End of North America

Yellowstone National Park, WY, USA - With a week of nothing planned I decided to cross the border in my wreck and make my way down to Yellowstone. I drove through Washington, Idaho and Montana and experienced my first -10°C weather. Yellowstone closes for the winter and I was there 4 days before it closed. It felt pretty much like just me and the animals because the park was practically empty. I made two days of it and slept in the car next to Yellowstone Lake in the -12°C weather as it snowed overnight.



I saw a lot of elk and a few buffalo and also a bald eagle but the bears, moose and wolves still managed to elude me. I also checked out the hot pools and Old Faithful before heading back into Montana.

Bozeman, MT - I spent a night here and went to the movies and then went to the Rocky Mountain Museum the next day. Montana is home to most of the dinosaurs discovered in North America and I got to see the largest T-Rex skull ever found.



Missoula, MT - I arrived on a Saturday afternoon and with accommodation being pretty expensive here I decided to go on a ride-along with the Missoula police’s night shift. I again was paired up with a young cop, Ben Woods, and had another fairly quiet night with a couple of arrests for warrants and breach of probation and we broke up a party of college kids. When it quietened down one of the guys who was on the SWAT team took me to see their gear and I tried some of it out which was cool. Then after dealing with a young drunk who was trying to get on a freight train it was over again and I carried on north.



I then had a few uneventful days and crossed back into Canada to drop off the car. Then back on the Greyhound and with a week to go I went to Calgary where I met up with my Melbourne friend from camp, Sarah. She had a friend over from Oz also named Sarah and we rented another rent-a-wreck (which was way better) and headed to Banff.

Banff, AB - One month on from when I was first in Banff, it was a lot colder with snow everywhere. Like I did last time in Banff, we spent both nights out on the town and during the day it was so cold so we went to the hot springs for an couple of hours.



Calgary, AB - Back to Calgary for the weekend and we went out to a club called Garage where we were treated as VIPs because Sarah’s cousin goes out with the DJ/owner. We got free drinks and got access to the VIP area. The next night we had a night off and went to an Italian restaurant for dinner and then went and saw Borat at the movies. Very funny.



Edmonton, AB - With only a few days to go we headed north, into the cold. It was so cold that I could put my beers outside for about 30 minutes and they were near frozen. We woke up the next day and it was even colder with blizzard conditions. We headed off to the West Edmonton Mall (the largest mall in the world) but only made it 50 metres because of a puncture. What made the fact I had to change a tyre in snow at -12°C worse was that the rental didn’t have a tyre iron to undo the nuts. After a couple of hours wasted organising tyre repair we made it to the mall where we played mini golf, went on the indoor rollercoaster and did some shopping. We checked out the indoor water park but it cost too much so we gave it a miss. The next day we went ice-skating in the mall before heading back to Calgary.



Calgary, AB - That night we went to the ice hockey to watch the Calgary Flames play my favourite team the St. Louis Blues. We got nose-bleed seats cos the others cost too much but we saw the game fine and there was a great atmosphere and I got to see a fight. Unfortunately the Blues lost 3-0. The last week was a great way to finish up in Canada, thanks girls, and my next leg was South America.

USA roadtrip recap - Part 5

Death Valley National Park, CA - Leaving Las Vegas, we headed back into the desert. We headed to Death Valley NP which has the highest temperatures in the States. On the day we were there it was a cool 43 degrees. The maximum recorded temperature was 57 degrees back in 1913.



We made our way through Death Valley, its sand storms and exhaustive heat and headed north through the Sierra Nevada passing Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48.

Yosemite National Park, CA - After experiencing the heat in Death Valley the next day was the opposite in Yosemite NP. It was windy and about 5 degrees at its highest point of 9000+ feet. There was also vegetation, something that is in short supply in Death Valley. Yosemite was very pretty with its huge granite cliffs and conifer forests.



San Francisco, CA - We then got to San Fran late at night. The hotel we booked on the internet was overbooked so we had to head out of town before finding somewhere to stay. To stay in San Fran is very expensive compared with everywhere else we had been staying. The next day we booked in the cheapest place we could which was the YMCA in an area called Tenderloin. Tenderloin is like the ghetto of SF and we were smack bang in the middle. As soon as we got outside our hostel there were drunks, druggies, prostitutes and every other kind of useless bum you could think of. It was a little daunting to say the least. We even saw some bums about to have a dust up over a half can of beer.



On the Saturday night we had some drinks in our room and at 12am headed out on the town. We were out until everything was shut down at 1:30am and the cops kicked everyone off the street so it wasn't such a good night out. We walked the Golden Gate Bridge and had a short walk around part of the bay before we headed north as we only had 3 days left 'til our visas expired.

Redwood National Park, CA - Through the wine growing region of California we headed up the coast to the Redwood NP to see the tallest trees in the world. On the way up we went to a redwood that you could drive through but the van was a little too big so we had to watch other people drive through. In the Redwood NP we went for a couple of walks through the huge forest and saw some wild elk before we continued the rest of our drive towards Canada.



Oregon and Washington - With only 2 days left on our US visas we were in a dash to get to the border so didn't see or do much in these states other than drive. We successfully made it to the border on the afternoon of 19th September (the last day of our visas) and Tim and Jess got work visas for Canada for the ski season. We then made it to Vancouver to stay with a Kiwi couple living here.

USA roadtrip recap - Part 4

Mesa Verde National Park, CO - Having travelled to cities for most of the trip we decided it was time to get close to nature and started going to national parks. Mesa Verde was our first stop. We went up 8,500 feet in elevation and were awestruck with the expansive views. We then went to the cliff dwellings where pueblo Indians lived until around 1300.



Four Corners, CO, AZ, NM, UT - We then made our way to Four Corners, which is only place in the US where four states meet. This is where we went to Utah even though we spent probably 5 minutes there, on the very corner of it but it counts as one of the 21 states we went to. The land is on an Indian reservation and the Four Corners site is surrounded by Indian stalls. They also charge you $3 each to see the Four Corners but we thought we might as well seeing we might not do it again.



Whilst driving through the Navajo Indian reservation towards the Grand Canyon the exhaust pipe and muffler of the van came off and started dragging along the road. We then spent the next half an hour trying to get it off as it was very rusty and kept getting caught on the rear axle. We had a steady flow of traffic pass us including a couple of cops but nobody stopped. Nice, friendly Navajo.

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ - Next stop was the Grand Canyon. It truly is vast and you can't get a good perspective until you see a helicopter fly across it. By the time the helicopter is on the other side it is a mere dot. Tim and I also remarked at how calm a small stretch of water we could see in the bottom was. We then read a notice that said the stretch of water was a mile long and had grade 4 rapids but because it was so far away it didn't appear that way at all. I also had a wee mishap when walking too close to the edge.


A wee mishap at Grand Canyon

On from the Grand Canyon we kept heading west to get to Las Vegas. On the way there we went across the Hoover Dam.

Las Vegas, NV - Due to a crash on the freeway, we didn't get into Vegas until it was dark and all the lights were on. We stayed in Circus Circus and got an awesome deal from the check-in lady we had. She charged us for only 2 adults and gave us a room on the top floor. Over the next three days we hit the town during the day to see the shops and attractions and during the night we walked along seeing free shows and checking out the casinos.



We didn't gamble big, I think I spent a massive $15 on pokies and eventually lost it all. Jess made $24 on a $1 in the 1c machines. We again stuffed ourselves on buffets. The Monday and Tuesday weren't too busy. On Tuesday night we stayed out until 5am but there weren't many other people out except the Cops film crew who were videoing a segment for the show. We watched as they did several takes of the police car screaming along and got a hooker to sign an indemnity form after the cop told her off for something. By Wednesday it was very busy with people everywhere as I expected I would see.

USA roadtrip recap - Part 3

Biloxi, MS - After leaving great Kiwi hospitality in Alabama we headed along the Gulf Coast towards New Orleans. We got off the interstate and went through Biloxi where the epicentre of Hurricane Katrina hit. The amount of destruction was amazing. For about 3 blocks in from the beaches everything was wiped out. Even a year later you could see massive piles of rubble and the foundations of numerous buildings. Everything was gone or damaged beyond repair including homes, service stations, department stores, fast food restaurants etc.



New Orleans, LA - We made our way into New Orleans via the 26 mile long bridge across Lake Pontchatrain. When you are in the middle you can only just see land on the horizons. They really liked their bridges in Louisiana, with us travelling on numerous ones over 5 miles long.



It was a Monday night after a long weekend when we got into New Orleans so there weren't many people out and about on Bourbon Street. I think revellers were outnumbered by cops. The damage in New Orleans CBD from Katrina is cleaned up now but the streets stink. We went to a few clubs but they were empty. Drinking on the streets is allowed but only if you have a plastic cup, "a go cup". With limited time and a long way to Canada we carried on heading west.

Dallas, TX - After a long day's drive we made it to Dallas. We went downtown and saw where JFK was shot and had a quick look around town before hitting the road again. Dallas downtown was very quite and very clean. We didn't see any bums, which are in almost every city scabbing for money.



Out of Dallas we started heading into the desert and small towns reminiscent of the one in Texas Chainsaw Massacre. We also got into black gold, Texas tea country with oil rigs dotting the landscape in their thousands as we headed to New Mexico.



Roswell, NM - As we got into New Mexico, we were well in the desert. Each afternoon huge thunderstorms would cruise through. It was amazing because it is so flat and you could see them approaching from miles away. In Roswell we had a look at the UFO museum and from what we read of both sides of the story we decided that it was a weather balloon that crashed and some dumb hicks couldn't work it out so said it was a UFO. Roswell city was a lot bigger than I thought it would be and it is quite funny with its alien theme throughout town.



Santa Fe, NM - We headed up to Santa Fe, through yet more thunderstorms and had our first day of bad weather in four weeks. On the way we stopped at Billy the Kid's gravesite. The gravestone is bolted to the ground with a metal cover and surrounded by a cage because it has been stolen 3 times since his death. Buildings in Santa Fe all brown with flat roofs and plaster outsides. Even the McDonald's and service stations are built in this style. With the large Mexican population it was weird to think we were still in the States.



During the weekend we were there it was their annual fiesta. There was a heavy police presence due to (from what our taxi driver told us) a shooting a couple of years ago between wannabe Mexican gangsters. We went out on Friday night and whilst waiting in line to get in a bar we watched a massive brawl between two groups of Mexicans happen right in front of us. The cops turned up 3 minutes later and we decided we would find somewhere else to go. At 1:30 the cops including the SWAT team (not fully kitted) came through the town and closed all the bars. Anybody who didn't move on was locked up. It was cool to see somewhere that has the numbers to police effectively.