Thoughts and Opinions

So, in case you couldn't tell from my glowing recommendation of a blog I have a new love affair - with Trek America Tours!

Having done our Camp Counselors programme and a Trek myself I 100% endorse the coupling of the two!  Trek America offers so much opportunity for CCUSA counselors to make the most of their grace period post camp:

• A way to experience the USA, not just see it - your always doing something fun or adventurous on a Trek, unlike other travel types where the most exciting thing you get to see is a mall (don't worry you can still see some of those too if you want!)
• Fun, like-minded people - Trek people are like camp people!  Individuals who want to travel and have a good time and don't mind putting up a tent and cooking a dinner or two
• The 'group feel' - being small van tours it's like travelling with a group of friends as opposed to being a number on a bus
• Options -   I love that you can choose what you want to do at different locations instead of all having to do the same thing
• Flexibility - Tour activities and schedules are moulded around the groups interest and aren't pre- determined, providing a perfect opportunity to see off the map locations and things that personally interest you
• Budget friendly - with the above in mind you are able to choose the activities that best suit your budget
• A born and bred USA tour leader - they know all the best stops and their still young and fun which makes all the difference
• Peace of mind - for counselors and their parents!  By paying in advance you can rest assured knowing you're set to go, and your parents can too!
• Trek Live - Trek Live is your online Trek profile.  You can also link it to your Facebook account and amongst other features it will automatically let all your friends and family know where you are during your trip

The only reason you would'nt have a good time on a Trek is if...nope I've got nothing! :p If you go with a positive attitude and are willing to lend a hand and do a few chores it will be the best pennies you've ever spent.  Go on...do it!

Day Fourteen: Los Angeles

The closest I'll ever get to Charlie Sheen :p

We packed up camp for the final time (*sniff sniff*) and then began our journey to our final destination - Los Angeles.  We went out for lunch today (bye bye salad wraps, hello 'In n Out Burger'!) before beginning our whirlwind LA tour!

We began with the Hollywood hills sign - always a classic - followed by the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  A few hours before we got there Jennifer Aniston had done her hand and footprints so the place was a buzz with even more people than usual which made it difficult (but not impossible!) to find our favourite stars (don't worry, we managed! :p ).  We next went down Sunset Blvd so we could stop and take my photo at the Whisky-a-go-go (a famous rock club that I couldn't been near and not see! :p) and then continued to the Beverly Hills sign and Rodeo Drive for more photo ops. 

Venice Beach

By this point we had lost a few groupies (all people who had flights to catch - 1 left in Vegas, 3 in San Diego and 1 in Hollywood) and were down to 7 people so 3 of us that wanted to go to Venice beach were dropped off there and we met with the others later on.  I so love Venice beach!  From skateboarders to an outdoor gym to bikes, street performers and shops there is ALWAYS something exciting happening there, never a dull moment!

The final five (plus Kaitlin!)

For those of us that were left we had a final dinner at 'Rock'n'Brews not far from our hotel in El Segundo and then called it a night...and tour!

Don't cry because its over, smile because it happened! :)

I won't bother blogging my last few 'personal' days in LA before I head home but just know they are filled with shopping, sun and food! :p

Day Twelve and Thirteen: San Diego

By morning we were ready to leave the desert well and truly behind us and a few people were looking a little worse for wear to say the least!  We stopped quickly for snacks and water before continuing onto our final camp site, in sunny San Diego!  As always the drive was long but I never find them painful - there's always something to do or something pretty to look at so it's rarely boring!

Me on the Zoo bus :D

When we arrived at our camp site (Campland on the Bay, love it!) we set up our tents and what not and then my group was on cooking again.  We made a curry tonight and it was delicious as always!  (Totally won the best meal award...).  We headed down to a local beach after dinner for some 'beach olympics' which were so much fun.  Sprint races, drama scenes, bury the tour leader...you know the drill :p and then back to camp for a camp fire and smores (roasted marshmellows between bikkies with choc...my fav!).  We were all pretty tired out afterwards so it wasn't long before everyone was in bed.

Beach Olympics

The next morning after breakfast we all loaded into the van and got off at our respective 'stops'.  As always there are plenty of options to suit everybody in the group and you just pick one or design your own plan for the day.  Some people went to Seaworld, others to Old Town or the beach, and I went to the zoo with two other Treksters.  San Diego zoo, being one of the most famous in the world, was another highlight and we spent virtually the whole day there.

After our final meal (nuuuuuuuuuuu :'(  ) we played flip cup and a few other games, headed to the beach to watch more fireworks from Seaworld and just spend our final night together.  Being our final night we tried to do a group effort and collapse one guys tent who went off to bed before the rest of us but he woke up mid way through...awkwarddd :p (Sorry Neil! :p).

Day Eleven: Lake Havasu

4th of July Cake...Happy Birthday America!

Happy 4th of July! :D

After Kaitlin made pancakes for breakie (best.breakfast.ever) we headed off on our way, stopping off at a Walmart for our final food shop.  I treated myself to pasta salad for lunch today (wooo :p) and we all bought a July 4th cake too, yummy!  On the negative us doing our final shop means not many days left...only three to be exact :(

4th of July dress ups

We arrived at our Lake Havasu camp ground in the afternoon and struggled to put our tents up in the heat (50 degrees CELSIUS type hot!) - a bit of a shock to the system!  When they were up (or standing enough that we didn't card anymore :p) we bagged up some drinks, jumped straight into the lake and swam them out.  We stayed there for hours (actually) until it was tolerable enough to get out of the water.

After a BBQ dinner (in true 4th of July style!) we eventually made our way to London bridge (yes, the actual one...weird i know!  Part of it was bought over here piece by piece) to watch the fireworks.  Lake Havasu at 4th of July is like Florida during Spring break so it was crazy to see all the people, boats and bars with pools inside!  The fireworks were amazing, each one bigger and better than the one before it, and we had our own sparklers which were fun too :D  Given the heat didn't seem to let up I bought a snow cone from a local shop - the best thing on a day like this!

Trekkies with their sparklers

We headed home a couple of hours later (getting a wee lost and taking a slight detour...blame the boys!) and then attempted sleep...when even having a cold water shower isn't an option because the pipes are so heated from the temperatures its not easy to sleep, but it's all part of the experience I guess!  Besides, its July 4th, nobodies in a bad mood on July 4th :)

Day Nine and Ten: Grand Canyon

The toilets at Snow Cap Drive-In on Route 66

Yup...so that early morning van load after two days in Vegas wasn't the funnest...needless to say card games and van play took a back seat today (no pun intended ;p haha...) in exchange for some much needed sleep!

We stopped for lunch at the funnest place in the world while getting our kicks on Route 66 - Snow Cap Drive-In...check it out:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delgadillo's_Snow_Cap_Drive-In .  Such a laugh!

Grand Canyon - paper bag styles!

After lunch we continued on to the Grand Canyon.  For those that wanted we had a the option available to us to do a flight over the Canyon - which, as amazing as that would have been it turns out its not considered a 'neccasary expense' in my work budget (tough life! :p).  We dropped the 'flyers' off and the rest of us continued on to the canyon.  In true Trek style, because nothing is ever 'normal' on these things, we were all given a paper bag that we had to draw a face onto and wear and we then made a human chain that Kaitlin lead (I swear on a much more windy path than necessary just because we were paper bagged) to the edge of the canyon before we removed them.  Wow...it doesn't matter how many times I go to that place, it amazes me every time!  Plus this time I was amazing everyone else with my bag head too :)  Win win!

Sunset at the Canyon

Once we had arrived at camp and set up my group was on cooking - vegetarian pasta tonight, yum!  I really enjoy the group cooking side of things, I think it's really fun and you get to try all sorts of new things - plus one of my groupies has a degree in hospitality which is a bonus! :D  We then had a group chat about the possible hike options for tomorrow before heading off to our tents for bed.

The next morning those that wanted to were able to get up early (like 4am type early) to go and see sunrise at the Canyon and then head off to do the 'Bright Angel' trail to the bottom of the Canyon.  The rest of us took a more lazy approach (in my defense I've been to the canyon before!) and had a later start to the day before doing a small walk around the canyon rim, a ranger talk and then heading in to town (so like...5 shops :p) to look around.  I finished off my afternoon with a well deserved nap whilst the hikers still out battled a Canyon style thunder storm (can't say I'm sad I missed that actually!).

After dinner a group of us headed back to the canyon to see sunset - absolutely beautiful.  It's so much easier in a situation like this where somebody else transports you everywhere to be able to see the best possible things!

July 4th Night Parade

Tomorrow is July 4th but for some reason this town had their parade tonight (no idea why but I'm not complaining!).  It was a typical small town night parade - floats and flag bearers and everything lit up with Christmas lights, but that's why I liked it!  I always love 'doing' a city or town the way that the people that live there 'do' it.

Post-parade we headed to the local bowling ally...sorry NZ...I may have let you down...awkward.  Those bloody Germans really know how to bowl!

Day Seven and Eight: Viva Las Vegas

Dear Blog,

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

The End.


Ok ok....so SOME stuff can be shared ;p  We arrived in Vegas in the afternoon and headed to a local supermarket for supplies.  Walked in to find slot machines in the entrance...only in vegas!  We had a few hours to spare after checking into our hotel, the Alexis Park (me likey!) so I headed down the road for some food and a little shopping.  At 7pm we had another lot of 'food kitty takeaways' (this time PF Changs asain...yum!) for dinner and then got prettied up for our limo ride of the strip...SO MUCH FUN!  I have the craziest group of new found friends on this trip!  We did a town tour, went to Fremont Street and watched the worlds biggest TV screen, had our photo taken in front of the Vegas sign and then were dropped off on the strip for a night of whatever we liked with whoever we liked!  I really love that about Trek - so many different options of things to do and opportunities for who you want to do them with.

After a big sleep in the following day I headed to the Strip with a fellow trekkie (on of ze Germans!) for lunch and then hit up the local outlet malls...nice!  Once again we had the night free to do what we liked...shows, gambling, parties...whatever floats your boat, Vegas will cater!

Not digging the early morning trailer load tomorrow though...

P.S.  Can't believe I've only got a week left of Trek!  We have such an awesome group of people and we are all so enjoying ourselves!

Day Six: Bishop, Calafornia

Bodie Ghost Town

And it rained...and rained...and rained...and rained alllllllllll night and alllllllll morning long!  We had a quick breakfast and then packed up everything as best we could (on the positive the inside of our tents stayed dry!) and were off.

Today's drive had us go through the Sierra Nevada Mountains that have legitimate snow fall on them STILL (in summer!).  So odd!  We stopped at a place called Bodie for lunch today - an old ghost town from the gold rush days!  I really enjoyed having a snoop around the place.  Everything has been left exactly as it was when the inhabitants of the town upped and left - so odd to think you could literally walk away and just leave everything behind.  We also visited Mono Lake, beautiful!  Also really interesting lake as it is super salty and has no drainage back out to the ocean.

Mono Lake

When we arrived at camp (such a funky campground set up Western Style|!) we quickly got our tents up to begin the drying process which, thankfully, Bishop had perfect weather for.  A group of us then headed down to the local hot pools for a swim before a Korean inspired dinner meal.  Everybody was in bed early tonight...prepping for Vegas I think!

Having such an awesome time, and our group gets along so well...minus the odd Aussie/Kiwi joke of course!

Day Four and Five: Yosemite

Me with the Yosemite National Park Sign

After a subway breakie I was ready to rock and we packed up the van and began our journey to Yosemite National Park.  A smaller journey today (sort of!) - about 315km.  We headed straight to Yosemite to do a walk to the giant Sequoia trees - respect...they are HUGE!  And then headed to our camp site and set up camp.

Trek routine is down pat now - one 'crew' of aprox 3 people put out breakfast/do wake up duty and clean the van, another group is on dishes, another on cooking and it all rotates.  We did our first group shop today where we went supermarket shopping for supplies which was...intense!  12 people require a lot of food to say the least!  I really like the way things run though, in terms of everybody knowing what to do when etc (good job Katelin!).

We had a little spare time before dinner (chicken pasta...yum yum!) and then it was time for dishes, a briefing of the next day and bed.

A Giant Sequoia Tree

The following morning I was on breakfast crew which all went well.  We headed off early to begin hiking to try and avoid the predicted rain.  Katelin gave us numerous options of what hiking trails we could look at doing which ranged in ability etc so equipped with maps we split into the appropriate groups and got to it!

Nevada Falls, Yosemite

I chose to do a 15km hike (8km of which was uphill...!) to the top of Nevada Falls.  It was a super amazing trail (in a "wow this is pretty but I am never walking up here again" kind of way!) that winded up to the very top of Nevada falls and then you had to climb over rocks and dodge waterfalls to get back down again (good entertainment value!).  We used our group food kitty money ($10 p/day pp) that we usually buy groceries with to have pizzas in the park before heading back to camp for further entertainment...supplied by Budweiser!  And then the rain set in...

Day Two and Three: San Fran

Me in one of the cities many beautiful parks

San Fran Tram

Before walking the Golden Gate Bridge

 Having survived the first night in tent town (not that that's difficult :p) we had breakie (cereal and nutella/toast and what not) and then packed up the van ready for our drive to San Fran.  The van rides are always interesting - someone new sits in the front seat every day and takes on air con and DJing duty...you learn very quickly some songs people should just never own up to having on their ipod!  I mix up where I sit each time I'm in the van so I can chat to more people (and find out everyones life story) which is always good fun too!  And then, of course, there is sleeping :p  Ah the joys of not being driver!

SuperLiz! :p

Today's drive was 200km, so after lunch on the road and a Walmart 'supplies' stop we arrived in San Fran and did a spot of sightseeing.  Katelin took us for a tour of town around lots of main attractions which was super helpful (and interesting!) before we headed to the Golden Gate Bridge for photos and a walk over top - what an awesome view!

We checked into our hotel (The Good Hotel...yes that's actually what its called :p ) afterwards.  We didn't have long to spare before we had to be ready for our themed night - super heroes!  Having picked up some sweet superman PJ's at Walmart (yay for the clearance section!) I quickly transformed into Superwoman (or SuperLiz...) and flew down to the lobby to meet the rest of the group.  Totally dug the costumes, just like being at camp again!

We were supposed to go for our sunset cruise afterwards (yes, in costume...) but due to unforeseen circumstances we missed the boat!  BUT we went out for dinner at pier 39 (why hello there American cheeseburger :D) which was delish and made up for it!

San Fran Pride Parade

San Fran Pride Parade

Our second day in San Fran was a free day and what perfect timing we had for our trek because we managed to coincide with the San Francisco Pride Parade - one of the biggest gay/lesbian/bi-sexual/transgender parades in the world.  And wow was it amazing!  So many supporters, sun, people watching, fun...the list goes on!  I also squeezed in a couple of other attractions - parks, china town, shopping etc.  Such a big city and so much to do, love it!

Me on our harbour cruise

At 3pm we regrouped at Pier 39 for our rescheduled boat tour and actually made it on board this time...yus!  Aside from navigating the best way to stay upright on deck it was a super awesome boat ride and gave a fantastic view of Alcatraz Prison, The Golden Gate Bridge, the harbour and the city.  And free drinks to boot!

For those who opted in we headed to a baseball game post-cruise (gooooo Giants!) which is a must do experience for anyone coming to the US, whether you like sports or not...it's all about the atmosphere!


So how did we end our last night in Frisco?  With a WIN! :D  Wahoo!

San Fran Giants Game

Trek Time! Day One: LA to Marina California

Our Trek Van!

Day one started with an early wake up where I headed to the lobby of the Hacienda Hotel (pre-trek accommodation where all LA treks start...nice place!) to meet my fellow trekkies.  We did a fair bit of paperwork before heading to the van for an overview of how to pack it etc (who knew it could be so intense!) and then we were on the road.

We headed up the pacific coast today - 550km worth of driving!   Nice.  Time actually went fairly quickly as the group started chatting and getting to know each other.  There are 12 of us - our tour leader (Katelin), 3 Koreans, 2 Germans, 2 Aussies (ew... ;p), an Irish girl, 2 Brits and me.  And more boys than girls which is unusual for a trek - I'm out numbered!

We stopped for lunch (wraps and fruit) at Pismo Beach - supper pretty - and then continued up the coast.

Pismo Beach

Lunch time 

Given we made good time we had a little time spare to take a walk around Monterey Bay - such a cute little town.  And so the souvenir buying begins!

After our first crack at setting up camp (which went well by the way!  Good on you modern day tents) a group of us took a walk to the beach whilst Katelin cooked us tacos for dinner (night one speciality...yum!).

Dinner was followed by an epic chat regarding what trek is all about/what we can expect/safety etc - all necessary and not too boring!  And then it was time for bed with my new roomie (tentie?) Esther :)

Santa Barbara Sun

Weeeeeeeee, USA I have missed you!

Me in the corner of my
sweet sky couch 

Thankfully no 'ash issues' delayed my flight (good on ya Air NZ!) and I had a sweet ride up here - shared a sky couch with a guy going to summer camp so he got personal filling out US documentation assistance...lucky sod ;p

Have a few days spare before my trek begins so I have spent them in the beautiful Santa Barbara - a coastal area about 2 hours from LAX - with some awesome friends of mine.  I spent the first day sightseeing and drove to the tops of the Santa Barbara hills for a wicked view of the ocean, followed by some reading in the sun (what a lady of leisure :p) and then Mexican for dinner...yum!  A must try for kiwis in the USA, super tasty (and different!).

The view before landing at LAX

On Tuesday a group of us went hiking in a local nature preserve - Arroyo hondo (check it out:  http://www.sblandtrust.org/arroyohondo.html ).  Future CCUSA counselors - I would really encourage you to do stuff like this during your post camp travels as it offers a fantastic opportunity for seeing things outside of the normal 'tourist spots'...and working off your Taco Bells :p Just don't go with people like my friends who make fun of the kiwi that comes from a land of no snakes, mountain lions or bears...which, though there was a sign up warning about them, we didn't run into (oh gee what a shame!).  Being the domestic goddess that I am ( ;p ) I had a cooking lesson for making Mexican food (enchiladas) with my American mom post hike, and I'll have you know dinner wasn't half bad - even if I do say so myself :p

Looking out over Santa Barbara from the hills

Keeping up with the Mexican theme (hey, you only live once!) I had a breakfast burrito (aka fry-up in a tortilla) on the pier the next day which offers an awesome view of the harbour.  Had a shop down State Street (Santa Barbara's main street) afterwards - and with no Glassons or Hallenstines in sight lets just say the suitcase has a few more kilos added to it already!  And as if shopping wasn't hard enough work as it is ( haha ;p) the sun really turned up the heat that avo!

Headed to LA today to spend the night in the Hacienda Hotel (pre-trek accommodation) and then tomorrow morning my trek begins...exciteeee! :D

Holla at you ina bit!

Liz

Swinging in Arroyo Hondon Preserve...weeee :D

P.S.  I forgot the bread here has sugar in it...ew!  WHY!?  Just why!

Packing and Mapping

As more and more of our 2011 CCUSA counselors head overseas for the experience of a lifetime our focus at the CCUSA NZ office turns to making sure next years counselors have the best possible camp experience (amongst other things like all our winter programs of course!).  And so, the challenge has been bestowed upon me...do a Trek America tour, take lots of photos and find out all the best places to tell our counselors to visit in their grace period (gosh you lot are demanding! ;p).

After creating a 'Trek America Live' profile (which is super cool by the way [ Check it out:  http://www.trekamericalive.com/User/?Section=1&UserId=3603 ] - it has a virtual map, blog, groups page for all your fellow trekkies and you can link it to your Facebook to keep all your buddies posted back at home with how much fun your having without them), googling my way through the 'must see's' of the West Coast of the USA and you-tubing trek vids under the code of 'research' I am totally pumped and ready to rock!

And so, the 'Westerner 2' and I are ready to get involved!  Its a two week trek of the West cost - LA, Pacific Coast, San Fran, Yosemite and Sierra Nevada, Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Lake Havasu and San Diego, and back to LA.  Jealous?  You should be! ;p

Totally enjoying that Trek tours involve camping and hiking and outdoorsy stuff (I hope I'm still psyched about that when I'm jet lagged and grumpy...), and they're small van tours so you get to really know your groupies (no coach buses for me, suckers!).

One day to go and I'm still avoiding negotiating the tower of doom (aka my suit case stash).  On the positive I am highly skilled in the area of packing (fitting months of your life into a bag to go traveling regularly will do that to you ;p) and procrastinating (because packing is the most boring task I've encountered in this little project so far - note the sleeping bag testing...say no more!).

Anyhow...assuming all that goes to plan and the volcanic ash chilling over NZ disappears in time for my flight to whisk me away to the USA I'll blog soon on the flip side! :)

                     

    Peace.  Love.  Trek.