Not satified with our intital exploits in the harsh Death Valley, we headed back in for some more punishment. But on the way we make a short detour to the desert gold rush ghost town of Rhyolite. The place was deserted as expected and wholly unghostly, but the crumbling remnants of a once booming community is clear (or unclear) to see.

Moving back into the valley floor, we thought we would venure out of the safety of the air conditioned car and hike up the short Golden Canyon trail.

The gentle uphill trail follows through a stark yellow sandstone, river cut canyon before taking the a steep climb over rocks and  boulders to the red cathedral. The inital section was relaxing, the second was fun and a bit daredevilish at times but we are all here to tell the tale…yipee!

From here we ventured to the lowest point in the US, Badwater, which is 282 feet below sea level. We jumped out again and wandered over the vast salt flats before heading to the Devils Golf course.

I was very disappointed with the golf course, it was just a salt flat with a few sparadic holes in it…and worst of all there was no 19th hole!

On our exit from the park we made a quick stop at Dante’s Point which overlooks the valley for some great sunset views.

The journey continues…

Fresh from our (majority) success of day one on the road we programmed “The Wench” (aka: our new Sat Nav) for Red Rock Canyon, a Vegas getaway for climbers and nature watchers where we chalked up our first glance at…suprise suprise…red rocks (trust me there are loads more to come)! The scenic drive here was very cool with pit stops lining the route at ideal picturesque photo taking vantage points. We did attempt to hike a short trail, which ended in us turning back as we got a tad lost. This is most definitely not a good omen considering the amount of hiking planned!

Moving swiftly on after clocking up our first National Park experiances we headed to the desolate and barren lands known for their harsh terrain and inability to sustain life. We drove headlong into the centre of Death Valley.

The drive was totally uninteresting in terms of driving (we probably saw 1-2 other cars every 30 minutes), but the scenery through the desert badlands and colossal canyons is second to none. En route to the habitable heart, we stopped to take a peek atop of Zabryrske point.

We were sweating even before our step count had reached double figures, the wind was so immense it almost blew us off our feet and the fact it was about 100 degrees fahrenheit didn’t help matters. Good job the views of the golden river cut canyon below was very impressive and gave us a glimpse of the harsh conditions in this bleak desert.

Finding accommodation was trickier than expected. Even the hardiest of campers would agree that pitching a tent here was not really a option. 30-40 mph winds and 100+ degree heat made conditions a bit too much to bear. So with the promise of a soft mattress (and an air con unit) we headed to the outlying town of Beatty for the comfort of a motel (good choice if you ask me).

The journey continues…

After spending more than our fair share of time riding round America on public transport we decided it’s time to take the reigns ourselves and hit out from Vegas to explore the natural splendor of the south west’s national parks.

We set off with free spirits and images of the vast open roads in our newly crowned Sheila ( Town and Country Chrysler Caravan if your being pedantic) … and got as far as the local Walmart before making a bare neccessities pit stop. Our first Walmart experiance was a rather expensive one being honest, after buying up the satellite navigation, food, tent, stove as well as other camping  essentials we were finally on our way.

The first port of call is the engineering masterpiece and extremely vast Hoover Dam. After driving over the dam a couple of times and taking a quick wander over on foot near sunset we hightailed it to the nearest campground in the nearby Lake Mead recreation area to test out our Walmart haul!

It was all going so well, tent up in record time and food ready to be lovingly prepared. This is when we ran into a few tiny drawbacks.

1, Campgrounds in the desert are not going to have lush green soft grass to lie upon

2, You need a spark to start a fire.

So John, Mike and Dockers headed off for the local supermarket to grab roll mats and a lighter, which me and Jinx were reliably told was 13 miles away. 2 and a half hours later they returned after getting lost (with a sat nav!!!)

Facilities here were very basic…so to brush off the strain of a very hot evening under the stars
to brush off the strain of a very hot night under the stars, we headed down to the lake front for a dip. Water was soo nice! This cool, clean freshwater lake was just the ticket! One day down loads to go…

The jouney continues…

The Windy City was the next stop on the USA east(ish) coast loop, and as we all found out it isnt quite as near the east as expected. I required a 28 hour bus journey from cape cod & the guys needed a 17 hour bus from Toronto. These long journeys here made us all the more enthused to have a good time here on the shore of lake michigan.

Making the most of the time we had, we struck out for grant park where perchance a Latin Music festiival was in full swing, we stopped off and i tryed out my found salsa skills to  limited effect, all after getting soaked by the huge 150ft water stream coming out of the Buckingham fountain.

The latest addition to chicago sightseeing is also one of the biggest draws. Millenium Park is a sculpture park on a grand scale with metallic bridges, lawns, fountains and the amazingly strange Cloud Gate otherwise know as The Bean.

Thirsty from all the posing about we needed a beer, so we headed to the signature lounge, which so happens to be on the 106th floor of the Hancock tower…more posing about then.

The only logical step after drinks is food, Ginosprovided us with a Chicago Deep Dish Pizza, which was massive and tasted damn good, even if a bit much for ones shrinking stomach.

Chicago is famed not only for its windy nature and we explored all its trademarks. Lake michigan, Navy pier (from which we saw a great free fireworks display), the northern beaches which are amazingly, less than a 30 min walk from the main shopping district, Al Capone’s ganglang territories and not forgetting the first playboy mansion were each great in thier own way. Unfathomable size, tourist haven, sun soaked, hard to find and unremarkable respectively.

In my eyes chicago is one of the homes of blues music and I payed homage to this by following a trail vistitig the main sites from the best movie ever made The Blues Brothers and a trip to Buddy Guys Blues club Legends where we saw Carlos Johnson who was pretty good.

Before heading out of town we made sure we visited the Museum of Surgical Science & the chicago history museum which were both facinating. We also crammed in a trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo (Free entry..woo!).

Chicago was most definitely a Sweet Home, but the bright lights of Vegas are flashing and who are we to resist their draw!

After rushing through city after city after city in double quick time, it was time to take a rest! And a break from the city was exactly what i got during a 4 night stay in Cape Cod.

After wandering unwittingly down an Interstate (got a bit of a telling off from the cops) I finally found my hostel. The HI-Midcape hostel is superb, its situated in the middle of nowhere and has a uniquely laid back feel with the Cheers ethic of “where everybody knows your name“. Sleeping in cabins and rushing to the main building for a very hearty breakfast of fresh pancakes, brought back memories of my days working at summit camp. This place now comes highly recommended from yours truly.

Day 1
So myself and 3 others i met in the hostel the night before struck out for Provincetown (Chaffuered in a Mustang no less…Yipee! - cheers Carla) at the very tip of the capes hook, which unknown us was well in the swing of a gay pride week (later fact finding uncovered a stat of 60-80% of the population of P-Town is homosexual).

The place is actually a really fun place and very lively as you would imagine. (travel buddy Gary from glasgow wasnt overly impressed with the outward nature of the town folk sexual preferences, which i found rather amusing). While here visited the Pilgrims monument which celcbrates the landing of the first pilgrims in the usa and walked a rock walkway a mile out into the bay to Woods End Lighouse passed the stunning salt marshes in the early evening light.

Day 2
After a crazy late night idea, i struck out again for P-Town, this time by public transport as the Mustang had deserted us, bummer! In a moment of weakness decided to part with cash and throw myself in for a possible disaster! Whale Watching isnt usually my thing, but i was glad to be onboard after being caught in a downpour which left be soaked! After 10 minutes i had my moneys worth, not Whales but Dolphins! loads of white sided dolphins circled the boat, playing about in the water! Was amazing to see!

After another hour we spotted about 6 humpback whales gracefully larking around in the waters, waving tails and jumping for the crowds. Was so great to see them in thier own habitat and not behind a glass screen at sea world. Money well spent! A superb experience!

Day 3

Struck out and rented some bikes for the day. Cape Cod is littered with cycle tracks so it was a breeze getting around, even though whichever way you turn the wind is blowing in your face!

Took a ride north to the Nauset Light beach for some sunbathing. Then followed that up with a trip to a lookout point at Fort Hill over the salt marshes (after a scaryily crossing an Interstate), then finally rounded the day off with a ride and a stroll along the beach at sunset. Amazing colours and view on offer the whole day!

I also ran into a 4 Foot Monitor Lizard on my ride. His name was Tank, and he was clearly a double hard lizard… i decided not to mess with him or is crazy owner!

Time to rendezvous with th guys in Chicago… Got a long way to go & a short time to get there!!

So finally after much has been said, the trip has begin and where better to kick start any trip with a visit to New York City.

We stayed in the Village Inn hostel in the New York’s east village which we chose for its close proximity to the local nightlife. After spending 4 nights there I can certainly say its an awesome place for a good evenings merriment. However upon our arrival to the hostel we were greeted with this sign which says.

PERILOUS TO LIFE!!! OMG!! WTF!!!

Despite the 2 rooms opposite ours being cornered off for our personal safety the place was clean and had a nice vibe despite the place being half full due to 16!! rooms being out of commission.

As far as daytime activities go we managed to cram in a lot in a short time. We marched over the Brooklyn bridge for the fantastic city skyline shots from Brooklyn heights, posed for (multiple) pics atop of the Rockefeller and empire state building plus we meandered though Greenwich village, chinatown and central park.

I love New York (cheesy huh) and it was great to spend some more time here to fully soak up the unique characters of each of Manhattan community. Next stop the USA capital, Washington D.C.!

Goonies highlight:

• Kev: Drinking in McSorleys, the oldest traditional pub in new york
• Mike: ‘Big Piano’ - Childhood fantasy. Done!
• John: Toying with the skyline at the Rockefeller Center
• Chris: The views at the the top of the Empire State Building 30 minutes after an almighty rain downpour.

Here is a question I have been pondering in the dull hours which I fully intend to find the answer for!

Just how many different beers will one who is embarking on a round the world voyage, drink in 365 days?

In order to answer this grand question, I plan to keep the most important of travel journals, a Beerlog. People need to know what beers to knock back when on their travels. The grand aim is for this in many years time to become the pivotal prized tome of Beeroscopy that no backpacker should be without.

We will see how it goes but I like the idea and I’m sure, we the GOT gang, will have plenty of fun and merriment compiling this grand encyclopedia of fermented bar bound beverages.

Let the Beer-Watch Begins…

As you can probably see from the steadliy growing planner page. The Goonies have been extremely hard at work over the last few months creating a provisional outline of the vast ambitious trip we’re undertaking.

Now after what has been months (and months and months etc…) of planning and bookings made from behind the computer screen, it seems to me that this is all we will ever do….PLAN!

What with, accommodation, tours, visas, vaccinations, sights, travel arrangements… the list is truly endless! Sure, it is a slighty more fun chore than doing the ironing, but it’s a chore nonetheless (Cue abuse)! However despite planning madness, I’m certain that one of these days over the next 79 days, i’ll be hit square in the face with the realism that we’re “actually doing this!” and I “will” enjoying some of the benefits of opening that huge chasmn in my bank account.

But until that day of stark realisation (I may need a few stiff drinks on this day), i’m just happy for the general escape from reality the planning brings. Not to mention the comedy from translating some of the cryptic emails recieved from hostels the other side of the globe!

If anyone has any ideas on places to go and things to do then don’t hesitate to make a suggestion on the planner page! All ideas are good ideas!

Kev