So we’re in calgary and our odometer shows a figure of 175,000 which means we’ve driven ten thousand miles around north America!

ok so i just tried to make the route in google maps, and google maps couldn’t manage it, it found it too big and the page crashed, wicked google!

i have had enough driving for now, and we’re only 1,700 miles from where we started in Los Angeles, but we did take the scenic route, which has been great fun. i don’t think i need to recap here, as everything we have done is down below in this blog. i just have to show some photos!

i’m sat in some dingy econolodge, the radiator wouldn’t turn off, so we have the air conditioning on, don’t tell the environment, but somebody has removed all radiator controls, and the only other option was to sleep with the door open, but maybe the -4 outside would make it too chilly in here.

alan’s just woken now, so i guess time to do stuff.

regina was cool, we had no number or address for the guy who we were staying with, but we did know where he worked, and it all worked out as we arrived when he did, and he even got the night off. so we went and had dinner and saw some bars, alan picked up this pretty but really stupid girl and well it was fun.

yesterday we headed off out on the road for what was the hardest, most boring drive of the trip. we had 500 miles on prairie lands to cross. we had to do all we could to keep from passing out while driving. this involved absolutely horrible music, throwing grapes out of the window to have them crash on the front of the car and general being annoying to each other, but we made it here to calgary to drive past a bar showing the kiwi’s playing wales on tv.

so rugby, pie mac and cheese and a pint made for a nice finish to the day.

there seem to be a noticable number of english, ozzy and kiwi people around here, and i guess it’s the close proximity to the snowy mountains.

so alan has to goto customs and beg for his ski bag to be released and then off we go to banff, can’t wait, mountains, snow, and the lifts open wednesday!!!

photos: alan trying to play patience in the car, our greek breakfast yesterday and the nothingness expanse we drove across yesterday. i notice the iphone photos aren’t great quality, buggar!

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Nouvelle Orleans.
It’s interesting to say the least. The experience thus far has been great, almost overwhelming.
So we drove through the back roads, swamps, alligators, needing the toilet like no other day. We drove the most zig zag route into here in search of interest.
Our host is intriguing, involved in politics here, half Jewish, half catholic, half Italian, totally American and gay. I/we haven’t had so many/strong discussions that aren’t bullshit in a long time, well as brothers, ever.
We’ve had a great tour of town, and local beers, and some else.
We watched a football game, on TVs. We had a bar crawl, being that each bar that we went to wasn’t fun enough for supporting the local college team. We met people, well Vincenzo knows everybody in town. We met the bucket man, who sang alan and I a sang inside a bucket!
In the end we came back home, I guess at 11pm ish to cook gumbo, and for me, pasta. The other couchsurfer came back from being musical, and together we chatted away while cooking failed. But we drank the chili wine. We chatted about life and Krishna, and lucid dreaming, and ioraska(maybe I can’t spell that), and katrina, and new Orleans, and now everybody is laying to sleep in the dark but me.
I think it’s time, gone five hours of cooking, eating and chatting to meet the zzzzz’s

We ended up spending almost a week in New Mexico, a bit longer than the expected day and a half. We certainly enjoyed our time there.
As you can tell we aren’t in NM any longer but now Texas, so far we drove 60 miles and saw 2 cars until we got to this town for a late mexibrunch.
Albuquerque was pretty cool, and felt like we were there three days, rather than the 1.5 that was reality. It was our first couchsurf of the trip, staying with jessica and cloice near their university. So first off we went out to a greek night held by a church. Nothing religious, but Greek food, dancing, drinking and fun. We even tried dancing, couldn’t get the footwork down but was a laugh. Love for spinaköpita! After we had a bit of a drink with their friends before turning in.
Shame it wasn’t an early night as we had to get up at half four un the morning, which was painful. And so cold that it required dressing for winter. We had to queue for a park and ride, yellow school bus #3, and queue and queue again for the event, toilet, lame breakfast burrito. We spent a good while watching the bizarre spectacular that is known as Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, the worlds largest event of this type. Literally 100,000s of people from all overbthe world come to see around 750 hot air balloons taking off, or for some just attemping, supposedly the worlds most photographed event! It’s was cool, amazing, surreal, cold and we we knackered.
So after another sleep we woke up, feeling like a new day we went into town for a chill, chat and pizza. Later after being locked out, we went out to a blues night, which I’d pretty cool, no way I’d try to dance to that, bit it was enjoyable to sit and watch and drink the night away. I had a minimal sleep being kept up by our host, but we escaped yesterday after an authentic new Mexican meal, not to be tried again!
Yesterday we passed by White sands, where the first atom bomb was tested, they still create misiles and there are the White sands dunes. In the middle of nowhere are some pure brilliant White beautiful sand dunes, great for some fun, photos and alan to get his second run in with the law. Luckily for him he still managed to go Scott free.
Later we arivedbin Carlsbad, a little late, for our next couchsurf experience where we slept from arrival to departure. Oh and barely escaped alive thanks to that mental dready dog. All fingers still attached we went to the the caverns by the same name which was awesome. Not the largest, deepest or longest cave system in the world, maybe the beautifulest. It’s a nice long walk, with lots of geological wonder.
So no more new Mexico, time for the mammoth state of Texas, which doesn’t sound too exciting, going by lonely planet and Lets Go guide books.
It’s about time we made some distance.

We’ve had a great couple of days. After an uninspiring drive across new Mexico we went to Santa Fe to kill some time, couple of days, and stopped in a nice hotel, used the gym and went for Chinese. They even make the Chinese food with chillies, well this is the state of chillies.
We then took out bloated selves into town to find a bar, and found a good long bar, good music called el paseo. Beers later and we got chatting to cha, jack and katy, with 2 hours until cha’s birthday we drank until it came time to start doing shots, and when that bar closed at two onwards to the next bar for some smokey magic, and fuzzyness before getting a lift to the hotel.
Yesterday morning alan and I went for a wander around town. It’s pretty, all classic architecture, brown, earthy and full of art. The city is known to be a centre of creative people, and is america’s oldest capital, celebrating it’s 400th anniversary this month! America is barely over half that age.
So we had some brunch, a priceyish rooftop cafe, and I had a salad. My salad involved a lettuce cut into clean quarters and placed on my plate just like that with some decoration. Nice!
So after that we hooked up with the guys from the last night and Thomas and off we went into the wilderness to shoot off a rifle. We can’t shoot for damn, missing bottles, but it was about the experience. Not an experience I care to do any time soon, it was strange to say the least, but all part of our American adventure.
After that we drove down to diablo canyon near the rio grand and wandered up to a cliff. This is the first time for me to climb since indoors at Zurich last autumn, first time ever on a real mountain, and same for alan but maybe he hadn’t climbed in many a year. Fun for sure, scary too, tiring definately, but one hell of a view and great to hang out with some awesome guys.
After, we headed back to jack and katie’s where we all mucked in to cook dinner, other people coming and going, yum and fun.
On to poker, I like to take risks, make it exciting, and got kicked out thrice, great, so shots an later alan won.
Today we gathered our heads together, said our farewells and drive off into the country.
We randomly found Madrid, otherwise known as Mad rid. Once a mining town, then and now a hippy town, but made famous by a john travolta film ‘wild hogs’ it’s super bizarro, eclectic, new age, pretty cool. I tried me some fried green tomatoes on a salad, not bad. Well that was it for Madrid bar a few photos and we drove on, wishing grandpa happy birthday by phone and off yo get lost.
Lunch hadn’t been filling enough so we took a right turn, signed to a diner, toward a ski area. We ended up a mile higher, overlooking Albuquerque, so cool view, bloody cold and had lunch número dos.
Fun fun, now we are outside jessica, not rachael’s place in Albuquerque, our couchsurfing hosts for the next two nights waiting for their return home.

Check this out a plane in Germany hits a flock of starlings. http://m.gizmodo.com/site?t=IQxSOq4TnD4FiWtHRytU8A&sid=gizmodoip

Alan and I are now in New Mexico, a first for both of us.
We’ve had great fun off roaring through hunting country, in an attempt to find somewhere to have a pic nic/avoid the boring interstate. It wad fun, and the car is now brown and dusty.
We woke up and headed into Sedona to check out the scenery. Sedona is like the Glastonbury of USA. It is supposed to have the highest natural energies on the planet, so it’s super new agey, and people are pretty friendly. Due to the natural naturedness of the place, the architecture is pretty earthy, so much so that the place looks like the flintstones, especially with the rock formations towering above. So imagine macdonalds in the flintstones, that’s what I call trippy!
So afterthat we did our cross country fun, making sone top gear style movies
So after that we headed down to the petrified forest, it’s safe to say we expected something a little more awesome, but we had fun, and watched another mind blowing sunset.
We say goodbye to one of the most beautiful mind blowing geologically stunning states. And we have had our second day with clouds.
So now we find ourselves on the Route 66 in a motel in Gallup, New Mexico, all because there weren’t any places back in the other side of Arizona.
We have little idea what we are doing tomorrow, or the next few days, so I guess we have a lie in and wait and see.

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the trains go past this lodge/hotel, so it’ll be ear plugs tonight.
Yesterday I didn’t quite get my mind around how awesome it was to skydive. We were suited up by half eight in the morning having gone out til 3am. Then I was the last into the plane. There were 2 pilots, 6 jumpers with 6 instructors. Then the plane drifted off and up into the sky, it felt so surreal, the ground disappearing away, as we sat facing the tail of the plane. I was by the hatch, part open I could put my hand outside and feel the wind as we gained altitude. Being last on meant first out and down, just big smiles from me, I was lucky, though missed seeing the others falling out of the plane. I had the chance to hold the controls and spin us down to the ground while the guy behind me hinted at tips. All in all it wasn’t anywhere near as scary or aldrenalin pumping, but was well worth the money, and I will definately try it again.
So after we had pizza delivered to our room we headed out middayish. First off to the Stratosphere hotel. It’s a tower like a telecommunication tower, 800ft high, 112 floors. Other than a restaurant at that level are three fairground style rides.
Again the train blares past, these trains are enormous, 3 locomotives at the front and rear, so you can imagine how many cars long they are, and how long they take to pass!
So these rides were high, involving being thrown off the tower, swung around it and shot up from it. Hot, sunny, scary, wonderful views and super fun.
After that we went across the road to the Sahara hotel, where they have a Nascar themed bar. In this bar is a competition whereby if you manage to finish eating their 6lb burrito you get it for free. 6 f*€#Â¥>g pounds of food, that’s enormous, the size of a baby human! So there is a wall of shame, as if you partake in the big eat, you are sat in a fenced off table area and photographed. If you fail you go on the wall of shame. In the nine months of this year nine people have managed this. As you’d have guessed most are large men, but two were actually skinny, and none are women! The hotel had a wicked fast rollercoaster, the goes from the hotel, outside through the sidewalk, the backwards again.
Afterwards we wandered the other end of the strip, saw the bodies exhibit that tours the world, awesome to see inside real bodies, a little freaky but much more informative than an A-level text book.
We then had a casino/bar crawl down the strip; excalibur, new York new York(including the rollercoaster, I triedbto record a video on camera, resulting in the ride being stopped while me camera was temporarily confiscated), MGM, the finally some champagne in Paris. Another highlight was the M&M store, four floors of M&M memorabilia!
So that was us knackered, walking back to out hotel for dinner and watched a film(Anchorman) before passing out, what a Saturday!
Today we’ve driven via the Hoover dam, along the famous Route 66 and are now in an Indian reservation called Hualapai, on the southwest of the Grand Canyon. It’s a lovely lodge, food so tastey, and tomorrow we’re off to have more fun.
Until tomorrow we have fun with trying to sleep with the trains going past. Good night.

Super tired, jet lagged still I suppose.
Breakfast included orange juice made from oranges picked from the tree in the garden no longer than twenty minutes earlier, couldn’t be much fresher or yummier!
Today alan, gunnar and I have been driving around from city to city in Los Angeles. We were on the road nine hours, and have had some experiences. The car sales men, and even nice ladies seem to have no clu about cars, being incapable or unwilling to explain issues like such as why the 4 wheel drive or air conditioning doesn’t work, or even being unable to speak English. So there has been one promising Chevrolet Yukon. We’ll have to see what options there are tomorrow.
The flight was long, yum food, plenty o’ booze and films; Star trek, Fast and furious, Fifty dead men walking and Terminator salvation. I’d say watch star trek, but the best was the indi Irish film, fifty dead men walking, so find it and watch it.
It’s cool to be back in the sun, and it still hasn’t hit in that we’re on holiday, let alone left Europe for who knows long. I guess this is just life.
And Connie and Gunnar are lovely.
Who wants to walk the great wall of china with me?
Time for a barbie.

Cooling off.
Dad, Alison, Paul, sophie, alan and I are near Salisbury at the maybe’s house in the country. We had a nice nature hunt in wellies. Then snooker, the oldies being smashed by the kids. A lovely home meal was followed by a crazy three a side familiy on on family ping pong match, which was pretty chaotic. Five balls at once is hard to follow.
So what better way than to have a sauna/swim session? So ultimatly I feel tired but freshhhh.
My walk Tuesday was great, I wrote a poemish thing. Then sweated a whole load and ate lots of free fruit.
Wednesday involved doing Very little. Dad alan and I saw district 9 in letchworth cinema, nice, comfy, cheap. I must say that the film I worth watching, it’s a new idea, with good morals. The basics are refugee treatment, and solidarity and freedom, see it, it’s wicked!
Yesterday we had a memorial for Ian/Nam, with some old family friends, families who we grew up with, nanny, some of his school friends, and family. It was emotional, but wonderful. Again yo hear such wonderful things, atop a hill under the sun was great. Being talked into taking part was definately worth it, it was cleansing, and left me feeling great.
Afterwards, some came back to dads for dinner, and it was the first time that us Home Farm kids were together in donkey’s years.
So to bed and a day of who knows what tomorrow.

After the sleep lacked night, I woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the channel. Then off to the boat and I decided not to use the gps. I lost confidence in her, and prefer to find a more interesting route. Not to mention the fun of getting lost.
It was a beautiful drive to Belgium, Luxembourg, across to Germany, back to France along the Rhone, into Germany with some flower picking. There I got some speed up, but got a spot of trouble when I filled up the tank and my cards wouldn’t work, but thanks to martin I got away. I came into Switzerland just before sunset, which made for a stunning drive from Basel to Bern and Lausanne, a wonderful fun drive down, akin to watching Top Gear.
Sunday morning nic and I went for a dizzying walk, and even saw some marmots!
Monday I went to the gym, didn’t notice the time and left two and a half hours later aching and tired.
I went to see harriet and cedric, then back to nic and toto’s for a dinner party, yum yum, but couldn’t wait for sleep.
Now nic and I are doing errands, working on getting the car ready to sell.

I’m laying in a cottage in Cornwall with big green letters painted on my front saying ‘lucky dip’
I had a lovely morning chatting with trixie. A wonderful pretty fairy girl, and lots of sunshine. So I left Glastonbury feeling much better than when I arrived. All the people there helped me feel good, and some told me that I did a good deal to make them feel better, so all in I left there feeling good
Well I got to cornwall and the gorgeous weather was grey and English. But I was instantly ordered to get naked, painted up, stuffed pants with lottery tickets and the family and I went off to stand in a field, laugh at others, but mainly get laughed at.
We did not win the dress up contest, by far. Deb scared away all of the photographers. And we had a long walk through town, scaring children who we only wanted to give sweets and make them smile. We were carnival
Ali, deb and I had Chinese, mmm and met Izzi, mark and a rather hairless drink.
I really hope we get to go to the sea and swim tomorrow, even if it does rain.

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