Once again, I started writing my blog and got side tracked. What follows is an account of my final half month in America.
We left Alabama heading south to New Orleans. The first stop in the city was at a local restaurant which I was assured possessed some of the best food in the states. The gator sandwich certainly didn’t disappoint. With a full belly of alligator we headed to the superdome to watch the New Orleans Saints take on the Lions in an NFC (NFL) game. The crowd/atmosphere was like nothing I have ever seen before at a New Zealand sporting match. I’m sure even the rugby world cup final wouldn’t have come close to the 70,000 screaming fans in a covered stadium (for approximately 4 hours). Two wild night outs ensued.
Monday brought with it the feature event; the College Football national championship game. People in the US are just completely nuts about “football” and college “football” is no exception. This year it was Alabama playing Louisiana, two neighbouring states (unheard of). This meant about 200,000 fans were in town for the game, it also meant A LOT of pre-game antics between the two rivalling support crews. I myself had been treated to a wonderful week in Alabama so I thought it only fair that I jump on the crimson band wagon.
Alabama won! It was the strangest experience being in a foreign state where only foreign staters could show their face without being ridiculed. Bourbon street (the main partying street) turned into a hyde street keg race esq scene, only about 5 times larger. Madness.
The morning after being crowned champions, (a very hungover) Davis, myself and his friend took to the inter-state and began our road trip west. After 9 hours driving we hit our first checkpoint, Austin, Texas. Unfortunately because we were so wrecked from the previous 3 days we decided against checking out what is supposed to be an epic party town.
Davis and I continued on the next morning through northern Texas where we passed by some billion year old rocks, some spectacular wind farms and countless oil derricks slaving away tirelessly. I decided to give Davis a break from the wheel and finally man up and took on the right side of the road, certainly an experience, especially after an amazing sunset followed by a blizzard on our way through New Mexico.
Our arrival into Boulder, Colorado was a welcome one. In total we covered 2900km in three days driving (suddenly the trip to Dunedin doesn’t seem quite so far).
Boulder brought with it many good nights drinking with Davis and his flat mates; Josh, Krammer and Jack. Over the course of the week I caught the Denver Nuggets play Lebron James in the NBA in Denver, I had a days skiing at Keystone, I went on a short trip up into the hills to get a spectacular view of the Rocky’s, I saw Fitz And The Tantrums play and I saw Josh get his eye-brows shaved when Saints lost to the 49ers in the NFC. Great week all-round
My trip from Boulder to the airport was a shambles. Firstly the bus turned up 20 minutes late, it then proceded to break down on the interstate, after 20 minutes we were informed a new bus was coming, after half an hours wait I managed to hitch a ride with another man from the bus (who was also running late for his plane) that had called his wife to come and get him. After cruising the freeway at 140kmph I ran to the service desk only to be told they couldn’t get my bag on the plane because I was too late. Fortunately with some more New Zealand charm, the woman behind the counter let me on the next flight for no extra charge. Legend.
I arrived off the plane to be greeted by my good friends from Dunedin in2010; Danny, Jordan, her bf (Everest) and my best friend Five Litre Wine Goon Bag. We spent the night outdoor ice skating in the middle of Salt Lake City, seeing the morman sights (oh joy) and reminiscing over old times with another friend tequila.
The next day I headed up to the mountain Jordan and Everest work at. A free half days skiing followed before we packed up and headed to Vegas. There’s not really much to talk about here, but after re-uniting with Maximus Carnes-Mason, we hit the pokies, roulette wheels and black jack tables until we could hit them no more (physically,mentally and monetally). The next day was much of the same, but was capped off by a VIP stretch hummer trip to the most famous strip club, where we saw Tori Black and Alexis Texas.
The morning after, Max and I crawled into an airport shuttle and once there we caught our flights separate ways. His to San Diego, mine to Los Angeles, my final American destination!
My monetary situation wasn’t looking overly flash upon my arrival in LA, but after two hours of travel including a failed taxi, two public buses and half an hour of walking with all my bags I finally arrived at the hostel I was to stay the next three days at. Had I had a little more money/energy I could have caught LMFAO and a Black Eyed Peas dj, but I basically spent two days in bed recovering from my Vegas experience.
When I did brave it out of the hostel I ventured to Hollywood boulevard, where I saw the Chinese Theatre and the walk of fame. On my last day I caught up with Mel, an old friend I met during high school. We braved the Venice boardwalk and Santa Monica beach before finishing with my first ever hooters experience (and just a fantastic experience it was. The photo doesn’t quite do it justice).
HOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEE!
My five months away from home has absolutely been one I will NEVER forget. I have met so many fantastic people on my journey and I hope we can keep in touch for years to come. I will be back to Europe in the very near future so don’t forget about me. To everyone in America that was nice enough to let me into their homes and make sacrifices for me on my trip, I thank you so much for making it such an unforgettable (from what I can remember) trip. If any of you that I’ve met are ever in/back in New Zealand or Australia, there will always be a bed to stay in!
