(Day 1 to 3) Seward, Alaska

So we finally got under way after sitting around for a couple of hours! Our guide Mike is very entertaining and full of beans. The group is multinational and everyone seems to get on very well (i'll report back on that one by the end of the week)! First stop Fred Meyer... Grocery shopping and then a 3 hour drive to Seward with a few stops on the way for photographic opportunities! I still can't really get over how beautiful this place is... it's breathtaking and def the Last Frontier!

Seward is a pretty small coastal town on the shores of Recurrection Bay, we were camping almost right on the shore line and i don't think you could've dreamed for a better view from a tent (fotos later)! We were surround by water and snow capped mountains! The weather on the first 2 days on Seward wasn't the best, it rained on and off and the wind is very chilly but otherwise not to bad!

First day in Seward was basically set up camp (thanks Mike for our Tent 101 lecture), get to know our fellow trekkers, make dinner (Mike's world famous burgers) and then off to the bar... Hobo Jim (an Alaskan Legend) was singing, so naturally we couldn't pass up the chance to see Hobo Jim live! It was quite an experience, i think the whole community of 100 people had come out to soak it up!! I tried the local brew... Alaskan Summer Ale, very tasty! I was ready for bed by about midnight but the sun wasn't... it only goes down around 2am and only for between 3 and 4 hours, freaky!

On our second day in Seward we all went on a 8 hour cruise out to Holgate Glacier and back... def worth the price! It was incredible and the wildlife we saw was amazing! I was pretty determined i wanted to see whales and Alaska delivered. We saw 3 Humpback Whales... what an experience, they are so huge and beautiful and that noise as they blow air out their blow holes is incredible! The Puffins were amusing... there was a feeding frenzy going on and the Puffins had obviously eaten way to much because they were trying to take off and couldn't get off the water... we were all willing them on! We also saw Sea Otters... very cute; Steller sea lions... who were doing what seals do best, sleeping; Coastal Mountain Goats... they were very fasinating because they were feeding on a sheer rock face, how do they do it; Dall's porpoises... they were swimming with the boat, very cool and they look like mini Orcas; and then as an extra treat we spotted a Black Bear on the shore so the captain got us in really close... it was just pottering around on the shore looking for food! I think that's all the wildlife we saw, the Park Ranger on board said that our cruise is one of the luckiest this season with regards to wildlife viewing! :) We enjoyed a buffet of prime rib, salmon and all you can eat dessert on the boat... yummy in my tummy!! Oh yes, i almost forgot about Holgate Glacier... one big block of ice! It was amazing to just watch it and listening to the ice cracking off and falling into the water.... calving they call it!

Third day started with a small hike to Exit Glacier, were i actually got it touch it and see for myself how big of a block of ice it actually is... massive btw! The rest of the day was spent at leisure, i walked around downtown Seward (which i think is a little over touristy, every shop sells tourist crap... but hey, they have to make a living i suppose) and then parked off on the shore and watched the world go by for a couple of hours! Got to see a Bald Eagle swoop down and pluck a fish from the water, settle on the shore to eat it's catch and fly off again... amazing! All and all, a very good day... it's been a long time since i've been able to just sit and soak everything up! We then packed up the camp and hit the road to Hope (that's the name of the one horse town), more of that later! :)

Mindblowing (Day 1)

So i arrived in Anchorage at 1058pm... to sunshine and blue skies, it felt like midday... incredible! I was so tired by the time i got to my hostel but there was so much to take in and the fact that it was so light meant i got about 3 hours sleep last night (on my second cup of very strong coffee)!

The flight in was amazing, seeing all the mountains covered in snow and the water and, and, and...!!! I really can't wait to set off on our tour... it's gonna be incredible!

I am currently sitting around waiting for the rest of our group to meet up with us... so far we have 1 guy from Boston, 2 Irish girls, an english couple on their honeymoon, a girl from Equador and a kiwi girl (who was very excited when i asked where abouts in NZ she came from... apparently i'm the first to not call her an Aussie)!

We are going on a cruise tomorrow to see what we can see, i wasn't gonna do it but i thought what the hell... lets blow the savings! :)

More details and fotos as soon as i can!
Bye for now :)

Alaska, watch out... here comes trouble!

I can't really believe June 24th 2006 has arrived... i booked this trip months ago and never thought i'd get there!

Well i got to DIA (Denver International Airport) the traditional 2 hours early for the first leg of my flight to Anchourage, only to be told that my flight to San Francisco had been cancelled... nice one United! After a little bit of a panic, i was rebooked on a flight to Seattle and then onto Anchorage... so here i sit at Seattle International Airport for a very long 6 hours... thank goodness for wireless internet! :) I now get into Anchorage 3 hours later... but better later than never hey. I'll probably be able to squeeze in about 5 hours sleep before i'm off on my little 7 day camping trek!

I'll keep you updated as best as i can whilst in Alaska! Bye for now! :)

Cloud Gate... $26million bean 

Cloud Gate (aka The Bean)... me taking a foto of me 

The end is here

Well i never thought this day would come, but here it is! Today is 20 June 2006... the day my J1 visa expires, which means i'm officially unemployed!! I can't believe 2 years have gone by!

The family has been away (in Mexcio) since last friday and get back after i've left for Alaska (in 4 days btw) so i've been bumming around the house and Denver for the last couple of days! I have a bedroom to paint tomorrow and my bedroom to pack into 2 suitcases by Friday... should keep me extremely busy!!

The new au pair arrives while i'm in Alaska... should be an interesting time for the family and my little cheeky monkeys!!!

Well i'll be seeing all of you in South Africa soon... miss everyone lots :)

Beautiful Denver sunset over the Rockies 

The slogan of my weekend in Chicago... We drink our share & the rest! 

2 days to go

Well it has come down to the last 2 days of work here in the US... i can't really believe that it's all coming to an end and i'll be unemployed pretty soon!!! Yesterday my tickets home arrived via Fedex and to my surprise my heart sunk and i felt really sad! But on a more joyful point, i am off to Alaska in 9 days... and man am i getting excited, hopefully the mosquitoes won't carry me off! I'll be spending a week at home alone before my trip to Alaska because the family is off to Mexico on Saturday, so by the time i get home i should be well rested!!!

On a quick housekeeping issue... Blogger are still working on the whole photo uploading issue so i apologise for the lack of photographic evidence but you can click on the My Flickr link on the right and check out the fotos i've uploaded so far! :)

Ciao for now... more updates will follow shortly!

What happens in Chicago....

.... stays in Chicago! Ok, so Chicago is no Las Vegas, but it was loads of fun!!!

I arrived late (thanks to trusty Southwest Airlines) on Friday night in a chilly and windy (who would've guessed that in the Windy City) Chicago and made a mad dash to find the hostels i was staying in! Once i had checked in, it was another mad dash for the pub to meet up with the Bootsnall clan and what a great clan they turned out to be!!! After downing 3 beers to catch up with the others, i was on my merry way! I had a most enjoyable evening and it was ended by a visit to Weiner Circle... a famous hotdog stand where you get service with a smile... hehe, oh no you don't! It's a great way to finish an evening... been greeted with, "What you want, bitch!" and they don't give you your order till you tip them... it was actually very funny, cos the customers give them the same attitude back! (Chocolate Shake... you had to be there) We then had a long walk back to the hostel in the pouring rain and what i thought was the end of the night turned out to be just the start with a bottle of After Shock appearing... the rest is history! :)

Saturday morning got off to a very slow start and very eventually made it to breakfast at about midday! Once that was in our bellys we headed into downtown Chicago for a spot of sightseeing. First stop, the Chicago Blues Festival... there was more food being sold than blues being played so we decided on an Irish Pub for lunch! Then was a gentle stroll to Lake Michigan... it's incredible to think it's a lake when you can't see the other side, but it was great to see a large body of water again! We went a little snap happy around the Cloud Gate or The Bean as we like to call it, it's an fascinating structure where you can see everything around it at every angle! That was the sightseeing for the day... time to return to the hostel for a much needed nap before another night on the town!

Refreshed and ready to go, we piled in a taxi and found our way... no thanks to the taxi driver, to the Map Room, a very interesting travellers tavern, where we met up with more BNA members! It was a great evening spent sampling beers from around the world and chatting with other travellers! Once most of us were well saturated in alcohol we headed for a karaoke bar! The hostess has to be bribed to allow you to sing and as a group we sang For The Longest Time by Billy Joel... hehe!!!! It was then time to hit Weiner Circle again for a yummy and well fought for hot dog!

Sunday, we met up for breakfast at our diner and then most of us parted ways... people were heading back to all corners of the states and overseas! I headed back downtown to do a little more walking and geeky touristy stuff... walked around the whole of Navy Pier and then made my way up Sears Tower (the 3rd tallest building in the world) to see what i could see and man i could see loads!!!

All and all, it was a fantastic weekend in Chicago in more ways than one! ;) Chicago is a beautiful city with something always going on and it was great to meet some other members of BNA (www.bootsnall.com)

I have a couple of days of work left and just under 2 weeks to go til my trip to Alaska... woohoo, bring on the holidays! :)

There's the motivation Americans need! :) 

(USA back track 6) I left my heart in San Francisco

Hehe... ok not really, but i couldn't think of any other title that had to do with San Francisco, so i apologise for my corniness (if that's even a word)!

September 05: Well summer in Colorado was pretty quiet and extremely hot... we had an eleven day stretch where the temps were above 100F (which is 38C)! This place defiantly goes from one extreme to the other in terms of temperature.

The excitement came when mother dearest took the long haul trip to visit me. It was fab seeing her again! On her first day, we went on a little 3hr road trip into the Rockies, to a beautiful town called Grand Lake... and by the name you can work out, it's built around a huge lake! A couple of days later mom and i took in a brilliant John Fogerty and John Mellencamp concert at Red Rocks Ampitheatre (it's an amazing natural ampitheatre in the foothills of the Rockies)... what an experience and mom absolutely loved it, she still raves about it!!

Next on the agenda, a 3 day trip to San Francisco. I was like a little school kid, walking around with my mouth wide open, taking in all the sights and sounds i'd seen on TV and read about! Of course we did all the touristy things... riding the Cable Car was one of the more pleasurable experiences because the drivers and conductor were very entertaining. Mom and i hit Pier 39 first cos our hotel was within walking distance and what would a trip to Pier 39 be like without a ferry ride past Alcatraz and to the big red bridge and back! Also hit up Ghirardelli square, which is apparently is the best chocolate in the world... it wasn't bad at all, but nothing beats South African Cadbury.

The next day, mom was feeling brave and decided we needed to walk up to the crockest road in the world... i think we walked up the steepest road in the world. Anyhoo... man, is that road crocked, i think the builders must have been pissed! The rest of the day was taken up by walking around the city and of course... shopping. We walked through China Town, where there was some festival on the go... Got Sushi? They had dragon dances, music and magicians and loads of Chinese food on the go, it was mist enjoyable!

On the last full day, mom and i decided to take a trip across the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Wood and a small seaside town called Sausalito! The forest was amazing, you feel like a tiny ant inamongst those trees... i had this amazing feeling of peace walking around there. Sausalito was tiny and pretty uneventful, mom and i stopped by a pub and had a quiet drink.

San Francisco is an amazing city and it's definately a place i would go back to! Mom's 2 week visit came to an end pretty quickly... even quicker due to the fact that she got her departure date wrong and i realised 3 hours before her plane was outta here... go mom go!!! :)

PS I've added a link to my Flickr page on the right, so you can see all my photos (well almost all) that i've taken on my trips... i'm still updating it so bare with me! :)

Btw, i apologise for the lack of photos but the blogger program is experiencing technical problems at the mo, so as soon as it's working i'll add them... you can check out some photos by clicking on the My Flickr link

(USA back track 5) Salt Lake City

May/June 2005: I nearly forgot about my little trip over the Rockies to Utah... it was associated with my exams and i tend to forget about anything to do with exams. Speaking of exams i have just finished this semester's exams which means, provided i pass all of them, i've finished my first year.... woohoo!

Ok, back to Salt Lake City... now this definitely wasn't on my places to visit when i arrived in the states, but thanks to the wonderful organisational skills of UNISA (University of South Africa)... said with a touch of sarcasm, i landed having to write my exams in, what turned out to be quite a pretty city! I made 2 trips over the mountains, the first was fairly uneventful, i went there, wrote the exam and come home. On my second trip i had to stay for a couple of days... i stayed at the University of Utah Guest House (lovely little place) and enjoyed a touch of American campus life minus the students (summer vacation), i later found out that i was staying in the 2002 Winter Olympic Village.

Inside the Union Pacific Depot... amazing building

On the day i had no exam, i hoped on the Trax of made my way downtown to do a little sightseeing. I had a look around Market Square where the Mormon Church (or to be more specific... The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints) and the Tabernacle Choir are located... very fascinating place (still don't agree with the whole thing, but each to their own)! Next was a walk down to The Gateway Plaza, which is an extension of the Union Pacific Railway Depot and was built mainly to service the Olympics. Other than that, i didn't really have time to see and do loads more, cos there was studying to be done... but it was an enjoyable unexpected side trip.

Stay tuned for more updates now that i have more time on my hands!