Re: Travel/Overseas thread
Part 2:
Anyway for those who didn't sleep through my entire last entry (ex girlfriends excepted) heres the 2nd leg of the tour.
Afetr travelling from LA down to Tijuana and Baja,I then worked my way up from San Diego,back to LA where I stayed with poor little rich girl (whom I met in London)in the hills.
Daddy was USA corporate speaker of the year one year in the 90's.Married 6 times.
Mommy was an ex playmate and married 5 times including one that lasted 2 weeks before he came out and admitted he was gay.
Anyhow there house was a filthy display of wealth,so I guess I got lucky as I was taken care of and went to many LA attractions but just hated the "Im an Actor" mentality of everyone....I enjoyed telling them that I was basically an unemployed scumbag illegal immigrant just for the reaction!
I enjoyed San Francisco heaps more,had a blast at Fishermans Wharf on St Patricks day,and again stayed with a nice lass who I worked with in London as well,and luckily worked for The Marriot and had a bed to sleep in again.Great diverse town,not excessively large and plenty to see and d
akland was *smile* though,earthquakes merely improve that hovel.
Promised an old friend I worked with in London I'd visit her in hicksville.
Klamath Falls Oregon,only 10 miles from Crater Lake,one of the 7 natural wonders of the world.Wow,it was freakish.
Small town people in the USA simply try to kill you with kindness......its incredible how hospitible they are,as most wouldn't know where Australia is,let alone met anyone from there.
From there I went via the Golden Route up through Portland into Seattle.
If your doing the West Coast going South-North,and have the time its a must drive.
Breathtaking.
Seattle had the best nightlife of any city I went to in the US.Fantastic bands and venues,esp at Pioneer Square where you got a stamp for about 10 bucks that got you entry into every club in the district,which was 20 odd.The grunge scene was truly alive back in the mid nineties,and Seattle was where it all began.
The next 12 months was spent in Vancouver BC Canada.
Its the city that most reminded me of Melbourne,rainy but green and lush.
Sports crazy too,they love Ice hockey do the canucks.
Went to heaps of games,loved it.....Go Blackhawks!!
Had a cushy job as a result of being poached to play cricket for Vancouver CC.
Shaun had been in Van for 3 months before I got there and had me teed up for a job through them if I played.....win win for me!!
Had great fun and they got me a cash paying job for being a storeman who did nothing at a Dept Store.Magic.....got payed a fortune in cash for just making friends with the staff.It meant we could live by the beach and bought a 8 seat 1979 Ford Clubwagon affectionately known as 'the Humungus' after the Mad Max gang who had the same Van.
Made some lifetime friends and almost stayed for good (for a chick no less!)
but left for more adventure and the Olympics in Atlanta,after we played in a winning premiership for Vancouver :clap
The road trip was such a great memory.
We saw The Calgary Stampede,a cowboy style week long party which I didn't quite enjoy(the musics shithouse)
The Canadian rockies,which are fabulous,as was Lake Louise,Banff and Jasper national park.
We left Canada after seeing Niagra Falls aboard the 'maid of the mist'and drove the humongus into the US of A.
We drove across prairies and amish lands into Milwaukee where beers were 35 cents....or free if you did the tours through the brewerys (like we did 4 times) before staggering through the Harley Davidson Museum.
Then hit Chicago which is my favorite US city of them all.
I loved everything about the place from the architecture,people and their sporting teams.
I love the Cubs and the Blackhawks,and like the Bears.
If you get a chance,go to Wrigley Field and watch the Cubbies play and hit the Wrigleyville bars afterwards,I'll guarantee an awesome day.I'd spend an entire summer there just for that if I possibly could.
Once we cut ourselves away from Chicago(heavyheartedly) we went as far East as Boston then drifted South along the coast until we hit Florida about a month later.
Highlights were NYC,Washinton Dc and the 3 lovelys that put us up there
and into Atlanta for the Olympics.
We arrived late as we partied hard in DC and misssed that bomb that went off by a day.Very sobering indeed.I was at the very site not 48 hours after it went off.
Met Dawn Fraser and found the pub the Aussie athletes went to celebrate in after they'd finished competing......we met dozens of them everyday.
Watched the Aussies down Croatia in Basketball,and saw the USA 'Dreamteam" after that.
We saw the Girls hockey Gold Medal win,the mens loss and subsequent playoff game for bronze and went wild at Buckhead the party district every night.
Met heaps of ex-pats and fellow backpackers as well.
Scored a major bonus when Shaun ran into Robbie Peden the boxer who he knew as a former pug himself.He snuck us both into Fox Studios which had been decked out for the Aussie athletes by Rupert Murdoch as a gift to the side on the last night after the final ceremony...HUGE!! Free Fosters and Prawns,and any other delicasy you can ever imagine.
We stuck out like sore thumbs with our tatty gear and Aussie flags wrapped around us,not to mention whaling into their food and booze like.....well.....FERALS!!
But no one cared and we got some beaut phoos with some medals on to boot.
We stayed with a couple who we met in Santorini years before and again......incredible hospitality to virtual strangers......they even set us up with single work colleuges....YAY!
We rumbled out of there until the car ran out of juice in a town called Daytona Florida..............but thats for part 3!!!
WAKE UP WAKE UP.........im going now
