Tuesday 13th September

Tom and I are travelled on the AMTRAK train to Santa Barbara from San Francisco today. The train ride was 9 and a half hours long and left at 8:50am! We had quite an adventure this morning just to get to the station. We left our hostel at 7am after packing in the dark- I hope I didn’t leave anything there! We walked with our suitcases this morning to the Bart (the tube type train) about 15 blocks, then went down the escalators with our cases. We crossed the bridge on our train over to the outskirts of San Francisco and we had to walk a few more blocks with our cases. We eventually found the AMTRAK station and finally could relax a bit! I am looking forward to Santa Barbara definitely.

We made it and I got a cab to my hotel, it is a beautiful hotel and I ordered in a Dominos pizza all to myself, yum!

Monday 12th September- Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge

Today we all met up to go to Alcatraz even though the trip was over, we all love to hang out together! After getting halfway to the meeting point and realising I had left the tickets behind and we had to go back we walked the fairly long walk to the Green Tortoise hostel where Mike and Mark were staying and we were all meeting for Alcatraz. True to its reputation San Francisco has some pretty steep hills! By the time we got there we were fairly hot and sweaty. Whilst cooling off Tom and I were approached by a man with no shoes and no teeth called Rob who offered us a joint and told me I was beautiful, delightful! We walked to Pier 33 where the boat left from and I got my first Krispy Kreme donut of the entire American trip, yum. It was pretty windy on the boat and there were sea gulls scouting around. In the end Mike had to surrender his hot dog as a sea gull tried to steal it too many times.

Alcatraz was a really interesting place and great to go to with Stefano, Mike, Mark, Tom, Carolin and I. It was also a beautiful sunny day which of course made it better! I can’t imagaine the prison was a very fun place to me, there was a quote on one of the billboards- “prison is for those who break the rules and Alzcatraz is for those who break the prison rules!” After we spent several hours there and took lots of pictures we got the ferry back and walked to Pier 39 where we met Sebastian, Alex and Helena and had an early dinner in the Hard Rock café. After we left Helena left the group and we caught a tram into the city. We had to get off early as there was an accident between a Porsche and a bus. We walked for a while and ended up in a giant shopping centre with curvy escalators. We found a little café/ bistro bar at the top of Nordstroms and after Caroling came and dragged the boys away from the hand cream stall and me away from the hair straightening stall we enjoyed fruity lemonades as the sun went down. Stefano kept disappearing during the drinks and none of us knew where he was, I thought he must have been sick or something but he returned, wearing a new shirt (his had got ketchup on earlier). His new shirt was just for going to the Golden Gate Bridge and had cost him $200! Tom had bought a new hoody for $90 for the bridge but $200 had us all laughing! Once we left the shopping centre our group minimised a bit more as Mike decided to head home as he was tired, then there were five. We walked and bused to the Golden Gate Bridge and saw it lit up at night. We weren’t allowed to walk across it unfortunately as the footpath was closed for roads works but we stood right by the entrance and took photos and I made a wish on the bridge. We walked and got buses home and said our goodbyes. Carolin and I will see each other again in a few days in New York which is nice but I’m not sure the next time I will see Stefano and Mark… Vegas 2012 perhaps! Tom and I got back to the hostel and went to sleep.

Sunday 11th September- San Francisco and the 49ers American football game

Today we once again got up early in order to leave at 7am to make it to the big football game in San Francisco- the San Fran 49ers versus the Seattle Seahawks. As always we all slept on the tour bus and poor Mike had to drive! We made it to his hotel with plenty of time, locked up the trailer and got a very very expensive taxi to the game. On the way there we stopped off the a gas station to get beers so we could join in the tail gaiting party pre- game. Michelle had decided not to come to the football game so she was continuing on in the cab into the city. There was a slight mix up with cab fares but after we dealt with that we got to the parking lot and couldn’t find the other so we rang them… they had already gone inside because they had been waiting ages and didn’t know what else to do! Once you’re in you can’t get out so Mark, Mike and I were left with 24 beers to drink between us! We put in a good effort and made friends with a guy called Dan who had a couple. It was a fun tailgate although the others did miss out big time. We tried to smuggle some beers in but they all got taken away unfortunately. Their security checks are pretty intense. It was a gorgeous sunny afternoon and we had all had an amazing trip. This was the cherry on the cake to watch most of ours first American football games together. We had quite a few beers more and had a fantastic afternoon. The boys highlight was definitely when the Bud Light girls came and sat in the row behind them and they got to have pictures with them. I honestly can’t say who won the game but I know we were all happy regardless! After the game we went back and found a couple of beers which Mark had stashed and then headed to a very long cab queue where a guy tried to convince us into getting a limo… I don’t think so buddy. We got back to Mike’s hotel out of the city and had dinner at the restaurant in the hotel. After this we cleaned out the van, all grabbed our luggage and waited for the free airport shuttle. Saying goodbye to Mike was really sad, he was such an awesome tour guide! We got the airport shuttle and once we arrived there someone organised a bus into the city which dropped us all off at each of our individual hostels and hotels. I got dropped off at the Encore Express and said goodbye to everyone until tomorrow. After some nice strangers called Peter and Lauren helped me up the stairs with my luggage my friend Tom from England and I were reunited! I checked into my room and dumped all my stuff then Tom took me on a walk of San Francisco. He is studying in Santa Barbara for a year so we are heading down there together. The hostel was nice enough although when I walked in and said hi everyone just stared at me! I slept really well that night after a week of sleep deprivation! I woke up in the morning to Spanish speaking and one of the girls in my room was from Guatemala- CAN THE WORLD GET ANY SMALLER! The other were from China and Portugal and there was a Russian hanging out there too.

Saturday 10th September- on the way to Yosemite

Today we left very very early to get to Yosemite. We all felt a bit better today thankfully and I really enjoyed Yosemite, it was incredibly beautiful and we climbed a big domed rock and could see all the way out for miles including El Capitan the sheer climbing rock and the Nevada and Yosemite falls. We also saw the most beautiful thing- a bear and her bear cub. It was pretty fantastic! The sky is Yosemite was black and grey with rain clouds, it was amazing. That evening we headed to a place outside of the national park, a Hostels International which had cabins. As it was the last summer we had a delicious Italian dish cooked by our very own Italian and by Mike our tour leader. It consisted of spaghetti carbonara, a tomato and mozzarella salad and a pork and bacon delicious kebab type thing. It was certainly yummy! There were some guys there from Doncaster in England who had just arrived in the States and are staying until April and travelling around along with doing the rest of the world, I was very jealous!

September 9th- leaving Vegas and Death Valley- recovering!

We finally left the casino at 7:30am as our tour bus was driving away at 9am. As we left the casino Mark had to go look for Carolin as we had lost her. I was still finishing my Heineken whilst waiting for the cab. It was crazy! I can absolutely see how people stay in the for days and days, we couldn’t believe it was 7:30am and the sun was up and everything. Once we got back to the hotel we had a mad, drunk packing adventure in which Carolin, Mark and I literally threw everything into our suitcases and zipped them shut. Carolin managed to squeeze a quick shower in but Mark and I just got changed and I went out with the makeup from the night before on, we looked quite a treat. After packing the next big challenge was fitting it all into the tiny elevator! Mark and I crammed my two suitcases and my rucksack, his luggage, Carolin’s luggage and the beer cooler box plus ourselves into it. When we got downstairs we could hardly unload because upstairs the girls kept pressing the call button so we kept getting stuck in the door! Once we finally made it towards the trailer I decided to climb in and try and load all the suitcases up, one of the sober members of the group took my place instead pretty sharpish! Our leader Mike soon appeared and said he had never had a group like us where people stayed out all night. We couldn’t find Mike and Stefano, they were still sleeping as Mike had decided to have a little nap before we left and had overslept! Our tour leader Mike had bought some water guns for us to use on the other intrepid travel group who were doing the same trip as us but camping, he told us to go and fill them up so Helena, Mike (tour guide), Carolin, Mark and I did so. Mike gave Mark and I an opened beer to drink we seemed pretty reasonable at 9am when we were still buzzing from Vegas. We ended up having a massive water fight in his hotel room which Helena fled from and eventually Mike did too whilst the three of us soaked each other as much as we could within the space of two minutes. We came out and fought with the other travel group and then got on the bus to go to Death Valley. It was very sad to say goodbye to Vegas as it had been such an awesome couple of days! The back two rows were Mike, Carolin, Mark and I- the people who needed to be together and sleep off our heavy night! (Pictures to follow!) Got to Death Valley, very hot, nothing there, had half a sandwich, slept a lot! Very long drive, everyone pretty sombre. Got to the hotel, speed shower and Mexican for dinner.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas- Wednesday and Thursday September 7th and 8th

Wednesday- We arrived in Vegas this afternoon and after hanging out in the pool we all showered and got ready (Carolin and I dried my hair with two hair dryers as I only left 30 minutes to shower and get ready!) We had pizza with another Intrepid travel group around the pool and then hung out in Mark’s room (king sized as ever!) We then went outside to go on the tour bus our leaders had arranged for us… I thought it was just a normal bus but in fact turned out being a party bus! We visited the Las Vegas Sign, Fremont Street and the Bellagio fountains. It was a crazy and wild night on the party bus and we all did a lot of drinking and crazy dancing and made lots of new friends with people from the other tour group. Afterwards we went into The Bellagio and some of the guys gambled at the tables whilst I played a few slot machines. After a while we decided to go to a strip club as a big group but unfortunately our two different cabs ended up different places and we all got separated. Carolin, Stefano and I returned to the strip and walked it and went into all the casinos until 5:30AM. When we went to catch a cab home Stefano told us he was in fact now heading to a strip club! Once I got in I went to see Mark and see if they had had a good night, he was asleep and pretty confused as to when I had arrived and sent me on a search to find him some juice with two blocks of ice, demanding! I didn’t end up sleeping until 8AM and work up the next day at 12, nobody needs real sleep in Vegas!

Thursday- After waking up at 12PM and showering and dressing we cabbed onto the strip and Carolin, Mark and I went to the Luxor, Excalibur, New York New York and several other casinos. We went to a wedding chapel and Mark and I pretended to get married. Mark had to make a sick stop after drinking too much the night before. We played in the arcades too. After lots of casino and slot fun we got a cab back to meet the others for dinner at 6pm. We madly changed and went to a buffet in the Luxor, it was delicious, there was SO much food and even though I wasn’t massively hungry I still had a lot, the boys ate insane amounts of food! We decided we all wanted to see a show so we walked down to the ticket box… it rained whilst we walked, hot Vegas air and chilling rain, lovely! We got tickets for Burlesque which was taking place in MGM Grand. Carolin and I really wanted to go to the Venetian but we knew we wouldn’t make it all the way there and back in time so we hung in the MGM. The boys and Caolin played roulette and I watched and tried to learn! Eventually we went off to get some beers and I managed to buy one without being ID’d!! The show was good, definitely unlike anything else I’ve ever seen although I was pretty tired throughout. Stefano didn’t come to dinner with us or the show as he was supposed to be having a date with one of the girls he had met the night before at the strip club! After Burlesque everyone went their own ways and Carolin, Mike, Mark and I went back to the hotel, met with Stefano, had a few drinks and I got changed and did my hair. We then got our cab… to the strip club! Carolin and I couldn’t quite believe our eyes! There were semi- naked girls walking everywhere! It was the weirdest place I have ever been. Stefano instantly disappeared and sat on his own to attract girls instead of sticking with the group, ha what a funny Italian guy. We stayed at the club for a couple of hours perhaps and were even approached by a girl called Thea who asked if I wanted a lap dance with Mike too, we politely declined. The bathroom was pretty nice though and we made friends with the guy in there who gave us hand cream. After the strip club we headed back to the strip and went to our favourite casino New York, New York. The boys instantly decided to play roulette and jumped on a table so Carolin and I decided to get some beers. We had a few beers and during that time we spoke to two guys from Holland, four people from Ireland and three guys from Scotland, it was an interesting few hours for sure! After they all left we headed to find the boys and because it was about 6am the casino was pretty early so I ended up playing roulette with Mark’s chips! IT WAS SOOO FUN! I won him quite a lot of money too haha, it was great and was one of the best nights, we played for ages and had drinks bought over to us and had a really good laugh.

Tuesday 6th September- Grand Canyon

Today we headed to the Grand Canyon and made a few stops on the way including a town called Seligman on Route 66 which has been preserved and kept how it used to be originally. After the Route 66 stop and going to a supermarket to pick up lunch we arrived at the canyon! Seven of us decided to take a trip on a helicopter into the Grand Canyon. It was breath-taking! I knew the Grand Canyon was vast but flying over it and really close to it showed me the full extent of it. It was HUGE! After the copter ride we went into the park and walked along the rim. On the way we some three elks and some deer. Everyong on the trip has discovered now that I talk a lot, have a lot of stories and am very gullible, today at the Canyon Mark took an opportunity and ran with it. My camera battery was running low so I told him if I ran out I would have to take pictures on his camera but he said his was running low too but he had heard if you lay batteries out in the sun they gain a little bit of extra charge. I asked him if it would work where we were given the sun was getting low in the sky and he said it probably would and I should hold it up towards the sun so I took my battery out of my camera and held it up pointing towards the sun. He also told me to point the gold connector part of the battery directly at the sun, so I did. He then started laughing and told me he was just kidding but it was good to watch! Cheeky!

We watched the sun set in the Grand Canyon, it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and when I get home everyone can also see it as I took a couple hundred photos of the sun setting and the helicopter ride. I met some lovely women from Manchester at the sun set who were road tripping for three weeks. This evening we stayed at a place about 45 minutes from the canyon in cabins. A few members of the group cooked dinner- spaghetti bolognaise Aussi style, it was really good and we ate it around our camp fire with beer. After much convicing Mike played us some songs on his guitar and we made smores, delicious! Afterwards I went on a little adventure to try and find a coyote. I didn’t find any on my own and when Mark decided to join in on the animal hunt we still didn’t find any but instead got wet shoes walking through all the grasses and plants and mud. We did however find an interesting plant that was kind of furry and felt like a bunny ear. I slept really well in the cabin this evening and it was so great to be based out in the countryside where we could see so many stars.

Monday 5th September- Joshua Tree National Park

Monday- today Carolin and I woke up early to get ready for the big trip! We had breakfast and then went to meet the group. Our group has ten people in including our guide Mike. He is American and everyone else is from all over the globe which is great! There are three Germans including Carolin, Sebastian and Alex who are travelling the world and won’t be returning home until February! There are two Australians on the trip- Mike and Michelle. Mike is a primary school teacher who has been overseas since January and after our trip will be heading to Europe to travel around. Michelle is here on a holiday from work. We have an Italian called Stefano who works on an oil rig. And a girl from Switzerland called Helena who has been in San Diego studying at a language school. The final member of our group is Mark from South Africa (originally from Zimbabwe) who has been working in Canada for several months and is now doing some American travelling before he heads back home. Quite a mixture, we all get on really well.

Today was a long drive to Joshua Tree national park. On the drive we went past a massive wind farm which spanned for miles. The park is in the desert and is absolutely amazing, lots of different plants and rock formations. The Joshua Trees themselves are like no other tree I’ve ever seen. There are lots of rocks to climb on so the boys all ran off and mountain climbed. It rained on us today which was ironic given we were in the desert! We ate lunch in the park and got rather wet! We worked our way around the park and went to different places including a highly elevated spot which looks out for miles and from this location you can see where a fault line runs through the state. We also saw an amazing rock called Skull Rock which the boys climbed up into, pretty neat! We stayed in a hotel this evening in Laughlin Nevada called The Golden Nugget, it had a casino lots of trees in the entrance and a few restaurants where we had dinner. After dinner we all gathered in Mark’s room- some how he had got a room all to himself with a king sized bed. The beer cooler received some serious damage that night! I did not get very much sleep!

Sunday 4th September- start of the my California Discovery Northbound tour with Intrepid travel

After sleeping a little bit longer than intended we awoke to Julie making crepes, delicious! After breakfast we went on a drive and found a guy just outside of Bel Air selling a Star Map so the next time I return I can be a celebrity stalker! We went to Santa Monica to try and get UCLA nighties. They didn’t have any but as ever I managed to find something I liked! The day was tinged with sadness though as we knew this evening I was checking into my hotel to start my California Discovery trip so Michelle and I would be apart. After a few issues with freeway mix ups, gas station mishaps, multiple McDonalds coffees and losing the hotel several times Michelle and I finally departed. It was really sad and we both cried but assured each other next time it wouldn’t take 7 years to see each other again. I had the best time visiting her and seeing each other again especially as I didn’t expect to see her this summer.

At the Holiday Inn they informed me I had a room mate called Carolin. I was quite nervous about the trip because it specifies you are only allowed one suitcase and after having to buy a new one for all my shopping I now had two and my day sack. Carolyn was really nice and instantly became best friends! She is a German 21 year old and is over in the States for three weeks doing some travelling and funnily enough visiting her sister who is studying in Michigan of all places! She is also going to be in New York when I go back there so we are going to meet up when we are both there. I love her already!

Saturday September 3rd- trek to the Hollywood Sign

Saturday was one of the best days of the entire summer! After struggling to get up after very little sleep we hiked to the Hollywood sign. It was breath- taking. We could see all out across Los Angeles and miles beyond. We started around the front of the sign and then we walked up and ended up behind it and up by the satellite mast. The sign is one of the things I have wanted to see my whole life and it was definitely worth the climb. We were all tired after the walk so after some coffee we got home and Julie and I went for a quick swim and showered and then we all fell asleep for several hours. When I woke up I felt like I was hungover or something, it was crazy! Michelle and I went out to dinner to a delicious pizza place and then got dressed and drove to Starbuzz for the last time. It was a lovely night and so nice to see all the new friends I had made but very sad to say goodbye!! Michelle, Chau and I went to Del Taco for our last fast food experience and we then went back to Starbuzz where one of the bosses gave me good bye gifts- a scented candle and some hookah stuff! People are so nice! We got back to her apartment at about 4AM and slept for rather a long time!

Catch up... Friday 2nd September (a very fun night!)

Today Vida, Gerald Wallace, Sierra and Stapha came down to visit us in Westwood and we hung out on the balcony smoking hookah. I tried it for the first time but promptly coughed and choked on it so didn’t try it too many times after that! After hanging out on the balcony for several hours we decided to go to Mel’s diner which is an all day, all night American diner on Sunset Boulevard and get some tasty late night food. Julie came as well and we all ate burgers/ French toast/ grilled cheese late into the night.

Catch up... Thursday 1st September

On Thursday Michelle was in class until 2 so I watched Eat, Pray, Love and once she got home we went on a search to find a sleeping bag for my upcoming trip. We had seen a few in Target but they were $40 and given that I’m only going to be sleeping in it for a couple of days I didn’t really fancy it! We went out for diner to a cute little place called Antonio’s which was on a street corner. Julie, Michelle and their friend Jennifer came. The Italian place was run by a little old man. The food was delicious and we enjoyed sitting out on the street in the cool evening air. Afterwards we went home and had coffee. Possibly the funniest event of the day was when the toilet got blocked and we had to buy a plunger and then it didn’t work so we had to pour some drain clearer into the toilet, I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard about a toilet!

Wednesday 31st- Downtown Los Angeles

On Wednesday Michelle and I went to Downtown Los Angeles, it is incredible beautiful with lots of fantastic architecture, particularly the Walt Disney Concert Hall. It took us ages to park because loads of the parking garages in the city cost $3 for 12/ 15 minutes! Frankly we didn't feel this was a particularly viable option so we finally found a place by the Disney Concert Hall. The concert hall is gorgeous and architecturally out of this world.



We climbed up a staircase that was on the outside of the concert hall and after realising the majority of my bottle of water had leaked inside my bag we found the garden that sits on top of the concert hall. It is a beautiful garden with a fantastic flower shaped fountain made out of china plate mosaics. After being in here we went to look at suitcases in stores in the city and then to The Coffee Bean. After this we went to the Los Angeles Public Library which is absolutely beautiful. There are lots of art exhibits and we saw some fantastic sesame street drawings including one which looks just like one of Michelle's friends (and now my friend). Anyway... there was a giant art exhibit hanging over the open area of the library and when we went there a creepy guy followed us and only left us alone once we went into the toilet. Then when we came out he was there waiting for us... gross!! We managed to lose him but then ended up with another weirdo who wanted to know how you text people and get their numbers, very odd! The library has a great gift shop and we spent a long time in there looking at all the books and cool postcards. We then had to run off as the original creeper came and found us, luckily we escaped!!

We also went on something called the Angels Flight Railway. It was orange and took us up and down the cliff. I eventually bought a new suitcase to put all of my new stuff in (uh-oh) and after walking around some more and attracting some more creepers we headed home. After downtown LA we headed to 'Tokyo' where Amanda used to live and went to a place called Yogurt Land where you get to choose whichever yogurt you like and whichever topping you like in a big tub and then they weigh it- delicious!! I love Los Angeles!!

Michelle and I in downtown LA and Julie and I at dinner

Some recent photos

Tuesday 30th- Santa Monica!!

Today after Michelle finished class we headed to Santa Monica which is such a lovely place. After a dangerous hour in T.J. Maxx and emptying the cart I had piled high with prospective new shoes and bags back onto the shelves we returned Michelle's new purchases to the car. we were allowed to park for free for 2 hours in the parking lot and as it had already been one hour we decided we should re- enter the car park and refresh our parking. Only once we had driven out the parking lot, done a U- turn and returned to the top deck did we realise that we could have just walked up to the barrier and pressed the button for a ticket rather than driving the car out and in again! Dear- O me!

Downtown Santa Monica is absolutely gorgeous, shops, restaurants, water fountains, live music and when you go to the directory there is a friendly man there to help you called the 'downtown ambassador' who helped us decide where to eat and sent us in the right direction. We ended up going to P. F. Chang's for lunch which is a nice chinese place where I had orange chicken and Michelle had a veggie dish. We ate it all and struggled to walk for the rest of the day. We saw some really cool things in the shops like jewelled bras! After waiting in a horrendously long queue for the bathroom in Starbucks and getting coffee to go we headed back to the car. Michelle laughed at me throughout the day for saying hi to people every time they would say hi in the street outside a store for example, it was an afternoon full of laughter!!

We decided to go to Starbuzz that night so after sitting in loads of traffic (as always) to get back to Westwood we quickly changed and drove to Fullerton to Starbuzz. As always it was fun. We went to Del Taco to get our late night feast and Chau drove us in his friends Mustang- one of my all time favourite cars!! After eating our mac and cheese bites in the parking lot Michelle drove us back to Westwood, we had to take a detour again as there was construction blocking our exit. The traffic around here is so bad and it never seems to quieten down.

Monday 29th August- my first In N' Out Burger

Today Michelle had class from 10- 11:30 so went met for lunch and she took me to a famous burger place called In- N - Out Burger (http://www.in-n-out.com/default.asp) and I had my first 'double double' which was a giant, delicious burger. We went to the drive- thru bit and because it was so busy a guy in an apron and cute little chefs hat took our order standing alongside our car! We bought our lunch home and sat out on the balcony to eat it... delicious! Michelle went to work at 1 so I rested after my giant burger and when Julie came home we went to the local coffee shop called Peet's and sat outside on the street and enjoyed the afternoon.

That evening I met Michelle's room mate Megan as well and she is really lovely too! A couple of Michelle's friends from home, who are now my friends too who I met first at Starbuzz came for a surprise visit and we sat out of the balcony and Chau taught us all how to play the arabic card game Tarneeb, it is a really good game, I hope I can find someone at home who can play it too. I spoke to Samantha on skype as well which was really nice.

Saturday and Sunday 27th and 28th- Mission Viejo!

On Saturday Michelle went to work and I hung out with Julie whilst she baked a pink champagne cake for her friends birthday and we watched Sex and the City together whilst drinking pink champagne for breakfast! Michelle finished work at 5pm and after packing and getting ready we drove to LA. We went to Starbuzz (the hookah place) and stayed there really late! After it closed we went to Del Taco as always and got our usual late night feast. We finally got back to Mission Viejo and Michelle's home about 5AM! We slept late that morning!!

On Sunday it was really hot so we spent the whole day in the neighbour's pool. It was great because so many people were there- Mie and her 3 year old son Wyatt who lives with Tom and Joy, Joy, Lena, Michelle and I and later on Tom, Joe and Joy and Tom's grandson Tristan. Wyatt doesn't like going to swim in the pool, he only likes to paddle in the shallow park but eventually Michelle managed to get him to sit on my lap in the rubber ring boat thing and after that he decided he would go in the water if we held him and he practised kicking and had lots of fun! This was really great because his Mom said he didn't like going in the water. It was really hot so great to be in the pool all day. We also drank beer in the pool for breakfast... I am definitely on holiday! After showering we had a delicious barbeque and Tom and Joy came over for dinner too. I then had to pack, this did NOT go well! I knew I had accumulated quite a lot of stuff but I hadn't realised quite how much. Lena told me she could give me a suitcase which I would be able to take as hand luggage but when I started packing I realised I would need a BIG suitcase to check in on top of my other suitcase, man oh man! It was very sad to leave my surrogate mother but we had had a lovely time together. Michelle drove us back to Westwood, LA and we headed to bed.

Friday August 26th- day one in Westwood

Today I woke up at Michelle’s apartment and she went off to school so I spoke to Cory and Kyla over skype and got ready for Michelle’s return from class. We went and got lunch at a place round the corner called Corner Bakery. I had carbonara which is only the second time I’ve had it in America (amazingly). Once I came home from lunch I booked my hostel in San Francisco for the two nights after my bus trip around the west coast. I also booked my train down to Santa Barbara. Michelle’s flat mate came home from school and we spent the afternoon together. Her name is Julie and she is studying linguistics and psychology and is a really great girl! We spent the afternoon moseying around the shops and got a cookie ice cream sandwich from a famous place called Diddy Reese. They have loads of different types of cookies and ice cream. We also saw the Fox theatre where they have premieres sometimes. After shopping we came home and got changed and went swimming in the pool at the apartment. It was LOVELY! We met an English couple and their son who tried for years to get over to the US to work and finally made it. Fantastic!!

Monday 22nd- Thursday 25th August- fun with my surrogate mother

This week I have spent living in Mission Viejo with my friend Michelle's parents, Lena and Joe. Lena and I spent every day together doing nice things and we've decided that she is my surrogate mother!

Everyday I woke up to lovely fresh coffee and Lena cooked me a delicious breakfast. We went to the mall on Monday and I bought a couple of nice things. On Tuesday we ran a couple of errands and went shopping with Lena's neighbour Joy and took her to the hospital. Whilst she was at the hospital Lena and I went to Starbucks where we met a lovely lady with a beautiful shaggy dog called Blondie. Lena recorded the dog barking and played the recording of it all afternoon which left us cracking up every single time. Nobody quite understood! After we came home we went swimming in Joy's pool, living the life!

On Wednesday Lena and I had a fantastic day and did loads of things, we headed to a place called Salt Creek and in Salt Creek we went to Dana Point which is a beautiful harbour town where you can walk around along the water. We got coffee and ice cream and then drove on to the Ritz Carlton. We walked down a huge hill to the most beautiful beach front I have ever seen. There is a walkway that runs the entire length of the beach. We walked along the beach and took loads of lovely photos. After this we headed back to the house and went swimming in Joy and Tom's pool.

On Thursday we went to Laguna Beach (Lena and I) and we got coffee, walked along the boardwalk , had a picnic under a tree, near another tree full of origami birds. We went to the Wyland gallery who is an artist originally from Detroit who is famous for painting whales all over the world. After a beautiful few hours we headed off to collect Michelle from LA. There was lots of traffic on the way to and from the city. We stayed for dinner and then headed to Starbuzz for someones birthday. Afterwards we drove back to LA. Unforunately there was loads of construction so we got home really late!! Michelle's apartment in LA is in a place called Westwood and is absolutely beautiful. Westwood is a really cool place, lots of shops, food places and bars, I love it!

Sunday 21st- Sunset Boulevard

Today we had lie- ins and then we took Michelle back to LA as she had to work the next day. On the way back from dropping Michelle off Lena and I went to Hollywood, we saw the sign in the distance and walked along Sunset Boulevard where we saw all of the star paving slabs. Lena also took me to the Chinese Theatre where they have the cement slabs which celebrities do their handprints and footprints and then sign their names, it was really cool!! There was so much going on there, loads of people dressed up and posing for photos for example. Afterwards we up to see the Kodak Theatre and I saw the Hollywood sign in the distance. It was a really great day!

Saturday 20th-Huntingdon Beach

Michelle and I went to Huntingdon beach which is a really nice beach with loads of shops and nice food place. The beach is where the Hollister store surfing footage comes from! It is an incredibly beautiful place. We got some delicious smoothies from Jamba Juice and walked along the pier. We also tried on loads of things in shops and I bought a few too many things!! Huntingdon beach and pier differs massively to Southend beach and pier, the sand is soft and warm under your feet rather than stoney and shelly!

Friday 19th, Chicago--> Santa Ana, Orange County

Today I flew from Chicago to Orange County. Megan, Maeve and I got up really early and headed to the airport. My case was suddenly very heavy and when I checked in at the airport and the guy weighted my case it was 53 pounds and ended up with a 'heavy' sticker on it! I need to find someone to carry it from place to place for me!! I was so incredibly tired on the plane that I fell asleep before it even took off and slept the majority of the way to California.

Once I arrived in California I met Lena who is my best friend Michelle's mother, Michelle and I were best friends when we lived in Michigan, a long time ago! I haven't seen anyone from the family in 7 years (except from Amanda in Chicago a few days ago). After driving home to Mission Viejo where they live, Lena and I went to the outdoor mall called the Spectrum, it is lovely there because there is a big wheel. In the evening we drove up to Los Angeles where Michelle lives which she is studying at UCLA and we picked her up and drove her back to Mission Viejo. That evening I was really tired so went to sleep instead of going out anywhere.

Thursday 18th- Chicago Zoo

Today I went to the zoo which Megan (the lady I stayed with) two of her daughters and one of their neighbours daughters. It is a lovely zoo. There was a fantastic polar bear and I fed a cow. After we came back to the house I went for a walk into the local town Wilmette with Bridget and Maeve (the daughters of Bruce and Megan), we had iced drinks in Panera Bread and browsed some of the local shops including an amazing scrap- booking shop which I wish we had at home! We played in the local park and then headed home. Maeve went off to play soccer and Bridget and I watched some of ’17 Again’. Afterwards Megan, Bridget and I went and walked down by the beach (Lake Michigan). The sand was so lovely as is all of the sand in America, quite a change from the Southend beach I am used to. After this the whole family and I went out for dinner at a lovely pizza place which I think was called Lou Malnati’s, the pizza they make are AMAZING and really deep dish, first they produced a delicious salad which was then followed by two giant pizzas, one pepperoni and one sausage and mushroom. After dinner we went home and picked up one of Colleen’s friends and then had a “family game night” this was particularly amusing because we told Colleen’s friend it was a special games night when in fact we had just decided to pretend there was one to see how he reacted! We played Apples to Apples which is a game I played in Michigan. It was a lovely day and evening with lovely people!

Wednesday 17th- The Shedd Aquarium, Chicago

We decided Tuesday night that we would like to head to the aquarium today so after a mini delay whilst Emma got her phone fixed we headed on our way to the aquarium. It was Emma, her friend Parker and myself. Emma drove us there. There was a quite a queue at the entrance but I got a Chicago style hot dog so that made the queue much better definitely! Parker, Emma and I had the BEST time! The aquarium is really great and I had always wanted to return there as when I was younger I got a couple of keyrings there. There was a really creepy crabby lobster thing but some great colourful fish and the coral reef area was excellent! They also had beluga whales which were AMAZING and so very beautiful! I wish I could swim in the tank with them. Afterwards we walked towards millennium where I was meeting Amanda (my best friend from Michigan’s sister) who now lives in Chicago. We walked all the lake and went and saw Buckingham Fountain which is beautiful. Afterwards I met Amanda and her friend Chaselin in Millennium Park. We went to a great café called Intelligence and had amazing coffee and cakes. The coffee shop closed at 8pm and we then moved on over to Millennium Park. There was a concert in the park but by the time we made it over there it was finished. However, we walked around the park and enjoyed the evening and then headed to the train station. I got the train back to the suburbs alone and of course sat on the upper deck! It is so much fun!

Tuesday 16th- China Town and giant shiny bean!

Today I went with Megan and the girls to meet Emma (Bruce and Megan’s niece) and Lauren (Emma’s friend). The girls were really nice and we had a lovely day together. After a little mix up with trains we got to China Town. We went on ‘the L train’ and had a nice lunch in a Chinese restaurant. We walked round several shops, most of which seemed to be full of things nobody would ever want! We also went in a crazy shop which sold knives, throwing knives, those weird things which have a chain in the middle and two big padded things at the end to hit people with and big wooden sticks. After a couple of hours and a rude store owner later we got back on the train and headed into central Chicago. We went to Millennium Park which was amazing! There is a giant mirrored bean which you can walk around and walk under and take pictures against. There are some great fountains too which project people’s faces on and squirt out water from their mouths. There are also gardens and a beautiful outdoor stage called the Pritzker Pavilion. That evening an orchestra was practicing for a concert the next day, I’m so glad I got to hear it. After walking around the park we headed back to the station and got ‘the Metra’ train home. I cannot describe my excitement about this train. It is shiny and silver and two stories, a double decker train! It is AMAZING!! There are cute little staircases up to the second floor and little fold out chairs. There are windows on both floors and then you can look down on to the floor below. It is also air conditioned and really cheap, I love the trains in America! Once we got off the train we walked home to Emma’s house and I saw some incredible houses that looked like castles and giant mansions. Chicago suburbs have some very nice streets. Once I got home to Bruce and Megan’s I had dinner, I had ramen which is this noodle dish that you boil up and is very popular with college students. My friend Cristina in Michigan had told me I had to try it and we had bought some but I had never ended up eating it so I had some in Chicago after Bruce and Megan’s daughter Bridget told me I had to try it too, it was delicious!

Monday 15th August, East Lansing--> Chicago

I travelled to Chicago from East Lansing on Monday and it took about 5 hours. The train journey was absolutely amazing, I got to see lots of Michigan and Illinois. The AMTRAK train was really nice in comparison to English trains! I am going to stay with some friends in Chicago who we knew when we lived in Michigan. It is the start of a new chapter of my summer. I have had the most amazing few weeks in Michigan, seeing old friends, making new friends, visiting fantastic places, playing new sports and adopting animals! I’m going to miss everyone I have met so much but I hope we will all see each other again at some point in the near future, either side of the Atlantic!

Bruce, Megan and two of their children met me from Union Station Chicago and we then went for a tasty lunch in Greek Town! Afterwards we drove through Chicago and headed to their home. It's a lovely area! I spent time with the girls and in the evening I headed out to dinner with their oldest daughter Colleen and we went to a movie and got ice cream. I ended up having a mini nap at the movie because I was so tired! We went to the movies in a place called Evanston which is really nice, lots of shops and food places. It was great!

Sunday 14th August- my last day in Michigan!

Kristine and I left the dorms early and went back to our apartment where we showered and went to Target to get a few odd bits. Afterwards we came back and had some lunch and went back onto campus to hang out with some of their friends. Some people I already knew but there were loads of new people too! We played Frisbee and then everyone split off to do different things and I went with a girl called Michelle who I had just met and we had a wonderful couple of hours! We went to a fair that was going on in East Lansing over the weekend, there were loads of cool crafts. I also had my third corn dog which was super exciting. Michelle has been to 49 of the 50 states, I couldn’t believe it! We walked around some shops and got to know each other then went back to the dorms and soon after went to Crunchy’s which is the local bar I’ve been to several times.

It was such a crazy and fun night! There were so many people there including people I had known for several weeks, several hours and then new people! I met a great guy called Kevin and his boyfriend Charlie had studied abroad in the UK for a year and just arrived back a few weeks ago so we had a LOT to talk about! I drank a lot of Mountain Dew and everyone else drank a lot of beer! A guy called Jerry played some live music and played lots of songs we requested including my request of Sweet Home Alabama (much to Cory’s disgust). It was a FANTASTIC night! I wish all of these people could come home with me and be part of my university fun. I left early-ish so I could go home and pack. My friend Josh took me and I saw his apartment on the way home. He works on campus and lives in a really nice apartment on campus, I don’t think UEA accommodation has any of these nice apartments unfortunately.

Saturday 13th August- Bye Bye Plymouth

On Saturday we headed back to East Lansing for the last time. Kyla didn’t come as she was doing some head shots for someone so that was really sad saying goodbye to my American love of my life! Fingers crossed January 2013 we will be reunited though! It was a stormy day Saturday so in between rain showers we pakced up Cory’s apartment and moved things across to his dorm room. The dorms are really amazing and old and full of character which was great to see. We went to a great pizza place for dinner and then I said my emotional goodbyes to Cory’s parents who have been my family away from home since I’ve been in the States. Funnily enough after Cory walked me to my apartment some plans changed and I ended up staying with him in his dorm. The car only had one seat left so I had to sit on Cory’s lap which was a hilarious experience! I finally spent the night in an American college dorm room, it was so cool!

Friday 12th August- Greenfield Village!

Friday today we went to the Henry Ford Museum which is on the same sight as Greenfield Village and going to both of these places are fond memories from when I lived in Michigan. Cory, Kyla and I toured the museum and I had loads of fun pretending to be a hot dog filler, climbing into a big tractor and singing on MTV amongst many other things. We went to the childrens area and played with all the building stuff and made “cars” to race down the little hills. This is where the rest of the family joined us and we then continued our tour around the museum. There were some things I remembered from when I was younger like the Weinermobile and trains but there was also lots of different things. I saw the chair that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in at the opera/ show and there was an amazing civil rights department which I found really interesting after studying it last year. The most amazing thing was that they had the Rosa Parks bus in the museum! It had been found in a scrap yard and people figured out that it was that bus by the serial number and the Henry Ford museum had got it and refurbished it and I sat on the very seat that Rosa Parks had refused to give up to a white man- amazing! Cory and Mr. Hurst decided to go and wait outside for us so Kyla, Mrs. Hurst and I finished the rest of the museum. Kyla sat on a bench whilst we looked at the trains and cars (the cars area is currently being re-done so it was pretty quick to look around this time). Kyla had managed to avoid talking to a man who had seemed to talk to everyone who passed by then when we came back to take a picture in front of the train he asked her to take a picture, we then ended up talking to this man for a VERY long time!! He was very knowledgeable and interesting but every time we tried to leave he started talking again and we ended up having a photo with him and looking at his photos on his phone and hearing about loads and loads of other things. Eventually we left and some Henry Ford staff asked us if he was trying to sell us anything as he had been talking to us for so long!

We left the museum and went to a place called Antonio’s for dinner it was a lovely Italian place and there was a lady sitting in a little room at the entrance making all the pastas in a giant pasta making machine. I had my first spaghetti carbonara of my trip and I could certainly taste the fresh homemade pasta. We order ice cream/ gelato at the end of the meal, there was some confusion when Mrs. Hurst’s three scoops of ice cream came out as a giant ice cream sundae! It was all delicious! After we returned home we watched some movies from when Cory and I were at school together including our leaving cd with loads of pictures on! I also got to see loads of Cory’s school videos including a book review about Franklin playing soccer and a hilarious home movie/ book report type thing in his back yard based on ‘The Pearl’, they were hilarious!! After this we did something really exciting which I have always wanted to do… we went to a drive in movie! They really do exist although are fairly rare. We went to see The Help which was a great movie and I can’t wait to read the book. We went with Val (Kyla’s friend who I have met loads of time and is amazing) plus Kyla, Cory and myself. We parked the car with the trunk facing the screen then opened it up and layed in the trunk on towels and blankets. I also sat outside the car on a fold up chair, it was a really neat experience. I slept in the car on the way home, it has been a very action packed week.

Thursday 11th August

On Thursday Kyla and I had big lay- ins and were still in our pyjamas by the time Cory arrived home about 3pm! After washing my clothes I showered and went to Detroit with Cory to donate some old bikes he had. This was really great because I got to see downtown Detroit. Even though I had been into Detroit to go to the baseball game and Temple bar I had never actually been to walk around Detroit. We walked around a really nice area down by the river and went in a really fancy Bank of America building! I got to see the bridge to Canada and a big Detroit boat called the Princess.
After walking around Detroit we went off the play disc golf before dinner. Unfortunately I didn’t play very much disc golf as I slipped down a slope and did a very unladylike fall and twisted my ankle and stubbed my toe! For most people who know me this will not surprise you in the slightest given how clumsy I always have been. The funny thing was that I had already walked down that slope and thought it was amazing that I hadn’t slipped, I returned to the car to get bug spray and the decided to walk back down the slope… I didn’t get lucky twice! So I did quite a lot of hobbling around the disc golf course and sitting down. In the evening we iced the toe, it is fairly bruised but I think it’s starting to get better now. For dinner we had some of Kyla’s homemade chilli and afterwards watched a comedian and Cory and I decided to watch ‘How Do You Know’ the movie with Reese Witherspoon in, he ended up going to bed before he saw it all but I stayed awake. I had another good nights sleep.

Wednesday 10th August- the last day up North

On Wednesday we got up early and headed to the Omelette Shoppe for breakfast with Nick and Mike. The place is known for it’s amazing omelettes and there was quite a queue! I had two meals for breakfast that day, an omelette with cheese, bacon and hash browns inside plus a couple of pancakes, I am getting fat over here, the food is so tasty. After leaving Traverse City we went via Stanton to visit Kristen’s grandma who lives in a lovely area with a great big pond. We discovered Kyla is great at little puzzles and did a really good job at piecing together a puzzle made of bullets.
When we finally arrived home in Plymouth that evening we had a Chinese takeaway and then hung out at Kristen’s house before heading over to the Hurst household. We told everyone about our trip and then Val came over and we played Harry Potter Scene- it, I slept really well that night! Unfortunately one of the cats had a tinkle in kyla’s bed so she did not have such a great night.

Tuesday up north (9th August)

Tuesday was a jam packed day of up North fun! We looked round some of the local towns including one called Leland where I found a poster that we have framed in my house in England! We saw some otters swimming in the water here and Kyla got some great pictures. I bought some lovely fudge. We went wine tasting that morning and I had some delicious fruity juice and cheese. The lady who helped us had visited England so we had a fantastic talk about the Royal Wedding. After this we headed to Pyramid Point which is a fantastic area through some woods which comes out on the sand dunes. We could have hiked all the way down to the water and then climbed back up the steep dune but decided we didn’t have time for that nor was I sure I would ever make it back up! Instead we had loads of fun jumping of a sandy ledge and taking photos.
We went to visit another lighthouse this day too and then headed to Frankfort and the beach there. The water was icy cold so we didn’t swim in the water and the waves were really strong. We walked part of the way out on the walkway to the lighthouse but after getting soaked by a wave decided to admire it from a distance. After Frankfort we headed to the Sleeping Bear Dunes. The sand is so nice and soft! There are several different areas you can stop and walk around by the dunes so we walked around a few different areas. The wind was really strong and the sand whipped our legs. We saw a bald eagle flying above is, it was very beautiful. Kristen and I did part of the dune climb which was really fun but hard work! We saw other people climb up really quickly.
That evening Kristen’s grandpa’s wife Claire made goulash- a nice pasta/ mince/ tomato type dish and then both of Kristen’s cousins came over- Mike and Nick. We decided to go to get ice cream. Lots of places were closed as it was really late so we instead went to Meijer and got a tub of ice cream and some cakes and hot fudge sauce and sat in the house eating that along with wine Kristen had bought that day and a big growler of beer Kyla had bought the previous day. It was a great evening.

On the way to Traverse City- Monday 8th August

Kristen, Kyla and I left early for Traverse City. On the way we stopped at another town which had statues of the Michigan fish, bird and other animals. Once we arrived in Traverse City we went and had a short walk around the university there as Kristen had done a week long course there, it even had an outdoor classroom in amongst all the trees, I didn’t even realise those kind of things actually existed! After that we went into the city and met Kristen’s cousin Nick and had a tasty lunch sitting on an outdoor deck near the river. I had a delicious blue cheese salad, America really knows how to do salads. There was an extremely posh British family sitting at the table next to us which cracked me up no end, I was finally “no longer alone” as Kyla said.

After lunch we looked round the shops, Nick went to work and Kristen spent lots of money in a jam shop which also did amazing gelato. We tried loads of the jams and also the gelatos, I had vanilla and a banana crème brulee gelato, yum! After all the shopping we headed to see the Grand Traverse Light House which was beautiful and right by Lake Michigan so we took lots of pictures especially Kyla and then went down to the water. The lake is so incredibly beautiful. We had a delicious pizza for dinner and Kristen and I bought lots of snacks and I got a half dollar coin as change from a gas station. They are really rare! Kristen’s Grandpa lives right on Lake Michigan in an amazing house so that was quite a treat. He also has a hot tub which we went in on the first night. It was a perfect day. Kyla and I slept on a mattress with a water bed topping which was amazing!!

The best weekend in the world! August 5-7.

I took a break from writing my blog as it was all becoming rather boring and tedious as reading material!

In the last couple weeks I've done loads of great things, I went to a dog park with my room mate Cristina and her beautiful dog. I won an Uno tournament at a party and learnt a lot of the Call of Duty zombie game. I saw the movie Crazy, Stupid Love, have been doing some exercise, been on some nice walks around the area, been to a movie by myself and got a cartilage piercing with Kristine. Cory and I have also had slumber parties, watched movies and eaten popcorn.

The weekend of Friday August 5th - Sunday August 7th was great, Cory and I came back to Plymouth and Friday night we went to visit Cory's Mom's best friend who was in town from Arizona. She was staying at her mother's house and her son Geoff and his girl friend Heidi had come to visit too! After meeting everyone and hanging out for a bit and heading to a delicious dairy in Ann Arbor Kyla, Mrs. Hurst and I headed home and we had tasty pizza for dinner and then a group of us headed out to Temple Bar (the one I went to on my first evening in Detroit). It was karaoke night and I’ve never sung at a karaoke night so that was a new experience for me! I shared a microphone with Heidi and sang very quietly! Kyla also sang with us and we sung a Grease song- Summer Loving I think.

On Saturday 6th August we went to Greenfield Village which an amazing place which Henry Ford opened years ago. He collected buildings from around the world and they now all reside in a village there. It is somewhere I remember very fondly from my childhood. We rode in a model T and went on the beautiful old carousel. We also got to see an old style game of baseball which I never saw even when I lived there. Heidi had never been to Michigan and was equally excited to go to Greenfield Village. It was also her birthday so I think she had a really great day! In the evening we had an indoor barbeque with delicious food and all played the game Scattergories. I had never played this before but it was absolutely hilarious! Geoff and Heidi came up with some excellent answers to some of the categories including ‘Nate’ as a term of endearment and ‘Bama, O’ as a politican/ world leader answer. It was a great night. After Heidi, Geoff and family left we also played The Game of Nothing. Kyla’s friends had also been around throughout the night to play games which made it even funnier! Such a great day!

Sunday 7th August: Kyla and I took Heidi and Geoff to airport, Cory went back to East Lansing to work for the last week and take classes and Mr and Mrs Hurst went to Traverse City with Lani. Kyla and I hung out after we returned and she had a nap whilst I watched the Discovery Channel and chilled out. Afterwards we went round to Kristen’s house for a barbeque for her Dad’s birthday. Unfortunately due to some communication problems no one was there. However we went into Plymouth and had a lovely dinner at a place called the Box Bar which I know I went to when I lived here. It was a lovely evening and we discovered we are both very clumsy and messy when it comes to eating dinner! Afterwards we went back to Kristen's for a while (they were there this time) and then we to the local ice cream place Dairy King where all the high school kids mingle. We walked around downtown Plymouth and Kyla’s ice cream threw itself all over her. Once we returned to Kristen’s we played a board game called Apples to Apples and planned our big trip for next few days in Traverse City.

Friday 22nd July

Today I got up and went to the gym whilst Kristine was at her yoga class. In the afternoon we went to Meridian Mall which is fairly close by and spent a couple of hours just chilling out, away from the apartment. There was an Old Navy there which was great, a t-shirt for $3!! After a tasty pretzel and a couple more shops we headed back and I went to Cory’s apartment via a great shop called Hobby Lobby. I have been meaning to go for days and finally went! They have so many nice Halloween and Christmas decorations, I wish I lived here and could have bought some. Cory made a tasty dinner of stroganoff. Our movie wasn’t until later so we spent time flicking from channel to channel and I discovered the US has A LOT of God channels! We also watched some over opinionated news channels. We went to the mall (second time in a couple of hours for me!) and browsed whilst we waited for the movie to start. We saw Friends with Benefits which was very very funny! It also made me miss New York, I love it there so much! The movie finished late and we went back to Cory’s apartment and made a Milky Way bar sandwich. Not quite as good as my Dad’s Mars bad sandwiches but pretty good still. We drank beer and played old school Playstation two games followed by nineties music, it was a very fun night and very great day!

Thursday 21st July

Today I went to breakfast at Cory’s apartment, yum! I couldn’t figure out what to do and asked about a few local places, we decided spur of the moment to go to the Lansing museum. We went and it was very interesting. We learnt about the French being in Michigan, the Native Indians, dressed up and played on a wagon and learnt about mining along with seeing some very nice retro cars and listening to music which is all from people who originated in Michigan. We attempted to go into the archives area but there was nothing on show that day unfortunately. It was a really hot day so we were very pleased just to be inside. Afterwards we went to see the Malcolm X historical spot, which was really cool! There is a big commemorative sign for him. After this I came home and Cory went off to a concert. Kristine and I went to a local café/ restaurant called The Traverse City Pie Company where she did some studying and I read a bit. We had some lovely iced drinks and a peanut butter chocolate cupcake. This evening I cooked my favourite salmon and sweet potato dish for the girls. Cristina and I then went to the campus law library… I have spent a lot of time at libraries this trip!! I found a really interesting book about human rights from 2002-2004. When we got home we made late night cookies for the second night running!

Tuesday 19th and Wednesday 20th July

Tuesday-I went to the gym and then decided to head on to the university campus and go to the library to do some Fair Trade research. I walked a very silly and long way to campus and by the time I got there I was really hot! It has been very hot and humid here. I decided to go to the union instead and was going to get an iced coffee but Biggby in the union was closed so I got ice cream instead. I eventually went to the library for a bit and read a bit about Fair Trade and played Angry Birds on my ipod. Biggby was closed so had an ice cream and went to library… played angry birds. Once I came home Kristine was home from work and getting ready for her date night. Everyone was out this evening either on date nights or family meals or friend dates so I spent time at home cooking myself a dinner, running around with the kitten and drinking wine.


Wednesday- I woke up with crazy ab and back pain from too many sit ups! Kristine’s aunt came to visit and she took us out to lunch at a Lebanese place, it was so delicious. There is a fantastic variety of good food places here. Later on in the afternoon we went into East Lansing and met up with some of Kristine’s friends for coffee. It was interesting to hear about who had graduated and what they were now doing/ what kind of jobs they are looking for, that will be me this time next year! When we came home we meet one of the former apartment tenants who was painting her room for the new tenant and moving the last of her furniture home. Her name was Caitlin and her boyfriend was called Stefano and they actually live in and close to Plymouth where I lived when I was younger and Caitlin works in a restaurant that I have been to! Such a small world! While they were there I managed to lock myself out of my bedroom but luckily Stefano and Jim were there to sort it out. Later that night Cristina and I went shopping to get food for the next nights dinner and some more kitten food. I also bought some cookie mix so we could make cookies, when we got home Kristine, Cristina, Jim and I had some late night cookies, yum!

Sunday 17th

I went to the gym and laid out in the sun with Kristine and Cristina. After a short period of time we ended up in the pool because it was so hot outside. I got a tan line on my leg after 10-15 minutes an then got some really odd small patches of sunburn on my stomach (not quite as bad as the hand print I got in Mexico though!) After this we all showered and I went over to Cory’s. His parents came and we had Dominoes pizza and watched the final of the women’s soccer world cup. The US lost on penalties to Japan but I’m pleased that they have had something nice happen for them at last.

Cory’s Dad and Cory went off to play golf whilst Cory’s mother and I headed off to the last night of the Common Ground concert in Lansing (this is the concert that Cory, Jim, Kristine and I had volunteered at earlier on in the week). There was a bit of a mix up when we got there as we were supposed to have free tickets as we volunteered but ended up having to pay. We walked around and positioned our seats in a good spot near the stage. I bought an ice cream because it was National Ice Cream Day and it was very hot and because I seem to have ice cream every day here!! We sat and enjoyed the atmosphere and at 8pm the music started. The first performance was from a guy called Larry Mccray and a lady called Melissa Etheridge. Although I had never heard of either of these people I really liked their music and I even knew some of the songs!

Saturday July 16th- Indiana

Today I went to Indiana! The Hurst family were going to a big family reunion on Mr. Hurst’s side of the family and they invited me along with them. We went to one of Mr. Hurst’s cousin’s houses, they live on a beautiful lake. There were loads of people at the reunion and everyone was really nice. We had a great barbeque and I got to go out on their boat and go tubing. I’ve never been tubing before, I don’t know why I’ve never been before but I will definitely be going again! I also went out on a jet ski which was great, Kyla and I sped round the lake at 40/ 50 mph! It was a very sunny day filled with a lot of laughter. In the evening after we went out on a sunset cruise on the boat there was a lovely campfire by the water and we made smores. It was a fantastic day full of fantastic new people.

Friday July 15- "we're the three best friends that anyone could have..."

Today was a very fun filled day! After telling the girls about the sidewalk sale from the previous day we decided to all go together today. Kristine and I went to the gym and Cristina met us just before we left for the town. We had sushi for lunch at a restaurant- it's rapidly becoming one of my favourite cuisines. We walked the length of the shops and bought a selection of things including a million books in Kristine's cases! And Michigan State mugs. There were certainly a few bargains to be had.

After the shops and carrying the new library back to the car we went to Biggby coffee to study (I'm becoming a regular there and have a real love for iced/ frozen coffee now). The girls ran into a couple of people they knew and I introduced myself to one of the girls called Courtney and she said to me 'do you know Michelle El-Khoury' (Michelle is my best friend from when I lived in the USA and now lives in California) and I said yes and she said 'she's my best friend- from middle school' and then I remembered her full name and we realised we must have met once before when I came over to visit. It was one of the strangest things that has ever happened to me.. what are the chances!?! So we all sat together and drank iced drinks!

It was a busy day... Cory came round for dinner and was super tired (I forgot to mention we went to see Harry Potter at 12:28am and hadn't got in until very late and Cory only had a couple hours of sleep before he had to work. We had a gigantic popcorn bucket :)) so yes we had a nice dinner and then we decided to go to Insomnia Cookies where Cristina and I got cookies sandwiches and Kristine had a cookie and we then went to Kenco photo copying. Cristina and I had had a few glasses of wine so were fairly giggly! After we got home her friend John came over and bought champagne, it topped off a super duper day :)

Thursday 14th July

Today I volunteered at the Fair Trade store called Kirabo. It is such a fantastic place. Things come from over 30 countries round the world including Guatemala :) Everyone I worked with were very friendly and helpful and interested in my trip. I did lots of things including greeting customers, talking about Fair Trade with customers, labelling sale items, answering the phone, writing emails and taking photos to email to customers. It was FUN! It also made me very aware that this is the kind of thing I care about and am passionate about. It was good to do some more volunteering work as well. The best part about working there was learning about other staff members experiences and their product knowledge and where items come from whilst also being able to input my own experiences and see things in the shop that I had seen and bought from the streets of Guatemala. The manager is a lovely lady and clearly very interested in making a difference and helping other people.

After my volunteering I had a little walk down East Grand River (the big road where all the shops are) as there was a sidewalk sale and I wanted to check it out. I bought an American flag shirt and a book about Malcolm X from 'The Curious Book Shop'- the place smells like really old books :) After a cool drink and brownie I headed home. Kristine and Cristina's friend Jess came for dinner and we had a really lovely girly evening and Kristine made a great dinner (as always!)

Wednesday 13th July

Today was the day of my interviews and Kristine dropped me off at Biggby Coffee where I got a delicious coffee and had a lovely chat with the barista. I walked to my first interview at a really cool bar/ restaurant for the position of hostess. Tthe interview was really quick and the guy was super nice to me. I didn't anticipate the interview being so short so I spent a very long time in CVS pharmacy browsing all of their aisles. I the went to the university library. It is amazing and giant and all the shelves move by remote control! The chairs has bouncy nets as the seat and roll up and down round the desks really well! I had three hours in between interviews so spent time looking through the online resources and actual books, thinking about dissertation topics. My second interview was also fun, everyone is so nice and friendly. Cory picked me up after my interview and I came home and played with the kitten. She is so amazing! After this I got a call from a Fair Trade shop called Kirabo where I had applied to to be a volunteer. They asked if I could volunteer tomorrow (Thursday). Of course I said yes! So Wednesday was a very exciting day! One of the best so far!! One of Kristine’s friends from college called Alice was passing through and stayed with us that night. We went to Cory and Jim’s apartment and had a few drinks and chatted until the boys abandoned us as we were discussing the Royal Wedding.

The Best Tuesday Ever?

Tuesday was a really great day!! We had pre- arranged through Jim's volunteering group to volunteer at a festival in Lansing and check ID's and put wrist bans on. Before we left I had a call about an interview and organised it for 1pm the next day. This made me super excited!! What made me even more excited was getting another call a couple of hours later for another interview to take place on Wednesday also. I was so excited, finally some interviews. I can't remember if Kristine and I went to the gym or not that morning but we went to Starbucks and got some ice coffee and then headed over to the boys. We went to the festival after that all got volunteering t-shirts to wear. We stood around and chatted for a while whilst the queues built up and I met some really nice people. We then got in line and each had different age range wristbands to apply. I had under 21's/ non- drinkers and children. I was lucky I didn't have to check any ID's as some people very rude about not being able to drink without their ID even though they clearly were over 21. I enjoyed doing the wrist bands though (perhaps because there weren't that many children so I didn't have to do as much as the others!) We had a break and received a food coupon and I bought a corn dog... something I have wanted to do ever since seeing Princess Diaries when I was younger. IT WAS AMAZING!! Very delicious indeed. After a bit more wrist banding Cory and I were allowed to go and watch some of the music. We saw the Verve Pipe who are a band from the area that are quite well- known. After this we headed home and all chilled out together. It was such a lovely day and I've probably missed out loads of details but I felt great and was very excited about interviews for the next day, woo hoo!

Discgolf, baseball, corn dogs and interviews

The last few days seem to have blurred into one! I seem to remember this is how it went: On Friday Cory went to work and I hung out at the apartment, looking up more jobs and seeing emails/ making calls. I rung one place and they offered me an interview for a sales position which I agreed to go to at 1pm. This was the first interview I had been offered so I was very excited. Unfortunately no cab company could get me to the place on time so I rang and changed my interview to 6pm. I can't really remembered what Cory and I did for the rest of the day once he got home from work. We may have played discgolf (we play this a lot) or perhaps we just had food and watched tv. I then went to my interview. It was with a company called Vector who sell Cutco cutlery. I had a lovely guy interviewing me and he said there were two positions, one was a sales position which he thought wouldn't be best for me as it involves selling to people you know and obviously I don't know very many people here. The second position was a reception position. He said he would put in a good word for me and someone would ring me this week about an interview. Excellent news! After this Cory and I went to dinner at a great sports bar in Lansing. We had delicious burgers and watched the Royals arrive in the USA. We went to a Lugnuts baseball game (the Lansing team) and they won, whoop! It was also a special military day so there was lots military appreciation mixed in with the game.

I believe on Saturday Cory and I went to the beach at Sleepy Hollow where we played a great round of discgolf (despite spending a lot of time in the trees and bushes looking for the discs) and got fairly sunburnt. We had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich picnic on the beach and were very amused by a "white trash" family shouting at each other... "Little Joe and Joe Junior have disappeared.." very interesting. Cory went in the water but returned swiftly as it smelt of wee. After this we headed home and got some milk and orange juice. There was slight confusion when I said I wanted to get some squash and Cory took me to squash the vegetable when I meant the drink! We have come across an incredible amount of differences in our languages! Cory and Jim went out drinking in the evening and I stayed home watching several movies.

Sunday... MORE DISCGOLF!! Cory, Jim and I went to a really nice park today which I believe was called Frederick Park. We played discgolf and spent a considerable amount of time looking for discs Jim had thrown as every time they landed they decided to race off into the shrubbery. I also got lost at one point as the boys played a hole which involves climbing down a steep hill/ rock face which I did not want to do given how clumsy I am so I decided to follow the path in the woods and unintentionally stumbled upon a nature reserve. The man running it was really nice as was his daughter and she showed me all the turtles they have including one which someone had just caught in the river. We also compared our throwing techniques for discgolf (not that I really know what I'm doing!) After a walk along the river I met the boys and we headed home via an amazing food store full of fresh veg, complementary coffee, giant cheese, an olive counter and more types of beer than I have ever seen. They also sold onions that were about three times bigger than our ones at home. Jim made us a delicious that evening of potatoes, onions and sausage all cooked with lovely seasoning... delicious. The boys played a mean trick on me also... they told me I had to try some really find Michigan beer called Colt 45. According to them it is la creme de la creme of beers. I tried it and said it was ok, quite nice. They told me I couldn't go to sleep until I had drunk it all and that it was actually really cheap gross beer. After a few more sips I wasn't so keen... Half of the tin is still sitting in their fridge! We had a great movie night though :)

Monday.. today I woke up and spoke to Samantha on skype for a very long time during which there were massive thunder storms outside and torrential rain. After this I went to the fitness centre. I have not yet mentioned all of the irritating phone calls and texts I have been receiving since being here.. I have an American sim card and constantly get calls for a Suzetta Irazo (not quite sure on the spelling). I believe the calls are from some kind of credit company. When I was at the fitness centre I received four calls, none of which were for me... boo!! Once Cory returned from work I moved my stuff over to my new apartment with Kristine (Jim's girlfriend) and then she dropped me off at the mall! I was very self- restrained and only bought some Japanese food and a second hand book about amusing Presidential stories. It took me a very long time to find the bus stop to get home but I eventually found it and came back to Cory's where we watched tv and hung out. I headed back to my new apartment to sleep but Kristine was asleep and I didn't have a key so then returned to Cory's and stayed there.

Today is Tuesday and today I have really felt like a true American!! It has been a great day but I will save it for another blog!

The fourth of July :)

Monday was fourth of July so we got up early and headed down to Plymouth to watch the parade. On the way we went to Einstein's bagels and had a delicious breakfast. I am in love with bagels now and wish we had an Einstein's at home, they do these cute little blueberry donut things, they are amazing. The parade was really good and there were lots of bands and cheer leading squads. After this we returned home and Kyla, Cory and I went to to a place called Dollar World which is a thrift store which was full of lots of corny July 4th t-shirts which we bought and wore for the rest of the day. We went home and had a barbecue with Cory and his family and played croquet. After this David and his family came round and we had desserts and then went to Plymouth to the coffee shop and had coffee and walked around the town. Cory and I went to visit our old school and look for the bricks that we had engraved when we went to school there. Most of the bricks had rubbed clean which was really sad but we found our old class brick in the paving which was good :) We also ran around the playground and played on all the toys even though we are way too big for them now and struggled to fit on some of the play structures. We finished the fourth of July by watching Monk and I fell asleep part way through.

On Tuesday Cory and his Dad went to play golf so Kyla, Cory's Mom and I went and got tasty frozen drinks and went to a couple of shops in Plymouth. I also completed some more job applications. Kyla also made me some beautiful earrings :) We went to a delicious restaurant for dinner called Seva and then to get an ice cream after. It was possibly the biggest ice cream I have ever had and probably had about 3,000 calories in it! Cory drove us back to East Lansing Tuesday night as he had to work on Wednesday. On Wednesday I filled out yet more applications and handed them in. I also went to the fitness centre and once again discovered how incredibly unfit I am!

Today we went to the social security office so I could apply for a social security number just incase I do manage to get a job! The guy was really really nice and wished me luck in finding a job in such a difficult climate. Cory then went to get a haircut and I got a pedicure using the voucher which I received when I had my hair done. I've never had one before but it so relaxing! And you get to choose a bottle of nail polish and they use it on you and then you get to keep it! Amazing!! Now I am just chilling out and trying to decide what I'm going to do if I can't find a job. It is a depressing thought that I may have gone through all the visa applications and job applications and won't end up getting a job anyway.

The problem with a blog is...

When you end up doing so many fun things you have less and less time to write your blog and have to write five days antics all in one go!

Saturday morning after our party Friday night Josh, Cory and I went and got some breakfast at a lovely pub called Beggar's Banquet. It was delicious! I had chocolate chip pancakes, eggs and bacon- delicious! After this I finished my job applications, the boys cleaned the apartment and Cory and I delivered my applications. I hadn't realised quite what a big place East Lansing was so I had completely missed out lots of shops and restaurants so we walked in all of those and collected applications too. After this we grabbed some gas and headed out of East Lansing. It was a REALLY hot day and just stepping outside made us hot and sweaty. Cory dropped me off at a friends house who live about 30 mins away from Plymouth. My family has known Saad and Jennifer for a long time and staying with them for a night and day was very nice. When I arrived I was met by their gorgeous children and Saad and Jennifer who look exactly the same as the last time I saw them 5 years ago.

We went to dinner at one of their favourite restaurants. I got to be a passenger in Saad's classic open top beautiful mercedes which was super although by the time we arrived I looked a bit like I'd been dragged through a bush. We just missed the rain and had a delicious dinner of: chicken wings, ribeye steak, fries, macaroni cheese, sweet potato mash and an assortment of desserts including an amazing chocolate brownie with ice cream. Needless to say I was very full! After this I saw the church turned bar that Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock got married in.

When we got home Sofia, Ali and Cecelia (their children) all got in their pyjamas and we played the soundtrack to the movie Tangled and all danced around like lunatics. Sofia read to me and I read the Care Bear story to Cecelia at least 6 or 7 times. We watched the movie Tangled and several hours later I went to sleep. It was quite strange staying in their guest house as the last time I was there I was with the rest of my family. The next day we had an amazing brunch and I played lots of games with Sofia including a play- doh potato smashing game and playing with her giant teddy. We started out making a puzzle but after separating the edges from the inside pieces Sofia decided potato smashing would be more fun, and it was a lot of fun! Jennifer and I spent several hours trying to finish the puzzle later. We headed out for an early dinner to a really good pizza bar called Brooklyn with a statue of liberty giant model outside and loads of NYC iconic photos on the walls. We also had ice creams too. (I am eating a lot of good food here). We played in a couple of parks afterwards including one which had a fake grass hill which you could use as a slide if you sat on some cardboard, it was such a good park and had a little mist zone which you could walk through to cool off. After the park they dropped me back in Plymouth just in time to go to the fireworks with Cory and his Dad. It was a really nice weekend and great to see some old friends. At the fireworks I got to see one of my old school friends David. It made us all feel very old realising that we went to school together ten years ago.

A whole lot of fun!

Since I last wrote my blog I have done so many different things. Tuesday morning I woke up in Cory's apartment and met his room mate Jim who made me a superb breakfast. My plan was then to head into East Lansing and go into some of the shops/ restaurants and ask if any of them were hiring. In reality I actually went with Jim and his girlfriend Kristine to meet Cory when he was on his lunch break. I saw their university campus which is MASSIVE! UEA is like a tiny mini campus in comparison. Although, I didn't see any horses or lakes on the Michigan State Campus. I had a delicious ice coffee and went to get my hair cut as I have been having fringe issues (no surprises there!) I went to an Aveda training salon which was amazing, I received a head massage and neck massage as part of my hair cut and also got to sample some lip gloss. After this I grabbed a few application forms and met Cory. The rest of the afternoon we spent doing a variety of things: we went to the pet store and saw some giant birds and fish plus creepy tarantulas, bought some jamaican food, went to a farmers market and went to Target where I got some $6 jogging bottoms! After returning to Cory's apartment and having our dinner Cory had a paper to complete so I went for a walk into the town. I ended up staying out until Cory was finished and it started to get dark so I went into a place called Insomnia Cookies and had an amazing brownie, cookie, ice cream, mini marshmallows and reeces pieces sundae! It was amazing but I felt pretty sick afterwards!

The next day we headed to the library so Cory could do his final online exam and I could fill out some job applications. After this we headed to Holland which is a town by Lake Michigan. On the way we went to Grand Rapids as I've always wanted to go there and stopped at a park with a little windmill. The beach at Holland was busy and full of loads of high school kids burying each other in the sand and eating pizza. There was a small pier to walk down so we did that and then it started to rain and thunder :( We had bought a picnic with us so found a nice bench under and tree and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cheese on french stick and cheez-its plus some delicious grapes. On the way home we stopped off at a woodland park and Cory introduced me to a game called Discgolf. It involves frisbee shaped disc which are slightly smaller and heavier and you have to throw them and get them into a cage. It was really fun and I have now bought a disc of my own. The closest course in England is in Colchester so I will have to make a special trip. After this we headed into Holland to have a little look around. There were lots of street performers playing music, singing, making balloon animals and more. It was a really lovely evening and Holland was a really super place. I filled out an application and took another one home with me. After going to Holland we headed back to Cory's apartment had some food and headed to sleep.

Friday--> This morning I headed over to Kristine's apartment with Jim and a couple of his friends names Scales and Poisson were there also. Kristine made a super brunch- sausages, eggs, onion plus fresh bread out of the bread machine. We spent a couple of hours talking about loads of things and having debates about accents. The boys headed out and Kristine and I laid by the pool and caught a bit of sun. Cory came home from work and we headed into East Lansing to hand my applications in and collect some more. That evening we had a really great party! We played waterfall (basically ring of fire but a little bit different) and some of the rules included talk in a foreign accent and talk in a Southern American accent. One of the girls was from Kentucky so she chose the Southern accent and the rest of us sounded ridiculous. We ordered some delicious pizza and watched the Hangover. I got talking to a guy called Josh who has just graduated after an International Relations degree, we had a very long talk about the state of the world and how we could fix it, I'm not quite sure how to put these plans into action quite yet!

From NYC---> Phily---> Detroit---> East Lansing in less than 24 hours

After a few little hiccups in getting out of my YMCA room including my key deactivating and having to go downstairs to the lobby with my toothbrush in tow I left the YMCA, grabbed a cab to the back of Grand Central Station and got a shuttle bus to La Guardia airport for my flight to Philly and Detroit. Once I got to the airport and experienced some ridiculously unorganised service at Dunkin Donuts and a delayed flight I boarded my tiny 36 seater plane and flew the half hour to Philly where I changed and got my flight to Detroit. I was met by Kyla my friend Cory's sister with a beautiful 'Welcome Louise' sign and then met Cory's Mom and headed home! We had a delicious barbecue with Cory's Mom, Dad and sister and Kyla's friend Jamie. I was shown to my ensuite room in the basement which is a palace compared to the Y!!

We headed to Detroit to the Tigers baseball game and after some crazy traffic and road rage we made it to the parking lot and went to see the game, it was awesome! The Tigers won and we got free tshirts because we are students. There were fireworks on in Detroit last night so we met up with some of Kyla's other friends and climbed to the top of a parking garage and watched the show. It was really good and there was a big group of people. Our vision was slightly impaired due to all the tall buildings. but it was still really good. A couple of the girls and I shared sick stories as well (I'm sure the girls had a nice first impression of me...!) It was all very hilarious and I had a lot to contribute! After this we headed to a really cool bar called Temple in Detroit which is run by a gay guy. He made me a vodka drink but didn't have lemonade so made me a drink to taste quite like lemonade, it was so tasty and way better than traditional vodka lemo! The drink he made Cory was super strong and after one he was quite drunk haha. Kyla also spent quite a lot of time behind the bar. The bar toilets were like a saloon and the doors were saloon doors, very exciting, like being a cowboy. I tried to teach Jamie some things about England as he said he knew very little about the country but I'm not sure I was much help, my knowledge of The Thames is shockingly poor! We had a really great night and there was a cute little pug running round the bar so we played with the dog too.

After leaving the bar we drove through Detroit and home, I was told the part of Detroit we were in was the ghetto... amazing! There was an amusing man cycling down the road with an amp on a trailer playing music! I slept really well last night and had a super shower. Kyla and I went into Plymouth (the town I used to live in) and when she went to the doctors I had a little walk around to see what has changed. I went in a kitchen shop and got chatting to the owner. He had a big packet of felt badges he was selling and I saw there were some animals in there so I asked if there was a cow and he said he didn't think so :( However, we took them all out and looked through them and we found one cow! WOO HOOO! So I said I would buy it but he said I could have it for free! I said he wasn't allowed to do that but he said he owned the shop so could do whatever he wanted. So now I have a lovely mooey badge pinned to my dress :D I also went in the bakery and candy shop because they used to smell so good and still do.

Once I met Kyla we went back home to meet Cory and went to Ann Arbor for a tasty lunch and wander round the shops. We then went back to the house and Kyla and I went to Kroger the food store and return loads and loads of cans and bottles (in the USA if you return them to the store you get money back!) We got taco ingredients and made tacos when we got home. Cory and I are now at his apartment in East Lansing where I will be staying for the rest of the week. It has a pool and a gym on the complex so I will have to make the most of these things! It's been a really good 24 hours and it's so nice to be staying with people who I actually know in a nice house and nice apartment rather than at a YMCA where I have to have a passcode to get to the shower haha.

The lone tourist at Pride NYC 2011, the Empire State Building, The Plaza hotel and playing a violin to an audience in Central Park

I wasn’t going to write anything on my blog today as I figured I had written loads about the Big Apple in the past couple of days, however… so many exciting things have happened today I can barely contain myself!

Hannah and I set off this morning in the direction of the Empire State Building. We had a bit of breakfast at a local café and then continued on our journey. Due to the Pride 2011 parade/ festival we couldn’t very easily reach the Empire State as loads of the roads were blocked off unfortunately. We decided instead to stay and watch some of the preparations for the parade. There was music, fancy dress, drag queens, dancing, baton routines etc etc! After we walked a few blocks and mingled with the parade people we headed back to The Y so Hannah could pick up her luggage and head for the bus station to get her bus to D.C. It was sad to wave goodbye as we have been fairly inseparable for the last couple of days hitting all the sites and becoming really good friends. I decided to try and reach the Empire State Building again but instead watched lots of the Pride Parade on the streets on NYC.

Eventually after lots of Pride fun I made it to the Empire State Building and rode the elevator up to the 86th floor to the observatory where I looked out all across New York and over to New Jersey. I had been given an audio tour handset which was really good and taught me loads about the city. I walked round and round the observatory deck and took lots of touristy photos including ones of myself being a lone tourist.. ha!

After this I was unsure what to do and was summing up a few options in Starbucks when my family rang. Although the ESB was absolutely amazing and the views incredible I was quite sad that had seen it alone and everyone else up there seemed to have family with them. Speaking to my Ma and Pa cheered me up though and I headed to Central Park.

Just as I arrived at Central Park and The Plaza Hotel I saw a massive shop and went inside. It was the most incredible toy shop I have ever seen, giant life size stuffed animals, thousands of dolls, dolls houses, Willy Wonka bars and a giant piano, like the one in the movie Big. I was leaving the piano area when they said a show was about to start so of course, I had to stay! It was super cool and two trained piano dancers danced all of the songs featured in the Big movies plus a Mozart song most commonly used as a ring tone these days!

After this I bought a painting from a street seller and went to The Plaza Hotel. I had taken photos from outside previously in the last few days but hadn’t been inside. I explored the very posh Plaza in my converse, stripy shorts and vest top (lowering the tone massively!) It is SO BEAUTIFUL! I ever went up a few floors in the elevator and had a little walk around. I tried to get into the Grand Ballroom and one of the staff said he would escort me there later as a wedding was taking place at the time. Unfortunately when I returned the wedding was still on however I still went up and saw the Grand Ballroom floor which the leads to the ballroom.

I finally reached my destination of Central Park and walked through the beautiful park, I saw a couple having a picnic on a picnic blanket with a hamper and champagne, how sophisticated. I took a few photos for people and then was called over by a man playing a violin. He asked if I fancied a go playing his violin! He taught me how to do some basic things and made me play a couple of rhythms over and over, slowly and then more quickly. A passing couple took some photos and a small crowd formed to watch and have a laugh. It was such a hilarious experience, the guy was very amusing dancing around and shouting that I was famous. So, I have played the violin to an audience in Central Park, that’s something I wont forget in a hurry.

After a return trip to The Plaza instead of going to a café/ restaurant for dinner I bought a chicken shish kebab in a warm pitta bread wrap from a street seller and made my way back to the Y as darkness fell across Manhattan. Today has been incredible although sad when Hannah left. Tomorrow I’m flying out to Detroit which I’m really looking forward to although I will miss this amazing city.