The best of times and the worst of times, Portland OR 1 October 2010

It is with a heavy heart that I write what will be our last blog for this trip. Before I explain why I'd like to start this entry on the same happy note we started our day on.

1 October was Daniel's first official day out of the US Air Force and we travelled from Seattle to Portland excited about what the future was going to hold. We stopped at the Japanese Gardens in Portland at lunchtime to take a walk around and admire the beautiful gardens. When we returned to our car an hour later our day drastically changed.

Some lowlife had smashed our car window and taken camera equipment (thankfully Dan had some with him so they didn't get all of it), computers, hard drives (yes, with a majority of the great photos Dan had taken on our trip) and some personal documents. While the camera and electronic equipment will be covered under insurance, losing photos is heartbreaking.

Nevertheless life goes on and we are both safe, which is all that really matters. We have had a wonderful trip and are lucky to have this blog that has preserved some of the great memories. There is no way that either Dan or I are gong to let the a**holes who stole our stuff ruin this trip and all plans remain as they were originally. I leave for Australia on 10 October and Dan will follow on 4 November (unless someone has a rich uncle who wants to pay for a second trip for us).

However as we have no computers there will be no more blog entries until I have a computer again and can finish it. We will both have very limited access to e-mail but will be checking it when we can and are both contactable via our mobile phones.

Thanks for reading our blog, we hope you found it entertaining and we will let you know when we finish it. For those travelling a word of warning, no matter how safe the neighbourhood looks, what time of day it is and how well you try to conceal your personal belongings sometimes "Sh*t happens!"

Greybull Wyoming 17-18 September

Not too many pictures with this post as it was a travel day from Mt Rushmore, to Greybull, Wyoming through BigHorn National Park. We had a quick stop at Devil's Tower before some bad weather moved in a clouded everything over.

It is just a quick overnight stay before we head to Yellowstone National Park.

Devil's Tower before it was covered in cloud.

One of the local Prairie Dogs

Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse - 15-16 September

It is ok, this guy isn't real but one of the friendly fella's we saw at our stop at a place called Wall Drug. It is a pharmacy that started off offering coffee for 5 cents and free iced water to attract customers. Now it has basically made the whole town a tourist attraction.

Now before any of you ask I want to answer the question that I know you want to ask....yes the carving at Mt Rushmore is massive!

It was wonderful to see one of the most iconic images of the USA and even more impressive to see it in person, both during the day and at night. We also took a walk up to the base of the mountain which almost blows your mind when you see the scale of Washington's, Jefferson's, Roosevelt's and Lincoln's faces.

A few miles from Mt Rushmore and even larger scale mountain project is being undertaken. It is a monument to a hero of the local Native AMerica tribe of the area, called Crazy Horse. The project has been going for approximately 50 years and is at the current state of having the face of Crazy Horse carved out of the mountain. The completed sculpture is shown in white and at the projects current rate will taken between 150 to 200 years to complete, so not something Dan or I will see finished in our lifetime.

The Crazy Horse sculpture and mountain.

To give you an idea of the scale of this mountain carving, it is 10 times bigger than Mt Rushmore and if/when it is completed, it will be the world's largest.

Kansas City, 13-14 September - Go Ch-Ch-Ch-Chiefs!

After a nine hour drive from Chicago, crossing our fingers that nothing would go wrong, we finally made it to my mecca of football, Kansas City. Ever since I (Daniel) was little I've loved the Kansas City Chiefs. I can remember watching the Nigerian Nightmare, Christian Okoye, just dominate and knock-out defenders; then Marcus Allen, Derrick Thomas, Priest Holmes, and Trent Green were greats to watch. After all those years watching on the television, I finally got to see the Chiefs play in Arrowhead stadium. We'd planned part of our trip to make sure we arrived at the right time. New stadium, new coach, new team...and hopefully new Chiefs. Last season hurt with a record of 4-12. I knew (well, hoped) this season would be different. I'm already shouting playoffs in the hopes I don't jinx the team, but hey, with their record last year I'm not sure I can jinx them. If they win five games they've beat last season's wins. Ok, ok, we finally got to the stadium about an hour before the game. Parking was not too bad; getting there reminded me a bit of the 405 in Los Angeles on a busy day. Seats were great on the upper level around the 40-yard line. Things were going great. Below is a shot of the field:

And then Emma and I pre-game. A nice Chiefs fan offered to take our picture.

Everything was going great. Old Achy Breaky Heart Billy Ray Cyrus sung the national anthem and two beautiful navy choppers flew over and hugged the stadium. Even after 8 years in the Air Force I still get excited to see aircraft (jets or helicopters) zoom overhead. But wait...there's more. Now, I can't say Emma jinxed us, but I'm going to say she did because it makes the story better. Someone (Emma) had to say, "Wow, it's a great night for football. Easy parking, nice warm weather, Billy Ray Cyrus (ok, artistic license there), and Monday Night Football in Arrowhead Stadium." Well, thanks babe. Things got a little electric after that...literally. It started raining and lighting poured around us in the middle of the first quarter; we thought it wouldn't last too long so we braved it out...and braved it out...and braved it out. Finally at halftime we had enough and went down to the concourse with everyone else. Hey, the weather guy said it wouldn't rain until the 4th quarter (what the heck!). So we braved it out in the concourse like two sewer rats soaked to the bone. Many other fans decided to hang around but tons decided to leave. We were there to see the Chiefs and I was going to see it to the end, even though it continued to piss down with rain. Halftime...rain. Third quarter....rain. Fourth quarter...rain, up until the last few minutes of the game. We'd come this far so we went back out into the seats and braved it.

And what happened...San Diego drove down the field in the last minute of the game. They had four downs within the 10-yardline to score a touchdown. Recollections of last year turned my stomach; I knew that the Chiefs would have a hard chance winning if they took it to overtime. First and second downs played out unsuccessfully. Third down...Philip Rivers rolled out, setup and passed. Incomplete. Fourth down and goal with around 20 seconds left. A lot of nervous fans left in the stadium, including myself. Security didn't really care if folks moved down; I think they figured that if you had braved it out you had deserved a better seat. Ok, where was I? Fourth down, twenty some seconds left. Philip Rivers rolls out again; feels like forever for a Chiefs fan. He sets up, finds the receiver, throws and...incomplete! The stadium erupts all at once with the loudest cheer. Fans go wild doing the Indian chop and it truly was exhilarating. We had braved the elements and the team came through. I was so excited that my only game in Arrowhead Stadium was going to be a win. Super bowl champs for sure. Well, I'd be happy with a good season and anything will be better than 4-12.

We drove home in the rain, both shivering and frozen, but I have to say it was terribly worth it. Had a terrible migraine the next day, of which I chalk up to the long drive, tiredness and constantly chattering teeth, but I couldn't have been happier and it was a wonderful experience. Would I do it again? Heck yeah! Except next time we'd take some rain jackets and maybe a bit warmer clothes. But it's too late and I wouldn't change it for the world. Something I've always wanted to do and it was a wonderful experience. And I think Em had a good time too, though I'm pretty sure she only braved it out for me. Isn't she great!

Chicago, 10 - 12 Sept 2010

The windy city certainly livd up to it's name and even turned on some rain for good measure. Luckily that sun came out on our second day there and we got to enjoy the famous sights of Chicago, including Cloud Gate (know as the Bean by locals) and a number of building that have made the skyline famous on a boat tour on the Chicago River.

The Corn Cobs, IBM Building and Trump Tower.

Cloud Gate

Our luck continued when we came across a Wine Festival that was being held. We spent the evening trying a number of USA wines while the sunset over the city, not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

OK, so it isn't a glass of wine, but it was the biggest Margarita I'd ever seen.

The Chicago city skyline. The Wine Festival we went to is the white tents you can see.

Ottawa and Gilbert, 31 Aug - 10 Sept

Surprisingly enough Daniel put the camera away for a few days so there are no photos with this blog entry. There wasn't enough time to take too many pictures while we were in Ottawa visiting our friends. We had a great time catching up with everyone after two years away and hope that some of them come to visit us in Oz....hint, hint!

From Ottawa we headed south to Gilbert, WV to see the family. Apart from the terrible long drive down, thanks mainly due to wild weather from Hurricane Earl, our time in Gilbert went by all too fast. Mom spoilt us with yummy biscuits and Rozie with spinach and artichoke dip, so it was probably lucky we only stayed for a week otherwise we would have had more pounds to lose! It was sad to leave, but Dan is headed back in October to see everyone again and of course we are sure they will come and visit us in Australia, as soon as they get their passports!

Vermont, 29-30 August

The folks in Vermont certainly tell it like it is!

This is a sign we saw not long after crossing into Vermont from Maine.

We travelled through Vermont on our way to Ottawa, Canada. While we had high hopes that there would be great photo opportunities on this part of our trip but unfortunately we were disappointed. Maybe it was because the fall leaves hadn't turned yet, or because the weather didn't really cooperate.

We stayed overnight in Montpelier, the capital of Vermont. We don't have much to report from this stay and for anyone traveling through Vermont you can give this stop a miss. We found the city lacked any atmosphere and it was obvious we were tourists from the way the locals stared at us. It was kind of creepy and weird. The creepy feeling wasn't made any better by the fog that covered the city the next morning.

We leave Vermont happy though as we are heading to Ottawa, Canada to see our friends.

Maine, USA 28-29 August

Maine is one of Daniel's favorite states (with the exception of West Virginia of course) because it is so beautiful. I'd never been to Maine before but I can totally understand while he likes it up here.

We liked Maine so much we visited it twice on our trip, once on our way up to Cape Breton Island and the second time on the way back down from Prince Edward Island. During both trips we took in some stunning scenery, attended a blueberry festival (Maine is the blueberry capital of the US) complete with pie eating contest, drove past Stephen King's house, explored Baxter National Park and ate the best breakfast of blueberry pancakes we had ever had, not to mention massive!

Daniel with a statue of Paul Bunyon at Rumford, Maine.....they could almost pass as twins!

Daniel and I decided it would be a good idea to try and work off some of the seafood and blueberry pie we had eaten by taking a hike up South Turner Mountain in Baxter National Park. We were advised that the last 1.3 miles to the summit was "quite steep" by the park ranger and she wasn't kidding! We reached the summit at 3122ft huffing and puffing a little and while this was no Mt Kilimanjaro we were proud of ourselves. We also realised how unfit we were.

Proof we made it to the summit of South Turner Mountain.

Now for the decent.

South Turner Mountain

Camden, Maine

The Eastern most point of the USA, West Quoddy Head Lighthouse in Lubec, Maine

Prince Edward Island, Canada 26 and 27 August

Prince Edward Island (PEI) is synonymous with Anne of Green Gables, but there is so much more on the island than just Anne. In fact other than going into a few tourist stores that had plenty of Anne souvenirs and trinkets we gave the whole Anne thing a miss.

We arrived on the island via a ferry from Pictou, Nova Scotia and stayed at a great bed and breakfast, Caleb's Outlook, that Chad and Lindsay had recommended to us. On our second night on the island we indulged in another lobster supper (in a place called New Glasgow), again on Chad and Lindsay's recommendation. Not quite as much food was consumed this time around, as we had learnt our lesson from Cape Breton island. Nevertheless we managed to get through a lobster each and more mussels than a grown adult should probably consume in a single sitting.

Our self portrait

"Hi everyone"

The view from our balcony at Caleb's Outlook B&B

Like we need to be told how to eat a lobster!

New Glasgow Lobster Supper, where the mussels are served to you in buckets!

PEI has some beautiful scenery and we spent most of our time there driving from picture postcard spot to even better picture postcard spots. While the weather wasn't on our side for the whole two days we were on the island, it rained heavily the day we arrived, we had a very relaxing two days.

We are glad we made the effort to get across to the island, as we never managed to while we were in Ottawa.

The red sands at SeaCow Head lighthouse

Confederation Bridge that connects PEI to New Brunswick. The Bridge is 13kms long.

St Mary's church at Indian Springs

Cape Breton Island, Canada - 23 and 24 August

Our time on Cape Breton Island involved both disappointment and amazing luck during both days we were there. One of the main reasons we were visiting the Island was on recommendation from Chad and Lindsay to camp at the northern most tip of the island in a place called Meat Cove. Yes folks, that is its real name!

On our first morning on the island we were driving up to Meat Cove to check it out, only to hear over the radio that the bridge leading into the cove had been damaged by previous rains and the cove was no longer accessible. While disappointed that we couldn’t see it, we counted ourselves far luckier than all the campers who were stuck in there with no way out other than by boat.

Instead of seeing Meat Cove, we drove the Cabot Trail, which is a scenic drive that hugs the coast on the northern side of the island. There are hikes and scenic outlooks along the way that were teaming with wildlife. Without really trying our wildlife count at the end of our time there was 2 coyotes, 2 snakes, numerous pods of pilot whales, a seal, 3 bald eagles and 3 moose.

...oh and a dragonfly, that I (emma) managed to get a picture of.

Cape Breton Island, Smokey Point

A good photography assistant on the Cabot trail.

Baddeck Bay

Our second round of disappointment that turned into good luck was our encounter with the final moose we saw while walking on one of the most popular hikes on the Cabot trail, called the Skyline Trail. After seeing two young male moose previously from a reasonable distance away, we came upon a group of people who had spotted a large male moose eating in the coverage of the trees not far off the trail. He probably would have stayed there for a while had it not been for 20 something year old German tourist who yelled said very loudly what we think translated to “Papa, look there is a moose. Papa get your camera”. Not surprisingly the moose didn’t hang around. Disappointed we continued to walk along the trail, muttering under a breath about inconsiderate people who have little regard for their surroundings, however our luck was about to change.

While walking back to the car Daniel spotted the same large male moose grazing and quickly got out his camera with the long telephoto lens so he could get some close up shots from so far away. After a few clicks of the camera the moose looked directly at us started to move on. We moved a little up the path at a respectful distance from the moose and I watched him through the binoculars. He was a beautiful animal, standing about 7ft tall and if you included his huge antlers probably stood at 10ft. It was just wonderful to watch. As I continued to watch him through the binoculars I realized he was getting bigger and bigger. In reality he was walking directly towards us and there was no longer any need for the binoculars. We stopped in our tracks, in fact I think I even stopped breathing, and this massive moose crossed the path we were walking on 15ft ahead of us. Poor Daniel was backing up madly as he had his telephoto lens on the camera and was way too close at that point. He got some shots nonetheless. The best part about this, which all took place in about a minute, was that there wasn’t a single person around and it was totally quiet.

Hiking, driving and wildlife watching, builds up quite and appetite so we headed to a restaurant for dinner to try some of the local produce. It was here we tried our first lobster supper. For those who don’t know, it is currently lobster, mussel and oyster season in the north eastern states of the USA and Canada. A lobster supper usually involves a whole lobster and all you can eat of seafood chowder, steamed mussels, salad and dessert. It will not surprise any of you who know us well that we got our monies worth at this restaurant. To embarrass ourselves or brag (however you want to view it) I’m going to list the total food consumed that evening rather than split it by individual. The total consumed was:
- 4 bowls of mussels
- 1 bowl seafood chowder
- 2 side salads
- 2 1lb lobsters
- 2 pieces of lemon meringue pie
- 1 piece of chocolate cake
- 1 piece of blueberry pie

Did we feel full and disgusting by the end of the evening….yes. Was it worth it….absolutely!