Homeward bound…

Our journey home began with a 7:30am flight from Austin and we decided it would be a good idea to not bother sleeping the night before…

We’re tough and we’re Texan…

 

It was beautifully warm when we arrived at midnight in Austin. Rachel, our host was waiting for us at the bottom of the escalators in a Garden State kind of affair holding a sign. We went back to her pink, tiger-print (on the outside) block of flats in the “ghetto” of town. Her flat was really sparse because she’s leaving to live on a boat with her boyfriend in a week or so, but we sat on what furniture was left and chatted all night anyway.

In the streets of San Francisco…

We arrived at almost midnight because the couple we’re staying with – Wes and Brandi – were both working late. They live in the Sunset area of San Francisco with their little dog Maus, who’s the liveliest little thing you’ve ever seen. She bounded about with her toys throughout our stay here, looking for anyone who would play with her.

Santa Cruz you’re not that far…

Our stop here was a short’n, but a good’n. We stayed with Jacob Hauge, who summoned his friend Emily over to dance to ‘80s classics with us on the night we arrived. We wrung the towel of Santa Cruz dry and drank every drop in the short amount of time we had there.

Gathered in Los Angeles…

While in LA we stayed in Santa Monica with a guy called Mike. However, we didn’t know he was called Mike until we met him in person because he went under Vladducantes on his couch surfing profile and I’d spent all of our phone conversations bypassing his name. On his profile it stated that he was really into vampires and pirates, so we had some idea of what we were in for…

Viva Las Vegas…

Hoover Dam was the first stop on our Vegas itinerary. It’s not as big as we thought it was going to be. In fact, we were a little under whelmed, so when Fin went on the tour of the power plant I read for a couple of hours in the sun.

On the road…

We arrived around 5pm, paid our $25 for entry and decided to set up our $20 Walmart tent for the evening. The camping was supposed to be $18, but the office was closed when we got there so we bunked the charge by leaving before it opened up again the next morning. We watched the sunset over Yavapai Point before driving 50 odd miles out again to get dinner. We ended up at a Denny’s because nothing else was open 24 hours and it was around 10pm by that point. I had a huge meal – so huge in fact, that it came on three plates and the waitress was astounded that I finished it.
That night Fin slept in the tent and I slept in the car because it was far too cold, but all the stars were out and it was so dark that we could see them all clearly. We woke in the early hours to deer eating in front of the car, which was something special.

From Tucson, Arizona…

When we set off from San Diego we hit Interstate 8 and drove along the Mexico border. We went through two border controls and were stopped at one because Fin didn’t realise he had to stop. We sat in the sweltering heat while they set the dog on the car and checked our passports. It wasn’t long before we were on our way again though, and for a brief break in the ride the dry earth turned to glistening desert. The sand dunes shone amber in the sun and rolled effortlessly away to make way for barren land yet again, littered with cacti standing tall and waving us into Tucson…

San Diego…

Having taken two planes and changed in Atlanta, GA we finally landed (late) at the warm and pleasant San Diego airport last Thursday. Valentin (pronounced Valenteen), our host was there to meet us and we drove to get some Mexican food before heading to his. We had tacos and burritos from a hole-in-the-wall restaurant and ate outside.

C’mon take me to the Mardi Gras…

 

We missed a lot of Mardi Gras because we arrived at 5pm on the day of celebrations rather than 5pm the day before. Fin had to nap, but I’d slept on the train so I took a walk to find a supermarket. The first place I found was a liquor store that mirrored the scene in Lock Stock… where everyone keeps getting shot. I walked straight into a cage and quickly walked out again. I turned in the opposite direction and found a Walgreens but they don’t do anything close to fruit and veg so I headed back. New Orleans is a very segregated city and from the upper ninth to the lower ninth ward the black population becomes denser and the buildings become more decrepit, and although I hate to admit it, I was scared. When I got back the people we were staying with were shocked that I’d gone out on my own, so I didn’t do that again. At the parade earlier that day there were four shootings and seven people were admitted to hospital, so perhaps it was a good thing that we missed it. We did of course get very drunk and head out to Bourbon Street to catch the wind down though.