In my head
Two weeks, Grizzly bear
~JBomb
Monday, November 12, 2012
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
All my exes live in Texas
Texas fun facts
- Texas was an an independent nation from 1836 to 1845
- Dr Pepper was invented here in 1885
- Texas is the second largest state in the US behind Alaska
- Texas is the second most populous state behind California
- Texas’ nickname is the “Lone Star State” as a reminder of its struggle for independence from Mexico and to represent Texas as an independent republic.
- Texas is the only state to enter the United States by treaty instead of being taken over by the United States without choice.
- The frozen margarita machine was invented in Texas (what would I do without them!)
- The convenience store 7-eleven was started here
- One of the most popular state symbols is the Texas longhorn a type of cattle with extremely...you guessed it...longhorns!
Amarillo
So we arrived at our first stop in Texas and instantly my main man Drake's lyrics came to mind "all my exes live in Texas" as I was rapping this on the bus some actually asked if it was true and I said I wish!
So we had a small amount of time to complete our maximum look for one of the best American holidays ever, Halloween! I went with the Mean Girls approach, “In girl world, Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut, and no other girl can say anything about it.” This generally involves lingerie and some kind of animal ears, so I decided to go as a leopard, I'm pretty proud of my
leopard makeup as well! But first we had dinner at The Big Texan we all enjoyed a normal sized steak meal and two boys from the bus signed up for their 72 ounce steak challenge, that is 2 kilos of steak PLUS a bread roll, side salad, potato and shrimp. All had to be consumed in 1 hour in order to get the free meal and an insane amount of pride that comes with completing the plate otherwise you had to pay $72. So they attempted and did a great job however neither finished nor made it out past one drink I think they were feeling a little full...
So we raged on at the local bar the name of which escapes me probably because a scotch and coke was $3! it was a great night the costumes were epic and we got to play DJ all night with the awesome jukebox! Unfortunately there was no best dressed award otherwise I like to think I would have been in the running! And the hotel rooms were to die for they actually had saloon doors to enter the bathroom and the outside was decked out like old school cowboy saloons ours being light pink with a hot pink trim. Then it was time to get up too early with the worlds worst hangover and drive on a bus for what felt like eternity to arrive in Dallas!
Dallas
Where cowboys come from! Its not how I imagined it would be its a huge city with a massive skyline of fancy buildings but it was awesome. On the first night we headed to Gators for some delicious fajitas and "wine" which could only be referred to as gator blood because it tasted just like it. Then for the few that signed up for the worlds "scariest" haunted house aka a walk through Northbridge in my opinion with people jumping out at you and then asking for tips... actually come think of it I must have become thick skinned with all the crazies I've come across in my travels because I get scared walking down a peaceful street. Then it was back to Gators for the epic karaoke session. Piri opened it up with Rollin in the Deep, Adele and then the rest of us knew we needed to drink more if we wanted to think we sounded half as good as Piri. I signed up for my fave Heartbreaker, Mariah Carey with Piri just so I could emulate her voice. Then Phoenix got up to bust out Livin La Vida Loca, Ricky Martin raising the bar and then Simmons and Phoenix (part of our wolfpack completed by Eliza and Stacey) busted out their go to karaoke song ....the Grease megamix! And what a megamix it was complete with all the characters voices so the bar had been raised yet again and I decided it was time to bust some Juicy, Notorious BIG so Tommy boy and Bing got up with me and it was off the chain with Tom stepping in front of the monitor running off script because he is a such a baller and knows all the words. Then they invited girls to dance on the bar so I did my womanly duty. A great night indeed!
On our second day in Dallas we headed to the 6th floor museum which is a tribute to John F Kennedy's life and assassination on November 22, 1963. It is located in the building where the believed gunman shot from (a lot of conspiracies on that one very interesting). The 7th floor allows you to stand where Lee Harvey Oswald (alleged shooter) stood and peer out the window onto Elm street where a white X marks the point where he was struck by the bullets during the motorcade. This was one of the best museums I've been to, it was in depth but not overwhelming and you can do the audio tour which allows you to go at your own pace and absorb it all, highly recommended!
Dallas cowboy stadium was our next stop for the day
- Costs to build the stadium totaled 1.5 billion dollars which makes it the most expensive sports venue ever built
- The video screen weighs a ginormous 1.2 million pounds
- Full capacity combining seating and standing room is 100,000
- Guinness World Records awarded Mitsubishi Electric and the Dallas Cowboys the title of World's largest High-Definition Video Display
- With the roof closed the entire statue of Liberty could fit inside the Stadium
We got to take a tour of the entire complex pretty much just reminded me of a site inspection for work, however the locker rooms were fun got to see the cheerleaders uniform that I aspire to fit into, well the mid section anyway because my top half could easily fit and then we saw the players change room which smelt like delicious buff men, I even got to don a players uniform shoulder pads and all! Then we hit the playing field and got some snapshots on the famous Dallas Cowboys star and scored some touchdowns!
The next adventure was dinner and a rodeo in Fort Worth, now this place looks like the Texas I imagined! Wooden buildings, vintage signs, saloon doors it was awesome. We had dinner at Riscky's Barbecue where I had my first cut of brisket!
~ Brisket is a cut of meat from the breast or lower chest of beef or veal. The beef brisket is one of the nine beef prime cuts ~ Wikipedia
It was rather delicious served with mash potato, slaw and a pickle! I also drank a margarita the size of my head for $4 people! Then it was time for the rodeo! Not gonna lie it was a bit repetitive cowboy comes out on a bull for few seconds then falls off, the clowns in the pit distract it with props whilst the cowboy on a horse lassos the bull and drags him to the pen basically an animal activists dream date. The cowboys also lasso calves and tie their legs together in time trials and they get the kiddies in the pit to chase a baby calf and sheep to get the sticker off their back and win a prize...to each their own.
Texas we had some crazy times from Halloween to Gators, football and cowboys but I can hear Memphis calling my name!
~JBomb
- Texas was an an independent nation from 1836 to 1845
- Dr Pepper was invented here in 1885
- Texas is the second largest state in the US behind Alaska
- Texas is the second most populous state behind California
- Texas’ nickname is the “Lone Star State” as a reminder of its struggle for independence from Mexico and to represent Texas as an independent republic.
- Texas is the only state to enter the United States by treaty instead of being taken over by the United States without choice.
- The frozen margarita machine was invented in Texas (what would I do without them!)
- The convenience store 7-eleven was started here
- One of the most popular state symbols is the Texas longhorn a type of cattle with extremely...you guessed it...longhorns!
Amarillo
So we arrived at our first stop in Texas and instantly my main man Drake's lyrics came to mind "all my exes live in Texas" as I was rapping this on the bus some actually asked if it was true and I said I wish!
So we had a small amount of time to complete our maximum look for one of the best American holidays ever, Halloween! I went with the Mean Girls approach, “In girl world, Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut, and no other girl can say anything about it.” This generally involves lingerie and some kind of animal ears, so I decided to go as a leopard, I'm pretty proud of my
leopard makeup as well! But first we had dinner at The Big Texan we all enjoyed a normal sized steak meal and two boys from the bus signed up for their 72 ounce steak challenge, that is 2 kilos of steak PLUS a bread roll, side salad, potato and shrimp. All had to be consumed in 1 hour in order to get the free meal and an insane amount of pride that comes with completing the plate otherwise you had to pay $72. So they attempted and did a great job however neither finished nor made it out past one drink I think they were feeling a little full...
So we raged on at the local bar the name of which escapes me probably because a scotch and coke was $3! it was a great night the costumes were epic and we got to play DJ all night with the awesome jukebox! Unfortunately there was no best dressed award otherwise I like to think I would have been in the running! And the hotel rooms were to die for they actually had saloon doors to enter the bathroom and the outside was decked out like old school cowboy saloons ours being light pink with a hot pink trim. Then it was time to get up too early with the worlds worst hangover and drive on a bus for what felt like eternity to arrive in Dallas!
Dallas
Where cowboys come from! Its not how I imagined it would be its a huge city with a massive skyline of fancy buildings but it was awesome. On the first night we headed to Gators for some delicious fajitas and "wine" which could only be referred to as gator blood because it tasted just like it. Then for the few that signed up for the worlds "scariest" haunted house aka a walk through Northbridge in my opinion with people jumping out at you and then asking for tips... actually come think of it I must have become thick skinned with all the crazies I've come across in my travels because I get scared walking down a peaceful street. Then it was back to Gators for the epic karaoke session. Piri opened it up with Rollin in the Deep, Adele and then the rest of us knew we needed to drink more if we wanted to think we sounded half as good as Piri. I signed up for my fave Heartbreaker, Mariah Carey with Piri just so I could emulate her voice. Then Phoenix got up to bust out Livin La Vida Loca, Ricky Martin raising the bar and then Simmons and Phoenix (part of our wolfpack completed by Eliza and Stacey) busted out their go to karaoke song ....the Grease megamix! And what a megamix it was complete with all the characters voices so the bar had been raised yet again and I decided it was time to bust some Juicy, Notorious BIG so Tommy boy and Bing got up with me and it was off the chain with Tom stepping in front of the monitor running off script because he is a such a baller and knows all the words. Then they invited girls to dance on the bar so I did my womanly duty. A great night indeed!
On our second day in Dallas we headed to the 6th floor museum which is a tribute to John F Kennedy's life and assassination on November 22, 1963. It is located in the building where the believed gunman shot from (a lot of conspiracies on that one very interesting). The 7th floor allows you to stand where Lee Harvey Oswald (alleged shooter) stood and peer out the window onto Elm street where a white X marks the point where he was struck by the bullets during the motorcade. This was one of the best museums I've been to, it was in depth but not overwhelming and you can do the audio tour which allows you to go at your own pace and absorb it all, highly recommended!
Dallas cowboy stadium was our next stop for the day
- Costs to build the stadium totaled 1.5 billion dollars which makes it the most expensive sports venue ever built
- The video screen weighs a ginormous 1.2 million pounds
- Full capacity combining seating and standing room is 100,000
- Guinness World Records awarded Mitsubishi Electric and the Dallas Cowboys the title of World's largest High-Definition Video Display
- With the roof closed the entire statue of Liberty could fit inside the Stadium
We got to take a tour of the entire complex pretty much just reminded me of a site inspection for work, however the locker rooms were fun got to see the cheerleaders uniform that I aspire to fit into, well the mid section anyway because my top half could easily fit and then we saw the players change room which smelt like delicious buff men, I even got to don a players uniform shoulder pads and all! Then we hit the playing field and got some snapshots on the famous Dallas Cowboys star and scored some touchdowns!
The next adventure was dinner and a rodeo in Fort Worth, now this place looks like the Texas I imagined! Wooden buildings, vintage signs, saloon doors it was awesome. We had dinner at Riscky's Barbecue where I had my first cut of brisket!
~ Brisket is a cut of meat from the breast or lower chest of beef or veal. The beef brisket is one of the nine beef prime cuts ~ Wikipedia
It was rather delicious served with mash potato, slaw and a pickle! I also drank a margarita the size of my head for $4 people! Then it was time for the rodeo! Not gonna lie it was a bit repetitive cowboy comes out on a bull for few seconds then falls off, the clowns in the pit distract it with props whilst the cowboy on a horse lassos the bull and drags him to the pen basically an animal activists dream date. The cowboys also lasso calves and tie their legs together in time trials and they get the kiddies in the pit to chase a baby calf and sheep to get the sticker off their back and win a prize...to each their own.
Texas we had some crazy times from Halloween to Gators, football and cowboys but I can hear Memphis calling my name!
~JBomb
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Utah, Colorado & Old New Mexico
On our way to Colorado we stopped at Monument Valley in Utah which has a lot of Native American history and some beautiful rock formations on the borderline of Arizona and Utah.
Fun facts of monument valley
- Red sandstone cliffs and spires are predominantly made of Cutler Formation sandstone from the Permian period of around 160 million years ago.
- Monument Valley's rock formations are noteworthy mainly because they resemble animals or other familiar images and need no further explanation.
- Monument valley was the backdrop for the scene in Forest Gump where he has been running and turns to his gaggle of followers and says "I'm pretty tired I think I'll go home now"
Native American Facts
- When America was discovered the land of the Native Americans was taken from them
- They have a 45% unemployment rate
- 51% graduate high school
- In 1924 Native Americans were recognised as US citizens
- In 1948 Native Americans were allowed to vote in the state of Arizona and Utah
- With the help of native Americans the US was able to win WWII by using their native language to send messages that could not be decoded
by the Japanese.
Durango, Colorado
We got to do some line dancing! We learnt the electric slide, the cuban shuffle and the classic cotton eye joe, it was so much fun! We worked up quite a sweat then headed to dinner afterwards we ventured to Walmart for last minute supplies and then had a few beverages at the local watering hole. We got up bright and early for a jeep drive through the Durango countryside learning about the history it was FA-REEZING!!!!! But luckily I had my trusty bomber jacket with me. Then we hit the adorable main street and had the most delicious pizza, rocket parmesan salad and artichoke dip paired with some awesome red wine which assisted our nap on the bus as we headed to New Mexico!
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Once we arrived in Albuquerque we headed out to dinner for some mediocre tacos and a few drinks then we hit the hay to get up bright and early for the hot air balloon ride! We have been anticipating this since the beginning of our trip and it was beautiful. I got to help inflate the balloon with my super strong arms and then we went up in our giant picnic basket and coasted over Albuquerque as the sun was rising then after landing we enjoyed a beautiful breakfast champagne.
Santa Fe
We had a quick lunch stop in Santa Fe which was absolutely beautiful it was like a mini Mexico with beautiful terracotta/sandstone buildings. I picked up an amazing fajita from a streetcart and maybe some lil gifts for peeps back home. Then we made a quick pit stop to vandalise property at the cadillac ranch where cars have been have buried in the ground for people to stop by and get artistic (BYO spray paint) we decided to go with our favourite quote of the trip #Emerica! Then it was time for Texas!
~JBomb
Fun facts of monument valley
- Red sandstone cliffs and spires are predominantly made of Cutler Formation sandstone from the Permian period of around 160 million years ago.
- Monument Valley's rock formations are noteworthy mainly because they resemble animals or other familiar images and need no further explanation.
- Monument valley was the backdrop for the scene in Forest Gump where he has been running and turns to his gaggle of followers and says "I'm pretty tired I think I'll go home now"
Native American Facts
- When America was discovered the land of the Native Americans was taken from them
- They have a 45% unemployment rate
- 51% graduate high school
- In 1924 Native Americans were recognised as US citizens
- In 1948 Native Americans were allowed to vote in the state of Arizona and Utah
- With the help of native Americans the US was able to win WWII by using their native language to send messages that could not be decoded
by the Japanese.
Durango, Colorado
We got to do some line dancing! We learnt the electric slide, the cuban shuffle and the classic cotton eye joe, it was so much fun! We worked up quite a sweat then headed to dinner afterwards we ventured to Walmart for last minute supplies and then had a few beverages at the local watering hole. We got up bright and early for a jeep drive through the Durango countryside learning about the history it was FA-REEZING!!!!! But luckily I had my trusty bomber jacket with me. Then we hit the adorable main street and had the most delicious pizza, rocket parmesan salad and artichoke dip paired with some awesome red wine which assisted our nap on the bus as we headed to New Mexico!
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Once we arrived in Albuquerque we headed out to dinner for some mediocre tacos and a few drinks then we hit the hay to get up bright and early for the hot air balloon ride! We have been anticipating this since the beginning of our trip and it was beautiful. I got to help inflate the balloon with my super strong arms and then we went up in our giant picnic basket and coasted over Albuquerque as the sun was rising then after landing we enjoyed a beautiful breakfast champagne.
Santa Fe
We had a quick lunch stop in Santa Fe which was absolutely beautiful it was like a mini Mexico with beautiful terracotta/sandstone buildings. I picked up an amazing fajita from a streetcart and maybe some lil gifts for peeps back home. Then we made a quick pit stop to vandalise property at the cadillac ranch where cars have been have buried in the ground for people to stop by and get artistic (BYO spray paint) we decided to go with our favourite quote of the trip #Emerica! Then it was time for Texas!
~JBomb
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
On the road again
So we picked ourselves up out of bed and made it to the bus because we had to get on the road again and make it to our next destination the Grand Canyon! On the way we stopped at Walmart to pick up "supplies" - our tour manager uses this phrase constantly and it had Stacey and I in a tizzy the first few stops as we were like how rugged are the surroundings we're in that we will need "supplies" but as it turns out its just a language barrier and he meant pick up fun stuff like snacks and liquor - so we're cruising through Walmart and we picked up some ridiculously cheap booze and our best purchase yet our puffy bomber jackets with a warm fleece lining because since the blistering sun of vegas we have entered below zero temperatures! After Walmart we kept cruising and we had to take Route 66 formerly known as the main street of America or the mother road running from Los Angeles to Chicago
Fun facts:
- Commissioned in 1926
- runs for 2448 miles (roughly 3490 km)
- passes through 8 states
We enjoyed a delicious club sandwich from the road kill cafe "you kill it we grill it" being their slogan.
Finally we made it to the Grand Canyon! Enjoyed a quick sunset view before dropping our luggage off at the cabin the first night was low key because we had to get up early for our helicopter ride!
It was a bit chilly before bed so I switched the thermostat to "comfort level" holy moley the thermostat and I have very different comfort levels Stacey and I woke up at separate times through the night thinking we had been cooked through because it was so friggin hot! The only pro that came out of it was I think we sweated some excess kilos off, gotta be happy with that! but seriously you have been warned thermostat comfort levels are not what they seem!
So once we woke up from the sauna coma we braved the freezing temperatures to board a helicopter that flew us over the grand canyon
Canyon fun facts
- 5 million visitors per year
- 277 miles long (roughly 446 km) at some points it is 18 miles wide (29 km) on average 10 miles wide (16 km)
- American Indians had secret paths to get across that they wouldn't share with the Spanish explorers
- formed over 3-6 million by the carving of the Colorado river
- the south rim (where we were) is 6900 feet (2.1km) above water, a lot of ear popping and shortness of breath
The view was nothing short of breathtaking no photo does it justice you just have to be there.
After the helicopter ride one of the contiki kids said he was doing the Angel Trail Hike into the canyon so we tagged along and man I thought it was cool to fly over but walking inside the canyon is ridiculously awesome!
Seeing as we exercised up a storm we rewarded ourselves with cocktails at the fancy bar and got to see an
Elk! Just chilling out the front and devoured some delicious chipotle BBQ ribs whilst bonding with some of our fellow contiki travellers.
~JBomb
Fun facts:
- Commissioned in 1926
- runs for 2448 miles (roughly 3490 km)
- passes through 8 states
We enjoyed a delicious club sandwich from the road kill cafe "you kill it we grill it" being their slogan.
Finally we made it to the Grand Canyon! Enjoyed a quick sunset view before dropping our luggage off at the cabin the first night was low key because we had to get up early for our helicopter ride!
It was a bit chilly before bed so I switched the thermostat to "comfort level" holy moley the thermostat and I have very different comfort levels Stacey and I woke up at separate times through the night thinking we had been cooked through because it was so friggin hot! The only pro that came out of it was I think we sweated some excess kilos off, gotta be happy with that! but seriously you have been warned thermostat comfort levels are not what they seem!
So once we woke up from the sauna coma we braved the freezing temperatures to board a helicopter that flew us over the grand canyon
Canyon fun facts
- 5 million visitors per year
- 277 miles long (roughly 446 km) at some points it is 18 miles wide (29 km) on average 10 miles wide (16 km)
- American Indians had secret paths to get across that they wouldn't share with the Spanish explorers
- formed over 3-6 million by the carving of the Colorado river
- the south rim (where we were) is 6900 feet (2.1km) above water, a lot of ear popping and shortness of breath
The view was nothing short of breathtaking no photo does it justice you just have to be there.
After the helicopter ride one of the contiki kids said he was doing the Angel Trail Hike into the canyon so we tagged along and man I thought it was cool to fly over but walking inside the canyon is ridiculously awesome!
Seeing as we exercised up a storm we rewarded ourselves with cocktails at the fancy bar and got to see an
Elk! Just chilling out the front and devoured some delicious chipotle BBQ ribs whilst bonding with some of our fellow contiki travellers.
~JBomb
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