Our adventures in the big apple !

We were so excited to arrive in the big apple! It would be the end of our g adventures tour which of course we were excited about and we were both so excited to explore this amazing city together! I had been once already but soooo wanted to experience it all with my lukee. Our first night was spent in a ymca just 10 blocks from times square it was a Great location and within easy walking distance of everything. The guide "dil dil!" Had booked everyone into tiny twin rooms with bunk beds! Even tho he knew there was two couples on the tour ! We had to pay extra for a double room which really annoyed us as when we booked the tour we paid for a double room! We went up to our room and just chilled for a bit before going to times square! 

When we set off for times square it was a nice temp and a little cloudy, half way there the heavens opened and it rained...hard! We stopped at grand central station i lived it here it was such a grand a beautiful place. We were nearly there so continued on....running most of the way! We hadnt bought our water proofs out with us so were getting quite wet! And when we arrived to times square it was such a night mare, it was so packed as it was memorial day weekend and as it was raining everyone had there brollies up we had to play a ducking and diving game to avoid getting our eyes poked out! We went in to toys r us as i was looking for a few things for my chester and it was so busy! I was so dissapointed for luke for his first impressions of times squares and new york, it was dark, raining and very busy, not like the first time i experienced it and it was lovely and sunny! We went to the disney store & hersheys & a few other places but eventually went back to our accomodation got a pizza and just chilled, we couldnt wait to leave tomorrow and go to the accomodation that we had booked ourselves it would mean we would finally be away from the group and the tour and never have to deal with any of them again! 

The next day we met jasmin in the lobby and we shared a taxi to our hotels we paid $6! Bargain! We were so excited to be on our own again! We were staying at a hostel called "equity point" which used to be hotel 41, it was right on times square litrally! And we had booked a double room with ensuite! We just stored our luggage for now as we couldnt check in until 2pm and then went off to explore this great city!

We hadnt quite decided where we would go today so just took a wonder, it was a nice day :) we first went to M & M world !

 I was trying to find my dad these particular flavour m & m's....birthday cake! But couldnt find them, however we did meet blue m & m! Next we went to centuary 21 a huge cheap designer department store just to see if we can find some cheap bargains! We was in there a good couple of hours! And it was so nice not being in a rush and just being able to browse! I just got a bra, i was been wearing the same selection of bras for ten months and they were looking very sorry for themselves! Time for a new one! And luke got some socks and pants! Nothing exciting just a few things we needed! We then spent some times just walking in and out of the streets that just had the typical town houses you see in new york! it was quiet and very pretty :) it was then time for lunch and we decided we would get a picnic style lunch to eat in central park, i really wanted to explore central park as hadnt been able to before and it was such a nice day for it :) we found this great cafe/salad deli got a few snacks and set off for the park, it was quite busy as it was memorial Weekend but what a nice atmosphere :) we found a lovely spot and just relaxed for an hour. We then decided just to wonder in the park and see where we ended up! It was a great walk and we saw some beautiful views of the city....

Eventually we found ourselves out of the park and back in the city where we spent some time just browsing in the shops....and taking pics of the skyline. I was so pleased luke was enjoying himself and getting to experience this great city at its best :) 

We headed back to our hotel it was around 5pm by now and we had arranged to meet jasmin for a farewell dinner, we were so tired but really wanted to chat and say bye to jasmin now that we had finally finished the tour! We quickly showered amd then met jasmin...we hadnt decided on a place for dinner so just wondered through a very busy times square! And found a lovely bistro type restaurant opposite m and m world. We all had burgers and they were lovely ! The only thing that wasnt lovely was the $11 compulsary tip they added on at the end! It was quite sad saying goodbye to jasmin :( we had really enjoyed her company while we were on the tour, she said we could visit her in germany! Which we really wanted to do :) so you never no! Maybe on another adventure!

The next day we had tickets for lady liberty :) i was so so excited ! We woke up early and got on a early metro down to battery park, i didnt really have the chance to properly look and take in everything like i wanted to last time so was looking forward to spending more to exploring today, i was also very excited as we had tickets up to lady libertys crown! Something i never thought we would be able to do! Luke was excited to go up to the crown and also to see lady liberty herself! It was a lovely sunny cloud free day we were very lucky :) 

When we got there we went straight to the crown entry point, we had to go through security and look our bags away in a locker we had to pay for which really irritated us! Our first stop was the museum which was really interesting, we then had the oppourtunity to go to the pedastal, which was quite narrow and if i am honest a bit of a nightmare with the amount of people that were there! But still a good experience, we then were directed to the stairs that took us to the crown! We had already walked from the bottom to the pedastal as the lift que was huge! And now we had to walk up to the crown! I think i underestimated how small the inside of statue of liberty was! And these stairs that take us to the crown were only around a foot wide! And it was a tiny spiral staircase and it was bloody steep ! As we started walking up the stairs i was begining to worry about how i was going to get down! As many of you know stairs and me do not mix and my ankles simply cannot take anymore trauma! Plus i hate small spaces and was sweating due to anxiety ! So it was quite a journey! And when we finally got to the top we were over welmed by how small this place was! You litrally got to the crown werent really able to move alot and there was around 2.5 meters of room to walk from the stairs that take you up to the stairs that took you down! It was unbelievably small! But we took a few pics and then started the slow journey down! I walked backwards as it was so steep it was making me feel funny walking down facing the stairs! Plus it was safer for me to go down backwards! 

When we got out we were on a viewing point on the pedastal which gave us some great views of lady liberty! 

We had a audio tour included in our ticket so got them and started to walk around, it was nice and very informative, we spent around 3 hours with lady liberty and then went over to ellis island. Another place i didnt really get to explore much here last time so it was great being here with luke so we could explore together. It was so interesting. We decided after a while we needed to get back to the mainland and see the other things we wanted to see.

The first place we headed to was the wall street bull! We had a pic with that....

We then headed over to the 9/11 memorial site, you didnt need a ticket for this now it was a open public park it was really busy which was a shame as its a lovely memorial and nice to just sit and think about why its there etc but it was so busy you didn't really feel you could do that. But i was glad we had visited together. Next was centuary 21! Now this is a bigger and better one then the other one, but we knew our budget was tight so knew we wouldnt be buying a lot. We was in there for 3 hours! I got two more bras and socks and luke got a pair of swim shorts as his were knackered! And two tshirts, as most of his tshirts had holes in! We were very good i think and just got a few bits for a good price! We were by this time pretty knackared and wanted to go back! We asked a local about the nearest metro and he walked with us to the metro as he was getting it aswell! Which was nice of him! He chatted to luke about english football! We got back and i cant even remember what we had for dinner! I think we just got something from walgreens and then crashed out! What a tiring but great day :)

The next day we decided we would go to the arc monument, iron building, empire state building and macys! We got the metro down to the arc, which was near NYU and was like a much smaller version of the arc in paris! And there was a fountain there also which made for nice pics!

We then walked towards the the flat iron building which was really nice to see up close :) and it was also something luke really wanted to see.

It was then onto the empire state building :) it wasnt overly busy but a but busier then we would like! We enjoyed reading all the info about the building of the building if the empire state building! And then went out to the viewing platform! The que was long to get from 82nd to 86th floor so the staff allowed some to walk it to save time! So we walked it! Again we were really lucky to have a sunny day :) as rain was predicted! The views were stunning and again we got some great pics :)

It was lunch time after this and we had found a great place that sold salad and hot food buffet, you just fill up a container of what you want and pay per lb! It was great :) and very scrummy! We then took ourselves to macys! Not for anything inparticular just to browse! Luke just got a designer jumper for $10! We didnt buy anything else! We was feeling quite tired so headed back, we showered and then went out for a wander in the evening. We went to forever 21 which is a huge cheap clothes shop mostly for woman but has some guys stuff in to! Most of my clothes didnt fit anymore and a few tops had holes in and were stretched and faded from wearing them loads of times! So for $40 i got 4 tops, 4 skirts and 2 trousers! So so cheap! And i threw away my other clothes so didnt gain anymore extra weight for the case! And barely spent any money! Perfect! That evening we just got pizza which was $5 from the 7/11! So so cheap and it was nice! And started the packing! we were feeling tired from all our antics in new york :) 

The next day we had a rest in the morning and spoke to family over skype & facetime and then decided we would just go out in the afternoon/evening and look in some shops and just have a wonder! We headed over to the rockafeller center to have a browse and then onto a few other places before just heading back to finish the packing. We were leaving for florida tomorrow and were excited for this next part :) 

We had such a great time in new york exploring together, luke thought times square was pretty busy....however we were there memorial day and fleet week! And he thought the landmarks...lady liberty was smaller then the tv makes it look but overall he loved new york city! Probly not as much as i love it but enough to visit again! Another adventure to plan! He loved the shopping just as much as me! He got some pretty unbelievable bargains! And agrees its defo worth returning even if just for a shopping trip! So i am Super pleased! As new york is my absolute fave city! Love love love it! I just hope we can return within the next few years! 

We are so excited to now be going down to florida! Down to my fave place on earth....disneyworld! And a place where we can finally feel like we are on holiday! 

Concluding our cross country america tour....

This tour was the tour we were most looking forward to and also was the most expensive of our travels! We love the states and american life and were excited to explore the different parts of america we hadnt seen and experience, & the difference in culture across this diverse country. 

We had booked this tour with the rest of the other tours back in 2012 with g adventures it was just over 3 weeks long mostly camping with 5 hotel stays. We were doing the tour in may so thought it would be sunny in the day and colder at night, we had a pair of thick trousers each and a jumper we thought this would be enough! We were wrong! 

I think everyone will be aware by now we were dissapointed with the tour. Many things contributed to our disappointment, mainly being the guide! the group also contributed to our disappointment and the locations we camped. The tour itself and the places we visited were great, we had picked this tour due to the amount of places we would see in such a short space of time and we saw a lot. That unfortunately was the only good thing :( we enjoyed seeing these places and everytime we arrived somewhere new we would do things on our own without the group or with our friend jasmin which is why we enjoyed them so much! But unfortunately the locations we camped were uneven and rocky & we were always a long way from town so more often then not we had to rely on the guide for information and lifts, the group were so young and clueless (not all....but most!) this isnt g adventures fault however we felt the guide could have made some situations better had he had more experience and this would have made the trip better on some level! The guide himself.....i could quite litrally write an essay on everything he did or didnt do as a guide. He was just awful and i hate saying that as i feel guilty for him! (Thats just my nature!) But the bottom line is we paid alot for the tour and he is getting paid to do a job he isnt doing! Just so you get the picture....He gave us no info on the places we went to, the food he was suppose to prepare and we would "assist" cooking was shocking, he didnt once cook and the meals he bought for us to cook were diabolical! He drunk everynight until early hours and then drove us all day to the next location, we visited roswell (famous for ufo sitings!) and we got taken to the zoo!...the list really does go on....needless to say i am on the case for a refund! I believe its our right to get some kind of a refund as a lot of the things that were suppose to be included were not! i also feel the tour was misold and the guide wasnt yet experienced enough to do the job he was getting paid to do! When we return i will sit down with my mum and we will write this letter together and believe me it will be long and i WILL get the outcome i want! Its not just about a refund its also about making things better for future groups that will have the same problems. Watch this space!

The other thing that made the tour less enjoyable was the snow! No one is at fault here as you cannot help the weather! But it was minus degrees and the tents provided were not suitable for that temp we feel a different form of accomodation should have been used on those awful nights even if it was one room we all share it would have been better and warmer, i have asthma and spent the best part of 2 weeks having a cough due to the temp and i feel that the guide should have been thinking about other forms of accomodation for the health of the group if not for anything else! Even if it was just for a couple of nights! Sleeping in the snow was no fun and having ice inside of your tent was even worse :( its a shame it snowed as i really quite enjoyed the camping experience :) having camped alot as a Child with guides and brownies i was quite looking forward to it! 

Overall, we enjoyed the sights and different places we visited, but unfortuately will not be recommending the tour to others or g adventures. We really feel quite angry about the whole experience and spent most of the latter part of the tour wishing the days away and counting them down :( and it was actually quite sad :( we still feel angry about it now but feel a bit of relief that its all over and we just want to concentrate on enjoying the last part of our tour and not think about it again until we get home! One good thing about this tour is that we made a good friend "jasmin" she really helped to keep us sane on this tour! And we had a lot of laughs with her! Maybe one day we will jet off to germany to visit her :) its defo on the list :))

The capital city....Washington DC

Since my last blog post we have been to Nashville and Appalachia but we did sod all there as we have been arriving past dinner time most days and it seems the group cannot get the concept of leaving at a Certain time, they must hear a different time to us! And as a result we leave late everyday, two inparticular decide its best to ask everyone if they can put some toast on for others rather then putting down there own tent so they are always the last and latest where ever we go! It was really getting on our nerves! So most of the group went out on the nights we were in the above places drinking, including one night where some of them including the guide got back at 5.30am! And he had to drive us all at 9am and that was one of the longest drives! We was fuming how bloody stupid and irresponsible can you get! 

On the way to washington we stopped at a national park called "shenandoah" we had a picnic here and made a few picture stops. It was here we saw a wild black bear! It was very exciting ! It wasnt to far away from us so i got some really good video footage! And when everyone went back to the van me and luke stayed for a few more minutes and it pounced to get a bird! It was so lovely seeing a wild bear, we was very happy.

We were now on the way to our last camping destination....washington DC! We could not wait :) the journey getting here was really really loooong ! Well it felt long but was only about 5 hours, but being in the bus was really getting to us, and having to listen to the same country music for 5 days was  making me want to burst my own eardrums ! Not only that, about an hour from the camp ground we were stuck in traffic and the little girls sitting at the front decided to put on some really appaling music up really load and sing and dance to it! After being stuck in this van for the best part of 3 weeks i can assure you it had passed the point of being able to ignore it and look away! It really was like being on a school trip and we were the adults! We had well and truly had enough. Just picutre this.....struck in grid lock traffice having already been on the bus for hours, listening to a indian version of the pussycat dolls song "jai ho" on loud! With all the girls dancing and shouting! I feel i neednt say anymore!

We arrived after what seemed like an eternity in traffic! And we just immediately put our tent up and retreated there! I also went for a wonder to reception to get some info on the buses to the city and maps etc, dylon hadn't given us any info yet and we wanted to plan our day, luckily we went up there and looked as we had to get a metro card which is like a oyster card, the buses take cash but its cheaper with a metro card but the trains only accept these cards and the place we were staying were selling them for $10, $2 for the card and then $8 credit ! It was the best deal as buying them at the station was more expensive ! So me, luke and jasmin got ours ! We did not want to rely on dylon for nothing. It was the groups last dinner together....like we really gave a shit about that ! and yet again the group that was cooking had let the 18 year old decide what to cook, and so we had a traditional german meal which was pasta with tiny pieces of ham with egg in it! And she added tiny pieces of peppers for the vegatarians! Yes that its.....plain pasta, no sauce, no salad, a tiny bowel full of dry pasta! How can it be we have paid for most of our meals and get a Tiny bowel of pasta....dry! If he insists in letting the groups do the shopping he should at least check theres enough food for everyone and have some input to make sure its a adequate meal! Its hard to cook for 13 people let alone ensure you have enough food! Basically it was shit! After dinner and before we went out at 20.30 dylon  decided to take this chance to give us some info for the next day.....he said he would leave at 9am to take people to the arlington cemetary and then drop them at the mall and then arrange a group dinner but he didnt know a time or place yet so if you werent going to go with him you basically wouldnt be going to dinner! He also gave a Bit of info on the public tranport but no where near enough info for you to feel confident to go on your own! I am so glad we went up to reception to get some info as they were so helpful, and also the reception shuts at 8pm so anyone that wanted a metro card for the next day would be fucked! So so useless! However we knew the group would play follow the leader and go with "dil dil!" As they called him!

 ....putting up the tent for the last time.

 Dylon was taking the group to the lincoln memorial that evening as it looks different at night, we didnt really want to go, but we wanted to see it in the dark, we didnt leave until 8.30 and it took 30 minutes to get there! And when we arrived it was absolutely heaving with tours, school trips etc you just couldnt move! Definately what we needed after our "lovely" drive! You just couldnt get a good picture and i wasquickly loosing my temper we had a little wonder but just wanted to go back to camp go to bed and have a day on our own. When we eventually left and got back it was 23.00 and we just went to bed, i had a pretty shit sleep i think i was just mega stress and angry about the days happenings.

Me, luke and jasmin were up and out at 7.30am! Everyone was still sound asleep! We got the 7.36 bus and were very excited about our day without the group and van! It was about an hours journey door to door and our first stop would be the pentagon memorial site. When we got off the train we had to walk half way around the pentagon to get to the memorial, and you were not allowed to take pics anywhere on the pentagon site it was very strict! Luke thought the pentagon was smaller then he imagined, it was quite large in scale but not so tall it also wasnt as guraded as we thought it would be, we didnt see inside tho which i assume is much more guarded, we walked around to the pentagon memorial for 911, we were allowed to take pics here so we took a few.....

Visiting a place like this memorial is quite emotional, it really makes you think about those poor families that have lost there loved ones, there was a few children lost ....3 years of age.... so so sad that they never got a chance at life :( it was really nice what the pentagon had done, its hard to explain but there was a wall and about one meter apart from each other were different years and in a line from them were all the people that had died that were born in that year and each person had a little water feature, its so hard to explain. But a beautiful memorial.

Our next stop would be the arlington cemetary to see the resting place of JF Kennedy and family. When we arrived here it was just starting to get busy with tours, schools etc, so we took a relatively fast walk to the resting place and took some pics but we couldnt really stand and appreciate what we were looking at as there were to many people, but it was nice seeing it, as we walked back down we took a moment to just take in all the fallen soldiers that were buried here, there were hundreds if not thousands and there was even a older couple sitting by a grave obviously mourning what i can only assume was there child. It was very sad and really puts in perspective what the army does for us, and that freedom hasnt always been free....soldiers then and now fought a hard battle for us to be free and we should appreciate it, i just looked on and thought of all the familys of these poor people that are now in mourning for a loved one. Travelling USA had made me understand more of why americans are so patriotic.

As we walked out of the cemetary we passed the group just entering, it was almost 10am! It made us glad did not wait for the group and get a lift with dil dil! As they obviously hadnt left at 9am and they were only just entering the cemetary we had done that and the pentagon and were now going onto the next thing! We decided to walk back to the Lincoln memorial as we wanted to see it in the day. We walked across the bridge and it was right in front of us, is was so beautiful in the day and less crowded, still busy but not so bad ! The washington monument looked great aswell....

We from here decided we would walk to the martin lutha king jr memorial, then to the world war two memorial. Martin lutha king memorial was really nice and had lots of nice words there, there was a school band going to play there at some point as it was going to be memorial day on sunday, so it was a weekend of celebrations, which would explain the crowds! We next went to the world war two memorial where there was also some beautiful words and lovely features.

We were really close to the washington monument so we just went and took a couple of pics but didnt go right up to it, as we got a glimpse of the white house from here and wanted to go and see that, i have got to say it looked pretty small from where we were standing! We went along to the visiter center first and got a couple of leaflets and had a look around, we then went as close as we could to it and we just could not believe how small it was, the movies made this place look huge, it was so small i hope in the pics you see how small it is.....

Having seen quite a lot already and walked pretty far we were ready to eat lunch, so we had a wonder into the town and tried to find somewhere, we wanted a dennys ! But there wasnt one in the city! So we found this other place called..."ollies trolley" it was a old fashioned burger place with really old artifacts in the seating area like a old coke machine, candy floss machine, old rocking horse, old pram and some other bits, we thought it looked nice! Luke ordered a chilli, cheese burger which he said was ok, i ordered large fries to share and a salad which sounded great, but what they seved me was a plate of lettuce with mushrooms! I couldnt believe it and i took it back and they thought i was saying no mushrooms so he proceded to take the mushrooms off with his hands! And then i explained it was missing most of what was advertised.....tomato, onion, carrot, croutons, cucumber! He just started to dump stuff on it! Including the mushrooms he had just taken off! I told them i didnt want it and got a refund! Dissapointed :( oh well we walked on past the old post office and FBI building and towards the national archives.

I really wanted to see the declaration of independence at the national archives, mostly because the film national treasure! We didnt have time to look around everywhere so just went to where the declaration was, we werent allowed to take pics or video either which was a shame, it was Very interesting to read the things around the declaration, we also saw the constitution and bill of rights. Just a shame we couldnt stay there longer, but there was so much to see and do we had to move onto the next thing.

It was 2pm already and we wanted to see some of the museums and jasmin wanted to go to the capitol building, so we split up at this point, as things shut at 5-5.30pm and we were running out of time. Me and luke first went to the air and space museum, which was really interesting, we probly looked at half the stuff in there, we was in there just over an hour so we did pretty well! We read some really interesting stuff on the wright brothers who together basically discovered the art of aviation, we read lots of stuff on the different space missions and the very last thing we saw was a video and read some info on the guy that done the highest freefall in history ! It was quite something to watch.

Next we went onto the national history museum, and i was excited as i thought i would walk in and see a t rex right in the middle of the atrium like in the film "night in the museum!" But when we walked in "rexie" wasnt there! But we were greeted by a elephant! Which i didnt mind! I love natural history museums our planet and all that live there fascinate me so we spent about an hour in here and saw as much as we could. It was around 17.15 when we left and we were so tired, we just wanted to get something quick to eat and get back to camp to rest our aching feet. We went to the ronald regan building food court and were joined by about 300 high school students on their school trips having dinner! Which was nice and just what we wanted! We wanted to get a subway but there was about 50 kids queing! So i got a jacket potato which was gorgeous with cheese, mushrooms and sour cream and luke had a turkey and cranberry sandwich and then we decided to head back.

When we arrived back jasmin was there she got back about 30 minutes before us and the van was there but dylon wasnt, so we assumed he had got public transport so he could drink, another act of a good guide! We just showered, chatted to jasmin and went to bed, we just wanted this last night camping to be over! It was a bit windy tonight so i had to have my hot water bottle! We heard the group come back and they were still up at 1am as i woke up thinking it was morning because i could hear them! We werent leaving until 9am the next day, we just wanted to get up and get to new york! We knew we wouldnt leave at that time, all we knew was we had to get up pack up and make breaky we had been told nothing else! Lets see what happens in the morning!!

We got up early like we normally do and to my horror most of the group were up! I didnt know why this had occurred but just got on with what we were doing! We were made aware that dylon had to check all the tents before they went down so luke swept it and then we put it down after dylons approval! And then made lunch and breakfast. Everyone started to clean everything, like the contaner lids for the boxes the food was stored in, all the utensils just everything, we had no idea what was going on! It hadnt really occurred to us we would have to get everything out of the boxes to re clean it all! We werent made aware of this plan! As usual the group had obviously been told without us there! We helped a bit but we mostly lost all patience and just wanted to leave and get to new york! we set off gone 10am! (An absolute joke!) bring on new york!!

We absolutely loved washington DC city, it had a really nice vibe about it and there was so much to do We loved exploring the city and really want to return to explore more. We feel very lucky to have visited the capital of the united stated of america!

Memphis....visiting Graceland!

On route to memphis we stopped for lunch at a place called "mama hemils" it was southern fried bbq buffet style "restaurant"! It was the oddest buffet we have ever been to! The food was a little odd and it was like being at school, the plastic plates had dividers in! And the plastic tables with plastic table cloth and plastic chairs ! It was all very simple! It was a experience! Not sure we would return! 

We continued to memphis, we were staying at graceland rv park! Right opposite graceland itself! It was great, the campground itself had a different street sign for each row where the rvs were parked and they were all names of Elvis's songs!

We were right next to heartbreak hotel and next to lots of elvis souvenir shops! We quickly set up tent and went out to explore! There was many souvenir shops and a few cafes on the main road, we could of got the shuttle into memphis town but it was already 7pm and the last bus back was 10pm didnt really seem like it would be worth the $20 it would cost to get us there! We were happy just having a browse! All we really wanted to do was visit graceland and we were doing that tomorrow and we couldnt wait. Looking around the shops was great, it was all over priced! But it was great to have a look at it all! I manage to find my sister a present here that i knew she would love (not elvis related!) so was really pleased that i found that! Something unique to that part of america :) and we also just bought a few postcards! We were really lucky to get pictures infront of the gates at graceland when they had shut! They had musical notes and silouettes of elvis and they never close in the day, a few of the people taking pics said they had been waiting 5 days for the gates to close! We also got some good snaps of some other things whilst it was empty! We got back to camp around 8pm, both had showers and chatted and then fell asleep quite quickly ! It was my first night without my hot water bottle! And I felt really warm all night and in the morning! 

We got up around 7.30 and the usual routine i made breaky & lunch and luke put the tent away. We then went to get our graceland tickets at 8.30 ready for the first tour at 9am! Only 6 of us done thetour the  younger ones thought it was to expensive....it was $37 to see everything not just the house but the airplanes, his cars, and 3 others exhibits, so overall not a bad price! We were on a tight budget so it was quite a lot for us, but we knew we wouldnt come here again as you dont really go on holiday to memphis ! You come to see graceland! And its something we have both always wanted to see so it was worth it! We just couldnt understand the others missing it out!

We boarded the tour bus and we entered graceland it was all very organised, we had a audio tour aswell! Graceland is small in comparrison to other rich & famous peoples mansions now days but what a gorgoeous house and very grand in its own way, we couldnt wait to get inside!

When we entered we were dissappointed to discover we werent allowed upstairs, as this was Elvis's private area and it was being kept that way. We first looked at the living room, it was very beautifully decorated for that time and had a huge 15 foot sofa along one of the walls, there was a Baby grand at the end, one of the many he had in the house over the years. There were portraits of him and his dad and other lovely colourful things. Next was his parents bedroom, again very beautifully decorated, it was minimalistic but the decor was very beautiful. We then went to the dining room which had a big table in that was set out as if people would have dinner on it that day! the kitchen was next and this is where there was always something going on, there was a Tv at the end of the room which was always on, all the staff were always busy in here and lisa marie said it was a great place to be.

We headed down to the basement where we were greeted by Elvis's tv room, it was brightly decorated in yellow and navy blue and had 3 tvs, a drinks cabinet and many chairs. Opposite this room was a games room with a pool table and chairs etc the basement is where he would go with his friends to chill out, in the games room it was decorated with heavily patterned fabric! 

We then went to the "jungle room" this wasnt its official name but what it was knicknamed! It had a very different decor to the rest of the house and a waterfall designed by elvis at the end of the room, there was a Huge round chair in the corner which was lisa maries favourite. He entertained in this room.

It was time to explore outside....we first went to his dad "vernons" office which had a couple of desks, pics and other arty things with elvis on them, next little room had just a small model of the house elvis was born and grew up in, then there was a Fire range room! He used this room with his friends as a fire range to let off steam.

Walking further outside and to another room....trophy room.....this was completely filled with awards of his lifetime....best record, most sold, etc etc there was so many! We spent a bit of time in here there was so much to look at and read, so many awards and then there was a section with his outfits ! It was really a great part of the tour. 

...a few of Elvis's awards

....a few of Elvis's outfits!

....the wedding outfits

We went out to the rackett ball building! He had started the building work for this in 1970 and it was finally completed in 1975! He over saw all of the building work and wanted this building to be exactly what he pictured. This room had a bar, weights room, lounge area and where the court used to be there is a huge collection of his lifetime achievements and awards it was amazing how many awards elvis had, it was very over welming they were just everywhere. This building is unfortunately where elvis was found the day he died.

We were coming to the end of the tour and the last stop was the meditation garden and the graves sites of elvis, his twin bother, his mum and dad and grandmother, his mother and him had originally been buried in another location but have been moved to graceland, and as his twin brother couldnt be moved there was a plaque placed in his memory with the others so they were all together at graceland. It was really amazing to be able to see this and read the lovely words on the stones. We had now finished the tour of the house and would go on to see more of the exhibits over the road. It was quite an experience to walk around Elvis's house, quite sad aswell what a great house and family he had, he made many great memories in this house and seemed this was his retreat from all his fame and the place he could be with his family and friends and just be himself, as we worked our way around all the exhibits we realised that in this house he had many laughs and had a lot of fun surrounded by the people he loved.

We made our way to the sincerely elvis exhibit which had his costumes in and had a few tvs in there which were relaying different parts of his life, there was a table cloth in there which elvis and a co-worker had written a contract on over dinner! It was for some shows in vegas ! We then went to his car museum! And this was filled with all the different cars he own over the years and it was so interesting reading about how particular he was with the interior design! When he bought the cars he would then spend a lot more money having the interior redecorated to his specific taste! One car had a gold snake skin roof, others had bright red leather interior! When you first walk into the museum you see a car that elvis had bought priscilla and it was her favourite....

.....a mercedes roadster

There were so many cars in here all very grand, including the famous pink cadillac which is one of his first purchases and stayed in the family for many years it was never sold or exchanged.

There was also as section which had all of Elvis's "toys" go carts, golf buggies, snow mobils and a few other "toys" that elvis and his friends used to race around in the grounds of graceland and quite often they used to take the golf buggys out onto the road and race them! But strangely they never got arrested! There was a old stlye limosine which elvis bought for himself to be chaufered around in and even a tracter which he bought to be used in graceland! He also had a love for motorbikes and had a few of these!

The next exhibit we went onto was the airplanes.....elvis had developed a fear of flying after a flight he once took that nearly crashed and after that he drove everywhere, to all his shows and all rehearsals etc however the pace of driving everywhere could not keep up with the demand of his shows ! And he started taking flights on a small aircraft which he had remodelled to how he wanted it! And then he decided he would purchase a plane, a huge plane.....he bought a old delta passenger aircraft and made it his own calling it....lisa marie....after his only daughter. He bought the aircraft for $250,000 and spent $750,000 remodelling it! He said it was like a second graceland! It had a lounge area, bedroom, bathroom with half bath, bar (with mostly fizzy drinks as elvis did not have a taste for alcohol!) and many other features, it even had gold seat belt buckles! And gold sinks! And elvis used this plane for mostly business and getting to shows but also for occasional personnal journeys! Once he realised that lisa marie had never played in the snow so he flew her to a place in america that has snow so she could play in the snow for 15minutes and then flew back! She also celebrated her 9th birthday on the plane. When the plane came to permanent rest at graceland it took sometime to get it from the airport! about 13feet off each wing had to be cut off to allow it to fit in the roads! It was put back on when it reached it final destination! Many people came to see it be put in its permanent residence. We really enjoyed this plane exhibit and how very interesting it was.

...elvis even had a personal plane number authorised! N880EP!

We only had about 30 minutes left and 2 more exhibits to see! We quickly went to "68 special" this exhibit was about his return to the stage in 1968 after 7 years away, he was spending more time on his acting career which was slowly becomming less popular so he returned to what he loved....singing! And he was welcomed with opened arms, he spent a lot of time in vegas doing many shows. In This exhibit priscilla talks about how nervous he was but once he performed the first few shows he was over the moon at the reception he recieved. 

We then went to the elvis hawaii exhibit we only had about 5 minutes left :( so litrally went in and went out again ! Hawaii was Elvis's favourite place after graceland! He had many holidays here and made lots of memories here with his family there was a family home video on show of a holiday that was taken there it was great to watch.

Elvis was born on January 8th 1935 in Tupelo Mississippi and died August 16th 1977 aged 42 at Graceland, Memphis.The ultimate verdict of death was heart attack however it is thought that prescribed drugs may have contributed to his deah along with ill health. He is regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th centuary and of often referred to as the king. Elvis has left a massive imprint in music history and will forever be remembered.

....this is where elvis, his brother, his mum, dad and grandmother lay to rest ....in the grounds of graceland

We really enjoyed our morning at graceland, we could of spent the day there! It was so interesting and what a great experience we may never get to experience again, it was quite sad walking around his house and trying to imagine him and his family living a happy life there, its sad he was taken so young but so amazing he is forever and will be forever remembered. 

Roswell & carlsbad cavern....

Today we were off to the land famous for UFO sitings ! Roswell! And then to see carlsbad caverns. We were sleeping in the cabin and we had to hand the key in to get our deposit back the office opened at 8am we thought that was fine as we leave at 8am everyday, however this morning we were leaving at 7am! Have no idea why!! But that ment we wouldnt get our deposit back :( we were ready to leave about 6.45 but of course we didnt leave until 7.30! Its just so annoying that you get up early ready to leave at a certain time and have to wait soooo long for others! The people that stayed in the tents said it was the coldest night yet, and dylon said he couldnt feel his toes from about 3am, we should have all shared the cabins i just dont know what the problem was! Oh well we had a half decent sleep! 

We set off at 7.30am and apparently we were leaving early because it was a long drive, when in actual fact it was only around 4.5 hours! We got to roswell around 10.30 and we were excited as we wanted to see some alien stuff....museum, shops and explore, so did some of the others expecially one who had said at the welcome meeting when we were asked what we were most looking forward to he said "roswell for the aliens"....well we didnt get taken to any of the places roswell is famous for .....we got taken.... To the zoo!?!?!?! A group of adults got taken to the zoo!! We couldnt believe it! We dont like zoos, i dont like that the animals are locked up and this one was terrible they had bob cats in a round cage about 4 square meters ....if that, 2 of them and there territorial range is between 5-50 miles! And the roof was like a circus roof pointed and colourful! I hated it and they had bald eagles in a stupidly small cage. Thats all i saw i was so angry. We had stopped here to have lunch..... At 10.30!!! Me, luke and jasmin were fuming, up until this point i was trying not to let him bother me to much but we were so angry! We have come all this way to a place famous for something and we were at the zoo!! I dont need to say much more about it other then it was shit and i was angry! I decided that i needed to say something to dylon as if luke did he would end up shouting at him! So as we approached the van there was only one talking to him so i thought this was a Good time, it was really bothering me and i have learnt not to let things poeple do bother me like they use to i either need to say something or ignore it and i am glad i have adopted this new attitude as it was making me feel less stressed and quite frankly happier! There is no point walking around being angry with someone but saying nothing! Anyway he was doing something in his phone and i asked him if we were going to any ufo museums and he said no, and i said its a Bit odd that we are in roswell and we have come to a zoo!?!? And he said he didnt get the feeling anyone wanted to go there (all the while looking at his phone!) and i wanted to say did you ask anyone!?!? But i didnt i just ended the conversation, it was like talking to a child, how can he base his decisions for the group based on his feelings, i cannot believed he asked no one and then took us to the shittiest zoo i have ever been to!! It was crazy! I later found out that the other couple wanted to go to see the ufo stuff and that most of the group hated the zoo! But did they say anything.....no! And thats why we look like we are moaning all the time and they dont ! Because they are playing follow the leader!! It was stupid.

Moving on.....we continued to carlsbad national park which was the home of the carlsbad caverns and a world heritage site. You could either do the hike down to the caves or get the elevator and have more time to walk around the caves, well me and luke were going to take the elevator and jasmin decided to get the elevator aswell, so he went and got the tickets. And then came out said the people doing the hike come with me and you three you go over there... And just sort of pointed and left he was really shitty, he really hates being confronted and it makes him behave shitty towards us and then a couple of hours later he is over it and nice! Its like witnessing a toddler have a tantrum! Anyway us three went on the 1.3mile walk around the caves which were very similar to the waitamo caves in new zealand but bigger and better, we got some great pics and really enjoyed it, we had a look in the visiter center and then sat in the cafe waiting for the others, if we are honest we were all so fuming about the morning and then the bad attitude he gave us, it was like he had joined the "group" when he was suppose to be the guide! 

We headed to camp and set up real quick, it was our turn to cook, what we were going to cook was suppose to be a group decision but we hadnt been involved! We were cooking sausage and mash ! Which was fine by us but it would have been nice to be asked! Anyway we cook a lot at home and a lot of the group hadnt cooked before so we enjoyed the cooking. There was two vegatarians in the group me and another girl and we were just going to have salad and mash! Dylon said he couldnt find any vegi stuff at walmart! Its not easy to find if you are not looking for it as its always a small section that you can quite easily pass! But the next day i found the section so we could of had vegi sausages and mash! Anyway it was fine it tasted good.

Dylon was taking whoever wanted to go to see the bats fly into the carsbad cave! We were going to go he said there were loads of them but at the last minute changed our mind, it was a relatively warm evening! For a change! And we just wanted to chill, one of the girls doing the washing up really wanted to go so i took over so she could go. We had showers and just chilled in the tent and chatted to jasmin, it was so nice to sit in the tent with my coat off and not be freezing! 

The group came back around 9.20! And they all said it was shit and they saw about 2 bats! So yet again we made the right decision and went with our instincts and made a good decision. We went to bed early, And i was warm enough to wear no coat! But i still had the hot water bottle at my feet! I slept pretty well until around 4.30 when i woke up cold :( but over all the warmer weather was so nice and such a relief from the cold! We left at around 7.50 the next day to start our 800km journey to san antonio and hopefully a less stressful day! 

New Orleans....the french quarter

We had a relatively long drive to new orleans and i was on the front seat which was ok got to listen to my music :) we had a lunch stop and me, luke and jasmin went to taco bell! Me and luke had never been there and it was on the list to try whilst we were in america! And it was so cheap and tasty!

After that it was onto new orleans! And when we arrived at our little hotel in the arse end of no where we were a little dissapointed we thoughht we would be staying at a "proper" hotel! And when we all got our keys there were two rooms that would have to share a bathroom and obviously ours was one of them! We didnt really care we just wanted a double bed! But when we got into our room we were massively dissapointed it was tiny, really dirty like a hostel room and there were two tiny single beds, i was so unhappy :( and luke was just pissed right off we went to the reception to try to change rooms and there wasnt any spare they were full and half the rooms were being renovated, all the other rooms apart from ours and another guys who was above us had two double beds and ensuite ! We couldnt believe it, we were a couple and the rest of the group bar the other couple were all travelling together as friends so sleep in seperate beds had a double each, i was so angry, they said they hadnt been told and to ask someone in the group to swap! I quickly laughed and said no one in the group is that accomodating! I couldnt believed dylon hadnt specified we were a couple! I was so angry and upset, then dylon walked in and we explained our situation, and he asked if we had asked any of the group to swap! I thought to myself  "have you met the fucking group!" All extremely young and would not want to move! At this point one of the girls walked in georgina and she was lovely and she was actually going home tomoz so when she left the girl she shares with would have two doubles to herself! It made no sense! Of course the group wouldnt see it that way as they have no idea what its like to be a adult! Anyway we moved and the room we were now in was lovely and what we would expect as a couple.

....our new orleans hotel

We decided to go for a walk to the main strip of the french quater....and find somewhere to eat. Our hotel was around a 10 minute walk and it was nice to walk and look at all the pretty houses that were also very colourful! When we got to the strip it was heaving.....it was a saturday night! There were people everywhere and already drunk it was only about 18.30! It was so crowded with groups of people drunk, street performers, half naked women, tramps, police.... it was just a big collection of colourful people! To be honest it wasnt really our scene, the smell was awful and everyone was smoking, it wasnt what i pictured! We tried to find somewhere to eat but really struggled finding vegatarian food, we wondered and wondered and wondered, we walked to the end of the strip and it was very roudy there people arguing etc so we walked back along the river, we asked in a information center if there is a cafe or a dennys somewhere in town as by this time we were starving and just wanted something quick and easy! The bloke in the info centre was so offended! He got a bit funny wih us, like why werent we eating in one of the cafes near by! To be honest we were so disinterested in eating in the local cafes it was so crowded and we were so tired, we eventually found a cafe at the start of bourbon street which is the main strip, luke had a 8inch meatball sandwich and i had a cheese bun and we shared sweet potato fries which were really tasty! We headed back after this had a lovely bath and fell straight to sleep! We was so tired! And we slept right through on our lovely double bed! 

We set the alarm for 9.30 and luke went and got me breaky in bed! Bagels, muffins and orange juice! It was just what i needed! Today we were going to make our way to the lakeside shopping mall to try to get luke a replacement phone as his is broke and its still under warrenty. Typical it was a sunday and the buses were only once a hour! When we got to the first bus stop we waited an hour so we must of just missed one :( and then when we got to the next stop we had also just missed one, we had made an appointment and we only had 45 minutes to get there so we decided to walk the second half.....we walked in the wrong direction and got totally lost snd when we asked in a garage where we were, he had no idea he said he was new! Luckily a local guy helped us and called us a taxi thank god, we didnt want to spend money on a taxi i was so annoyed we had to, it was only $16 but that could get us a dinner at dennys! Anyway it doesnt matter the main thing is we got there on time and luke got his phone replaced! They had no idea what was wrong with it but it definately needed replacing ! So he had it replaced but unfortunately because he had a o2 sim card and there were no o2 towers here in the usa he could not find signal :( so he had a phone that he could do everything on apart from make calls, texts and whats apps, at least we got it replaced tho. The journey home was long with lots of waiting but we didnt get lost and stayed on the bus! We got back around 17.30! And just decided we would get pizza and Watch some tv. Our night in new orleans the night before had been quite enough we just wanted to enjoy our own space, bath and watch tv before we started camping for the last leg of our tour!

....just a few of the lovely houses we saw.

We left at 9am the next day....bound for memphis :) we was both really looking forward to new york but were trying not to wish the time away! But the fact is we were fed up of the bus, group (not all!) and guide, and just wanted to start our own travel again, travelling in a group is one of the hardest things of our time travelling! And quite frankly we wont be doing it again! New orleans was ok, not what we expected, maybe it seemed worse as we were there on a saturday night! However in the daytime we saw some lovely houses and really unique things, so .....it wasnt our fave place but we were pleased we visited! 

TEXAS!.....San Antonio & Houston....watching the Houston - Astros play baseball!

Today was our longest drive....around 8 hours, it was going to be a long time in the van! We had sat on the back row of the van yesterday but knew if we did not put our bags on the seats we wanted we would be left with the back again! It seems most of the others didnt get the concept of rotation! And they had been putting there bags in the van early everyday it was so ridiculous it was so funny to watch them behave like this! They will probly look back and cringe at themselves! Did it really matter where we all sat as long as everyone rotated! Anyway we had to stoop to their level and put our bags where we wanted to sit! Jasmin has just said its like when you go on holiday and people get up super early to put there towels on sunloungers and then go back to bed!!  RIDICULOUS!

On the way we stopped for lunch on this great big field with a few houses around it, we had no idea what it was or why we had stopped here which was a shame because it had a lot of history that we knew nothing about, we knew this as there was a visiter center which handed a couple of the girls some info in it but we didnt gett he chance to read it. We had linch snd then s lovely lady came put of her house and asked us if we wanted to see a huge cannon! We wanted to see it! We followed her into her house which looked normal from the outside but when we got in it was so grand! Really high ceilings lots of lovely and very valuable pieces of art work and memoribilia, it was like a museum! When we saw the cannon it was huge and she also had a lovely car in her garage which i fell in love with....it was a Old white cadilac pick up truck which they had restored and it was beautiful, i wanted one! It was great to wonder around this lovely house and we gathered from what she was saying that her house was used as a fort. We wished we had been given more info on this place it looked like it held a lot of interesting history.

Anyway.....it was a long drive and by the time we got there it was about 18.30! We were all really tired and the plan on our tour description was to go into san antonio in the morning to explore the town, but somewhere along the line dylon had decided that we would go into town that evening after dinner! That night ....dinner was going to be steaks, i was calculating in my head and i was finding it hard to see how we would set up camp, cook and eat dinner and wash up and get to town that was 30minutes away! Also san antonio was suppose to be a nice town to wonder around and there was a nice river walk. The thinking around it was that we would then get to houston earlier and go to the nassa museum and the baseball in the evening, which is ok but people would also want to see san antonio in the day light and we were not at each place very long. Its a hard balance but to make everyone happy the plan should be stuck to unless everyone agrees as it causes problems! Also we want to see a snipet of everywhere not completely miss somewhere to get somewhere else quicker. So in the end there was some sort of group meeting that we were not involved in and it was decided we would go in the morning, and it was just aswell as the dinner wasnt ready until gone 9pm it took a while for the steaks to cook! So realistically we would not have been able to go to town!! Had dylon been experienced he would have known this, and i also dont think it was fair he told the whole group we werent going to town because jasmin didn't want to! How unprofessional.

We went to bed after dinner we were so tired travelling in the bus all day was more tiring then you think! We slept all night i had forgotten what that was like! I felt good in the morning, we packed up, made lunch and left for the town.

When we arrived in san antonio town i was so glad we hadnt done this at night it just wouldnt have been the same! It was a really old town full of character and history & it was a lovely sunny day :) we first went to the "alamo" which was a old fort used during a war, it wasnt open until 9am so we continued to walk and came across a shopping center, and after a little search we came across a disney store ! My frozen search is still in full swing! But the shopping center didnt open until 10am! So we went to do the river walk! It only took around an hour.....it was a reallly beautiful walk...and the winding path was empty there was barly anybody around it was great, we took some great pics....

After that lovely walk we headed back to the shopping mall, we had ten minutes before the shops opened, there was already a short que for the disney store forming i had no doubt it was for the frozen stuff! I saw some through the window and it was different to any of the other stuff i saw! But i saw no dolls :( i hoped they were hiding somewhere!

When the doors opened it was like a rush to the tiny frozen stand! Honestly disney ....you need to produce more goods ! Frozen is apparently very popular and there is barely any merchandise and what there is sells out very quickly! I had handed luke my stuff i was ready to grab any kind of frozen doll i could !! .....sounds silly but it was for my millie poppins! And she had asked me personally for these dolls and if you saw her little face and cheeky grin you would be behaving the same! My niece and nephew get anything they ask for from there auntie sarah :) thats what aunties are for :))

....to my horror there was no frozen dolls :( i was so dissapointed :( and the staff said they were getting some first thing in the morning ! I was so gutted.... missed them by one day :( i did not want to go home empty handed my little millie would be so dissapointed :( the search continues!!

After this we still had a hour left so we went back to the alamo to have a Look around, the streets of san antonio were filled with horse and carriages, authentic texan stores and all things you would expect to see in texas!! The alamo was now open but filled with school kids! We had a look around but didnt have the time to read properly about what had actually happened here! We read bits and pieces and it was really interesting. It would be lovely to spend a couple of days here the river walk was so lovely and the paths were filled with lovely restaurants and there was some old fashioned boats that you could take tours on, lots of shopping and lots of historic sites to see. But we had to leave shortly so we just did a quick trip to the post office to get stamps and while we were there luke was reading a FBI board which had faces of criminals that were on the run! It was pretty interesting if a little scary! Last night at our camp site there was a police car and security from the site with there bright search lights searching for someone right next to our camp site! We saw them once and thought not a lot of it and then they returned probly twice more and it was a little scary! We were only sleeping in tents! 

....a few snaps in the city

We boarded the bus and headed towards our next stop.....Houston! We couldnt wait as we may be seeing a baseball game !

We had about 4 hours to houston the journey was ok, we were excited as we were going to see a baseball game tonight ! We set up camp and got ready to go to the game! Me and luke really wanted to see some sports whilst in america so we couldnt wait. 

We were going to watch Houston - astros vs Chicago - white socks! When we arrived we got our tickets...$20 each....not to bad, and went to find our seats, we were quite high up but had a Great view. It started at around 19.15, and lasted around 3 hours. We watched around 45 minutes of it and then we all had hot dogs! Me and luke went for a wonder around half way through, we went to the gift shop and saw some seriously over priced clothes ! As you do at these events! And then i entered a comp to win a car....dodge challenger! And got a free towel for it! I love a freebie! We went back up to our level and went to the tiny gift shop there and there was a clearence section! I had been wanting a baseball shirt for a while but they were so expensive even for a fake one they were dear! And as i didnt really follow the sport i didnt want to pay a lot for the shirt! However it was a proper baseball shirt in the sale....it was last seasons away shirt for the astros! And it was $40 down from $125! It was a mens medium so a little big but i loved it so luke treated me! We had barely been buying anything so it was nice to have a treat! And nice to get a shirt that was relevant to our travels.

We then went to watch the game some more! It was really fun watching the players and the atmosphere was great, and i understood the game ! Which was nice, we got right into it! One of the group showed me a certificate she got for being at her first baseball game! I defo wanted one of those ....so i went and got one for me and luke! More freebies! 

The games was good but unfortunately chicago white socks won! As it was friday evening they had some soft ball players come and compete for who could hit the most balls out of the park! And after that there was some fire works which were pretty good!

What a great night at the baseball! We really enjoyed ourselves and got some great souvenirs! We would defo go watch baseball again! 

We would now journey to new orleans, where we would have two lovely nights in a double bed and be able to spend our days exploring together alone we simply couldnt wait :))