The Final Blog... is coming

The last time you visited us we had just spent a swelting day around Boston.

Now, we are back in the city that never sleeps...

Check back tomorrow for the final chapter in this amazing saga...it's gonna be a good one.

Plus exciting news for people who actually enjoy reading what I write.

Kara x

Day 1: Safe and sound in LA

Well, here we are, it's 8:13 on a Saturday night and we're exhausted. Nick is laying half asleep on the bed and we should head out for a bite to eat soon.

Aside from the 12hour flight it's been a long day.

We touched down at LAX just before 12pm, but it took a long time to taxi to the terminal.

The immigration process to get into the States is insane! Families and individuals go up - Nick got sent back when we went up because we don't qualify as family - and everyone over 13 years old has to have their finger prints and retina scanned.

Once on the other side a shuttle met up us to whisk the Hertz customers to their car lot around 5 mins from the airport.

The Hertz lot is like a massive mall car park where rows of people queue for either practical or over-the-top-American cars.

We've picked up a cute little VW - so sweet - but it also has more juice than Herbie: Fully Loaded.



The directions from the lovely man at Hertz were pretty good and we were soon making our way along the eight lane highway 405.

With heaps of help from me, Nick managed to get used to driving the wrong way and we managed to avoid any near misses.

We've sampled a small slice of American cuisine with a snack of single slice pizza and ice tea. Nick topped his piece of pie off with some hideous pink lemonade, which tasted more of pink than lemonade.

We now know where Disneyland is and can catch a tiny tiny glimpses of some of the rides over the road.

We're now in our room at the Quality Inn & Suites Anaheim. The bed is comfy, but hard enough to type nicely.

Now to wake Nick up and get him some din-dins. It looks like we're going next door to Denny's.

Long time no see

Well, how long has it been? I'd like to say it feels like only yesterday, but really, it feels like much longer.

Since then I have finished Uni, am working for a national newspaper and as of next Thursday will be a 100 per cent qualified journalist.

In terms of our USA adventure little has occurred in the planning phase.

I think we realise the idea of buying a car might not be so practical, so we will most likely be hiring our vehicle.

...and that's about as far as we got.

In more fun, but less practical news, the progress through the reading list is well underway.

Nick & I both finished On The Road (I seriously can believe Nick finished it first!) and I am over half way through The Grapes of Wrath.

When Nick bought OTR I was pretty surprised. For a man who rarely reads beyond music and sports books it was a giant leap in to spoilt-middle-class-intellectual-discovery.

And he enjoyed it!

I'm like TGOW a hell of a lot more than OTR (and I loved OTR).

I will try to avoid making this sound like an English essay, but TGOW actually has a narrative structure - I love the switch from the family's story to the overview from chapter to chapter.

While the homophobia & sexism in OTR maybe of its time, I still felt my inner feminist boiling up.

You could easily read a lot into the novel, but it's nice to enjoy it simple as a great story.

I'm still looking for USA/America book recommendations - please send them through.

I read real good

Book, books and more books. They arrived on Wednesday last week in little cardboard packages of joy and excitement for my reading pleasure.

The brief history section in Lonely Planet left me wanting so I followed up on some of their recommended readings.

Now I have in my possession A Nation Among Nations, Grapes of Wrath and that most famous of books about the great American journey, On the Road.

I’ve began my learned journey with On the Road and, 12 chapters in, am pleasantly surprised.

My preconceived ideas of an unreadable, posing book were wrong. So far it’s an enjoyable tale, uplifting and romantic. It’s hard not to get caught in the spirit. But how did these 20-somethings make their way in the world mooching off they old aunties? It must have been a simpler time.

I have just found out that Grapes of Wrath is also a movie! Why didn’t I know this sooner. I’m sure I’ll enjoy Joe Steinbeck’s 535 page novel, but my short attention span is made for movies. The mere fact that I’ve kept up this blogging thing for two posts is a share miracle.

What I really want to find is a good history about the Native American/First Nation people. Any suggestions?

Recommended readings please.
Kara

Our story begins...

Wouldn’t it be cool to drive across America? Rent a car in LA and drive up, down, sideways and over making our way around this grand, expansive playground?

Cool indeed.

This sums up our feelings for this trip. The word with no direct meaning, an attitude, encapsulates so much yet remains largely elusive.

Maybe this captures our “American Dream”, the American Dream.

So much has been written, said, explored around this land of opportunity. Ambition, ambivalence, achievement, disillusionment, cliques and discovery; this describes the complex mix of views held about the United States of America.

Though far away in kilometres, Aotearoa New Zealand has never seemed too far removed from America. We grew up with its landscape, culture, people and language. Our view was one of extremes and just how the image matches the reality we’ll soon see.

This is where our journey begins, an investment in the Lonely Planet USA Guidebook.

Initially we were put off by the hefty price tag (almost $70!), but we’ll get more than our moneys worth information wise.

The brick like book features everything we’ll need to put together the mechanics of our trip – I’ve already poured over the history section and recommended readings.

The best thing about travel books is just how excited they make you about your up-and-coming adventure.

Obviously Lonely Planet is not the be all and end all of travel writing, so any recommended books, websites, magazines and advice would be great!

Until next time…
Kara