Travel, cooking and web 2.0+

From A to B.
With a few places and countries in between.

On these:

From South America

So, my time left in this country is dwindling.
It has been a hoot, a blast, I’ve met some amazing people, been some amazing places and done some amazing things.

I thought the place was worthy of a recap.

The Sierra’s – Yosemite might be the biggest gem in the crown, but there are lots of other sparkling places too. The backside between Mammoth and Twin Lakes, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park, Historic Hwy 49 and Lake Tahoe are just places of rippling natural beauty.
Also, Hike Half Dome if you can.

The Variety – America might only have 3 colors on its flag. It should have 50. Apart from (mostly) speaking the one language, the place has tremendous diversity, both in its people, but also in its culture. Could there be another country in the world that could contain cities like San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York, Miami, Seattle, New Orleans, Chicago and Boston? The accents, cultural beliefs, food, architecture, lifestyle and scenery all have dramatic differences that I am not sure another country in the world could emulate.

Their Holidays – whether its due to the fact that they don’t get a lot of holidays or not, any day that is a day off is celebrated, seriously. My favorites were Independence day in any Small Town in America, and Thanksgiving at all of the families that invited me to share with them.

The Food – the glutenous food! Chicago style pizza, Chesapeake Bay Crab, Cajun Gumbo, Fried Chicken and Waffles, BBQ Ribs, Bagels, Pulled Pork, great Mexican food, tri-tip, burgers… all of it wonderful, and all of it added to my weight by a good 40lbs (18kg!).

The People – I don’t care what anyone ever tells me, almost all of the Americans I have come across are friendly, helpful, nice and excessively generous people! I will definitely miss my friends here.

The Plan

Consists mostly of not having one. 2 bikes and a little bit of kit, with a requirement to fly out back to Australia by April next year being the limits.

My good mate Seager lands next week, whereby he will be instructed in the art of motorcycle maintenance (and riding) and he will do some test runs to make sure his scoot is working properly and he can operate it. After spending the last couple of months in dry Aboriginal communities in central Australia, his liver might need as much work as his motorcycle skills. I’ll have to make sure both are tested thoroughly!

Notice has been given to work – I am going to miss the place, seriously. This is less a desire to escape “the real world”, more a preemptive strike on a mid-life crisis. There isn’t anytime better to do something stupid than now.
The US’n’A has been fun, lots of fun and I am going to miss lots of people. Perhaps one day I will return… I am sure when I am holed up in Bolivia, I will be wishing for Los Angeles traffic and that Honduras Custom officials will make the CA DMV appear organized.

ride on.