Just around the riverbend...

Tonight is my last night in the USA. The time sure has flown and I will be so sad to leave my bestest buddy LeeAnn in the morning after the best vacation ever. Of course none of you are aware of quite how amazing it has been because I havent been updating my blog...at all! All i can do is apologise and use a quotation from a wise old woman I once met - "People who have time to blog are having a crap vacation"  - LeeAnn Genovese.
I would like to use this as the sole reason for my lack of blogging...We have been go, go, go since the last blog and although I have managed to write a lot in my journal, I havent been around a computer long enough to type up anything. To give you an idea, We travelled 4 hours north on Sunday and stayed with Renee (who I know is dying to know what I am going to write about her in my blog, and I have already written it and will type it up soon), We drove to Port Angeles and travelled over to Victoria Canada, walked our asses off, stayed with n amazing stranger, enjoyed 'napoleon' ice cream, some sweet smelling air at the Butchart Gardens and ate too much! Travelled to Forks where I got over excited as well as fobbed off, spent the night in a free campsite... we enjoyed the first few hours before we realised just WHY it was free! Drove 50 miles for a shower in a public swimming pool. Travelled to Seattle where we stayed with some amazing people and did some super cool stuff like trespassing onto the boat house used in Sleepless in Seattle, eating dinner at the top of the Space Needle at sunset and eating clam chowder at Pikes Market. We then travelled down to Multnomah falls where we did the most difficult hike ever to the top of the water fall, visited a sunflower farm, and did another hike. Needless to say we have been so exhausted this weekend we have only managed to eat, eat, eat (I tried Taco Bell and a breakfast burrito), go to a beer tasting evening, get sunburnt by the pool and watch movies. In fact, we are going to a 10.30 showing of a movie tonight, we're gonna go in pjamas and probably eat some more... I am planning on writing up more snippets of the last weeks trip when i'm back home and have considerably more time on my hands!!!

23 days. Stayed at 7 different households, 2 campsites, 1 flooded motel, couch surfed, driven over 2,500 miles, taken 3 boats and eaten my body weight in the finest American cuisine. Laughed a lot,gambled, drank beer, played bingo, been amazed every day, met some incredible new friends, seen some of the most beautiful places in the world and hiked, hiked, hiked.

Thanks to Leeann , Ben and her amazing school cohort, especially Olivia Koo! (Eugene, OR), Cindy, Jimmie (Lincoln City and Oregon Coast), Harvey, Mojo, Robin, Alan (Gold Beach), Renee, Choya, (Shelton, WA) Brenda (Victoria Canada),  Alison, Kaitlin, Megan, Lily and Will (Seattle) and everyone else I met along the way that has made the trip unforgettable.

By the way, I have collected over 1,000 photos along the way, mostly thanks to Cindy and I will be boring you all with those for the rest of eternity!

Thanks for following my blog :) x

Graduation and Road Trip Part 2

So today is the last of my 'rest' days in Eugene with LeeAnn. Although the resting hasnt lasted long, we have been to a couple of bars, to a great BBQ which made me question my life (faaarrr to much to go into on this blog!) been to the gym, on bike rides, and OH MY GOD to the supermarket. Ben and LeeAnn told me that the supermarket - Costco was big, but wow! Think a cash and carry warehouse multiplied by 1000! I have never seen a box of cereal i could potentially climb into and a bottle of olive oil big enough to last the average person 2 lifetimes! As Ben says, when America claims not to be a consumerist society - this is enough evidence to dispute that entirely. After the novelty of seeing a 500 roll packet of loo paper, I'm not sure I liked it all too much, especially because the trolley/shopping cart was bigger than my living  room and a bugger to maneuver! On the other hand I went to an amazing supermarket after this called The Market  of Choice (yes, i was on a guided tour of supermarkets) where there is a smaller quantity of each product but for each thing you can choose (hence, Market of Choice) from either the generic name brand, the best known brand and  then there will always be  an organic and locally sourced product there too. This idea rocks!
Last night we went to a BBQ with some of LeeAnns classmates and teachers from her masters program (she is graduating today) then went into town to the same bar where I won at bingo and played trivia. We came second :( However all of the people I met were so interesting and made me remember why I love travelling and living abroad. Don't worry, James this doesnt mean i'm moving over here! Although I am beginning to get bothered by people saying - ooooh you're from England, bet you're glad not to be over there at the moment, what do you know about the riots. - and I'm just thinking - oh, god i'm really not trying to think about this right now!!! even the woman in the postoffice (who read all of my postcards before attaching the stamps) was droning on about it!
So i'm going to scoot off now to the market and to see LeeAnn graduate, then if I have time, there are some things I mentioned in my last blog that I want to go into a little more detail about because every day I have thought 'ok, this is my favourite thing so far', then the next day we'll go somewhere else and that completely blows the other things out of the water. It's all been so completely amazing that i HAVE to share it with you guys!
So, tomorrow is the start of road trip part deux and incase youre interested, here is the rough itinerary -
Sunday - Drive north to Washington to stay with LeeAnns friend Renee
Monday - Head on to Port Angeles and take the ferry over to Canada!! (Victoria) Couch surfing this night!
Tuesday - Visiting Butchart Gardens in Victoria
(here's where we are not exactly sure of plans but it should go a little something like this)
Wednesday - Ferry back to Washington to Forks and the Twilight geeking out begins! Then either camp over night in Forks or head to our next destination, Seattle
Thursday - Seattle, Lunch at the Space Needle :D
Friday - Seattle
Saturday - start heading back to Eugene via Multnomah falls, hike, visit Mount Hood and Mirror Lake. Go hang out with Olivia and Jessie in Eugene
Sunday - MY LAST DAY!
Setting off Monday 22nd at 10am and arrive at heathrow at 14.30 on Tuesday - grossness!
Ok, don't say I don't keep you in the loop! (Mike)
Much love
xxx

Hoping you don't notice the slight delay...

So, I just got back from a gorgeous bike ride in Eugene City, of course with the lovely LeeAnn, and she is mixing me up a little cocktail at the moment before we hit Zumba class, so I thought I would begin to fill you guys in!

Ok, so maybe blogging my travels wasn't the best idea i've ever had, especially considering i've been in the states for 11 days now (half way through my trip) and have posted just two entries, one of which being a slightly depressed tale from a cheaper version of the Holiday Inn in Middlesex, so I can only apologise for getting your hopes up and making you believe this might be an interesting little read!

It's been so long and i've done so much, I decided earlier that it would probably just be best to write a quick list of SOME of things i've been up to....

I have -
Hung out eating snow cones with some cool people at the pool
Had Oregon Chai (my favourite) for breakfast a lot more than once ... mmmmmm
Been to a proper American BBQ with THE most delicious home made BBQ ribs....
Taken a ride on the back on a 'Dune Buggy' with a 14 yr old boy I don't know to the top of a HUGE sand dune in Florence, OR. ( "I have never held on to a stranger so tightly"  - Quote LeeAnn Genovese)
Seen Sealions in the wild
Shopped at an 'aquarium village' and visited a marine centre where I met a rather shy octopus who wanted to be my friend on facebook (Newport, OR)
Started drinking shots of coffee to keep up
Gotten (!) really spooked at a haunted lighthouse
Started to notice that many attractions on the West Coast seem to be named after the devil (Devils creek, Devils backbone, Devils punchbowl etc etc) - Why?!!?
Visited Lincoln City and loved it
Fed squirrels and chipmunks in the park
Stayed with Cindy and Jimmy (LeeAnns mum and step-father) who were amazingly kind, generous and kept me in good spirits and bloody well fed. They also let me sleep in the feather bed in the spare room!!!!!!!!!!
Been introduced to the world of gambling and ended up visiting 3 casinos in a week and spending $0 but winning $40. I also won a beer at Bingo last night :)
Got lost on the way to one of (i'd say) 350 hikes ive been on..... this made Cindy vom! hehe
Hiked
Hiked
Hiked some more
Found treasure on the beach in Lincoln City
Made a BBQ and had hotdogs on the beach
Saw pelicans at the beach
Put my feet in the pacific ocean

bored yet?  maybe make yourself a drink, this could take a while (might I recommend a chai?)

Drove the entire length of the Oregon Coast
Visited cape foulweather in some not so foul weather
Visited Nye Beach -  wow
Stopped at a casino and drank all the free soda
Visited Yaquina head lighthouse
Drove on to Cape Perpetua - amazing ocean views, ragged rocks, endless beaches filled with driftwood and trees that looked seriously pissed off

(maybe you should get a map up online and follow the trail? Just a thought)

Went whale watching in Depot Bay
Started rating restrooms/bathrooms/potties out of 10
Ate fish and chips in the beautiful old town on Bandon
Drove to Gold beach
Saw some purpose-built houses for stray cats
Stayed with a great couple called Alan (British) and Robin (American) in their amazing house that would rival any episode of Grand Designs I have EVER seen. amazing!
Experienced American TV... (dislike?)
Went to my favourite beach of all time, Cape Sebastian. all I can say is WOW!
Hiked uphill
Hiked downhill
Hiked across the beach
Listened to lots of Elvis Presley and plenty of Country music
Stayed in my first ever Motel - bought everyone KFC for dinner which we ate in the motel (the 4 of us were sharing a room). Asked for ice at reception, they didnt have any but agreed to put on ice machine. Woke up at 3am to find the room flooded from the ice machine next door.\
Drove to the Redwood Forest where we;
hiked, hiked and hiked some more
went rafting in the Smith river
Dressed as Hula girls and ate cake in the shape of a naked woman
and so much other stuff that I will make a seperate blog on the Redwood forest and trees of mystery because it was IMMENSE
The same goes to Crater Lake - too amazing to just write a couple of words on...
started getting quite fat (glazed donuts, philly steak sandwiches, smores, burgers, fish and chips, french fries, muffins, waffles, the list just goes on and on)

I have probably bored you to within an inch of your life now, im actually fed up of typing up this 'small' list and i have SO many details i want to add, things we have laughed about, things that have left us utterly astounded and some other randomness... but as it is, I have spent the day cycling,illegally sneaking into LeeAnns gym to attend a class that was cancelled (a sign) and experiencing the American Movie Theatre so I am off to bed and will write more tomorrow! Only a week or so left of the trip so i had better start blogging, hey?

ps. Thanks and well done for reading this to the end! Wont ever type this much again in one blog (dont have the attention span)

pps. Did you know that in Oregon its illegal to fill your own car up with Petrol, an attendant ALWAYS does it! I now understand why LeeAnn never filled up the car in France. (kate chetwood's interesting fact)

Love me xxx

August 2nd (again) and 3rd

Tonight I am forcing myself to write this blog even though i'm pretty sure I have never been so tired in my life. The trip schedule is so tight that if I don't write now I am in danger of missing out some super important details (which I am sure you all really care about) so here it goes...
Yesterday Leeann and I spent the day at her Dad's house in Eugene and we (I say we, it was mostly LeeAnn) prepared lots of BBQ food and her dad smoked some pork ribs in the back yard. We played in the pool for a with a 6 year old who told me I was short for most of the afternoon...
I asked the postman to take some postcards to james, and obviously said 'Thank you' when he agreed. His rather unusual response was - Say that again - so I asked - Say what? and he said - Say thank you again you're accent is so adorable. (By the way I am still enjoying the American accent as much as they appear to be enjoying mine)
We went to this redneck market (winco) (quote LeeAnn Genovese) to collect my body weight in ice cubes so that the children at the BBQ could make me unlimited rootbeer snow cones and generally push me closer to a sugar coma.
Food was great, especially the macaroni salad that Leeann had tried to create for me in France, and the party was attended by some lovely people from China, Korea and ... Oregon. At 10.30 pm we headed out to the most beautiful cake shop, Sweetlife and had a raspberry cheesecake and some peanut butter pie mousse... which i am sure is still in the back of the truck or something now because we couldnt finish it.
Anyway, I can only apologise for the general crapness of this blog, as mentioned earlier, I am SO tired. In fact LeeAnn and I snook off to drink espresso coffee shots this afternoon just to keep functioning normally.
Today was the most amazing day EVER but I can't do it justice tonight, especially after the HUGE meal and drinks I just consumed. So I am off to sleep in the most comfortable bed of all time at LeeAnns mum and step dad's house here in Lincoln City and wake up refreshed and witty in the morning.
Love you all
xxx

Is it still August 2nd?

So, I have arrived safely at LeeAnn's apartment in Eugene, OR after a seriously long trip.
Monday morning I got a bit too relaxed at the hotel, something I didnt think was even possible, and ended up making a mad dash for the airport bus with my hair like a yellow candyfloss (or should I say, Cotton Candy) and no make up. yuk!

Heathrow is amazing and the aircraft was beautiful. For those that don't know, Suzy and I have spent many hours plane spotting over the years, but Heathrow really is something else! wow! Exciting! San Francisco was an amazing airport and Eugene, well I don't remember much apart from LeeAnn taking photographs of me like the bloody paparazzi and running up to me with helium balloons, shouting"KATE'S HERE' at the top of her voice to random strangers.

I was allocated a window seat on the plane and was pretty excited ... for the first ten minutes until i realised i had tomake 4 other people move out of their seat everytime i wanted to stand up, go to the loo or look in my bag :(  Although I did take some pretty awesome photos from the window when flying over Canada. I was sat next to 3 men on the plane. The one directly next to me was reading "using your inner psychic powers', He read one page and fell asleep. (Hypnotised himself, perhaps?) I was pleased with my selection of in-flight movies, Dumb and Dumber - 'I desperately wanna make love to a school boy' - soon had me laughing outloud and looking like even more of a loon.
I have found a cool app on my snazzy ipod which shows me the time in London and San Fran which is pretty handy as i've left my watch at home!
I wonder how long I will find the American accent a novelty? At the moment I love it, not only are Americans SO friendly but I am in love with the way I am referred to as ma'am and I even ordered a chicken risotto, despite my aversion to cheap meat, so that I could order it the american way.

So, Anyway I am here and i'm fine just having some breakfast then off to spend the day with LeeAnns family and friends at her dads house. We're just going to spend the day in the pool and eating BBQ (and macaroni salad, one of my favourites!) LeeAnn has been so great so far, having made such a serious schedule that it has even been typed and attached to a clip board. I am so excited about the things we have planned! Unfortunately I just had to spend 100 pounds to change my flight out of here because the Holiday Hypermarket sold me a flight with a ridiculously small amount of time to catch my international flight, so I have had to change my flight meaning less money here and 7 hours between connecting flights on the way back. THIS SUCKS! typically LeeAnn has dealt with it in a friendly American way!

anyway,

Hoping you're all well, Im off to enjoy the longest August 2nd of my life (seriously it's been August 2nd for ever!)

Love, me xxx

I have just arrived at my cheaper than cheap hotel at Heathrow Terminal 1 ahead of the most expensive, lengthy and exciting journey of my life. At 10.35 tomorrow I will be starting an 18 hour flight from Heathrow to San Francisco to Eugene Oregon USA to spend 3(ish) weeks with lovely bff and ex housemate, LeeAnn. Although I am very excited about the adventures I know she will have planned for us, I am at the moment, crying like a baby because James just dropped me off here and I'm obviously not going to see him for the next 23 days! I was trying to be brave all day but finally just gave in, blubbed like a baby and managed to ruin his (literally) brand new football shirt by rubbing mascara all over the light blue arm! Whoops! Hopefully I won't have to put you through any more dull or depressing blogs like this one, especially because my plans for this evening involve removing the very few remaining traces of my apparently non waterproof makeup, folding myself into the worlds smallest bath and generally getting my 35 pounds worth from this hotel by repeatedly using the trouser press, drinking all 2 tea sachets (with some homemade cake I've smuggled in from home) and watching all 4 of the TV channels available to me!
Its so strange wondering about the many things that may fill this blog over the next few weeks until I'm back here at Heathrow. I think I will be a truly amazing trip and knowing that I am coming home to my gorgeous house, boyfriend, more time off work and so many other wonderful things makes it even more special.
So, here's to the next 23 days!
X