tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17384551025901012352024-02-18T19:08:59.766-08:00Miss Hoodoo's Rockin' All Over The WorldMiss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-69834859283526799052023-05-19T10:07:00.000-07:002023-05-19T10:07:05.526-07:00Day 2: London to Royal Leamington Spa<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2jSrTDg-QFxCIcXSybLTfTNQNmP0DeVCBXolT1pja4IZfnFeZ1sewDdvr0DZg0FwML-uG3JAvs4hGSUVWHNtUwTm_ZL6L7TxRPdRaCjxGN-vYbNwt9ADZZBo51UV9sL_0SUeZGiw4H3xjjRBBXdOq54kyT9n0xwZsaxrBZHdUKPxF4IGMOwXuKHvVQQ/s2048/34583.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2jSrTDg-QFxCIcXSybLTfTNQNmP0DeVCBXolT1pja4IZfnFeZ1sewDdvr0DZg0FwML-uG3JAvs4hGSUVWHNtUwTm_ZL6L7TxRPdRaCjxGN-vYbNwt9ADZZBo51UV9sL_0SUeZGiw4H3xjjRBBXdOq54kyT9n0xwZsaxrBZHdUKPxF4IGMOwXuKHvVQQ/w300-h400/34583.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">hmmm looks just a bit sus<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbeOTrLd4O-qyZ4Ky353jKs02guttc-wu5Wvw10pwJB6mG4wRtFiMdn5xcRrLzTxDE7CDessRA0AVtIIOahS3DisgkI4xXrE6dtxcSVqW818dSdvGfNiyUBYE9hYupUzEF_M0XNXrxRBZt8fOO56Uwlq-n74foQHm_JaaEIdtcYJIn0053CqpksD0irQ/s2048/345873120_717315813727888_1231651322038419619_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbeOTrLd4O-qyZ4Ky353jKs02guttc-wu5Wvw10pwJB6mG4wRtFiMdn5xcRrLzTxDE7CDessRA0AVtIIOahS3DisgkI4xXrE6dtxcSVqW818dSdvGfNiyUBYE9hYupUzEF_M0XNXrxRBZt8fOO56Uwlq-n74foQHm_JaaEIdtcYJIn0053CqpksD0irQ/w474-h300/345873120_717315813727888_1231651322038419619_n.jpg" width="474" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">three of my favorite buildings in one view: The Standard hotel, the top of the total alien looking BT tower/ Post Office Tower, and St Pancras Station.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p> Had a few hrs left before i had to catch my train. Not enough to really do something, and too long to do nothing. I noticed there was a market near Marylebone station, so decided to make a walk. <br /><br /><br />Navigated myself through the morning rush of mostly (Dutch) tourists, didnt even have to check which way to go, and got on the wrong subway :-D (on the right platform though!) <br />Not a big problem though, and i got off at Edgeware road, a totally untouristic area. Lots of little shops and restaurants from all over the world, most still closed, and the depressing market, made the walk not really a big succes. Regrets, off to the station asap. <br />Sometimes bands say the hardest part of being on the road is sitting around and doing nothing.<br />I kinda feel that. Sitting and waiting at trainstations (no complaint though, no, im super happy to be sitting and waiting at trainstations, this wasnt going to be a touristic trip anyway)<br />Feeling totally lousy by now. Horrible headache that also kept me awake all night, nauseaus, annoying belly pain. WELL GEE. First Long Ryders tour in 3,5 years and im having my periods!!! <br />I knew it was coming though and ive been drinking gingershots and gingertea ever since i got on the train in Belgium so Im ok. Also painkillers available in every shop and very cheap. Did i really have to mention? oh yeah im not gonna suffer through this in silence haha.<br />Train ran on time, and was so comfortable!<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1u-AFtcX3Sfg5-Wanc1sTK_Uo0YtkUPpxMkmpf59vYKE7RzCCDmCOZW3x-bUIbOS-lP3FpZ5zs8P6NuX1SvwwHGG7jRlUPyVqX2DEQVYi77Mnp3oSpJ1awwkpLspTqgHJzuNRCbsKb7i0vnLdlDI-C-LR0Rsz96PE-pEpGsYSHISzaHepGaMcoyMjeQ/s2048/345906373_180525571269145_535467570646985086_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1u-AFtcX3Sfg5-Wanc1sTK_Uo0YtkUPpxMkmpf59vYKE7RzCCDmCOZW3x-bUIbOS-lP3FpZ5zs8P6NuX1SvwwHGG7jRlUPyVqX2DEQVYi77Mnp3oSpJ1awwkpLspTqgHJzuNRCbsKb7i0vnLdlDI-C-LR0Rsz96PE-pEpGsYSHISzaHepGaMcoyMjeQ/w464-h300/345906373_180525571269145_535467570646985086_n.jpg" width="464" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The UK has bicycle racks RIGHT next to your train at the platforms! </td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhig10o1eqKNL42-YV3MK_TQbp1k4G4YtCcgPrMVBea70NfBNUb4-kOxHB0ZhtysMv5rwOqDYYyyls9F1e-7McTZJXU6X3cHCCIY9Jq3fSn9LsQ2vaae5QpQXFiiuvVt2Sd4tondaMv6owtQDauZJoNpaYOL-ewnnAAnLXcFEdIxupR9lM1VCS4HnHGJQ/s2048/345902981_1669584446822794_9165166708193567479_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhig10o1eqKNL42-YV3MK_TQbp1k4G4YtCcgPrMVBea70NfBNUb4-kOxHB0ZhtysMv5rwOqDYYyyls9F1e-7McTZJXU6X3cHCCIY9Jq3fSn9LsQ2vaae5QpQXFiiuvVt2Sd4tondaMv6owtQDauZJoNpaYOL-ewnnAAnLXcFEdIxupR9lM1VCS4HnHGJQ/w465-h300/345902981_1669584446822794_9165166708193567479_n.jpg" width="465" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">but look how cute, polite<br /> and hungry the birds look</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br />i love staring at the window when im train traveling, I saw the Trellick Tower from a far distance, made my heart pound fast, also we passed Wembley Stadion.<br />Passed lots of cute towns with houses on hills, saw a deer along the track, and many many endless green hills with fields, partly in the Chiltern Hills.<br />As always im amazed by how polite the UK traintravelers are compared to Belgium or the Netherlands :-D <br />1,5 hrs later we arrived in Leamington. Im back!! <br />I know you wanna know: the stations bathrooms are the cleanest trainstation bathrooms I EVER saw. <br /><br />Way too early to check in, I walked into town towards the restaurant i found on Google. Leamington is really a very nice town. The Parade where all the bigger shops are has long rows of beautiful white Regency architecture.<br />I never heard of Boston Tea Party before but i had a wonderfull lunch, avocado, salmon and scrambled eggs on toast. Staff was very friendly too. I recommend!<br /><br />Back to the hotel to check in, and chill for the rest of the day untill its time to go to the concert.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br />Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-67135711497875235632023-05-18T15:20:00.001-07:002023-05-18T15:20:37.572-07:00Day 1: Hasselt to LondonFinally, after months of preparation, today is the day, the Long Ryders and Fogerty trip started! Been having quiet a dose of pre-travel anxiety (I didnt know it has a name, nor that im not the only one) Robert put me on the train to Brussels and i had to fight my tears untill i was alone, cried the first 10 minutes, silently sobbing in my seat, thank god no one else around!<br />But, as soon as i walked up that platform in Brussels, i had the biggest insanest grin on my face. Ready for the fun!<br />After a somewhat uncomforable Eurostar trip (serious, your avarage local train has better seats) I fell out of the train feeling a bit stiff, looked up the location of my hotel and walked out. Deliberately took the exit that gives a full nice view on the superb Standard Hotel<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixbdblacaPO6pVSW1wVi7z1P69_EW0FvRHQXyiAh5De2KrTufgxtnRW9WITPikl7YMOyl_nD-jhtft22ORlOrzRpRjhyGeOHw3RE1pXbAQMHAoCydEhyMFuGpkPtncUXx2X8VyZo1kUazHunugJXVkJ07mRv8mttGjhuLkD0EL0enoqvRtNldLMXLSRQ/s4032/PXL_20230128_091552100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixbdblacaPO6pVSW1wVi7z1P69_EW0FvRHQXyiAh5De2KrTufgxtnRW9WITPikl7YMOyl_nD-jhtft22ORlOrzRpRjhyGeOHw3RE1pXbAQMHAoCydEhyMFuGpkPtncUXx2X8VyZo1kUazHunugJXVkJ07mRv8mttGjhuLkD0EL0enoqvRtNldLMXLSRQ/w400-h300/PXL_20230128_091552100.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnTgHHTVD_Q33gw0wJ_RM5R07Qmc8v46Miper6KPpz4Gp5uzBNoP0Ai9tFOm70rHyHrIOP5ZzcNbodM_RcfhtGPWSz3B-w2x-F7N0tziwXXK0kFm_tY74_oiqlCtxF6tbivlcq_HYt1UM3Lz1dXdP24iw5lL0HNKt8HvzX9lTlByZsGhRUJhLpmIniTQ/s4032/PXL_20230128_091650128.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnTgHHTVD_Q33gw0wJ_RM5R07Qmc8v46Miper6KPpz4Gp5uzBNoP0Ai9tFOm70rHyHrIOP5ZzcNbodM_RcfhtGPWSz3B-w2x-F7N0tziwXXK0kFm_tY74_oiqlCtxF6tbivlcq_HYt1UM3Lz1dXdP24iw5lL0HNKt8HvzX9lTlByZsGhRUJhLpmIniTQ/w506-h300/PXL_20230128_091650128.jpg" width="506" /></a></div>(pictures i took in January)<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />The streets around St Pancras and Kings Cross where buzzing. Lots of people on their way to fun destinations of all kind, and the weather was great. I tried to check in at the wrong hotel (pro tip: doesnt work) but now im all cosy and settled in my micro room in the Hub By Premier Inn.<br />Very clever room. Maybe a bit small for two.<br />All the party people on the streets inspired me to go for a walk. Not having a plan in particular i just walked up the road for a bit, and then turned around. Bought some snacks, and when i got back i found out that i was just a few hunderd meters away from the Long Ryders rehearal space! London is as big as the whole of Belgium... go figure. Glad i didnt run into them to be honest :-D <br /><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixQPRheqzcraBNvarazu6OASjYHmaUbaPJEId1hOD6KI5kDbqlZB-2jWFcTxNxn2UF92BQRIHXLZSuo_Dny9DyLIULRLegFYG4mssUC6paIBDSqa2NyKWfKzWrl58VMP9ed6aNeRCLFsI-Oc2sENK7V2Zf6z08GKBvrWjLdVTFmhqtSyJhNlWwlLBFUA/s2016/345887023_197046446603117_739155599323600771_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixQPRheqzcraBNvarazu6OASjYHmaUbaPJEId1hOD6KI5kDbqlZB-2jWFcTxNxn2UF92BQRIHXLZSuo_Dny9DyLIULRLegFYG4mssUC6paIBDSqa2NyKWfKzWrl58VMP9ed6aNeRCLFsI-Oc2sENK7V2Zf6z08GKBvrWjLdVTFmhqtSyJhNlWwlLBFUA/w562-h480/345887023_197046446603117_739155599323600771_n.jpg" width="562" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Regents Canal with boats, forever a favorite sight</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br />Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-68802084015860677692023-04-08T02:09:00.001-07:002023-04-08T02:18:17.066-07:00<p> <span style="font-size: medium;">The perfect moment to restart my blog.<br /><br />After the spontanious decision to go see the Jayhawks 250kms from here "because we can" (this is related to my 2020 Corona Easter depression) we had to buy tickets by the almighty pain in the ass that is known as TicketMaster.<br />Robert couldnt log in on his account, tried to get a new password but they never sent him one, so i made an account and bought tickets. So far so good.<br />The tickets are on my laptop.<br />I tried to send them to Robert to have them print, failed. I tried to hook up my laptop to Roberts printer and print them, failed. I downloaded the app to show the tickets on my phone: failed: cant log in. <br />Finally Robert was able to print a printscreen from my laptop. We have the QR codes and in any other situation i would be sure its ok, but TICKETMASTER, so. <br />I want to take my laptop with me with the tickets, Robert says no.<br />The headache that has taken over is pretty astronomic by now.<br /><br />Robert is so sure of himself and his print that he just said "Its a 3 day weekend. If they dont let us in, we'll drive to Sweden"<br />AHA!<br />there goes my headache. <br />The man is serious.<br />We just fine tuned our backup plan. <br />If we cant get in, we'll drive to Malmö, and have a cup of coffee at the famous Folk a Rock 😁<br /><br />Im going to pack clean underwear and my toothbrush, looking forward to what the day is gonna bring, either Hengelo or Malmö.<br /><br />And if THAT isnt the biggest ef you to my 2020 corona Easter depression, nothing is 💙💛💙<br /><br />(if you keep reading older posts from here, good luck to you)</span></p>Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-445421123754584322016-10-17T14:51:00.003-07:002023-05-18T14:33:29.455-07:00sept 27th: Hop on the LOVE BUS for the Hoover Dam, Route 66 and the Grand Canyon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Second night in row that we didnt wake up at 3 am!<br />Got out of bed early and were picked up by shuttle van that took us to the Grand Canyon tourbus! we were the last ones to get in so we had to sit in the back, behind a large group of people that turned to be Irish.<br />As soon as we got out on the road, the driver introduced himself. His name was Derek, and it became very clear that he was a special kind of special. The whole bus went hysterical but I thought „OMG guys its just 7am, I cant handle this“ also as it turned out the Irish were kinda „special“ too (I’ll be never embarred about Dutch people abroad anymore!) Anyway first thing Derek said that we were NOT allowed to complain about the airco. I was slowly turning into an icerock and thought, how am I ever going to survive this day??<br />„no complaining today!" he said „this is the Love Bus!"</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">forget the Love Boat, here's the LOVE BUS!</td></tr>
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<br />First stop on the tour was Hoover Dam, and before there it became clear to me that Derek was not only hysterical funny, but also a very well skilled guide that knew a lot about the things we passed, like the water shortage (the lakes are getting dry!)and the town of Boulder, Nevada, that was build for the workers of the Hoover Dam back in the 1930‚s and how gamblin and alcohol were not allowed here. also told about his first experiences here and how he saw the town change and how a bunch of hotshots now live in the hills. I loved how he mixed facts with feelings while telling about the things we passed. Oh yeah and silly stories too ofcourse. During the day I started wondering if he might have missed his calling as stand up comedian :-) He was having conversaties with himself and with „people that werent there“ in weird voices to explain things to us. (did work!)<br />While explaining the rules of the bus and the trip, like that you have to be back at the bus in time, and that you were only alowed to pee in the bus’ restroom „liquids only people! LIQUIDS ONLY“ and that we had to look out to get back in the right bus, but he put a „love bus“ sign on it so we would recognize it :-) <br />anyway without going on too long about him, he was worth the admission of the trip himself :-)<br /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge/highway 93. Pat Tillman was a professional American football player who gave up his carrier to join the army and got killed by friendly fire.....</b></i></td></tr>
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Hoover Dam was amazing and impressing! so was the bridge over the Colorado River. We made a quick photo stop (and for me; a mad dash to the souvenirstand for a magnet first :-D )<br />we all made sure to be back at the Love Bus on time, but a mom and her 2 teens werent and they looked horrible embarresed (and they were back as first during the rest of the day - lession learned!)<br />Turns out Hoover Dam is the state border with Arizona, how cool is that. we did get very confused by the two clocks though. (some one please explain in very simple words).<br />At least the icy airco was turned to normal, phew.<br />Robert asked Derek „can you say all that stuff in French maybe? We’re from Belgium“ (-most americans assume everyone in Belgium speak french) <br />Derek „hmmm I cant i’m afraid“<br />Robert „oh good, because we wouldnt understand it“<br />Derek „I have to keep a good eye on you today, am I right“<br />hahaha!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the dam and the Colorado river... the white markings on the rocks show how high the river used to be!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colorado river on the other side of the dam</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">is there life on Maaaaaars? (yes! and a highway!)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arizona desert</td></tr>
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On our way to Kingman Arizona now, for a quick rest stop for food or restroom, where we were handed lunch.<br />the scenery changed here to desert with a few single mountains. In the distance we saw cities with lots of small houses.<br /><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert and Betty Lou at the Kingman, AZ, truckstop.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roberts Americana lunch</td></tr>
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Next stop was the infamous Seligman, Arizona.<br />You might know that the movie „Cars“ was more or less based on this little town. <br />I got this from Wiki:<br />„The Seligman was on the original U.S. Route 66 from 1926 through 1978, when Interstate 40 bypassed it a couple miles south. Seligman experienced its real heyday after World War II, when returning veterans and other motorists hit the road and made the Southwest a popular tourist destination. The Seligman Commercial Historic District protects the historical central area's early 20th century commercial buildings along Historic Route 66, a revived popular tourist destination. Historic district contributing properties include the include Pitts General Merchandise Store and the U.S. Post Office from 1903, the Pioneer Hall and Theatre and the Seligman Garage from 1905, and the Seligman Pool Hall from 1923. <br /><br />In 1987 Seligman gained its name “Birthplace of Historic Route 66” due to the efforts of Seligman residents, who convinced the State of Arizona to dedicate Route 66 a historic highway. Seligman is the first stop heading west on the longest uninterrupted stretch of historic Route 66, running around 160 miles (260 km) to Topock on the east side of the Colorado River.“<br /><br />
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in the bus we saw a documentairy about Angel Delgadillo, the towns barber, and his work to make Route 66 an historic highway and to preserve the road. <br /><br />When we entered from interstate 40 it is clear how the new interstate cuts off the town! A big freight train just passed but when we stopped it was gone unfortunately.<br />We had only 15 minutes, parked in front of the barber shop and everybody ran out. We were greeted by some friendly locals who invited us (our bus, and some other hoards of tourists) in for free coffee. I took a quick look but no specific Seligman magnets so i dedicated the short time to look at all the old cars that were everywhere. (didnt find a green/white 1975 Suburban though :-D) It would have been fun to look around a bit longer, though everything is very touristic, but still cool. (we saw a sign saying „food & stuff“ that cracked us up)<br /><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">crowd in front of Angels barbershop (good for them to have some people visiting the village again)</td></tr>
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People were standing on the middle of the road to have their picture taken.<br />Robert and I always unintentially end up on Route 66, many times in Chicago and LA, and a few times in between too, and we were only here becuase the bus was, but still cool, and ofcourse this will add to the Route 66 memories when Dr Feelgood plays the song.<br />Back in the bus i found Robert and Betty Lou, and she had bought me an awesome Route 66 purse, how sweet of her!<br />Though it was the most touristic thing I ever did,(only thing missing was Derek with an folded umbrella to show us the way) it was still fun. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">food & stuff and standing in the middle of The Road</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert and me on Route 66 </td></tr>
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Now we were really on our way to The Grand Canyon. I was getting nervous, I never really had the Grand Canyon on my bucketlist, and first thing I always said was „isnt Bryce much cooler?“ I expected not to be impressed by it and considered it just as a touristic „must see“ as Seligman. A few red rocks with lines on it.<br />To my surprise, Derek said that when he told his friends he was going to do Grand Canyon tours, they all went hysterical and his reaction was „what ever“<br />Just like me he said „it was never on my bucket list and I’m not into national parks“<br />Then he told us how much it hit him the first time he was there, and it even made him cry, being overwhelmed by the beauty, and that he saw a lot of grown men cry, during the years.<br />I thought „hm, whatever“ <br /><br />He dealed out a sheet with stickers with the name of the company and the telephonenr in case we would get lost. He stood there saying „put the sticker over here“ and pointed at his chest. While we all knodded understandingly and went „yes sir“ one of the Irish yelled „What, on YOU?“Everyone exploded in laughter and it was the only time I saw him lost for words. I think he wont easily forget those Irish.<br />Getting nearer to the South Rim he explained the options and the rules. We would be there for 3 hrs, we could do what we want, he would wait for 15 minutes and then LEAVE, no matter if we were all back or not. The ones that didnt make it back in time had either to spend the night in one of the lodges, or book a different bus back.<br />
He gave some options on what we could do, and we trusted on Betty Lou who had done this trip before and we did the „scenic walk from Mathers point to the Bright Angel Lodge“<br />As he was making things clear, he kept repeating „Bright Angel Lodge“ so we wouldnt forget it. I think he said it at least 25 times in 3 mintes (at least, he promised to do so) <br />In the end the Irish were all yelling „Derek where we going?“ and „I forgot the name!“ by then I wouldnt mind them to shut up, and when Derek told them there was a pub in the lodge, we feared the worst.<br />Did we have any more questions, about ANYTHING that wasnt clear? yes ofcourse the Irish had: „Derek, I have this weird spot on my back that worries me, can you please look at it?"<br />
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He said „Mathers point“ would be „a bit crowded“ but when we felt out of the bus I was stunned by the amount of other tourists I saw. Crowds and crowds and crowds of people getting in eachothers way to take a picture and to block the view (yes, yes, I blocked others peoples view too, to take pictures)<br />Behind that, in a light haze, the Grand Canyon, as seen from the South Rim.<br />Even though there were more people around me than on the Strip on a saturday night (I might not be exaggerating) I couldnt not NOT be impressed by what i saw.<br />Red mountains with stripes, yes, but as soon as I saw it I understood why so many people come here.</div>
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<u><i><b>Words nor pictures discribe the beauty of the Grand Canyon.</b></i></u> I didnt cry, but I quietly stared at the immense beauty of nature in front of me. Some of the rocks were lit by sun that came between the clouds. Red rocks as far as the eye could see, and white rocks with funny shapes...<br /><br />
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The massive crowd of people got a bit in my way though, and felt a bit dissapointed at that, but then again, I was one of them.<br />While
staring at the view, a man pointed out the trash that has been trown
over the edge and shook his head. How disgusting! What a disrespect! I
have never done that ever in my whole life, and especially cant imagine
doing it on a place like this! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(if you look close you see the idiots who climbed all the way up there)</td></tr>
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we had 3 hours to do the 3 mile/4,8 km walk. Now normally you can do at least 9 miles in 3 hrs, but not when you walk the South Rim of the Grand Canyon going all „lalaladeedah and clickclickclick“ as Derek put it.<br />Luckly, the massive crowd stayed put at Mathers Point and slowly the trail we were walking (going very „lalaladeedah and clickclickclick“ ) got a bit less crowded.<br />we heard all kind of languages around us and looked at the idiots that climbed over the rail to take pictures of them on tips of rocks. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">one of my favorite pictures</td></tr>
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Probably took a 1000 pictures that walk.... though I understood my view was impossible to capture.<br />I just never ever saw something like it. It wasnt hysterical special, I didnt cry, but it was very easy to get lost staring at it. I cant imagine what it will be like IN the canyon instead of looking at it and I wouldnt mind going back to find out. That IS on my bucket list now! There were some signs along the trail, we werent worried about getting lost, but we didnt know how far we still had to go.<br />The further we got, less people were around, and the more impressive it became. Especially the second part of the trail where we were „alone“ a big part of the time, or in companion of quiet hikers, really really hit me. <br /><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">we found a rock that looked like a steak :-D</td></tr>
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It was not just silent, but the silence seemed to be a thing of its own, coming from the canyon, sensible, touchible, hearable, undiscribable, almost oppressive.<br />By now the some weird shaped rocks had shown up, and on the left side there was a forest with small trees.<br />We’ve already seen squirrels, but were told not to aproachh them as they are apparently evil and vicious. We saw one eating a gummy worm (winegum) and tried to talk him out of it but he was just sitting there going nom nom nom with the elastic blue gummy worm in his little hands :-P<br /><br />on our way to the Canyon we found out that theres a trainstation (!!!!!) Robert asked about it at home, and I got hysterical with the thought that there would be a train going there, but there is! It stops right at the lodges near Bright Angel Lodge. When we arrived we saw them, one of those with scenic glass roofs, very cool!<br />we also HEARD them, while walking the trail, and as you understand that made my day :-)<br /><br /><br />
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Other that trains and squirrels, we saw chipmunks that look very cute (they were very skittish unlike the squirels) a condor!! deer and elk!<br />The elk just stared at us from under the bushes. Apperantly they can be pretty nasty too if they attack you so glad they stayed there. I loved how the hikers carefully waved at eachother to inform them and whispered and were quiet and respectfull.<br /><br />As the canyon is millions of years old, a part of the trail was dedicated to the different types of rocks they are made of. very informative. And very time consuming, as they invite you to touch all the sliced in half rocks. Some were extremely beautifull and one looked like a gigantic steak :-D<br /><br />we started to worry about the time. I dug up the map and noticed we were not quiet as far as we thought and told the others „no more lalaladeedah and clickclickclick!“ we have to move fast a bit now!!<br />managed to walk fast untill the next turn in the road provided us with another stunning view and we had to leave the trail to the (designated) viewing point to stare and gasp.<br />Along the way were many rocks to sit on and stare, I tried one and immedeatlly understand how easy it would be to sit here all day and stare at this piece of mother nature. I can understand people find god in places like this.<br /><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">quiet & humbled, staring, listening to the silence</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">spot the elk!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">bizarre melted tree</td></tr>
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another look at the map caused some panic, so we had to run the last part, but then arrived Bright Angel Lodge just early enough to get a souvenir.<br />Derek showed up with the Love Bus and everyone thanked him for his suggestion of doing the walk along the South Rim. <br />we were relieved that the Irish were not drunk and crashed in our seats for the long way back home. There were two movies to watch; Martian and Mall Cop, but I decided to look outside, even though the dessert was „just“ dessert, it was more interesting. (though Martian provided the earworm "Starman" by Bowie) We drove through Kaibab national forest and then the desert. <br />the Irish were getting too corny „what you call three trees? a small forest“ ba-dum-dishhh“<br />
We passed Seligman on the 1 40 and got out in Kingman for a short break.<br />By then we were all pretty tired, it had been a very long and impressive day.<br />Got back in Vegas around 10pm and got a tour to a few hotels to drop off people and then it was our turn. we thanked him from the bottom of our hearts and I said he was at least half of the fun and he went „you’re my favorite person on the bus!“ but he just said that to Betty Lou so I said „do you mind if I dont believe you!“ haha!<br />extremely tired but just as happy we felt of the bus.<br />Robert and Betty Lou went straight up to the swimmingpool but I decided to stay in the suite and enjoy some alone time.<br />
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Pictures by Robert and me</div>
Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-81402616942169785082016-10-12T14:12:00.000-07:002016-10-12T14:12:30.805-07:00sept 26th: trek to the West: s.Decatur Blvd, and bubble bath fun.<br />
monday <br /><br />South Decatur Boulevard is not some hip hot shopping area/place to be like Melrose Avenue in LA or Haight/Ashbury in San Francisco. It just was strange coincidence that the shops that Robert and I really wanted to see, were all located here. But that made it automatically our favorite street in Las Vegas.<br /><br />I slept untill Robert woke me up at 8! Unbelievable!<br />First breakfast at home, I made scrambled eggs on the big stove with view on the Strip and the ferrishwheel that still didnt move.<br />We decided to walk a bit in the right direction first and then take a cab. It was superconfusing to walk because the foothpath on the Strip leads through casinos and shops and its not always easy to find the street back. Annoying.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">doing the Strip parcours</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the Bellagio. we waved at Brian but not sure if he saw us</td></tr>
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As we were 15 minutes outside we changed our plan: we were NOW getting a cab, because it was way to hot to walk far.<br />we tried to stop a cab on the street but that didnt work so we went to an hotel and got one there quick. We broke down the cab while getting in. Sorry, we’re European! we also broke down the cab when we got out. Sorry, we’re stupid!<br /><br />First stop was the famous Wax Trax who had a very cute guarding dog called Charley. Robert stayed for a while and Betty Lou and I had long conversations in the shade outside, and went inside to say bye when Robert was going to leave. There was a nice old jukebox and when I looked at it the owner said „go ahead and try it“<br />I replied „no i’m a bit scared to touch anything, we just broke down a cab“<br />„broke down a cab? how thats possible“<br />„we’re European“ :-D<br /><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">famous Wax Trax</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">with Charley the guard dog</td></tr>
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After saying goodbye and not breaking down the jukebox we walked towards Zia records. It was okay-ish to walk but still hot.<br />It is actually a pretty boring street to walk if you dont count the Americana feeling: lots of boring appartements, officebuildings, car related stuff. All spread out because theres enough room to spread out. Everything surrounded by parkinglots. Lots of palm trees (cool!) and excotic bushes. Every now and then a small mall or on intersections with bigger streets, a bigger mall.<br />We noticed the other pedestrians we met didnt look very wealthy. I think the only reason to walk here is if you dont have a car or come/go to a bus, but at least theres a sidewalk everywhere.<br />We even saw two bicyclists pass. <br /><br />Looking for restrooms we went inside a supermarket called „Savers" that turned out to be a gigantic thriftshop where I found a nice dress and a bikini!! ugly bottoms but worked and cheap! And my credit card works <3<br /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Savers: thriftshop the size of an arena!! <3</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Went to Starbucks for a break and had a coffee I didnt need (cos BL Europenized the coffee)<br />I started to notice that none of the Starbuckseses I saw this far, had the „trenta" 800ml size coffee cups and wondered if it was maybe a hoax.<br />Tried the next door Chase bank: debetcard (pinnen) works too!!<br /><br />Robert went to Zia, we crossed a 25 lane street (Sahara blvd) to another trhiftshop across the road where I found a cute vest that I only took off next two weeks to sleep and for a quick wash. great find!<br /><br />When Robert came back Betty Lou took us to two shops I’ve never been too:TJ Max and Dress for Less, that were on the way. Interesting outlet kind of stores. Betty Lou was looking for a new backpack and we invented the word „fleather" for faux leather. <br />I’m not gonna bore you with all the details, but when we’re together with Betty Lou its always almost nonstop laugh attacks :-D <br />It was very hot outside now. We did bring enough water with us, learned that lession in a prior visit to this desert town: dont leave without enough water! We passed the Trader Joes that we were going to visit as last. Been there a few times before and it feels familiar by now.<br />We just missed the bus up Decatur to my craftshop so we walked. It was ok but hot. Have to keep an eye on eachother to see if everyone is really ok. By then I started to regret that we didnt have a car. <br />(we all have a tan right now but not as much as the german lobster we later met at the pool :-D ) It was only 1 km/ not even 0.75 mile and actually the only distance of the day that wasnt as far (or further) as it had looked on the map.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Fantastik Swap Meet was also on Decatur but closed on mondays....</td></tr>
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<br />Micheaels craftshop was nice but not hysterical. It turned out to be very expensive apart from some things on special sale. Also they didnt have much that I couldnt get here in Europe/NL/B apart from some bigger items like storage etc that I couldnt take with me.<br />But I’m glad I saw it. Rather see it and dont like it, than dont see it and wonder forever what it would have been like :-) Also glad Robert and Betty Lou had a seat and that they didnt complain.<br /><br />We were next door to Wal Mart Supercenter and hungry so went inside for a small snack. I’m not really a fan of Wal Mart as a business, but I have to say they had an enormous produce/fresh department. They also sell huge sandwiches.... seriously not footlong but leg-long! Managed to find a small snack somewhere and thought while I’m here might as well buy chamommile tea. On my way to the tea I passed a couple that were discussing the contents of a box of cereals in Flemish :-) Also got a night shirt because I forgot to bring mine and that was one of the smart desecions of the week. The rest of the trip I felt cosy and at home walking around in my night shirt around the apartement in the morning and evening!<br />couldnt pass the beef jerky without bringing some (ultimate tour/road snack).<br />With 50 plastic bags we teamed up at the Mac Donalds were Robert managed to score french fries with mayonaise. They did have to get it in the back for him.<br /><br />after the rest and the snack we all felt capable to walk back to the Trader Joe’s.<br /><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><3 <3 !!</td></tr>
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I can write pages and pages and pages about Trader Joe’s but I wont. I love it. Its my favorite supermarket, or even shop,in the US. They have fantastic ready to go meals and salads, delicious sushi, weird snacks and crazy snacks. And speculoospasta :-D Lots of things they sell are organic but not all. They are owned by Aldi!! In European Aldi’s you can find nuts and dried fruits of the „Trader Joe’s“ brand but it doesnt have anything to do with the style of the American shop.<br />Trader Joe’s staff is young and depending on the location, weird, and always friendly. In other supermarkets you might not get the job with visuable tattoos or piercings, here you might not get the job if you DONT have that :-) Pricetags look like they’re handpainted and the walls of the supermarket have cool paintings with local scenery on it. So thats what it looks like.<br />Its not cheap, but I just love to roam through the aisles and study everything they have.<br />Again, gratefull that Betty Lou and Robert let me.<br /><br /> </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnCg_oWJsy1lXTYZXP6KNeEV5YBhKLWVdsn96rEyuoNo2Tq3lTUhXpq1QvcdB21beSciN1K87xh86MvxcyAb4Shl3a6tFu85oqRa3OQyoGLV452BiWqbanzyfus0O_9LDMnXkAARWt4oSQ/s1600/IMG_3349.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnCg_oWJsy1lXTYZXP6KNeEV5YBhKLWVdsn96rEyuoNo2Tq3lTUhXpq1QvcdB21beSciN1K87xh86MvxcyAb4Shl3a6tFu85oqRa3OQyoGLV452BiWqbanzyfus0O_9LDMnXkAARWt4oSQ/s640/IMG_3349.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"yeah in Europe we always put the basket in the cart so we dont have to carry it"</td></tr>
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I had an actuall shopping list! Really wanted fresh ginger cause I’m on a bit of a gingertrip these days (its superhealthy!! check it out!) and it tastes great. Also great to have when traveling and not always feeling very well. The main reason i wanted to have it was that I was going to have my periods started on wednesday! TIMING!! I can get really sick, and I didnt wanna spend half the day or the night with my head in a toilet somewhere. Good strong cup of gingertea will sort it all out :-)<br />Though I knew better, I checked the cereals to find ordinary oatmeal without sugar. Nope. I still cant believe it. Just normal plain oatmeal flakes! nowhere to be find in the US. Cant be true.<br />I did find something based on sugar free oatmeal so I got that and it was delicious. Also got lots of snacks, crazy snacks (dried brocolli flowers anyone? They were horrible) but managed to leave the sweets and the cookies where they were.<br />Robert walked in and said he „felt like having a bit of chips“ and the only one he thought he would like was a 450grams pack :-D (edit: it took him 2 weeks to eat it)<br /><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaigupRhyphenhyphenFAJtgp9sd2_abOXItcYJVxw8LGD-wgW_DwQ37NoEWdUKyyCW-z18Shn4TONoszuhXvL8kpnv-VFcOYce3vuuB085RJVy1W73Lbdxtzo6q3zrxtX5gUns44wWKr9hkk6stVVkZ/s1600/IMG_3350.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaigupRhyphenhyphenFAJtgp9sd2_abOXItcYJVxw8LGD-wgW_DwQ37NoEWdUKyyCW-z18Shn4TONoszuhXvL8kpnv-VFcOYce3vuuB085RJVy1W73Lbdxtzo6q3zrxtX5gUns44wWKr9hkk6stVVkZ/s400/IMG_3350.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">dont fall for this trap! also, shame on me, I should know by now that "European style" doesnt mean what it looks like that it means :-)</td></tr>
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<br />Satisfied we went to the checkout. Earlier I used to be sad that there are not TJ’s in Europe, or even Belgium, or Hasselt, but I know by now that it wont be as special anymore when you have one near. Also it would be totally different.<br /><br />One thing thats almost always the same at TJ’s is... The Awkward Checkout.<br />Guy didnt say anything and threw all the groceries on a big pile. Robert and I looked at eachother. Were *we* suppose to bag them ourself? if not, why was he turning it into such a big chaos? When the stuff was about to fall on the floor we grabbed our Delhaize Durable Shoppingbag and started bagging ourself. I saw a real cool cotton TJ’s shopper (have a small collection of TJ’s bags at home) and handed it to him. <br />„also this please“<br />silence.<br />silence.<br />silence.<br />I felt totally uncomfortable by now. I must admit that if its always like this, I wouldnt go shopping here!<br />I wanted to pay with creditcard and said „you gotta help me out here a bit, I’m European“<br />Apparently those were the magic words. The guy all of a sudden bloomed up and smiled, and showed me how to use the device (new devices almost everywhere by the way, easy to use and work like „pin“ at home) and said „oh and thanks man, for bagging the groceries for me“<br />ehhh....<br />we said goodbye and left.<br />maybe a few days later I would have told him „we had to because they were about to fall on the floor“ but the first day in the US i didnt wanna be too rude or smart yet.<br /><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">breakfast for the rest of the week settled. I took the European Style yoghurt because it was sugarfree and fatfree, and it was very good. (the empty bucket is a pencil holder now)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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We asked the welcome desk (if thats a word) to call us a cab and it was no problem, said it would take 10 mins so we waited outside. <br />Ofcourse it didnt take long: <br />„can you please call us a cab?“<br />„sure. you’re a cab!!“ <br />By the time the cab showed up BL and I were super slaphappy and couldnt stop laughing anymore all the way back to the hotel, bringing up crazy memories like „do you remember when we lost Lisa’s cat?’ or driving around California with 5 adults in a Ford Mustang using a superlarge piece of underwear as sunscreen. (or, trying to explain it to John Fogerty later that day, who looked at me with the biggest puzzled look I ever saw) Or, that time we saw a palmtree riding around in Costco. Anyway. We’re tired and supersilly. <br />(disclaimer: the cat wasnt really lost but totally fine)<br /><br />The cabdriver took the I-15 interstate west for a few minutes to avoid the Strip’s traffic and then it hit me and I realised that if we kept on driving we would end in Los Angeles, and that felt superweird. we were really in America! Las Vegas is a bit of a planet of its own! But we’re near my favorite state; California!<br />Long before we reached the state border the driver left the highway and took us to the hotel.<br /><br />Betty Lou went straight to the hot tub and Robert and me decided to check out the small restaurants in front of the hotel for a cheap meal. Well. The Chinese restaurant was closed. The Indian restaurant was over crowded. The Taco stand was too weird. The italian stand didnt have salads nor pinaple pizza. Aaaahh!!<br />I gave up and went inside Wal Greens for a salad (horrible choice) Robert got a hamburger (from the Mexican stand, not from Wal Greens) and we went back to our suite. I was pissed off because the salad was so bad and ate the bowl of guacemole I just bought at Trader Joe’s, while looking at the neonlights and the Strip. We stared at the ferriswheel and it didnt move.<br /><br />after that it was hot tub time! it was our first day here so I forgot that you just easily can dress in your bikini, wrap a towel around you and take the elevator to the pool. Instead we dressed up nicely :-D<br /><br />Betty Lou was chatting in the hot tub with 3 guys who turned out to be German. One of them was sunburned to a whole new level. red as a firetruck, and also drunk enough to jump in the swimmingpool thats only 3 feet/90cm deep, so he hurt his knees.<br />Other than that, they were really friendly! they shared all their beer with us!<br />Slowly more people joined us and before we kow it we had a super fun pool „party“ having drinks and chatting, people from all around! we met two Canadian girls that were also going to Fogerty, and a couple from San Francisco, and two people from Scotland. (someone asked them howcome their english was so good) Also a couple from Seatle. She was very chatty, they were very nice but he was either drunk or just chaotic and kept mixing up all the info he got. He thought it was amazing that we came all the way from Germany and Belgium and Canada to see John Fogerty. Hey, sir, thats not really how it is. Its coincidence that these candadian girls go to Fogerty, and we just met the Germans and they’re not going to John Fogerty.<br />Doesnt matter. It kept getting weirder :-D<br />it was way too hot for me so I climbed out. I was tired and wanted to go back, but at the same time I didnt wanna leave this awesome pool happening. On my right Robert and a german guy were chatting in German about the green polution sticker for your car. <br />The other German guy was chatting with the Seattle couple because they had lived in Germany. <br />Others were sharing roadtrip stories or talking about their kids or their jobs.<br />Everybody was talking to someone else, no one was left out!<br />8 total strangers in a hot tub in Las Vegas having a super fun evening. Everything was just perfect.<br />I was sitting on the edge in my bikini with a towel wrapped around my waist and a warm desert town breeze on my shoulders. Perfect.<br /><br />I was the first one to leave though because I was really tired and wanted to have a tea before bedtime. I said bye and left. Bit with a sore heart, to be honest, but the chamomile tea was waiting!<br />Unfortunately there was no kettle. I wondered if I could use the coffee maker, and then noticed this HUGE monster behind me; the maxi-microwave.<br />Our microwave has an on and off button and a timer. This thing had more buttons than an aircrafts cockpit. Puzzled I started trying them out. Not sure how I managed but I ended up with hot water in the end, and enjoyed a nice tea while looking out on the Strip, the neonlights and the ferrishwheel that didnt move.<br /><br />Robert and Betty Lou came back just after midnight because the pool closes at 12. we all agreed that it was a perfect ending for the day.<br />
Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-4945104122252679162016-10-12T05:57:00.000-07:002016-10-12T05:57:01.706-07:00sept 25th: Amsterdam - Philly - Vegas<span style="font-size: small;">wow... my 13th visit to the States! how is that ever possible??<br /><br />In two minutes I’m officially awake for 24 hrs :-D (not countinng some Colaps Naps)</span><br />
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<br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">woke up 5.30 am and drove to Amsterdam. Robert almost
made me puke out my breakfast because of laughter :-D and almost had to
stop on the emergency lane but I got myself back together just in time.<br />So
far so good, but we couldnt find the cheap lonng term carpark because
our GPS is too old so that caused some minor nervous breakdowns, but we
found it in time.<br />Already checked in at home so we just had to drop
our check in bag and go to the gate. Long story short, sometimes I
wonder how we manage to act as if we never traveled before. Must be the
early hour.<br />Much to our surprise the plane was TINY.... 3 seats next to 3 seats! and we’re going to cross the ocean with THAT?<br />yep! they also didnt have seat-screens but I figured, hey, its a cheap flight.... food was ok though.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>Long flight behind us. Almost in Vegas now. I’m kinda ready to get up and leave this plane.<br />First part took us to Philadelphia. Behind me in the plane was a guy that sounded like he was on his way (or should be) to a lung transplantation :-p and kept kicking my chair. Serious if you’re with me on an airplane, dont worry, they’ll be behind me. (right now the tallest man on the flight is sitting behind me with his knees in my back) We had an fantastic view on downtown Philadelphia on arriving. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scotland!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">bellpepper upgrade for airplane menu </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">we had to wave at the Stadium for Colt and yelled "GO STEELERS!!!" through the plane. Hope it was the right stadium</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">.</td></tr>
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NOTE: I KNOW this is not the Steelers stadium because thats obviousbly not in Philadelphia.<br />
the game was held here later today.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">lopsided view on Philadelphia</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">When we walked out of the plane in „Philly“ we wondered, what do we know about this town? „its historical important“ „something with a bell.... Freedom Bell....??“ „and wasnt this the US capitol for a while?“ yes, yes, and yes. Bonus points for the Europeans please! This is the town of the declarency of indepenndence in 1776. The „freedom Bell“ is called „Liberty Bell“ and a we saw a very cool replica made of Legos on the airport.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />Even with the dealay we had, we had 5hr stop-over (we had the cheapest flight!) lots of time to explore the airport, buy magnets, try the rocking chairs, have some food, admire the election madhouse merchandise (we liked a tin with mints saying „they all suck“ :-D )</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cool exhibition with election pins</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">oh help....</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the rocking chairs were cool</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">I „was“ in Philadelphia once before, I saw the Greyhound station on a trip from St Louis to Washington DC :-)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span>Learned more about the town esp food (do they think they invented the pretzel??) Crowds of people were flocked around TV stations that aired „The Game“ aka the footballl game between the Pittsburg Steelers and Philadelphia. everynow and then everyone started screaming what hit a few nerves :-D <br />Just after this flight took off, the flight attendant said through the speaker „as theres only 3 minutes more to go, its safe to say Philadelphia won the game’ on wich the whole plane started cheering and screaming :-) (sorry, Colt!)<br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">when it was about time we went to the gate, only to
discover that the flight to Vegas prior to ours, was delayed so much, it
ended up leaving 5 minutes before we did, causing big chaos at the two
gates, with people going to the wrong gates etc. Then we were delayed
too, cos there was a flight attendant missing. After a while he quietly
showed up and we were able to board.</span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">„chasing the sun down West“ didnt last long.... we took off with spectacular sunset. for the first time in my life I was exited to get up in the air, hoping for amazing views, but it got dark quick. Got a drink and Belgian cookies. After that we both collapsed. Right now still more than an hour to go! Insane, I always thought that the longest trip over the US was 5 hrs. saw a flight to LA that lasted 6! thats almost from home to New York!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />hey if I just keep typing I can maybe ignore the fact that the plane is bouncing through the air like a pingpong ball right now :-S<br />Anyway its dark outside. every now and then some lights that indicate civilisation. <br /><br /><br />when we finally started to descend, we saw a huge town approaching. We saw Vegas from the sky at night once before, and that was pretty awesome with lots of flickering lights, but this just looked like a normal town. This cant be Vegas??? we even thought it was Phoenix Arizona (you can laugh, we had no clue how far this is from Las Vegas)<br />But we were descending pretty quick so this had to be Las Vegas. Seeing the dark mountains’ edge arond the city was a very nice sight though.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />And there we were! Fifth time Las Vegas, first time McCarran airport. For some reason I always thought this was a small airport doing only national flights (also because its so close to the strip)<br />How wrong I was! Its huge! Betty Lou soon would find out too :-D<br />it was a long walk and complicated to find our lugguage. Then we also had to find Betty Lou. We found the belt, but the number of the flight dissapeard without any information leaving everyone clueless. All of a sudden we heard a scream: Betty Lou found us!! (next to the trashcan)<br />what a fantastic reunion :-)<br />she told what she had been through to find us as its apperantly very complicated with the all the different flightnumers (ours had 5!!) that change as soon as you’re on a domestic flight, but she found us.<br />The lugguage showed up at the end (yay) and we took a cab.<br />It was nice and warm outside, not too hot!<br /><br />Polo Towers was not too far from the airport and it looked very nice as soon as we arrived. The guy at the hotelentrance (probably has a name) opened the cab door for me and said „welcome home!“<br />They dont do that at our Red Roof Inn or Ibis for sure :-D :-D <br />Even more impressed as soon as we walked in the big lobby and on to our suite on the 5th floor.<br />And then we opened the door, and we didnt believe our eyes! A whole appartement! with view on the strip! Huge kitchen! Huge bathroom! Huge livingroom! Huge bedroom! with balcony!<br />we were walkiung around going „whaaaaat????!!!“</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />now I hear you think „how come those two end up in a posh suite“<br />well I tell you; only because of Betty Lou had it arranged for us! she knows how to take care of friends.....<br />I walked around opening doors and drawers and checked out evrything in the kitchen. Huge American stove, and microwave the size of a truck (maxi wave according to Robert) it was more complete that our own kitchen! everything was there! (apart from two things; kitchen towel, but they had a dishwasher, so probably didnt expect crazy europeans to do the dishes by hand, and a cleaning rag, but I guess they use paper towels for that over here.)<br /><br />we threw down our stuff, grabbed the shoppinglist and the Delhaize shopping bag and went to the „biggest WalGreens on earth“ on the corner for breakfast.. Not sure if its really that big for a WG, but it was big. They had everything we looked for (though we had to look very hard) execpt for tomatoes and cucumbers. Other than that everything. They were a bit pricy but you cant blame that for a shop on the Strip.<br />we bought a loaf of bread, cottage cheese, eggs, cheese, jelly, fruit, milk, water, etc. what we needed to make breakfast in our huge kitchen all week.<br />It took us a while finding everything and I got grumpy, also because of all the party people we had met on the strip. I’m not the biggest fan of the Strip at night to be honest. I wasnt the biggest fan of Las Vegas either. (I’m still not, but i did learn to aprechiate it more during the week. But thats for later)</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delhaize goes Vegas</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />Thought it was cool to slap our Belgian durable shoppingbag on the counter instead of getting 50 plastic bags. They do say „thanks“ when you bring your own bag, and in some shops you even get a discount.<br />Back over the Strip with our groceries :-D<br />We dumped them at home (it felt like home straight from the start) </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the huge kitchen!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />and we checked out the rooftop pool and hot tub!<br />I arrived without bikini so I hoped I would find something here for a decent price.<br />The view from the rooftop was STUNNING and we were more than impressed.<br />Across the road from us were the gigantic highrisers of the Aria and Cosmopolitan. A bit too the south New York New York andd the MGM. Our other „next door neighboours“ were oa Planet Hollywood and we could see the Paris balloon, and their hotel, and the LINQ ferriswheel that was beautifull lit but not moving.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">rooftop pool!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">view to the south with a.o. Excalibur, New York New York and Monte Carlo</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />time to go to bed now....</span>Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-33274644575642188852015-05-17T08:57:00.000-07:002015-05-17T08:57:04.230-07:0016 may: Dover - London - Hertford - London<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-91925972125357048922015-05-15T14:06:00.001-07:002015-05-15T14:06:35.109-07:00Hasselt, B > Calais, Fr > Dover, UK<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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more and way better pics are coming!<br />
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friday 15th Hasselt - Calais - Dover<br /><br />todays plans: work :-D drive to Calais, take the boat to the UK (Dover) as footpassengers, and stay the evening in Dover. <br /><br />slept a good three hours. Off to work at 8am. I felt very surreal because of the lack of sleep second night in a row, but was able to get everything done like it should, and went back home to re-pack and get ready. We planned to leave asap, as its a bit of a drive. We assumed the traffic would be smooth because most people are off today. well we didnt really had problems, but it was very crowded with people going to the coast. Also from the corner of my eye I saw a warning that said something with “15km traffic jam” and “antwerp”<br />So, did we have to avoid Antwerp, or make a detour to Antwerp? confusion. Traffic info on the radio sorted it out, you had to avoid Antwerp as there were huge, huge trafficjams because of roadwork. Never thought of that! (and so glad we were going via Brussels)<br />Things got a bit silly after that because we’re so tired, but we got in Calais nice and smooth.<br /><br />At home we looked up where to park, but ofcourse in real life it was way different. We found the only left over spot on the free parking, so we parked and got ready. Robert went for a walk and noticed something alarming: all the cars around us were damaged one way or the other. Slashed tires, broken windows, missing mirrors, everything! we didnt feel safe anymore and decided to check out the paid parking. More confusion, so we asked a staff member and he said “just get your car and park here” so we did. We’re right in front of the terminal in plain view so I hope they leave us alone!<br /><br />not much excitement going on here at te moment. We’re at the gate waiting for the bus to the boat. Security check was kinda cute. Then funny passport control: first you go to the window for the french passport control, then you walk 10 steps and there’s the British passport control.<br />It has been 7 years since we went to the UK this way. I’m just as (happily) nervous :-) Sea is calm.<br /><br />16.15 CET - big boat :-)<br /><br />“not very crowded here” we thought when we walked on board, but 5 minutes later busloads of a) young children (very quiet) b) screaming german teenagers c) screaming English teenagers d) screaming random teenagers (ok I’m overreacting) and also Spanish tourists. Lots of people doing quick naps on one of the many benches (quite comfy if you wear earplugs!)<br />the boat is filled with screaming 16 year olds :-S (still better that a SINGING CHOIR)<br />and there are some serious waves too apparently. We found a starbucks corner (the slowest ever, but we got a discount)<br />When we left the harbour, we had a very nice view on Calais with its churches, the superpretty belltower and the white lighthouse.<br />View on Dover was just as nice as the view on Calais, but the cliffs were remarkable whiter. Thats probably why its the white cliffs of Dover and not the white cliffs of Calais.<br /><br />there were about 10 footpassengers, and finding the way out in Dover was complicated at least. How many times can you run up and down the same stairs? (and everytime you run up, you have to fight yourself a way trhough busloads of teenagers)<br /><br /><br />21.00 UK - Dover.<br />So far so good! enjoying the day. Dover isnt very charming but has a very big castle on top of a hill and the people are all friendly. Our BnB isnt expensive, but ok! very friendly owners. Tiny room though with miniature bathroom, not suitable for big or tall people! went into town for a walk, didnt feel very safe at all times. Shops were all just closed as we arrived, bummer! only one we could see was ofcourse a thriftstore. Theres so many of them in the UK! some nice houses in the city center and some impressive old buildings. Sun started shining and it wasnt as cold as expected.<br />only really bad thing is crossing the road here!! you have to look to the right first, feels so weird and un natural. We’re tired and we just grab eachother and look all around us, even behind us and up :-D :-D I’m glad they’re used to some confused mainlanders here. <br />we found a street (the Highstreet out of town) with lots of small local restaurants, and some indian restaurants (at least two of them were called Taste of India) so we chose one. I had a supertasty meal with lamb and tomato sauce, and Robert managed to choose the Atomic Chicken Special again!!! (and it wasnt even hot according to the menu. There were also dishes “hot” “very hot” and “extremely hot” ?! )<br />He did finish it but the tears were almost running down his face. <br />Visit to the local supermarket was planned, to get some fruit and veggies and chips (i mean cripspsspsps) and sweets. ASDA and Morrisons were next door to eachother. I had the feeling ASDA was cheaper so we went there. Regrets! though the staff was friendly, I didnt like the shop at all and just wanted to leave. Back to Morrisons, were Robert sat down and I had some extatic 15 minutes running around looking at snacks and food, and giggling about signs and words. Esp “crisps” ( = chips) and “everyday biscuits” I wonder where the fancy biscuits were! so many cool english stuff like crackers for cheese and crackers and 100 types of marmelade and lemoncurd (drooool) and so many cookies that looked so different than at home. And cakes and rolls too! and oatmeal bars (flapjacks) and toffee and caramel and, and, and. I managed to leave the shop with only carrots and water for me. (and crisps for Robert)<br /><br />
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<br />Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-42380389408934711722015-05-15T13:48:00.005-07:002015-05-15T13:48:58.359-07:00Help! Freak Show, Essen, Germany, 14-5-15<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-91455487804638342432013-12-27T10:07:00.001-08:002013-12-27T11:18:40.163-08:007 dec: Columbia - Saint Louis, MORed Roof Inn is a great value for your money motel, but they dont
have breakfast, and their coffee sucks, so we went into town to find
something. Also, I wanted a fridge magnet.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfCTtln1WweVuokYoxdFdg5-7ymgg3emRdP7R71rcJuuHJExi9hXQyAqbjB6V7aFz-TUSUTfojUHK7VI7HQSd9EKeEoP2_vqHYdhqoQr3uN1E63kNBEsf3Sl_-JPPmSIzQXpp-ohD-_hLV/s1600/P1010343.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfCTtln1WweVuokYoxdFdg5-7ymgg3emRdP7R71rcJuuHJExi9hXQyAqbjB6V7aFz-TUSUTfojUHK7VI7HQSd9EKeEoP2_vqHYdhqoQr3uN1E63kNBEsf3Sl_-JPPmSIzQXpp-ohD-_hLV/s400/P1010343.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And this was only after one day on the road :-)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw0YCnC0dQu7a3ONhRi2Eo8mMGTEhP7frp6bhLuoiIp3SM_xhBDhcyhPfGQJer0laM-rh8b6LTgRZWYYzBpVvJcHDWyMFZMTcd3z405ek4oVUoSjTUKqGPlij4vtd6RvGb5Sze1_Pr9iLD/s1600/P1010356.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw0YCnC0dQu7a3ONhRi2Eo8mMGTEhP7frp6bhLuoiIp3SM_xhBDhcyhPfGQJer0laM-rh8b6LTgRZWYYzBpVvJcHDWyMFZMTcd3z405ek4oVUoSjTUKqGPlij4vtd6RvGb5Sze1_Pr9iLD/s400/P1010356.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">forgot to take ALL the water out of the car: ice cubes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGaw4pJYIi36Urxp_2VHEnK65ycLqv6gKHBycBHmiTieitTg80qkAiP0q4dOX_HEqONIAyheb3iyJWhlRka0gYj3Lt5yWjNZP1v9PTsE4oYlBmjbk2XRi_oBr8AbVhT0caPN2xEAVxOFNJ/s1600/P1010346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGaw4pJYIi36Urxp_2VHEnK65ycLqv6gKHBycBHmiTieitTg80qkAiP0q4dOX_HEqONIAyheb3iyJWhlRka0gYj3Lt5yWjNZP1v9PTsE4oYlBmjbk2XRi_oBr8AbVhT0caPN2xEAVxOFNJ/s400/P1010346.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christmas decorations</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
We
were a bit late already and looked for something like a bigger
gasstation or a Walgreens. Saw a few of them, but you have to be able to
get there without causing accidents, so we ended up driving into town a
bit, and getting back to the highway...we passed... Aldi!<br />
There, right in front of us!<br />
We
shop at Aldi at home every week, and we've always been very curious
about the American Aldi. (no, thats a lie, I'm very curious, Robert
can't care less :-) )<br />
I didnt have to ask, Robert just pulled over and we went in.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
Just
before we entered the shop, all of a sudden a tiny tiny bell rang...
wait, didnt I read something somewhere about not being able to pay with a
creditcard? Nehhh....<br />
Stepping into the shop... bit of an anti
climax! It didnt look like the Aldi at home, it looked EXACT like the
Lidl at home :-D (another German discount shop) the only difference was
that it was filled with American products. We looked around a bit,
bought snacks for breakfast, and I noticed my new pants were falling
down. Yep. I had to hold it with one hand while strolling through the
store, and felt like a lo life, we found a souvenir bag that said
"www.aldi.us" (how exotic!) and went to the check out.<br />
Long story
short: of course our creditcards didnt work! credit cards dont work at
any Aldi all over the world! we tried our debit cards... didnt work
either. (of course) so we had to pay cash, and we were almost out of
cash. We were able to drag up dollars from all corners and pockets and
quarters too, didnt have to use my 2 dollar bill.Of course these
things always happen at Aldi, just like at home :-D We were totally
embarresed and ran out with our groceries...(still grabbing my pants
with one hand)<br />
<br />
Now we were out of cash, out of gas, and I was about to show up at Janets door with fallingdown pants looking like a lo-life.<br />
First
two problems: gas station. Got gas, Robert stayed in for a long time
and came back with bad news, he tried all options on the ATM inside but
no cash, so we had to ask for assistance in Saint Louis.<br />
I could
have gone out and change all my clothes on the bathroom, but for some
reason thought it would be easier to do in in a driving car. Dont ask,
but I did it, and we werent stopped by the omnipresent highway
patrol/police. (never seen so many cars pulled over EVER as this trip)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFkWk4cxl02esD_efcarK88tRQcscf7lIJdSeW9I0c_HQ90h0tR8ckLVxdKkY5JiXoz7RaZvITtTgBU0VnEegp00TmpUghJajjNIpBlrIHPer7bGxbfKVE-CRgZRL_Sici9jrcUg0CELXK/s1600/P1010359.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFkWk4cxl02esD_efcarK88tRQcscf7lIJdSeW9I0c_HQ90h0tR8ckLVxdKkY5JiXoz7RaZvITtTgBU0VnEegp00TmpUghJajjNIpBlrIHPer7bGxbfKVE-CRgZRL_Sici9jrcUg0CELXK/s400/P1010359.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">YAY!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Saint
Louis coming closer again! We got the adress in the GPS and drove into
town. we saw all kinds of interesting and weird stuff like the water
tower, a space ship shaped museum (decorated with a bow for christmas)
and the biggest old hospital we've ever seen, it looked like a factory
and/or like something from a scary movie.<br />
<br />
<br />
There we were on the streets of Saint Louis. It took 12 years for me to come back but we're here now!<br />
First
impression of town... it looked familiar (ofcourse, I've been there)
then... it all looks so dutch/european! Couldnt really put my finger on
it. Then we passed some buildings and I said "I know this... I've been
here 12 years ago"<br />
<br />
Robert said "how big are the chances? St Louis is huge!"<br />
I said "there will be an Applebee's on the left within moments"<br />
HA!! There WAS!!!<br />
Still maybe coincidence, but funny anyway :-)<br />
We found the right street and drove up.<br />
I was so nervous to see Janet!<br />
<br />
We
found the house, parked in front, and saw to familiar faces from
Facebook that arent on Facebook (hah!) and they turned out to be Jody
and Derron, who turned out to be awesome. Brian came out and while we
were standing outside I all of a sudden saw this blonde flying down the
stairs! Janet!!<br />
Several big hugs, wow, FINALLY!! I was totally
exhausted and mixed up and said stupid things like "you're really pretty
in real life!" hahaha!!<br />
Next was Rocco, who wasnt that happy with
the strangers in his house at first, and they tried to convince him we
were good folks.<br />
<br />
What followed was a great,
superrelaxed afternoon. A lot of people came by and we had great food,
(delicious pasta) stories and laughs! Another blonde I was so happy to
meet after all those years online: Marcia, who came with Steve, (and a
tray of her signature devilled eggs, mmm) I was a bit overwhelmed by
meeting everyone at the same time but had a great time. Also our dearest
friend Fran walked in later (how super cool of Janet to invite her
too!!) we didnt see her in a long time and it was just fantastic. (just
at the chocolate wine she brought!) we also had... cake. A huge Bottle
Rockets cake!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPUOcBqYMLL1lRpJfIWtozIMvUlPvDakFxGgKfGojxDshG3FuGD2euMVI3j1kFAezrrkrYSDOYAnLRLCXMFLE2dFLB-Eswf64nZzSbkC6ViukUaMJ_xEeSNOxokmQEW9S8PoRL8JYHTvR8/s1600/P1010364.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPUOcBqYMLL1lRpJfIWtozIMvUlPvDakFxGgKfGojxDshG3FuGD2euMVI3j1kFAezrrkrYSDOYAnLRLCXMFLE2dFLB-Eswf64nZzSbkC6ViukUaMJ_xEeSNOxokmQEW9S8PoRL8JYHTvR8/s400/P1010364.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Janet and Rocco. Rocco: "mommy, those Europeans make me wear a hat! please say something!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCOgGoR6sMmfm75CJgGrcM9W7Gn5nSGEffcqQ1uG78L69unvLuLQ_CNB4tvmCLvcn9VZdeWaj-Njk0J_zIvG3rMWEeQF0NI_Npwl6pnAus4Pepp1hLqdhvHDwfz3PcDEukWYwK__52l0JD/s1600/P1010367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCOgGoR6sMmfm75CJgGrcM9W7Gn5nSGEffcqQ1uG78L69unvLuLQ_CNB4tvmCLvcn9VZdeWaj-Njk0J_zIvG3rMWEeQF0NI_Npwl6pnAus4Pepp1hLqdhvHDwfz3PcDEukWYwK__52l0JD/s400/P1010367.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgan1kNDxubu83M4sSBbkQM7_U-iN_gUjmO47SZltYW_M-srMua2fqfzqgVRZkmupMSlZ9aoEfbUEszHwtNpaxoK2aHvH3h_MC0g5DkRAtGeYjVsP2eKD1SS5UN3FHIFAz-mIeKVhin_nBe/s1600/P1010369.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgan1kNDxubu83M4sSBbkQM7_U-iN_gUjmO47SZltYW_M-srMua2fqfzqgVRZkmupMSlZ9aoEfbUEszHwtNpaxoK2aHvH3h_MC0g5DkRAtGeYjVsP2eKD1SS5UN3FHIFAz-mIeKVhin_nBe/s400/P1010369.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Introducing: The Cake</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglOwmIFiHi0Xe5pi6hKOfd9XGO7yOpyxkWePRa1f46eM-8qTQxqjEEKjD9EXPPHksvV5wOdozuaCsMiYee87Oczn3S5cWyQC_SMUPa8w2dyW_bDLoTpKVznpLj_wOcwPNmJ1N7AP0w3xdn/s1600/P1010374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglOwmIFiHi0Xe5pi6hKOfd9XGO7yOpyxkWePRa1f46eM-8qTQxqjEEKjD9EXPPHksvV5wOdozuaCsMiYee87Oczn3S5cWyQC_SMUPa8w2dyW_bDLoTpKVznpLj_wOcwPNmJ1N7AP0w3xdn/s400/P1010374.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(disclaimer: *we* brought him that mug)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
The
venue was "really close" so Robert and I thought we could walk. Haha,
no. First of all it would have been quite a walk, and second, we had to
go through some bad parts of town.<br />
<br />
Off Broadway is a
very nice, not too big venue. It was already very crowed when we
arrived, and the first thing we did was another attempt to get cash from
the ATM. So Robert ended up with at least 5 Americans around him
telling him which buttons to press :-D and yaayyyy, we got cash! Got a
drink and politely tried to get as close to the stage as possible
without pushing others away. we did ok!<br />
<br />
First, finally
OTIS. I only heard him on youtube, but was so thrilled to see him live
finally (there is no way you can get around him in Bottle Rockets land) I
thought I could only be dissapointed. How wrong I was! His songs, his
voice and his stories are just awesome, straight from the heart,
straight to the heart. He made me cry!<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
We
were standing right next to Tom and Phoebe and it was great to see them
again. Its funny how quick some people feel like friends after only
seeing them once, but that was something that kept happening here...
adding to the magic.<br />
I think it was Janet... who showed up with a
cute girl (with cute hat) and introducing us... Johns wife Liza! After
the show we talked a bit and I felt sorry we couldnt hang out longer.
All those great, sweet, nice, awesome people popping up from
everywhere!!<br />
<br />
This time I was totally ready to rock and
the band didnt let me down for one second. It was such a great, great
show!! And what a nice surprise to get Alone in Bad Company again!<br />
(now
I know why I usually make notes during some concerts, because you will
forget everything within a week when you see several shows in a row) so,
details? I'll give you some details: they were awesome!<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
Free
Fallin... with very interesting lyrics... :-D and Take me to the bank,
requested by and played for Marks mom, who was sitting in the back!<br />
I danced the whole show...<br />
Fran saw the band open for Fogerty in 1997 here in Saint Louis, liked them, and was very impressed by the way they sound now.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF1ToBfPy91vSHexXFUU7AsBSPruIi_mVL1DJ2fg5d0qWq30RSwTVQ88Oxz7jYtu7m2o7jxqRnae-vDT5addeMiYPwz6bRIeW2va1d9WVRhZ6JPGDPm6MF7e-WJRQS5Ek9fsNXSORXgfiI/s1600/P1010433.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF1ToBfPy91vSHexXFUU7AsBSPruIi_mVL1DJ2fg5d0qWq30RSwTVQ88Oxz7jYtu7m2o7jxqRnae-vDT5addeMiYPwz6bRIeW2va1d9WVRhZ6JPGDPm6MF7e-WJRQS5Ek9fsNXSORXgfiI/s640/P1010433.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert and his "rare t-shirt twin"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
After
the show I was totally ready for a party. Hang out with everyone, and
dance some more... but, probably due to the bad weather, people were
leaving early. Also because some had to go to work in the morning. Had
to say goodbye to Fran, and to Marcia and Steve, nooo, not that soon, we
barely had the chance to hang out!<br />
Met another online friend who was on his way out, Tom (Bottle Rockets attracks Toms :-) and his wife. <br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyQYgR1Rfo4cnjiOVBTiMtzijEqMzO_E_tcvjHnH44lxChLV43d3qKBbB98gCqp-jLVf8wCiSLCz4P75bvnehsrd5-6gkOjYy9ZZpuT1vpUHeoMaphY0B5wwxFMhSKFjdyUEOQbFnz2n0P/s1600/P1010439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyQYgR1Rfo4cnjiOVBTiMtzijEqMzO_E_tcvjHnH44lxChLV43d3qKBbB98gCqp-jLVf8wCiSLCz4P75bvnehsrd5-6gkOjYy9ZZpuT1vpUHeoMaphY0B5wwxFMhSKFjdyUEOQbFnz2n0P/s400/P1010439.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Phoebe and Tom</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO1iB5JkAkyxEky6rZkFq4cmJgxJ__zIyxENzloYRITHJgOcQsi8GFXjog3bWyh1LJbvtcM2w3ZoldRjmhy0n72FRTx519EYj63cVejsUZILbkHY2j4UuBKT1yVg_xPGuVddtCYuH0NEs1/s1600/P1010437.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO1iB5JkAkyxEky6rZkFq4cmJgxJ__zIyxENzloYRITHJgOcQsi8GFXjog3bWyh1LJbvtcM2w3ZoldRjmhy0n72FRTx519EYj63cVejsUZILbkHY2j4UuBKT1yVg_xPGuVddtCYuH0NEs1/s400/P1010437.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Steve, Fran and Marcia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
But then Mark appeared and introduced us to his supernice parents and sister Ann!<br />
Had
to say goodbye to them to as we were leaving... back in the cold and
snow, back home through "one of the bad parts of town" -not the worst
parts of town. Luckly, the criminals didnt wanna come out with this kind
of weather, but we did start to feel a bit nervous when we had to wait
for a red light for a while.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.bottlerocketsmusic.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=9135">Here's</a> the
link to the official Bottle Rockets message board with a decent report
of the show by "Lightning" hope it's ok to post it here.Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-45873355049734547182013-12-27T02:03:00.002-08:002013-12-27T02:03:32.215-08:006 dec pt 2: St Louis-Columbia: reunited & we made it!I thought I would be happy to be in Saint Louis again, after dreaming
about it for years (yeah, some people dream about going to Saint
Louis!) but now I was double happy, after a ride like we just
experienced.<br />
Entering Saint Louis from the bridge, with that view,
just like I hoped we would, it was awesome. It was also the way I left
Saint Louis 12 years ago, in a Greyhound bus :-)<br />
We passed the Busch/Cardinals stadium, it wasnt very easy to find the right way but hey we're together and we did.<br />
<br />
I
tried to send some messages to people to let them know we were doing ok
and heading for Columbia, but my phone didnt feel using *new* American
contacts. By the time I was finally able to send one from Roberts phone,
we were almost there already (and it turned out we sent it to someone
who cant receive textmessages)<br />
<br />
Anyway, relieved that we
were now REALLY on our way, that we were out of the ice, that we just
passed Saint Louis and that we WERE going to make it, our level dropped to "extremely SILLY"<br />
To
entertain Robert I sang the whole Sgt Peppers album for him (dont ask
why) some Bottle Rockets songs, and made up nice new songs blending them
all together.<br />
And you all know I really, really, really cant sing! Poor Robert!<br />
<br />
there
was not much to see in the dark on the way to Columbia. Lots of shops
that sell fireworks (no one them said Bottle Rockets for sale,
unfortunately) and a town called Mexico! and a lot of signs for motels.<br />
We
found our motel, and were excited because we knew the band was here
too. Got a heart attack when we saw a white "band van" but closer
inspection told it wasnt theirs, and we assumed they were in the club
already.<br />
<br />
Then, just after we walked out the office...walked to our car... there was this white van slowly pulling up on the street...<br />
within seconds, we recognized Brian and Keith.<br />This
was it. This was the moment I even lost faith in that it would ever
happen again: we were looking at the Bottle Rockets, in real life, after
4 years, after giving up hope once, after deciding to come to the
States for over 2 years.<br />
We started waving like crazy and they stopped so we ran there.<br />
It
was totally weird. They laughed, shook hands and said "see you in the
club!" and they drove off. It maybe took one minute, it was way too
short to realise what had happened!!<br />
At our room, I felt like I just dreamed it! <br />
<br />
We
didnt have much time, still had to eat but decided to go to the club in
time. As by a miracle, someone just left with the car and we found a
parkingspot right next to the door.<br />
It was COLD!! it was freezing cold, 15°F/-10°C!<br />
the
club looked like a nice place and we got in, to walk into the band
again. Now there was time for hugs and a talk, but I still felt weird!
But on the other hand, it just felt the same as when we left them in
Spain.<br />
At a certain moment I realised that pretty red Rickenbacker
guitar onstage was one and only RIKKI, I've longed to see her in real
life for so long, but everything was just so WEIRD that I just didnt get
it. (for the non-Bottle Rockets fans who read this: the guitar is
famous in Bottle Rockets circles because her owner can't shut up about
her :-)<br />
<br />
One big bummer: One and only Otis Gibbs was supposed to open for them.... but... just like us he left from Nashville this morning... but a bit later... got caught in the same ice.... and when he left the highway for gas, he couldnt get back on it anymore because the police closed it!! what!!! made us realise once more how lucky we've been! <br />
(small note for those who've never been on American highways: unlike in Europe, you have to really leave the highway and drive a bit, for a gasstation) <br />
<br />
The club had a small pizza corner, yay, so we
could have a bite, and we sat down near the window. I was enjoying ever
second and everything that I saw. The view on dark Columbia, the
American neonsigns, the whole American club experience, the Bottle
Rockets on our right mingling with the crowd. This guy approached me and
asked "are you Petra?" yes! It was long time BR fan Tom and and his wife
Phoebe, who I've been in contact with for years on facebook and before
that on the messageboard. It was so great meeting them, and also the
first time ever that I met other die hard fans!<br />
<br />
Robert grabbed a beer coaster from the bar and showed it to me. It said "Rolle Bolle New Belgium"<br />
Wait, waaaaa? this was our introduction to the Belgian Style Beer phenomenon. I dont know why we never noticed before, that "Belgian Style" beer is everywhere.... for now we just laughed, but in the days to follow, we couldnt set one foot in a restaurant, club or supermarket without being buried in the Belgian Styles.<br />
What is it? Well, we're still not sure. I tried to look it up, its American brewed beer, "brewed in old Belgian tradition" or something. There are at least 500 different beers in Belgium so I'm not sure. The next day we wanted to try one and asked "one of those Belgian Style beers" and got... a "Bavarian Style beer" :-D what's going on here?!<br />
<br />
We
were standing right in front of the stage and it was a great show,
but... it just didnt get through to me, I was way to emotional. The
Bottle Rockets! There! Playing music! In front of ME! After all those
years and times I thought I'd never see them again! After realising I
had to go to them, because I'm not going to wait forever untill they
ever come to Europe again. After getting really obsessed with finding a way to see them again. Sometimes, if you wanna have it, just come
and get it when possible. Since januari of this year I started working
extra hours, and it wasnt always fun, but I kept on thinking "its for
the Bottle Rockets" and wow, now I was here, looking at them.<br />
<br />
So
it took at least untill the encore to get myself together again. I just
stood there looking silly. Looked at Robert every now and then, who
later said I had a bright smile on my face the whole time.<br />
There were quite some songs I didnt know or only heard on youtube, like Big Lots and Monday but I liked them. <br />
they
came back and either asked for requests, or we just starting yelling
them. I yelled for Alone in Bad Company, they noticed I was yelling
something and came over to hear <3 arent they the best! With that
song came the story that we came all the way from Belgium...<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
Great
to hear the song. The story behind it AND the song would turn out to be
a big part of the days to follow, mostly summarized, but this is the
whole story:<br />
fourteen years ago, I went to see the Bottle Rockets
in Amsterdam to check them out, I've never seen or heard them before.
The moment they walked onstage I smiled and the moment they started
playing I thought "not bad".<br />
That was the era that I've seen a lot
of "americana" bands that turned out to be so boring.... but the Bottle
Rockets werent one of them. In fact, they were ok and I decided to go
and see them a few days later in The Hague, at the big Queensday
festival.<br />
It was there, the second time I saw them, the second
time I heard Alone in Bad Company, I realised they were not just ok, but
more than that.... this was it, I felt in love! It had been a while,
but I found a band again that I really, really liked. (I went to see two more shows that tour!)<br />
<br />
After
the show we talked with the band and fans a bit more, we stayed with
Tom and Phoebe who proved to be excellent merch-salesmen! People were
leaving early (doh!) and it was time to go. we allready talked about our
ice adventure in Kentucky and Keith and John jumped in our car to show
us where the windscreen defroster was (note: there isnt any! :-P ) I
just stood there looking at them fooling around in our car. Men!!
:-)<br />
<br />
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<br />
The club closed and we stood outside waiting, the van was
parked next to our car. I didnt realise where we were waiting for and
thought we were waiting on eachother first. We discussed the cold (it
was COLD!!) and the ice in Kentucky etc. We werent sure why we were
waiting there :-D ("oh we're just standing here because the Bottle
Rockets are standing here!") but finally everyone was there and we said
goodbye, and followed them to the motel.<br />
It has been a weird day... lots of emotions... both good and bad, and now there was just only thing left to do: SLEEP!!Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-62137632042482786262013-12-22T12:33:00.000-08:002023-05-18T14:36:36.426-07:006 dec #2: Saint Louis!! > Columbia, MO... BOTTLE ROCKETSI thought I would be happy to be in Saint Louis again, after dreaming about it for years (yeah, some people dream about going to Saint Louis!) but now I was double happy, after a ride like we just experienced.<br />
Entering Saint Louis from the bridge, with that view, just like I hoped we would, it was awesome. It was also the way I left Saint Louis 12 years ago, in a Greyhound bus :-)<br />
We passed the Busch/Cardinals stadium, it wasnt very easy to find the right way but hey we're together and we did.<br />
<br />
I tried to send some messages to people to let them know we were doing ok and heading for Columbia, but my phone didnt feel using *new* American contacts. By the time I was finally able to send one from Roberts phone, we were almost there already (and it turned out we sent it to someone who cant receive textmessages)<br />
<br />
Anyway, relieved that we were now REALLY on our way, that we were out of the ice, that we just passed Saint Louis and that we WERE going to make it, our level dropped to "extremely SILLY"<br />
To entertain Robert I sang the whole Sgt Peppers album for him (dont ask why) some Bottle Rockets songs, and made up nice new songs blending them all together.<br />
And you all know I really, really, really cant sing! Poor Robert!<br />
<br />
there was not much to see in the dark on the way to Columbia. Lots of shops that sell fireworks (no one them said Bottle Rockets for sale, unfortunately) and a town called Mexico! and a lot of signs for motels.<br />
We found our motel, and were excited because we knew the band was here too. Got a heart attack when we saw a white "band van" but closer inspection told it wasnt theirs, and we assumed they were in the club already.<br />
<br />
Then, just after we walked out the office...walked to our car... there was this white van slowly pulling up on the street...<br />
within seconds, we recognized Brian and Keith.<br />This was it. This was the moment I even lost faith in that it would ever happen again: we were looking at the Bottle Rockets, in real life, after 4 years, after giving up hope once, after deciding to come to the States for over 2 years.<br />
We started waving like crazy and they stopped so we ran there.<br />
It was totally weird. They laughed, shook hands and said "see you in the club!" and they drove off. It maybe took one minute, it was way too short to realise what had happened!!<br />
At our room, I felt like I just dreamed it! <br />
<br />
We didnt have much time, still had to eat but decided to go to the club in time. As by a miracle, someone just left with the car and we found a parkingspot right next to the door.<br />
It was COLD!! it was freezing cold, 15°F/-10°C!<br />
the club looked like a nice place and we got in, to walk into the band again. Now there was time for hugs and a talk, but I still felt weird! But on the other hand, it just felt the same as when we left them in Spain.<br />
At a certain moment I realised that pretty red Rickenbacker guitar onstage was one and only RIKKI, I've longed to see her in real life for so long, but everything was just so WEIRD that I just didnt get it. (for the non-Bottle Rockets fans who read this: the guitar is famous in Bottle Rockets circles because her owner can't shut up about her :-)<br />
<br />
The club had a small pizza corner, yay, so we could have a bite, and we sat down near the window. I was enjoying ever second and everything that I saw. The view on dark Columbia, the American neonsigns, the whole American club experience, the Bottle Rockets on our right mingling with the crowd.<br />
<br />
Tom and Phoebe.<br />
<br />
We were standing right in front of the stage and it was a great show, but... it just didnt get through to me, I was way to emotional. The Bottle Rockets! There! Playing music! In front of ME! After all those years and times I thought I'd never see them again! After realising I had to go to them, because I'm not going to wait forever untill they ever come to Europe again. Sometimes, if you wanna have it, just come and get it. Since januari of this year I started working extra hours, and it wasnt always fun, but I kept on thinking "its for the Bottle Rockets" and wow, now I was here, looking at them.<br />
So it took at least untill the encore to get myself together again. I just stood there looking silly. Looked at Robert every now and then, who later said I had a bright smile on my face the whole time.<br />
There were quite some songs I didnt know or only heard on youtube, like Big Lots and Monday.<br />
they came back and either asked for requests, or we just starting yelling them. I yelled for Alone in Bad Company, they noticed I was yelling something and came over to hear <3 arent they the best! With that song came the story that we came all the way from Belgium...<br />
Great to hear the song. The story behind it AND the song would turn out to be a big part of the days to follow, mostly summarized, but this is the whole story:<br />
fourteen years ago, I went to see the Bottle Rockets in Amsterdam to check them out, I've never seen or heard them before. The moment they walked onstage I smiled and the moment they started playing I thought "not bad".<br />
That was the era that I've seen a lot of "americana" bands that turned out to be so boring.... but the Bottle Rockets werent one of them. In fact, they were ok and I decided to go and see them a few days later in The Hague, at the big Queensday festival.<br />
It was there, the second time I saw them, the second time I heard Alone in Bad Company, I realised they were not just ok, but Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-79508266217853319512013-12-21T14:56:00.000-08:002013-12-21T14:56:00.918-08:006 dec # 1: ice roads and snowstorm in Kentucky(first part = live blog, written on the road)<br />
weather reports scare me a bit. We can
do only one thing: be carefull and use our brains (= safety first) Got a
message from Brian that they booked a room in Columbia, because of the
extreme cold they dont wanna drive back to STL through (apperantly) the
middle of nowhere (in case something happens) and that we should do the
same so we did.<br />
<br />
During breakfast we first heard "dont take the 24
and 64, my sister-in-law is there and its 30mph max because of snow and
ice and sleet!. you should take this and that road!"<br />
then the man at the other end of the table said "no, you're sending them straight into a snowstorm, its really bad out there"<br />
ok, so.... "we'll just follow the GPS and hope for the best" but thanks for caring! <br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmq-35O5VpBluPELjwiAnVKPzI-_glm3DGBMH41oSgmSf3LtpWBmgwHJTkT6QtrBcPfWFD86dpdZXLTzFxofijiYHufAVfOJWQshNql38fR0gsNxNAkDLQQfdO_yYacOblwvV4Ilia3F6/s1600/P1010267.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmq-35O5VpBluPELjwiAnVKPzI-_glm3DGBMH41oSgmSf3LtpWBmgwHJTkT6QtrBcPfWFD86dpdZXLTzFxofijiYHufAVfOJWQshNql38fR0gsNxNAkDLQQfdO_yYacOblwvV4Ilia3F6/s400/P1010267.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nashville in the rain....</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<br />
we'll
see what we can do. Right now we're on the road and driving. If its too
dangerous to drive we'll stop. Like I wrote to Chuck the other day "I
hope Saint Christopher is with us"<br />
<br />
Temperature is
heading for 32 and we dont like that as its raining :-( GPS only gives 7
mins delay on 6,5 hrs so still hope we will be ok.<br />
OMG there it is,
electrical warning signs "snow and ice on roadway be prepared for slow
and stopped vehicles" crossing my fingers.<br />
<br />
I think we're in Kentucky :-D<br />
Yes we are! yoohoo! For fridge magnets take the first exit.<br />
<br />
snowcleaning trucks ahead. One of them just made a uturn on the highway (to the other lane)<br />
And we reached 32°F .<br />
<br />
Ohdear.
A car in the ditch. At least it was standing on its wheels and the
passengers were standing next to it. Highway patrol was allready there.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiedur5XXZ7WSwxfoLo_Lz6VqbfY3azRxHtJdDazT7DmL0EmOmuKTLcfZ8W8ErJUNl9pjEESJHPlYanOgjfW0Oz4QxjuqfFu39fr641I3AAE3vp7rwNGebYVA6rexHFIKNXlbDhRn7oWfbl/s1600/P1010270.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiedur5XXZ7WSwxfoLo_Lz6VqbfY3azRxHtJdDazT7DmL0EmOmuKTLcfZ8W8ErJUNl9pjEESJHPlYanOgjfW0Oz4QxjuqfFu39fr641I3AAE3vp7rwNGebYVA6rexHFIKNXlbDhRn7oWfbl/s400/P1010270.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">rain...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRntAHCzjsOWF5EHAmrmSOxvp52OuXTkt8dSKBii1t2itGT8R-tZSdH_9k75gJi7EPDIoimUAeZfCgfasWEysmh0p887SjfiVlwzsDrKHTEsGzzjPFX6eexoX5JBxyBx9ClL49AKAg2-gi/s1600/P1010271.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRntAHCzjsOWF5EHAmrmSOxvp52OuXTkt8dSKBii1t2itGT8R-tZSdH_9k75gJi7EPDIoimUAeZfCgfasWEysmh0p887SjfiVlwzsDrKHTEsGzzjPFX6eexoX5JBxyBx9ClL49AKAg2-gi/s400/P1010271.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...turning...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9tSmhOkpXTWHTl8Ts_jK6L7moFiMvS4omPLnuE6nJ6Br02Pzzzla2PDQOqRMt1AyuQATbEILmNfqdQocNQbVHG7NkdcWaBK708FvKdjxaFiDL5JqSmTD-uLezfa-6dS1Hnq0y7XelZ2Hl/s1600/P1010273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9tSmhOkpXTWHTl8Ts_jK6L7moFiMvS4omPLnuE6nJ6Br02Pzzzla2PDQOqRMt1AyuQATbEILmNfqdQocNQbVHG7NkdcWaBK708FvKdjxaFiDL5JqSmTD-uLezfa-6dS1Hnq0y7XelZ2Hl/s400/P1010273.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...into ice!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
OMG another one. The snow and ice are here. slowing down and crossing fingers.<br />
3rd. 40mph. Ice. Feeling very uncomfortable. Giving Robert compliments so he'll stay relaxed.<br />
Maybe
this would be different at home. We have ice, snow, sleet and dangerous
roads at home too. we had to make detours because we couldn get uphill
etc, but I think it just makes it twice as bad because we're not at home
or in our own car.<br />
at least they put sand or salt or what is it on the road here.<br />
<br />
28°<br />
I'm glad we were smart enough to bring a big bag of food and a tray of water with us.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDRkQl0GoNTBqk2O9VgbIo-gmubiwRp0-k7X3L2UyoxPI6i0o8aYwH1-0lrmc_dys_tChSBwO-KhU8b-Ud8Fyh1pB0vSr1sKghZqzxXuI-nS1D6TOfqnefPSkeBNo2b_-JdkDgm3VDphGu/s1600/P1010269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDRkQl0GoNTBqk2O9VgbIo-gmubiwRp0-k7X3L2UyoxPI6i0o8aYwH1-0lrmc_dys_tChSBwO-KhU8b-Ud8Fyh1pB0vSr1sKghZqzxXuI-nS1D6TOfqnefPSkeBNo2b_-JdkDgm3VDphGu/s400/P1010269.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lunch.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
ok
on a lighter hand now. the landscape here and in Tennessee looks a bit
like home. Some hills with trees and now fields. This could have been
Belgium right here.<br />
We see quite a few out of state cars: mostly Florida this time (in Cali it was Texas!) and some georgia. Oh wait there are the Texans :-D<br />
Teehee a tourbus named Kincaid :-) <br />
6th car in ditch + walking driver<br />
<br />
<br />
Its snowing now and 25°<br />
---<br />
so far for the live blog, I had to put my laptop away and help Robert, as the windscreen was covered in ice, and the wipers were covered in ice too, so they didnt touch the window anymore, and we couldnt see ANYTHING.<br />
there was a icecube sitting on the end of the right one, scratching a clear strip on the window at my side.<br />
Half panicking we had searched for the windscreen heater, but couldnt find it, and it also looked as if there wasnt one. <br />
We had to stop the car and clean the window (at least we had a scraper) but the road was this bad, that we couldnt see where the road ended and the shoulder started, and we feared getting stuck, or worse, in the ditch, or even more worse: getting run over by a big truck who didnt seem to be bothered much by the weather as they kept on passing us. <br />
Somewhere, we went from "dammit, we're never gonna make it to the show tonight!!" to "we have to reach that next motel exit so we wont strand here and have to spend the day and night in the car in the snow - or worse!"<br />
<br />
I'm not lying when I say we saw OVER 50 cars and trucks in the ditch before we finally reached Saint Louis.<br />
Lots of them were bigger cars and pick ups. Maybe some get a bit reckless in a big car? I was told that its difficult to drive an unloaded pick up truck on an iced road (because of empty back)<br />
Some of them were upside down, none of them hurt bad, we only saw one ambulance. All cars had an fluo orange "flag" on the antenna, probably to find them in case they got snowed in, and also to tell that the vehicle was empty?<br />
<br />
Somewhere on that ice road, Robert said "I think we have a fourwheel drive" and yes we did. This is where I started to believe in miracles: when we booked the car for this part of the trip, we booked a Ford Focus again... but as soon as it was booked, Robert received a mail from Dollar Rental that we could have a free upgrade to a "semi SUV" We checked out these cars and they looked ok, so we booked it. (esp for the space) One thing for sure: without that free upgrade, we would have NEVER ever made it.<br />
<br />
We had the worse part of the road in Kentucky, and around a small town in Illinois called "Vienna"<br />
In my memory we drove miles and miles through the middle of nowhere, but as we were only going 10mph, of course it took a long time.<br />
We kept an eye on the GPS, and the arriving time kept getting later and later with big steps.<br />
Our windscreen kept getting worse and worse and as we couldnt stop... we had to keep on moving. I was peaking through the opening on my side, and helped Robert, who had to stretch to see through a hole at his side. You dont wanna sit in a car on ice and hear the driver say "I cant see anything"<br />
<br />
the snowplows had left a darker trail of the salt, and that was the trail we followed, because we couldnt see any sides of the road. That, and the pick up in front of us, who was also going slowly. That was one thing, apart from one "fool" in a SUV that passed us later, everyone was driving really carefull and slowly. Makes you wonder how come you end up in the ditch, but then again, that SUV that passed us... a few miles later we saw him again, starting to spin and slip, and for a second we thought he was heading for the ditch (see ya! - thats a Bottle Rockets reference ;-) they barely made it.<br />
By now the wipers made sounds like "KLOINK-KRRRR-CRACK. KLOINK-KRRRR-CRACK" instead of the gentle "swish, swoosh" they're supposed to make. So I was pretty sure they would break off, and then we would be doomed.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnp0sZZRCzfZOLvoYgYPewwIkZDsN2xJkNMTb2WJqfBEO271m_HbMbsDBBINvd5ydjr3b-tej0CtQ3rFl9ir14Geae4SDYW8OBObaC6GDg7JkLTqLie0EVWmpR-qsIJPeI-9huF97dh26D/s1600/P1010281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnp0sZZRCzfZOLvoYgYPewwIkZDsN2xJkNMTb2WJqfBEO271m_HbMbsDBBINvd5ydjr3b-tej0CtQ3rFl9ir14Geae4SDYW8OBObaC6GDg7JkLTqLie0EVWmpR-qsIJPeI-9huF97dh26D/s400/P1010281.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welcome!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I thought i'd try to stick my head out of the window to give directions, (yes, we'd sunk that low) and because it was snowing like crazy, I carefully opened the window. A cloud of snow blasted in, and the window closed again. And we were only going like 10mph!!<br />
When we saw an exit, we had no other chance then to take it to park the car.<br />
Right now, we were both freaking out and in panic. I was screaming that i was scared and he said I made him even more nervous, what made ME even more scared.<br />
Thinking back at it... what should we have done, once we were there, other than trying to keep on going?<br />
<br />
As there was no traffic behind us, we stopped in the middle of the road (what we couldnt do on the highway) and Robert got out. I wanted to help but he insisted that I stayed in the car. Grmph!<br />
He was foot deep in the snow, cleaned the window and wipers ("honey, take a picture, I want a souvenir!") and got back in the car.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYAoRBWf5xP42D7X04kMYShyYbvgtDuRkP6aMqFOJfI-HClgEu8TUkE7RoSCrtmlssTi-oFgvIavVjl2sjO2GQUOdluzPGky-kUopi4t8vWNQGdAH2Uf4hz91boa1AAuFEyBrzFLgqhdVS/s1600/P1010285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYAoRBWf5xP42D7X04kMYShyYbvgtDuRkP6aMqFOJfI-HClgEu8TUkE7RoSCrtmlssTi-oFgvIavVjl2sjO2GQUOdluzPGky-kUopi4t8vWNQGdAH2Uf4hz91boa1AAuFEyBrzFLgqhdVS/s400/P1010285.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">scraping ice from wipers, after scraping the ice from the window.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Back to the highway. Or wait... where is the highway entrance? we looked around and only saw white. We looked around again, Robert got out again, walked a bit up and said "I see a tire trail between those poles"<br />
At least our windscreen was clean now, for the time being.<br />
Carefully (and totally scared) we reached the highway.<br />
<br />
I got myself enough together to pretend as I wasnt scared anymore.<br />
"honey, I'm ok, now you cleaned the window, I'm totally zen!"<br />
I wasnt, but the last thing I wanted to do was freak him out. I deserve an Oscar :-D<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjowWC_H1N_JJRh02nlZIRKyHVAgeJXL-Di2jmoXBv9yePw3buOcw9KZU2ap-y5F3hw9e9CqWox6uYTjWeoSzq5xUu8eGPEoSkne24NpMcqpM9jkbU1CJ6jPitjSCbhzXmuiUiv1pG1wZ4Z/s1600/P1010286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjowWC_H1N_JJRh02nlZIRKyHVAgeJXL-Di2jmoXBv9yePw3buOcw9KZU2ap-y5F3hw9e9CqWox6uYTjWeoSzq5xUu8eGPEoSkne24NpMcqpM9jkbU1CJ6jPitjSCbhzXmuiUiv1pG1wZ4Z/s400/P1010286.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">better view. The dark spots arent asphalt, but ice.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Traffic on the highway was still moving. The window got a bit bad again, but we could still see enough, and we finally figured out how to heat it in the right way to get the best results. (I read the user manual when Robert was cleaning the window, but didnt was much of a help) One big thing was... they dont have build in windscreen heaters in the States! In our car, in such conditions, put the windscreen heater on and... no problem.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeXnCSIrFz8bj2afOGxpxWXS7frSzioF76JPSanvO7kfB9zBu4nDK5mLvBtJt1WA-EVKGwboZObrjm9V4WqUPZX-g3rx7F8NtwtTWsKefJsBSa1XJe7ZNr141j6bIZXg2yffvysfL_QqKK/s1600/P1010289.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeXnCSIrFz8bj2afOGxpxWXS7frSzioF76JPSanvO7kfB9zBu4nDK5mLvBtJt1WA-EVKGwboZObrjm9V4WqUPZX-g3rx7F8NtwtTWsKefJsBSa1XJe7ZNr141j6bIZXg2yffvysfL_QqKK/s320/P1010289.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">salvation is near!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And... we had to stop. Luckly only for a few moments and we saw why, several vehicles stuck in front of us. The driver in front of us got out to peel the ice of his wipers; we were not the only ones. We could move ahead, and had to drive zig-zag between the stuck cars and big trucks. Some of the big trucks were totally stuck and had the driver digging out the wheels with a shovel. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAd4-cf91Dl_dU7lLPXGDrqnn5wpTJhbcTmrB0dYQfNebFVAn5xFatlLrp5lsmMxuQo_Qze_Xh1IXSsMCkX8lGZ6U1C9cPJ_KE-KjDJ_g9r5aaVcp1WlCdIIW50xSzTOeKUzWNXWKAYETu/s1600/P1010296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAd4-cf91Dl_dU7lLPXGDrqnn5wpTJhbcTmrB0dYQfNebFVAn5xFatlLrp5lsmMxuQo_Qze_Xh1IXSsMCkX8lGZ6U1C9cPJ_KE-KjDJ_g9r5aaVcp1WlCdIIW50xSzTOeKUzWNXWKAYETu/s400/P1010296.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">how?!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_o_Q2cJ406ME_h9hXYsvoaUD9bGl0DFsIcurVR5lhX3EkFjm854-02OOIb4LNcCYkgSU-ipiY-2HF6BW0NENNRDCCvgQPSFpdU-_TRD1tQ4nU_MzA6Nk6WjJOcjC4u9PJ5F36GW5G2Wq/s1600/P1010298.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_o_Q2cJ406ME_h9hXYsvoaUD9bGl0DFsIcurVR5lhX3EkFjm854-02OOIb4LNcCYkgSU-ipiY-2HF6BW0NENNRDCCvgQPSFpdU-_TRD1tQ4nU_MzA6Nk6WjJOcjC4u9PJ5F36GW5G2Wq/s400/P1010298.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA9B6rjCtOq4wihO2iSblPXvv_vsiQgxVfr8F326Bx6aEHAt5DVXvC6a8rfeu0GG2CrC9LT6zq2CkZuq_CtZyDHtp3kwc5bFp9UFii1ypRnNRsI5Lcri3KYLw3zC_UpfxRS9RI4gFwl8gR/s1600/P1010300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA9B6rjCtOq4wihO2iSblPXvv_vsiQgxVfr8F326Bx6aEHAt5DVXvC6a8rfeu0GG2CrC9LT6zq2CkZuq_CtZyDHtp3kwc5bFp9UFii1ypRnNRsI5Lcri3KYLw3zC_UpfxRS9RI4gFwl8gR/s400/P1010300.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">snow plow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Glad that we were moving again, that our window was clean, that we had a fourwheel drive, that everyone was driving carefully, we were passed by a big truck going FAST....<br />
"carefull" we said while he passed us and a few cars in front of us, the huge thing all of a sudden started "fishtailing" like crazy. (slipping rear end)<br />
NO!!<br />
"Dont fall down!!!" we screamed. This was not the way it was going to end, if a big 18-wheel truck ends on his side across the highway, nothing else matters. (it didnt even occur to me that he could have hit other cars too)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJKsZvSBqE2dpeGADwv4-rjweB0P94MyYoA0wX0VQ_OPiojcyr0WSNGp129IHKviUCVrl-N25P6LxOCyuHFS9PP4ViyXFf67XQD48UpQKQLzfW160sGi5AyS77o6iKzdTFJ2_rr65WUI69/s1600/P1010291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJKsZvSBqE2dpeGADwv4-rjweB0P94MyYoA0wX0VQ_OPiojcyr0WSNGp129IHKviUCVrl-N25P6LxOCyuHFS9PP4ViyXFf67XQD48UpQKQLzfW160sGi5AyS77o6iKzdTFJ2_rr65WUI69/s400/P1010291.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">YOU. NEED. TO. SHUT. THE. F. UP!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
We saw signs of the other highway getting closer, and it looked like the snowfall got less... and yes, by the time we finally reached the motel exit, the road was a whole lot better!<br />
A bit further, in the town of Marion, we could exit for gas. The roads were ok, but we had to wade through big heaps of snow to get in the gasstation by foot.<br />
We got back on the highway ok.... what not everyone could say, as we found out later.....<br />
<br />
The road got better and better, but not very *good* untill we finally reached Saint Louis, with 3 hrs delay (on a 4,5 hr ride!)<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu_PoXs8puuhd6FqtpMBWfENccZifn3nqYqf5zeqzgwX2oE4A53H9vrtAo7-rUEoqm74ssHuWfD10DDHVOOAWmplNljmFruWG1Q0oY9XBURonMFckiE0jTjZdFSCZSlcKPzVWJEds7Dej8/s1600/P1010307.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu_PoXs8puuhd6FqtpMBWfENccZifn3nqYqf5zeqzgwX2oE4A53H9vrtAo7-rUEoqm74ssHuWfD10DDHVOOAWmplNljmFruWG1Q0oY9XBURonMFckiE0jTjZdFSCZSlcKPzVWJEds7Dej8/s400/P1010307.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">getting closer! over asphalt, instead of ice!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn3Dx1TQE_qjIV_2e_c2ttebtTaGcl_Pubolho5cqfAZYIVnmvb2LnBX_bT_-yXv9xML80q39DN0JXQkwSU9JdwT8NhRABf_jFU2NjRIXEXwT1JMrppWpiNdM1t2-QCXcW41izNIo2Y26H/s1600/P1010312.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn3Dx1TQE_qjIV_2e_c2ttebtTaGcl_Pubolho5cqfAZYIVnmvb2LnBX_bT_-yXv9xML80q39DN0JXQkwSU9JdwT8NhRABf_jFU2NjRIXEXwT1JMrppWpiNdM1t2-QCXcW41izNIo2Y26H/s400/P1010312.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">WE MADE IT <3 we're (back) in SAINT LOUIS !!!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
We still had 2 hrs to drive to Columbia, but we made it out of that ice mayhem!<br />
<br />Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-64613322906980411852013-12-07T00:25:00.000-08:002013-12-21T12:04:00.316-08:00Dec 5: Nashville, TN<br />
it was allready warm outside, like they said, but also raining, like they also said. We dressed for summer, I didnt have an umbrella so I grabbed my lightest coat to put over my head for the rain.<br />
We were a bit (or very) stupid and didnt plan the day very well. Janet gave me an adress of a cool shop but it wasnt downtown and we didnt think about that.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZAUvI4t0xQ31hr6-FzcQeJWtp6hKJusTOTjaS7_LZX6vTPy9qfLsOo9nVUX5tRTkzwGoJDQAK2t75BIVV41YOT6wMAXbfRAPKhDeEaYS4wkPzznNL0xuzRe4oJx_7JFwq7SUCg5nR89lR/s1600/P1010198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZAUvI4t0xQ31hr6-FzcQeJWtp6hKJusTOTjaS7_LZX6vTPy9qfLsOo9nVUX5tRTkzwGoJDQAK2t75BIVV41YOT6wMAXbfRAPKhDeEaYS4wkPzznNL0xuzRe4oJx_7JFwq7SUCg5nR89lR/s400/P1010198.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We're not in California anymore!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsx7Ek_bJkEc1ocvdg6JWi_J3HU0e-2dGpNNkDDpcOAhafqLsCVQNQaxDErxIigNDxmPvbH35HpkFw0PzA5xrpt3udYZrvJMkfk6eXAQM81pk3oQO8iFTMpY3ExkrPWXWByZeumJXTZ3kJ/s1600/P1010199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsx7Ek_bJkEc1ocvdg6JWi_J3HU0e-2dGpNNkDDpcOAhafqLsCVQNQaxDErxIigNDxmPvbH35HpkFw0PzA5xrpt3udYZrvJMkfk6eXAQM81pk3oQO8iFTMpY3ExkrPWXWByZeumJXTZ3kJ/s400/P1010199.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">downtown Nashville in the rain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Parked at the library (found some hysterical stories online, but most parkhouses were 10$ per day, not bad at all I think) <br />
and when we walked out we noticed the warmth was gone (yes, just like that, within one hour) and it was a bit chilly so I put my jacket on. We just started walking around and found a funny candy shop that sold Green River soda and Creedence fridge magnets. I also tried red liquorice but, neh.<br />
Bought two umbrellas and walked to Broadway, on 2nd.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiks1GhLDt6UuiPMSVUDpOYazeBhlt1C73BJ8vX2pVfIbbnvYIzvjoMH0xa-vYSxJN9_KrgwL5vTMwZifPercbaY7Zvb6sb1YL2uyNkWO9XkAfTxAelmvU_5hYL6l0ItInR-5HYEc2RxuBA/s1600/P1010200.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiks1GhLDt6UuiPMSVUDpOYazeBhlt1C73BJ8vX2pVfIbbnvYIzvjoMH0xa-vYSxJN9_KrgwL5vTMwZifPercbaY7Zvb6sb1YL2uyNkWO9XkAfTxAelmvU_5hYL6l0ItInR-5HYEc2RxuBA/s400/P1010200.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Starbucks, we need your umbrella"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaJKj9P1lSJB-YRWeS7ckf2oE8MiRUuq878NT5mct549yBtMG1hbsu2UzYLeSWM-7GoiO5iXAyh7PN4CSP9fQmKqmI2bYvOotCeilJXQ81CMELDk9A0v3dFhZ5YplztHwRHML5ZfnScJHV/s1600/P1010201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaJKj9P1lSJB-YRWeS7ckf2oE8MiRUuq878NT5mct549yBtMG1hbsu2UzYLeSWM-7GoiO5iXAyh7PN4CSP9fQmKqmI2bYvOotCeilJXQ81CMELDk9A0v3dFhZ5YplztHwRHML5ZfnScJHV/s400/P1010201.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3wopoapWpbEJqAtiuq9jxCPsZ-GHuD7dnXp7uHchXhb8kDhYfn4YdePwZssRqwCtH-ZjPrDyV74r4cows8YjYc-8nDHLJI0CmQrcqliWOF_BZ2x0Wfe1eABazk3sKyjanObnODkuz_JcL/s1600/P1010202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3wopoapWpbEJqAtiuq9jxCPsZ-GHuD7dnXp7uHchXhb8kDhYfn4YdePwZssRqwCtH-ZjPrDyV74r4cows8YjYc-8nDHLJI0CmQrcqliWOF_BZ2x0Wfe1eABazk3sKyjanObnODkuz_JcL/s400/P1010202.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2nd Avenue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8T_ub9KWnhE01z5UNf5tSt0xk14owNzciNi-AxsX4Ymep8ctLQ1_zhsilIuD97R_xG-V_Vzp4Ctvzdv_yl-HdK-ZRG9haXhDF2yMYNty1FKT6o82lbctlGPa2Xn89ijvr5pAteuDtEqy/s1600/P1010203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8T_ub9KWnhE01z5UNf5tSt0xk14owNzciNi-AxsX4Ymep8ctLQ1_zhsilIuD97R_xG-V_Vzp4Ctvzdv_yl-HdK-ZRG9haXhDF2yMYNty1FKT6o82lbctlGPa2Xn89ijvr5pAteuDtEqy/s400/P1010203.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Last time we were in Nashville, about 5 yrs ago, I saw many many supercool cowgirl boots and I more or less waited 5 years for this day, the return to Nashville to buy me some superboots you dont see at home.<br />
I'm gonna spare you all the details, but at the end of the day we saw about 2,000,000 pairs of boots and I didnt like one of them so that was a big dissapointement.<br />
I also planned to buy a cool cowgirl shirt but that was the same story.<br />
While looking around in the touristic boots shops on Broadway and not finding anything, I had in the back of my mind that I might had better chances in the vintage shop Janet told me about.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Broadway in the rain, #1</td></tr>
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Walking around on Broadway we looked inside bars were singers were playing for very small audience (thursday 11am is not the best moment to play in a bar in downtown Nashville I guess)<br />
Then I heard really cool music... we looked and saw this awesome band, with a girl playing stand up bass, playing for a totally empty bar!<br />
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Robert wasnt sure first, but I wanted to go in and said "we're in Nashville, we have to see a good band, and they are playing and there's nobody there!"<br />
In the end that was maybe the best thing that happened all day. We stayed quite a while and they were awesome. we even bought their cd!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">picture by Robert</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">awesome picture by Robert!!!</td></tr>
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More people came in later, watched one song, put some money in the jar tip and left again.<br />
At a certain moment, a total drunk staggered in (remember it was 11am) sat down and drank his own bottle. Robert said "we're going to witness a drunk getting kicked out of a bar in 3, 2, 1..." before he was finished talking, the bartender came up and asked the guy to leave. I think we stayed at least 30 minutes, and only left because we had more plans for the day.<br />
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We reached the end of Broadway and I had an idea. 12 years ago when I was here alone, I bought a piggy bank bus at the Greyhound station, and I thought that would be a cool thing to buy for my nephew Ben. I remembered it wasnt that far and talked Robert into walking to it.<br />
We didnt find it, so we asked, and they told us the old one was gone and there was a new one a bit further. That was a sign to turn around to Broadway, but we didnt :-D<br />
It was quite a (cold, boring) walk and then we saw the new building in the distance.<br />
Exciting!<br />
we walked up and Robert took a picture of the Greyhound sign, and a security guard walked out.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ofcourse, picture taken by Robert :-D (sssst!)</td></tr>
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"you cant take pictures of the Greyhound sign"<br />
(yes, he really said that) <br />
uh, ok, are you kidding? No he wasn't.<br />
"you cant take pictures inside or outside and you cant take pictures of the bus"<br />
Yeezzz, you bully!!!!<br />
we walked in, I looked around and saw a foodcorner and went there to look at the souvenirs they sold. No luck, so I turned around and saw that Robert was stopped by two big security guards. he was talking to him and I assumed he was about to get permission of taking some pics inside, as he is always the one that gets things done, but no, not this time!<br />
Too bad, there was a real cool new bus standing outside that still had "Nashville" on the front.<br />
One of the guards asked me "how did you pass me??"<br />
I dont know, but please note that I'm a John Fogerty fan that goes to a lot of concerts and has a way to deal with security :-D<br />
We didnt wanna cause a riot so I just told about the piggy bank bus. He was friendly and told me to ask about it at the snack counter I just went to, maybe they had one in the back.<br />
So I went back and the girl was very friendly but she said they we're all gone.<br />
This ment we NOW had to go and goodbye. Only passengers in the Greyhound station. (is that new?)<br />
So in the end, we were kicked out of a Greyhound Station hahahahahaha!!!<br />
I was totally out of mood then but can laugh about it now.<br />
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Back in the rain and cold and wind, to Broadway, and we passed the Country Music Hall of Fame so time for a bathroom break :-D<br />
We walked around a bit and checked their souvenirs (allready saw the museum twice) We were both by FAR the youngest visitors, it looked like a nursing home was dropped there.<br />
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Now we tried to find 12th Ave S where the vintage shop was and a organic supermarket.<br />
It was cold and raining and the map was unclear and we were tired and you know how things go.<br />
First we passed Mercy Lounge (cool music venue) and then a slow freight train in front of us blowing his horn nonstop.<br />
It was complicated to find 12th ave South and to make a long story short: we walked up a bit to see how far it was but it was clear it was way to far to walk (silly europeans we are)<br />
Also I tripped over a metal pin (glad I didnt step IN to it) that tore up my boot so wet sock from then on.<br />
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We walked back towards downtown and found the cool organic shop "the Turnip Truck" with lots of interesting snacks, and also a warm buffet, with extreme good looking food, southern and all other kinds, so we decided to eat there. (they had a corner with tables) I scooped a lot of food on my plate, for half of it I wasnt sure what it was. It looks like... but they call it... well, it's healthy anyway! Every bite was delicious. That was one of the highlights of the day :-D<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I have a slight idea what I'm eating....</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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But, before we took our warm meal and sat down, we were walking around in the shop and I wasnt feeling well at all (also severe case of PMS!) and not only because we were frozen and wet.(also some personal stuff) At a certain moment I said to Robert "I feel like I'm going to scream between now and 5 minutes". Well, I didnt start to scream, but exploded in a big crying breakdown. It was all a bit too much.<br />
Nice! Lets have an emotinal breakdown in a supermarket in Nashville!!<br />
Somehow I was able to get myself together again, and after eating that delicious (and warm) meal (and organic reeses as desert :-) I felt a whole lot better, but still not extremely happy.<br />
Got a big coffee to go and we went back into the cold.<br />
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Back to downtown!<br />
Walking around in Nashville we were suprised about how many churches there are.They dont call it "Bible belt" for nothing ofcourse. Some of them were modern, but there were some very pretty old ones too.<br />
Just as we passed the traintracks, we heard a honking freight train approach. Do I have to mention that everytime? YES, because honking American trains are AWESOME and make me feel good :-)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AT&T building aka"Batman", and Broadway</td></tr>
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By the time we reached "lower" Broadway again, it was getting dark and all the lit neonlights were a pretty sight. We walked around a bit more, I remembered I forgot to take my wintercoat out of the car so we went there and I could finally dress up warm. there was going to be a Predators (icehockey) game, and there were some fans on the loose already. We wondered if they would get drunk, anoying and agressive like soccer fans do at home, but we never found out (maybe for the better) - note: 2nd time we were in Nashville we visited a Predators game together with our Canadian friends Brian and John. It was the first and still only sportsgame I ever attended!-<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">two very wellbehaved fans :-) "hey guys, can I take your picture, I'm from Europe!"</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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We walked around a bit, bought some souvenirs, looked at more boots, went to the Johnny Cash museum and got out without going really inside, yes, it was that kind of a day. My umbrella felt apart, rain started pouring like crazy, cold and wet feet, we decided it was enough, went back to the car and see if the vintage shop Janet told about was still opened.<br />
Ofcourse it wasnt!<br />
<br />
Back to our motel. We didnt know what to do and decided to check out <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaylord_Opryland_Resort_%26_Convention_Center">Opryland hotel</a>. It didnt sound like anything we would like, but we didnt know anything else to do right now in Nashville that made sense. Tried to arrange a meeting with friends that didnt work, yeah, it was that kind of a day....<br />
According to our car it was only 38°F, what is about 3° C. That was a drop of more than 30°F/ almost 20° C IN ONE DAY. Later, people at home said it was on the news!<br />
It wasnt far from our hotel and while driving there we saw a big mall, and I thought, well, if Opryland is really bad, maybe I can talk Robert into going there, and eat something. <br />
<br />
Well, I guess you can tell how thinks worked out. We didnt have a clue what we were doing because we never planned this untill very last moment. We were totally lost, and when we finaly ended up somewhere, we saw a sign that said "self parking: $20"<br />
No. Just NO.<br />
We didnt feel like this was worth a 20 dollar parkingspot, so we cursed a lot and tried to find out.<br />
Then I asked Robert about the mall, that was "right here!" and he gave in (thanks honey) but we got lost and got stuck somewhere on a dark road parked half in someones driveway, and the GPS didnt work. Yay, Nashville.<br />
<br />
Finally back on the road, we took a different route, and passed... a huge Kroger supermarket! we had to get snacks for the long trek to Missouri tomorrow, so we went in. aahh! Now that was fun too, silly us :-) we bought all kinds of stuff and again a big tray of water, thought about having a pizza at the neighbouring Pizza Hut, but went back to the motel cos I was sure I saw Pizza Hut there too.<br />SORRY HONEY!!<br />
Well, yeah, I did see Pizza Hut! It was situated in the same parkingspot as Taco Blergh, and we drove around the block twice and still didnt find it, so we parked and went inside TB.... to find out, that there was a Pizza Hut Express. What is that?! well, some sorry excuse for a pizza "restaurant", and in this case, inside the worst fastfood chain ever, if you ask me. The girl was friendly enough, though, very patience with us silly Europeans, explaining how things worked (not, as they almost closed and had almost nothing left) and she liked my hat :-)<br />
I decided that I would have some chocolates or carrots or ricecrackers for dinner, and Robert ended up with a cheeze pizza, that had the size of a (round) stamp.<br />
So far for "everything is big in America" !! <br />
<br />
Back at the hotel, we got a message from our friend more or less saying "hey you can visit me at work, I'm at the Opryland hotel... I can work out parking for you".<br />
<br />
ENOUGH WITH THIS DAY!!<br />
<br />
Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-40216830102992813682013-12-02T08:14:00.002-08:002013-12-02T08:21:47.663-08:001 dec: Mendocino and Point Cabrillo Lighthouse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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pictures at the bottom! <br />
<br />
On the road at nine, heading north. We've never been north of San Francisco. We crossed the Golden Gate bridge first, and passed the town of Sausalito that looked fancy and nice. they also had a lot of nice looking houseboats.<br />
We drove north on the 101 and the villages all stayed nice and fancy. soon we entered winearea. All the villages had Spanish sounding names and harbours (marinas?) and there were wineries everywhere with fancy names. the landscape went from brownish hills to more scandinavic looking hills with trees.<br />
we mde some observations on the highway. of the cars we've seen so far in California. 50% of the cars are pick ups or other big cars, 25% are Prius-es 23% all kinds, 1% with Texan numberplates and 1% policecars. We see so many of them! and now even within 100 meter FIVE highwaypatrols/Sherrifs/Motorpolice that stopped a driver on the side of the road. we see so many pulled over cars with police every day, but this was a bit bizar.<br />
Also: zero Volvo's in LA and a lot of Volvo's in San Francisco :-D<br />
after 1,5 hr we had to leave the 101 to highway 128 to Mendocino. When preparing the trip, I noticed it was a small road, but I wasnt prepared for what would follow.<br />
First of all, the first 10 miles were build by a rollarcoaster designer. I'm glad I did this road with Robert as driver and not anyone else, I would have gotten really sick. Robert was very carefull.<br />
The first part of the road consisted of hills with trees and some forest. it felt a bit desolated and we enjoyed the ride. Some small villages showed up, some as big as 30 inhabitants. Boonville looked really pretty with it's bars and shops with wooden porches. Philo followed, but smaller. Sometimes there were just some wooden houses along the road.<br />
As it was a small road, there were several "turn outs" made, places where slower traffic (us) could pull over and let the faster traffic (locals) pass. very well made, esp on the way back, in the dark, we used everyone of them.<br />
after a while we entered a MASSIVE forrest. The trees were HUGE. we've never seen something like it. The trees were not only skyhigh, also very wide. it was the Navarro Redwood State Park. The trees were redwoods. We dont have them at home and they're very impressive. They took away almost all the daylight!<br />
<br />
The 128 merged into the "Coastal Highway 1" and thats a very pretty and impressive road too. It follows the coastal line and you have spectacular views on the coast with rocks and big waves and rough beaches, and even fjords (might be called different here)<br />
And there was Mendocino. There you go, Doug Sahm.<br />
we're not even that big doug sahm fans, but after finding out where it was I thought it would be nice to go there. We now had the time, and it looked like a nice village (only 1100 inhabitants!) and I also found out about the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse just outside the town.<br />
<br />
We went to the lighthouse (vuurtoren) first. It was a nice walk towards the shoreline, after being in the car for 3 hrs, and after a few turns the light house showed up. It looks like a tiny church standing on a cliff. There s a welcome center inside and we were welcomed by an enthousiastic volunteer who told us all about the lighthouse. According to the pictures hanging there, it was in real bad shape before it was rescued! They depended on donations and they had some souvenirs so we bought a bunch of postcards and a magnet (yay) etc. Another volunteer arrived and said we just missed the whales. they were nice dedicated people and where stunned when we said we came from Belgium.<br />
<br />
we walked around outside a bit and looked at the lightkeeper houses. The light of the lighthouse was working and it looked kinda funny. Robert went down the "death threatning" cliff :-S but I stayed up there, and we walked back to the car. Glad we did this! Also glad that there are people out there caring for projects like this.<br />
<br />
we drove back to Mendocino looking for food and gas. Downtown looked like it came from a movie, old buildings, cute cafés and shops. First thing we noticed was that strange churchtower. Was it a church? What are they doing??<br />
second thing we noticed was that everything said "organic". we looked around a bit and picked out a pizza joint. Robert ordered something we call "pizza hawaii" at home and he was happy :-D For me the falafel. Both were organic, mine was also vegan. Robert orderd a coke "we only have Blue Sky" okay, but his face when he noticed that was organic too, was priceless.<br />
The lunch was good!<br />
Got some coffee, also good, the coffee hasnt been that bad this trip.<br />
Quick bathroom stop, and there was a sign that said "our well has dried up we have to buy water now dont spill it" I stared at it for a while and thought it was just some way to say to not spoil water, (city girl talking here) but later we saw something funny in the town.<br />
<br />
we asked directions where to get gas, she said we'd best go to Fort
Bragg 9 miles north, because here it would be expensive. We remembered a
gasstation before we entered Mendocino, so we decided to drive there,
we still had a bit left good for a few miles. If it was closed we would
be doomed though.<br />
<br />
<br />
walking around the big street we saw... Mendocino Chocolate Company! Aha! I ran in and looked at the chocolates, sweets and gift, for a souvenir. When Robert found me, he pointed out the fun t-shirts, saying Mendocino Chocolate Company; double win. They were inexpensive but we had to search for one without lightstains on it (like it has been hanging in the sun) all the red ones were stained so I ended up with a blue one. And one chocolate, called Mendocino Macho. It was really good but a bit too much. I should stop trying local stuff RIGHT HERE (I'm not doing that bad, but still)Their neighbours were a shop for medicinal use cannabis :-D We saw a lot of them in SF too allready.<br />
<br />
We tried to reach the beach/shoreline and just started walking in one direction. The cute little streets were filled with beautifull wooden houses, art galleries and ... watertowers! They all had their own watertower! in all shapes and sizes, some really old and some really nice. it was a bit weird to see.<br />
we reached the edge of the town, and walked towards the cliffs. We heard lots of frogs hidden in the grass, looked around a bit, but it wasnt posible to go down on the beach from here, so we went back into town. First we saw some kind shop with recycled art and stuff. They sold cool numberplate-art, like the huge mural piece, a map of America made with numberplates of each state, cut in the shape of that state. It was a reall hippie shop and the "win a Prius!" poster on the door just completed it.<br />
Then we saw a shop with hippie clothes and a shirt caught my attention. I asked the owner about it and she was really zen and in a way she reminded me of our friend Betty Lou (hi BL!!) while I was trying on the shirt she started talking with Robert and all of a sudden I heard "I lived in Den Haag when I was 8" haha!! she could still say her adress in perfect sounding Dutch! we talked about all kinds of stuff, she was a real lovely lady and her shop is supernice. I told her she had to rename it in "We Only Sell Nice Stuff" saw a gorgeous dress - no, left it there! (its still there, waiting for me to come back one day)<br />
<br />
outside it started to get dark and cold, and there was even some rain. We walked in some random streets again, and then back to our car. For some reason, even in Mendocino there was quite a group of drunks and weirdos on teh street. some of them were yelling after a local old lady and we didnt feel very well about that. he came even after her a few meters but then he went back.<br />
<br />
we had a long drive ahead and we left. Mendocino, you're a cute little coastal town. Doug Sahm; thank you for taking us there.<br />
There was a Chevron, but we went to the one we saw outside the village. It appeared quicker than we thought, and we werent sure, but didnt have the guts to keep driving to the next one. You're really in the middle of absolutely nowhere there. No GPS and cellphone reach or nothing, so we only had one option... put gas in the tank that costs 5 DOLLAR A GALLON!!!<br />
So we didnt fill it up ofcourse! But as a bonus, the woman inside was very friendly. She even ran outside when she saw us messing around because we didnt see there was this handle you had to pull.<br />
(we're working on "getting gas in the United States for dummies" right now :-D ) and she sold nice postcards AND normal sized bags of salt& pepper chips, so I got one for Robert.<br />
<br />
the sun was setting and we pulled over on a parking and tried to get to the beach but the sign said "no beach acces" the sun was a orange messy spot in grey clouds and went down fast. We walked around a bit but it was cold. We reached the end of the cliff and there was a nice sign saying something about unsafety so we went back. (hey at least they warn you)<br />
a few spectacular views on the rocky coast and we drove into the forrest again.<br />
<br />
the 100km road back to the big highway through the dark was a bit of a challenge with all those speeding locals showing up behind us. It was difficult to find the "turn out" curve where they could pass you, in the dark, but no one was annoying about the fact we were in their way. the part through the Redwoods was scary and exciting at the same time.<br />
<br />
Bit of a boring trip back on the 101. We needed a break and took the gas/food exit in...Petaluma. Nice clean restrooms (AGAIN) but I saw a streetsign that said "historical downtown"<br />
Oh! Robert didnt feel like going there, and in the end he said "we'll go there if you eat the left over spices in the bottom of the chipsbag in one time" (= bunch of pepper)<br />
I went "okay!" and poured it in my mouth, no problem.<br />
Then: "ugh"<br />
then "agh"<br />
then I had to get rid of it and drank two bottles of water, and we allmost had to stop because I was sure i was going to throw up. yeah, real smart people here.<br />
But, we were driving to the Historical Downtown district. We got there and I saw some glimpses of nice buildings, but not a lot because it was dark. Then we got lost trying to get back on the highway again, but because of that we saw the pretty trainstation :-)<br />
I looked it up in the motel, it IS very pretty and charming!<br />
<br />
Back to SF. Some toll stress to get back on the Golden Gate bridge, but it turned out you dont have to stop and they charge you automaticly. Then we took the wrong exit and ended up... somewere on the wrong place. We ended up driving down California (street, blvd, something) and... we passed the Whole Foods where I wanted to get dinner!! as it was quite a walk from the hotel, Robert tried to find a parking spot but it was impossible and we drove ahead. I said I would walk back, but we were now on Franklinstreet and that was a very steep upgoing street.<br />
In the end I decided to use my brains for once and we walked up to the Safeway a few blocks from the motel. I think its a nice shop during daytime, but late in the evening all shelfs are empty and the deli section is closed. It also smells horrible. But we got a nice discount with our Safeway clubcard :-) Robert didnt feel like a challenge and I picked out some Cadbury chocolate for him. They also have imported dutch cheese!<br />
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<br />Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-58218237330555847102013-12-01T15:05:00.002-08:002013-12-01T15:05:20.993-08:00couldnt resist :-DHi from Mendocino! :-)Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-67400250355080996522013-12-01T00:53:00.001-08:002013-12-01T00:53:30.195-08:0030 nov: Twin Peaks, Market Street and the Harbor, San Francisco<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCQeDmBwA3Q_kqVZ8tvgAGD3he7Chu7aeTqCjwjZePoApgaqdfMkXKdAsDJ6njxdnRm-vwRKb3JfmQsbwY9KLZ564nAwMswj8l6-hpgEQBgSoa1ICjv-GfRV1g-wYbMkL89o0iNphdfKhk/s1600/P1000734.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCQeDmBwA3Q_kqVZ8tvgAGD3he7Chu7aeTqCjwjZePoApgaqdfMkXKdAsDJ6njxdnRm-vwRKb3JfmQsbwY9KLZ564nAwMswj8l6-hpgEQBgSoa1ICjv-GfRV1g-wYbMkL89o0iNphdfKhk/s400/P1000734.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a house that looks like a Russian church <3</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Going into town today, Robert had a few adresses to check out, from record shops to old studio's and the location of a very old pre-Creedence picture.<br />
We walked the wrong way to find the bus, but that made us see the fab house on the picture above.<br />
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It was quite a ride on the 22; southbound on Filmore Street. We enjoyed the ride, all kinds of stuff to see you dont see when you only do touristic things. On Geary street we went "the Filmore was on Geary" like everytime we do when we crossed that street. After a few seconds it hit me: this time we were ON FILMORE an Geary. We started hysterical looking around but didnt see anyting. (note: the Filmore where CCR and all other bands played was "Filmore West" and doesnt excist anymore. This Filmore venue was first)<br />
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We got out at Market Street and walked around the block for no reason (not the last time today) but the weather was nice and there was lots to see, like a lot of those historical F-Line streetcars from all over the world. Warning: you will see a lot of them between the following pictures, because my dear nephew Ben (hoi Ben!) is a bus/train/streetcar geek :-D so I had to take pics of as many as possible.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MUNI, the public transport company in SF, has the coolest logo EVER</td></tr>
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Robert visited a recordshop, and while I took a rest and looked on my map, I noticed that the nearby hill at the end of the street,was actually Twin Peaks, so we decided to throw in a short trip. Okay. First we had to wait on the bus for half an hour. (at least our transfer tickets were still valid) The bus took the zigzag roads up the hill trough pretty streets passing nice houses. when we crossed Market Street again, we were surprised with a stunning view on the city!<br />
we were the only tourists on the bus, and a friendly local (didnt meet any unfriendly locals yet, hope it stays like that) told us where to go. When we left the bus, we had to climb two sets of stairs that looked like a trail. Halfway up the first one it struck me: Ohno! if you go up, you have to go down! For some reason, I cant walk down steep dirth paths, without picturing myself falling down the hill and break all my bones. Robert had to promise me he would hold me on our way back down.<br />
And yeah, miss Hoodoo goes hiking in a long dress again :-D at least I was wearing decent boots.<br />
On top of the first stairs we were at the bottom of the actual Twin Peaks, two small hills on top of the big hill we saw from down the street.<br />
we climbed the second hill and the view was great.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the big street on the left is Market Street!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">with the stunning (old part of) the Bay Bridge in the back</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">now this was pretty cool: if you take a good look you see the tops of the Golden Gate Bridge stick out of the fog on the bay.</td></tr>
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the view was pretty, but for us not overwhelming. Two years ago we were taking across the Golden Gate bridge to the hills behind it (you can see it on the picture) and that view was so ubergorgeous we stayed there for hours, didnt wanna go down anymore and took 5 million pictures. So if you're planning to go to San Francisco: forget Twin Peaks, cross the Golden Gate and drive up that hill. <br />
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we stayed there for maybe 20 minutes and went back down cos we hoped we would catch the next bus back. I had to grab Robert on my way down but did ok. Halfway down the last stairs, we saw the bus arrive... we walked down faster, and I waved at it when it left, but it was no use (at least the driver didnt wave back) we were 30 seconds too late, and had to wait 40 minutes for the next one.<br />
I'll spare you a ton of "boredom waiting by the busstop" pictures.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The hill on the right is where we went up. Twin Peaks is located in a residential area.</td></tr>
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I've waited on busses in my life before, but seldom with this stunning view from the stair I was sitting on... While waiting on the bus and writing my diary, a lot of locals passed walking their dogs who had to come and say hi :-) (or 'snifsnif') By the way, I'm absolutely positive that one on 3 residents of San Francisco is a dog.<br />
Ofcourse, when the bus arrived, our bustransfers were expired so we had to buy a new ticket. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8usBM33N83RKSDpmYSxMGyhyphenhyphenSGl4DtRymhfRK3xSrTU9hyphenhypheniBg1FbaDaPX801fVAizYvV00fa1PZihyphenhyphen4VXLE_-eFPkt20IScvx3YhUHR-Cag05mg1pmt5GUsBYysvVlURjTFwe8tzfiEn7/s1600/P1000766.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8usBM33N83RKSDpmYSxMGyhyphenhyphenSGl4DtRymhfRK3xSrTU9hyphenhypheniBg1FbaDaPX801fVAizYvV00fa1PZihyphenhyphen4VXLE_-eFPkt20IScvx3YhUHR-Cag05mg1pmt5GUsBYysvVlURjTFwe8tzfiEn7/s400/P1000766.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THIS totally rocks. But I dont see myself doing this with my heavy bike.</td></tr>
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At least the busdriver was very friendly and told us where to go. When we got out the bus, a local saw our map and also told us where to go :-) In the meantime, as you can see on the previous picture, a man placed his bike in the special bike-rack on the bus and got on. What a great, great invention!! (seen it in other places in the USA too) Also great on the bus was the acces of wheelchairs. We've seen disabled people in big electric wheelchairs roll in. Busdriver folds up a section of the seats, the bus leans over to the right to lower the step, a lift gets out (didnt see how that works yet) and the wheelchair gets on!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert didnt need much time in this one</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"awMsome cakes" :-D</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">City Hall with beautifull streetlight</td></tr>
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we walked up Market Street from 16th street. It was a nice walk, lots of stuff to see.<br />
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Around the beautifull Orpheum theatre, the number of weirdo's fast increased. The first time we were in SF we had an hotel right here so we knew, and they were all still there. Weirdo's and homeless people, and a LOT of them. They didnt really bother anyone but it was a bit sad. Also, unlike yesterday in Haight, we didnt really feel safe because we were way outnumbered by them and there were no streethippies just a whole bunch of weirdos. Well, what can you do, hold your camera with both hands, dont stare at people, and keep your arm on your purse.<br />
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First we went to see the studio where CCR recorded the first record(s) Google Maps had provided us with wrong info, so we had to walk up and down Mission Street a few times before we saw it (climbing over people lying on the street) we found it in the end, but it looked abandoned.<br />
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Next stop: civic center, where a certain picture of the Golliwogs (pre-Creedence) was taken. Someone has told us it was "at the Civic Center" and someone else told us "no its not" so we decided to check out ourself. For some reason, I had a picture in my mind of the Civic Centre being a tall building surrounded by lowbuildings, so we walked ahead on Market, between all those weirdos and lo lifes and homeless people looking for that. We didnt see it, so we looked at the map and saw we had to go back. On the other side of the street, more weirdo's. By now we really had enough. I feel bad for homeless people and people that need help etc, but sorry for not feeling safe walking on the street in daylight.<br />
<br />We found out that the Civic Center was not "a tall building" but a group of buildings like the City Hall and the Library. First we had to dodge more weirdo's and make detours to avoid them. We were not the only tourists walking around there, but still. And if we totally dont trust it we go back, dont worry! I've walked around there alone back in 2007 and never ever felt unsafe. I dont wanna walk around there alone anymore now.<br />
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We took out the picture, and started walking around. No luck. In a quieter area, we saw a security guard standing on the stairds of a big building (museum) so we walked up to her to ask.<br />
She was really friendly and looked at the picture and said she didnt had a clue. She gave us a few places where to go to ask, and then said "or the library across the street!" then "so who are these guys?"<br />
we explained it was pre-Creedence, and she went nuts! Turned out her dad was a big CCR fan. On the picture they were really young (20) and she had to laugh when we pointed out that the young man with the big glasses was John Fogerty.<br />
It was really nice talking to her and we went to the library, a HUGE building.<br />
We were sent to the 6th floor, where the History departement was (I actually forgot what the name was) we asked a man who looked like he would know.<br />
He took his time and started looking up things, also went to the back to ask coworkers. When he came back, he found out that John Fogerty was second from the left :-D so someone back there told us. He also asked if we looked on the internet. we tried to explain who he was dealing with and that we spent hours and hours and hours looking for locations of pictures like this :-)<br />
He pointed out tthey were standing in front of a statue, and said we could go to the 4th floor and ask at the Music and Art departement. We thanked him and did so.<br />
Man, that library is huge.<br />
we got lost on the 4th floor and almost gave up, but we found an info desk and showed them our picture.<br />
This time, it really triggered the womans attention. She thought it was fantastic that we came looking for it, and that we did so with a lot of other pictures before. We told her that the journey to get there was as special as finding the location.<br />
In the end, she wrote down our email adress and we thanked her and didnt think much of it, and left. It had been a fun adventure, but hey, the picture is half a century old.<br />
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We didnt wanna go back up Markt Street through that rough crowd again (but we wanted to see something at the end) and for some reason our bustransfer was still valid so we waited for the antique F line to show up. we got a bright orange one with italian signs inside :-D<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Market Street with Twin Peaks in the distance and a trolleybus.</td></tr>
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we got out at Union Square because I wanted to look at the shops. Not really my type of shops though (should have known) and very buisy, but also... Cable Cars!!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Powellstreet goes up STEEP!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">turning the cable cars around at the end of PowellStreet - by hand!</td></tr>
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After the cable cars I felt all of a sudden very week in my knees and light in my head. It had been a while since our last meal. I try to eat healthy and have health snacks in my purse, but its not always easy. (Robert can handle it better somehow)<br />
I dragged him across the street to the Westfield mall. Like Barstow, all roads lead to Westfield Mall too :-D we went to the nice supermarket in the basement (already forgot the name) and found yummy and healthy stuff.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up in Westfield mall</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lunch: avacado wraps with a side of guacemole :-D</td></tr>
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needed some coffee after that too. Look how they made my coffee! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><3 <3 <3</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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after that we ran into a man at the Ghirardelli shop who asked if we wanted a chocolate. Yes please!! Many Europeans think Americans dont have decent chocolate, after trying Herseys, but thats not true Ghirardelli is as good as the best Belgian chocolates! And these Peppermint Barks were so good... mmmm... <br />
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when we got out again, it was dark. we could see the tower of the ferry building and wanted to take a picture there, and going there we discussed how to get back to our hotel, cos no way we would walk from here. we could take the fun F-line back to some street where we could take a bus up north.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ferry building!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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OKAY going to sleep right now. Its almost 1am.<br />
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<br />Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-4824844618607299132013-11-29T19:39:00.000-08:002013-11-29T19:39:05.453-08:0029 nov: Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Robert wanted to visit Amoeba Records as today is Record Store Day, so we went to Haight/Ashbury, where also some other recordshops were located. Walking to "lower Haight" (the other direction from the shops) for some recordstores, we were blinded by all the gorgeous Victorian houses we saw everywhere!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">some houses had unbelievable detailed features</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">one of the many stunning stained glass windows we saw</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First recordshop + first Vespa :-)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Too much choice! (with a staffmember that said: "3rd time here allready? Better move here!")</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black Friday lining up around the corner: shop was behind the tree on the right</td></tr>
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Maybe because of black friday, it was pretty crowed on the street but not annoying. Got a very good and strong coffee and we walked up to Amoeba together (end of the street) enjoying the scenery.<br />
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I left Robert here and started shopping. Finally I had the time AND the energy to go in every shop I wanted and try on everything I liked. I knew Robert was happy in Amoeba and I was chilling out trying a gazillion floral dresses.<br />
After about one and a half our he called and I walked back up to the big Whole Foods (expensive but nice) where we picked out sandwiches, salad, humus and enjoyed our lunch in the sun. It was one of the best lunches ever, not only because it tasted good. We thought we heard one of the streethippies say he didnt have dogfood anymore so we walked up to him and offered to buy him some, but he said he still had enough. he was pleasantly surprised and I asked to get him something and he asked for a herbal tea :-D <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">enjoying a fab and healthy lunch outside Whole Foods, the sun, the company, the scenery, and life <3</td></tr>
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Being the 3rd visit to San Francisco, I'm not shocked by all the homeless people, weirdos, streethippies etc anymore (they're everywhere) but it still kinda puzzles me. First of all I'm gratefull that I dont (have to) live on the street, also, there's so many of them! they dont all look like bums... some look very """normal""" but cary big old bags with their belongings or push carts. Or the woman that looked totaly """normal""" untill she stuck her arm in the trashbin to fish for cans. Some look like they really need help, others look like they're just hippies and just dont go with the flow.<br />
Anyway, like last time, no one steps up to you to ask for money. (or maybe I look like I dont have any)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDZAd5ndYgIXB438vxmEyRAA21iODvCBLT7fN__HCIjJw6aV1OOFV_eWzkApDbQ_-j8b61gSJJ9TV5ta5o71qddX-Pny0PaQBhHMndiTpM7T33ZzA7C0R29WsuQ2vabgamFEJJ3I0Y1nVy/s1600/P1000714.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDZAd5ndYgIXB438vxmEyRAA21iODvCBLT7fN__HCIjJw6aV1OOFV_eWzkApDbQ_-j8b61gSJJ9TV5ta5o71qddX-Pny0PaQBhHMndiTpM7T33ZzA7C0R29WsuQ2vabgamFEJJ3I0Y1nVy/s400/P1000714.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">floral floral floral floral dresses (not curtains)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
we walked back to the busstop on Masonic(street, ave, blvd, something) and got in some shops again to ask Robert for advise. his first reaction "really, MORE FLORAL DRESSES??!!" yeah, why?<br />
<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5nA4SE2TB2ozkdwLJvx9tqLozDRHJpvvaM_uAgvMMbdoYsh51vR1z9kGMWiQn2NsAp_kTG_yOShhBS9Yh-zxWms8CEeUklrZy_F6Ec-y5IZ8kPlLemQyxkBRJ1GBnS45P-ddA9hyXfecC/s1600/P1000717.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5nA4SE2TB2ozkdwLJvx9tqLozDRHJpvvaM_uAgvMMbdoYsh51vR1z9kGMWiQn2NsAp_kTG_yOShhBS9Yh-zxWms8CEeUklrZy_F6Ec-y5IZ8kPlLemQyxkBRJ1GBnS45P-ddA9hyXfecC/s400/P1000717.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">nice shop with pretty dress that didn fit :-/</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6JeO2dbmqQxpP7TeLZbrsShII1Q4mryySj14yHnvOG5nOxmLM5f-rmxLaDgXOCS5ZsInUc3OJ0n1MYBPX3XBlOYnSOLszpAtPSbguVZ9i5jnHVzXrnwlZFu9WurSxZ1TZAYeZ1Nblpich/s1600/P1000718.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6JeO2dbmqQxpP7TeLZbrsShII1Q4mryySj14yHnvOG5nOxmLM5f-rmxLaDgXOCS5ZsInUc3OJ0n1MYBPX3XBlOYnSOLszpAtPSbguVZ9i5jnHVzXrnwlZFu9WurSxZ1TZAYeZ1Nblpich/s400/P1000718.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice shop with pretty shirt that did fit :-D</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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When it got dark the street seemed to fill up a bit more with shady people (during the day I didnt feel unsafe or anything) so we decided it has been a nice day and get back on the bus (that got twice as expensive since last time we were here, if my memory serves me well?? >> still cheap, just saying, before that gets back to me :-D ) <br />
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Maybe a 15 minute ride back to the last bus stop and then another 15 minute walk to the hotel.<br />
Now we need to get some food somewhere but Robert felt asleep on the bed. Oh look who woke up while I wrote this!!!Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-74099201917941425312013-11-28T23:14:00.000-08:002013-11-29T00:26:05.071-08:0028 nov; Las Vegas, NV - San Francisco, CaGuess who woke up at SEVEN AM?!!! Yeah baby!!!<br />
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<br />
We
were planning to stop at the same gasstation in Barstow again (because
all roads lead to Barstow ;-) but we had a different exit from the
interstate to this highway (58) so we missed it. Then we noticed we
didnt have much gas left so I freaked out, as this is a "small" highway
and I wasnt sure if the gasstations we would see would be open, cos we
cant use the creditcard for gas. (maybe we can, can someone please
explain) And as it's Thanksgiving, we assume everything is closed.
Anyway Robert took the first exit that said "gas".<br />
<br />
Minor
detail: it was a handpainted sign leading onto a small road to some
buildings in the distance. Apperantly there was a place called Hinkley
somewhere.<br />
Rings a bell, anyone? Film fans?<br />
after maybe one
mile we saw a small ran down 50's looking gasstation. It was open, so we
parked and Robert went in, though the gasprice was sky high.<br />
I enjoyed the scenery, this was as far from tourists routes as could be.<br />
Robert
came back and tried to put gas in but it didnt work. we were messing
around and gave up and he went back in. Turned out you have to push that
black thing up :-D (isnt that very old fashioned? )<br />
We went back
in for coffee... pay attention Europeans, those tiny milk cups arent
always milk :-D (in the USA, most of the times they are funny flavored
sugary-milk cups) but hey, coffee with a weird taste is coffee too!<br />
the
shopowner was very friendly. For some reason he had a scarf tied up
around his head. Not like in any religion, but a normal scarf you wear
around your neck, tied around his head like it's a present. He asked us
if we saw the movie Erin Brocovic (probably misspelled) because this
gasstation is in the movie. I did saw the movie, a long time ago, and
promised I would watch it again. I tried to remember details, and a
local that was hanging around said "its 60 years ago" The movie is based
on a real story.<br />
In the end, a small funny intermezzo. It really was a place you dont see to often as a tourist. <br />
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<br />
aww, a gasstation with the name "Love's" and a lot of hearts on the trim of the roof :-)<br />
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and some nice hills with real trees and a lot of rocks, the highway zigzags between it, very pretty.<br />
and now the yellow velvet hills are back.<br />
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Tehachapi Loop!! cool, didnt see it though. (look it up if you're a traingeek, its pretty cool)<br />
Yellow velvet hills stop abrupt, we're almost in Bakersfield now, we can see the view between the hills of an endless valley.<br />
Yay we're back in the fruit valley, our first orange trees are here!<br />
<br />
Before we entered the I 15 a road took us through Bakersfield. It looked very upclass and it had at least two churches every block.<br />
We took an food exit somewhere in a place called "Buttonsomething" (more or less) Slowly we drove passed all the restaurants... Denny's... isnt that all fried crap? Subway? Neh, not now. Starbucks? Thats not food. Some others we didnt know, and at the end of the street a place that looked a bit old and it was called TASTE OF INDIA. Yes, every single Indian restaurant in the world is called Taste of India. From Hasselt to Buttonsomething, California.<br />
It looked a bit funny inside and we were the only non- indians, and we picked something out.<br />
"is it spicey?" I asked the man and he smiled "as spicy as you want" Ok, not spicy. We got a good meal but a bit weird. Apperantly Indian food all over the world is different.<br />
We wondered if we would have an emergency restroom break on our way but it all turned out ok :-) <br />
<br />
The I-5 to San Francisco is long and boring. Sometimes something turns up like the fields with one million cows (maybe even two million) but other than that its just flat landscape and boring. we tried the radio again, didnt sound very good but hey. We found a country station with "country" songs, most of them sounded like pop to us. <br />
Laptop battery died, and it got to dark to crochet, so, boredom. Whats even more boring than the I-15? the I-15 by dark!! we knew it on forehand, but its the shortest route to get there. The interstate 1 along the coast is super, but it took way longer and this was allready an 8,5 hr ride.<br />
But we got there. Familiar citynames and streetnames turned up when we reached the Bay Area, and we approached the former fabulous Bay Bridge. (nag nag, we dont like the new part, the old one is way cooler) Paid 4 dollars (what a way to spend Thanksgiving, alone in a tollbooth, and still friendly) and there we go! Beautifull lit San Francisco was right in front of us. The gps didnt understand that we were driving on a new bridge (a few meters to the north) and lost it :-D<br />
When we left the bridge we were right in the middle of the skyscrapers. Our GPS, that just started working long enough to send us in the more or less right direction, couldnt get signal here and tilted. It went "turn left on Market. Turn left on Pine (we were on pine) Turn left on California Turn left on this; Turn left on that. Only thing we could do was keep on driving and watch the green lights. Some street names we crossed rang a bell, but thats not enough :-D Finally it started working again and it sent us in the right way (we were allready going in the right direction).<br />
More or less by coincidence we're right across the street from the hotel we stayed in last time. We wanted to go back there first because of the location (Lombardstreet), but it was too expensive <br />
and we found this, Town House motel across the road. we selected this because of the location, free parking and fridge on the room, but had no clue what it would look like.<br />
<br />
Well, it looks pretty amazing! The owner gave us a very warm welcome and we dragged our stuff upstairs, to find out that the room is very nice, a bit small (and a bit noisy) but clean and pretty and 1000x better than the motel in Hollywood.<br />
<br />
we installed ourselfs and ran to the Safeway for a sandwich, but the Safeway, thats always opened according to the website, was closed. Aaaahhh!!! Would have been nice if they put THAT On the website too!!! We understand that businesses close for Thanksgiving, but please let us know.<br />
We walked back to Lombardstreet, looking for a restaurant, or nightshop or gasstation selling food, and ended up in Mel's Diner. Nice place! Fifties looking diner, very cute, and they didnt only sell hamburgers. To celebrate Thanksgiving, Robert had the spaghetti with turkey meatballs and I had the Turkey salad :-)<br />
They had little jukebox thingies on the table and I selected Otis Redding with Dock of the bay, just because its a nice song, but it struck me a bit when I realised he's singing about SF.<br />
Another struggle to find out about the right tip ("help us, we're European" always works :-) ) and we walked back to the hotel.<br />
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Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-71417520587361330692013-11-28T22:11:00.003-08:002013-11-29T00:22:34.894-08:0027 nov: Trona, Ca - Las Vegas, NVWe started the day with another great homecooked meal; eggs and bacon
and "biscuits" and some fruit. while we were enjoying our food, Robert
said "Americans sure know how to make their bacon" they do!!<br />
we
didnt have a lot of time as we had a long drive to Vegas. With pain in
our hearts we said goodbye to our friends, after promising to be back.<br />
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<br />
[while
I write this, Las Vegas appears up in the distance. GOOD heavens its
such an ugly town by daylight!!] Oohh now we have some time left we're
going to get lunch at the same Trader Joe's where I murdered this laptop
last time. Thats going to be interesting.]<br />
<br />
Because of
heavy storms and rainshowers, we had to chance our plans. the road
through Death Vally was closed so we're not able to see Zabriski point,
the sanddunes etc. Zabriski only with a huge detour, so we decided to
let it be and drive straight to Las Vegas, esp because we expected buisy
roads.<br />
Another long drive trhough the desert, but this time it
was only boring and not scary anymore (the desert can be scary I think)
on our way we saw lots and lots of parked RV's that had dirtbikes with
them and a lot of dirtbike riders in the dirt (oh great how well
derscibed)<br />
We passed the town of Red Mountain, population 130,
with old old houses that looked like they would fall apart, old rusty
trailers, lots of abandoned houses and sheds. Most of the rundown houses
had very nice cars on the driveway :-)<br />
<br />
We drove to
Barstow where we got back on the I-15, but first we needed to get gas
and coffee. Getting gas in the States is always a challenge for us (just
like getting showers to work) but we did ok. Its a bit difficult
because we dont know how big the tank of this car is.<br />
For some reason we always end up in Barstow :-)<br />
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<br />
Great! I dropped my Barstow coffee in the car and it missed my laptop by INCHES. It did soak my seat. yay.<br />
<br />
I-15 to Vegas, kinda boring after seeing it one time (and that one time was 2005 :-) stopped at stateline/Primm for bathroom break. Funny to be back there, we saw CCRevisted there 6 mnts ago! Also found nice sunglasses. tried to pay with my creditcard (never had one before, we were always able to pay with debitcard in the USA)it went kinda like "like this?" "no, like that!" "oh, like this?" "no, otherway round!" "like this?" "no, strip on that side!" "like this?" no, turn it around!"<br />
then "sorry, I'm European" and the girl laughed out loud.<br />
<br />
Check in at the hotel was at 3pm, and we were too early, ... so last minute discission to go to ... Trader Joes to get lunch and roadsnacks for the trip to San Francisco tomorrow (actually planned that for this evening in a different shop) it was weird to be back at the place were I killed my laptop. This time it survived.<br />
It was a nice experience in the shop. First of all, when we walked in, they played Fogerty with Rocknroll Girls on the radio! AGAIN yeah I cant just go in a Trader Joe's quickly nomatter what I tell myself (Or Robert) picked out a healthy lunch, bought bulk fruits, and I found oatmeal without sugar, the same I use at home! I dont know if I'll be able to prepare it in hotels, otherways it will go home with me :-) some other stuff and we had lunch in the car, and then we drove to the Hard Rock.<br />
<br />
So, Las Vegas AGAIN!<br />
<br />
We checked in, friendly guy (everyone was very friendly, incl the random staff worker who waved bye bye to us when we left the parking on thursday morning. we smiled and wove back. I hope he understand he made our morning) I asked the man "will shops and things be closed earlier because of Thanksgiving tomorrow?" he laughed and said "this is Vegas baby, nothing closes earlier"<br />
Ok!!<br />
He seriously gave us a MAP of how to get to our room :-D<br />
We had a good deal with the room (booking.com, and no they dont pay me) and it was ofcourse very nice. Not as huge as our 4 persons room 6 years ago, but still very laaaarge. Nice bed, superb matrass, everything nice. we sorted out our stuff, looked up some adresses again and went into town.<br />
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<br />
first stop: the Neon Museum. It had crossed my path earlier and a while ago I started reading about it, and I could make Robert enthousiastic for it too, so that was our first goal, a tour at the Neon museum by night.<br />
We didnt book the tour so we hoped we could fit in.<br />
First of all, our GPS never heard of N Las Vegas Blvd (he did know S Las Vegas blvd) but i managed to find Neon Museum between points of interest.<br />
We drove north on the Strip (is it still called the Strip there?) passed the Pawn Stars shop, with a line of people in front, and Fremont street, with lots of light and it looked really cool at first glimpse. GPS told it was right there at Fremont, so we drove around the block a few times but didnt see anything. we wanted to turn around but no u-turns alowed so we drove quite far and then we all of a sudden saw it in the distance!<br />
Well, it was closed. Bummer. At home, i especially looked for it on their website but it didnt say ANYTHING about being closed earlier today!! I was really really bummed and taking sneak peaks in the yard with all the unlit neonsigns didnt make it any better.<br />
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<br />
Okay, number two on the list then: the Pawn Stars pawnshop.<br />
we parked and got out full of excitement because it was really cool to be there, we used to watch it all the time at home (its not on anymore in Belgium) Then a guy walked to his car, saw me and said "it's closed! they closed at 5 today!"<br />
WHAT?! No!<br />
yes!<br />
Well, thats how it is, and it wont change by getting really pissed off, so we looked around, looked in the show through the window, took pictures and everything. It was not the real deal, but fun anyway.<br />
All the time cars kept stopping in the parking lot and people with happy faces got out untill you heard someone say "its closed!"<br />
Robert looked into the shop and said "you know what would REALLY piss me off? If I saw a Creedence poster on the wall that I dont have yet for a good price" :-D<br />
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<br />
Next stop on the list was a recordshop on E Sahara blvd, that was supposed to be opened till 11pm today. After getting lost and driving 25 times around the block, we found out it was CLOSED.<br />
<br />
we sat in the car and wondered what now. Well, never give up, so we went to the next adress on the list; ZIA records on W Sahara (turned out to be near Trader Joes)<br />
<br />
They were OPEN OPEN OPEN <3 <3 <3<br />
Spent an good hour there, I thought it was a bit of a weird shop (qua people) Robert liked it but he didnt really find anything. In the mean time I looked at the other stuff they sold like band merchandise and stuff from movies and tv like Dr Who (I should have bought the Dalek stressball) and guitar-shaped spatulas etc.<br />
We bought a present for someone and when we paid it was clear that they never have tourists or out of towners around but hey.<br />
<br />
We still needed to eat, and we decided to go back to Fremont street,we would have all the time for that now, and we wanted to do that for a while too.<br />
We parked somewhere and walked up to Fremont Street.<br />
<br />
The first time I got to Las Vegas, years ago, I was dissapointed to see that the casinos on the Strip didnt look like the imagine I had in my head. It took a few years to find out, that the image of Las Vegas I had in my head, was actually downtown Las Vegas, Fremont street, like it was in the old days, with cool 50's and 60's stuff, incl the waving cowboy neonsign.<br />
<br />
So, stepping up Fremont Street was quite a shock. A few years ago, they build some kind of roof thing over the street to display a lightshow (called "the Fremont Street experience") but for me that roof made it look like a mall, Robert said it too later.<br />
Las Vegas never fails to amaze me. Everytime when I think I've seen it all :-D<br />
There were girls dancing on bars not wearing much. There was also a guy dancing on a bar, at least that's something. There where lots of "actors" walking around waiting for you to take your picture with them. We saw a few Elvisses, Batmen and Kiss-members, but most types were showgirls, or half naked girls wearing "naughty" outfits. Boobies and buttcheeks everywhere. Some girls were only wearing nipple "thingies" (like burlesque dancers). I thought the showgirls were cool, esp the ones that were covered up a bit. (I'm getting old :-D) with pretty costumes and pretty make up. (some of those girls just showed off their boobs and butts) some of them were really flexibel!!! Had my picture taken with two really pretty girls who could lift their legs in their neck (almost) but it's on Roberts camera so it might take a while to show up online.<br />
So, with all the half naked women walking around, and being in America, I was a bit surprised to see all these families with (young) children!<br />
We both liked all the neon lights, and I finally saw the waving cowboy :-) Too bad of that "mall-feeling" but it was still nice to be there.<br />
We saw the famous "Heart Attack Grill" where you can eat for free if you're over 350 lbs (for the europeans: REALLY FAT) The waitresses are dressed like nurses and the customers get a hospital shirt to wear :-) )outside was a scale to step on, wich I did. i cant remember how much it was and I looked at the numbers going "??"<br />
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<br />
we decided to leave this part of Fremont and walk ahead. (other part of Fremont). This is downtown Las Vegas and we were prepared to see a lot of weirdos of all kind but it wasnt that bad. Smaller casino's here and bars and also some fun neonlights.<br />
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And something called "Container Park" At home thats something you bring your waste for recycling, and we took a look because it looked pretty. They stacked freight containers and inside each were little shops, galeries, bars and restaurants. Very nice done.<br />
Lot of security people walking around, (like in the casinos) all very friendly, and willing to talk about what was going on here.(this project)<br />
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<br />
we were getting tired and really hungry and decided to go back to the hotel. By the time we were ready to eat, we were so tired and confused about what Karl told us about getting the "backstage pass" card and getting a good meal somewhere, so we just walked in one of the restaurants and ordered spaghetti and something I forgot the name of, but it was totally not what I expected. Still good.<br />
After the meal we were ready to gamble a bit, and I won 5 dollar but lost them again. Yeah, we're the big fish :-D<br />
I hope I'm able to post the little video I shot, when I won a bit! <br />
Time to go to back to our huge room and to bed.<br />
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Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-55258104422767966902013-11-27T16:33:00.000-08:002013-11-29T00:07:20.173-08:0026 nov: Los Angeles, CA - Trona, CaDid I just see a Greyhound from the corner of my eye?<br />
Another beautifull day, leaving LA it was 70°F/20°C allready <br />
on
our way to Trona, California. Getting out of LA went smooth. Bit
crowded on the road, but now we're on Highway 14 and traffic is normal,
and we see impressive rocks.<br />
Woke up early again this morning so I tried to upload the pictures, but the motels server doesnt allow uploads.<br />
Back
to bed, slept a bit more (who of you called us at 7?! :-) packed the
car and went to the 7/11 around the corner for some more snacks. Robert
found something that looked like an "eclair" but it was just a long
donut, I found out by tasting it. Luckly I only took a tiny tiny bite!!
(and spit it out straight away, yuckerdeyuck).<br />
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<br />
<br />
Ha! highway patrol with a radargun sticking out of the window :-D (I assume)<br />
<br />
we're
driving in a valley, surrounded by yellow mountains with small bushes
on it, no grass or trees. I think I just saw eternal snow. there are
beautifull ranges, old trailers and small towns, and now a small
lake.(we're in Palmdale now)<br />
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<br />
slowly we're getting used
to the GPS. It's from a friend and way different than the one we have at
home so it caused us some headache, but its working good, so far. And
that speed limit sign on it is in KILOMETERS TOO hahaha "wow, speedlimit
is 105 mile here?" NO. (thats about 180km omg hahahahaha)<br />
<br />
(some "Boring Desert Blog" stuff deleted here.)<br />
<br />
A
few years ago, I googles Trona, CA because our friend Karl lives there.
He always said he lives "in the deser" and "there's nothing here" so I
got curious and started reading on Wikipedia. Its a small town next to a
dried out lake, with a big plant that gets the minerals from the lake.
In the middle of absolutely nowhere, and, turns out there was something
to see called "the Trona Pinnacles". What? yeah, I started reading about
that too, and it didnt take long to realize we now had two reasons to
go there.<br />
<br />
The Pinnacles are a group of rocks/hills in the
middle of the desert. It looks so freaky that many movies were shot
there like planet of the apes, because it looks like something from
outerspace.<br />
It's in the middle of the desert and you can only
reach it by dirtroad. I was a bit worried on forehand because we drive a
simple small car, and tried to find info on it. Also did our friend
Karl, and he said we should be ok if we looked out a bit. Still, the
only wish I had was to see them at least, even from a distance. <br />
<br />
we
found Trona just perfect, the GPS didnt let us down. About 25? miles
from the city we saw mountains that looked like a big heap of big
pebbles. <br />
When we passed some other mountains, all of a sudden a
roadsign for the pinnacles showed up and there they were, in the empty
distance of the desert, in the middle of some mist, like a fairytale or a
science fiction movie. It was SO beautifull.<br />
<br />
Trona
looked a bit like it had its glory days a while ago. And as we were
told, a lot of people left since the seventies. A lot of buisnisess were
for sale and/or about to fall down and some houses too. (but it wasnt
HALF as bad as some other towns we saw later) Also, it was just a bit of
a culture shock of us Europeans, we've never been in small deserttowns
before. theres plenty of space, it's not like someone needs the space
for something else. If something gets old in Europe, they get rid of it
straight away because they need the space.<br />
<br />
We were
warmly welcomed by Karl and his dad Earl and we were just in time for
the lunch, a very tasty spaghetti with bread and salad, mmm... Earl said
a prayer before we started, and allthough I'm not religious I was
touched by his words. It was so great to be at their place! we sat down
and talked about a lot of stuff, then Earl showed us the garden, I was
surprised to see that he was able to grow vegetables and tomatoes in the
dirt! (=zand) that was also weird to me, their garden existed of dirt
instead of grass. Totally normal in a desert town ofcourse, and to me it
added to the whole experience of being in a special place.<br />
after several attempts to pet their cats, who all clearly thought "who are those stranger in my house" we went to the pinnacles.<br />
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<br />
It
was allready 3pm and we feared we wouldnt maybe make it in time as you
cant go fast on a dirtroad. before we turned on the dirtroad, they
allready appeared in our sight. Goal set, lets go! It wasnt even a
gravel road... just dirt, with some sharp rocks. we slowed down to 10 or
5 mph and followed the tracks of other cars around mud puddles. In the
distance the Pinnacles were waiting for us and they didnt seem to get
closer for a long time, but I was allready satisfied that I was looking
at it. Karl said the road wasnt as bad as he thought.<br />
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<br />
we stopped halfway to snap some quick pictures, also with the sight (someone shot at it, what added to the experience :-D )<br />
And
there they were! It took us more then a half hour creeping up on a
dirtroad, but we made it! we saw some other people, who waved at us, and
parked the car somewhere.<br />
<br />
<br />
What I loved was that it
still was so pure. The road was marked with small pebbles like you would
do in your garden, there were a few signs explaining about the
pinnacles and that was it. No welcome center, no parking, no toilets,
nothing.<br />
we just parked the car somewhere and got out.<br />
The first thing that struck me was the overwhelming SILENCE.<br />
It must have been the quietest place I've EVER been too. It felt like walking around with earplugs in.<br />
we messed up the silence with talking and laughing and taking a gazillion pictures of eachother.<br />
When
I got myself back a bit, we walked up on the hills. It looked like
gravel hills but it was a very soft squisy path. After some more
pictures I left the men alone and wandered off, taking pictures of
everything untill my camera battery died.<br />
Words nor pictures can
describe what it was like there. And that silence, wow. Its a perfect
place to go, set up a camp and spent sometime with yourself thinking
about life and meditating I guess.<br />
Maybe because of the silence,
or the way the rocks were positioned, the sound carried really far. From
a big distance I could completely hear where the men were talking
about.<br />
I walked around in a dried out riverbed, looked at little
dead bushes waiting to become tumbleweeds, touched the rocks, that
looked like they were made of vulcanic stone, but although they were
"poreus" it was something different, almost from outerspace.<br />
I
really didnt expect to be able to actually touch the rocks, I would have
been happy with just seeing them in the distance, so I was quit happy.<br />
<br />
WARNING*** my pictures dont caption the Pinnacles at all, and also there were other Pinnacles I didnt take pictures off. Robert made a whole bunch of real cool pictures and will post them when he can. ****<br />
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<br />
After
a while I went back to the others, who were around the corner and
showed something I didnt see yet. Some more pinneacles, further away,
and all in a row. It was beautifull and while staring at it for a while,
and all of a sudden, I was looking at the most beautifull sunset I've
ever seen. The setting sun threw a warm orange glow on the mountainrange
in the distance behind the pinnacles, and when it got more further
down, it colored the pinnacles, and in the end, only the mountains, with
darkened pinnacles in the foreground. We stood there and stared at it
in total awe.<br />
<br />
It was time to go back home, though I
could have easily stayed there for a while, I wanted to see the starry
sky in the middle of the dark desert. Maybe next time. when we were back
at the car we notices the big mountain in the far distance on the other
side of the vally (sorry forgot the name) had its snowy top lit up PINK
in the setting sun. It was so beautifull.<br />
We had to kick ourselfs under the butt, get in the car and leave.<br />
I
kept on looking over my shoulder at the rocks in the dawn. What a lucky
person I am to be able to visit this and witness this, together with my
sweetie and a dear friend.<br />
<br />
One more thing; at home I
tried to look up info on the pinnacles (or Tronacles as we called them)
about the dirt road and didnt find much, and totally nothing on the
dutch America forums, with members seem to prefer to go to Death Valley
and Grand Canyon en-masse. One part of me wants the whole world to see
this beautifull place, on the other hand, I hope it stays like this,
with its dirtroad marked with pebbles like a garden path and no toilets,
info-center and parkin space.<br />
<br />
Back home where
Karl cooked us dinner, tasty steaks and ... "does this potatoe has a
name?" LOL i think its called stuffed baked potatoes?? and salad.<br />
We
had a long conversation after the dinner and talked about a lot of
things. What really stuck with me was how gratefull they both are to
live there in the litterally quiet desert town, away from brutal forces
of nature and big city live. And for the lack of mosquitoes!<br />
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<br />
Unfortunately were were both exhausted and around nine we had to get into bed.<br />
The bed was so big we got lost in it, Robert said next morning "I wanted to cuddle up but I couldnt find you" hahaha!!<br />
Had a great night of sleep, but unfortunately our inner alarmclock went off around 4 am.<br />
<br />
Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-37792213839123250532013-11-25T22:29:00.001-08:002013-11-25T22:29:33.858-08:00nov 24/ 25: lots of airplanes and Los Angeleswelcome on my blog about a crazy trip through the United States on our way to see the fabulous Bottle Rockets in the Midwest. First stop: a bunch of airports and Los Angeles.<br />
<br />
the cheapest way to get here was to fly to Chicago with stop over in New York, and the next day on to LA.<br />
The first flight was nearly perfect, untill the landing that made me grab the barfbag. Didnt use it, but close.<br />
Long stop in New York, also because the connecting flight was delayed. (and not just ours) sitting at the gate we listened to one after another being delayed or overbooked or... or... great!<br />
after about one hour delay we were let in. the normal corridor you walk through to get in a plane didny work so we had to go outside, and it was POLAR with winds so strong we allmot felt of the little stairs to the plane!! I'm not even kidding!! it was icecold!<br />
Finally inside we waited and waited... then the captain (KIRK, also not kidding) said we missed our slot, ofcourse, so we had to wait, and they had to turn the engine off if we had to wait, and if they turned the engine off, we all had to leave the plane again for some reason. (getting bigger and bigger delays) a big and mutual "oh god no" went through the plane. Finally after making a lot of phonecalls we got clearance, so people started cheering out loud :-)<br />
It was a small plane and I feared the worst with the strong wind, but the flight was really smooth.<br />
So smooth I forgot my tourbook when we got out... only missed it next morning!!! gahhh!! the whole planning!!! GONE!!! I'm so glad Robert has his own planning with him!<br />
In Chicago we had to wait for the shuttle to the hotel... didnt show up... it was icecold... good thing was that my coat was warm enough so I should be able to face the midwest next week!<br />
<br />
the hotel was nice and pretty and fancy and we slept well untill we woke up early because of the jetlag.<br />
We knew this would happen, so we booked a real early flight! again, everything went smooth. halfway the clouds beneath us cleared up and we got a stunning view on high mountains with snow, and later a landscape that either looked like the Grand Canyon or was the Grand Canyon. (I know there are some simular landscapes) <br />
<br />
walking outside the terminal, directly that warm wind in your face, that fab feeling to be back in California! and the weird feeling to stand next to a palmtree wearing a fake fur coat!! I'm not sure how warm it was, but it felt way over 20°C, like a warm summer day. Fantastic.<br />
<br />
for some reason we landed way to early (wind in the back?) and when we arrived at the rental car company, there was NO ONE THERE in line, so they were all waiting for us!<br />
when he saw our luggage, he said it would fit in our Ford Focus but never in the trunk. He said we could try and come back for a bigger car if we wanted (for a few dollar per day more) but there was even space left in the trunk! (there is also a funny escape thing in the trunk in case someone locks you up)<br />
<br />
on to the Grammy Museum to see the John Fogerty exhibition. it was quite exiting to get there. New car, new GPS that was acting up (at least it was acting up in Dutch) foreign town, but we got there.<br />
you learn quickly if you're not too dumb.<br />
<br />
I'm not sure if I ever have enough time to tell about all the exciting stuff we saw on the exhibition, but as it was the only reason we came to LA, it was ABSOLUTELY worth the detour!!!<br />
pictures, guitars, newspaper clippings, written songtextst, original contracts, old schoolstuff from way way early! Highlight for me was the supercute assignment for school where John wrote his name in nice letters and "I have a red ball" priceless.<br />
It took us at least an hour to see everything, it was way bigger than we thought and we looked at several stuff several times, and we didnt even see the video's because we have them at home. Also loved Johns old drumsticks from when he learned to play drums!<br />
absolutely satisfied we left, and we walked into the shop, where they sold several Fogerty stuff, I couldnt leave without the notebook and tried on the flanel... and bought that too. I bought an S so keep it low with those snacks girl :-D<br />
<br />
by now we were really hungry and we walked up the street a bit and ended up in an Irish pub. Reminder to self: in America, meals are bigger than they appear. we had a huge salad and chickenwings and fries and the waiter didnt even blink when Robert asked for mayonaise :-D<br />
I thought I saw the Wiltern theater, so after the lunch we walked up there to take a look (john played there in 2005 with the recording of a live DVD and we were there) but we didnt find it. Still a nice walk through the nicer parts of downtown LA.<br />
<br />
We went back to the car and to the hotel, gps couldnt find a satelite and we kept on driving and we realised we were driving straight into the NOT so nice parts of downtown LA if it didnt start working soon.<br />
First we drove through the fashion district, that looked like fun though a bit funky. It looked like the immigrant neighbourhoods in Paris but more extreme. Rows and rows of shops with cloths and fabrics and loud and colorfull stuff and all kinds of people shopping. Exciting, but not horrible.<br />
<br />
We've been in the not so nice parts of downtown LA before and recently I read a big article about all the homeless people, still we were in absolute SHOCK to see what was happening around 6th street. Endless rows of people just sitting on the sidewalk. Or laying down. Covered in blankets and with tents and shoppingcarts. Endless rows on dirty streets and next to run down buildings.... like the bottom of civilisation. or even beneath that.<br />
we drove into better parts and got away more or less. Long story short: it wasnt that easy to get on the 101 to Hollywood but in the end we did and we found the hotel without problems. We stayed here half year ago too, and in this neighbourhood two years ago to, it feels a bit like home now :-)<br />
<br />
superfriendly motel owner gave us a room in the back of the building "nice and quiet" well if this is quiet, I dont wanna be in the noisy rooms in the front :-D we dropped our bags and went for a walk. Straight to Amoeba records, what an exciting store, they even had original CCR posters ($$$$) AND we saw the new-new released Bottle Rockets cd!!<br />
I think it was a bit to big for Robert who didnt know where to start (I was just standing there going "oooohhh")<br />
In the end we bought a POSTCARD and left :-) straight to... Trader Joe's, YAY!!!<br />
Been in this one quite a few times now. "yeah, I always go to Trader Joe's on Vine when I'm in LA" hahaha snobby me!!!!!<br />
We just needed some health snacks to get the tour started like fruit and crackers and I SAID to Robert "it will only be a minute"<br />
yeah right! not! I cant help it, I just love that store. So much to see. tossed a lot of stuff in my basked and went to the check out, met a very chatty guy "oh you're from Belgium? Where are the chocolates?" (and a lot more bladeblah and yadedah :-) and we walked back to the hotel.<br />
I quickly ran in staples to get a new binder to make a new tourbook/planning!!! that one will be handwritten, but in the end, it's still a planning and I need to know where I'm going too) They were selling Belgian chocolates! At Staples!! (dat is een grote kantoorwinkel)<br />
one more stop: to the Rite Aid to get a tray of water so we dont have to get expensive bottles at gasstations anymore. good idea.<br />
We dropped it in the room and went for one more walk, to Hollywood Blvd.<br />
<br />
We've been in Hollywood several times... quite a lot actually. We hoped to see some fun stuff to walk in the other direction, but all the fun/weird shops were closed and the tacky souvenirs shops give me a headache. when the number of weirdo's on the street got a bit too high we went back to the hotel.<br />
<br />
we'll be leaving to Trona/Death Valley tomorrowmorning!<br />
LA was a short visit, I already feel sorry about that but hey, it was a fun short visit!!<br />
<br />
I will be uploading pictures when I can, but dont expect them soon, I cant go online or write on the road.<br />
<br />Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-36496632713206166602012-07-18T13:47:00.000-07:002012-07-18T13:47:05.362-07:00July 14th/15th: Last Minute To London, # 3<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">There was a
big sign lit and it said “Marble Arch station closed, ask stewards for
directions”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Oh nice, we
didn’t even have a clue where to go, how can we ask stewards how to get there? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We quickly
decided to go to Victoria Station, and not to Liverpool Station, as I seemed to
remember the first one was open all night, or the busstation was open all
night. I’ve been in London
quite a few times during the years, but the last time has been 4 years ago
already.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We didn’t
want to go the airport because we feared it closed at night.(and our traintickets
were for Sunday)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So we asked
the stewards how to get to Victoria, and one
said “you can walk, its 20 minutes that way” and he waved his hand towards Hyde Park.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Ah great,
we didn’t have anything to do anyway, and as the rain stopped again, we decided
to walk “that way”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I
desperately tried to remember where Victoria
was located compared with Hyde Park, but
couldn’t make anything of it, and Alessio went to ask at least 3 times again
before we left the park.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We took a
little break and sat down on a bench. Felt so good. We realized we could have
maybe stay in the park the whole night if it would have been better weather! Up
again, every muscle hurt, onto Victoria.
We reached the end of the park, and I started seeing nice things again. There
was a big arch and the ports of the park were really pretty. I wanted to take a
closer look, but couldn’t do that to the others, and just followed them. On the
street again, I saw a map and as soon as I poined my fingers on it going “we’re
here, and the station is there, so we have to go…” a guy, maybe a steward or
one of the street sweepers I was standing next to, came to me and asked me
where I wanted to go.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We told
him, and he said “just that street, a good 15 minutes walk!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Wait,
ANOTHER 15??!!! Noooo… yes! Sigh. At least it wasn’t raining. <br />
We crossed the street, very scary in London, looking to the right when you’re
going to cross a street feels so unnatural, like you’re turning your head away
while waiting for that car to hit you. I just kept looking right, left, right,
left, right left, run for your life!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Safely
crossed the street, I kept looking around me, another desperate attempt to
absorb as much of London
as possible.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Then, just
like that, A GREYHOUND BUS PASSED US!!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I started
screaming and pointing at it, the others acted like they didn’t knew me, hehe,
accept for Robert who went “yep, I saw it too”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Still I
think it was maybe a delirium, a GREYHOUND BUS in LONDON??? I know Robert saw it too, but maybe
that was part of the delirium :-P</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It was very
confusing! I’ve been to London
many times, but never ever saw a Greyhound bus!! Didn’t even know they operated
there? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">If you
didn’t know yet, I love Greyhounds, just because, and everytime in America isn’t
complete until the first Greyhound. But now we were in London. Weird!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We walked
pass Grosvenor Place
and we didn’t even knew we were this close to Buckingham Palace!
(I just found out now) </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvIf6i41wHYJrM5WCa_gCO_30_F8gs9ncj0U4iQSjF7QYNhYHC-Ll_WpmI4JoSc2CZf9XdvVyXOrz9Fi3ZFyy32zOw0ByYLahNESZIEtPj7q6rBl1cE-a3Jn-7L3XBGTytaTFjgNPG5q2q/s1600/P1020310.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvIf6i41wHYJrM5WCa_gCO_30_F8gs9ncj0U4iQSjF7QYNhYHC-Ll_WpmI4JoSc2CZf9XdvVyXOrz9Fi3ZFyy32zOw0ByYLahNESZIEtPj7q6rBl1cE-a3Jn-7L3XBGTytaTFjgNPG5q2q/s640/P1020310.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">After a long walk, we reached the station, and we were
so tired, we couldn even stand straight.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Plan was to
find a MacDonalds that would be open all night, we found a Mac, but it was only
open till 11. We went in, ordered something so we could SIT DOWN, the cute kid
behind the counter talked me out of the chocolate Sunday to the chocolate
toffee Sunday “because its better, because theres toffee in it, that’s why its
better!” with the coolest London accent. He added extra chocolate and extra
toffee and I still think he’s the best ever. I don’t think he realized how he
put a smile on my face and in my heart the rest of the trip and how he was one
of those little highlights you have when you go out on the road. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Sitting
down with our snacks was another highlight. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We stayed
until the place closed (=10 minutes) and went back to the trainstation again.
All that icecream with choco and toffee gave me a sugar rush and I went to
explore the station, while the others sat down. Also, I thought it was way to
cold to sit down.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">First thing
I ran into was a CLOSED KRISPY KREMES!!!!!! booth!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And ever since when do they have KK’s in London??? Seems like I need
to go back there soon.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I started
to feel a bit like I was in New York,
also because of the truckloads of weirdo’s that were running around there. Guys
in dresses and such. Hey please go ahead if you feel like it, but don’t mind if
I look twice! And lots of party people, half drunk girls in ultra short dresses
and ultra high heels, with extreme make up. I felt like a hillbilly looking at
all those people :-D</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Crowds of
people covered in mud and wearing springsteen shirts ran into the station, and
we still didn’t know what to do.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Wouldn’t
the station be packed with REAL strange people in the middle of the night???
Would we be safe here? We wouldn’t be warm here for sure.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">If it
wasn’t raining outside we could maybe walking around, but we didn’t know what the
neighbourhood would be like at night, and it was raining, and we were too tired
to walk around.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I slightly
got the idea how homeless people must feel, but at least we kept stuffing ourself with snacks and food.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We decided
to go to the busstation to see if it was warmer there, it was raining again,
and being there felt very familiar. If you go to London
by bus you end up at Victoria, but even if you
don’t go by bus you end up at Victoria,
and this wasn’t the first time that happened! The busstation was nice and warm,
but there were also some creepy people. We looked around for a safe place to
sit and sat down near the gate for the bus to Leeds.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I realised we could have easily booked the nightbus to Amsterdam, but we didnt think of that when we booked and we didnt know by then that we would be in time to make it. Just the thought that we could have been warm, safe, and moving towards home at the same time, made me a bit grumpy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The bus
waiting for the gate at the end said “Glasgow”
and “over night sleeper” or something and we thought “ef it, lets go to Glasgow”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I kept
staring at it for a long time and when it was about to leave, the driver came
inside and yelled “Glasgow!
Glasgow!
Passengers for the overnight sleeper to Glasgow!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">His
Scottish accent was so fantastic and thick, it almost made me cry. Hell yeah we
were in the United Kingdom,
and not in New York!
I just loved everytime he came back to yell “Glasgow!” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Well, he
left without us. Alessio went online and looked for cheap hotels in the
neighbourhood, but all he could find was 80 pound a room, and we didn’t have
that, and we already spent quite a lot.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We just sat
there not knowing what to do, and getting out of mood quick.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">You can
guess what happened at 12 o clock, after all the buses left? Yeah, the station
closed, and we had to leave.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We went
back to the trainstation and we assumed this would close too. I saw a map of
the neighbourhood and it had some info about and a small picture of the
Westminster Cathedral on it. (Westminster is the
district in London
where we were) It looked like it was just around the corner of the station and
I REALLY wanted to take a look, we didn’t have anything better to do anyway!?
The building was beautifull (if you didn’t know, I like churchbuildings just as
much as Greyhound busses ;-) I never saw a church like that before.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I didn’t
say anything to the others though, and we started talking about what to do
again. I was pretty sure the airport was closed, but we decided to go back to
Liverpool Station at least and see. And maybe it was open all night. We went to
the Underground station, and found out our last train to the Liverpool
station was about to leave right now, so we flew downstairs with me in the back
going “we’re never going to make it! We’re never going to make it!” Thinking
about it, I don’t have much faith in catching trains. I kept on yelling this
the whole time everytime we had to catch a train. But we did make it, the
Circle Line back to Liverpoolstreet.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In the
subway I noticed on a map, that Liverpool
street station would be more or less close to a
good and cheap hotel we knew. But we didn’t know if they had rooms. If we went
there without checking, and we couldn’t get a room, we would be stuck in that
nasty neighbourhood, and if we went online first to check, we would miss the
last train there.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">On
Liverpoolstreet station we checked the timetables for the airport, and the first train
in the morning was only at 7 something. It was not even 1 o clock now, and if
the trainstation closed, it would mean that we had to spend 6 hours in the rain
on the streets of a neighbourhood we didn’t know. We were getting desperate,
and irritating.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">A man in
uniform heard us shout and walked up to us and asked if we needed assistance
finding our train, as he was going to … close the station.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We looked
at eachother, Fogerty was far away, I felt like I could cry.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Out of curiosity,
I looked at the LAST train, that was going to Southend, and it was leaving at
0.50.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“what time
is it, the last train leaves at 0.50”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“IT IS
0.50!!!!!” panic, panic, as we didn’t have any other options, though I thought the
airport would be closed, as we were desperate, we started screaming at
eachother, and running around looking for the platform. Alessio found it, we
were passed by running people, I was screaming “we’re never going to make it!!!
And the airport will be closed!!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">More screaming
to eachother, and the final decision to take the train, or at least try to take
it. We just didnt have ANY other options left. We started running like crazy, and only because of some drunken bimbo’s
standing in the door, we made it. We all dove in it at the moment the signal went.
The doors closed behind us and the train left within 5 seconds we were in it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The drunken
bimbo’s were still screaming at eachother and I yelled at them “hou je bek!!!”
geezz glad they didn’t respond to that! Smart move.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Other
drunken bimbos were stretched out over 4 seats, so we were forced to stand,
causing slight irritations. I was so annoyed that I didn’t even wanna go over
and ask if we could sit there (maybe they were just to drunk to realize they
were taking up all the space) because I didnt want to sit next to them. Anne was about to start a riot, but was way to
exhausted to get over there.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Around
01.50 we arrived at the airports trainstation, and when we saw a guy laying on
the floor sleeping next to his suitcase, all our hope went down the drain.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The
stations ward (?) was waiting for us and welcomed us. Never saw anything like
that. Only in the UK
I guess! He started talking: “the airport will open at 4 o clock. You can stay
here for the night, if you go upstairs it will be warmer, and if you don’t come
near that door, it wont automatically open. I will close all other doors, but
leave that one open so you can go to the bathroom if you want too. It also has
warm water and drinking water. You will be safe here, cos I got you on camera”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">He pointed
to one of the many camera’s, and walked us back up stairs. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The only
thing missing was that he didn’t come back to bring us hot tea!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">There were
no benches, but the floor was extremely clean, I’ve never seen such a clean
floor on a trainstation before, I pulled on all my extra clothes, rested my
head on Roberts leg, layed down, and thought “this isn’t bad at all, this is
pretty good” and felt asleep, until I woke up completely frozen.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE8oK6QkVoK_U4in2Ja1wZGe-azHF2EPo81wMF-uHfmseme_ylGr2ArQac5lomkD824rB-KFcnmyrFbAbAFQacTmNr6lp_jAEcG9ocJmIGOxSQK1b9Ibljci2wJ9UJZA3lO6xQeHDw-YyE/s1600/P1020312.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE8oK6QkVoK_U4in2Ja1wZGe-azHF2EPo81wMF-uHfmseme_ylGr2ArQac5lomkD824rB-KFcnmyrFbAbAFQacTmNr6lp_jAEcG9ocJmIGOxSQK1b9Ibljci2wJ9UJZA3lO6xQeHDw-YyE/s640/P1020312.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I think I
slept maybe one hour, and after that I was so cold I couldn’t sleep anymore.
The guy who had arrived with us, was sleeping like a little princess :-) in a
sleeping bag, hmpf! Time can go so SLOW!! It took ages before it was finally,
finally 4 o’clock. We stood upstairs looking at the airport, there were people
waiting outside, 4am passed, nothing happened, was it maybe all a lie??</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Then, the
doors opened. Salvation!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The airport
was warm, and clean too. We went upstairs and found a spot, I stretched myself
out on the floor again, earplugs in, eyemask on, gone! Robert woke me up later
to say there was a line of people standing next to me waiting for departures.
Downstairs then, a bit colder, no cosy corners, just slept on the floor again,
until a security guy came to check if I was still alive.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I gave up
and sat on the bench with the others, and we all fell asleep on and off, with
our heads bouncing in every direction.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In between
I looked at what was going on on the airport.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Not much! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">On our left
was the coffeecorner with a young boy waiting for customers, in front of us two
car rental desks with a man and a woman waiting for customers, and on our right
a guy with a funny hairdo in a moneyexhange booth, waiting for customers and
playing pacman on his computer (we assumed).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">How can I
ever describe the longest, most boring, most exhausting morning EVER??</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Our flight
was at 13.00 hrs (you don’t have that much choice last minute) and we still had
hours and hours and hours to go, and there was nothing to see here exept for
those 4 people.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Spectacle!
The coffeecorner boy went to the money guy to change coins!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">More
spectacle! The money guy left his booth and sat down in the coffeecorner for
breakfast!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We wondered
if he’d ever get customers, especially because there was an ATM standing right
next to his booth. Who exhanges money these days? We hoped he would ever get
enough customers to get a haircut :-D</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It might
have been after 8 allready when the first customers for the car rental desks
appeared. Fantastic, something to look at for at least 15 minutes!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Later a
flock of people came in dressed very sunny; on to their flights to Spain. They all
looked at us, as we looked like slobs, our shoes covered in mud and everything.
I was in desperate need of a shower, but I expected to be able take one at home
on Saturday. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1TGu9_CPHeWRAC5uWDx8x0Pd1eeZzL3N-fdNpro7xiTST4X8h_FxtcC0Sj_bmiS0P93FawL0pJ_lo6iOIupa49IvZcRh0cwmZ-NWUlpATjOXVEY2JT06Tcbq6iuWAJXHO54y9_gVmeu5u/s1600/P1020313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1TGu9_CPHeWRAC5uWDx8x0Pd1eeZzL3N-fdNpro7xiTST4X8h_FxtcC0Sj_bmiS0P93FawL0pJ_lo6iOIupa49IvZcRh0cwmZ-NWUlpATjOXVEY2JT06Tcbq6iuWAJXHO54y9_gVmeu5u/s640/P1020313.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We
collected our last coins and bought a lot of snacks and coffee in the coffeecorner,
(the guy asked Robert why we were sitting there all the time) and finally
people started walking in and the feeling that I was stuck in some weird movie
ended. Went to the bathroom to clean myself a bit up, and finally, finally,
finally, it was time to go upstairs and through security. We waved our newest
best friends of coffeeshop, car rental, money booth farewell but they didn’t
even look up :-(</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I probably
slept 2 minutes in the airplane and woke up just in time to see the costal line
of the Netherlands.
And a windmill park in the sea, pretty cool! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgIFcsWMJj37vZHKMBjgWsTIkj6jgmyw5W7igyP2EV2OBhSCRhvMJtjwynj6B3dJ7aju_yiwqz-FJPiFqAmv0WdX5XVTvO2G8PhtJzg1ZpUaILuSmxj5eZ7CvOtyWRYq8qXQDFRhkoilOB/s1600/P1020323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgIFcsWMJj37vZHKMBjgWsTIkj6jgmyw5W7igyP2EV2OBhSCRhvMJtjwynj6B3dJ7aju_yiwqz-FJPiFqAmv0WdX5XVTvO2G8PhtJzg1ZpUaILuSmxj5eZ7CvOtyWRYq8qXQDFRhkoilOB/s640/P1020323.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Admit that this is one of the weirdest things you've ever seen :-D</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I looked at the cities down there
and tried to guess wich ones, and we were back in Schiphol airport already
again.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Now as we
were flying Easy Jet, the budget airline, we touched down on a runway closer to
London then to Amsterdam!! Robert looked at his watch, we
had to “roll” to the terminal for nearly TWENTY MINUTES!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Ofcourse
now it was beautifull weather, we collected our car and drove home. Fell
asleep, try to never do that as I am the one next to the driver, but it was
hopeless.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We got our
stuff at Alessio’s mums house, quick visit to the supermarket and went home,
where my mom waiting for us, she looked after the house during the tour.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Felt funny
and good to be home again! I opened kitchen cabinets just to look at my
collection of food and stared into the fridge for moments. You cant believe how
much you’re going to appreciate those things when you’re on the road for a few
weeks!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Then my
bed, my own, nice, warm, soft, clean, fantastic, comfy bed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-91082707889023427982012-07-18T13:24:00.001-07:002012-07-18T13:48:51.421-07:00July 14th/15th: Last Minute To London, # 2<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We already
had the strongest suspicion that Bruce would join John for a song or two ;-)
and the Italians next to us told us that Bruces roadies were onstage setting
things up, so that spoiled the surprise for the rest of the crowd too. But I
think nobody was really surprised.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Bruce
Springsteen got onstage, everyone “Bruuuuuuuuuce!” and he introduced John
saying something about dressing up in flannel for the occasion and that John is
the Hank Williams of his generation. For me, it was not just fun to see Bruce
Springsteen, but also there was a time when I could dream his introduction of
John at the Hall of Fame, always loved that speech (the father of the flannel
shirt!) and this felt a bit like it. I was there, this time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And I have to add, he is one of those men thats aging VERY well. Actually he is sexy as hell :-D Bruuuuuce! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We all
screamed our lungs out to support our John! The Bruce fans were polite, they loudly
cheered and clapped for him and everything, but they didn’t really wake up
until the last few songs. I could see a few people in front of me going bazurk
everytime John started a new song, but mostly it felt like was just Bruces fans
being nice to Bruces friend John. But that’s my view on it. And at least they
were being nice!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">This is the
setlist:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">- Hey
Tonight</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">- Looking
out my backdoor</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">- Born on
the bayou</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">- Lodi</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">- Who’ll
stop the rain</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">- Midnight
Special</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">- Have you
ever seen the rain</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">- Keep on
chooglin</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">(the sun
started shining and all of a sudden it became HOT)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">- Down on
the corner</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">- Old Man
down the road</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">- Bad Moon
Rising</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">- Fortunate
Son</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">- and somewhere
pretty woman!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Encore 1:
Proud Mary</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Encore 2:
Rocking all over the world.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">John was
still suffering from a cold, and what must have been his worst nighmare was
coming true; his voice was far from good! It didn’t take long before we started
looking at eachother going “ohno” POOR MAN!! We felt so horrible for him. Can
only imagine how he must have felt, but being the professional as he is, he
kept on going and made a few jokes about it, like “you never know whats coming
out of there” and “I left my voice in my other suitcase!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Kudo’s for
him for not giving up!!! You’re a diehard too, John!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It seemed
to get better maybe halfway the show, but still not like it should be when
you’re playing in front of a 80,000 people crowd opening for Bruce Springsteen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We kept
screaming things like “you can do it John!” and “you’re the man!” and even
“we’re here!” (I think he knew we were there, as we were on his guestlist :-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Ofcourse he
couldn’t hear us, but what if he just could…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">the fuzzy pics like the one above are made from the big screen! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We felt
sorry for not bringing a big banner with us, but we didn’t have any time at all
to think about that, let alone make one.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">During
Midnight Special we held our Moose banner high and kept on holding it because
whatever, why not, and all of a sudden…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">SHANE SEES
US!!! This was not a case of “it looked like he was looking at us” no, it was
clear that he saw us. Out in the crowd, row 15, our silly Moose banner. He
started smiling and we started waving and jumping like our lives depended on
it, and he waved back! We completely lost it, and it felt like the firs time
someone in the band waved at us.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Though they
were pretty far, I think I even never saw him from that far, it was not too far
away to take pictures, and I took a whole lot of them cos it was such an unique
view from here! Also a fantastic contribution were the two big screens. They
provided unique views on the band and we really enjoyed it! Loved how they
filmed Kenny during Pretty Woman! Or John seen from his back, with the endless
crowd in front of him!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Alessio
started holding our moose banner everytime John seemed to look in our way, and
after a while Dave saw our banner too. I didn’t see it, but Robert did.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It was
difficult to dance because we were stuck in such a small place and I feared
falling over the bags on my right.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">During the
whole show, Bruce was sitting next to Julie watching the show. Every now and
then they put him on the screen causing new “Bruuuuuuuce!” from the crowd.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Everybody
in the crowd sang along during HYESTR! That’s pretty impressive from 80,000!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It was Bad
Moon Rising that triggered the audience, everyone was cheering and singing
along now.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">All this
time there was this extra microphone standing next to John that wasn’t used
yet. Robert thought Bruce would join him for RAOTW, and when the band left the
stage, and came back for Proud Mary, we were confused! Still no Bruce, maybe
something went wrong?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">But no,
there he was. John introduced him and he walked on the stage, and they kicked
in with Rocking All Over the World.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I just
stood there cheering and laughing, it wasn’t flabbergasting (we already assumed
this for a loooong time) but just EXTREME FUNNY.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Maybe it
was my numb brain that couldn’t deal with the historical event happening in
front of my own eyes, but I just stood there having a great time, and not going
bazurk. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">(also,
maybe it would have been different from the front row) Tried to take some
pictures and enjoyed seeing John and Bruce on one stage, I was happy from head
to toes, every exhaustment was gone, this was IT!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Bruce only
used his own microphone for a bit, then he sang face to face with John in his
microphone. Ofcourse the first thing we said to eachother was “and tomorrow
Bruce wonders where he got that nasty cold!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">They were
having the best time ever, and it showed. Good friends on stage together! John
even put his hand on Bruces shoulder.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">When they
walked off the stage at the end of the song, they had their arms around
eachother and it was just so FANTASTIC to see, there was no politeness there,
but two very very good friends, really touching.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We took a
deep breath and tried to leave the crowd, to watch Bruce from somewhere in the
back a bit more relaxed. We put Arnold
in front, as he is the tallest and he could see just over the heads where we
had to go. It turned out to be extremely difficult and annoying. People were
packed so tight now, it was impossible to pass them, and staying together with
5 looked like it wasn’t going to work. In the end I just grabbed Alessio, and
Anne held my hand, and now at least we would stuck together. We were cursing at
Arnold “where
the F are you going to man, we wanna leave, not go to the front!!” and he kept
defending that he was going to the side (what he was). I think it took at least
15 minutes to reach “delay 5” and it was still way to crowded there. Arnold went to get some
food, and I went to the toilets, but got confronted with The Biggest Line Ever
In Human History And Beyond, and went back. Not desperate yet! We left Robert
there and went back to the guestlounge; toilets without lines, and got some
food. They had a lot of food to choose from, not really cheap, but at least it
was way better then the obvious hotdogs, hamburger, and pizza you see at
festivals.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We teamed
up with Arnold
again, and when Bruce started, we went to the side to watch. It started raining
again and we were cold and tired, and couldn’t really enjoy the show. But as
someone had told us that john was going to joing Bruce, we wanted to wait.
Well, I think, the only thing we really wanted, was to sit down. The only seats
were at the guestlounge, but we would never be back in time if John came, and
there was no space to sit on the floor here, and it was really muddy too.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I cant
speak for Arnold,
but we were so exhausted, mood went down fast again. We were just standing
there in front of the Mexican Food Airstream trailer. Robert was the only one
really familiar with his music, and we didn’t know any of the songs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Thoughts
about leaving came, but I said it would be really silly if we left and would
miss John. But did we really have to wait 3 hrs to see john? What if he didn’t
come back again? Slowly those thoughts changed for “are we really stuck in a
rainy, cold town with no hotelroom and our flight will only be in SEVENTEEN
HOURS????”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Well, yeah,
we were.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">All of a
sudden, Tom Morello came back on stage to join bruce, so we were slightly
positive that we wouldn’t have to wait till the end to see John. I already
investigated the Mexican food trailer with their cool looking staff and ordered
nachos with guacamole, sour cream, cheese and salsa, and it tasted a whole lot
better then the fish and chips. One of the guys asked me “what about that John
Fogerty?” I said “he just played!” he said “I missed him! What are his songs? I
don’t know him” me “oh you do, CCR, Bad Moon Rising, Who’ll stop the rain,…”
he, towards coworker “CCR!!! I told you so!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We didn’t
pay attention to Bruce all the time, and all of a sudden, I saw a very familiar
flannel shirt on the screen from the corner of my eye: JOHN IS BACK!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVG_1GEkg_9HVjHOEmR9Lw1LhKlvWVEicF-bAaYNYDsqV_743FER2ozrv-w0W6t6ona-jwe4Px3ojjsB2GDMMO1wJ_FupjPJQqy_IeD5-Cc2KzygR-OUOQaqgUSxAalL_LCET6QZ-myexx/s1600/P1020288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVG_1GEkg_9HVjHOEmR9Lw1LhKlvWVEicF-bAaYNYDsqV_743FER2ozrv-w0W6t6ona-jwe4Px3ojjsB2GDMMO1wJ_FupjPJQqy_IeD5-Cc2KzygR-OUOQaqgUSxAalL_LCET6QZ-myexx/s640/P1020288.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiue8Ny1FwCZsdcEY8rTxH2Yv3VN88PTlerdG2reuUdVwPd3okWjCU0pMKaes2dmwu9XcBd4nXIgGpkiOC9PBDavcroDZ5sw9257puQgwRiac3xa4xYF_2Gj3hRXN7yt8hVaCooywWZUiv6/s1600/P1020291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiue8Ny1FwCZsdcEY8rTxH2Yv3VN88PTlerdG2reuUdVwPd3okWjCU0pMKaes2dmwu9XcBd4nXIgGpkiOC9PBDavcroDZ5sw9257puQgwRiac3xa4xYF_2Gj3hRXN7yt8hVaCooywWZUiv6/s640/P1020291.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaG7zWS6sPvkMAag144tDOT2i3VtegUbR-SQWt0Edm11SDQ4iye4mSp1CrW2O6VauuWnW7qkb5Hy677cqpFBVfm7VIU5OTx7fXYLp-qK_nQ273OGJ_GvgcOhVED0_FOrAAScZL5tIt2MZE/s1600/P1020299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaG7zWS6sPvkMAag144tDOT2i3VtegUbR-SQWt0Edm11SDQ4iye4mSp1CrW2O6VauuWnW7qkb5Hy677cqpFBVfm7VIU5OTx7fXYLp-qK_nQ273OGJ_GvgcOhVED0_FOrAAScZL5tIt2MZE/s640/P1020299.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVBpkbklEIezF8R6fZeL4_MS1h72vZCetEghyphenhyphenRo2mgZJKSCxpqxFzmC8w0GanvwcAfyEFRiHKbEdf2IY6yj3gMYqmWzFT4fL441i-ukX_nMTVw8-jFbwSVpE38odR1u2_id-UB0Ypi_LZg/s1600/P1020301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVBpkbklEIezF8R6fZeL4_MS1h72vZCetEghyphenhyphenRo2mgZJKSCxpqxFzmC8w0GanvwcAfyEFRiHKbEdf2IY6yj3gMYqmWzFT4fL441i-ukX_nMTVw8-jFbwSVpE38odR1u2_id-UB0Ypi_LZg/s640/P1020301.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJd7BsDWuHsR1KxefyhGMHl0kynHxdtQZNv1AOpl9ewqqzEfUGBGELPbkXcMfTUec6d1aDUPw-2bm8kyIg1VRancr23am7FYAxL_t3qP4JsPjyJU9gL3scx3-CIFKDbOUVRyJ-B_6z9sxB/s1600/P1020302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJd7BsDWuHsR1KxefyhGMHl0kynHxdtQZNv1AOpl9ewqqzEfUGBGELPbkXcMfTUec6d1aDUPw-2bm8kyIg1VRancr23am7FYAxL_t3qP4JsPjyJU9gL3scx3-CIFKDbOUVRyJ-B_6z9sxB/s640/P1020302.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">They did
Promised Land together, what they have done before, but I think Rocking All
Over The World was way, way, way cooler. Still we screamed and yelled for him
there in the back and supported him like no other!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And,
another new record, never saw John as matchstick man before. Geez he was so far
away and tiny! </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzNih7INDzCHN8YYdVIN5dmAzxJx1hyphenhyphenC8zHaFi66lMCvXdIF81XLGbaDvMx9J81fBXj9hpV8Tfj4iQhqsGmqcxhqmICE35xFOoLzWfLmZUOLMCzz0kugp7_jUUxi5RDqfv1GWraqGsagYy/s1600/P1020285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzNih7INDzCHN8YYdVIN5dmAzxJx1hyphenhyphenC8zHaFi66lMCvXdIF81XLGbaDvMx9J81fBXj9hpV8Tfj4iQhqsGmqcxhqmICE35xFOoLzWfLmZUOLMCzz0kugp7_jUUxi5RDqfv1GWraqGsagYy/s640/P1020285.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look onstage directly under the C in "ROCK" thats John! (Bruce is under the O)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Taking
pictures from the screen totally failed, but hey, it was fun and we were there.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Time to go!
Mostly because we wanted to sit down. First we checked the guestlounge once
again, but it was so muddy and it was raining, so we didn’t feel like sitting
there listening to Bruce. A chaotic running around on the field started
involving not working ATM machines, merchandise stands, toilets and getting
annoyed about running around, and Arnold
went back to his hotel.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">In the
meantime we looked at Bruce on the screen, didn’t know ANY of the songs, and
for me they weren’t really danceable either. I saw him live back in 2003 and
had a superb time then, but I was on the front row, the sun was shining, and I
had enough sleep.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Still, he
is Bruce Springsteen, so I’m not going to say he was boring, but I slightly
wondered what was going on.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">On the
other hand, between the songs all kinds of stuff was going on. No wonder his
shows take 3 hrs! He took the banner from a Spanish fan at the front (when he
mentioned he was from Spain,
the guys next to us in the back went “SPAIN?!! HOLY SHT!!!!”) the banner
was a request for a rare song, and Bruce kept on talking and talking and
talking and giving all that attention to the poor guy, who looked like he had
the best moment of his life, and his friends kept hitting him on the shoulder,
as we could see on the screen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Walking
through the rain towards the merch/exit once again, a new song started that I
recognized from the start: waiting on a sunny day, one of my favourites!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Nobody
wanted to wait to look (cant blame them, it was raining) so I had no choice
then to follow them dancing. For a moment I thought I was maybe acting weird,
until I noticed that everybody around me was dancing silly dances and jumping
up and down and having a blast. Way in the back!! Real great moment. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I wanted to
buy the festival shirt (thank you for having girlies!) but the staff of the
Hard Rock merch stand stood there all arm in arm waving and screaming along
with the music, I had to wait :-D
Finally a girl let the others go and helped me, she was still singing,
and I was still singing. It was one of the highlights of the day! When I got my
shirt, I held the paper (…) bag under my jacket and told the others “and now I’m
going to dance, dammit!” and it was ok, but Anne was already dancing, and I
danced, in the rain, at least a kilometre away from the stage, having the best
time. This is what music does to people!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">When the
song finished, we walked towards the door, and just when we were outside the
new song started… THE RIVER!!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I
completely lost it, there was no way of getting back in, and I begged the
others to stay to listen, (in the rain) but the sound was horrible there, and
it even made me feel depressed. Still a bit of the magic of the song was able
to float over the gates towards me, but it wasn’t like it should be. I decided
to get over it quick and we walked to the underground station, and into the
long, dark, night.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE1RFwx3bCunZ4cH8lIBoBMIJfUYH1ZdMijRU0StS6RblsxGv5voKK3bAUxE-mfRtBTee3N4WuQpsaF-Pbv-yFdBBjNZrYM_SuEaYD_nH4okzvompPs5a__MD4SBl_xoFsyWL2nV7JXWIf/s1600/P1020309.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE1RFwx3bCunZ4cH8lIBoBMIJfUYH1ZdMijRU0StS6RblsxGv5voKK3bAUxE-mfRtBTee3N4WuQpsaF-Pbv-yFdBBjNZrYM_SuEaYD_nH4okzvompPs5a__MD4SBl_xoFsyWL2nV7JXWIf/s640/P1020309.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
</div>Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1738455102590101235.post-75547736328614353002012-07-18T12:33:00.000-07:002012-07-18T13:47:44.320-07:00July 14th/15th: Last Minute To London, # 1<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Got up at
5.30 and felt like a zombie. One of those moments when I wonder what I’m doing!
Around 6 we were on the road back to Amsterdam
again, feeling a bit silly :-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We were
very lucky with the traffic, only had to stop for an opened bridge that let
through 10 boats (or one very long one with a lot of masts, we don’t know yet)
and without problems, and way to early we arrived at the long term parking of
Schiphol. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The only
thing we were able to arrange in such short time, was the flights, for the
rest, we didn’t have a clue what we were doing, so it wasn’t a nice surprise
when we saw the amount of money we had to pay at the parking, but at least
we’re with 4 to divide it with.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCSeerJW5FUytz2Vx3iRmEOG1iG24MgBu_DehwovqlXB5sKnR6Ua83iRIyzaXHtRXlYdxNBfSDE1yB4fQwgZ3DpbolEqjqiV56c7bSbm4PK27ilyeEFl51T1dPb_2Ii5_p88sLAJnegogn/s1600/P1020324.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCSeerJW5FUytz2Vx3iRmEOG1iG24MgBu_DehwovqlXB5sKnR6Ua83iRIyzaXHtRXlYdxNBfSDE1yB4fQwgZ3DpbolEqjqiV56c7bSbm4PK27ilyeEFl51T1dPb_2Ii5_p88sLAJnegogn/s320/P1020324.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNftnb5ofdznxaEFA_bX0ge5qae4pR1fuejXfa0D-vdmX2nccb6veNL1OAEqJGim6NDsS4z4AET-zzczcahmx0g3hvupjiI-yPBhl1BWyRmxGCNVdMsFHzrk4defTD-TSZLmF1xybkmGKf/s1600/P1020040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNftnb5ofdznxaEFA_bX0ge5qae4pR1fuejXfa0D-vdmX2nccb6veNL1OAEqJGim6NDsS4z4AET-zzczcahmx0g3hvupjiI-yPBhl1BWyRmxGCNVdMsFHzrk4defTD-TSZLmF1xybkmGKf/s400/P1020040.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Only questions...</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Easy Jet is
one of those budget airlines and that shows, for example at the place where you
check in (in a corner) and also the gate (in a different corner after long
walk) but whatever. First thing the others did was run to Starbucks, but I wanted
to sleep in the plane, so no coffee for me. I walked around a bit, found a
place where they sold grapefruits (!) and then saw I missed 5 calls from
Robert; they were panicking because “we would barely make it to the gate” and
we hurried there, running over these moving belts (whatever they are called)
and pushing old people and other slow traffic away :-D just kidding. (for some
reason we were not allowed to the gate yet and we had to wait where we were)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">At the
security check I realised I still had all this stuff in my bag that wasn’t
going to make it through the scanner and I started to throw them out, but the
lady said “just move on, my colleges will see it” so I did, and her coworkers
didn’t see anything at all; my plastic knife and fork, my deodorant, handgel,
sewingkit; safetypins… hmm!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Ofcourse
when we were through, the others realised we had plenty of time, so we could
relax a bit again.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">By then, it
started raining like crazy, and while we were waiting at the gate we saw other
people getting in planes and they all ran, then had to wait in line to get in,
and seeking cover helding their handluggage above their heads. Oh dear! That’s
another one at Easy Jet: you have to get in the plane with stairs, no nice
corridor “slurf” for us! (I think I am making up words here but you know what I
mean)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">So when it
was our turn, I put on my raincoat, we all ran outside, but they only opened
one door and we had to wait. When we finally got inside, and the steward asked
my boarding pass, I only could hand him a completely soaked piece of paper with
ran through ink but I was let in.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">By then I
started to realize I was about to FLY, and I don’t like flying!!! Everything
has gone so insanely quick, that it only struck me when we were inside the
plane.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The flight
from London to Amsterdam maybe took 45 minutes, and we slept
most of it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">When we
touched down on the airport
of Southend, it wasn’t
raining, but when we looked back at the plane, we saw some extreme black clouds
coming our way, and we realized we had to look for rainboots and raincoats.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxws2baQDxejgmvlDMQwuIzrGRhnyq9Yh5Piuekl2EYirw5nR4xHfii2fT3nZr_pSSqnTxUmCC_pPenClja_q7RsbKUXSZCFrLnGijS7OK-0XmjE2v_fP_0MnSWFuugBsplfCUwXS97GWK/s1600/P1020045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxws2baQDxejgmvlDMQwuIzrGRhnyq9Yh5Piuekl2EYirw5nR4xHfii2fT3nZr_pSSqnTxUmCC_pPenClja_q7RsbKUXSZCFrLnGijS7OK-0XmjE2v_fP_0MnSWFuugBsplfCUwXS97GWK/s640/P1020045.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Very
quickly we were through immigrations and everything, and when I went to the
bathroom, a woman addressed me about Fogerty and she said she was going too.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We got some
money out of the machine, but we didn’t know the rates. Last time I looked the
pound was about 1,1 euro, Alessio thought it was now 1,4 euro. (it actually was
1,27) We just took some money (thank goodness we still had some) and went to
the trainstation. That was the other thing we found out before we left home:
there was a trainstation :-D</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The woman
that sold us the tickets, was the first in a long row of extremely NICE people
we met that day, helping the lost souls we were, strangers without a clue! (we
didn’t even know where we were, found out later that Southend is east of London.) I had feared
that we would pay a crazy amount for the train, but we had a special offer; buy
two, get two free! Wow!! So we had a returnticket for only 11 pound! She told
us in the detail where to go and what to do, and we waited outside in the rain
for the train.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I think the
trip took about 50 minutes. First, I was looking out of the window telling
myself “you are in the United Kindom” all the time, then I felt asleep, and I
woke up again when we already entered greater London. Interesting stuff to see, and all
those old brick building DID look very English to me! Then we passed an Olympic
site, with a futuristic looking stadium and a very weird “thing” that looked
like someone had tied a rollercoaster in a big knot. We still don’t know what
it was but it looked interesting. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We had now
reached Liverpoolstreet Station, and my heart said “John only has to go on at
5, lets run around London, LONDON until then!” Just like I always had in
mind when I thought about going to this concert: come early, do a lot of
sightseeing, taking it easy, and go to the concert and watch in the back, as
you cant beat Bruce Springsteen fans anyway (man those guys are HARDCORE!!)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">But my mind
said “we have to go there asap, call the Ticket Fairy asap, sort things out
asap, everything asap!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">To leave
the trainplatform, you have to insert your ticket in the gate, and both Anne
and me got refused all the time, and we got a little worried, (maybe first
stadium of panic) until a friendly local behind us told us “that gate is
closed, use this one!” Oh thank you, so that is what “NOT AN EXIT” means??? :-D</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">As it still
was pouring, and Alessio and Anne didn’t have raincoats (anymore) we ran into a
pharmacy (Boots) and they sold them. They also had sandwiches at reasonable
prices, aaaaaand, a lot of ENGLISH CHOCOLATE omnomnomnom, and FLAPJACKS!! (some
type of oatmeal bar, very good)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Anne and I
looked at the candybars and she said what I was thinking: just EVERYthing
looked different then at home. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV8A-art7SfaQyXL5mYFFiglKX_QCey5citZ_PU-uz2el3xflYKSvnAfstkqsZXbp3qVCH4tnLYArAu9fTttyTDZLHk5PFjxYErjk8jcTRbyNspOAU4y1aWGGJaojogKbZI6yjAfGmxumy/s1600/P1020056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV8A-art7SfaQyXL5mYFFiglKX_QCey5citZ_PU-uz2el3xflYKSvnAfstkqsZXbp3qVCH4tnLYArAu9fTttyTDZLHk5PFjxYErjk8jcTRbyNspOAU4y1aWGGJaojogKbZI6yjAfGmxumy/s640/P1020056.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welcome to London!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We didn’t
know where to go, apart from “HydePark” but that’s a very big place. Then we
wanted to know the cheapest way to get there, and we met this extremely
friendly and patient Underground Guy who took at least 15 minutes to explain
everything we wanted to know, while the line behind us was growing and growing
:-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We left
with one of those electronic cards, you have to scan them when you enter the
station, and ofcourse mine didn’t work the first 3 times, aaa!!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">There’s a
stop called “Hyde Park Corner” , and there was also “Marble Arch”, and the last
one had an Olympics sign saying “Hyde Park” so
after some discussing, and changing our minds 10 times, we took the Central
Line to Marble Arch.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Going
there, we wondered if the Olympics maybe already started. We had been living in
a bubble the last two weeks. We didn’t even dare to ask someone, afraid they
might think we’re form a different planet. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The London
Underground is one of those typical London
things, and stopping at some famous stations, I felt a bit more and more where
we were, but the real sensation came when we stepped in the daylight across the
street from Hyde Park. We were in London! There were red
double decker busses all around, black English cabs, typical English policemen,
and crazy traffic that was about to ran over you from the wrong side of the
road.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9zwD4UBInk-rK65Og_3EzYoqwnxIXlNbkN-24p0ualGqkzd_1Bgw-5TMP5tCyGLq4-PszWHJSHf9Hw754m0OXIO5KiYZC9m8IEEBA5AE2ou_dzRNJPmkbSsBzBRGwsjeWBymBbXSQ7fE4/s1600/P1020059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9zwD4UBInk-rK65Og_3EzYoqwnxIXlNbkN-24p0ualGqkzd_1Bgw-5TMP5tCyGLq4-PszWHJSHf9Hw754m0OXIO5KiYZC9m8IEEBA5AE2ou_dzRNJPmkbSsBzBRGwsjeWBymBbXSQ7fE4/s640/P1020059.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I think I
was the only one desperately trying to absorb as much London as possible, well we were there for
John offcourse. We have had these situations before, visiting special places
and don’t have time to see anything, but it felt a bit extreme now, and I had
an idea how it must be when you travel around the world in a band, go to all
these great places, and only see the venue.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Across the
street we saw these big white tents, and we didn’t know if that was the
festival entrance or something Olympic, and we didn’t see anyone to ask, so we
walked around a bit first. Coming closer, it turned out to be the BIGGEST
entrance we’ve ever seen, must have been at least 50 gates!!! We didn’t even
know what the name of the festival was, and went to the ticket office to ask if
this was “the concert” but then we noticed it said “Hard Rock Calling” so we
assumed this was the concert and not the Olympics :-)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We made
it!!! We were there!!! Next step: getting inside.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Then we
noticed: a paper on the window saying “Tickets 70 pound” first I just thought
“that’s not much for such great names” and it took me a while to realise… </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It was NOT
SOLD OUT!!! So many people didn’t go because it was sold out, and now it
wasn’t!!! Oh boy, we knew a lot of people would freak out if they heard that!!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It was one
of the reasons we didn’t plan to go, but we talked about going and trying to
get a ticket somewhere. If we had done that, we would have gone in without any
problems!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Now we were
here, we called the Ticket Fairy, but he didn’t answer his phone, so we asked
where backstage entrance was, and we went to see if maybe the tickets would be
there.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We were
curious about what we would get (if we would get).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Robert went
to ask, and stuck up this thumb; we were covered!! Wooo!!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We were on
the guestlist :-D we didn’t just get tickets, we were on the effin guestlist!!!
HOLY!!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We got a
nice wristband saying “guest” ha! And we could get in through the VIP/guest
entrance. Ha!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">They checked
our bags, opened Alessio’s coca cola and SNIFFED IT, haha, to check if it
wasn’t booze! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Bringing in
water wasn’t a problem, inside we found out why: several taps with free
drinking water; thank you London!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We called
the Ticket Fairy back to say we were inside, this time he did answer and we all
screamed “thank you!!!” in his ear.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We were in,
we made it!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The
festival field was enormous, and not
extremely buisy yet. We had another discussion about whether or not trying to
stand at the front, and I said I was way to tired to fight my way up through
rows of Springsteen fans. (they ARE hardcore!) We did check the stage out
first, there were already quite some people standing there, but we wanted to
look around abit, relax and have something to eat.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We noticed
an entrance for the “guest/VIP lounge” and went in. At the same time, some
others wanted to go inside to but they were stopped, and the guy who stopped
them said to us “yeah, YOU guys are allright, you’re the blue wristbands, you
go in” hahahaha!! Our ego’s kept growing!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The lounge
contained several foodstands, decent toilets, and nice seats (the only ones at
the festival!)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We went
back outside, wanted to see the merchandise, ran into Martin from the
merchandise, and looked around for food and a drinkingwater tap that worked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">What did I
see?? A fish and chips stand!! My
decision was made! I ordered one, and it was good, but also it was soaking in
grease, so when I was finishing it I had a small vision of how I would experience
the concert from a porto potty. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Robert
found pizza, ordered “a whole pizza” and came back with something the size of a
7” record. We thought it was the funniest thing ever, especially after that
ridiculous BIG pizza in Norway
earlier, but he was really pissed off that they charged him 8 pounds for that!!
I got a personal escort to the watertap + demonstration by a staffmember.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Slowly we
stepped int the crowd in front of the stage, and tried to get as close as
possible without problems. It was quite a struggle to get there as everywhere
there were people sitting on the floor and we really had to zigzag through the
crowd, trying not to lose eachother or step on someone going “sorry! Scuse me for
that! Sorry! Oh was that YOUR beer?” all the time, and we stopped around row
15.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">3 and a
half hour to go, and I got a bit desperate. That’s a long time to stand on your
legs if you’re tired. After a while we sat down, but it wasn’t easy, or very
clean. Directly on my right were 3 people sitting on a blanket with 3 big bags
in the middle, I parked my bag against theirs so we had a bit of space. We
watched other people struggle to get through, had others climb over us just
like we had to climb over others before, but everyone was very polite. They all
said “excuse me!” and then “thanks love” so cute :-) we helped a few getting
through by letting them a hand while we were standing, it was al very friendly
and polite and relaxed. People just tried not to step on you, and if they
accidentally kicked you, you got an immediate excuse and because it was so
relaxed it was never a big deal.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The first
band started, forgot their name, but the music didn’t make a big impression on
us anyway, we cheered politely and thought “oh god, 3 hrs to go, we’re never
gonna make it!!!” boredom and exhaustment seemed to beat us!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">At some
point, I don’t know when, Arnold
joined us. I don’t know how we found eachother, probably called him a few
times. One of the funny things to watch was when people called friends and
tried to make clear where they were standing. The Italians on our direct left
were calling their friend and waved at him when they found him, he waved back,
so we all started waving at him too :-) Others were holding something in the
air, like a book, backpack, pizzabox, stools, anything unusual (so no umbrella’s
or caps)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">“I’m
holding a green polka dot inflatable chair, can you see me??”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Next
artist, Tom Morello, never heard of him. On the stage a guy with an acoustic
guitar appeared, with a banner in the back saying “the nightwatchman”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I cant
really say when he caught my attention, but the next 45 minutes went by just
like that, and everyone in the audience was on his feet.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We were the
only ones that didn’t know that Tom is the ex Rage Against the Machine
guitarist, but that didn’t matter. He turned out to be a great punk/folk or
whatever you wanna call it singer/songwriter, and extreme leftwing. He was only
singing political songs, and got most of the audience support on most of them.
I dreamed away listening to his speeches about a better world and got touched
by his lyrics about the wrong stuff that’s going on in the world. Turned out it
was Woodie Guthries 100 birthday, he
said WG would be a big supporter of the Occupy movement and sang one of his
songs. At the end he brought a firefighters team on stage that was on strike
for better wages and sang a protest song together. Everything was brought with
a lot of humor and a lot of f-words :-) and so all of a sudden time had flown!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXPE38lKmIdRiihI7dQLAOrQHzzOBmde_AQEpFRzFbQx9Ggkwv3IQVd95co-Eg3Nwt6qnVresGVdrl35XYEG7L2Argy3EG54arARb-qdr4KDw5P-InaTO4ysenmA8rSqUH8jCPFIygAeLi/s1600/P1020083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXPE38lKmIdRiihI7dQLAOrQHzzOBmde_AQEpFRzFbQx9Ggkwv3IQVd95co-Eg3Nwt6qnVresGVdrl35XYEG7L2Argy3EG54arARb-qdr4KDw5P-InaTO4ysenmA8rSqUH8jCPFIygAeLi/s640/P1020083.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom Morello on the screen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Between the
shows, tweets were shown on a big ticker, and some of them were funny or cute,
but the one that made everyone on the field laugh out loud, was one going</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">“Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce!”
it just kept on going, loved it. Bruce fans have the habbit to yell “Bruuuuuuce!”
and it sounds like “Booooooo!” really weird at first.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Third
artist of the day was Lady Antebellum, I thought they were a cool soulband I’ve
seen on Facebook the other day, but they weren’t. They were probably very good,
and professional, but they lost Anne and me halfway the first song, and we sat
down again because now we were even more tired and bored. I didn’t feel bad
about it cos the band didn’t see us sit down anyway. I sat down cross-legged,
held my head in my hands and even managed to FALL ASLEEP!! Anne was getting a
new hairstyle from Alessio and Robert was just being bored and tried not to
fall down.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigPc6WzObw-X7SlUIsOiKSZAoaHnNu-uKef22ripdMClfs3gCuGc6ZDmPfT3c4Cv9Ka0dug57NwKzXynSE260ww_ep_kHYcYlgbsN4VuQgviCye9QIBV3EEeF-ePDpSQfaztBR2-xUkj2E/s1600/P1020087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigPc6WzObw-X7SlUIsOiKSZAoaHnNu-uKef22ripdMClfs3gCuGc6ZDmPfT3c4Cv9Ka0dug57NwKzXynSE260ww_ep_kHYcYlgbsN4VuQgviCye9QIBV3EEeF-ePDpSQfaztBR2-xUkj2E/s320/P1020087.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Finally,
finally they were done and we got up again. Crowd was getting denser and we
watched Johns crew getting everything ready. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">We already
noticed that there were people from all over the world, as flags were shown on
the big screens, fans from France, Sweden, Mexico, Peru, Spain, even Friesland
:-D</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">We agreed
to meet at one of the big towers holding speakers, “delay 5” if we would get
lost. There were lots of them and they went up to 10 at least.</span></div>Miss Hoodoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574120150908695952noreply@blogger.com0