Today could have been the third passage through NYC but Alias decided it was going to be the abduction! Thats a title that attracts an audience J.
And three is a charm! Today we visited the Empire State Building, it wasnt abducted or anything ;). We went early in the morning (and afterwards were very glad we did There was a huge line on the way back!) And saw NYC like you can otherwise never ever see 86 stories high! 360° view!!!! Super! Did one round with my normal lens, one with the telelens J
After that we went the museum of modern art! Nice museum, right in the heart of the financial district! Very nice neighborhood wirh Saint Patricks Cathedral squeezed right in to the middle.
And then we were off to the US-open!!!! Ok ok , the real tournament hasnt started yet, but the qualifiers are playing AND its free J And we saw . Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse! Anda match of Ruben Bemelmans! He played well, we supported like true Belgians, but he unfortunately lost, although in our minds he won J.
The pictures will have to come later The batteries are flat of the cameras Therefore sadly also no pictures of the tennis, unless you count the few crappy ones with the cellphone!
Today was the second passage through NYC And it started with sunshine!!!! First we visited liberty and Ellis island, no visit inside the statue though L you have to reserve it 2 months before your visit :s!
But it was nice from the ground too, and a very nice view of the New York sky line Then the Brooklyn bridge was up! Walking above water and cars Its something different!
After that we intended to go to the empire state building, but it was a crappy metro connection so we decided to do the chrystler building first After running past it :p It not recognizable from below, we realized were in its basement when exiting the metro station, on the ground floor there is some wonderful architecture but you cannot go any further as they are all offices.
And then it was off to the hotel, after a refreshning shower I took a long walk in Central park around the lake, and played with my camera and the sunlight
So today the first real day in NYC! We started our morning like a lot of New Yorkers and has breakfast at star bucks!
After that we went to the Amercian Natural History Museum But we were too early, but as it lies next to Central Park that wasnt really a problem J Only downside it was pouring rain So also a hunt for an umbrella was opened!
Then we returned at the correcttime to enter the museum! We saw some nice space related exhibits and visited the planetarium, a really nice show, narrated by Whoopie Goldberg, and off course we also saw the dinosaurs!
And a very nice dark skyline of NYC!
After that we went to eat something at a place called the shack, which was good and kinda cool After you order you get this device that vibrates when your order is ready :D, and we shared a table with a family The youngest was hilarious, while waiting for his hot dog, he was licking the ketchup and when his hot dog finally arrived, he dunked it in the ketchup as fast as he could and even faster in his mouth J.
Now that our tummy was full again, we could continue our journey and hunt for an umbrella, as we didnt found one, we asked J luckily New Yorkers are nice people, and she pointed us to a store! We bought the umbrellas and off course it stopped raining Oooh well at least we have New York umbrellas J.
Then finally we set of to the Empire State building But the men in front of the building explained, you couldnt see anything as it was to cloudy, so we have to come back There goes our planning!
So we switched everything around, and decided to go to the Guggenheim museum first! I knew the building was going to be nice But its really amazing, and it has some super art inside of it, and it seems no room is the same of size and form, its really nicely done!
On the way home we stopped at the central station terminal Another exquisite building! What a change next to Brussels Central :p
And as last thing of a busy day, we visited time square Something really bizar Never seen so many flashing light andadds Las Vegas kinda faded into nothing :p.
So that was the first passage of NYC tomorrow the second!
Today it was a rise and shine early day again, we say bye bye to LA city of Sydney and all her counteragent missions and fly to NEW YORK City!!!!
After a small delay we arrived at JFK and after a LONG metro ride and two transfers without escalators or elevators we arrived at our hotel! Unable to do anything more we ate our last cookies and fruit and slept!
And positive notice We have huge hotel room! Negative notice We have Belgian weather Grmble!
Today Salvation at last The film studiooooossssss Warner Bros here we come :D!
You start off with an introduction movie and then you drive around in the sets J We were in Stars Hallow, Metropolis, central Perk, The mentalist and Im forgetting a lot of things J
Also cool was the Car stop J with the car from Goldmember, Gran torino, Bat man, Harry potter, the Matrix and AI.
And there we were photographed on a green screen, while posing as you fighting with a wand, and then we got it printed as if we were in Hogwarts :).
Also we went on to the set of 2 and half men, its weird that it looks real on screen, I had the same feeling with the café of friends, its soooooo small. Its all forced perspective.
AND we got to see them tape a part of the bing bang theory!!! J We were far off but still I think its kinda neat J
And in the end we went to the museum, with a lot of props and clothing And got sorted by the sorting hat For some reason Im in Slytherin Should I be worried now??? Maaike is in Huffelpuff So a loyal friend J.
And the props of inception were there J The dream machine en the token, so cool to see.
And From the Matrix The Hugo weaving puppets are freaky real!
Also we drove by all the big studios Not that you can see anything :p But number 24 is the friends studio, but according to the actor who played Jessie in Full House it should be the Full house studio :D I tend to agree with him J They were first I adored that show J.
And then it the tour ended L had to happen sometime!
But not to worry the stars of Hollywood were waiting for us J And like real tourists do we searched for the once we wanted a picture of :p!!!
After a refreshing nap, we decided we needed an indicator to know if LA will leave up to our demands So were at the sea So thats where we went First! Santa Monica Pier!
What a view for sore eyes! Sea, gigantic waves and then mountains For Dutch girls that is sooooo weird, in Belgium sea is just flat J nothing more nothing less So we decided it will live up to our demands J
We also had to bathe our feet in the pacific off course, its hard to grasp were on the other side of the world in another ocean no less.
And at the beginning of the route 66 or the ending it all depends how you look at it!
Plus theres a restaurant there called Bubba Gump Shrimp J Now I want to see Forrest Gump again off course! (Thanks to Maaike for noticing!)
And then the drive back in the dark Maaike did great!!!! J
But tomorrow is a big day for me :D Film studio day Im making Maaike go to Warner Bros :D!!!!!
So after Needles we drove to the Mohave desert! Well the word says it itself its a desert One long road no sole to be seen, some mountains, hills of sands and thats it! The visitor center we found was just a building with rest rooms and some folders, and a warning to check if there werent an turtles under your car resting in the shade :D. But it was worthwhile as then the wonderful lava rocks appear, something quite different, kind off mountain but then out of the dark lava stone, in the middle of sand, really impressive. Also Maaike was fascinated by the trees, couldnt blame her though were weird things :p.
Then we drove onto LA! Bit scared of the traffic, but Maaike did some fantastic freeway driving and I navigated, or tried to understand what the Garmin wanted :D And we got there! And then you want to check in What does the guy say Come back in an hour please I could make him drop dead :s!!
Hellas nothing to do We got our things together en figured out how to plan the next coming days! And the finally we could check in! And take another nap :D It has been another looooooooooooong drive J!
So after naptime, taking a swim and ciphering out what to do next, we got to a diner, where Maai ate steak and I scrambled something together to get something without meat and we got HUGGGE drinks! Try to find Maaike in the picture ;).
Didnt do much yet today, we drove and drove Now were in Needles, kind of crashing It were some REALLY busy and exiting days, and we just need some rest, so thats what were doing today, trust me its needed! And as were in the desert again, its really too hot to do anything right now!
So the plan is to do some shopping and eat this evening and then stand up EARLY tomorrow to get to the Mohave desert early and hopefully still be able to step out of our car!
So no pics for today, youll just have to enjoy these of the two last days even more!!!
So I already uploaded a part of the pictures of yesterday, but we have an upload limit at this hotel, so the rest will hopefully be for tomorrow! So also these for today will have to wait Rendez-vous tomorrow for the pics.
We went to hike in the Grand Canyon today, a tremendous drop of 600 feet! To the Oohhh-Aaaaah point! Well thing thing hasnt stolen its name, you can both see the east and the west side of the canyon, the view is nuts!
The hike down was pretty much ok But then up phewww were glad we reached the top again, but it was so rewarding, so absolutely no regrets there!
Then we took a long break, and after that we walked a bit on the Rim. But then we were both finished, as I started babbeling it was definitely our queue to go to our next stop In Flagstaff, luckily Maaike was more fit then I as I slept the whole way!
Sooo off course I missed the sunrise ... Not completely my fault though! There was a huge thunderstom last night, I really thought the cabin and our car would fly away or drown! (Both luckily survived) I never saw something like that before, if the lightening struck it was as clear as daylight and thunder and rain soooo loud, it was a bit scaring. But everyone and everything survived! But thus it was cloudy and there was no sunrise to watch!
After saying goodbye to our cabin (see Maai-Lies pic) and taking some last pictues of the wonderful view there, we drove to Page a small village at the banks of lake Powell, the first view we got was Super! So many different colors, you can emidiatly see this part of the country has a completely different climmate.
After that we went to see the horse shoe bent ... The name kinda explains it ... There the colorado river takes a horse shoe bent! Very impressive.
And then the ride to THE Grand canyon! The first look is drawing nearer ... You enter the park what do you see ... a huge forest, wasn't expexting that! Then you park you car, you walk out and then this huge canyon emerges, if you think it big ... think again ... it's bigger!
And as a cherish on the cake we watching the sunset at hopi point ... too beautiful for words ... Even a snowman would melt at this sight even if it was too cool to melt!
And tomorrow we go back to do some hiking!
And off course I had way to many picture I wanted to add, so these you can find in the conveniently name "the solution" episode (These titles really come up nicely)
So we started our walk back! On the way I found a cool looking rock, which of course had to be concurred! (See pics) Sit back relax and try to get back down!
From that point on it was fairly easy and we returned in one piece! After that we took the shuttle to the big bend, and as the name says it, the canyon takes a big bend there! The stunning view you can see from that point are the organ and the great white throne.
And finally the last stop was the Zion lodge, were we followed the trail to the lower emerald pool!
And then we could choose Or turn around or go further We choose to go further! Boy was I happy we did that, we saw so astonishing views, and we found narrows of our own :D.
And The lost lasting end we reached the bridge! And Maai is doing an awesome job masking that shes really tired.
And that was it for today! On the ride back through zion, we still saw some amazing views, but as I was driving and Maai was sleeping I dont have pics of that!
Now were at the mountain lodge! And Ill try to get the sunrise tomorrow, if I dont oversleep!
Arriving at the temple of Sinawava I got my first good picture encounters with a squirrel J!!! I quite like because its on the run, and thus seems shy on following pics you can see this isnt really the case :p they seem to be quite at ease in our presence! Also there are some wonderful flowers to be found in the park!
But then the hike towards the Narrows! In the beginning it is just a trail you can follow alongside the river and were Maaike was doing some crazy poses ;). I also found a squirrel with the time to do some poses, as well as a Lizard.
If you want to get a bit the feeling of the height of the canyon, check the pic height, also here the rocks are weeping.
After that the easy stuff was over Then the river takes over the canyon and you have to hike on the river there we took another Maaike-Lies pic.
And you see that the canyon start to narrow, and then it goes more deeper and smaller. We didnt get that far in, but the people before us, were into the water at their waist so we thought that was our queue to turn around and go back
But will we get back safely That will be answered in the next episode (again too many picture to be put in ;))
By the way, if you were questioning if today it was again so hot, I am pleased to answer it was 10 degrees Celcius cooler J which explains why we could even attempt the Narrows! Yesterday it wouldve been impossible!
As prophesized by a fellow hotel guest yesterday we were even more in awe of the landscape then yesterday.
After finding which gas to put in our vehicle we turned back on the I 15 and were already in for some spectacular views! But as most of the times, the best was yet to come! And many ooeeees and aaahhhs followed!
In the Park itself you have to take a shuttle bus who takes you to certain points in the park, it comes along every 7 minutes so its super easy to move around the park and do the hikes you want to see!
Our first stop was at the Zion Human History Museum, where we watched a small movie about the park and already saw a sparkle of what the park had in store for us today!
The we stopped at the court of the Patriachs where you can gaze at three peaks named Abraham, Isaac and Jabob (see picture in attach + One of Maai and me with Isaac and Jacob).
So then it was back on the shuttle (of which you can find a pic in attach with some of the beautiful scenery).
After that we ate something at the Grotto and had a sneak at the trail towards the Angels landing, but that hike we didnt do, as it wouldve taken us more than 4 hours, but pic of the Angels landing from below is in attach.
And then Maai touched the Virgin river for the first time, its still amazing that this river carved such beauty!!!
Next stop was the Weeping Rock and this thing has not stolen his name! The rainwater is captured on top of the rock and then travels for 12 000 years after which it emerges once again from the rock, it is astonishing! And You have a great view from there!We also took a Maai-Lies Pic here, but due to difficult lightening condition you cannot see the view anymore. And we also caught some of the water! Plus on our way back we spotted a deer, and also I had my first encounter with the Virgin river.
After the weeping rock, we set sail to the Furthest point of the Park, Temple of Sinawava, from which you can access the Narrows
But that story has to be continued in the next blog, as on this one I cannot add anymore pictures!
Today it was already bye bye Las Vegas! Not that we were to sad about that, as we are really exicted about seeing the nature and wonders, in this too warm part of the world! (just to give you an idea off the temperatures ... see TEMP ... fyi: It's in Farenheit so to go to Celcius do minus 32 and divide by 2!)
First up is the Man made wonder ... Hoover Dam, Biggest Dam created by man kind, and indeed it is huge! Pic in attach plus a Maai-Lies pic, the women depicted here ... are clearly hot.
Then we made a scenic drive along Lake Mead which was really fun! (Plus while driving we have airco :D) And at a certain point they were working on the road, and the the pavement stops ... what to do then ... Well then a van comes with a sign, follow me :D (see pic) that something else then the deviation in Belgium :D
And after lake Mead we drove to St George, and to get there you have to pas Mountains ... One word! AMAZING! You drive right in between, really impressive sight!
And then we had to find a hotel ... But as there seems to be one on every corner, that was not a big challenge, so we found one with airco, a pool, free internet and a gigantic bed!
And after a nice pizza a Brick and a game that Maaike brought (can't recall the name for some reason) Maaike turned in and I started typing the blog!
Tomorrow it's Park Zion day!!! If we can figure out what kind of gas to put in our car :p.
And yes the title is in! Find it and explain ... win a small souvenir :) Hopefully this is somewhat more difficult :D!
5.30 tuut tuut Stupid alarm clock hmm Maaike will put it off tuut tuut Crap why isnt she turning it off Turn around Why isnt she here??? She was already in the bathroom, apparently she left it on so I would wake up well I guess it worked :p Wanted to sleep for 10 more minutes though
Today was a fly day again, this time to Las Vegas, the city were everything can happen or so they say we will have to see, but first things first, saying our last goodbyes to the courageous people who woke up for us at half past five am! Crazy but sooooooo appreciated! Watching Elly fall asleep one last time in car J And as Dave so nicely put it on the road again and so the journey continues Im not the only one quoting movies then! And then at last saying our goodbyes to Dave and Julie L
We will miss you all!
Then Chicago airport but the other way around, check-in went very smoothly and at 10.00 we were in the air! And we were treated with some spectacular views (see attach) and Shrek forever after (wanted to so that movie, so now I dont have to rent it anymore) and at noon local time we arrived at the airport of Las Vegas!
We walked out of the airplane and you walk right in the a check-in hall, kinda weird but ok, and then you have to take a metro to get your luggage, I guess this is a big airport
Next stop the rental car! Luckily there was sign to follow, so we walk outside Owww man we knew it was going to be hot, but I was not prepared for this! How these people leave here I dont know, but they do Repspect! Thanks to the signs we located our shuttle and found the car very easily J. Then the driving! Kind of nervous, never driven an automatic car before! But its easy, and the traffic rules arent that different, only thing I find really weird is you can turn right on a red light, will have to make sure I dont do that in Belgium!
And thanks to the Bitch in the box (as how Julie describes the GPS) we have on loan from Jean we arrived at our hotel (although off course I drove past it the first time).
And the the room!! A double Queen room, we each had a double bed were we could get lost in! (Maai-Lies pic showing the room in attach)
At 4.00 we took a shuttle bus to the Strip, to see what all the fuss around Las Vegas is really about! But more importantly at first Find WATER and food, water was no problem Then food, for Maaike alone: no problem! For Maaike and a veggie not so no problem!
Be at Margarita ville we found veggie stuff. Nice place Kind of decadent, you knew immediately why the place was called Margerita ville (see pic, coup) een coupke? as we would say in Dutch. But it was also nicely decorated (see pic with Maai).
After that we went in some Casinos off course, where they tried to make us gamble when you stood watching. We went into the Mirage, where luckily there are signs or we wouldve gotten lost. The Ceasars Palace Where we actually got lost! That place it HUGE and we only found one entry or it was really well hidden!
It was all very kitchy and fake, but they did an awesome job on the sealings (see attach).
And there we gambled! The whole one dollar! On the one cent Slot, it was kinda fun the pull the handle and we couldve won 66 cents but decided to gamble it all ;).
And the last but not least The Bellagio or better the fountain show! Cool thing, but I thought it would be longer (pic in attach).
So in short it was nice for once! You have got to see it, just to know what it is, its as crazy as they show it on tv, and Im sure we only saw a small part of the craziness!
Then the morning after a very nice day and evening ... In the beginning I kinda felt fine ... But boy was I mistaken ... But hey you can't play the game if your not in for the pain ... But around 3 o'clock it started going better ... So I was some what good to go to dinner at John's and Cathy's!
Maaike drove us there in the BIG car of Julie and Marty ... AND ... we survived! :D
And once again we had a wonderful meal, and just getting together with everyone for one last time ... As tomorrow morning we are leavind for Las Vegas!
It all went by soooooooooooo quickly, it feels as we still just arived ... And now we already have to go away again ... And then Maaike took he moment and made the wonderful speech below:
Im that big of a speecher, but I thougt if I ever had to try it out, this would be a good moment. Forgive me the fact that Im reading it of a paper, but my improvising would be so bad, I probably wouldnt be invited anymore
First of all I would like to thank Julie. O, and if I say I you all think we because Im sure Lies pretty much will agree with everything I will be saying For once So, Julie, thank you so much for having us, you are a very sweet woman To spend the little vacation you guys have on spoiling us so much, that makes me really proud of being your second, third, fourth, wathever couson Im sure Elly is growing up to be just like her mam, sweet and caring, loving dresses and shoes Mardy no, I didnt forget about you I admire you for working so much to be able to take care of your girls and Im sure the other 5 kids you want, will be bore in a very warm nest also, as we say it in Belgium. So Julie, Mardy and Elly, I really hope we will see you back at our place once, so we can return the favour!
Shelly, thank you for the lovely dishes. I should really get your email so that, whenever I have a party, I can shop for recopies. Say thanks to you other sister to for listening to my babbeling and laughing with my lausy jokes at the campfire. Katie, youre so full of energy, you make me jealous, it wouldnt have been so much fun without you, I hope we will ever have you being crazy back at Belgium.
Diane, I know you must have a hard time right now and you would rather be with your boyfriend, but I certainly remember you once in a while to your plans to visit Belgium, because you are so much fun
Before I talk about Jean and Dave dont worry, theres only good to tell. Yes Dave, also of you I would also like to thank Lies, without her I wouldnt be here. You are really my best friend and as they see it here, part of our family and you will always be, I promise, even if your having a hangover!
And then, there is Jean. Really, the effort you put into our visit, the constant feeding, setting up all the dishes, doing them afterwards, caring for the kids, looking things up on the net and still find the time to talk to us, make us feel so much at home, not many people would do it. I know youre husband has a lot of ideas, but as I was saying to Julie the other day, youre are the silent force that makes it all happen and that is pretty amazing, since Daves ideas are a little on the crazy side.
Speaking of which, Dave you are crazy I mean. Picking us up, driving us everywhere, organizing the familybbq, cooking the ribs, organizing an amazing day at the lake, making Lies go all crazy on the chevy, the four wheal drives, the jetskies, the tubes and laughing with every stupid thing I say. I love you for it, you are a very good man and so there is only one thing I could say about that: thank you, it has been really great!
So that is about as much as my nerves can take, so I let you guys to it, we will be seeing all of you
I was already crying at the second sentence! And I think everyone was really touched by that, and as she also said it, I also agree completely with what she was saying!
These American guys all have a special place in my heart and I will never forget the warmth and love you give us ... Not makingdifference between family or not!
I can honestly say I had the time of life here, and that's all because of these very warm people with and enormous big hearts!
I will miss all of you for you own reasons ...
Julie for taken us in as one of her best friends Marty for introducing me to Pyrat Rum (now I understand why pirates drink rum) Elly for being Elly, that little girl stole my heart from the first second! Dave for allowing me to tag along, and introducing me to the Chevvy, the four wheel drive, the jet skies, the tubing and some great drinks Jean for being the most fantastic host and spirit after Dave, like they say each great man has a strong woman behind him, and that's exactly what she is! Grandpa Arthur for the fun we had listening to him speaking the little dutch he knows! In a fantastic West Flemish accent! Shelly for the wonderful dishes and recipes Larry for trying to make me eat meat :) .. you were very amusing, but i'm still holding strong :) To bad you didn't raise more money ;) Theirthree wonderful kids: - Noah the eldest ... who is grasping Dutch so easily! - Evan the middle ... who is trying to play the piano, but cannot quite reach the peddles yet - Grace the youngest ... who is now walking (or at least for some steps) all by herself Becky who I haven't seen that much but when I saw her was as kind and warm as everyone Her beautiful two kids: - Taylor the eldest ... who will go crazy when you put her on a four wheel drive - Cody the youngest ... who can really gaze at you! Katie for teaching me how the ride the Jet skies and being persistent although I kept toggling her into the water and being the amazing person that she is! Her boyfriend Steve for being the clever wooss and going to bed in time instead drinking more! John for picking us up and taking a lot of pictures on the barbeque! Cathy for sharing the picture, and showing a wonderful picture of Dave when he was Noah's age ... They look just the same! Diane for also taking us into her heart, talking to us! You really filled my heart! Her two kids I got to meet: - Richard the eldest ... for loosing the volley ball match ;) (His girlfriend Abby was on the winning side :) ... that'll teach not to pick his girl before his mother does) -Ashley the youngest ... for being a wonderful 14 year old (not all kids her age are soooo nice!)
So in short ... THANK YOU! (I hope I haven't forgotten anyone ... If I did I do apologize! ... And you still get a warm hearted thank you!)
