hi everyone

Hi everyone,


sorry for the no updateds we have had some bad luck of recent, but first ill catch you all up.

so after Grand Canyon we headed to Zion after Zion we made our way to Bryce Canyon after bryce we shot upto Sequoia then to Yosemite. after all the parks we had almost gone crazy for real, so we head for the coast and made our way to a small town called Monertery Ca, spending the night there and then headed for San Fransisco. while driving through Santa Cruz a lady looking for a smoke or on her phone one or the other or eve both smashed into the back of our car, i have had a lot of pain since but everyone else is aok. the same day our harddrive with all our photos uptill grand canyon, it crashed leaving us with at least $311 dollar bill to get our photos back then in san fran i lost my Iphone 4 so not fun for me or carly but we made it out alive.

sinice all the fun of that we continued our drive in a rental car upto Portland and camped 2 nights in redwood park, i got really drunk and vomited purple stuff looked really cool for vomit.

we are now currently in Berkeley Ca awaiting a rental car to continue our trip down to San Diego and then back up to San Fran to cathc up with our cool couch surfers.




Jason & Carly Signing Out For older post click link at bottom of the page

Grand Canyon to Zion

 Grand Canyon to Zion.

we finished Grand Canyon and headed out to Zion and tomorrow we will hike it.

the canyon was fun and the hike down was amazing and endless.




Jason & Carly Signing Out For older post click link at bottom of the page

Smoky Mountains

Smoky Mountains.

Day 1.

We picked up the car in Asheville and set out on a drive, a drive that gave us the best leg of our trip. The reason it was so good was just the freedom and the accessibility to everything.

Driving along the freeway, we passed a prisoner bus just funny you can see the photo,

Once we arrived in Cherokee NC, we headed to the Information Center to get maps and ideas of what we would do while in the mountains.

After the Information center we headed to where we would camp for the next 3 nights, in Cades Cove. The drive to Cades cove was one of the most amazing drives anyone could experience, especially with the sun hitting it and it just created a whole world that could be mistaken for a magical land of wonder. It was beautiful and I think that if you ever get a chance to drive it then it’s a MUST, it took us about 3 to 4 hours from the information center which is on the out skirts of the Smokies. It was a very long drive with the roads like long stings of spaghetti, the twists and turns.

Wild life in view while driving we almost ran over a copper head snake, once we arrive in Cades cove we set up camp and headed to the cades cove scenic route sort of things. They have a one way road that takes you in to a heart of wildlife, while driving we came across White tail deer, Wild turkey and Black bears. You knew about it if someone in front had seen a bear because there would be about 20 cars stopped. We first saw our bear up in a tree, then one just walking around but the last was the funniest, Carly got out of the car and went looking to see what was up because people group up and there is no point getting our for a deer, this young guy told her to look over here and the bear was only about 5 meters in front of her with her cub, they started playing and Carly came running back to the car.

Later that night as the sun set we saw another bear walking back to his home I guess I don’t know what it was doing.

Day 2.

We went to hike our first trail in the mountains, it was a waterfall, when we arrived to the fall we saw there was a track that continued up more so we decided to continue on walking.

After about 25 minutes of walking, we stopped for water I turned around and saw a bear looking at us he was 5-10 meters behind us, I guess he was intrigued in Carly but guess she would be as difficult to eat, so he went on and continued in a different direction.

Next we went into Gatlinburg, Tn to get some supplies for the next 2 nights, after that we decided to hit the rainbow falls trailhead. This trail was the most difficult trail I have ever walked I went into it tired and with a headache but because Carly only has a little bit of nurofen I wasn’t allowed to have it, we hit this 3.9 mile track and it was up hill and it wasn’t a clear path, but it was a very nice trail, we saw chipmunks so it was cool I also saw a woodpecker like woody.

Day 3.    

This was the best trail head we did and the most beautiful trail, b Falls was a 2.9 mile trail and at the end was a big waterfall and the best little pool I guess.

I swam in the water it was refreshing after the 1 hour and 40 minute walk in the stinking hot.

After this we headed to Clingmans dome the highest point in the smokies, once we arrived the sound of thunder that came every day was loud and you could feel it as we walked to the tower this cloud just came over and it began to rain heavy. We got back to the car and saw the lightning strikes the mountain it was cool.

Day 4.

We moved to a new camp site closer to Cherokee and we drove to Cataloochee, Cataloochee was where they re-released Elk into the wild and it was an amazing part of the part the drive took 3 hours to get there the roads were on the edge of a clip and gravel. When we arrived we just sat there and relaxed in an amazing valley, I got to chat with a park ranger for an hour and learnt about the park and its history.

Jason & Carly
Signing Out
For older post click link at bottom of the page

Austin

Austin.

Short but sweet, our stay was fun.

Austin was a fun trip we surfed (couch) again so we got to do some cool stuff.

On the first night we headed out to see the bats under the bridge it was crazy how many fit under there.

The second day we walked the city and then went out for dinner to the best pizza place I have been to in America, the pizza was amazing the best so far ill put it in the food tab.

Then on Sunday morning we went to Church with our hosts it was really fun, then we  chilled out at the springs in Austin is was so refreshing, the water was so crisp and a good break from the heat, While basking on the bank at the springs people had drums and other instruments playing music with hula hoop people, hippies. The music they played was so good, all the elements played well that afternoon, we laid under a big tree and its shade  as a breeze wheel around and cool us from the warm air, with the sound of the bongos, drums, instruments and the sound of the wind rustling the leaves on all the trees it was a great afternoon.

Then today we had to catch the bus to Salt Lake City 1 day and 8 hour ride, as we waited for the bus to arrive a man come over and explains that our bus was canceled so the next one would be in 35 minutes. This made it so stressful for Carly and I we had to made two connections to arrive in SLC by the time we had told our surfer and the way the said it was going to be for us was adding another 10 hours to our trip so we got angry for no reason. When we arrived by luck the bus we needed to catch had been boxed in by other buses so he was running late to we made our connecting bus to Denver from Dallas.

 



Jason & Carly
Signing Out
For older post click link at bottom of the page

Dallas

Dallas.

Day 1.

Hot, fun and the start of the WEST of USA

When we arrived in Dallas we had to chill for a little while for out host to return home from work, we then got acquainted with Travis’s dogs and Travis (our host).

For dinner I was told to try buffalo wings (I cant remember the proper name but its along those lines) and give there 9 hot wings challenge a go, well a challenge he said.

We headed down there for dinner and its good for a food chain, well I didn’t do the challenge the waitress talked me out of it, but I did decide to try the hottest wings they had, now let me explain the feeling when you let something that hot enter your body, it doesn’t always agree with you and it can get very uncomfortable.

After the first bite it really wasn’t hot and I didn’t really understand the big fuss, but as soon at that sauce hit my lips that was the end of it all. I never in my life had experienced something that hot and the scary thing was the challenge wings, she said where about 3 times hotter and my wings were incredibly hot

I love hot and spicy food within reason, when Travis saw me eat the wing he said that it didn’t look hot, I guess my tolerance level was a lot higher than his because he decided to give the wing ago, after this moment Travis would go down as one of the funniest moments on our trip. I told him that the hottest part was the sauce on your lips so he tried to eat with out getting it on them but it didn’t work, Travis’s face went from normal to very distressed and red haha, then it hit him hard and words just can not describe a great moment of such degree.

After then we chilled at his house for the night.

Day 2.

Today was more about seeing the city, we walked around seeing what we could, but the highlight was JFK assassination spot, where he got shot. We got to see where he was hit with 2 bullets X marked the spot on the road.

Day 3.

Today was all about shopping, we just needed some new nics and nacks for the new and hotter part of America, and plus when everything is so cheap its hard not to buy so this was our first shopping trip so we made a day of it.

Day 4.

WOOO, this was our best and worst day in Dallas, how to put it, well first Carly I guess would have almost hated the whole day, today was the Dallas Mavs parade, with an estimated 250,00 people attending it was going to be big.

We got up early to get in early, but it wasn’t early enough, we arrived at 8:50am and it was packed. words again will not be able to explain the amount of people, only photos can. we couldn’t find a good spot so we walked and about 40 mins later we found a spot and it was 9:30 and the parade didn’t start until 10. It was very exhausting the heat reaching between 30-40 degrees that day, it was 28 at 10am and we had been just standing with hundreds of people surrounding us. It was just so hot under the sun and with the bodies around you it was not a good mix, but the Mavs came and went so quick that it was ok. We got a great spot right next to the fence, as soon as I went to take photos I found out I hadn’t deleted the photos from yesterday and the card was full so it wasn’t fun haha.

We saw the whole team and go to experience it all and see them so close it was amazing.

But the bad hadn’t started yet, we decided to get some lunch because the trains were so full that we couldn’t get on for a while. When we got back it was even worse, 3 trains passed, it was so full by the time it got to our stop nobody could get on, so I said lets jump on the same line but going in the other direction and catch it up the line. It was 7 stops almost before people were clear, we got on the line we needed then as soon as we got downtown it filled up like we had seen.

We expected it to take along time so we didn’t pay any attention until the train came to a stop underground, people started to get very on edge about not moving and the fact the conductor hadn’t filled us in. we just sat and waited, then a power outage really brought it to a new level for everyone, not for us though I mean we were used to it from Melbourne’s trains but people were screaming, children crying it became very intense very quick. With still no clue and but the power had returned we all started trying to decide what was to do, people calling the conductor with the emergency asking for information, it had become very hot and air was stuffy, so people started panicing for those reasons it in a way for us it was very comical don’t ask.

We had a lady almost pass out behind us and I had seen people getting off so I told the people next to the doors on each side to open the doors to get the people off. The lady needed to get people out of her face. What made it worse the train was on a very big tilt so it raised concern for people as well. Once off the train people filled with high emotions for the fact they had gotten of the bus started singing.

All in all it was a fun experience but not for all there was a lady (that was apparently   pregnant) that had suffered from the heat underground with no ventilation, she couldn’t keep down the water given to her, and she face was so red it wasn’t good even if she wasn’t pregnant.

It made front page of the news the next day so that’s cool.

Tomorrow we headed to Austin Tx, surfing with hosts 

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Passengers-on-halted-DART-train-talk-of-confusion-124050709.html
Just Watch and it will come up about 2 minutes into it. 

 


Jason & Carly
Signing Out
For older post click link at bottom of the page

Cleveland

Cleveland.

Well Cleveland brought new fun for this road trip, we didn’t do anything touristy, instead we chilled with our host Liz, and it was really fun being able to just chill and we did what her and her friends do during our stay and it was awesome.

We got to see the baseball, which sucked because the Indians got thrashed, Boston had like 7 home runs in the first innings so I guess it was fun because when we saw NY Yankees the game went for like 4 and half hours and it was boring. This game was fast and big hits are always good I guess. We went out and had fun at the Lake, Liz jumped in fully clothed but she was intoxicated haha but in such a funny way. Then we went to her bar and chilled there, after that was my first chance to drive while on this trip in her new Forester and the car is a good drive haha and it was a funny drive back to Liz’s house.

Cleveland holds some fun stories and it’s a beautiful city besides the people who hated me for getting hammered drunk and chanting for MIA to beat Chicago they just didn’t like Lebron but it was one of the best nights I’ve ever had and in a way made up for my shit 21^st.

 


Jason & Carly
Signing Out
For older post click link at bottom of the page

Update Post

Update Post

4 post will come soon i hope, we are currently still in Texas i think about 5 hours the border then we transfer in Denver and head to Salt Lake City, Ut we are 10 hours and only 22 hours to go.

up coming blogs.
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas 
Austin

the bus ride so has been fun with the lighting show we had for about an hour, and with the sun set in the distance. tomorrow we will be couch surfing in SLC for 2 nights then hopefully make our way out to Arches NP we hope it all works out. After Arches we will be heading down to Grand Canyon to meet up with our Road Trip friends and start a car trip for around 3-4 weeks.  


Jason & Carly
Signing Out
For older post click link at bottom of the page

Updates

 Places we have been:

New Orleans
Orlando
Miami
Atlanta
Savannah
Tybee Island
Myrtle Beach
Washington D.C
Philadelphia
New York City
Boston
Montreal
Buffalo
Toronto
Niagara Falls
Cleveland
Chicago
Indiana (Gary)
Nashville
Knoxville
Asheville
North Carolina
Smoky Mountains

New Updates
Buffalo
Toronto
Niagara Falls
Nashville/Knoxville/Asheville
 
Jason & Carly
Signing Out
For older post click link at bottom of the page

Nashville Knoxville Asheville

Nashville.

Hot and it only got hotter.

Arriving in Nashville was simple our hostel was close and Nashville downtown was close, it was really as simple as that.

We spend 3 nights there so we did the walk around down town and saw the sights we need to see and enjoyed Nashville for what it is, a Big city in a small town. The hardest part was walking in the heat under the Tennessee sun.

It was really good to meet up with Lucy again we put up a Couch needed request and she saw it there and contacted me. We all meet up and we got to meet her host and Vitor a surfer from Brazil on a great mission around America.

There was an invasion of secators, they were everywhere I mean like hundreds everywhere you stepped you would kill at least one, but the trees were covered in them.

The hostel was filled with Australians so it was cool to hear the terrible accent we have haha. The heat in Nashville is outrageous, it was 33 but felt like 100 the humility was I think 115% so it was just so stuffy everywhere, lucky for us the hostel was air-conditioned.

The hostel was such a pain, it was just not very organized with some of the check-ins so we didn’t get to sleep past 7am any day because of the check in problems.

Day 1. An older man checked in at 7am, the worker came in the room almost yelling then, was like ooo theres people in here, still yelling almost, next she didn’t tell him to wait to unpack and get your bed ready, he just jumps in the room unpacks himself making almost as much noise as possible.

Day 2. Night, first the older guy (age 50, really) went to sleep and our heads were no less then half a meter apart from one another, which created the worst night sleep for both of us. When we came to bed the man was snoring, now this wasn’t normal snoring it sounded like he was chocking a pig or like he was chocking on food, it just was so loud. Carly decided to have a little fun or more so she could sleep she shined a bright light in his eyes, it then woke up went to the bath room then he sat on his bed, Carly thought he was plotting to kill her for waking him up.

Next after the shit start to the night, 3.30am, 4 guys checked in to the room drunk and screaming not yelling, they then kept the light on for 45 minutes, it even woke sleeping beauty next to us.

Day 3. At 7.30 am they started to mow and wiper snipper the lawn out front and it just kept us up, it was funny I went out to see what he was doing and to my pleasure the secators were attacking him, they would fly at him while he was cutting the lawn it was very funny to see.

We didn’t get to experience Nashville to its fullest dues to cost, I found it very pricey compared to the other tourist hot spots we have visited.

After plans that we had in mind didn’t go to plan, we had to decide what to do next if we should rent a car and drive to the Smokies or bus it down to Knoxville and rent a car from there, we ended up going down to Knoxville.

Knoxville.

Arriving we were hosted by the coolest people in the South, they ended waiting to pick us until 11.30pm, after Greyhound stuffed us over and we got stuck waiting 8 hours in the terminal at Nashville waiting for our bus.

We went home and had one of the best sleeps so far, after the lack of sleep at Nashville, though the next morning we did have to get up at 7am to head out because Kami and Mark were taking band photos, so we got to take a look down town.

We came across the sun sphere, I was then explained to by Carly it was a wig storage in the Simpson’s episode.

After the photos, we headed out for some Tennessee BBQ from Famous Dave’s (food tab) and had some amazing pork ribs.

After that we went back to Kami’s house and I got to listen to their band practice it was so good their band is, I think we decided on Alterative/folk and it was so good, check them out Thickfin.Kami and Mark also have a side project and its great as well( Archaic smile).

For dinner we met marks brother Adam and his partner, we had a 3 couse dinner all fondue based and boy was it good. Our first was bread, olives and a couple of other bits and Cheese, second was shrimp and beef and last was Bananas, marshmallows strawberries and brownies dipped in chocolate.

The next day we were going to stay one more night but decided to hit the road and get a rental car, I didn’t book it the night before but I saw that there were heaps there so I didn’t stress, then when I woke up in the morning there was nothing within 2 hours that had any rental cars, so we did our research and had to figure out where and how we would get the smokies done.

We found that Asheville had a car so we booked a night and a car, so now we are heading to Ashville for the night.

Ashville.

  

We got to Asheville stayed for the night and then picked up our car and drove to the Smokies.

 


Jason & Carly
Signing Out
For older post click link at bottom of the page