplifter, and his pursuant (who was built for comfort rather than speed) was some kind of security guard. Ploughing into the thief in an expert manoeuvre that would have made Boris proud (YouTube "Boris Johnson tackle"), our hero cuffed the crook, who had a grumble about the inconvenience this caused him. Gleefully declaring "right, let's go to jail", our hero led the thief away in a cabaret of song and dance. While a great meal, the Cheesecake Factory was uneventful by comparison.
Our final day in San Francisco was spent cycling. Having rented bicycles, we rode over the Golden Gate Bridge against some terribly strong winds and had lunch in the lovely town of Sausalito. Refusing any further physical exertion, Michael quickly hopped on a ferry back to San Francisco while Alec, Benji and Zihao made the uphill cycle back. In the evening we went to Chinatown and had dinner with Meredith, who Uri (a friend of Zihao's) had introduced us to.
The next morning, our journey continued north into the state of Oregon...
Seattle
22:20 - Michael - Big Sky, MT
From San Francisco we headed north, spending a night in a random town along the way as the distance to Seattle was too large to cover in a single day. The following morning we stopped for an enjoyable brunch in Portland, a pleasant city that came highly recommended by various people we had encountered along our travels (apparently many people who go there end up staying forever).
We arrived in Seattle promptly on Tuesday as we knew our time in the city would be busy. We packed in an afternoon's tourism - the Space Needle, Experience Music Project and Sci-Fi Museum - before heading to Redmond to meet up with Josh, a friend of Michael's who works at Microsoft HQ. We enjoyed dinner in "Claim Jumper" at Michael's insistence, based on fond memories of the place from the school trip to Microsoft three years prior. Indeed none were disappointed - the huge portions kept even Alec happy for once. Josh's BMW parked outside, midway through a conversion into a track car, kept the conversation going for another hour in the car park (Josh reluctantly allowed Alec to take it sensibly around the car park), and plans were made for the following two days.
On the Wednesday, we headed first to Snowqualmie Falls, a local waterfall. We then met Josh at Microsoft, for an excellent lunch and an enjoyable tour of some of the Redmond campus (seemingly doubled in size since Michael's previous visit). Following this, we headed to a local private gun range, where for the second time on the trip, guns were fired. This time though, as well as a couple of handguns, we were able to use some more exotic weapons - an AK-47, and MP5, and an AR-15 with holographic sight (which Josh had made himself). That evening, we enjoyed an excellent steak in Ruth's Chris steak house in Bellevue, and we also dropped in on a Microsoft office in Bellevue which had the most fantastic views from its top floor café.
On Thursday, we met Josh up north in Everett at the Boeing plant, where we toured the huge factory (the largest building by volume in the world, which regularly had cloud formation and rainfall until preventative measures were taken). Following this, Josh had offered to take us on a flight into the local Cascade Mountains. With only three seats available, "tickets" had been decided by a highly tense coin flipping tournament at the falls the previous day, which unfortunately had resulted in Benji having to stay behind, although he nonetheless keenly helped Josh with the pre-flight checks. The two-hour flight, in a Cessna 182T with state-of-the-art G1000 glass cockpit, took us through some of the most beautiful scenery on the trip so far, and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. In the evening we returned to Bellevue to catch a film (the excellent Despicable Me which had us all laughing), and enjoyed our second Cheesecake Factory dinner.
We headed off Thursday morning, in disbelief that we were beginning the final, eastward, leg of our journey which would take us through Yellowstone and back towards Boston.
Photos from our flight:
Yellowstone
10:10 - Alec - Chicago, IL
We left Seattle at a leisurely pace on the Saturday morning. We only had a short drive, and everyone wanted to enjoy a good rest. We arrived in Kennewick. It is, according to the Forbes magazine, the #2 area for economic growth in the USA, which was very obvious from the clean new buildings that were around.
The following morning, an important decision had to be made, would we or would we not sleep in our cars for at least one night of the trip as we had promised ourselves. We were all realising it might be more of a hassle than it was worth, until Benji saved the day by saying that he was still quite keen on the idea. We thus booked in at a camp site. With some beautiful roads on route, a stop by a beautiful river, we arrived fairly late, 8pm, and all other fellow campers (average age, somewhat to our surprise, was roughly 70) were busy enjoying one of their dance evenings. This was some sort of a dancing camp site where most guests went there to take part in some weird and slow form of Scottish dancing dressed up in the most ridiculous outfits. We had some odd looks while checking in and felt somewhat unwelcomed by some, probably something to do with ruining the ‘old person vibe'. Anyway, we soon got pointed to our camping spot by following a man on a bicycle. Next stop; Wallmart! We needed to buy some form of equipment and food to cook ourselves supper. Not an easy task, with only a fire pit, we managed to start a fire easily enough, but what could we cook our sausages and burgers on? We had bought some sort of metal tray that melted fairly quickly in the fire. Some resulted to simply putting the sausages on a log. Eventually we had all eaten what enough food along with ash, log, and burnt stuff for pudding. We then proceeded to run around our camping spot with lights which resulted in some cool pictures (look right), although I'm sure our next door campers must have thought we were mad. It must be noted that Michael did manage to set off the ‘panic alarm' of our car at a time when surely most 70 year olds are asleep! We also all spent some time looking up at the beautiful starry sky, where we spotted Jupiter! A deal was struck at the end of the evening, no one would wake anyone up until at the earliest 7pm. Needless to say, Alec and Zihao were ‘mistakenly' awaken an hour before our leave time... in fairness, no one had got a particularly good night's sleep!
We left our campsite very early and arrived much before check in at our following hotel in Big Sky, a beautiful small town up in the mountains. We couldn't check in for some time, so after lunch, we found a peaceful spot by the river to rest. Zihao spent some time building a raft, with the aim of making it float down stream to where Michael was. Unfortunately, to everyone's huge disappointment, the raft never made it! We were finally able to check into our hotel, where comfort was somewhat appreciated having spent a night in the car. We all pottered about minding our own business in the afternoon, whether that was napping, photography, running, or interneting! A highlight though was the large outdoor hot tub!
Leaving Big Sky we made our way to Yellowstone National Park, the first National Park in the world. The scenery was truly beautiful and it was clearly a popular tourist attraction. We were extremely lucky when it came to seeing Old Faithful Geyser. Its water eruptions happen on average every 90 minutes but are not entirely predictable. We managed to arrive only ten minutes before its next eruption. There is a large and beautiful lake whose shore we chose as our spot to have a bit of a late picnic. An important fact was established, Michael cannot skim stones. He claimed to be able to, proceeded to search for ‘the right stone' for ‘a longer than was necessary' amount of time, only to chuck it straight into the water. Excuse: "I was never taught to throw."
With some more good roads, we soon arrived in Billings, where our hotel was equipped with a swimming pool and water slide, something that seemed to be prevalent in the area. We sat down with the TV on, and although we were all hungry and ready for supper, we were soon gripped by a TV show called ‘Dating in the Dark'. For those of you who haven't seen it, you should! Another important fact was discovered that evening, having a Burger King at 10 in the evening is one of the most depressing things a human being can do. Working there is even more so judging by the temperament of our hostess, the most grumpy lady of the trip so far!!
From Billings we had a good drive to Mt Rushmore. The roads were long and straight but in a way very beautiful. We passed the time by getting truck drivers to honk their horns, childish but amusing too. On arrival, Mt Rushmore was somewhat smaller than we might have expected. Although Michael pointed out that given he knew to expect Mt Rushmore to be smaller than expected, it was in fact as expected. Complicated, but I think it makes sense. We also finally found out who the four presidents were, from right, Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Lincoln. The aim of the monument was to bring tourism in the area, and it certainly worked, we were there! It was also not completed, in fact, much of the bodies of the Presidents were meant to be sculpted, but the project ran out of funds. On arrival in Rapid City, we found an interesting pub/restaurant to have dinner in. It was built in the old fire station of the city.
The following morning, the team, minus Alec who left for England, hit the road for Minneapolis.
Minneapolis & Chicago
10:25 - Zihao - Toronto, Canada
The morning began with a rather sombre tone, as our motley crew had been reduced to three, due to Alec's departure on account of rowing commitments back at Oxford. With heavy hearts, we set off on our longest day of driving yet. Sad songs and ballads quickly relented to a session of reminiscing on all the comical situations dear Garlique had got himself into; not least the most recent escapade the evening before his departure. As the hero of our tale skipped and pranced down a pavement in Rapid City, a young man on his bicycle noticed his British accent and kindly greeted him: "alright, mate". Poor Alec, thrust into a state of complete confusion by this utterly nonsensical remark, instinctively replied: "no, I don't want one, thank you", leaving the young chap in an equal state of befuddlement. As Alec later explained, he was under the impression that the lad was trying to peddle him the bicycle. We all wondered how events would have transpired had the conversation taken place earlier in the trip, when Alec was indeed looking to purchase a bike. Nine and a half hours later, we'd arrived in St. Paul, Minnesota. Just before arriving at the hotel, Benji - still utterly convinced that the colonies can and indeed should be made to conform to the charters of Her Majesty's empire - spent a good few seconds on the wrong side of the road, before he was brought back into the 21st Century.
On the cards for the evening was the by now customary food scavenge. Having scouted out a Chinese takeaway on the map, we set off on our mission, despite pleas from Michael to go to the local McDonald's. After suffering many road-work-induced setbacks, we settled for the distinctly western-looking Noodles Company.
The next day, jet-skiing occurred. Zooming up and down a wide Minneapolis river at a leisurely 45mph, we were having a thoroughly pleasant time when Benji, having decided to frolic around in the wake of a passing speedboat, dismounted his motorised water-steed with one of the more awkward variants of grace and ended up in the water - much to the amusement of two-thirds of our trio. Alas, the hour passed swiftly by, and we reluctantly returned to shore. Next stop was the Mall of America - the second largest mall in the country - to see the fourth movie of our trip: The Expendables. After an hour and a half of ridiculous but enjoyable acting and pyrotechnics, we set about exploring the rest of the mall, which turned out to be ridiculous - there was an entire indoor amusement park, complete with ferris wheels and rollercoasters!
Evening turned to night and night turned to day. Zihao was up extra early in order to zoom to Chicago for a Stone Temple Pilots gig in the evening, while Benji and Michael were up at a more leisurely hour. It turned out that Zihao's solo drive was thoroughly unnecessary, as the others arrived at the hotel and greeted him a good hour before his departure for the gig. That evening, while the Stone Temple Pilots gave a fiery performance, Gregory House had his work cut out for him trying to impress Benji (under the supervision of Michael) for five consecutive episodes.
Our first full day in Chicago comprised a random assortment of attractions. After wandering around Navy Pier, we wandered through the streets of Chicago, admiring the architecture as we went (especially the gothic-styled Tribune Towers - home to the Chicago Tribune) and ended up at the flagship store of Macy's. On Michael's insistence, we then headed by train towards the Museum of Science and Industry which, despite its name, was a fantastic museum. Benji was particularly excited by the range of farm equipment on display, including a John Deere tractor. We stayed for a number of hours until it closed, and we still hadn't managed to explore the whole place. Highlights included a lightning machine that created 1.5 million-volt light patterns, rubber balls suspended in air, a very large model railway and the U-505 U-boat that was captured during WWII. In the evening, we headed for a proper Chicago-style pizza pie. After a wait of an hour and a half at Pizzeria Due, we were all satisfied but not particularly impressed.
Breakfast next morning was enjoyed at Sam and George's diner, opposite a Church of Scientology, which demanded investigating. Despite Zihao's enthusiasm, Michael was far too scared to go in, so we looked at the window displays before leaving for the free zoo. Next stop was Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) to visit the Skydeck, overlooking the city of Chicago. It was here that we observed an intrinsic conflict between individuals of Indian descent and revolving doors through two separate incidents. Spending a few hours chilling in Grant Park and Millennium Park, we went to the Cheesecake Factory for supper. Post-supper, we drove to Northerly Island (the site upon which Meigs Field airfield used to lie) to see the Chicago skyline at night. Enjoyed by all, the view confirmed Zihao's previous declaration that Chicago was his favourite city on the trip so far. We returned to our car to find a parking ticket, and quickly decided that it would be very useful for hiding TomTom when we park in cities.
Next stop: Detroit, Michigan.
Detroit & Toronto
21:20 - Benji & Michael - Boston, MA
In this episode we see our remaining three intrepid explorers encounter drama, native foods, death defying stunts, displays of the highest canine ability and a close run in with the law.
We pick up our story with our heroes journeying between Chicago and Detroit; in each car the occupants were engrossed in their audiobooks. Mr Xu was steadily keeping pace behind the lead car listening to a tale almost as daring as our own, an expedition to the summit of Everest. Meanwhile Michael was at the wheel of the Subaru with Benji being detained in the back seat after his escapade on the wrong side of the road; both were listening to an account the feat of the Great Train Robbery 1855. Having told the woman in the mystical box of the intended destination we made haste and good time towards the Ford Rouge factory where we had purchased tickets for the tour. However, unbeknownst to our travellers, time had shifted and was now, somehow, an hour later. This proved to be a difficulty as the last bus for the tour had already departed even though we had specifically planned to arrive in good time. So as it happened we were able to exchange our tickets for the next morning, this being sorted we set off for our hotel. Early in the morning, but not too early, we set off to the Rouge factory, arriving in good time. We jumped aboard the bus and were swiftly whisked off to the factory where Ford produces the F150 pick up. From an elevated platform we were able to follow the production line round the factory, and see the efficiency of production on the moving production line which Ford pioneered. Yet again Michael wondered how the multitude of blue collar workers knew what they were doing and insisted that they should be replaced by super-efficient workers who wouldn't dirty the leather. Parked in the museum was the new F150 which stood only a few inches shorter than the head of Michael - all agreed that while Ford's operations were slick, the internal feel and build quality of their American models left a large amount to be desired. Also standing in the Museum was the historic Ford Model A as well as the Thunderbird and the Mustang, all of which we gawked at for some time. After our jaws were stowed in the correct position we jumped back aboard the shuttle and arrived back at our car park to continue on our journey to Canada (Americas hat). After navigating the new road layout that the woman in the mystical box was unaware of and incurring her wrath of "make a U turn" we made it to the border of Canada.
The unexpected grilling by the Canadian border guard was our first introduction to the clearly proud Canadian people. Benji's mood nonetheless lifted when he realised that he was once again operating under the rule of Queen Elizabeth II. We arrived at the Monte Carlo Inn on the outskirts of Toronto, which was somewhat better than our usual fare, and dined at the in house restaurant. The following morning we headed out to the annual Canadian National Exhibition, conveniently on during our visit. As we walked into the international hall Benji gasped with excitement - there, straight in front of us, stood the "Products of Great Britain" stand. We all took the opportunity to enjoy a few drinks and sweets typically unavailable in North America which, along with the return to paying with notes and coins showing the Queen's head, reminded us all of home. We then enjoyed a very entertaining dog agility show, and a motorbike stunt demonstration. On the way out we saw a ridiculous supercharged Camero, and just when we thought that Benji couldn't be any more excited, we saw it - the army area. Benji delighted in being dressed up in the full kit, asking several technical questions, and then correcting the young Canadian lad on his incorrect answers. Benji spent the following ten minutes informing us proudly of how the young man had told Benji he had the unmistakeable air of an officer.
After the exhibition we took a stroll around the Toronto harbourfront, after which we were forced to shelter by the stadium from a heavy rain shower. That evening we met Michael's Canadian friend Jess for dinner, where we finally had the Indian food we'd been looking for some time. The following day, not finding an overwhelming urge to return to the centre of Toronto, we accepted Jess' kind offer to relax at her house near our hotel. She even cooked us Poutine - a Canadian specialty consisting of the not altogether healthy combination of chips, melted cheese curds and gravy. After playing some Wii, we caught a film before heading back for dinner in our hotel. The following day we headed out of Toronto towards Buffalo, NY.
