US trip: Homestretch to New York, New York

From Hershey we headed to the town of Princeton (via a place called Allentown where we stopped in at an interesting little car museum—America on Wheels). Being in this part of the US, we couldn't resist visiting one of their old Ivy League universities which we had heard so much about over the years. And the campus of Princeton University certainly didn't disappoint. It was amazing just walking around the grounds of this prestigious university and seeing this incredible institution.

We stayed overnight nearby at Trenton, and early the next day we returned the rental car as we would catch the train to New York rather than tackle the challenge of driving into Manhattan! Driving across the US had seen us clock up 4,155 miles (or 6,648 kms) in our trusty rented Subaru Forrester.

Manhattan, New York

 While our road trip was at an end, we still had a few days left of our holiday. Our plans had been to leave the "best" for last... New York City, where all the movies tell us dreams are made. During our holiday we had tried to keep costs down on accommodation so we could splash out on a nice place in New York, and had researched to ensure our final night in the US would be at a nice restaurant. But, if I'm brutally honest, after experiencing New York, I think my dreams and best memories of the trip were made elsewhere... at the beginning when we drove through the Santa Cruz mountains, or being at Red Bull Rampage, or mountain biking in Moab, or even laughing our way through the corn-fields in the mid-west! Unfortunately, there were quite a few things that left us with a sour taste about New York... we had issues with our hotel room (which thankfully was finally resolved), and our last night's meal was far from the best we had (although possibly one of the most expensive).

With that said, it was still so good to have been able to experience New York and visit its famous land marks. To see the Lady of Liberty up close, and actually go to the top of the Empire State Building have been things I've wanted to do for a very long time and I'm so glad I've had that opportunity. We both felt sombre at the memorial site of 9/11, and despite all our knowledge on the tragic events, were still enormously impacted by the size of the memorial fountains. And then of course, I can't deny the excitement I felt just walking through Central Park, or going to an actual show on Broadway (we saw Chicago!).

9/11 Memorial with One World Tower behind

Central Park (and the Plaza)

At the top of the Empire State Building!

Our trip across the United States was all up an incredible experience. My amazing man was once again brilliant behind the wheel, getting us safely from one coast of America to the other. We have some wonderful memories and a bucket-load of photos (which we somehow narrowed down to choose just 10 to frame and put on our wall at home!). Now to decide where to visit next...

Map of our 2017 adventure across the United States

Until next time x

US trip: Chicago to Hershey

My writing about this trip seems to be dragging on... partly due to having a busy routine with work and the kids, and partly due to my sheer slackness (ok, ok... mainly due to my slackness!). I will push on but try and finish up this series fairly quickly :)

So last time I wrote, we had made it to Rockford and had caught up with my family for dinner. Before leaving Rockford the next day, we stopped in to tour my uncle's jewellery store, where another of my uncles also works. It was great to catch up with family who I hadn't seen since I was a little girl!

With my uncle, Luis, in his shop Zavius Jewelers

 From Rockford to Chicago the traffic quickly started to build up, and we couldn't believe the speeds people were doing. Driving at the speed limit was apparently dangerous as it meant holding people up and being a nuisance! We went from being in shock and concerned we had missed something to laughter. And before we knew it, we were coming to a halt as traffic slowed to a stand-still... we had made it to the CBD and rapidly became aware of the chaos that is Chicago traffic and how much they loved using car horns. Once we found parking and checked into our accommodation, we opted for a hop on/hop off bus tour to see the city, although as it had started to rain we took the best photos we could from inside the bus! (The next morning however we did manage to get a good view of the city from the 360 degree Chicago Observation Deck, where we also did the 'TILT!' experience—so good!)

View from 360 degree Chicago Observation Deck

In the evening we sought out an Italian restaurant and tried a famous Chicago deep-dish pizza. This ended up being one of the best meals we had on our trip to the US... the wine was excellent, the company was the best (ok, I'm somewhat biased!), and the pizza was amazing.

Deep dish pizza for dinner in Chicago

From Chicago we were en-route to Hershey, Pennsylvania, via Columbus, Ohio (and meaning we also completely crossed the state of Indiana). We stayed overnight in Dublin, on the outskirts of Columbus, to break the journey. These couple of days were pretty much just getting to our next destination, however we did stop at some small towns such as Bedford, PA, where I found a beautiful little quilt shop I just had to stop at... and of course I couldn't leave without some fat-quarters and a new book (which ironically turned out on closer inspection to be by an Australian designer!).

Quilt shop in Bedford... sadly I can't remember the name :(

Finally we made it to Hershey, where we had tickets to see comedian Gabriel Iglesias (aka Fluffy)—one of Al's favourites. It was a great night where we got to relax and have a good laugh. We were asked to put cameras away so no pics from that night, but I'd recommend looking him up on YouTube! And of course, the next morning, we couldn't leave Hershey without touring through the Hershey Chocolate Factory :)

We made our own chocolate bars!

My last instalment on the trip next time!

US trip: Aspen and 'the middle bit'

From Moab we continued to drive east... our next overnight accommodation was booked at Denver, Colorado. We had decided to do the drive via Aspen and we couldn't have picked a better time of year to do so! And what a contrast in scenery in just one day...

From hot Utah with it's orange and red hues, we couldn't believe how quickly we started to see snow dusted mountains appearing in the distance. We were amazed but also excited to be entering yet another picturesque part of the world which we had both heard so much about. Once we arrived at Aspen (and after Al purchased a ski helmet to bring back with us!) we discovered that we could drive all the way to Maroon Bells... a road that apparently during the summer is so busy they stop cars from driving up and you need to ride a shuttle to get there, and in the winter the snow prevents vehicles. We were there in the few weeks per year that they let cars through!

Maroon Bells, Aspen, Colorado

We spent awhile walking around Maroon Bells and taking in the beauty of mountains and region in general. There was something magical... and after some adrenalin-pumped days, the calmness of the waterfalls and backdrop just made us want to stop, relax, and take in our captivating surrounds.

Time was quickly ticking past so we soon headed back into Aspen proper for a quick walk around the John Denver Memorial Garden before we continued on our journey.

John Denver Memorial Garden

From Aspen we went via Independence Pass which would take us via Twin Lakes to get to Denver. We had been warned that the road was incredibly narrow in parts across the Pass, but Al did an amazing job driving us safely through the area and in the end it wasn't as bad as I had imagined. It started to snow as we drove through, and the mist and fog meant that the view of Twin Lakes wasn't much like the pictures we had seen when researching the trip!

Independence Pass

We arrived into Denver and our accommodation after dark and quickly crashed. We had a lot of ground to cover the next day... we were pretty much half way through our holiday, but not yet half way across the country!

And make up some ground we did. This drive was the same as that done by Lloyd and Harry in Dumb and Dumber when they drove "a sixth across the country in the wrong direction." So naturally, during this part of the drive (where there's not exactly much to see or do) we quoted memorable lines from the movie... like "what's the most annoying noise in the world?!". This day would be our longest drive—8 hours worth—to get to Omaha, Nebraska. And we saw a lot of very flat landscapes filled with corn. A lot of corn. And just in case we'd missed it, more corn.

From Omaha we set the GPS for Rockford (which meant crossing Iowa), and not much changed with the scenery... except that we started getting more hills as we approached Illinois. We got to the point that we were researching corn—did you know there are three types? The weather was also getting colder and colder (and much colder than we had expected for autumn) so by the time we got to Iowa, we decided made a quick stop to get some warmer clothing. We got into Rockford quite late but in time to have dinner with my uncle and his family... was so good to catch up with my cousin Sunshine—it had only been 20 years since we had last seen each other!

My cousin, Sunshine, and I

More on the trip next time x

US trip: a horseshoe and more bikes

The next morning we said goodbye to Margus and continued our journey east across the US. Our next overnight stop was Moab, where we had a day of mountain biking booked in. To get there though we had a long drive and lots we wanted to see... starting with a drive through Zion National Park.

In Zion National Park

Zion was a complete contrast to Yosemite from a few days earlier, yet still incredibly impressive and spectacular. The vibrant colours were captivating and around every bend was something new and amazing to stop and look at. We hadn't expected Utah to be such a treasure and so unfortunately didn't give ourselves enough time to really absorb the region as much as we would have liked.

Just past Zion

In taking a more scenic route from Zion to Moab, we took a road that first took us slightly south and over the Arizona border. Due to the limited time we had in the region we had skipped going to the Grand Canyon, however in researching the area we had discovered Horseshoe Bend, in Page, Arizona, would be a good alternate to visit. Located further up the Colorado River, the picturesque meander sits just outside of the Grand Canyon National Park and was well worth the drive and then short walk to see it. Al had fight his fear of heights to get as close to the edge as possible to get a good picture... meanwhile, I had heaps of fun seeing what my new wide-angle lens could capture at this stop!

Horseshoe Bend

Al at the edge!

From Horseshoe Bend, we headed back north and back into Utah. Monument Valley was filled with really interesting rock formations—some which we tried to just capture from a moving car, and others that we stopped to have a good look at. 'Mexican Hat' was particularly impressive, and proved a good place to stretch the legs, have a walk around, and break up the drive.

Mexican Hat, Utah

We finally got to Moab, where we had a quick takeaway dinner before settling in for a good nights rest... we had a big day organised the following day, with a guide and rental bikes booked so we could explore one of the best mountain biking areas of the world!

Amazing colours as the sun set over Utah

The trails at Moab were so different from what we're used to in Australia. Overall, instead of single-trail we're used to, we were riding across rocks marked with lines so we knew which way to go. Sections that we wondered how anyone could ride and in Australia we would be slipping on our guide (from Rim Tours—we'd highly recommend them!) reassured us would be grippy... and to our amazement it was, and the bike didn't slip or slide at all!

Al and our guide Sam from Rim Tours

It was a long but fun day in Moab... I enjoyed trying out a different bike (I rented a Juliana Furtado, made by Santa Cruz) and being challenged by different terrain. By the end of the day, we were exhausted and the hotel's heated pool was bliss!

My bike for the day—a Juliana Furtado

More on the trip next time x

US trip: Yosemite

From Napa, we drove the 330km to our next stop... Yosemite.

Al and I at Yosemite

 On the way we stopped at the town of Mariposa to re-fuel the car and ourselves given it was dinner time. Our meal at the quaint diner we found in the town was massive... I had eaten enough half-way through the unexpected entree that came standard with every meal! After dinner, we continued to our accommodation, Highland House, which wasn't too much further a drive. This place was incredible, really comfortable and one of our favourites of the entire trip. The location, the owner, the room, and the breakfast were all top notch.

Highland House, Mariposa... amazing accommodation!

In the morning we headed to Yosemite National Park. We stopped along the drive to take photos of the amazing scenery... and then we got to the park itself and the amazing scenery we had seen on the way suddenly looked rather average.

Entering Yosemite National Park

To quote Al, a blind person could take photos in Yosemite and still get amazing pictures. The sights were breathtaking, and I think we spent most of the day saying "wow... woah.... oh wow". At the first chance we had, we parked the car and did a short hike to Bridalveil Falls...

Bridalveil Falls

And then we did the walk to Mirror Lake... although as there wasn't much water in the lake due to the time of the year, I had to get creative with my photography!

Mirror Lake, Yosemite

We managed to get some pictures in of El Capitan, drive around exploring the park, then see all the torch lights dotted up El Capitan once the sun went down and the rock-climbers had settled in on the wall for the night. Al had told me about it but I have to say, I was still surprised to see so many lights up the side of El Capitan—particularly given we had only spotted a couple of climbers during the day.

A rock-climber making their way up the side of El Capitan

Thankfully we had allowed ourselves some time the following day to head back into Yosemite before moving on to our next destination. We drove out to Glacier Point to begin with...

Half Dome, Yosemite, viewed from Glacier Point

And then parked the car to do the Sentinel Dome walk. This walk around 1.5 km each way, with a reasonably steep climb to get to the top of the dome itself. But it was well worth the effort!

Al, with Sentinel Dome behind him

El Capitan viewed from the top of Sentinel Dome, Yosemite

We stopped at Tunnel View on the way back from Sentinel Dome, which proved to be a great 'summary' spot for our time at Yosemite. From this spot you can see El Capitan, Bridalveil Falls, and in the background Half Dome. Yet another 'wow' moment for us.

Tunnel View, Yosemite

To get to our next overnight accommodation spot, we headed out of the park via Tioga Pass. We were really lucky that the Pass was open—a month later and it would have been closed for the winter. Soon after taking the turn-off for the pass you reach Toloumne Grove—home to Giant Sequoia's (Sequoiadendron gigenteum), the worlds most massive trees and sadly endangered. With Al's love for trees, of course this was a must-stop for us.

Al and I in the cut-away in a remaining stump of a Giant Sequoia otherwise destroyed by fire

We continued on our drive through Tioga Pass and continued to muse over the sheer beauty that this earth offers us. As the sun started to set, the changing colours amplified the majestic sights.

Driving through Tioga Pass, Yosemite

View of Yosemite from Tioga Pass at sunset, with Half Dome in the background

We stayed at a motel in a small town called Bishop that evening, and enjoyed a delicious (albeit huge!) burrito at a small Mexican diner. The next day would see the drive to Vegas...

More on the trip next time x