Days 11-13: Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons

For three days we stopped and camped in the stunning environments of Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. The sheer beauty and awe inspiring nature of the place was ever present, and before settling down to a campfire each night we made sure to explore as much of the parks as we could.




A huge waterfall in Yellowstone (spot the people alongside it!)


We took a walk by the lake in front of the Grand Teton Mountain range





It didn't take long for us to stumble across wildlife, a Grizzly Bear walking through shallow water was easily viewable from the safety of the overpass above on our first morning. Over the next couple of days we'd see Buffalo, Deer, and Elk (big deer) too, often walking nonchalantly across Yellowstone roads as if they owned the place (which they pretty much do).


Elk in a field close to our campsite.

Buffalo thrive here, and in one open plane we were lucky enough to see a huge herd of them. I lost count at sixty, and guess there were easily over one hundred! Seeing them by the side of the road like this one below was very common.



Surrounded as we were by wonders of nature, it was easy to forget that Yellowstone is situated on top of a super volcano! The huge number of Geyser's are a reminder, the most famous being Old Faithful which we checked out recorded like typical tourists in the clip below.



Undoubtedly the highlight of our road trip so far, Yellowstone is a truly wondrous exhibition of the power and beauty of nature. We loved our short stay, and took many snaps, more of which you can see at our Yellowstone photo gallery here.

Day 10: Mount Rushmore

One day Ryn, one day.

Days 8 & 9: Racking up Midwest Mileage

This is the drive where the environment around us became the main attraction. Day 8 saw us drive from Chicago, Illinois to Blue Earth, Minnesota. Day 9 from Blue Earth, Minnesota to Wall, South Dakota.



South Dakota is home to the Badlands, dramatic land formations molded by extensive erosion.



We also drove through lots of prairie's in South Dakota, rolling hills filled with long green grass, home to Prairie Dog's. On one gas stop we saw lots of them in a field, all standing on hind legs as they're famous for, and scurrying down their holes as I approached.

Day 7: Chicago

Apparently named by native American's to mean "stinky onion land" Chicago was then just bogs and marshes where surely nobody would want to settle. Quite a contrast the ultra clean, modern city it is today.



Bobby's Neighborhood bike tour turned out to be a great way to explore, and learn some local history.





As was the architecture boat tour, which featured a recently graduated architecture student as our guide. As the boat moved around the lake and river his constant commentary was staggering in it's insights, impressive depth, sense of civic pride, and sheer breadth. The cityscape is a true wonder, the architectural experimentation on display fascinating and beautiful.

We learned that Chicago needed to be completely redesigned and rebuilt in the aftermath of the great fire of 1871, and with new fire safety codes insisting on non flammable construction materials, this led to the experimentation with steel and glass which went on to became synonymous with modern architecture.



There are a dizzying number of skyscrapers in Chicago, and many many more on the way as people fall over themselves to buy skyscraper condos with view of the great lake, close to the lakefront public park, and easy access to downtown (our guide said around 50 currently being built, over 100 in various stages of approval!).

We finished a very enjoyable day in Chicago with some traditional Chicago deep dish pizza, and hopped on the L train back to our hotel.

Day 6: The Drive to Chicago

Setting off at midday, we did our usual 'take it in turns to do two hours of driving' approach that's working pretty well for us so far. Driving on the interstate road network is a smooth ride, and pretty uneventful most of the time.

This drive was no exception...well, unless you count being pulled over by the police for speeding! And driving through the onslaught of a zero visibility flash hail storm! And the escalation of my sore throat and cold to a full-on fever (now, as I type two days later, passed). And finally, upon reaching Chicago after 7 hours of driving, to be gridlocked on the highway for a full 2 hours on route to our hotel.

Urrrrgh. Fortunatley a really rather excellent audio book ('Montmorency' narrated by Stephen Fry) kept our spirits high, and collapsing that night we at least had a day of fun in Chicago to look forward to.

Day 5: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, is a museum devoted to chronicling 50 years of Rock & Roll, from early influences to modern day. In many ways it's exactly what you'd expect, but it doesn't disappoint either.

The many orginal stage costumes on display are a real highlight, with iconic clothing from the likes of Elvis, The Beatles, Hendrix, The Who, and Bowie. Pop greats like Michael Jackson and Madonna also got a look in too, with her John-Paul Gautier pointy boobs and his Thriller costume remaining most vivid in my mind.

Video vewing rooms feature interviews with the stars themselves. Pete Townsend's emotional reminder of how many rock stars die young, and how they're our icons, but were his friends stuck with us both.

There are also tons of original stage props, and instruments on show, and it's comprehensive enough that everyone can find and obsess over their favorite band or artist's stuff. They even had an (admittedly small) Manchester display with New Order and Joy Division, and the story of Factory Records.

A large video viewing room shows clips of every hall of fame inductee, even the Sex Pistols who refused to accept it in a typically anti-establishment letter of descent... which they feature in the screening, and then include them anyway!

Unfortunately there was no photography allowed inside the building, but this snap of Ryn embracing her inner rock star in the rain outside more than makes up for it!

Great friends, double rainbows, shower curatins, and more...

This blog post will likely show you why Rob is in charge of the blog posts :D!

Here are some highlights of our first few days:

1) Hilary, Christopher and Ella:

During our stay in D.C. we took a jaunt up north into Baltimore to have dinner with Hilary, her husband Christopher, and their gorgeous daughter Ella. They also have a vivacious pup, who is the best guard dog/happy tail-wagger I have ever seen :D. Hilary and I were roommates during my first two years in Boston along with Sasha, Vitaliy and their puppy-at-the-time Scotch. It was great to see her and the family after 3 years (?!).

You find great food in the strangest of places. We ate delicious food ordered from a convenience store with a kitchen in the back that is owned by a famous Nepalese movie star. Isn't that a trip?! In addition to convenience goods, and fantastic food, he also sells copies of his movies :D The Himalayan for two was more than enough for the 4 of us :)

Hilary and Christopher are two people who will change the world. They have such a desire to make life better for others in a significant way. Hilary works for a company providing aid to developing nations and Christopher as deputy mayor of Baltimore (we kept our "The Wire" questions to a minimum to not annoy him too much :D). I can't wait to see what they do next! Thanks for hosting us guys :D

2) Double Rainbow:

After getting completely soaked on the walk back to the car from the rock n roll hall of fame, nature rewarded us for our good spirits with a gorgeous, rare double rainbow :D It was featured on todays morning Daily Herald paper.



3) I love the shower curtain rods in hotel rooms that are curved.

easy-peesy, allowing for a roomy, relaxing shower...Nothing more to say there.

Signing off with Hugs and Kisses - Ryn

Day 4: Go West!

After our jaunt south down the eastern coast to see Philly and DC, it was about time to make some progress west on this road trip. Our fourth day was spent mostly in the car, driving through the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and into Ohio. We made good progress on our audio book, and checked into a hotel in Poland, about an hour south of Cleveland.


Taking these snaps made me think that a passenger seat video montage showing the changing environments of the US would be pretty sweet. I'll keep shooting the video, and edit it together when we arrive in San Francisco.

Day 3: Washington DC sightseeing

Given that we didn't have too much time, the hop on hop off bus tour proved a good way to get around the city and see the main sights.


The White House.



Hopping off the bus in Georgetown let us nose around the beautiful neighborhood and grab a sandwich for lunch.

Then onto Washington DC's National Mall, where all of the major memorials, museums are located. The symmetrical layout reminded me a lot of Paris's Champs Elysees. It turns out that's exactly what the French architect who designed it was going for.


The Washington monument and reflecting pool




The impressive Abraham Lincoln memorial


The WWII memorial.

My first time in Washington DC, and I'd love to return to check out the museums and galleries. For more photos see my picasa gallery (click the hand below).

Washington DC

Day 2: Philly

We didn't have much time in Philly before setting of for Washington DC, so decided there were two things we had to do.

The first was to sample an authentic Philly cheese steak sandwich. We got ours at a place called Cosmi's Deli, which is located amongst the terraced houses of south Philly, which only added to the enjoyment of our cheese steak lunch. The look and feel of the terraced streets reminded me of some parts of my hometown Manchester, England. For a full hour we didn't see a single chain store, it was like stepping back in time and wonderful for it.



Our second Philly must-do of the day was to check out the Liberty Bell at Independence Hall in the city center. We got the full history of course, one interesting aspect of which is that this bell, a symbol of liberty and equality, was built in England and broken on delivery. So they had to recast and remake it! As us Brits like to say "typical". I have the full spiel on video which I'll upload to youtube if I get a net connection fast enough.


Some guy named Barry (no really!)




That's Independence Hall behind our grinning mugs, where the declaration of Independence was written. I tried to leave my comments of treachery at the door.

Day 1: Boston to Philly

And we're off!

Fully intending to leave Boston this morning, but with a few last things to wrap up, we finally hit the road with a bulging car and big grins on our faces at 1pm. A basic route, and a few back of the napkin calculations last night constitute our plan. This road trip is as close to winging it as we get, but with a GPS and iPhone at hand what can go wrong?



Roadside graffiti album ad in NYC

The first leg from Boston to Philly is about a 7 hour drive, which we attacked in two chunks, either side of a break to watch Italy knock France out of Euro 2008. The drive took us through the now very familiar Massachusetts, and skirted parts of NYC including the Bronx.



After crossing the George Washington Bridge (pictured above) out of NYC we took the New Jersey Turnpike, a seemingly never-ending highway that makes Nascar oval tracks look like an interesting drive. Maybe I should have read this article in preparation.