Back at home

Second day in New York didn't change our view of the city too much. The city eludes us in some way. It's a bustling place full of everything but we just haven't been able to enjoy it as much as we'd like. Maybe we were just too tired. Yet, we had have a good time even though after 9/11 it's impossible to store luggage in railway stations. Luckily we found a privately run luggage storage. We only had three hours left of the day so we took a boat cruise and had milkshakes to cool off.

At the airport there were problems with computer systems so we spent a good while in the check-in line eating chocolate. Flight to Finland was unremarkable enough, the only disturbance was an infant who clearly had decided that flying just wasn't for him. At home, after 12 hours of sleep Otter and I are still jet lagged and even writing this is happening sooo slow..

If you're in slightest considering doing a road trip in USA, do it. It was absolutely brilliant. America is a bit like a good breakfast burrito: it's a vast variety of countries, cultures, people and ways of life wrapped into a hearty dish that will leave you full and asking for more at the same time.

New York

Getting to New York from San Francisco took us a full day, two flights, 4 kilometer walk with full backpacks and a bottle of vodka but we made it here.

Our time is very limited so we can only hope to scratch the surface of the big apple. So far we've walked our feet sore ($44 of a bus tour? Puh-leeese!) and eaten in street corners. I do like the variety in everything here; sounds, smells, people and food but still San Francisco felt much better. Maybe it's the heat and humidity here, maybe it's the traffic and masses of people. I'll probably give NY a second chance later and concentrate on anything cold tomorrow. Then it's buh-bye to USA.

-Tuoppi

Times square.

San Francisco

Our driving for the entire trip has been almost too easy and relaxing so something small had to happen: we ran out of gas in the middle of Van Ness avenue in San Francisco. Even that was no big deal really, we just pushed the car to the side and our coverage took care of the rest.

We all liked San Francisco. From the sounds and smells of Chinatown to the serenity of Golden Gate park, we continuously found cool little things. Shark fins for sale, curly trees, old arcade games in the harbor, seafood everywhere, insanely steep streets, colorful houses.. the list goes on.

Otter's pro tip: Don't wear tight shoes. The downhills will squeeze your toes to mush. Seriously.

-Tuoppi

Goat by the Golden Gate

Bit of Chinatown

Highway 1 to Sonoma

Our longest and prettiest drive so far was the highway 1 from LA to Sonoma. We started it a bit too early but the rolling hills, big trees and rural houses had their charm too. I guess Morro Bay is the "official" starting point for the highway 1 to see the coast. And of course, it is breathtaking. You drive along a mountain side and hundreds of meters below you can see the Pacific Ocean. This goes on for at least 100 kilometers. Too bad we got stuck in a traffic jam right after hwy 1 and thus arrived in Sonoma quite late.

Next day we took a wine tasting tour around Sonoma. We don't spit a good wine (or any wine for that matter) and the breakfast was a slice of cake so the tour became very upbeat very fast.

Pro tips:

-Take your ID with you for the wine tour. They might ask them.
-Fuel up before heading to hwy 1.

Today, we'll go to jelly belly factory and continue to San Francisco.

-Tuoppi

Sea elephants!

Bit of hwy 1.

Canyons, cars in many forms, cracked aces and coasters of roll.

Ok, it's been a bit of a hassle the last few days.

Visited Grand Canyon. It was grand.

We drove along route 66 for less than 100 miles and found a nice little "general store" aka souvenir shop. Car wrecks were authentic though and even if it did have tens of tourists like us it was pretty good. I'll be damned if I remember the name..

Vegas then. Otter did not feel quite at home at the Bellagio penthouse suite. Eating canned food there was kind of weird but then again, maybe VIPs can be a bit eccentric? Later I took her for a spin in Corvette C6 which was GREAT fun. The sound of that V8 when you floor it from the traffic lights.. mm-mm-mm. Also played some poker with very mild results, plus 7 dollars.

I'm typing this at Venice beach. Earlier today we visited Six Flags. Lines were pretty long and we were in a hurry so we had time for only one ride. It was the X2. It's a machine that tries to pull you apart at 76 mph while also swirling you around. I guess someone could call it a roller coaster but that won't do it any justice. Fucking awesome. Sorry.

Pro tips:

-If you go to Six Flags Magic Mountain (or any of them I guess) go early, in bad weather and even then consider flash pass.
-In Grand Canyon check the weather. It's lame in rain.
-Bill's Gambling Hall has low stakes poker tables, I played NL .50/1.

That's about it, phew. I might split this post into three later, write in more details and insert some pics.

-Tuoppi

Our ride.

Our pad.

Vault boy @ route 66.

The Hopi

Yesterday we drove through the monument valley and noticed that there was something very familiar about the place. Of course, the cartoonish rocks and red sand are known to us all from Lucky Lukes but there was also something more specific. Recognize the movie or its poster?

In the afternoon we arrived at the Hopi Cultural Centre. Hopi keep pretty much to themselves and you won't find any indian casinos here. The ancient traditions like eagle hunting are very much alive here and the place feels a bit different somehow.

Tomorrow we'll change the register completely when we arrive in Vegas. Today's about Grand Canyon.

-Tuoppi

Long House

Mesa Verde really is something. Wild deer feed right in front of our balcony, hawks circle for prey, massive lightnings flash at the horizon when it gets dark and great canyons span your sight where ever you look.

Maybe even more astounding were the ruins of cliff dwellings. The ancient pueblo people lived here up until 1200s and how! They built their houses to the canyon walls, under the sandstone alcoves. These villages were practically inaccessible and I kind of missed why did they go through so much trouble to built to such difficult places. In any case, it's great to know a bit more about the life in America before the exploits of the white man.

Oh, and great many thanks to the park rangers. They've told us awful lot of interesting history and been very helpful where ever we've met them.

-Tuoppi

Pro tip: at this altitude the heat and thin air can really wear you down. Some can get light headed. Drink plenty of water and eat well. Banana nut bread and dried chili mangos are essential to your survival.

-Otter

Mesa Verde

On our way to Mesa Verde we stopped at Durango. We ate well at Gazpacho, visited train museum, went rafting and most importantly, bought a train whistle. Oh, and we ate a candy apple - messy but delicious.

Jacob the raft guide. Thanks for the ride and history bits!

From Durango we started to climb to Mesa Verde. It's quite a view from here to the surrounding plains and canyons:

-Tuoppi

At the river we also got to swim. The big, bulky life vests made it look more like a space walk though.

-Otter

Starting to detox

Much to our disappointment, our motel in Santa Fe did not have a pool. Then again, that was the last letdown Santa Fe offered us - what a great little city! Right next to our motel there was an old rail yard that had been turned into a zone of parks, art galleries and cafes. In the central plaza there was live xylophone music and plenty of nice shops. This morning we spent soaking in Ten Thousand Waves, a very tranquille Japanese style spa and it only set us back $25 per head!

We also witnessed a pretty nasty car accident. Two cars had hit each other on the mountainous roads and the other one was rolled over. It all looked pretty bad but luckily no one was seriously hurt.

If you're into ancient ruins or native American history, check out Chaco Culture National Historic Park. Our visit there was brief but memorable. I had no idea such thing existed: the canyon had thousands of inhabitants roughly a thousand years ago. Now only the sizable ruins and circling hawks/eagles remain.

The (obvious) pro tip of the day: Buy a cheap styrofoam box with 5 bucks and fill that baby with ice and you have a small fridge in your car.

From here we'll spend about a week in small places and magnificent scenic views so it's also a good time to ease on the beer and fatty foods - a detox week if you like.

-Tuoppi

Ladies, if you don't care oogling naked men, choose the women's tub at Ten Thousand Waves instead of communal tub. Nothing to fear though, they're harmless and very walrus-like sunbathers. Ooh, and try chili mangos if you find them.

-Otter

Drinking beer at the brake shop next to our motel.

Sad UFO town

The 950km drive was surprisingly easy. We took turns and the big, comfortable car just ate the miles away. Pro tip: make sure you have enough gas to get to your destination. Highways are long and have absolutely no services whatsoever.

Our destination, Roswell, was a bit of a disappointment. We wanted to go there because Otter has a fear of gray little aliens and she wanted to face her fears. Mission was only partially successful, she probably still can't watch X-files. Town itself was kind of sad. There were plenty of closed and ruined businesses and even though people were cheerful I can't help but to think they've had enough of all the ufo crap.

Now we're at yet another motel in Santa Fe. Last night we took a short stroll around the neighborhood and the city looks very interesting with its graffitis, art galleries, parks and last but not least, a proper food market with a vast selection of stuff - today we will go for a picnic.

-Tuoppi

Ford, I accept wire transfers and cash in a suitcase.

SoCo

Austin's lively nightlife remains pretty much unseen on our part but we did visit SoCo, which is the quirky side of Austin. Plenty of interesting specialty shops and inviting restaurants. For example, a monkey shop and an entire parking lot full of stands and silver bullets offering their treats.

We only ate ice creams there, sparing our appetite for J Mueller: I don't think I have ever consumed as much meat on one go. And what a delicious mixture of grilled perfection it was.. pork, turkey and beef all tasting so good it must be illegal in anywhere but Texas.

Tomorrow we drive 950 kilometers to Roswell, NM.

-Tuoppi

I would recommend Barton Springs' cool water pool for those who really want to chill down and have a real swim instead of  those pity laps one can do in motel pools. Parking costs $5 and for an adult to get in $3, but on a hot summer day it is worth it!

-Otter

Support the local artists.

Houston, we have canned food

Yesterday saw a visit to Houston space center. Certain magnificence was sensible in everything but the space shuttle's toilet. Especially Saturn V was daunting. Pro tip: go as early as possible. Few hours after opening the place becomes an ants' nest of screaming children - Otter almost killed two or three.

On a totally different subject, if you want to eat well and very cheap, feast on canned food. They're relatively healthy and when stored in the car under scorching sun, even the temperature is just about right.

-Tuoppi

The mission control

Cajun country to NASA

This day was not that interesting or anything but we HAVE had a drink or two at the motel pool as the tradition dictates. Now we're in Texas but we had a great breakfast in Louisiana at Suire's. On our way here we spotted houses by the gulf that were built on poles to save them from floods. Something very haunting about them. Oh, pro tip for the day: motels and hotels have free ice vending machines. If you have drinks that need cooling (as often is the case) forget about the small bucket provided by the motel and instead fill out a big plastic bag with the ice.

Tomorrow: NASA and San Antonio.

-Tuoppi

Southern hospitality

Today was definitely one of the highlights of the trip but first I will quickly review the evening in Big Easy. We had a few drinks in a pirate themed bar, ate very well at Gumbo Shop and sat on a balcony looking over Bourbon street. All good and fun but don't order a gin&tonic - you just might get a bucket of water, ice and gin.

This day for long seemed to turn out a pretty boring driving day. We drove through some small cities trying to find a cozy b&b. No such luck with that, nobody was home. Eventually we drove to one's yard and the adorable couple running the b&b, Mike and Anne, invited us to their home for some southern treats and good info about the town, Abbeville. I've never encountered such a welcoming and genuinely warm attitude towards total strangers, too bad their b&b was fully booked. However, they gave us a great tip about a seafood joint close by, Shucks.

Shucks was absolutely packed when we arrived there but soon we were seated and the owner Dave (who Ann called ahead telling we were coming) told us a bit about Cajun cuisine. Everything from there blends into an orgasmic series of  simple but deeply flavored seafood tastes. Absolutely brilliant. If you're ever anywhere within 200 mile radius you can't miss it. True Cajun cooking and amazing people.

-Tuoppi

They also had huge trees.

New Orleans (before dark)

Natchez steamboat took us for a ride today down the Mississippi. 'Twas all good with the heavy lunch and access to the steamboat's engine room.

I forgot to mention couple of things. We're not visiting Patton tank museum after all - big sacrifice which had to be done. Other thing was about prepaid plans. AT&T got nothing, T-mobile got me unlimited data and talk for a month at $50. Of course, the network coverage is far from perfect and usually I can't read my mail on the road. Interestingly the number I got seems to have belonged to someone else; I'm receiving text messages in Spanish from facebook.. "Muki quiero saber q onda san fermenin something something."

In New Orleans, parking is relatively cheap but I'm not sure if an outdoor parking spot is safe for a night. Probably is but we didn't take the chance.

Now we're all drinking Jack Daniel's and preparing for a feast and and New Orleans nightlife, watching Food network nomnomnom.

Road to New Orleans

Yesterday I was mildly intoxicated and swimming in the motel pool so I couldn't write. Motel pools have become somewhat of a tradition on our trip for me and Otter. Taking a short swim before driving hundreds of miles is a good way to start the day. And like yesterday, pool and booze can be good fun.

If you want to see the Peabody ducks in Memphis, be early and 10 years old. Kids get the front seats (floor) and as fun as the ducks are, they run like their asses were on fire. They will make Usain Bolt look bad if dashing from elevator to fountain ever makes it to the olympics.

Vicksburg was a great stop on our way down the Mississippi. Lots of civil war history and an ironclad - it's basically a shallow water steam boat covered in armor and armed with cannons. It was also baffling to see the flood marks at the flood gates. I had no idea Mississippi can flood THAT much.

Now we're happily in New Orleans, anxious to dig in to the food, drinks and music.

-Tuoppi

Natchez Trace Parkway - very pretty road indeed, the picture can't capture it.

Whisky and peanuts

Now that we've been following American TV, radio and print ads, it looks like the average US citizen is deep in debt. This is not a big surprise of course but the ads somehow make it more real. I'm not sure how legit all these financial consultants are but the cynic in me says they exist only to rip off whatever their clients have left. I hope I'm very wrong.

Also terribly many ads try to scare the audience and get them to take expensive medical exams. "You may have chicken pox."

On a more positive note, our tour at Jack Daniel's distillery was very interesting and our 400 mile drive today is done. Pro tip: drive from east to west, you have the scorching sun in your back.

Oh, avoid boiled peanuts.

Goat and his ride.

-Tuoppi

A Drinking game

So here's a drinking game Günther came up with: every time you see a church take a sip. In West Virginia, you will not go 300 meters with a dry mouth.

-Tuoppi

Jefferson and Shady Spring (VA and WV)

Even at 6 AM Washington DC was hot as, I quote "Devil's sweaty armpit". We drove 100 miles to Monticello, Jefferson's mansion. Quite neat actually with wine elevators and imported furniture - he was a big fan of European things. The tour price, 24 dollars, was enough to make me noticeably bitter which in turn made Otter grumpy. Fair enough and shame on me.

From there we continued to Babcock state park and Grist Mill. Wonderful scenery and a very pleasant drive through the winding small roads in the shade of trees. We also saw some of the destruction left by the storm some days ago. At Danese local post office power was out but that didn't stop the clerk from being very friendly and helpful - I do like the surface of American people, haven't had a chance to scratch it.

On our way to the current lodging (which is computer store/motel!) we passed through a place called Shady Spring. Very authentic with its fair share of destruction from the storm.

-Tuoppi

Danese post office

Grist Mill

4th of July

4th of July started very hot so we headed to a nice, air conditioned shopping centre. Pro tip for the Metro system in Washington: if there's even a slight chance that you use it more than 5 times a day, take the daily pass. We used single fares and the joke was on us.

After the air conditioned shopping centre we want to an air conditioned Irish Pub, had a few drinks and continued to an air conditioned Thai restaurant.

In Finland, every kind of outdoors festivity tends to be an excuse to get wasted. I'm not certain if public drinking is banned here but we saw very few beer bottles and not a single teenager crying/vomiting/crawling/all above. Also people don't aim at by passers with the fireworks. In any case, the big fireworks at the mall were great and atmosphere very relaxed and jolly.

-Tuoppi

Washington DC

Ok, we've gotten properly on the road. Jet lag woke us up at 4 AM, we took a refreshing dip in the motel swimming pool and hit the road. We've noticed that American drivers like to speed a bit more than Finns. If the limit is 55, the traffic in general moves at 65 mph and they don't really slow down for work areas where the limit is 45.

In Washington DC we're lodging at Capitol City Hostel. It's not the most modern I've been in but the owner more than makes up for it - thumbs up. City itself hasn't so far impressed me or Otter. We've walked our feet off at the mall, seen the sights and visited Air & Space Museum but meh. Tomorrow should be more lively. Günther on the other hand is still full of energy sipping his drink of Jaloviina and Dr.Pepper.

Vaultboy felt right at home.

-Tuoppi

Oh and good luck trying to find a restaurant, grocery store or anything else at the mall. The only places to get drinks and snacks are the street vendors.

-Otter

It's slightly warm in here.

-Günther

Day 1

Ok, we're here in three pieces. Flight was nice and forgettable as it should be. Some tips/observations so far:

-Road tolls are expensive
-If you have some money to spend, book a suite from Vegas. Luxury don't come this cheap anywhere else. We're not in Vegas yet but already we've been contacted to make sure the limo can pick us up.
-Book your seats in front of the plane, you'll get through the immigration a lot faster

Finally, here's the monster of a car we'll be driving. The damn car is TOO comfortable with the cruise control and shit. I feel almost useless on the driver's seat.

-Tuoppi

You guys got so easily upsold and almost scammed with the titanic - I mean the car.

-Otter

Crew complete

Along with Vault-boy, our crew is complete and raring to go. There are three humans: Me (Tuoppi), Otter and Günther M. Two personified inanimate objects are also tagging along: Goat and Vault-boy.

-Tuoppi

Packing

1. Osprey backpack that is so complicated, fancy and of high quality that it makes me feel kinda dumb.
2. More straightforward, smaller backpack for day trips. Bundeswehr quality with World of Tanks clan emblem.
3. Towel.
4. Light, comfortable and well ventilated shoes for the southern states.
5. Headphones.
6. Some clothing. I plan to buy more from US.
7. Shitloads of dollars.
8. Travelling documents.
9. Aviator sunglasses.
10. Universal adapter.
11. Manly pink Marimekko bag for toothbrush and such.
12. Heavy duty sunscreen.
13. Spoon and a bowl.
14. Satnav.
15. Jenkki-bubblegum.
16. Chargers for cellphone and camera battery.
17. Leatherman. With this baby I've opened cans, fixed electronics, cut my thumb, prepared food and performed surgery. MacGyver ain't got shit on me.

-Tuoppi

From coast to coast

Dear traveler/reader/mother,

We're starting our journey through the USA in three weeks. Expectations are high and we're all starting to get butterflies as the day gets closer. I suspect USA is a very unique travel destination in the sense that we're all so saturated by American culture. We all have a very clear picture of the country and I can't wait to have it permanently changed.

We'll try to find some hidden gems and provide practical tips to those who are planning a similar trip. Above is the map of our route, roughly 5000 miles long. There are two of us to drive the car from coast to coast and one to sleep and ask if we're there yet. Oh, she's not a toddler, she just acts like one when bored.

-Tuoppi

Oi! I'm no toddler. By the way, are we at the candy factory yet?

-Otter