The Read World Tour

We managed to get to St Louis with all baggage intact and hopped on the Metro to
the suburb of Clayton where our hotel was located. At first the area seemed
intimitdating. It was dark, semi abandoned station with lots of people casting funny
looks our way as we were the only white people around and had huge backpacks on!
Our hotel sent their minibus to pck us up which was great and we proceeded to the
Cheshire Lodge, our home for 5 days.

The hotel was quite expensive and at first we thought being out of town would be a
problem and that we'd have to rely on the metro system. As it turns out though it
was a perfect base. The mock tudor hotel was like something from one of Englands
Oxbridge villages and had everything we needed, including a pool but more of that
later! The biggest benefit was the minibus which ran from 8am to 10.30pm and would
pick up and drop off anywhere within 11miles for the price of a tip!!! Once we
consulted the area maps and spoke to a few people we realised that there wasn't
much happening downtown and that we were pretty close to the heart of things.

Our first night was spent in the hotel relaxing. After all the walking in the rain in
Seattle it was pleasant to have some warmer weather and a pretty luxurious room.
The next day we shopped in a local mall, got our bearings and did laundry in the
middle of a really posh suburb. Laundromats are everywhere if you look hard
enough. Even in very nice surroundings. Our laundry was overlooking a park and
some restaurants which helped pass the time.

The next day was spent downtown at the Gateway Arch. This place is awesome, you
can see it from all around the city. It's a real landmark and it dominates the area
eventhough it's on the banks of the Mississippi!!! Our ride to the top was fun even
though the tram's are the smallest in the world. Like Mork's egg on Mork and Mindy!!!
Fun though it was I was glad to get to the top and see the views accross the city and
over the river to Illinois. Down the other side we went to St Louis' only real downtown
drinking area whcih is made of reclaimed dock buildings. Lacledes Landing looked
cool but we had more shopping to do so onward to St Louis' only real downton
shopping location - Union Station - which as the name suggests used to be the main
rail station for the area (once they managed to span the bloody big river accross the
way)....

Back at the hotel Karen managed to break her little toe on a poolside pipe, $785
dollars later and 3 hours in the ER wasn't fun but at it could have been much worse
eventhough it was painful enough. Some Tylenol (Ibuprofen) and rest would ensure
that the trip wasn't ruined but the next few days would have to be easy on the
walking. No problem really with the minibus.

The next day was taken up at the Worldwide headquarters of Budweiser where I
achieved the honour of Master Brewer on the FREE factory tour. The free tastings
were the best bit but you can't help be impressed by the Busch / Bud view of beer as
they think that they invented beer / fermentation / bottles / drinking!!! You name it
they have a version with a trademark like McDonalds.... The only scare of the day
came when we tried to get to downtown under our own steam on the public bus when
we missed our stop and ended up in the most horrible area. As we got off the bus
some school kids said "oh no, you ain't gettin off here?" and no sooner were we off
the bus then some druggie was making a beeline for us to become our new best
friend. We walked for 10 minutes and took shelter in McDonalds before making
another break for downtown. Eventually we made it to the Arch and took a
paddlesteamer up the Mississippi for an hour which was a fun way to end the day.

Our last full day in St Louis was also cool. We hit the Delmar Loop district where the
St Louis walk of fame is and was surprised to find the number of famous people who
came out of Missouri. Tina Turner and Ike Turners stars were on opposite sides of
the street which made sense! We had a good time looking around the record stores,
bars and in partiular the Fitz Root Beer factory where we had lunch. The Loop is kind
of a mixed area with musicians, artists, students and big business execs all hanging
out and looking beautiful. Needless to say Kaz and I fit right in. The afternoon was
spent in the very grand St Louis Cathederal Basiliica which was fantastic. There were
a few mentions of the Pope's visit in 1999 which was strange given John Paul II's
recent demise but on the whole the place was business as usual for a Catholic
Church.

St Louis was fun, despite the medical emergency. I'm not sure that there's much to
go back for (apart from a Cardinals or Rams game) but it would make a fantastic
place to live.

Seattle has been cool (both in substance and in weather)! We only made it by the hair of our teeth, due to the time of the flight from LA being changed since we booked! When we arrived at Seattle Kaz's bag didnt!!!! Luckily it got to the hotel the following morning so I didnt have to go out and replace everything!

We've done quite a bit whilst we've been here. Our Downtown motel has been a cool base and we've a fantastic view of the Space Needle.

The first day was a bit of orientation and some web time booking St Louis accomodation which was a chore. After that though we walked a lot of the cty, did some shopping, had some food and got a good nights sleep.

On the second day we went back downtown to Pike Place Market (where we'd end up visiting almost daily) and then onto Bill Speidels Underground Tour of Seattle which was very historical and not as visual as I expected. Basically Seattle is built on mud flats and had a number of fires and floods in it's early history. After a big fire the city decided to raise the streets by one story. This left the original 1st story of many buildings under street level. You can now walk around these underground streets which are formed by a succession of what are now basements. It's pretty cool to imagine but there aren't many clues in the basements to help you visualise how the streets once were!

Our third day was spent at the EMP (Experience Music Project) which is a modern museum dedicated to music. It has the history of Seattle music (incl Grunge) and loads of Jam rooms where you can play along with other people or backing tracks. The best bit is the Jimi Hendrix exhibit which was worth the entry fee alone. A really cool place. The rest of the day was spent in the space age Central Library and shopping in Downtown. Money was tight today so not a lot else was done. Watched some american TV and snacked until bed time!

Our fourth day was spent at the EMP's sister museum the SFM (Science Fiction Museum) whcih was amazing. Loads of exhibits from sci fi past and present including Vaders Helmet and Light Saber, R2-D2, Capt Kirk's chair and loads of interactive computer based stuff. right up my alley and Karen even enjoyed it (apart from the life sized Queen Alien model!). We again visited the Library for free internet and went to Pioneer Square (where Seattle started and where the underground is) for lunch and a look at 'The Central' where Seattles most famous bands all started out. The rest of the afternoon was at Pike Place Market where we visited the worlds 1st Starbucks and caught some awesome waterfront views of Puget Sound, Elliott Bay and Mt Ranier.

Our last day will be at the Seattle Museum of Flight where Boeing et al will no doubt be heavilly sold as one of the North West's shining sons....

Our trek was great, nice people and fantastic places (and a funny tour leader!). For anyone
interested in the details visit http://www.trekamerica.com/tours/w3w.html

We arrived in LA on the 20th March after a long and tiring flight from Fiji. Meeting our fellow
trekkers was a funny experience although everyone turned out to be cool! We left our LA hotel
early after meeting the group and toured through Beverly Hills, Hollywood and some of
downtown. We saw the Hollywood sign, the Chinese Theatre and walk of fame, Sunset Strip, the
Viper Lounge and all of the tacky stuff you'd expect. We even saw Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison)
being interviewed.

Next we went to Santa Barbara stopping off at Sant Maria to see the courtroom where Michael
Jackson is on trial! Santa Barbara was a nice town with glamorous shops and a beach and ended
up in our first campground for a cold nights sleep in the rain whilst Karen felt ill (good start!)

Next day we went onward to San Francisco, which is a fantastic town. We visited the worlds most
zig zagged street, viewed Alcatraz from across the bay and rode the trolley and tram services to
death.

From San Fran we went to Yosemite National Park, which was amazing. Did loads of hiking and
played in the snow!!! It was about thigh deep!!!! Our second day there was chilly, but beautiful
blue skies which was perfect!

From Yosemite we went to San Joaquin Valley, which was pretty much just a stop
over. It was a great camp though, fire and Marshmallows!!

From there we went to Death Valley, which again was amazing. Apparently they
have had more rain in the last couple of weeks than they would normally get in
a whole year so it has meant a load of wild flowers coming up that have never
been seen there. The place was amazing! The worst thing was though our first
night of camping was disrupted by unbelievable winds and we actually had to get
up and put the tent pegs in again!!

One of the trip highlights so far was Vegas for 2 nights. A great place!! We all went out in an SUV
limo (20 ft Escalade), had 14 bottles of champagne and cruised the strip!! Then went to more
bars and casinos and got very drunk, getting home at 5am!!! We didnt get up til 2pm the next
day and then wandered round the strip
again. All went out for buffet dinner and then gambled a bit more - Karen won
$20!!!!! Woo Hoo!!

Next was Zion National Park which was also amazing and did some more
hiking.

After Zion we went to Monument Valley which was just as cool as Karen remembered. Tino (the
guide) drove us round the Park, pointing out the names of the rock formations. We all sat on top
of the van for a great photo opportunity and then watched the sun set. Magical! The camp site
was cool too that night, loads of stars and we had a great campfire.

From there we drove to Grand Canyon. We had a quick look around the rim and then went to the
airport to go on a helicopter ride through the Canyon. It was a great view, I dont think Karen
would want to go in one again!!!

The second day in GC was a free day, and some of the group (the fit ones!!!) did
a 7 mile hike down into the canyon. Me, Karen and some others decided on a more sedate 3
mile hike along the rim, which was just as spectacular!! Another
sunset and then an even cheaper meal in Wendy's for me, Kaz and Tino as some of
the others enjoyed steaks!! Went to a great Saloon bar after though and sank a
few beers with the group.

From Grand Canyon we went to our Cowboy Camp! It was hilarious! It was very primitive to say
the least. Porta-potty for the toilet, but basically a hole in the ground surrounded by corragated
iron!! Thank God it wasnt the hight of summer!!!

There was another trek group there at the same time, and it was really funny to
see how much we had all gelled as a group and how protective we were of each
other! They were an odd bunch to say the least and their tour leader even
tried to fight with Tino!

The whole experience was great though. The food was great though - Navajo Indian Fry bread.
It was a lot of fun, eating round the camp fire and then Betty and Rusty singing cowboy songs
and basically bitching at each other the whole time! We had a bit of a lie in the next morning as
Betty was making us Breakfast too. Biscuits (scones!) and Gravy with potatoes and scrambled
eggs. All made on the fire! Fabulous! One of the best sights of the place was all the Saguaro
Cactus Groves which were wicked! They are the cactus that you see in any
western film. Cool!!!

Our next stop was to Tuscon, via a section of Route 66. At Tuscon we went to the
Desert Museum, which was a cross between a museum, botanic garden and zoo. It
was cool though, glad to see Coyotes, snakes, eagles and roadrunners in a safe
environment!! That night though, in our tents, we were conviinced there was
someone walking around the tent, but when we asked everyone in the morning, the
all denied it and Tino said it would have been Coyotes!!!

Our next stop took us to the Joshua Tree National Park, on my birthday! The
Joshua Trees were cool and we did a nice easy walk through a part of the
National Park. It was a red hot day and we had just driven 400 miles so noone
could really be bothered to do anything! We went to the campsite and had a bit
of a party for Kev. Cowboy and Indian toys, lots to drink and a Donut stack
birthday cake!!!

2 Days in San Diego followed, which was cool. First afternoon spent on the
beach which was cool for me!! Then the evening in Tijuana MEXICO!!!! We drove to the border
and then walked over into Mexico. A very odd place. Not very busy, but full of wild bars, most
of them strip joints!! We managed to negotiate a $10
per person all you can drink deal in one bar, so that worked out really well!!
Walked back to the USA at about 2am and got back through the border control with
no problem!! Unfortunately no stamp in the passport though!

The second day in San Diego was free to explore and we spent most of the time on
line trying to get accommodation for Seattle!! San Deigo is a really nice city
though, very relaxed and friendly.

Our last day of the trek was spent back in LA at Disneyland!! We hadn't been
looking forward to it that much, but when we got there it was cool! We stood in line for nearly an
hour just to get our photo taken with Mickey!!! There were some great rides too such as the
Indiana Jones Adventure and we could have easily spent another day there just to see it all.

Our last night with the group was spent at a little cheap and cheerful eatery and then we went to
a cool bar for drinks. Ended up staying out til 2am and had a tearful farewell with the Irish guys
we got closest to.

The trek was amazing and I am gutted to be away from everyone on it. We are already planning
on meeting up with Belinda in Chicago and Tino might
also be there on another trek so that will be cool!

Our last two days in LA were spent at Venice and Santa Monica Beaches. Venice
Beach is cool. There are the open Basketball courts (used on White Men Can't
Jump) where all the locals go to play ball!! Very entertaining! Also there is
Muscle Beach, which you might have seen on TV too, where the really buff posers
do their weight training for all to see!! One guy working out in a bright
orange speedo - mmm nice!!!!

We also went back to the Kodak Theatre, and saw people queueing for the new Star Wars movie
- not due out until May 13th!!!!! Went to Universal Studios, but just round the shopping complex
as too late and expensive to go in.

Our last night was spent with Tino, having a great burger and a few drinks in
the hotel bar. Really wish we could have been doing another trek with him. He
was top quality!