Greetings!
I spent a lengthy period of time trying to think of some clever and whitty American themed title for this blog as I had originally only planned to write it for my upcoming travels for friends and family to keep up with how things were going [Sidenote: If you don't know about my imminent 5 week road trip of the USA then I am not sure what you are doing here - so do one!]. I had also been inspired by my cousin's blog, which is simply brilliant. I then thought to myself "Hey, what if I take to this blogging lifestyle and want to continue after we get back?" hence the generic blog title and USA themed post title instead. Also, I don't want to even attempt to compete with cousin L's blog, if I do then I have already lost the battle, and I hate losing!
So, down to the nitty gritty. In 6 days time (3rd July), myself and C will be embarking from London Heathrow bound for Boston, MA, equipped with our rucksacks, a car hire reservation, sat navs and our natural ability to sniff out a brewery from miles away. It's a gift that comes naturally to two guys from Kettering. Here's the low down of our trip: We will drive straight from Boston, MA, 40 mins down to Providence, RI, where I worked last summer to catch up with some of my good friends, including JL, MH, P, MGF, EM and EF, for drunken antics and 4th July celebrations. From there we take a 5 hour drive to NYC, where we'll be for 4 days. We then take a 4 hour drive to stop in and say "Hi" to Barack in Washington DC for 3 days. Then comes the mahoosive mother of a drive, 17 hours and 20 mins down the east coast all the way to Miami, FL, where we'll be for 4 days. To be honest, I am dreading that drive, but the thought of Miami and its beaches (and the "perks" that come with them) is creating more excitement and anticipation than I thought was possible for a 23 year old guy.
OK, breather... this paragraph is getting too long!
Right. Once we have recovered from Miami we take a 4 hour drive back up to Orlando, FL, where we stay for 3 days. We then head on to possibly one of the most musically historic cities on the planet. A 10 hour drive will bring us to New Orleans, LA. We'll be there for 3 days and will hopefully check out some blues, jazz and anything else on offer. Now... here comes the real ball ache of a drive. A 24 hour drive (yes that is 24!) will take us to Phoenix, AZ. I know what you're thinking... "Shit. The. Bed.". Don't worry, so are we. The only comfort (I use the word "comfort" very loosely here!) comes from the fact that this drive is spread over two days with a stop in some sleazy middle-of-nowhere motel. Can anyone say "Psychopathic Southern Redneck Rapist Axe Murderer?". I will definitely be sleeping with an eye on the door and my back against the wall. Either way, whether its for better or worse, there might not be much sleep that night. We're only in Phoenix for for 2 days and it is simply so we can nip up and see the Grand Canyon. Epic. From there we head straight to Las Vegas, NV, where we're booked into the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino on the Vegas strip. I cannot wait for Vegas!! It's been dubbed an "Adult Playground" so the mind boggles as to what we'll find. From Vegas its on to San Diego, CA, where we stop in to see my good friend T!!! After 4 days of partying it up, more beaches, and the promise of enough Mexican food to make our next drive rather... "uncomfortable"... we will drive along the famous Pacific Coastal road up to San Francisco, CA. From here we sadly come to the end of our trip and fly back to London. Bad times.
So there's 6 days left. Unfortunately for me, that includes 4 days of work. Now, my work is very secretive and for that reason I can't really talk much about it. However, after much discussion over numerous coffee breaks about what is acceptable to talk about, I have concluded that I can say anything I like as long as it doesn't include where I work, who with, the companies we work for, the products we use or who I work for.... so basically nothing. OK, this isn't strictly true, but it's pretty close. However, I'll give it a go. I work in a centre that primarily researches sleep and human pharmacology. At the moment we have an alcohol & drug study that is nothing short of crazy. People get paid good money to take part in these studies (£900 for 4 days) but there is a reason. My remaining 4 days in this country will be spent with people who are so drugged and boozed up that they'd give Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty a good run for their money.
Right, I think this has been gruesomely long enough for a first post. C heads down on Thursday and Friday will be spent in Guildford attempting to get some last minute neccessities. I will try and post a quick update before we leave, but I will leave you with a picture I took on my last visit to the USA that epitimises my love for America:
Only in America...
Take care,
Garry
I spent a lengthy period of time trying to think of some clever and whitty American themed title for this blog as I had originally only planned to write it for my upcoming travels for friends and family to keep up with how things were going [Sidenote: If you don't know about my imminent 5 week road trip of the USA then I am not sure what you are doing here - so do one!]. I had also been inspired by my cousin's blog, which is simply brilliant. I then thought to myself "Hey, what if I take to this blogging lifestyle and want to continue after we get back?" hence the generic blog title and USA themed post title instead. Also, I don't want to even attempt to compete with cousin L's blog, if I do then I have already lost the battle, and I hate losing!
So, down to the nitty gritty. In 6 days time (3rd July), myself and C will be embarking from London Heathrow bound for Boston, MA, equipped with our rucksacks, a car hire reservation, sat navs and our natural ability to sniff out a brewery from miles away. It's a gift that comes naturally to two guys from Kettering. Here's the low down of our trip: We will drive straight from Boston, MA, 40 mins down to Providence, RI, where I worked last summer to catch up with some of my good friends, including JL, MH, P, MGF, EM and EF, for drunken antics and 4th July celebrations. From there we take a 5 hour drive to NYC, where we'll be for 4 days. We then take a 4 hour drive to stop in and say "Hi" to Barack in Washington DC for 3 days. Then comes the mahoosive mother of a drive, 17 hours and 20 mins down the east coast all the way to Miami, FL, where we'll be for 4 days. To be honest, I am dreading that drive, but the thought of Miami and its beaches (and the "perks" that come with them) is creating more excitement and anticipation than I thought was possible for a 23 year old guy.
OK, breather... this paragraph is getting too long!
Right. Once we have recovered from Miami we take a 4 hour drive back up to Orlando, FL, where we stay for 3 days. We then head on to possibly one of the most musically historic cities on the planet. A 10 hour drive will bring us to New Orleans, LA. We'll be there for 3 days and will hopefully check out some blues, jazz and anything else on offer. Now... here comes the real ball ache of a drive. A 24 hour drive (yes that is 24!) will take us to Phoenix, AZ. I know what you're thinking... "Shit. The. Bed.". Don't worry, so are we. The only comfort (I use the word "comfort" very loosely here!) comes from the fact that this drive is spread over two days with a stop in some sleazy middle-of-nowhere motel. Can anyone say "Psychopathic Southern Redneck Rapist Axe Murderer?". I will definitely be sleeping with an eye on the door and my back against the wall. Either way, whether its for better or worse, there might not be much sleep that night. We're only in Phoenix for for 2 days and it is simply so we can nip up and see the Grand Canyon. Epic. From there we head straight to Las Vegas, NV, where we're booked into the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino on the Vegas strip. I cannot wait for Vegas!! It's been dubbed an "Adult Playground" so the mind boggles as to what we'll find. From Vegas its on to San Diego, CA, where we stop in to see my good friend T!!! After 4 days of partying it up, more beaches, and the promise of enough Mexican food to make our next drive rather... "uncomfortable"... we will drive along the famous Pacific Coastal road up to San Francisco, CA. From here we sadly come to the end of our trip and fly back to London. Bad times.
So there's 6 days left. Unfortunately for me, that includes 4 days of work. Now, my work is very secretive and for that reason I can't really talk much about it. However, after much discussion over numerous coffee breaks about what is acceptable to talk about, I have concluded that I can say anything I like as long as it doesn't include where I work, who with, the companies we work for, the products we use or who I work for.... so basically nothing. OK, this isn't strictly true, but it's pretty close. However, I'll give it a go. I work in a centre that primarily researches sleep and human pharmacology. At the moment we have an alcohol & drug study that is nothing short of crazy. People get paid good money to take part in these studies (£900 for 4 days) but there is a reason. My remaining 4 days in this country will be spent with people who are so drugged and boozed up that they'd give Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty a good run for their money.
Right, I think this has been gruesomely long enough for a first post. C heads down on Thursday and Friday will be spent in Guildford attempting to get some last minute neccessities. I will try and post a quick update before we leave, but I will leave you with a picture I took on my last visit to the USA that epitimises my love for America:
Only in America...Take care,
Garry
