Hello everyone....thought i'd start today as have had a brilliant weekend and couldn't wait to purge my tails on the blog. Luckily we will be able to print out the blog when we get back so our adventure (and Matt's new found literacy skills) will be imortalised in print forever.
We arrived in Salt Lake on Friday night and tried desperately to find a coffee house (we later found out that Mormons don't drink caffeine, although I am told by a local source that they are partial to a diet coke!)...whilst sitting in the 1 Starbucks we saw an advert in the local press for a Starsailor gig that night...to sum up, 4 hours and £6.50 later we were stood in a bar with about 50 others watching the band play their heart out. I spoke to them and we shook their hands after, it was brilliant! We met some really nice Americans in the bar (Brad and Mandy who Matt liked to call Brandy!, Emily from NYC, Alex from Baton Rouge, Russ from California and Tim who got fed up with the Cowboys in Wyoming!). It was a fun night that started with Starsailor and ended with a Gay caboret....these Morman's sure know how to party!
Yesterday we went to Temple square to see the Mormon temple, matt stayed outside (he said he was scared!) whilst I checked out how the LDS (Later Day Saints AKA Mormon's) like to hang out! I must say it was very interesting, although I did decline when sister Jenkins asked me for my address so she could send her peeps round (wasn't sure whether Will and Gail would appreciate some unexpected visitors!). Salt Lake is a beautiful city which is rich in religious history, the people are very friendly and we even managed to sniff out a few beers...I will be sad to leave but excited about reaching the sea again.
Today we went to Antelope Island, which is in the middle of the Salt Lake.....wildlife spot on the trip so far is:- Elk, antelope, coyote, bison, lizards, jack rabbits, eagles, squirrals, (and a funny tailed rat like looking thing that is native to the USA but I don't know what it's called).
Thanks to everyone for your emails, I have e mailed everyone back......I hope you get them as mum said she didn't get one I sent, let me know and I will send again.
Ali - I am using the same email address as at home xx
Lots of love to you all,
Joey xxx (AKA D.L)
Joey's musings.
I cannot believe that I have been relegated to the poxy musings section. Apparently I waffle too much and ramble on and on. Then to add insult to injury, she told me that I am no longer funny but boring! Will this misery ever end? Well don't you worry, i've got a plan...
Introducing => Matt's Ramblings!
Welcome to the inaugural "matt's ramblings", it's great to have you here with me whilst we drive across 500m of utah and nevada desert. The majority of the land round here is for military usage. Bombing ranges and test sites etc. This is perhaps the straightest road you'll ever see. This stretch of the I-80 is about 60 miles long and totally flat and straight just surrounded by salt flats and sand... By far the most desolate and erie place i've ever seen.
Anyway, we've left salt lake city and are about a fifth of the way to Reno. Reno is apparently a very very poor man's Vegas. Oh...
So, salt lake city. Home of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints. Also known as LDS or The Church. Some 75% of the state population are members. Their emphasis is on family from what I gather. If you raise a good family (the bigger the better) then you can become a saint, thus the "latter day saint" bit. The benefits of being a saint? You go to a better heaven. It is therefore not uncommon for families to have 10+ children and dozens of grandchildren etc. I read an obituary in the local rag of someone who had 51 grandchildren and 27 great grandchildren. I cannot begin to imagine how expensive christmas is...
This desire to have big families is the cause of polygomy. After all, it's only the man who can become a saint, so if he has more wives then he increases his chances of sainthood. Unfortunately polygomy is illegal even in utah. They had to ban it in order to gain statehood. There is a case in the courts at the moment whereby a man and two women are trying to get the law changed so that the three of them can get hitched! Despite the law, we were informed that polygomy still happens in some of the backwaters...
So, that, in a nutshell is the mormon philosophy. The effect of this? Utah has the youngest average age in the country, the largest average household size and one of the longest life expectancies. They don't drink or smoke. They exercise and look after themselves well. The children are all polite. The people are also generally good looking with little obesity. Crime is very low. It's like a social experiment within the rest of the US. Except for the religion part, they've hit the nail on the head. It reminds me of Huxley's "A Brave New World".
Cool, we've just been through Shafter!
Well, other than my mormon ramblings, I don't have much to add. Starsailor was good. The gay disco was good, though far gayer than anywhere i've ever been in brighton. Food and beer was pretty fair too.
I was also relieved that I didn't burst into flames - always a fear of mine in religious areas, as is not being able to see my reflection in a mirror. Another fear of mine is not being able to get to a toilet in time, but i'm not sure that's at all relevant. Though in the middle of this desert maybe it could soon be relevant...
Anyway, that's all from me. I can't say that I like my relegated position, but at least I get to write without joey editing my work for once ha ha ha, she may one day regret that...
Well done to the mighty sussex. Two titles in four years. Mushy is a legend.
Looking forward to the Cali' sun. Seen enough scenery to last a lifetime, and enough mormons for a lifetime and a number of afterlifes (bad joke).
A bientot, matt (St. Matt)
26 September 2006
22 September 2006
20-21 september
20th September
I realise that sometimes I waffle on a little, especially since we've been doing a lot of driving lately and i've had a lot of time to write. Anyway, for those of you that can't be arsed with reading all my ramblings, i'll provide a condensed version as well as my usual jibber-jabber (one for the Mr T fans):
Denver -> Grand Lake: Hiking, speed boating and mountain stuff -> Glenwood Springs: Thermal spa -> Grand Junction: Not a lot -> Driving to Moab. End.
Those of you who are too busy or just not that interested can now switch off, or go to another site (apparently kate moss is designing a range for Top Shop, so that's probably worth checking out at www.topshop.com or there's bound to be some news going on somewhere at news.bbc.co.uk or you could read about Brighton being robbed by the shrimpers at www.seagulls.co.uk).
So, now that the part-timers have left us, we can get down to the details...
Colorado is the most incredible state - Jenny the Geologist would be loving it. The eastern side was a continuation of the great plains. From there you get to Denver and the rocky mountains start. I think they're formed by the continental divide - pacific meets atlantic. At first this creates huge great mountain ranges with snowy peaks covered in deep forests (tundra?). After that starts canyon country. The I-70 winds through glenwood canyon which follows the colorado river and is incredible. The canyon walls are about 400-500 feet high either side. Then, when you leave the canyons the desert begins, but not before seeing streams of old lava flow peeking out from through the barron lands... There's gold in them thar hills! We've just crossed the border into Utah and it's more of the same. We're driving near arches and canyonlands national parks which we're visiting later and you can see into the canyons. Breathtaking...
Last time you tuned in I think we had just arrived in Grand Lake and we were mainly moaning about how cold it was. I should note here that "we" no longer means Joey and I. No, we've not divorced, it's just that Joey now wants to be known as Duane-Lee. She thinks it makes her sound more like a cowboy and won't accept that it's not a girls name...
So anyway, Duane-Lee and I arrived in grand lake on sunday. On monday we walked through a tiny section of the rocky mountain national park (the main routes into the park were closed due to heavy snowfall) to adams falls. After lunch we did the coolest thing so far; we hired a speedboat! Just for an hour, but good enough. Now, those of you that know Duane-Lee, know that she dislikes boats, high speeds and choppy water (she also dislikes strippers and rollercoasters, but that's irrelevant for now). So, since this is not Duane-Lee's cup of tea, despite it being her idea, I started cruising us leisurely around the lake like a scene from driving miss daisy, or in this case driving miss duane-lee... After five minutes or so, I managed to covince duane-lee to have a quick drive herself. Within a few minutes cap'n duane-lee (or jack sparrow as she then decided to be called) fell in love with the whole thing and then spent 45 minutes zooming around the lake contradicting every previous dislike she had ever expressed. In short, I had about ten minutes to drive the boat, whilst duane-lee had the time of her life. Fears conquered on this trip: boats, high speeds and choppy water. Fears still to be faced on this trip: strippers and rollercoasters.
On Tuesday we hopped back into the van. I don't think i've described the van yet. Imagine all of the best bits from the a-team van, the captain caveman van, the tardis, and a dustcart. It's white, actually nearer off-white now, has seating for eight (yes eight), and about twelve drinks holders! Add to that the la-z-boy style seating and outstanding 20 odd mpg, and that's quite a van you have on your hands... The chicks dig it, and even duane-lee loves cruising in it..
Anyway, we hopped in the van on tuesday morning and left grand lake, and whilst we found the scenery beautiful, we weren't sad to say goodbye. Other than the owner of the inn, the people seemed a bit rude. They made us feel a bit inconvenient. Odd, considering they need us more than we need them...
From grand lake we cruised to glenwood springs. Glenwood springs is the home to the world's largest thermal spa pool. It was like hopping into a hot bath, but big enough to swim in and dense enough to float in. By this point duane-lee more resembled paris hilton lounging by the pool, whilst I was arsing around in the water... No change there then...
After our little lunch break at glenwood springs, we cruised on to grand junction near the colorado/utah border. A small yet pleasant town, where we ended up in another brew-pub. They seem to be all the rage here. Beer brewed on site and generally a good spread of tucker. Nice.
Whilst on the subject of food, I owe you wingwatchers a couple of updates. The first was back in salina, cowboy country:
Wingwatch: good texture. Nice smokey sauce and good presentation. 7/10. Effect they had on my stomach was not so clever. Adjusted score -1/10. Oh dear.
The second wingwatch was a little irregular. There is a chain of supermarkets here called "whole food market" and they have the most fantastic deli counters. One of which had a range of different wings - named by duane-lee as "the wingery". Didn't try any, but they looked awesome. Photo to follow. 10/10.
Today, we are cruising to Moab in southern utah. From here we can access the arches and canyonlands national parks.
That's all for now folks, other than to tell you that duane-lee thinks that I too should have an amusing name, and so she has now started calling me "landon"... Will this madness never end?
Thanks to all messages left and emails received. Always good to hear from y'all...
21st september
Howdy y'all. You should all think yourself very lucky indeed. As, whilst I am sitting here waiting for two loads of washing to make their way through the rinse and spin cycles, i've decided to update you on today's activities and take you through the various stages of the washing process... Alright! Wooh! Yeah! Great job!
1) sorting the wash into lights and darks. Since updating this blog yesterday, we arrived in Moab, southern utah, strategically placed between the arches and canyonlands national parks. It's quite a gnarly town. Full of dudes who skate and climb and canoe and stuff. It makes for a much livelier atmosphere than the last couple of towns... (at this point I check for black socks which have crept into the light wash).
2) add soap and select wash type ("tide" and "normal" respectively). Shortly after arriving here, we drove into arches national park. We arrived there about 4:30, and the sun sets around 7pm so we got some incredible photos. The parks are set up incredibly well (and sensitively too for america), so that you can cruise up near to a particular sight, then a short hike allows you to get really close. The arches and views as the sun set were quite spectacular... (here remember to put the money in the machine - $1.25).
3) wash cycle - in fact i'm going to merge the wash, rinse and spin cycles. Last night we went to another brewpub. It was pretty good again, and opposite the hotel. They had an english style ale, that other than being too cold and a tiny bit sweet would have made a fair pint of bitter. The folks in there were really friendly. We were chatting to one local who said how important the tourists were (take note residents of grand lake, colorado) and was generally friendly (perhaps he had his eye on duane-lee?), and our waiter, sorry 'server', was born in brighton!!! He was raised in california, but is moving to devon. General murmours of "small world, small world"... (don't forget you have to leave the door for a minute or two before it will open!)
4) sort out the clothes into those that can be tumbledried and those that can't... This morning we hired a jeep wrangler 4x4 for the day. Yeah! Gnarly dude. The roads into the parks are quite restrictive and will only get you so far, whilst the 4x4 trails allow you to see so much more. The first trail was only 7 miles and took us from moab to canyonlands via the gemini bridges; a couple of arches some 200-300ft high that you can walk over. The ascent there was pretty rough and steep, but the jeep and its able captain (me) did a great job... (make sure you don't tumbledry delicates!!! And pop $1.00 in the machine)
5) empty the drier and fold the clothes neatly. After lunch, it was time to put the other captain hill behind the wheel on what was supposed to be an easier trail. From the entrance of canyonlands the path (which is being generous - it was more like streams of shingle and rocks) wound down the inside of the canyons at a scarily steep rate, descending some 1500ft in about two miles. This path was about 10-12 feet wide and had no crash barriers. It was quite frightening, but fortunately we had signed release waivers so that nobody could be liable if we did die... Anyway, captain joey got us safely down, and I live to tell the tale. We did see a couple of clowns going the opposite way in their normal cars... What were these people thinking??? (here just check for any socks stuck to the inside of the drier).
6) clear up the washing tat (powder and laundry basket etc) and go. Tonight I think we might pop back for a spot more of the local brew and tucker, ready to head on up to salt lake city tomorrow. It's been nice here, but after spending a week or so in national parks, we're ready for some city action... (If using a public laundrette/laundromatt, it is customary to give the attendant a cursory thanks, cheers or goodbye).
So, there you have it: You know what we've been up to, we all know how to wash clothes, and i'm off for a well deserved beer. Just call me laundro-matt...
Ps, well done sweet fa on finding some winning form at last, and three cheers for the mighty sussex who look like they're going to wrap up the county league tomorrow after demolishing notts today... Mushy, mushy, mushy, ahmed, ahmed, ahmed!
Duane-Lee's musings:
Ok....i'll keep today's musings brief (like the contents of Matt's dirty washing load!)....just to clarify, I have not yet given up my birth name on an American cowboy whim......I was merely titilated by the names of the family members of a particularly amusing American reality show called "Dog the Bounty Hunter"! Duane Lee and Landon are 2 of the said bounty hunters 12 sons!
You probably all wonder how come we are indoors writing this blog and not out raging.....well we are in Utah after all where the majority of the population is Mormon and alcohol is not freely purchasable.....not like West Street then!
Todays amazing trip to Canyonlands was "rocking" (ha ha)...Geology Jen (my sis) would have loved it...photo's to follow. A question for Jenny...Why are the rocks red?and a bit green in places? Very complicated for me to fully understand......seriously Jen, we wished you were there to see the rocks it with us xx
Love to you all and thanks loads for e mailing us, it is always nice to hear from home.
Lots of love,
Jo xxx (AKA D.L)
I realise that sometimes I waffle on a little, especially since we've been doing a lot of driving lately and i've had a lot of time to write. Anyway, for those of you that can't be arsed with reading all my ramblings, i'll provide a condensed version as well as my usual jibber-jabber (one for the Mr T fans):
Denver -> Grand Lake: Hiking, speed boating and mountain stuff -> Glenwood Springs: Thermal spa -> Grand Junction: Not a lot -> Driving to Moab. End.
Those of you who are too busy or just not that interested can now switch off, or go to another site (apparently kate moss is designing a range for Top Shop, so that's probably worth checking out at www.topshop.com or there's bound to be some news going on somewhere at news.bbc.co.uk or you could read about Brighton being robbed by the shrimpers at www.seagulls.co.uk).
So, now that the part-timers have left us, we can get down to the details...
Colorado is the most incredible state - Jenny the Geologist would be loving it. The eastern side was a continuation of the great plains. From there you get to Denver and the rocky mountains start. I think they're formed by the continental divide - pacific meets atlantic. At first this creates huge great mountain ranges with snowy peaks covered in deep forests (tundra?). After that starts canyon country. The I-70 winds through glenwood canyon which follows the colorado river and is incredible. The canyon walls are about 400-500 feet high either side. Then, when you leave the canyons the desert begins, but not before seeing streams of old lava flow peeking out from through the barron lands... There's gold in them thar hills! We've just crossed the border into Utah and it's more of the same. We're driving near arches and canyonlands national parks which we're visiting later and you can see into the canyons. Breathtaking...
Last time you tuned in I think we had just arrived in Grand Lake and we were mainly moaning about how cold it was. I should note here that "we" no longer means Joey and I. No, we've not divorced, it's just that Joey now wants to be known as Duane-Lee. She thinks it makes her sound more like a cowboy and won't accept that it's not a girls name...
So anyway, Duane-Lee and I arrived in grand lake on sunday. On monday we walked through a tiny section of the rocky mountain national park (the main routes into the park were closed due to heavy snowfall) to adams falls. After lunch we did the coolest thing so far; we hired a speedboat! Just for an hour, but good enough. Now, those of you that know Duane-Lee, know that she dislikes boats, high speeds and choppy water (she also dislikes strippers and rollercoasters, but that's irrelevant for now). So, since this is not Duane-Lee's cup of tea, despite it being her idea, I started cruising us leisurely around the lake like a scene from driving miss daisy, or in this case driving miss duane-lee... After five minutes or so, I managed to covince duane-lee to have a quick drive herself. Within a few minutes cap'n duane-lee (or jack sparrow as she then decided to be called) fell in love with the whole thing and then spent 45 minutes zooming around the lake contradicting every previous dislike she had ever expressed. In short, I had about ten minutes to drive the boat, whilst duane-lee had the time of her life. Fears conquered on this trip: boats, high speeds and choppy water. Fears still to be faced on this trip: strippers and rollercoasters.
On Tuesday we hopped back into the van. I don't think i've described the van yet. Imagine all of the best bits from the a-team van, the captain caveman van, the tardis, and a dustcart. It's white, actually nearer off-white now, has seating for eight (yes eight), and about twelve drinks holders! Add to that the la-z-boy style seating and outstanding 20 odd mpg, and that's quite a van you have on your hands... The chicks dig it, and even duane-lee loves cruising in it..
Anyway, we hopped in the van on tuesday morning and left grand lake, and whilst we found the scenery beautiful, we weren't sad to say goodbye. Other than the owner of the inn, the people seemed a bit rude. They made us feel a bit inconvenient. Odd, considering they need us more than we need them...
From grand lake we cruised to glenwood springs. Glenwood springs is the home to the world's largest thermal spa pool. It was like hopping into a hot bath, but big enough to swim in and dense enough to float in. By this point duane-lee more resembled paris hilton lounging by the pool, whilst I was arsing around in the water... No change there then...
After our little lunch break at glenwood springs, we cruised on to grand junction near the colorado/utah border. A small yet pleasant town, where we ended up in another brew-pub. They seem to be all the rage here. Beer brewed on site and generally a good spread of tucker. Nice.
Whilst on the subject of food, I owe you wingwatchers a couple of updates. The first was back in salina, cowboy country:
Wingwatch: good texture. Nice smokey sauce and good presentation. 7/10. Effect they had on my stomach was not so clever. Adjusted score -1/10. Oh dear.
The second wingwatch was a little irregular. There is a chain of supermarkets here called "whole food market" and they have the most fantastic deli counters. One of which had a range of different wings - named by duane-lee as "the wingery". Didn't try any, but they looked awesome. Photo to follow. 10/10.
Today, we are cruising to Moab in southern utah. From here we can access the arches and canyonlands national parks.
That's all for now folks, other than to tell you that duane-lee thinks that I too should have an amusing name, and so she has now started calling me "landon"... Will this madness never end?
Thanks to all messages left and emails received. Always good to hear from y'all...
21st september
Howdy y'all. You should all think yourself very lucky indeed. As, whilst I am sitting here waiting for two loads of washing to make their way through the rinse and spin cycles, i've decided to update you on today's activities and take you through the various stages of the washing process... Alright! Wooh! Yeah! Great job!
1) sorting the wash into lights and darks. Since updating this blog yesterday, we arrived in Moab, southern utah, strategically placed between the arches and canyonlands national parks. It's quite a gnarly town. Full of dudes who skate and climb and canoe and stuff. It makes for a much livelier atmosphere than the last couple of towns... (at this point I check for black socks which have crept into the light wash).
2) add soap and select wash type ("tide" and "normal" respectively). Shortly after arriving here, we drove into arches national park. We arrived there about 4:30, and the sun sets around 7pm so we got some incredible photos. The parks are set up incredibly well (and sensitively too for america), so that you can cruise up near to a particular sight, then a short hike allows you to get really close. The arches and views as the sun set were quite spectacular... (here remember to put the money in the machine - $1.25).
3) wash cycle - in fact i'm going to merge the wash, rinse and spin cycles. Last night we went to another brewpub. It was pretty good again, and opposite the hotel. They had an english style ale, that other than being too cold and a tiny bit sweet would have made a fair pint of bitter. The folks in there were really friendly. We were chatting to one local who said how important the tourists were (take note residents of grand lake, colorado) and was generally friendly (perhaps he had his eye on duane-lee?), and our waiter, sorry 'server', was born in brighton!!! He was raised in california, but is moving to devon. General murmours of "small world, small world"... (don't forget you have to leave the door for a minute or two before it will open!)
4) sort out the clothes into those that can be tumbledried and those that can't... This morning we hired a jeep wrangler 4x4 for the day. Yeah! Gnarly dude. The roads into the parks are quite restrictive and will only get you so far, whilst the 4x4 trails allow you to see so much more. The first trail was only 7 miles and took us from moab to canyonlands via the gemini bridges; a couple of arches some 200-300ft high that you can walk over. The ascent there was pretty rough and steep, but the jeep and its able captain (me) did a great job... (make sure you don't tumbledry delicates!!! And pop $1.00 in the machine)
5) empty the drier and fold the clothes neatly. After lunch, it was time to put the other captain hill behind the wheel on what was supposed to be an easier trail. From the entrance of canyonlands the path (which is being generous - it was more like streams of shingle and rocks) wound down the inside of the canyons at a scarily steep rate, descending some 1500ft in about two miles. This path was about 10-12 feet wide and had no crash barriers. It was quite frightening, but fortunately we had signed release waivers so that nobody could be liable if we did die... Anyway, captain joey got us safely down, and I live to tell the tale. We did see a couple of clowns going the opposite way in their normal cars... What were these people thinking??? (here just check for any socks stuck to the inside of the drier).
6) clear up the washing tat (powder and laundry basket etc) and go. Tonight I think we might pop back for a spot more of the local brew and tucker, ready to head on up to salt lake city tomorrow. It's been nice here, but after spending a week or so in national parks, we're ready for some city action... (If using a public laundrette/laundromatt, it is customary to give the attendant a cursory thanks, cheers or goodbye).
So, there you have it: You know what we've been up to, we all know how to wash clothes, and i'm off for a well deserved beer. Just call me laundro-matt...
Ps, well done sweet fa on finding some winning form at last, and three cheers for the mighty sussex who look like they're going to wrap up the county league tomorrow after demolishing notts today... Mushy, mushy, mushy, ahmed, ahmed, ahmed!
Duane-Lee's musings:
Ok....i'll keep today's musings brief (like the contents of Matt's dirty washing load!)....just to clarify, I have not yet given up my birth name on an American cowboy whim......I was merely titilated by the names of the family members of a particularly amusing American reality show called "Dog the Bounty Hunter"! Duane Lee and Landon are 2 of the said bounty hunters 12 sons!
You probably all wonder how come we are indoors writing this blog and not out raging.....well we are in Utah after all where the majority of the population is Mormon and alcohol is not freely purchasable.....not like West Street then!
Todays amazing trip to Canyonlands was "rocking" (ha ha)...Geology Jen (my sis) would have loved it...photo's to follow. A question for Jenny...Why are the rocks red?and a bit green in places? Very complicated for me to fully understand......seriously Jen, we wished you were there to see the rocks it with us xx
Love to you all and thanks loads for e mailing us, it is always nice to hear from home.
Lots of love,
Jo xxx (AKA D.L)
18 September 2006
16-18 September
16th september - The Great Plains.
Great - no. Plain - yes. We left indianapolis on thursday I think, and today is saturday. By the time we get into Denver this afternoon we will have done about 1200 miles in three days. We're actually cruising through the eastern reaches of Kansas state - don't worry i'm not driving whilst I write, my able assistant is behind the wheel. She's clocked up about 600 miles, and I reckon I could get used to being chauffeured around.
I'm not sure how people can live somewhere so desolate. Kansas state is about 450m across, and their is nothing once you leave the western suburbs of industrial kansas city. The plains here are just undulating rolls and great flats of farmland and cattle grazing punctuated by the odd mcdonalds, motel, petrol station or sign for "the worlds largest goose" (my favourite) or "the worlds largest prairie dog" (jo's favourite). And we've just been past a sign for Hill City...
We left Indy on thursday after dropping the kids off (em and hen) at the airport (i had previously dropped the kids off at the pool). From there it was 250m across Indiana farm land to St Louis (pronounced Lewis). If you have a roadmap of the US, then you can follow the I-70 from indianapolis to denver. A pretty uneventful drive, but we got to St Louis quite early. Which was nice. St Louis, as well as being the home to Chuck Berry, TS Elliott and Nelly is also the gateway to The West. It sits on the convergence of the mississippi and missouri rivers and has a bloody great arch on it's riverfront which you can see for miles on your way in. St Louis has a large German population and is responsible for Budweiser beer. Everyone's prone to the odd error I guess... After a quick stint at the arch, and a muse over the attached museum, we walked on the mississippi riverbank and then cruised downtown. I think that we're still struggling to come to terms with US city structures. In most cases, downtown is just a collection of office buildings. No shops and few restaurants. Not like an english town centre. We've learnt that the best areas for eating and drinking in the evening seem to be the university student areas. St Louis was no exception and the hotel was near by. Result.
Yesterday, the 15th, was a bit of a monster as we clocked up 450m. Oooh, we've just been through a town called Mingo. So anyway. The plan was to leave St Louis early doors, have lunch and dinner in cosmopolitan Kansas city (it's all relative) 270m away, then do another 180m to Salina. Try and look it up. It's a mere dot on a detailed map. It's a farmers outpost town, which is full of cowboys. We were both amazed as we'd never seen real cowboys before... One even had spurs on! We went to a local steak house, all you could see were the tops of cowboy hats peaking over the booths. I had two types of wings. These were overshadowed however by the most amazing bbq beans:
Bean-watch - Wow, these bad boys rock. Put your Heinz baked beans back in the cupboard. 10/10.
17th September
Yesterday, when we were cruising through kansas state it was 30°. As we started into colorado and we got higher and higher, the temperature dropped off by 15° in about half an hour. We clocked up another 450m which took the total to something like 1200m in three days. The car is feeling like home away from home. I forgot to mention that we passed a rather worrying "bible and gun superstore" in kansas. Do the two have to go together...?
Denver is cold but impressive. It's a nice city which has the rockies as a backdrop. Today we are cruising even further up into the mountains, as tonight we are staying in Grand Lake on the edge of the Rocky Mountain National Park.
18th September
Wow it's cold. Here in grand lake it's about 4 or 5 degrees. This hotel is about 8000ft high. The drive up here was amazing through the mountain passes. We were at 11000ft at one point where the temp dropped to -2°. That was clearly a time to regret a lack of winter clothing. Ohhh... Today we were planning to hike or cycle, but it's just too damn cold, so we're going to drive up into the park instead. The view from our room is out over grand lake and also some snowy peaks, one of which we believe to be mount baldy. Seems to be appropriate...
Last night joey and I played shuffleboard in the hotel bar whilst sinking a few local brews. Joey's legendary competitive temperament came out and it reminded me why I don't ever play games with her!!!
Also, there was a rockslide on the I-70 yesterday not far from here where someone died. Boulders as large as cars came down and one landed on a truck. Scarey...
Joey's musings 17.9.06
Well.....i'm sure you may all be wondering, "who is this joey bird?"...I know, I haven't written since "Chi town" baby, but matt has been doing such a good job...(what does "undulating" mean anyway!) that I have left the bloggin down to him! We had a nice trip to Columbus and enjoyed seeing "baby Lyn" and Henry, also granny and grandpa too. The trip through Kansas to Denver was strange but somewhat amazing...there is literally nothing for miles (except the tin man - heidi I thought of you!). The sky hangs so low over the plains and the sunset was amazing, it was 90 degrees and windy with tumbleweed flying all over the place...kansas was on twister warning which was scarey but slightly exciting. We stopped off in a town called Salina to break up the journey, it was there that I encountered the best steak ever...the bar was full of real cowboys and the steak was straight off a Kansas ranch..we loved it. I have never been anywhere quite like Kansas but when I was driving along the road, listening to the radio with the sunset low on the plains and not a car for miles I thought this is what a road trip is all about. I liked to compare the romance of a road trip to Thelma and Louise, Easy Rider etc. However Matt prefers to liken the experience to the famous "Lloyd and Harry" in the classic american road trip film "Dumb and Dumber"....I opted to be Lloyd in a choice that was not exactly favourable!
Last night we stayed in Denver "mile high city" at the foot of the Rocky mountains. A great city, but a bit nippy after the searing Kansas heat. We are now staying in Grand Lake in the Rocky Mountains National Park...we are now at 8000ft but drove through the most amazing 11000ft mountain scenery ever. Snow expected tomorrow and about 2°C at present. No bikini's for me!
To sum up, this country is so diverse, we have now travelled about 3000 miles and seen lakes, waterfalls, snow, mountains, praries, plains, skyscrappers.....only desert to go now! Team Collins - see you in Vegas baby!
Thanks to those of you who have e mailed/ blogged, even though we are having a great time it is nice to hear from home and keep up dated with all your news..
Lots of love
Joey xxx
Great - no. Plain - yes. We left indianapolis on thursday I think, and today is saturday. By the time we get into Denver this afternoon we will have done about 1200 miles in three days. We're actually cruising through the eastern reaches of Kansas state - don't worry i'm not driving whilst I write, my able assistant is behind the wheel. She's clocked up about 600 miles, and I reckon I could get used to being chauffeured around.
I'm not sure how people can live somewhere so desolate. Kansas state is about 450m across, and their is nothing once you leave the western suburbs of industrial kansas city. The plains here are just undulating rolls and great flats of farmland and cattle grazing punctuated by the odd mcdonalds, motel, petrol station or sign for "the worlds largest goose" (my favourite) or "the worlds largest prairie dog" (jo's favourite). And we've just been past a sign for Hill City...
We left Indy on thursday after dropping the kids off (em and hen) at the airport (i had previously dropped the kids off at the pool). From there it was 250m across Indiana farm land to St Louis (pronounced Lewis). If you have a roadmap of the US, then you can follow the I-70 from indianapolis to denver. A pretty uneventful drive, but we got to St Louis quite early. Which was nice. St Louis, as well as being the home to Chuck Berry, TS Elliott and Nelly is also the gateway to The West. It sits on the convergence of the mississippi and missouri rivers and has a bloody great arch on it's riverfront which you can see for miles on your way in. St Louis has a large German population and is responsible for Budweiser beer. Everyone's prone to the odd error I guess... After a quick stint at the arch, and a muse over the attached museum, we walked on the mississippi riverbank and then cruised downtown. I think that we're still struggling to come to terms with US city structures. In most cases, downtown is just a collection of office buildings. No shops and few restaurants. Not like an english town centre. We've learnt that the best areas for eating and drinking in the evening seem to be the university student areas. St Louis was no exception and the hotel was near by. Result.
Yesterday, the 15th, was a bit of a monster as we clocked up 450m. Oooh, we've just been through a town called Mingo. So anyway. The plan was to leave St Louis early doors, have lunch and dinner in cosmopolitan Kansas city (it's all relative) 270m away, then do another 180m to Salina. Try and look it up. It's a mere dot on a detailed map. It's a farmers outpost town, which is full of cowboys. We were both amazed as we'd never seen real cowboys before... One even had spurs on! We went to a local steak house, all you could see were the tops of cowboy hats peaking over the booths. I had two types of wings. These were overshadowed however by the most amazing bbq beans:
Bean-watch - Wow, these bad boys rock. Put your Heinz baked beans back in the cupboard. 10/10.
17th September
Yesterday, when we were cruising through kansas state it was 30°. As we started into colorado and we got higher and higher, the temperature dropped off by 15° in about half an hour. We clocked up another 450m which took the total to something like 1200m in three days. The car is feeling like home away from home. I forgot to mention that we passed a rather worrying "bible and gun superstore" in kansas. Do the two have to go together...?
Denver is cold but impressive. It's a nice city which has the rockies as a backdrop. Today we are cruising even further up into the mountains, as tonight we are staying in Grand Lake on the edge of the Rocky Mountain National Park.
18th September
Wow it's cold. Here in grand lake it's about 4 or 5 degrees. This hotel is about 8000ft high. The drive up here was amazing through the mountain passes. We were at 11000ft at one point where the temp dropped to -2°. That was clearly a time to regret a lack of winter clothing. Ohhh... Today we were planning to hike or cycle, but it's just too damn cold, so we're going to drive up into the park instead. The view from our room is out over grand lake and also some snowy peaks, one of which we believe to be mount baldy. Seems to be appropriate...
Last night joey and I played shuffleboard in the hotel bar whilst sinking a few local brews. Joey's legendary competitive temperament came out and it reminded me why I don't ever play games with her!!!
Also, there was a rockslide on the I-70 yesterday not far from here where someone died. Boulders as large as cars came down and one landed on a truck. Scarey...
Joey's musings 17.9.06
Well.....i'm sure you may all be wondering, "who is this joey bird?"...I know, I haven't written since "Chi town" baby, but matt has been doing such a good job...(what does "undulating" mean anyway!) that I have left the bloggin down to him! We had a nice trip to Columbus and enjoyed seeing "baby Lyn" and Henry, also granny and grandpa too. The trip through Kansas to Denver was strange but somewhat amazing...there is literally nothing for miles (except the tin man - heidi I thought of you!). The sky hangs so low over the plains and the sunset was amazing, it was 90 degrees and windy with tumbleweed flying all over the place...kansas was on twister warning which was scarey but slightly exciting. We stopped off in a town called Salina to break up the journey, it was there that I encountered the best steak ever...the bar was full of real cowboys and the steak was straight off a Kansas ranch..we loved it. I have never been anywhere quite like Kansas but when I was driving along the road, listening to the radio with the sunset low on the plains and not a car for miles I thought this is what a road trip is all about. I liked to compare the romance of a road trip to Thelma and Louise, Easy Rider etc. However Matt prefers to liken the experience to the famous "Lloyd and Harry" in the classic american road trip film "Dumb and Dumber"....I opted to be Lloyd in a choice that was not exactly favourable!
Last night we stayed in Denver "mile high city" at the foot of the Rocky mountains. A great city, but a bit nippy after the searing Kansas heat. We are now staying in Grand Lake in the Rocky Mountains National Park...we are now at 8000ft but drove through the most amazing 11000ft mountain scenery ever. Snow expected tomorrow and about 2°C at present. No bikini's for me!
To sum up, this country is so diverse, we have now travelled about 3000 miles and seen lakes, waterfalls, snow, mountains, praries, plains, skyscrappers.....only desert to go now! Team Collins - see you in Vegas baby!
Thanks to those of you who have e mailed/ blogged, even though we are having a great time it is nice to hear from home and keep up dated with all your news..
Lots of love
Joey xxx
16 September 2006
14 September 2006
14th september
14th September.
Columbus indiana. A smallish town about 40 odd miles south east of Indianapolis. Oh, haven't I (we) eaten well!
Columbus is the home to joey's grandparents, and, since saturday (the 9th) also home to us and Em and Hen (joey's sister and her boyfriend - Em's boyfriend, not joey's, since joey's already married. To me. Though i'm sure she often can't believe her luck. Anyway I digress..).
Now, where was I. Ah yes, we are in columbus in the midwest. Why do they call it the midwest? Technically, if you looked at a map of north america we would be in the middle-east, not the midwest. What have they got against the middle east? Any ideas? Answers on a postcard, or at least a comment on this blog... The best answer gets a special mention next blog. Talking of the middle east, "dubya" addressed the nation the other day and described afghanistan as a middle east country. At first, I thought "what a silly billy", then I realised that if columbus indiana is the midwest, then why can't afghanistan be in the middle east?
So anyway, we're here in indiana. We left chicago last saturday around noon and gave ourselves about seven hours to get from chicago to indianapolis airport. "The airport? But I thought you have a car?" you all cry... We were picking up the aforementioned sibling and her other half of course.
Chicago to indianapolis airport = 200 miles.
Time = 7 hours.
4 1/2 hours in one traffic jam = priceless.
(for those without a TV - that's a lame effort at the mastercard adverts).
We pulled into the airport car park as their plane landed and collected the weary travellers in the nick of time. Chicago had provided us with the worst traffic jam ever. 50 miles in four and a half hours. I could have walked quicker...
Not to jump around too much, but perhaps I should finish off chicago first. The friday was probably a bit like a rest day in cricket (they don't do that anymore do they?). In the morning we went to the laundrette, sorry laundromat. No exciting stories there. Dirty clothes went in. Clean ones came out. In the afternoon we acted upon a stroke of genius on joey's part. There is a restaurant over here called the cheesecake factory and they specialise in, yup, cheesecake. However, the food they serve there is so outrageously large that we english have no possible room for dessert - especially if we're stupid enough to oder a starter too. So, jo's idea was to pop to the cheesecake factory in the afternoon, pick up a couple of slithers, pop them in the fridge at our hotel and scoff them after a more manageable dinner. Pretty good huh? Unfortunately, my navigator's navigation skills were not at their peak, and a journey of about 1-2 miles took about an hour (good practise for what was to come on the following day, not good for our relationship). Anyway, we eventually got the marvellous cheesecake in the fridge and went rock climbing. Not much needs to be said, other than a) joey set the bar very high by getting to about 15 foot on her first attempt, b) I couldn't move my arms the next day, and c) we were promptly embarrassed by a six year old boy who scrambled to the top like spiderman or maybe spiderboy. After that, slap up chinese grub + cheesecake = potbellied. Job done.
Back to saturday. We got to indianapolis airport, picked up our guests, and took them to get some tucker. Johnny rockets hamburgers. High quality burgers and a fine opportunity for a spot of wingwatching:
Wingwatch - perhaps the strangest wingwatch to date. They were boneless wings which would have been better described as chicken nuggetts. The sauce wasn't so much hot, but extremely pungent. Like a bottle of ketchup with a bottle of tabasco. So, 3/10. Tasted okay, but the lack of actual wings, and the overpowering sauce were just weird.
Sunday was Emily's birthday. There was a lot of lounging around by, and swimming in, the pool. It was also the day that columbus-ball was born. Look out for it soon on eurosport. In the evening, we all went for a nice big chinese dinner. Joey's grandpa has been reading the blog and wanted a bit of wingwatch action (doesn't everyone), and so ordered some chicken wings for us. Good work:
Wingwatch - excellent tenderness on the inside and crispiness on the outside. Nice soy and chili sauce. Piping hot in the middle. 8/10. Delightful!
Sunday/emily's birthday was then rounded off nicely with some birthday cake. Great job!
Monday to wednesday were somewhat heavily rain-affected. A bit of shopping, and a bit of larking around. And, of course a spot of eating. Monday evening was highlighted by henry falling into the pool. He and I were playing footie on the patio, when I 'set one up' just over the edge. What at first looked like a tremendous balancing act became a futile waste of energy. The ball went in the pool, and shortly after henry followed it. The ball, being reasonably intelligent, had the foresight to remove it's wallet, watch and money from it's pocket, and change into it's speedos. Thus, when it inevitably ended up in the water it didn't suffer any losses or damages. Unfortunately henry did not have the same foresight... I just wished there was someone else to witness it with me. I laughed so much I might have leaked a little...
The highlight of tuesday was lunch at a restaurant at columbus airport. A most excellent chicken sandwich whilst watching the aeroplanes trundling around... Nice. We also spent some time downtown seeing old columbus and new columbus. I won't go into the details, but there was also a kid who referred to the country "canadia". Sounds exotic...
Thursday we drop em & hen at the airport, and then we're off to St. Louis Missouri. Hopefully we can set off early enough and get there by lunchtime. Hmm, lunch...
Anyway, thanks to joey's grandparents for their generous hospitality, it's been nice relaxing in their home, and catching up with them (i bet you didn't know that joey's great-grandfather played for derby county football and baseball teams - impressive).
IMPORTANT NOTICE - please sign your name at the end of your comments, as we don't always know who they're from... Kiwi relative? mark wilson?
Catch up with y'all later, i'm off for some rootin' tootin' buffalo rustlin' cow pokin' line dancin' stetson wearin' wild west adventures...
Henry's Guest Blog - hi to everyone back in the UK! Emily and I have had a good few days with the travellers and are hitchin' a ride in Matt's Passionwagon to Indianapolis Airport for the flight to the Big Apple. As a guest blogger I feel a duty to add my own Wingwatching thoughts.
Johnny Rockets Rocket Wings - I have to agree with Mr Hill's 3/10 - and that's being generous! Wings when you cannot taste the wing are never good!
Chinese Restaurant wings - excellent wings, nicely cooked with a crispy coating - 8.5/10.
I am glad to have provided Matt with much amusement by falling in the pool - even if I think the unfavorable comparison with an inflatable ball is a little harsh!
Emily Guest Blog
Hello everyone! Am very excited to have a guest spot in the blog...but not as excited as I am about being on my way to the sights, sounds and most importantly shops of New York City! We have had a good few days with Granny and Grandpa,and its been great to spend time with the travellers...although I'm reluctant to call them that after seeing the style they are travelling in-no internet cafes for these guys!! Anyway-nearly at the airport so better go! xx
Columbus indiana. A smallish town about 40 odd miles south east of Indianapolis. Oh, haven't I (we) eaten well!
Columbus is the home to joey's grandparents, and, since saturday (the 9th) also home to us and Em and Hen (joey's sister and her boyfriend - Em's boyfriend, not joey's, since joey's already married. To me. Though i'm sure she often can't believe her luck. Anyway I digress..).
Now, where was I. Ah yes, we are in columbus in the midwest. Why do they call it the midwest? Technically, if you looked at a map of north america we would be in the middle-east, not the midwest. What have they got against the middle east? Any ideas? Answers on a postcard, or at least a comment on this blog... The best answer gets a special mention next blog. Talking of the middle east, "dubya" addressed the nation the other day and described afghanistan as a middle east country. At first, I thought "what a silly billy", then I realised that if columbus indiana is the midwest, then why can't afghanistan be in the middle east?
So anyway, we're here in indiana. We left chicago last saturday around noon and gave ourselves about seven hours to get from chicago to indianapolis airport. "The airport? But I thought you have a car?" you all cry... We were picking up the aforementioned sibling and her other half of course.
Chicago to indianapolis airport = 200 miles.
Time = 7 hours.
4 1/2 hours in one traffic jam = priceless.
(for those without a TV - that's a lame effort at the mastercard adverts).
We pulled into the airport car park as their plane landed and collected the weary travellers in the nick of time. Chicago had provided us with the worst traffic jam ever. 50 miles in four and a half hours. I could have walked quicker...
Not to jump around too much, but perhaps I should finish off chicago first. The friday was probably a bit like a rest day in cricket (they don't do that anymore do they?). In the morning we went to the laundrette, sorry laundromat. No exciting stories there. Dirty clothes went in. Clean ones came out. In the afternoon we acted upon a stroke of genius on joey's part. There is a restaurant over here called the cheesecake factory and they specialise in, yup, cheesecake. However, the food they serve there is so outrageously large that we english have no possible room for dessert - especially if we're stupid enough to oder a starter too. So, jo's idea was to pop to the cheesecake factory in the afternoon, pick up a couple of slithers, pop them in the fridge at our hotel and scoff them after a more manageable dinner. Pretty good huh? Unfortunately, my navigator's navigation skills were not at their peak, and a journey of about 1-2 miles took about an hour (good practise for what was to come on the following day, not good for our relationship). Anyway, we eventually got the marvellous cheesecake in the fridge and went rock climbing. Not much needs to be said, other than a) joey set the bar very high by getting to about 15 foot on her first attempt, b) I couldn't move my arms the next day, and c) we were promptly embarrassed by a six year old boy who scrambled to the top like spiderman or maybe spiderboy. After that, slap up chinese grub + cheesecake = potbellied. Job done.
Back to saturday. We got to indianapolis airport, picked up our guests, and took them to get some tucker. Johnny rockets hamburgers. High quality burgers and a fine opportunity for a spot of wingwatching:
Wingwatch - perhaps the strangest wingwatch to date. They were boneless wings which would have been better described as chicken nuggetts. The sauce wasn't so much hot, but extremely pungent. Like a bottle of ketchup with a bottle of tabasco. So, 3/10. Tasted okay, but the lack of actual wings, and the overpowering sauce were just weird.
Sunday was Emily's birthday. There was a lot of lounging around by, and swimming in, the pool. It was also the day that columbus-ball was born. Look out for it soon on eurosport. In the evening, we all went for a nice big chinese dinner. Joey's grandpa has been reading the blog and wanted a bit of wingwatch action (doesn't everyone), and so ordered some chicken wings for us. Good work:
Wingwatch - excellent tenderness on the inside and crispiness on the outside. Nice soy and chili sauce. Piping hot in the middle. 8/10. Delightful!
Sunday/emily's birthday was then rounded off nicely with some birthday cake. Great job!
Monday to wednesday were somewhat heavily rain-affected. A bit of shopping, and a bit of larking around. And, of course a spot of eating. Monday evening was highlighted by henry falling into the pool. He and I were playing footie on the patio, when I 'set one up' just over the edge. What at first looked like a tremendous balancing act became a futile waste of energy. The ball went in the pool, and shortly after henry followed it. The ball, being reasonably intelligent, had the foresight to remove it's wallet, watch and money from it's pocket, and change into it's speedos. Thus, when it inevitably ended up in the water it didn't suffer any losses or damages. Unfortunately henry did not have the same foresight... I just wished there was someone else to witness it with me. I laughed so much I might have leaked a little...
The highlight of tuesday was lunch at a restaurant at columbus airport. A most excellent chicken sandwich whilst watching the aeroplanes trundling around... Nice. We also spent some time downtown seeing old columbus and new columbus. I won't go into the details, but there was also a kid who referred to the country "canadia". Sounds exotic...
Thursday we drop em & hen at the airport, and then we're off to St. Louis Missouri. Hopefully we can set off early enough and get there by lunchtime. Hmm, lunch...
Anyway, thanks to joey's grandparents for their generous hospitality, it's been nice relaxing in their home, and catching up with them (i bet you didn't know that joey's great-grandfather played for derby county football and baseball teams - impressive).
IMPORTANT NOTICE - please sign your name at the end of your comments, as we don't always know who they're from... Kiwi relative? mark wilson?
Catch up with y'all later, i'm off for some rootin' tootin' buffalo rustlin' cow pokin' line dancin' stetson wearin' wild west adventures...
Henry's Guest Blog - hi to everyone back in the UK! Emily and I have had a good few days with the travellers and are hitchin' a ride in Matt's Passionwagon to Indianapolis Airport for the flight to the Big Apple. As a guest blogger I feel a duty to add my own Wingwatching thoughts.
Johnny Rockets Rocket Wings - I have to agree with Mr Hill's 3/10 - and that's being generous! Wings when you cannot taste the wing are never good!
Chinese Restaurant wings - excellent wings, nicely cooked with a crispy coating - 8.5/10.
I am glad to have provided Matt with much amusement by falling in the pool - even if I think the unfavorable comparison with an inflatable ball is a little harsh!
Emily Guest Blog
Hello everyone! Am very excited to have a guest spot in the blog...but not as excited as I am about being on my way to the sights, sounds and most importantly shops of New York City! We have had a good few days with Granny and Grandpa,and its been great to spend time with the travellers...although I'm reluctant to call them that after seeing the style they are travelling in-no internet cafes for these guys!! Anyway-nearly at the airport so better go! xx
08 September 2006
8th september 2006
So, where were we? Ah yes, we left toronto (bit tame and rained too much) and arrived in ann arbor via the "department of homeland insecurity". I think we said last time that Ann Arbor is really nice. Lots of restaurants and old uni buildings. A good atmosphere with a couple of local breweries churning out some useful IPA (indiana pale ale). Not to mention the awesome potbelly sandwich works...
From there it was a good four hour drive to chicago. Now unfortunately this weekend sees the chicago wine festival, the jazz festival and about five other festivals, which means the closest we could get to downtown is about 25 miles without spending over $300 per night. So, we are staying in the suburb of Lombard, west of the city. We arrived here wednesday night and didn't want to venture too far afield so went to the "Weber Grill" opposite. This is the weber who make the kettle barbeques. So, guess what kind of food? Yes, barbequed! I of course went for barbequed chicken, pork and beef obviously. Joey (who often pulls the vegetarian card when she doesn't like what's on the menu) ordered a 16oz steak! So, whilst I was suffering from the meatsweats struggling on the last mouthfuls of barbequed pulled pork, 'little' joey was putting the finishing touches to a goliath of a steak... I was so proud!
Yesterday, we got a train into chicago. Firstly we did the tourist bus, which is always good. Then lunch and shop 'browsing' (not shopping shop-watchers) on the magnificent mile.
In the afternoon we went to the zoo. It's a really good one with big enclosures for the animals. The polar bear, tigers, and apes were particularly good. You could get quite close and watch them for a while, that is until someone stuck their bloody great camera in and flashed away scaring the animals into hiding. Firstly when two lions were sleeping. Flash flash flash, and the poor little things hid behind rocks. Then at the gorillas, this huge one was sitting relaxing eating by the glass until some woman scared the crap out of it with the biggest flash on a camera i've ever seen. Jo and I were quite frustrated by this, but fortunately our english reserve came into effect and so we just muttered obscenities under our breath...
But the day didn't end there. A trip to the 94th floor observatory of the john hancock tower, dinner at the aforementioned potbelly sandwich works and a beer by the river made for a top day. Chicago is a fine city indeed...
Today is a doss day, currently at the laundrette (or laundromatt as these people call it), then we're going swimming. This afternoon we're going rock climbing on one of those training walls. Tonight, I would expect that we will encounter the cheesecake-sweats... Cool.
No wingwatch updates today. To be honest i'm struggling to eat a starter and main course in one sitting. No, i've not become a girl, but the food here is massive.
Oh, and for those that care: Adios McGhee you big tool...
Anyway, over to her...
Joey's musings! Not much to add really, having a great time though...off to see granny and grandpa tomorrow with em and hen which will be nice...thanks loads to lou, lou, nick and andy for your recent blogwatching! Ed would be a great travel companion indeed, even a possible contender for the wingwatch! Matt needs to get some more training in! Andy - I can't believe matt has managed to get sent off from 3000 miles away! He's clearly the people's hero! Taking one for the team I believe they say over there!
Love to you all,
Jo xxx
From there it was a good four hour drive to chicago. Now unfortunately this weekend sees the chicago wine festival, the jazz festival and about five other festivals, which means the closest we could get to downtown is about 25 miles without spending over $300 per night. So, we are staying in the suburb of Lombard, west of the city. We arrived here wednesday night and didn't want to venture too far afield so went to the "Weber Grill" opposite. This is the weber who make the kettle barbeques. So, guess what kind of food? Yes, barbequed! I of course went for barbequed chicken, pork and beef obviously. Joey (who often pulls the vegetarian card when she doesn't like what's on the menu) ordered a 16oz steak! So, whilst I was suffering from the meatsweats struggling on the last mouthfuls of barbequed pulled pork, 'little' joey was putting the finishing touches to a goliath of a steak... I was so proud!
Yesterday, we got a train into chicago. Firstly we did the tourist bus, which is always good. Then lunch and shop 'browsing' (not shopping shop-watchers) on the magnificent mile.
In the afternoon we went to the zoo. It's a really good one with big enclosures for the animals. The polar bear, tigers, and apes were particularly good. You could get quite close and watch them for a while, that is until someone stuck their bloody great camera in and flashed away scaring the animals into hiding. Firstly when two lions were sleeping. Flash flash flash, and the poor little things hid behind rocks. Then at the gorillas, this huge one was sitting relaxing eating by the glass until some woman scared the crap out of it with the biggest flash on a camera i've ever seen. Jo and I were quite frustrated by this, but fortunately our english reserve came into effect and so we just muttered obscenities under our breath...
But the day didn't end there. A trip to the 94th floor observatory of the john hancock tower, dinner at the aforementioned potbelly sandwich works and a beer by the river made for a top day. Chicago is a fine city indeed...
Today is a doss day, currently at the laundrette (or laundromatt as these people call it), then we're going swimming. This afternoon we're going rock climbing on one of those training walls. Tonight, I would expect that we will encounter the cheesecake-sweats... Cool.
No wingwatch updates today. To be honest i'm struggling to eat a starter and main course in one sitting. No, i've not become a girl, but the food here is massive.
Oh, and for those that care: Adios McGhee you big tool...
Anyway, over to her...
Joey's musings! Not much to add really, having a great time though...off to see granny and grandpa tomorrow with em and hen which will be nice...thanks loads to lou, lou, nick and andy for your recent blogwatching! Ed would be a great travel companion indeed, even a possible contender for the wingwatch! Matt needs to get some more training in! Andy - I can't believe matt has managed to get sent off from 3000 miles away! He's clearly the people's hero! Taking one for the team I believe they say over there!
Love to you all,
Jo xxx
05 September 2006
4th september
Joey's musings...
For those of you who are new to the blog, the format goes like this......
1.matt starts with a brief overview of location and events..
2. Matt straight in with the funnies/ quips
3. Wingwatch - need I say more!
4. Joeys brief and slightly dull follow up! Including pun of the day...
Today we have taken a detour from the set format by beginning with my own musings on recent events...
We have arrived in ann arbor following a long trip down from toronto..we arrived at U.S border control and yet again got pulled by the men with guns asking us what we were doing, in a stationary line of 100s of cars we appeared to be the only ones of interest. They then proceeded to put a parcel of "fake" narcotics in my bag and sent us blindly towards customs to see if the rookie dog could find them..after about 15 minutes with the gear on me the rather lovable dog came bounding over with his not so lovable armed owner..bizarre! I had horrible visions of being pulled over and asked to explain why I was carrying half of columbia's national export! Hope you are all well, thank you so much for all the postings..love to you all and the mum's too (hi B, fi and rosie)....i'm moving over for the funnyman now! Xxxx
P.S No puns today but watch this space!
Mr MHT Hill's section:
Oh, she's funny...
First things first: RIP Mr Steve Irwin. I am absoloutely gutted about the untimely demise of the legend that is the crocodile hunter. We were of course looking forward to seeing him in action at the Australia zoo in Brisbane and are genuinely gutted that he's died... "Mate, what a beauty!"
Back to business: Toronto. After my excellent birthday on the Friday, we then had all day saturday and sunday to investigate the town. What a strange place!!! Firstly, it's immaculate. All clean and tidy, perhaps a little too steralised. No rubbish, no homeless, no atmosphere, no people!!! When it rains (as it does wherever we go) all of the toronto residents go underground. There are something like 25 miles of underground walkways, shopping malls and restaurants. Very surreal. Sunday was better; we went on the bus tour and saw chinatown and the student area which had some atmosphere... In the end, we were quite relieved to get moving on again... As Joey said, the journey down here to Ann Arbor was eventful, but we're safely here now... Whilst driving down here, there was a sign on the edge of the freeway that said "injure or kill a freeway construction worker - $15,000", but we couldn't find one anywhere, which was a shame because we could do with a few extra bucks... Also, as we entered michigan, there was a sign by the road that read "prison area - do not pick up hitch-hikers"!!!
Wingwatch part III - big juicy wings with soy sauce and sesame seed coating and a honey mustard dip. Beautiful 7.5/10
And finally, TV here is scary. I don't want to sound like michael moore, but all they report on is death, murder, kill, homocide, tragedy etc etc. It's just fear fear fear everywhere...
Adios amigos.
For those of you who are new to the blog, the format goes like this......
1.matt starts with a brief overview of location and events..
2. Matt straight in with the funnies/ quips
3. Wingwatch - need I say more!
4. Joeys brief and slightly dull follow up! Including pun of the day...
Today we have taken a detour from the set format by beginning with my own musings on recent events...
We have arrived in ann arbor following a long trip down from toronto..we arrived at U.S border control and yet again got pulled by the men with guns asking us what we were doing, in a stationary line of 100s of cars we appeared to be the only ones of interest. They then proceeded to put a parcel of "fake" narcotics in my bag and sent us blindly towards customs to see if the rookie dog could find them..after about 15 minutes with the gear on me the rather lovable dog came bounding over with his not so lovable armed owner..bizarre! I had horrible visions of being pulled over and asked to explain why I was carrying half of columbia's national export! Hope you are all well, thank you so much for all the postings..love to you all and the mum's too (hi B, fi and rosie)....i'm moving over for the funnyman now! Xxxx
P.S No puns today but watch this space!
Mr MHT Hill's section:
Oh, she's funny...
First things first: RIP Mr Steve Irwin. I am absoloutely gutted about the untimely demise of the legend that is the crocodile hunter. We were of course looking forward to seeing him in action at the Australia zoo in Brisbane and are genuinely gutted that he's died... "Mate, what a beauty!"
Back to business: Toronto. After my excellent birthday on the Friday, we then had all day saturday and sunday to investigate the town. What a strange place!!! Firstly, it's immaculate. All clean and tidy, perhaps a little too steralised. No rubbish, no homeless, no atmosphere, no people!!! When it rains (as it does wherever we go) all of the toronto residents go underground. There are something like 25 miles of underground walkways, shopping malls and restaurants. Very surreal. Sunday was better; we went on the bus tour and saw chinatown and the student area which had some atmosphere... In the end, we were quite relieved to get moving on again... As Joey said, the journey down here to Ann Arbor was eventful, but we're safely here now... Whilst driving down here, there was a sign on the edge of the freeway that said "injure or kill a freeway construction worker - $15,000", but we couldn't find one anywhere, which was a shame because we could do with a few extra bucks... Also, as we entered michigan, there was a sign by the road that read "prison area - do not pick up hitch-hikers"!!!
Wingwatch part III - big juicy wings with soy sauce and sesame seed coating and a honey mustard dip. Beautiful 7.5/10
And finally, TV here is scary. I don't want to sound like michael moore, but all they report on is death, murder, kill, homocide, tragedy etc etc. It's just fear fear fear everywhere...
Adios amigos.
02 September 2006
2nd september 2006
1st september 2006 - my 31st birthday!
Happy birthday to me etc etc. Tonight we are in the city of toronto celebrating the most important day of the year. Nice. It's been a good day so far, thankyou for all the cards and messages, always appreciated.
Let me step back a little. I think that the last update was from ithaca and the finger lakes... In short, the area is stunning! The lakes and the surrounding areas, vineyards and waterfalls were beautiful. Taughannock falls were amazing. About 200 feet high and awesome.
From there we cruised on up to St. Catherines in Canada - no crap from the immigration guys there! We booked into some B&B which was clean but chintzy - the décor gave me a headache, but it was very comfortable and the breakfast was good, so we won't complain! (www.balaplace.com).
Last night we went to the canadian side of the niagara falls. They are beautiful at night, all lit up in the dark. We also went to the casino for the all-you-can-eat buffet, and a taste of Vegas!!!
This morning we got up early and went on The Maid Of The Mist. Soaking good fun!
Now we're here in toronto and joey has a nice dinner planned for me so bring on the grub!
No wing-watch update today wingwatchers, but hopefully it won't be too long before I get back to you with another instalment...
Finally, we're still struggling to send emails, and to make things worse, we can't rext or phone here either!!!
Joey's section: the morning after! Had a gr8 night drinking cocktails...pommegranite affair! Lovely! Matt had a nice birthday and was pleased with his cards and their contents! Raining in toronto too, the macs are coming in very handy indeed. Toronto seems nice but proper exploring begins today after a quick egg re fuel...
Forgot to mention in earlier blog that there will be a new watch entitled "joey's pun of the day".... Starting with...
1.This church has prayer conditioning (church in upstate new york)
2. If your out in the cold, follow the son!
Location as above
We will be in toronto till monday when there will be a movement south....no, not matt's bowels (the result of too many wings has turned wing watch into windwatch!). We will be staying in ann arbor mi after a day trip through detrioit....we have booked in at the 8mile trailer park with our host mr eminem..sounds familier but I can't quite place it! Will try to sort the e mail soon.
Love jo xx
Happy birthday to me etc etc. Tonight we are in the city of toronto celebrating the most important day of the year. Nice. It's been a good day so far, thankyou for all the cards and messages, always appreciated.
Let me step back a little. I think that the last update was from ithaca and the finger lakes... In short, the area is stunning! The lakes and the surrounding areas, vineyards and waterfalls were beautiful. Taughannock falls were amazing. About 200 feet high and awesome.
From there we cruised on up to St. Catherines in Canada - no crap from the immigration guys there! We booked into some B&B which was clean but chintzy - the décor gave me a headache, but it was very comfortable and the breakfast was good, so we won't complain! (www.balaplace.com).
Last night we went to the canadian side of the niagara falls. They are beautiful at night, all lit up in the dark. We also went to the casino for the all-you-can-eat buffet, and a taste of Vegas!!!
This morning we got up early and went on The Maid Of The Mist. Soaking good fun!
Now we're here in toronto and joey has a nice dinner planned for me so bring on the grub!
No wing-watch update today wingwatchers, but hopefully it won't be too long before I get back to you with another instalment...
Finally, we're still struggling to send emails, and to make things worse, we can't rext or phone here either!!!
Joey's section: the morning after! Had a gr8 night drinking cocktails...pommegranite affair! Lovely! Matt had a nice birthday and was pleased with his cards and their contents! Raining in toronto too, the macs are coming in very handy indeed. Toronto seems nice but proper exploring begins today after a quick egg re fuel...
Forgot to mention in earlier blog that there will be a new watch entitled "joey's pun of the day".... Starting with...
1.This church has prayer conditioning (church in upstate new york)
2. If your out in the cold, follow the son!
Location as above
We will be in toronto till monday when there will be a movement south....no, not matt's bowels (the result of too many wings has turned wing watch into windwatch!). We will be staying in ann arbor mi after a day trip through detrioit....we have booked in at the 8mile trailer park with our host mr eminem..sounds familier but I can't quite place it! Will try to sort the e mail soon.
Love jo xx
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