The Garden State

This post has been a long time coming, and we are in fact back in Scotland. However, never one to start a job and leave it half finished, we are gonna finish this blog!

So! Crossing the border by land back into the US was pretty straightforward. The stern but pleasant CBP guy waved us through and wished us a pleasant end of trip. It was back on the bus and on to Burlington, a small city in the state of Vermont. We were only staying here for one night and had booked what promised to be a perfect little inn called University Inn. The drop off at Burlington Airport and the free shuttle to the inn was seemless and incredibly easy. Take note Chicago O’Hara Travelodge! We arrived at the inn around 2pm and the staff were very friendly and helpful, our room was a good size for an amazing price (around $30 each) and the best part? It had both an indoor and outdoor pool and a jacuzzi! We had definitely scored. So, after checking in, we decided to go eat at Applebees; a decent restaurant and bar that served good food and drink. Our server was one of the best we have had (after Carl in San Francisco) and he had an impressive moustache that we just wanted to twirl around our fingers. Think World War One era moustaches and you’ve nailed it.

Filling up on food, we decided to go and explore downtown Burlington before returning to the inn intent on taking full advantage of the free services.

The walk to downtown only took around 30 minutes. SB, our friend from LA, had told S that Burlington was very green and home to one of the most liberal universities in the States. Our liberal minded hearts were overjoyed to hear this and knew we’d feel immediately at home. The state is indeed green and we now understand why it’s called the Garden State. We can only imagine how amazingly beautiful it’ll look in the autumn. Passing the University of Burlington, we checked out what downtown had to offer. The town offered a city hall, a string of independent shops alongside more mainstream establishments, and quintessential all-American streets. It was perfect. We took a dander down to the harbour (visits to the harbour are becoming a common theme in the places we have been in) and S was kindly informed by an 8 year old that the steam coming from a small area of play park was in fact mist that people can run through to cool down. A future teacher perhaps?! It started to rain a little so we decided to head back to the inn. The thought of a swim and jacuzzi was most enticing!

S changed into his swim shorts and A into her bikini, both of us lamenting at how unfit we probably were although determined to do at least a few laps rather than just tread water. The pool and jacuzzi were empty so naturally S immediately pretended we were rich and famous with our own private pool. The water was warm, and after a few shaky laps we got into our stride. A few more weeks of practice and we may be blogging about our plethora of gold medals at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, destroying the records held by the likes of Michael Phelps and Jenny Thompson.

Finishing off the night of heart racing exercise, we chilled in the jacuzzi before heading to bed. We were beat. We could have spent an extra day in Burlington owing to the impression it had given us in the space of a few hours. However our megabus to Boston was booked and we were ready to get our historical hats on and see what Bean Town had to offer.

We leave you with a colourful picture S took in the street. Plus, this post is lacking on photos purely because the majority are on camera rather than iPhone and not easily accessible!

Much love,

S&A

Toronto: The start of our Canadian Adventure

A discovered prior to our trip into Canada that she has a lot of Canadian relatives. In fact, her grandfather was born in Toronto before moving to Scotland. Armed with this new information, A and S were ready to find out more about this great nation.

We got off the bus in Toronto and made our way onto the main thoroughfare called Dundas Street. Always nice to find a street that makes you feel at home. Toronto is the most ethnically diverse city in the world and we got a feel for this as we walked along Dundas Street to our accommodation. The food places looked amazing; burritos, falafels, pizza, noodles. We were sold.

We found our hotel, dumped our bags and had a shower to wash away our 12 hour bus journey. We decided to explore downtown Toronto and grab something to eat. After a delicious dinner of noodles and cocktails we headed into Toronto’s bustling Chinatown and experienced our first ever Tim Hortons.

Now, we were unaware of this very popular Canadian coffee chain until we were told about it by our Canadian chums at teacher training college. A had visions of sounding like a true Tim Horton’s veteran by asking for a double double but the nerves got to her as she approached the counter so she chickened out and asked for a plain coffee. Oh well, better luck next time.

We were feeling pretty tired after the bus journey so we decided to go and watch the Dark Knight Rises which had just been released. We booked tickets and went for a quick drink in the classiest of all establishments; Hooters.

It was our first time in the ‘delightfully tacky, yet unrefined’ bar and eatery. The girls were gorgeous, the beers were good and we left ready to be suitably entertained by Mr Bale and co. They did not disappoint and the film received a round of applause at the end of the screening. This was a good reminder for us as to what continent we were on.

After a long lie the next day we had some brunch at Fran’s Diner and visited the Harbour. Dundas Square was also having an Eco Festival and S noticed that none other than Fefe Dobson (?) was playing later that night. More of that to come.

We decided to take in Toronto’s sights by taking a trip up the CN tower. This is the highest building in North America measuring in at 553.33metres high.

We waited around an hour to get the lift up to the viewing platform which also had a glass floor. We managed to keep ourselves entertained during the wait……..

Once we reached the top S sauntered onto the glass floor as if he was John Travolta walking onto a dance floor. However, A had developed a case of vertigo and couldn’t bring herself to step onto it. She looked around at other tourists who were lying sprawled across the glass floor posing for photos. Jordan aka Katie Price could’ve picked up a tip or two.

With S’s encouragement and support A managed to back onto the floor backwards. No Michael Jackson style moonwalk here, it was more like a baby’s first steps in reverse. She took a few snaps before she returned to the safety of the glass-less area. After taking a few photos of Toronto’s skyline we headed down and made our way to meet another Moray House survivor for dinner.

We met CS at Union Station complete with a Tim Hortons in her hand. A true Canadian! We headed to a restaurant on our favourite of streets, Dundas, and had a lovely dinner of fish tacos and steak. After dinner we returned to Dundas Square to witness none other than Canadian pop star extraordinaire Fefe Dobson (you can Google her). She was well up for it and gave a good show. We were sad to see her go go go like a ghost ghost ghost at the end of her set (if you’ve Googled her you’ll maybe get this)

After we bid a fond farewell to CS, we headed to the gay village. S was keen to check out Woody’s bar which was used in the US version of Queer as Folk. We managed to find it and had a few beers. A was fascinated with what was being screened on the TVs in the bar. All we will say is that it wasn’t the Wizard of Oz.

Time had flown and by the time we had got home from Woody’s, after a trip to a 24hour pizza place, we had only 4 hours until we were up early to visit one of the natural beauties of the world.

We rose early on Sunday about 6.30am and caught the bus to Niagara Falls. We were a little naive in thinking that the Falls were in the wilderness on their own à la Yosemite. We discovered on our arrival that a short distance from the magnificent natural wonder was a strip that would rival Blackpool’s tackiness.

We were a little disheartened by this as we felt it took away the beauty of the Falls. However, we chose to ignore this and concentrate on the magnificat sight that lay before us. And you know what?! It was totally fricking awesome.

We saw the two most visited sets of Falls, the American Falls and the Horseshoe Falls which are on the Canadian side. Niagara Falls is separated by the US/Canadian border.

We took some photos from numerous vantage points and went on the Maid of the Mist, a boat that takes you even closer to the action.

Our dignity soon came crashing down like the water as we were soaked by wave after wave of Niagara mist. Luckily we had our bright blue ponchos. It was fantastic being so close to the Falls and experiencing first hand one of Nature’s most spectacular shows.

It turns out that Nature wasn’t quite done with us for the day. After having some lunch and deciding to relax in the sun with our books, the heavens decided to open. We were witness to a huge thunderstorm that decided to soak us once more.

Unfortunately our ponchos couldn’t protect our feet which were now sodden with beautiful Canadian rain. A quick trip was needed to Tim Hortons to dry off before the 1 and a half hour journey back to Toronto.

Toronto has given us a good first impression of Canada and we look forward to seeing if Montreal can continue this.

Much love,

S&A

Yosemite

Yosemite National Park lies about 200 miles east of San Francisco and we thought while in Rome………let’s go and see the Half Dome.

It is a long drive so we decided to leave San Francisco early to take full advantage. We woke early for us this trip; 6.30am and got ready to hit the road. On the route we crossed San Francisco’s other bridge, the Bay Bridge. S and A feel that this bridge needs a revamp to compete with its much more famous cousin along the Bay. We thought it could maybe be painted an appealing pink or purple colour to stand out. Or maybe both? Your thoughts on this would be gratefully appreciated.

Anyway the drive was not all that interesting apart from a very friendly man at the petrol station who was from Saudi Arabia. He had interesting views on learning about the two world wars ‘it’s all done, get over it!’ not sure if the history teachers in us agree with him.

We made our way to the Yosemite National Park boundary and were met with a nice ranger, hat and all. For those of you unsure, Yosemite is one of the world’s most dramatic geological spectacles. Its valley is the most spectacular and is 7 miles long and less than a mile wide. It’s walled by near-vertical three-thousand-foot cliffs, streaked by tumbling waterfalls and topped by domes and pinnacles that form a jagged silhouette against the sky (A would like to thank the Rough Guide for this description).

The reason it is a National Park is all down to a Scot. You can almost hear A’s mum’s heart exploding with pride at this fact. John Muir who was originally from Dunbar campaigned to protect Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove and as a result Abraham Lincoln decreed this as America’s first protected wilderness in 1864. You would think fighting a Civil War would have consumed a lot of Abe’s time in this year but obviously not. Us pesky Scots always have a way of getting what we want.

After we said goodbye to our welcoming ranger we made our way down to Yosemite Valley. It’s about 14 miles of long and windy roads with spectacular views to reach the valley floor. Once we had reached the floor the views were simply incredible. We took in the El Capitan and parked our car in the shadow of the Half Dome. We walked a short distance amongst sky scraping trees to the visitor centre and explored a replica Native American village. When white Americans and Europeans flooded the area due to the Gold Rush in the 1840s and 1850s the Native Americans in the area refused to move from their native homeland of Yosemite which they had inhabited for 4,000 years. Gradually over the years their settlements have become less and less and nowadays Yosemite is inhabited more by tourists than anyone else.

We took a short shuttle bus to Yosemite Falls, a phenomenal waterfall that flows off one of the sheer cliffs. We walked up the trail and came to a fantastic vista point that allowed for the more adventurous to scramble up the rocks to a lagoon directly underneath the waterfall. We decided to get cool in the water pools and submerged ourselves. S could’ve been mistaken for Daniel Craig a la James Bond when he came out the water if it weren’t for the Rihanna T-shirt.

A applied another generous application of sun block as soon as she was out of the water. We all can’t be gloriously tanned like the native Californians. The temperature was 36degrees in the valley and the sun was fierce. A didn’t want to look like a Brit abroad.

We decided to scramble the rock to the bottom of the waterfall and gained spectacular views of the Valley and the Half Dome. We sat on a rock near the lagoon, soaking in the views and admiring the amateur divers. All we’ll say is the divers for Team GB have nothing to worry about come the Olympics.

We made our way back to the valley floor and walked amongst the giant trees. Words and images cannot describe Yosemite Valley. If you are ever in California we would highly recommend a visit. A could’ve stayed another week but she would’ve had to ship the sunscreen down by the lorry load.

We are currently driving back to San Francisco, ready to be smacked in the face by the mist and the cold. We’ll have to do it in 3 weeks anyway when we return to Edinburgh so we’re getting in some practise now. Although when we post this we will have finished our drive but A needs to keep her idle thumbs busy.

Until next time,

Much love

S&A

Pacific Coast HWY1

Our scenic drive from LA to SF took around 8 hours, but it was totally worth every hour. We decided to take HWY 1 rather than the freeway, with the possibility of a few stops and perhaps a layover if we got tired. So on Saturday, July 7th, we said bye to SB and his roommate PMD and hit the road.

Now, as we’ve said before, we’ve assimilated and adapted to LA pretty quickly (we feel) and for the first time we got stopped on the freeway, which was backed up with traffic in LA, and asked for directions to Sunset BLVD. Admittedly we didn’t know in which direction it was, but we felt that our adaptation had paid off. We had been asked for directions in a city we’d lived in for 5 days. Score.

HWY 1 is a contrast of beautiful blue skies, warm sunshine and coastal beaches that glow and shimmer, and misty mountains with steep cliff drops and names that start with ‘Devil’. Sometimes we could gaze across the ocean, other times we were wrapped in a mist like blanket, half expecting the Cullen family to leap from the trees at any second. We had to stop for gas a couple of times; a cashier asked if we were Irish (she was close!); and a couple of Americans asked what kinda gas should go in their car (see, our assimilation and faux confidence into American life is working…pity we didn’t know the answer to that question either).

Hunger called, so we stopped off in Santa Barbara for a bite to eat. My goodness, the place is beautiful. The sun was beating down and we’ve both never felt so relaxed. It felt like paradise and fittingly we ate at Paradise Cafe. S had delicious pork tacos and A had fish tacos with some Chardonnay on the side.

Leaving Santa Barbara, we continued north, passing through a quintessential American town. As we continued along the highway, S spotted a sign that read ‘Men’s Colony’. With both of us getting a little excited about what this could possibly be and thoughts of the male dancers from The Abbey running through our heads, we pulled over to investigate. Turns out, our imagined Men’s Colony was a male correctional facility. Let’s move on.

A little disappointed with our thoughts having been turned to convicts in orange jumpsuits, we continued onward, hitting a treacherous winding climb up coastal mountains. The views were shrouded in mist and the light was failing but the views were atmospheric and breathtaking at times. We pulled over to take some pictures of a Bull Elephant colony (a lot more exciting than the Men’s Colony) and were pleasantly surprised to see them all lazing around, all fat and grunting, spooning one another.

It was getting dark, we still had around 120 miles to SF, and we didn’t fancy hunting for a place to stay late at night. So we stopped in Monterey, expecting to find a bed for the night no problem. Turns out we had arrived on the weekend of the annual Scottish fair and rooms were scarce. What are the chances?! So, humphing around town like Mary and Joseph, we asked every motel and inn if they had a room for the night. Just like the biblical story, doors were slammed in our faces with cries of NO VACANCY. It was worse than Bethlehem. Eventually, we came across the Red Roof inn that had one room left. We’ll take it! The place smelled bad but the room was ok. Some poor couple were spending their wedding night there, having driven in in their wedding car and passed us in the corridor in all their nuptial glory.

Getting a good nights sleep, we left around 11am, drove past the Scottish fair (people in kilts, bagpipes and signs of toss the caber) in search of breakfast. Happening upon Grandmas Kitchen, we tucked into our pancakes, eggs, and waffles before setting off on our final stretch.

We arrived in San Francisco on Sunday and have been on an amazing tour of Alcatraz and have explored some of the city. Blog update soon! We are off to investigate the city a little bit more.

Much love,

S&A

‘To Do’

So, with just over a week to go, I thought it time to start going through my ‘To Do’ list. Everyone loves a list; everyone loves ticking off a list more. I can now officially say the ESTA is updated so I’m now authorised to travel to the US again (I always find the question that asks if you were involved in the Nazi regime an interesting one…); one cheap motel is booked for the first night; and the car…well, I went to book it only to find out I had to update my credit card address first so that it matched my driving licence address. That’ll be a job for Monday then.

On another note, I watched Mark Wright’s Hollywood Nights earlier. I was primarily looking for any LA hints and tips and I found the perfect one. Yep, I’m booking a vagacial for A as soon as I can. I’ll sip coconut water straight from the coconut whilst I watch. Just like this kid.

Much love,

S