Day 28: Final Destination- Rocky Mountains, Colorado

Today, we went to the Rocky Mountain national park! It was incredible, all of the mountains. It was very cool seeing snow somewhere where it's not particularily cold. I saw a yellow bellied marmot, and a picot, as well as many elk as usual. We went over 12,000 feet in elevation above sea level. Then we played a game, and made up names for girl cows in every letter of the alphabet, as well as boy horses, and things we could see outside. For x, i insisted we find someone named Xaviar outside. It was a fun day with lots of laughing. We had some spicy noodles for supper, and went shopping at Target. Wish we had target in St.Thomas, we bought lots of neat things. Getting ready for an early morning tomorrow!

Day 27: Final Destination- Boulder, Colorado

Today was pretty much a driving day! We woke up, and left for Boulder...6 hours later we got here and walked along the pedestrian shopping street. Went into an awesome toy store and bought a couple of souvenirs. We had a nice supper at the Cheesecake factory, and came back for a relaxing night at our hotel. Slow day, but looking forward to the Rocky Mountain National Park tomorrow.

Day 26: Final Destination- Ouray, Colerado

Happy Birthday Mom!! We had such a nice day, starting off with a lovely breakfast at our bed and breakfast. We walked to Cascade Falls, and right behind us we heard someone walking, we turned around, and there was a BEAR! It was the craziest feeling! We also drove up this steep, narrow, gravel road up a 1000 ft. mountain, getting a little scared when we would see crosses on the edge of the mountain where people had fallen off and died. We drove the "Million Dollar Highway" and had a nice lunch in Silverton. Then, we strolled the main street of Ouray, had a nap, and went to a clothing optional Hot spring pool. There were 6 "ponds" filled with mineral hot springs. It was incredible how hot some of them were, for not being heated up!! It was so fun. We had a nice b-day dinner, and a great evening!

Day 25: Final Destination- Ouray, Colerado

Today was a driving day-unintentionaly. We got up and went to Arches National Park. We ended up attempting to "hike" at noon, in the desert, which got too hot, so we admired the spiraling rocks from our car. At about 1:00, we decided to drive to Ouray which was supposed to take about 3 hours. At 6:30 we were still driving, because mom insisted on not following the GPS, and going the scenic route. It was pretty, but long. We had a fabulous dinner at an old western restaurant, with a talented man playin the Honky-Tonk piano. We chatted him up for a bit, and I had escargot, a good salad, and clam linguine! We are staying in a bed and breakfast, with a hot tub right outside our door. It is going to be a nice, relaxing couple of next days!

Day 24: Final Destination- Moab, Utah

Today was a total, complete nature day. We drove to Kodachrome Basin State Park, and saw tons of red rock formations. We drove to Shakespeare's Arch, and did a little bit of hiking. Later we drove over "washboard roads" as they called it. We've never been on any road so bumpy. We climbed over the huge rock, and we heard the conversation of the families in front of us. "Hey, you got a gun?" "No, why?" "Oh, there's a rattlesnake right beside this rock." We weren't fortunate to see it though. We saw lots of desert today, and earth that looked like it could've been Mars. No civilisation whatsoever, no water, no people, just gray huge mounds of rock. It was really interesting, and a day to get friendly with the outdoors. Just before ariving in Moab, we saw petroglyphs on the rocks. They were designs that the Indians carved in the rock. We ate at the restaurant Ed McStiffy...it was a full day.

Day 23: Final Destination-Tropic, Utah

Crazy driving-curves and steep things! We drove to Bryce Canyon, but before seeing the natural park, we went to Ruby's Inn, and saw petrified wood, rocks, and sand stone. At the back of Ruby's Inn, we went on an 1 1/2 horse ride through the red rock! It was so much fun; my horse's name was Spud, and he had attitude. Mom's horses name was Fiona and she was sturdy, and had especially big ankles. Coincidence? After getting off and having rather sore bums, we drove through Bryce Canyon and stopped at pretty much every scenic turnout to take picture. There were lots of Hoodoos, spirals, and arcs, and the colours looked magnificent. We stayed in a tiny town called Tropic, that consisted of 1 street, 2 restaurants, and 3 motels. All in all, a fun day:)

Day 22: Final Destination-Cedar City, Utah

Kind of a slow day which was nice. We drove to Page Utah, and drove around, and around, and around in circles it seemed. Our GPS took us through the industrial part. Then we went to Lake Powell, which was beautiful. Their was a dam in the Glen Canyon, and we took some nice pictures. We drove to Cedar City, stopping along the way to take pictures at some scenic stops. We had a very nice supper at our KOA and had some down time (for once on our trip.) A relaxing day in the USA.

Day 21: Final Destination- Flagstaff, Arizona

What a Grand day to see the Grand Canyon. We got to the Grand Canyon and walked a few miles along the edge of the Canyon so we could really get a feel for it. It was huge, and I can't even put it into words how fascinating it was. It was so deep, and what looked to us like a tiny tiny stream down below, was really a 300 ft. wide river. To drive around it is 250 miles,(402 km) and it is absolutely huge! It's like it's a canyon or something. (Moms terrible cheezy joke.) The heat has gotten much better, and is now bearable. We were at the Canyon for the whole day, and after being starved, drinking a very sweet drink, and feeling sick and not so hungry any more, we both flaked out on the bed for a while. We have officialy turned around, and are on our way back. What a great trip it's been so far.

Day 20:Final Destination- Williams, Arizona

We got to do shopping in Vegas! It was very fun, although hot! I got a couple rompers since they're all the rage here, and we went into the Belagio to see the flower display. We rushed to our hotel so we'd be able to check out in time, and we drove to the Hoover damn. We saw that, where on one side the water was high, and then after passing through these HUGE metal towers, and bridges, the water went low on the other side. Quite a work of engineering! We went to a little Route 66 museum after, and drove to Williams. We had a nice supper with a strange musician to entertain us. L-L-A-M-A is how you spell llama was one of the songs he sung. A slower day, which was good because my headache and tiredness was only getting worse. It might be altitude sickness, mono, or dehydration, but whatever it is, a whack of advils and drinks has been working which is good.

Day 19:Final Destination-Las Vegas, Nevada

What a busy day. We started off by driving around Beverly Hills to look at the huge homes of the stars. We drove down Rodeo Dr. where no one can afford to shop there but the stars. Then, we drove up to see the Hollywood sign. After that, we tried to find Route 66 to drive down, but only ended up finding a little bit of it. We went out of our way to the Route 66 museum, which ended up being closed. After that we went to Barstow for supper and as I got out of the car, it felt like my eyes were burning. It was SO hot, they had rags on their door handles to stop you from burning your hands. It was 46.7 degrees C without humidity.(Although it was a dry heat) Then, we drove to Vegas, but got there later then we wanted, and since I was still sick, we just drove the strip. We saw all of the lights, and the stores, and fountains, and nightlife, it was very Cool! My throat has gotten better, but my headache's only been getting worse. That was our very busy day!

Day 18: Final Destination-Seal Beach, California

Today was total beach day! We saw Sunset beach, Seal beach, and spent our day at Huntington Beach. Huntington beach is the beach on the screen in the Hollister stores, and it's known as California's "surf" beach. It was not very sunny but we have definatly learned you can get burned under the clouds. The waves were Huge and SO STRONG! Mom and I were literally out on the shoreline 20 inches into the water, and the waves and current got us wet up to our shoulders. The waves were small but strong, and wiped us out repeadedly. It was lots of fun, and we had a nice dinner, and are at a lovely hotel. Very fancy, and pretty, and comfy. Nice relaxing day.

Day 17:Final Destination-Longbeach, Los Angeles,California

Today we went to Universal Studios in Hollywood, and it was amazing. We started off with the Studio tour, and we actually got to see some glimpses of live shooting and sets! We saw where Jaws, King Kong, and Desperate housewives was and is filmed, along with some props from tons of movies! There was lots of 3D experiences as well. Then, we saw how special effects are done which was really interesting. After that, we saw Shrek 4D and then went on the Simpsons ride. It was a virtual roller coaster, death drop, and amusement park and it was really fun! We also saw a 4D terminator theatre thing which was cool, and a fireworks/water show with actors from CSI, Lost, and other shows. The whole park was a lot of fun. We also came to Longbeach and had a nice supper and walked along the pier. I'm feeling a lot better now too, which makes everything a lot more fun again!

Day 16:Final Destination-Los Angeles, California

Today was an early morning, because we didn't want to miss our Hearst castle tour again. We went to Hearst castle and it's stunning. It's absolutely huge, with over 2 500 pieces of art which was 1/10 of Mr. Hearst's collection. Famous stars gathered there during the '20's and '30's and would mingle and show their movies. The guest houses were huge, and the indoor pool was all made with tiles of 24 K gold! It was so big, it was hard to soak everything in. He had kangaroos, zebras, and other exotic animals on his land, and owned 250 000 acres. Then, we drove to Santa Barbara, and ate at Super-Rica, where Julia Child once ate. The whole city is Spanish looking, and very happening and pretty! We then drove through crazy trafic, with mom gripping on the steering wheel with sweaty hands through L.A. It was rush hour, and as it so happens, there was something happening at Ford Amphitheatre (a movie premiere) so the traffic was pretty busy. It was also a Friday night, on Hollywood Blvd. We took a nice walk along Hollywood blvd. where we looked at the star's tiles, and put our hands where their's were. We walked past the Kodak theatre, and explored the town at night. It's a very very hip and happening place, with awesome people watching;)

Day 15: Final Destination- Pismo Beach

Quite a busy day...but very fun. We got up bright and early, and went to the Monterey aquarium. It is known to be the best awuarium in the world...and I can see why. Amazing tanks full of sea otters, penguins, flamingos, anenome, octupus, and millions of fish and coral. The people were so knowledgable, and the fish were very beautiful. We got to touch the starfish, kelp, and stingrays and watch the sea lions sit on the rocks outside. We had to leave so we could get to Hearst castle on time, but in the end we missed it because we got stuck behind slow drivers. Our tour was for 4:10, but we got there at 4:30, which was the last tour of the day. After being frusterated about that for about 3 minutes, we drove to Pismo beach. (Also during that day we went to Pebble beach, and did the 17 mile drive. Incredible views of the ocean, and amazing houses.) We ate at a surfer bar and grill, and then watched the sun set over the ocean, sipping hot chocolate and watching the surfer gods go nonstop on the waves. Really nice little town, and a great day.

Day 14: Final Destination- Santa Cruz, Monterey California

After chatting with some locals, sitting at the breakfast bar sipping juice and eating fruit, we browsed around the book stores on main street in the town of Mariposa. We decided Yosemite would just be too much to get done, as well as everything else, so we decided to leave that for another time. After leaving Mariposa, we drove to our KOA and actually arived during the day! My cold was just getting worse, and for the first time, we experienced the Americain Medical system. Doctor visit-$200. Strep throat swab test-$58. Prescription-$35. You can see how our health care would cost so much now. I got med. for having strep throat, as well as a cold and it has really been helping. We took it easy for the night(although I did get up for 2 hours in the middle of the night and ate a whole bucket of berries and sat outside.)

Day 13:Final Destination-Yosemite, California

Today we drove to lake Tahoe. A nice drive, although I am still sick so I mostly slept. Lake Tahoe was beautiful! There were lots of mountains, and although there was snow up above us, I finally experienced hot California and got sunburned on the beach. The lake has enough water to cover all of California with a foot of water. We drove through Yosemite, ignoring the GPS because we're stubborn, and we added hours onto the drive, going from our arrival time being 7:00 to actually getting to our hotel at 11:00. The drive was worth it though, we were elivated 10 000 feet in the air, and we were above mountain tops. It was absolutely breath taking, and thrilling. It was more thrilling when we were on the edge of the cliff, while it was dark at night, with elk crossing the road, seeing the outline of mountains, and signs saying "watch out for elk" "watch out for falling rock" "watch out for ice on roads" "watch out for falling trees" and etc.etc. Quite a lot of laughs though, and can't wait to go back to the National Park tomorrow!

Day 12:Final Destination-San Francisco, California

We got to sleep in!! Walking up all of the hills in San Francisco really takes energy. We took a bus tour to Golden Gate Park, and then went to Haight/Ashbury street-the ultimate Hippie destination!! It had such unique little shops with artsy grafitti, costume directors searching for outfits from the vintage stores, and we had crepes and chai tea. The town was full of bizzare people, legs with fishnet stocking coming out of the walls, and murals. After that, we went to North Beach(Little Italy) where we had a nice pasta lunch, and went to the City Lights book store. (Oldest book store in California) We walked up to the Coit tower(VERY steep hill) and we made it. Had a nice view, and then we cooled off with some nice lemonade at a corner diner. We walked down to Pier 39 where there was fun shopping, and a hilarious street magician. We finished our night off with Clam Chowder in a sourdough bread bowl at Boudin bakery and made it to our hotel alive that night!

Day 11:Final Destination-Alcatraz, California

So...where do I begin? We started off the morning with watching the cable car turn around by hand, and we rode it up to Fisherman's Wharf, where we got on a tour bus. We took the tour bus to get an idea about the city, as well as to see all of the stores at Union Square, and the Westin St.Francis clock. We went to Chinatown for lunch, and bought some nice souvenirs. After Chinatown, we took a fairy accross San Francisco bay to ALCATRAZ prison! We looked around at the huge prison where they once kept the worst prisoners. It was a night tour, so we got the real deal! We took a cable car back to our hotel that night, after a very lovely city day.

Day 10: Final Destination-San Francisco

We ate breakfast in Eureka,after deciding whether or not we should eat in the "charming" farmers market or not-we decided on Denny's. We drove through the Avenue of the Giants in California. It was a forest full of GIANT redwood trees. We saw a tree that survived someone trying to cut it down, a forest fire, and it was struck by lightning; it was well over 1000 years old! We also drove through a STILL LIVING tree...like drove through it:it was huge! The roads were so windy, and the tall trees covered any light from the sky! Then, we drove all along the coast to Mendocino. There, we had a very lovely, sophisticated dinner at the Mendocino café where I had muscles and oisters over a wine sauced pasta. It was a very artsy town. We finaly got to San Francisco and made it through the low gas scramble, the hills, the parking situation, the golden gate bridge at night, the strange people, and the luggage hasle. Now, we're ready for a good time!

Day 9:Final Destination-Arcata, California

Today we had a nice, big breakfast at the Blue Whale. We then drove to plenty of little off road viewpoints of the Pacific coast. The fog was misting up over the ocean, and filling the air with a cool breeze. It was very picturesque and had a spooky feeling. We took little walks to get good picture viewpoints, and would occasionaly walk along the beach until it got too cold. Then, we drove to the Oregon Sand Dunes, where there were people sand surfing down the dunes. It was a nice, hot but not so hot it burns your feet type of sand,and we layed down to soak up some sun. After that, we tried to find more dunes, but kept accidentally driving past them-woops. There were nice pictures to be taken, and was a nice day to relax. Went to a chinese/steak restaurant and I felt like having won ton soup, and sweet potato fries:) We're in California now baby.

Day 8:Final Destination-Newport, Oregon

Woke up and finally were able to sleep in! I discovered my love-Denny's, and had an awesome breakfast. Then we went to Hawthorne street: the absolute Hippie street! Insense, beads, bandanas, jewelry, and amazing vintage clothing. Went to the biggest vintage clothing store ever and found the coolest stuff. Then, we drove to Seaside and found out they were having their Miss Oregon competion that night. After looking around their streets going past the carousel, and dipping our toes in the ocean, we headed to Cannon beach to go to Mo's for supper; we had their famous clam chowder! On our way to Newport, we had a traffic jam because a guy's boat caught on fire at the side of the road.(At least we knew the tsunami evacuation route. There were signs everywhere) Quite an adventurous, but slower paced day!

Day 7:Final Destination-Portland, Oregon

Mileage:1200 km
Drove for 14 hours straight....well mom drove for 14 hours straight. That's about all I can say for the day...another hour back now, so the time difference is 3 hours now. Driving, driving, and more driving was my day!

Day 6:Final Destination-West Yellowstone, Montana

Today we went to Yellowstone National Park for 12 hours. Soo beautiful and picturesque there. We saw mountains where the snow was on the ground, lakes, rivers, hot springs, volcanic bubbling mud, and shooting geisers. We watched Old Faithful spew it's scalding water, and spotted plenty of bison, deer, elk, and bald eagles just to name a few. Beautiful trails, and canyons. All in all, magnificent sights seen today.

Day 5:Final Destination-Cody, Wyoming

Mileage:800 km
Today we drove down route 16, a very scenic byway to Wyoming. It deffinately is the wild west alright. We had caribou and elk burgers, and walked down to see the daily gun fight on main street. It was very loud. Everywhere you look there are cowboys! Then we went to a real live rodeo full of bull riding, calf catching, team bull catching, and wild horse riding, along with riding around barrels. Loving the cowboys everywhere, I might just turn into a cowgirl over here! It was very cold, way less than 10 degrees celcius! Having lots of fun:)

Day 4:Final Destination-Deadwood, South Dakota

Mileage:100 km
Today was our wilderness day. We got up bright and early at 5:30, thinking it was 6:30, except I forgot to switch the clocks back an hour for the alarm, woops. We had a nice pancake breakfast, and went to the Bear place of the states. We drove around the park and saw TONS of different animals, like Dear, and mountain goats just coming up to our ccar. Loads of bears roaming around. Then, we saw Mount Rushmore National Monument with Washington, Jefferson, Rossevelt, and Lincoln. Then we went to Custar State Park and saw hundreds of bison roaming around, and donkeys were coming up to our car. There were lots of canyons, tunnels, and rocks, and it was a nice nature day. Very peaceful:)

Day 3: Final Destination-Rapid Hills, South Dakota

Mileage:800 km.
Today we drove, drove and drove until we got to the Badlands in South Dakota. Absolutely breath taking, so beautiful there are no words or pictures to describe it. It is so pretty here, and the drive was worth it. Then we went to Wall Drugstore, which is the biggest drugstore in the world-literally. 4 blocks long, it's known for it's free ice water, 5 cent coffee, good ice cream, and loads of stuff to do. It was very cool, and we tried on lots of cowboy outfits; I might just be a cowgirl when I get home:) All in all, very good day!

Day 2:Final Destination-Minneapolis, Minnesota

Today we were up and at em' making our own belgium waffles at 7:00 a.m. Our car battery died, so we had to jack that back up as well. We went to the "fourth street elevator" in Debuque to see a view of the city. Up there, you could see 3 states. Then we drove along the Mississippi river to Pikes Peak. It had an amazing view, and it had great trails. Then we drove through Wisconsin, and got to Minneapolis where we went to the MALL OF AMERICA. It was huge, with the Nickelodeon Theme park in the middle for 7 acres. Lots of good deals, and the people were so friendly here today. All in all, very good, successfull, fun, and tiring day:)

Day 1: Final destination-Dubuque Iowa

Mileage:1000 km
Today we drove for 13 hours, but because of the time difference it only turned out to be 12. We drove through Michigan, and through Indiana.Through Illinois, and the Chicago rush hour traffic was a little, actually a lot scary but we made it! We drove through Iowa and it was very peaceful.Mark Twain said that Iowa had the best sunsets, and I can see why. It's beautiful here with old buildings and fields and hills that go for miles. We've seen 28 lisence plates already.We're staying in Dubuque right now, and the weather is pretty peaceful outside. It's July 1st, and we are so excited to have started our adventure.