It's only been a week, and we've already soon SO much! So far we've been to Boulder, CO, Omaha, NE, and Chicago, IL. So let's recap...
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| Some mountains in Monument Valley |
As we left the Grand Canyon we were lucky enough to pass through Monument Valley in Utah. We got to see some pretty awesome rock formations, as well as take in the immensity that is the United States. Sure, you look at a map and see the the U.S. is pretty darn big, but once you start driving, and keep driving, then drive some more, you start to realize that the sheer acreage of desert alone is mind boggling; not to mention absolutely beautiful. You can ask John and he'll just say "it's all dead" or "no way, that's not pretty, it's all brown," but when you look closely, the deserts in Arizona and Utah have an array of such rich colors it is very pretty in it's own right. I had a great time just taking in the views. We also got to stop at a little roadside trading post and buy some authentic Navajo jewelry (much to John's chagrin, hehehe) which I thought was pretty neat. Driving at night was pretty greuling though, luckily we stocked up my laptop with episodes of "The Office" and kept ourselves entertained (don't worry, the driver wasn't actually watching, just listening). The trek from Flagstaff to Boulder was our longest, a good 12+ hours, but we made it safe and sound.
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| John on our hike up to the bluffs in Boulder |
Once we got to Boulder we met up with one of John's old friends, Matt. Here we spent most of our time just hanging out, catching up, and relaxing. John and I did get to go on one hike, which was pretty fun. I had to call it quits early though, I like to blame the altitude, but I'm 98% sure it's because I'm ridiculously out of shape. Boulder is a pretty cool little town, despite the fact that it was overrun by Georgians at the time - there was a big game that weekend - but I definitely agreed with Matt when he said it was the Santa Barbara of Colorado. We got to spend one and a half days here, then hit the road once again.
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| John, Stefanie, and Stephanie! |
From Boulder we went to Omaha, where we met up with another Couchsurfer also named Stefanie. We didn't have high hopes for Omaha, really we were just there because it was the halfway point between Boulder and Niagara, but this turned out to be SUCH a fun night! Stefanie turned out to be a really awesome girl! She took us out with her friends to "The Max," the most popular gay bar in all of Omaha (don't ask me why we were going to a gay bar, apparently this is just the place to be on a Saturday night). This place was so much fun it's hard to describe, but basically it was just a 2 story 5 roomed dance-a-thon. Good times.
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| A tiny monkey (lion tamarin) at the zoo |
After our crazy night in Omaha we were once again en route to Chicago. Here we stayed in a hostel in Lincoln park and really enjoyed our time. The area is really young and vibrant, not to mention architecturally beautiful. Right near our hostel was the Lincoln Park Zoo, which was surprisingly interesting despite being free. Everything a normal zoo would have, from Apes to Zebras (like what I did there?) but free! A fun way to start our day. After the zoo we made it down to the "Magnificent Mile" which is a really high-end shopping area. Here we tried the world renowned Chicago deep dish pizza, which was pretty good, but definitely not what I would consider pizza. That was a full day of walking around a big city, so we decided to head home and save our energy for our next 8 hour drive to Niagara.
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| The Horse Shoe falls |
Unfortunately we didn't get to Niagara until late, so we had a quick salad at Denny's then hit the hay (clearly, our dinner was crucial information to this story). The next morning we got to see the falls, which were super cool. We forgot John's passport, so unfortunately we only got to see the American side, but it was still breathtaking. Watching 675,000 gallons of water fall over a cliff per SECOND is not a sight to be missed. I'm glad we opted out of the 'Maid of the Mist' tour, because it was really cold, but standing on the banks was still really awesome. After the falls I picked up my souvenir mug, we ate some Indian food (again, crucial) and we were on our way.
We made it to Boston at 9:30 tonight, and are just relaxing and gearing up for tomorrow - who knows what the day may bring!
Again, here are some more pictures! :)
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| Our first couch-surfing host, Mark, in Flagstaff Arizona. Meant to put him in the last post, woops! |
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| John got a ridiculous nose bleed on the way to Boulder. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA |
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| Another shot of Monument Valley |
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| Our shadows hiking up the mountain |
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| The bluffs in Boulder. We tried to make it to the base of them... but only got maybe a third of the way there. |
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| If you look carefully, can you tell who was playing at the Fox theater in Boulder?... I'll give you a hint, it starts with H and ends in anson... |
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| A cool view, not sure which state it is though... hehehe |
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| The Mississippi! |
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| Corn, corn, and more corn! |
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| Down the street from our Hostel in Chicago |
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| Some geese hangin out in Lincoln park |
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| Being goofy at the lilly pond outside of the zoo :) |
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| John and his deep dish |
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| Appetizing, huh? :P |
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| Chicago skyline. |
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| We had to try it at least once... |
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| Just another cool view |
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| And another |
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| The American falls |
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| On the other side. |
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| John said this building looks like a transformer, and I have to agree with him. |
