The End

As my year in the United States of America comes to an end and so does my blog, aptly on it's 100th entry. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed keeping you up to date with my American antics.

"Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today..."

Green Tortoise

This, the penultimate blog entry shows a few of the highlights from my cross country Southern Dream and as a result struggles to show how amazing the trip really was! Every Green Tortoise trip is different but I was lucky enough to travel with a fantastic set of people as you will see in 'A day in the life of "Spanish for Sun"'. See you in San Francisco...

www.greentortoise.com/adventures/cross.country.southern.dream.html

Just less than 4700 miles!

A day in the life of "Spanish for Sun"

CHARACTERS (in no particular order)

Dave - Lead driver and official Pun Of The Day champion.

Cassa - "WOOF! Daddy likey!" Wearing her space age bandana she's not a girl, just a bus driver.

PC - The elder statesman of our trip at 71. Prepare to be looked at blankly when you ask, "Have you ever thought of changing to a Mac?"

Sam - PC's little brother. Always wanting to know, "Is it a party time tonight?"

Jay - Drunk and Irish. Irish and drunk. will only make it as far as New Orleans.

Elena - Russian 1. Some issues with time keeping.

Anastasia - Russian 2. Make sure you put your make-up on before hiking!

Token - Our token American. What was his real name again?

Tomasc - The original Polish cowboy.

Evan - Evan 7, oh yes! The truest member of our trip's boyband 1471.

Rich - Every good bus needs a pirate because what happens on board, stays on board!

Chris - It's me!

Ivan - The cheeky Slovenian made sure the bus was always laughing and that Pringles stayed business.

Teja - The quiet one, always kept the bus fed with snacks, "Would you like?"

Lorna - On the first stage of her round the world adventure. How lucky that she's on the bus!

Lucy - You never see her buy a Starbucks despite working there. Maybe she has a stash in her day pack!

Jenna - Jenna ama el aprender de español.

Diane - "I hate The Smokies there's no reception!" "I hate Arizona there's no reception!"

Natalie - Is she the smallest person ever to ride the Green Tortoise?

Elisabeth - Pure Evil. Representing the French side of the Channel.

EARLY

4.37am: You didn't intend to wake up but you've just been stood on by someone going to the bathroom. Damn them!

4.42am: Fall asleep again as bus rolls into a truck stop.

6.59am: Half awake you take a look out the window and "Sol" is cruising by an entirely new part of the US of A and it's quite a stark contrast to where you were before you fell asleep.

7.27am: Sunrise by Norah Jones plays on the radio. "Morning" says Dave.

7.29am: That's right, you have no choice but to get out of your sleeping bag. Let's hope it's not cold!

7.30am: In the front Evan 7, Rich, Tomasc, Ivan and Token have already unmiracled.

7.31am: Time to make breakfast. Fruit salad (obviously!) to go with cereal and glop, bagels or some sort of eggs (not to be called Egg McTortoise).

7.35am: Hands have been washed; (1) soapy water, (2) water, (3) bleachy water and the chopping begins!

7.50am: Breakfast is served. Coffee wakes up some while the others crave a some fried food to fight off the hangover.

8.00am: A chorus of Here Comes The Sun starts with 1471 representing the GT love of singing.

8.01am: "Arrgh" - Rich seems to be waking up!8.15am: Breakfast is finished, lunch is made and everything is tidied away. As people brush their teeth in an attempt to
feel clean they praise the showers that are to come later!

8.50am: A short drive to our hike.

8.52am: Thankfully Dave is driving or it would be Jon Bovi playing!

MORNING

9.25am: Dave, "Right here we are in ________".

9.35am: Hiking time! Will it be waterfalls, angels or canyons today?

AFTERNOON

12.40pm: Arrive back from your hike and check your photos. You might have forgotten what you just saw!

12.53pm: Back on the bus and ready for some lunch. Sandwich anyone?

1.01pm: Cassa is in the driver's seat now and you're Livin' On A Prayer.....HELP!!!

1.02pm: Moments later, Rich, Evan and Chris beg for anything but New Jersey's favourite son.

1.03pm: All requests fall on deaf ears. Ivan shouts "Play f**k yeah song!"

1.15pm: Who's asleep? Elisabeth and a few others. Chris reads and a card game between Jenna, Token, Lorna and Teja is set to begin. Who will be the ultimate sh*thead?

2.06pm: You get stood on again as someone needs the bathroom.

2.58pm: Grocery Stop! Tomasc checks 'The Cooler'. Do we need to fill it up for camping tonight? "Pretty much"

3.13pm: "Sol" is full. Full of food, snacks, drink and cheer.

3.15pm: The bus is grateful that no one bought anything too fun like a frog lighter.

3.16pm: Driving again. This time towards our first shower in days!

4.00pm: We're reached our destination. Grab your shampoo and prepare for 8 minutes of heaven.

4.09pm: Clean!

4.24pm: As the Tortoid droves leave the showers watch as in their natural habitat in the luggage bay they smell for clean clothes. Yeah, that'll do!

EVENING

5.05pm: Dinner time! Cassa has fun little jobs for everyone!!

5.07pm: A mini-mountain of garlic is chopped. Green Tortoise can never be accused of being bland.

5.09pm: In fact, today is Mexican food, so can only be one thing. Awesome!

5.15pm: Why haven't we started drinking yet? Oh, we have.

5.29pm: The water boils for the rice/pasta/couscous and you can almost here the argument starting...

5.30pm: "Ivan, that's not how you do it" - Cassa. "Oh, come on" - Ivan.

5.33pm: Not long now until some delicious delights.

5.41pm: Dinner is served.

6.10pm: Washing up. Don't leave sharp knives in the soapy water!

6.40pm: And everything is cleared away in case of bears, mountain lions or worse, spiders!

LATE

7.07pm: The sun is starting to set, which can only mean one thing....FIRE!

7.10pm: In a manly fashion, firewood is gathered (from under the bus).

7.15pm: So as the fire burns there is only one thing left to do. Delve deep into the cooler. Let's hope we're not in Utah and the beer is stronger than 4%.

8.15pm: Beer and wine. Sam asks "Is it a party time tonight?"

9.15pm: More beer and wine. Add a couple of S'mores to taste.

10.15pm: The spirits are out as the fire smoulders. More wood.

11.15pm: Bedtime I think...

My reflection in "Spanish For Sun"

Louisiana Swamp

TX

Tortoids around the fire in Navajo Nation

Goosenecks - a campsite!

The road to Monument Valley

Me in Bryce Canyon

Angel's Landing in Zion National Park

Las Vegas

The Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

Farewell

Yesterday and today I said goodbye to my two favourite places in America - GW1103, my apartment in NJ and the BCG, my office in NY.


In GW1103 we celebrated our last night in the apartment together with two 28 inch pizzas (!), some beers and a few glasses of wine. My time living with Joe, Donnchadh, Laura, Sam, Kim and our honorary housemate Will has been better than I could ever have hoped for. I will miss each and everyone of them and the little ways they made me happy living in Jersey City. See you all soon!

I was so lucky with the job I was placed on during my year as a Mountbatten intern. Not only did I find a new interest - yes, visas! - but I had the great pleasure of working with the fantastic people in the visa section. Any new job I get has a lot of live up to as the friendly and ever fed workplace that is the BCG will always hold a special place in my heart. Thanks guys!

9/11

Philadelphia, PA

Despite my days in America running out there was just enough time yesterday to pop down to Pennsylvania for a day in the home of the Chilly Pheesesteak (right?!). Cheesesteak was eaten, The Rocky Steps were ran and the Liberty Bell was ding donged. A really really fun day!

The Liberty Bell and ME!

The home of the maker of the 1st American flag, Betsy Ross

Rath & Bezzina

Philly!

The Final Countdown

Time is tick tick ticking away from my year in New York and being off work this week allowed me the chance to enjoy a few little things in and around the city. I got to have lunch with my GW1103 Kim and Laura (It's Sam's turn on Monday), catch the Staten Island Ferry again, see the Pepsi-Cola in LIC, go to the New York Transit Museum (lots of fun old trains to see!) and complete my New York subway experience by riding the final line on my list - the G train!

I can nearly feel the goodbye tears...

Staten Island Ferry

Old Style Subway Map

The G Train

Laura goes to Texas...soon!

The Long Island City Riverfront

US Open

Today was the 9th day of the US Open Tennis and the first time I have seen live professional tennis. The observant amongst you may remember my posting from Veteran's Day (November last year) when I went up to Flushing Meadows and was outside the complex where they hold the championship. Any takers?

We saw three games; one men's doubles and two men's singles, played to their completion inside Arthur Ashe Stadium: -

• Hanley/Ullyett (5) beat Melo/Sa 7-5, 6-3
• Moya (17) beat Gulbis 7-5, 6-2, 6-7, 6-4
• Djokovic (3) beat Monaco (23) 7-5, 7-6, 6-7, 6-1

A throughly enjoyable day in the glorious sunshine (baking heat), which resulted in a little bit (a lot) of sunburn and a lot of smiling faces (burnt smiling faces).

Welcome to the US Open!

Flushing Meadows as seen from Arthur Ashe Stadium

Inside Arthur Ashe Stadium

NYC as seen from Arthur Ashe Stadium