Left New York on the 15th September to start a tour down to the south of the USA and then over to LA. We started by heading to Washington and stopped of at Philadelphia for lunch on the way, were saw the Liberty bell and where the declaration of independence was signed. We then headed to Cherry Hill campsite just outside of washington. At night we drove into the city to see the main sights lit up at night, including the Capitol building, the Lincoln Monument and the Korean and Vietnam war memorials. We even took an unexpected detour to the CIA headquarters in Langley after missing our turning.
On the 16th we had the whole day to walk around Washington and saw the Capitol building, Washington Monument and no building in DC can be taller than this, the Lincoln Monument, and then we walked over to Arlington Cemetery and saw the grave of JFK. we then went to the whitehouse and you can actually see snipers on the roof. I also went to the Natural history museum and the air and space museum. In the evening we went to an Ethiopian restaurant were you get a big dish with pancake things on and then they put 4/5 peoples dishes all onto this one dish and you eat with your hands, so that was definitely something different.
On the 17th we went to Wytheville, Virginia. which is in the middle of now where but they had seen a bear spotted a few days earlier at the campsite and so they put us in the farthest point were the bear was spotted.
Unfortunately we didn't see a bear but on the 18th we headed to Zazzie's in Abingdon which is a tiny town with not much in it and the guy at the cafe acted like it was his fault and then he recommended a music festival in the next town, Bristol, so we headed to this and that was really good. We then headed to Knoxville, Tennessee where Tennessee was playing Florida so we stayed and watched the game in a bar. At the campsite this night decided it was a nice night and so slept outside and was cool to wake up and not have anything around you and to just be looking at the sky.
On the 19th we went white water rafting which was awesome. They were grade 4+ rapids and the guy we had taking us down was amazing and smoked the entire time. I got to sit on the front of the raft and "ride the bull" as they call it, which was really fun going through raids. In the afternoon we went to Birmingham and saw the 16th street church were the movement for desegregation started. That night we stayed at Lake Lurleen state park and it was Murray's Birthday.
The next day we started early in the morning and headed to New Orleans. we stopped to do a swamp tour just outside the city at Honey Island Swamp Tours, where they feed the Gators marshmallows, but they get really close to the boat and had a 15ft gator next to the boat, which was amazing. That night we went to Gumbo restaurant in New Orleans and had Gumbo which is a kind f soup/casserole but is really nice. and then we went into town for the night.
On the 21st I went to Preservation Hall in the evening and saw a Jazz Band and they were really good.
On the 22nd we saw Saint Louise Cementary number 1, and saw Nicholas Cage's grave. we then went and saw a plantation house. That night at the campsite I saw turtles, deer, raccoons which kept coming up to the campsite at night, and even an armadillo! which was cool to see, just a shame couldn't get a photo but he was quite quick getting through the woods.
The next day we headed for Austin Texas and saw some live bands in the pubs that night.
On the 24th we went to a park in Austin and an outdoor pool which was half manmade and half natural, with the floor being natural rock and half the walls being natural. the water in it is flowing and changes every hours. That night we saw the Bowie Bulldawgs high school american football team and they lost 42-7 which was quite bad but it was good to watch and the bands display at half time were amazing.
On the 25th we were off the highway and in the middle of nowhere with only oil drills and flat countryside and in the process of trying to find some where to stop for the toilets we came across Red Bluff which is not the kind of place to want to go, it's basically looks like a hunter camp and you would not want to get out of your vehicle, you didn't even want to stop there it looked that dodgy. Later we came to our actual destination which were the Carlsbad Caverns, which are large underground caverns, which were cool to walk through. Afterwards our tour leaders (Allen) said to me about how it was down hill on the way out and I seemed to remember a lot of uphill getting to the caverns so took the bike and started to cycle down the hill only to realise there was only the one big hill and then it was lots of flat and little ups and downs, so did 5 miles with the van following and then this tired me out so got back in the van, but it was fun to do even if it wasn't downhill like thought. That night we went to an outdoor theatre and saw takers so that was something different again that wouldn't of found by myself.
On the 27th we went to Rosswell! and I dressed fully in aluminium foil to make sure the aliens could infiltrate me. Had a few odd looks from people in the museum and had randomers taking photos. Also felt slightly bad as walking round this museum making a load of noise from the foil. That night we went to Santa Fe and every building is made from this mud stuff and has to be one of 19 shades of brown and so makes a strange place to see.
On the 28th we left Santa Fe and actually drove across some of the historic route 66 (now split up and called other names) and from here until LA we keep driving on parts of it. Today we had a long drive of 8/9 hours to get to Monument Valley where we had a jeep tour with "king" Richard as he called himself. the tour lasted over 2 hours and Richard was an awesome guide. For dinner that night we had Fried bread with steak and vegetables in Monument Valley and then had entertainment and some of the locals came out in their Grass Dancer costumes and danced and then got us up and dancing, which was good fun. At night we slept in a traditional building which was surprisingly warm.
The next day we got up at 6:00am to see the sunrise and then had breakfast in the valley, we then headed for the Grand Canyon and got our first look of the canyon that afternoon, and had some idea of what would be hiking the next day.
The 30th we got up early again 5:30am to see the sunrise over the Canyon and it made the whole sky go a bright orange as it came up which was cool to see. Afterwards we started hiking down the canyon and started going down at 7:20am. I did the longest hike you can in a day down to Plateau Point and back up, which is 12.6 miles in total, so 6.3 down and 6.3 up. Got down to the bottom in good time, but as ran down some of the path should of got down quick but find it fun to run down and actually found it easier with the steps. the Views where really good and got some good pictures but didn't spend t long at the bottom as the sun was starting to come from behind the clouds and wanted to see how quick could get down and out. In the end it took 5 1/2 hours in total so that was really good as they recommend 8-12 hours to complete it. The last 1 and half hours were grueling though and just kept plodding along, but when got to the top had a sleep on a picnic table for a couple of hours until it was time to get picked up.
On the 1st of October we went to Lake Powell which is a reservoir and has more coast line than the whole of the USA due to all the tributary rivers that flow into the main valley and also got flooded. So we stayed and messed about in the water for a while and then went to Paria Canyon ranch which is owned by an ex-trek America tour guide. and we met another tour group here.
The 2nd we went to Zion National Park and trekked up the Angels Landing which is 2 1/2 miles. the last 1/2 mile is on sandstone with chains to help you climb it and unfortunately the wind had picked up substantially and black clouds had come over and there was thunder and when the sandstone gets wet it gets very slippery and so we decided to only climb as far as to see down the canyon and then headed back down and got some good views down the canyon but it was a shame didn't get all the way to the top, but the wind was very strong and it did start to rain when reached the bottom.
The next day the 3rd we headed to Las Vegas and had a buffet at the Luxor casino. And at this point we were all speculating as to where we would be staying as Allen wouldn't tell us. We found out we were actually staying at the NewYorkNewYork which is on the strip and the towers are built to look like building from New York. I shared a room with Matt and were in room 2659 in Century A.
After checking in we went for a limo ride down the strip and got to the old strip and saw a light display which was really good. The limo ride was fun as you went down the strip people were taking photos of you which was cool. we ended at the Bellagio and saw their fountain display. Me, Matt, Tony and Murray then went to Monte Carlo Casino and to "The Pub" which had an awesome name unfortunately that was all that was good about it. Matt then wanted to play Blackjack but didn't want to play by himself so after convincing me to play by giving me $10 to play with we actually ended up winning money. So we went back to the NewYorkNewYork and had some drinks and me and Matt decided that we would play blackjack everytime needed money to buy and round and some how we came away from the table better off each time and so ended up not using any of our own money that night. Which was awesome!
The next day I got up at 11:30am and went for a walk down the strip but by 12:00 midday I was in the Bellagio playing blackjack and by 1:30pm was leaving $100 up. unfortunately this didn't last and on the way back to my hotel I lost $40 in Paris in 10 minutes and another $40 in another casino just as quick so got back to NewYorkNewYork only $20 up. but played in NewYorkNewYork and ended up $75 up. I then met Tony and Matt and they were going for lunch so I decided to head to MGM across the road and ended up watching an episode of NCIS trying to win a TV.
I then met Matt, Tony and Murray again at the NewYorkNewYork at 5:30pm, and me and Matt went and played some more blackjack and I ended up another $145 so $210 up overall, and had a black $100 chip which got a photo of. later however luck would change and that night we went to the Bellagio and in 15 minutes I lost $80 and between 4 of us we lost $240, so we went back to the NewYorkNewYork to play, were we also found out you got free beer while playing and just had to tip the waitress $1. By the end of the night had lost $130 of what had earlier, but left Vegas $80 up which after gambling for at least 16 hours on the 4th as didn't go to bed till at least 4 in the morning is really quite good, and made Vegas the cheapest place visited as that $80 paid for the room for 2 nights.
On the 5th we left Vegas and headed for Los Angeles. We saw the Hollywood sign and also walked down the street with all the stars on, which is not a good as would of thought. That night we had a few last drinks as a group, but unfortunately they didn't have the official beer of the trip, "Keystone Light".
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