New York, New York

   The plan, at the start of the week commencing Tuesday, 14th August, was to find some time to sit down at a computer and tidy up all of the maps, all the stats, all of the data and to have the blog of the final week all ready for publication on 21 August 2012, right before we jumped on the plane back to the UK. Quite obviously, that didn’t happen.

   New York was in the way of any such hopes.  Seven days did not do it justice, nor did our 5 hours in Washington DC allow us any more than a fleeting glimpse of that marvellous city and its monuments and museums.  Thirty minutes in Philadelphia was plenty of time to answer the Philly cheese steak question (Pat’s is better, and still not worth the detour).

   We arrived on the overnight bus from Boston and after freshening up over breakfast in a café we head to West 26th Street to meet up with Dan at his work.  Bless him he bore it well as we arrived in his office, heavy laden with our packs and looking as respectable as one can when all your worldly possessions are strapped to your back.

   What followed was a week of amazing hospitality from Dan and his girlfriend Kendra, as they put us up in his place, took us out on the town, fed us a constant stream of itinerary ideas, introduced us to the Yankees and generally took the opportunity to overwhelm us with the wonders of New York and the warmth of its people.  It was as though we were already home, even more so as we were joined by Jeff who came over from London to spend our last week with us!

   I have given a run down of the highlights below.  We were so lucky to have an amazing week with Jeff and Dan and Kendra.  A huge thanks to Dan and Kendra for having Kiz and me to stay for the week and for all your help and love (recommendations for baked goods - yum!).  We really really appreciated it.  Thank you so much and remember, there will always be somewhere for you to stay in Melbourne, Australia - my mum and dad are really welcoming!

The highlights

   Jeff and I went to see the New York Giants play the New York Jets at their shared home stadium, somewhat inexplicably in New Jersey.

   Proper New York Bagels with locks and cream cheese.

   Jeff and Kizzy and I all went to see the Yankees beat the Red Sox in the most picturesque of sporting contexts.

   We took a walk on the Highline, an old and now disused railway line elevated above the city streets of the lower east side, which has been redeveloped into a beautiful garden walk.

   Oysters and Lobster at the Oyster Bar under the arches in Grand Central Station.

   Running from Central Park to MOMA in the pouring rain to make it to the free Friday evening entry, with brief respite from the worst of the downpour in the surprisingly welcoming haven of the Gucci store.

   Visiting Brooklyn and DUMBO before walking back over the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan.

   Walking around the 9/11 memorial.

   Road trip to Washington DC, returning via Baltimore (unintended), Philadelphia (unwisely intended) and a full circuit of the ring road around Philadelphia (no-one in the car knows how that happened).

Actually, that last one needs just a little explanation.  We picked up our car on the Thursday morning at 8:00am, planning to drive to and From Washington DC and return the car at 7:30am the following morning.  Possibly returning via Philadelphia for a cheesesteak midnight snack.  Without a satnav.  Or a proper map of Philadelphia, or Washington DC, or any of the interconnecting roads (it turns out the guidebook map offers little in the way of detail or context for navigating into and around a big city).

We had envisaged four and a half hours there, four and a half back, with maybe an hour’s detour in and out of Philly.  That is not what happened.  We left at 8:30am, we returned at 6am.  My memory is pretty hazy but from what I can remember, in roughly chronological order …

-  We (Jeff) had one altercation with diplomatic security (no idea whose)

-  We drove for a total of 16 hours and paid $61 in toll charges

-  We passed through five states and a federal district

-  We visited one White House, one Capitol building, five monuments and no museums

-  We had one sit down meal and one really lovely sunset

-  We passed one apocalyptic traffic incident with an overturned timber lorry reduced to an inferno and twisted metal

-  We made at least 9 and possibly as many as 27 wrong turns (including a still unexplained detour in Philadelphia where unknowingly we went in a complete circle, as well as three separate attempts to make our way into the Lincoln Tunnel)

-  We had two Philly Cheesesteaks, Pat’s was better than Geno’s.  Neither is worth the visit.

-  We made it home in the end!

4 days in Boston

   In the midst of the handsome buildings and historical sights of the liberty walking tour we found it.  That surprising gem that without knowing it we had spent 7 months searching for.  Every bus ride that erased a mealtime.  Every surprise chicken's foot in the vegetable soup.  Every run of seven straight meals of rice, chicken and chips.  Kizzy's refrain, "what I really want is Wagamama".

   To be sure there were also nice parks, the understated grandeur of Harvard, a fantastic hostel and a surprising wealth of very good street entertainers.  Nevertheless it was the taste of convenience cooking from home that left Kizzy struggling through nostalgia to choose just one main course from the menu.

     Before finding our culinary postcard, we had spent 16 hours on the bus from Toronto to Buffalo to New York to Boston.  After many many hours on buses the prospect of another 16, and our final overnight bus was nothing to concern us.  Americans we had spoken to previously had warned us against Greyhound, "if you actually have to get where you want to go".  When we arrived at the Toronto bus terminal we found out why.  Greyhound have patented their very own "what the hell?!?" double take for the use of passengers arriving 20 minutes before departure to find a line of 60 people already waiting for a 50-seat bus.  "But I'm going to New York at 8pm.  Where's that line?"  This is it, and you may be mistaken.  Thankfully, we arrived 3 minutes and 5 people before cut-off point.

Northern exposure

   After 6 months and 20 days, travelling by truck, taxi, boat, train, car and lots and lots of busses we drove into Vancouver, the city on the Straight of Georgia, the completion of our journey north and the beginning of our time in Canada.  At the border they proudly declared that we were entering "the best place in the world". 

   To be fair we didn't see the rest of British Columbia, which I gather is spectacular.  I get the impression that Vancouver is a city to live in rather than one to visit.  It was pleasant, with pretty parks and a waterfront and historic buildings.  The only exception was the part of town where we were staying.  As we were informed on check in: "you go here and it is downtown, here is Chinatown, head that way to the bars and restaurants of Gastown, and around that corner is drugs.  Don't go there."

   We took an overnight flight to Toronto.  The blessing of an overnight flight is the saving on accommodation costs but when you cross three time zones as we did, it turns out that you board at 11pm, land at 7am and maybe get 2 hours of sleep.  Thankfully we were graced with beautiful weather in Toronto (that day and all the others too) so while waiting for check in at our hostel we took a nap in the local park; the camping gear came in handy once again!

   In Toronto we were treated to three days of fun with our friend Clare.  We toured Chinatown, Kensington Market and the beach on Lake Ontario.  In the evenings we enjoyed the spectacular dinner view from the revolving restaurant in the CN Tower and the brillian concept cafe: Snakes and Lattes, where the drinks kept coming through rounds of Cluedo and Jenga.

   Before leaving Canada we made the trip to Niagara Falls, taking in the natural spleandour and making friends with a group of Chinese tourists.  Apparently we were the only English speakers who could make sense of an itinerary that included Hong Kong, Vancovay, Alcargee, Manreta and Nu Yar.  We now have a place to stay should we ever visit Sechuan province.

Camping in the North West

   We left Vegas and its promise of a wonderful timeshare lifestyle and headed through Death Valley to Yosemite National Park.  No doubt this was my preview of the afterlife: a narrow fertile valley with steep granite walls rising spectacularly against the blue sky.  Indeed I don’t think you would have convinced my 16 year-old self to ever leave the place via any means that did not require rockclimbing shoes and a chalk bag. 

   This was also the beginning of our camping adventures.  As by far the most practical, convenient and economical way to visit the park, we invested in a (very cheap) tent and a (very cheap) airbed and a (very cheap) blanket.  That first night we discovered by way of the freezing temperatures that Mammoth Lake where we camped is in fact quite high up, serving as a ski resort in the winter.  We also discovered that our $30 tent leaked in heavy rain.  

   Our second night saw progress with the addition of an extra blanket providing sufficient insulation to get about 4 hours sleep before waking up shivering.  We also confirmed our theory about the tent that as long as it didn't rain, the tent didn't leak.

   We head back to the coast the next day and arrived in San Francisco to find that even in summer it is pretty chilly and very foggy.  We were also very fortunate that with no planning or forethought we met up with my good friends Graeme and Viv from Melbourne, having a lovely dinner whereby Graeme and I ranted about politics and Viv apologised to Kizzy that "they always get like this". 

   The coastline of California and Oregon was furnished with one of the most spectacular and enjoyable stretches of road I have ever been privileged to drive.  We drove throug a tree!  And it led us to more friends in Seattle.  We were treated to a fantastic barbie by my old housemate Marti and her husband Dan who moved there last year.  Then we spent the next wonderful with Jenn whom we met in Peru, enjoying the amazing use of public space that is the Olympic Sculpture Park.

   With some trepidation we continued north to Bellingham just south of the Canadian border for our final two days camping and enjoying the smashing little town.  The first night showed progress, hints of civilization with three blankets this time and a fire.  We finally found perfection on our final night under canvas with the addition of a charity shop duvet and marshmallows!

   After returning the tent and the blankets to the charity shop, we drove on to Vancouver with high hopes after being greeted at the border with the bold claim, “Welcome to British Columbia: the best place in the world!”

Sun and fun in the South West

   The weather in the South West US states was glorious.  Kizzy had a new understanding of what hot weather feels like when we reached Phoenix and the temperature hit 118 degrees Farenheit - 48 degrees celcius.  Waiting for ten minutes for the bus takes on an element of danger to be undertaken only with adequate water and shelter.

   Arriving in LA was pure joy.  The preceding 6 months in Latin America were fantastic and fantastically challenging.  Suddenly we found ourselves in the gorgeous and relaxed neighbourhood of Santa Monica where we could speak the language and we were amazingly well looked after by our lovely friend Kim Stevenson.  Not only was the hospitality such a welcoming taste of home (Boags lager, Green and Black's chocolate), Kim also set out a blueprint for fantastic lifestyle.  I was so motivated I even went with her for her morning run.

   Four nights with Kim was enough to want to stay in the neighbourhood (in her living room, eating her food, sampling her restaurant recommendations) for the next four years but the itinerary drew us back to Arizona, this time in our own set of wheels.  Driving on the right hand side and other traffic quirks (turn right on red, really?) were soon overcome and we found our way through the desert to the Grand Canyon, which is every bit as awe-inspiring as we had been led to believe.

   Our departure from Flagstaff was marked by Kizzy's birthday.  We started with cake and cards - she was truly delighted by all the messages from home.  Plans for an easy jaunt up to Vegas and a luxury hotel hit the rocks when we discovered that a) the hotel reservation had been cancelled and b) I had lost my wallet (how?!?) but all worked out in the end and we stayed in a very big and flashy edifice, styled after the Egyptian pyramids but augmented by an exterior of mirrored glass and a fantastic swimming pool.

   Vegas was the ultimate culture shock.  I have never been anywhere quite so unreal.  Kizzy loved it, "but only for a little bit, too much of this will get creepy".  The fabricated environments were amazing.  The floors of really rather frantic people were disconcerting.  The free meal and US$50 we got for enduring a two hour timeshare sales pitch was actually quite welcome, especially as they fed us throughout the whole affair.