4 short stories about America

Firstly I would like to thank everyone who has left a message on our message board, we love reading them and finding out who is listening and what is going on back home. Please keep them coming, and feel free to divuldge any gossip that is going on back home as Fran says she is missing it! hehehe

Rather than give you a massive update that you can't be bothered to read, and we don't have the time to write, I thought it would be best if instead we just gave you some short snippets of the best and worst to date. So here they are. (Photos for all of these events are now on Flickr - if you want to see photos of a specific event you can click on TAGS and then the event you are looking for!)

Ups and Downs in the Florida Keys.

Having just got back from the Bahamas (I know, I know, but it wasn't planned until we got to Florida and checked some prices as we needed to renew our 90 day visa waivers – don't worry you didn't miss anything, we went for 3 days and spent most of it on a beach or drinking Baha Muma's) we awoke at John Penekamp Coral Reef State Park. Rumour was that there was diving and snorkelling to be had for a reasonable price, so in the spirit of adventure we thought it was only right to check it out. An hour later and we were on a boat headed for the Reef. We got straight in and Fran was off like a pro – no holding her back! I, on the hand, was having problems with my snorkel and was mostly drinking saltwater. Once that was sorted we had an excellent time and got to see lots of brightly coloured fish, a stingray, a fair amount of coral and lots of seaweed. I am so glad we did this as I now feel more prepared for when we hit the Great Barrier Reef in Oz. Aside from the fishes John Penekamp is a beautiful State Park with lots of wildlife and great weather.

The following day though we headed for Bahia Honda State Park which is much further down the keys, we decided it would be best if we hit Key West that day and relaxed the next. Having got to Key West we realised just how pushed for space they are and that there is next to no parking. Eventually we found a 25'+ parking bay, loaded the meter with $9 of quarters, and hit the town. Its a lively place with a good atmosphere and everyone is up for a good time, even on a Wednesday night! After dinner we headed for the waterfront and watched the sun set over the aptly named 'Sunset Island' to the music of street performers. We had certainly had a good time and felt we had immersed ourselves in the Keys. We wandered the streets back to where the RV had been parked. No you didn't just read that wrongly, I did say “had”... it was gone! First thoughts were that it must have been stolen, but then I thought who would steal an RV plastered with stickers that stands out like that in a place as small as Key West? It must have been towed. AGHHHHHH! A bit of help from some friendly kebab shop workers and phone calls later and we were onboard a taxi with a German family also 1 RV short, en-route to Arnolds car pound. The bill for towing was $180, and we had been (incorrectly!) issued a parking citation. Apparently there is a small sign as you enter Key West that states no vehicle longer than 20' can be parked on the streets. Not the best finish to the night, but we enjoyed the keys anyway.

The Everglades, Florida.

We didn't have much time to explore this gorgeous National Park, only half a day, and this was mostly down to the fact we kind of thought it would be mostly “swamp”!. But that it certainly is not!!! The history of the park is quite sad really as the terrain which is now protected used to be the majority landscape in the state of Florida and now only a snippet is left. Now all the agricultural areas around its use up all the water that would otherwise flood this great plain every year and the water birds and other wildlife that used to thrive here are almost gone (only about 10% left). However...we did still see alligators!! Some up close and personal which was quire scary (one was having a kip next to a path we were walking on!!), others swimming happily around or sunbathing in their own habitat, not bothering anyone. The park has a few miles of board walks that you can explore on which is very environmentally friendly and we got to see loads of fish and turtles too. We also saw hundreds of brightly coloured locusts, one of which got friendly with Karl and nibbled his finger!!!

The drive west out of the Glades was absolutely spectacular, as we were driving into the sunset with a land so flat you can see for miles and miles, we just couldn't believe our luck with the gorgeous red and pinks we could see, and I managed to snap a few cool photo's of the sun setting behind some palm trees whilst looking out for gators in the canal next to us (and yes I saw loads!). I can only liken this scenic road to something out of Africa, not that I've been there, but imagine the Serengeti plains you saw David Attenborough studying lions at and you're almost there!

Things you never thought you'd see in Texas.

We were only passing though the very Northenmost part of Texas, but I feel we still got a good feel for what the rest of it is like. Hot, windy, dry and flat pretty much sums it up. But what an amazing experience it is. I don't think I've ever been anywhere as hot as Texas. When standing outside there is a constant wind in most places, and a hot one at that. It is like standing in front of the worlds largest hand dryer set to maximum. I think you are just about getting the idea, its H O T. But even though it is that hot, you don't get a chance to sweat, as its just so damn dry!

So having camped near Amarillo, I had seen an advert for “The Grand Canyon of Texas – Pablo Duro Canyon”. It would be plain rude not to go and see it while there, and they offered horse riding into the canyon. We arrived at the Ranch, but to be honest it looked more like a deserted shack out of the films. An old cowboy (complete with gun, hat and spurs) approached us as said “You wanna ride?”. Alarm bells were ringing as this guy looked like he didn't have too many rides left in him, and the Canyon did look slightly Grand. We left our reservations behind and went ahead with it anyway (fortunately we hadn't seen the sign that removed all liability from the ranch operator), and half an hour later the Cowboy's son (also a Cowboy - named Jessy) and girlfriend appeared, who would be taking us on our ride (both came complete with spurs, guns and cowboy hats!).

Having been advised to put our trust in the horses, we did just that and they guided us down the steep dusty path to the Canyon below. The canyon must have been 200' deep and was just breathtaking. I have never been overly keen on horses but I must say that Yahtee won me over that day, and I would definitely consider doing something similar in the future. Given my earlier statements about Texas I was surprised to see such a beautiful landscape in such a barren and flat surrounding. Fran's horse had blue eyes and was called Peekaboo, she was cute! It was cool being the only people on the trek that morning as we got talking and were amazed to find out that Jessy and his girlfriend lived at the base of the canyon, what a life!!

On the way out of Texas we stopped past the Cadillac farm, which is exactly as it sounds: A farm of Cadillacs. They have been planted at 45 degrees into a field, at least 10 in a row, but unfortunately they have never taken root. Quite a strange place is Texas, I would like to go back at some point in the future and investigate further...

Petrified Forest - Arizona.

OK so everyone has heard of petrified wood right??? No? Well for those who have not it is basically wood which, millions of years ago, has been covered in silt from a stream and laced with specific minerals which make it turn to rock. Yes, wood turned into stone, pretty cool! The resulting colours are vivid red, purple, orange and green, in fact all colours of the rainbow. Also in the centre of the wood, crystals often grow but unfortunately all the sparkly bits were stolen before this area became protected by the government, and whilst people still rode in on wagons and horses!!! Much of the petrified wood that was stolen was made into tabletops etc and you can see why, when polished they look amazing! The way the petrified wood has fallen is incredible, from a distance it looks like trees have fallen down and been cut into pieces by a saw, but a closer look shows that they are trees fallen and turned to stone, and they have broken up over time, no idea how they broke up into similar sized pieces!! It's hard to describe but it's just beautiful to see and one tree in particular was so huge it towered over me! I think there's a picture to show the huge tree on here somewhere.

Around the same National park we saw the Painted Desert, which is an area of hills which look like they have been blotted with layers of ink. It's hard to describe but they seem to go on forever and are a wonderful sight, a must see in Arizona.

That's all for now folks, next episode: Bahamas, Grand Canyon & Adam & Sarah's visit....!!

New Orleans in 1.5 days...

Some said "do not bother going to New Orleans it is still devastated"...some said "go to New Orleans it will help rebuild their economy", another said "the bars are all still OK"....Well I'm glad we went as we had an absolute blast whilst there!!

We stayed at an amazing campsite, only two years old with a gym, pool, office with computers and fax machines, and the most amazing bathrooms ever! On top of all this relative luxury for us, the staff took us to the edge of the French Quarter when we wanted to go out (in their golf buggy), and picked us back up (in whatever state, at whatever time) when we'd had enough.

The French Quarter, looks like the name suggests, it could easily be mistaken for Paris, lots of the buildings have ornate iron balcony railings from which gorgeous hanging baskets are displayed, and a peek through their many gates show little courtyards through the back. There are about a million bars and restaurants, you can find anything to suit your taste buds or budget there! We opted for the tackiest cocktails which came in a souvenier plastic bright green "hand grenades", and although there are written warnings about how they may not "taste" alcoholic....well I am sure everyone who knows us will know how much notice we took of the warnings!!!

We met some really fabulous people there and although Mardis Gras was already over when we got there, the vibe is great and we managed to score some Mardis Gras beads from an old veteran which are now gayly decorating the RV.

The next day, and with the biggest hangover of all time following us, we headed downtown to the river and walked along the park which has lots of interesting arty stuff and took in the sights. The business quarter is SO posh, we walked around the corner and left the ratty but friendly vibe of the french quarter, right into people in suits having business lunches, marble staricases and tall modern buildings!! America is so like that all the time, everything is defined as one thing or another and there you have it.

This is not to say that the evidence of Katrina, now 3 years ago can not be seen. When we drove in through the suburbs it was horrible to see lots of wrecked and abandoned houses, some obviously still lived in but with tarpaulines for a roof. This area was obviously badly effected and even the houses which seemed to have survived any serious damage, were uncared for and dilapidated. Of course these poorer areas, referred to as the "slums" would need millions and millions of dollars spent to regain a semblance of normality.

On the bright side though, many brand new houses are being built, more inland to try to avoid a reoccurence of this disaster, and we heard that some of the people from these areas are being re-settled into these new homes which is good.

Unfortunately not all of the residents have had luck in finding an investor and when we left New Orleans through the North side we saw hundreds of homeless people in tents under a highway fly over. That was very sad and it seems that there is no way out for these poor people, some who once had a house and job, unable to go to work following the disaster and consequently losing their jobs, not to mention the businesses which could not afford to keep going in such circumstances. We heard from a lady in one of the kiosks that lots of people are still battling their insurance companies and she herself was still waiting to get her home fixed. What was more upsetting was to hear first hand that people were stuck on their own roof for 5 days before anyone came to help them, needless to say Bush's name is mud down here, which is understandable.

In short, we thought New Orleans was, in all, great fun and we would recommend anyone to go and see it for themselves as only when you're in the heart of it, can you see why the people want to rebuild their lives here.