San Francisco and Washington DC

After Vegas we where convinced that life could not get better... but it did... we drove 9 hours to San Francisco... and it was worth it!!!

The city is one of the nicest cities I have ever been to...

It is not your typical American city where everything is so spread out ... but everything is close and convenient.

There are loads of young people... maybe due to all of the universities in the area ...and the night life is amazing:)

(the bridge is the main thing in the photo - not Anne, Melinda or Chris)

We rented a Tandem ( 2 people bicycle) and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge!!! What a way to end the trip!!!!

We saw Alcatraz from a distance... and said we would be back....:)

Here is a view on where we went in 2 weeks:)

After San Francisco we drove to Santa Barbara.... where Duarte is at the moment and I continued to LA and caught a plane to Washington DC to see my family:)

Anyway here is the deal for just over 3000 dollars... :

Aberdeen
Paris
Washington DC
Miami
Key West
Miami Marlins
Kennedy Space Center
Orlando-Universal Studios
Miami
LA
LA Downtown
Hollywood
Santa Monica and Venice Beach
Rodeo Drive
Vegas
Hoover Dam
Grand Canyon
San Francisco
Santa Barbara
LA
Washington
Paris
Aberdeen

2 week journey
2 cars - 3500 miles
1 helicopter
2 bikes


13 nights in reasonable hotels
14 days of American food
swam in the Atlantic and the Pacific
LOADS of new friends

You guys tell me if it was worth it!!!!!!

HELL YAAA!!!! if anyone is thinking of doing it... JUST DO IT!!! It will change your horizon like has changed mine!!!!

Kamone, Ideias, Gareth over and out:)

Grand Canyon

AMAZING!!! It was the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen....
The pictures do not the place justice...

We saw the sun set... it was amazing... (it took us a little over 5 hours to drive there but it was worth it!)

There were hundreds of people there but all you could here was nature... it is so beautiful and breath taking that no one says anything!!!!
BRUTAL!!!

All I can say is that I am going back there one day...

Vegas

This was our small car... a Dodge!!! Not bad... eheheh
Anyway it got us from LA to Vegas... and if we thought we already had the time of our lives... well Vegas...changes things!!

Vegas is another world, it is like Euro Disney for Adults it is BRUTAL!!!!

I mean you all know how I like to gamble right... well there is much more to Vegas than gambling... I never really understood the expression:

"What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!!"

Well once you are there you will figure it out:)

This is a neat image of the strip... I mean walking down that road is an experience itself...

The Casinos... the lights... the buildings... the shows... the people... the women... the limos... the clubs... everything!!! IS FANTASTIC!!!
As you walk into the casinos you realize that people are not loosing fortunes... they are having fun...and that is what gambling is about!! I mean we saw people loose a lot of money from our perspective but the truth is money is relative!!! some have a lot and some don't but I did not see anyone really cross with themselves for placing too much money on the tables.

One guy lost 6 grand in 10 minutes and all he said was: "Bad table"!

It was great... and yup I did gamble and yes I did make some money enough to pay for the hotel!!! OHH YEAHHH!!!

I went to Vegas and won!!! LOL

While we where in Vegas during the day we went to see the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon (South Rim)... GREAT!!!!

LA

Ya we made it to LA!!! Some people say that there is not much in LA well... all I can say is they are wrong... I mean the city has 17.7 million people... it has Hollywood, Santa Monica, Rodeo Drive,... should I go on?!

We went to Downtown LA!!! and walked around for about 5 hours!!! it was great we really got a feeling for that part of the city... people very friendly, amazing buildings, like the famouse Musical Hall (where Mariza is going to perform in October), the City Hall... it was just great!!!

Here is a great photo of LA from the top of the City Hall... ohh yeah I was having the time of my life!!!

BRUTAL!!!!!

After going to Hollywood at night... which to say the least was interesting... (I only saw like 16 limos that night) anyway... those stories will have to be told in person....

Moving on we went to Santa Monica and Venice Beach... and it is great.... just like Baywatch... the women, the bikinis, the bikes, the people, everything!!! It was great! We used this neat transportation...

It was cool!!!

Anyway after that we went to Rodeo Drive... the fashion center of LA... not like Milan but very cool indeed...money is not an issue there... like if you have to ask for the price then it is not for you!!!!

After LA we hit the road again towards.... VEGAS!!!!!!!

Orlando

After Cape Canaveral we headed towards Orlando...to Universal Studios....

AMAZING!!!! We had the time of our life... meting all kinds of people Portuguese, Brazilians, Americans, English...
This is a photo of the best ride in my opinion: the HULK!!! I had never been on a roller coaster like this one... It was so good that we went on it twice in a row:)

We stayed there to see what the night life was about...

To be honest I really enjoyed the City Walk... we met Kathy and her friends...at this bar...it was great...like Duarte says...

"Um ambiente muito saudavel!!! eeheheheh"

After Orlando we headed back to Miami to hand the car in and catch a plane to LA!!!!

Kennedy Space Center

After a 4 hour drive we made it... and yes it is AMAZING!!!! I did not quite realise how big the place actually is...
Even if not everyone agrees with the American foreign policies one still has to admire their Space Program... I mean the amount of money they invested is incredible. Okay it is maybe a little out of date but still amazing. I wish we could have stayed longer.... but we wanted to stay to the plan:)

For those of you who do go to Florida... I strongly suggest you spend a day or two visiting this place. Duarte and I are technical people and where amazed at the engineering side of the place. Saturn V, the shuttles, the missions, the successes, the moon race, the construction... you name it and they will explain it:) Just to give you an idea of how big the place is... when you are arriving there are signs saying: "Tune your radio to 1610 am for information"!!!

Amazing they have their own radio station and AM!!! (for longer distances I guess).



We did not make it to Cocoa Beach because we where going to Orlando next!!!!

Miami

Hi everyone!!!

It has been a while since I have updated my blog... and as usual life has not stopped!!!
I have just returned from my Road Trip across the States:)

We started in Miami!!! ohh yeah!! Duarte and myself met at the airport and for 2 weeks we travelled and travelled around the US.

Here is the first car we rented!!!

Well what can I say about Miami... it is just like the movies... the beaches are FANTASTIC.... the people are great... although one does get the feeling that more people speak Spanish than any other language but still very friendly. People would wonder what kind of language Duarte and myself where speaking.

We drove down to Key West and had a great time there... went to Sloppy Joes... came back to Miami saw a the Miami Marlins loose:( But the environment was great!!! Baseball is an interesting game...(ya they also have cheerleaders which helped).

We went to Miamis Beach and checked out the city.

Night Life.... well to be honest I was a bit disappointed I was expecting something incredible but to be honest it was nothing special... maybe we were in the wrong place. But don't get me wrong we ended up in a Cuban bar... which was cool:)

The Next day we headed towards... Kennedy Space Centre:)