THE MOTHER NATURE

Natural parks after natural parks. I could do these for the rest of my trip, I truly enjoy the nature more than the cities. All these parks were super pretty and the ones with forest I would like to visit again and hike trough at least part of it. Yellow stone, Mount Rushmore and Badlands, it is amazing how many beautiful and peaceful places this country has. Pictures tells more than words.

SAN FRANCISCO AND LAKE TAHOE

These two places are easily the most beautiful places I have seen so far during this trip. Both of places we only stayed for one day, which is sad because I could have spend so much more time in both of the them.

San Francisco was even more beautiful than I had imagined and I took way too many pictures but it was worth it. We walked a lot, just because we didn’t really know what to do. We walked from the piers to the Union Square and then back through China Town. We tested some Chinese tea and learned new interesting things about tea. I fell in love with San Francisco, there is no doubt about that. I really want to visit it again and I’m already planning when I should come back.

Lake Tahoe was beautiful too but other way than San Francisco. It was so peaceful and the mountains made the view look amazing. I got to swim in a lake almost after a year and I couldn’t have enjoyed it more. The water was so clean and clear that I didn’t even see necessary to wash my hair after swimming and it’s actually cleaner than before.

Traveling like this, isn’t really my style. I like to explore things and cities. I like to stay in places longer than 24 hours or less. Now when we just quickly stop at places, I get to see the places I want to visit again. I know for sure that both of these places are on my list and I can’t wait till the next time. We have been on the road for twentyone days and I’ll be home in less than two weeks. I have very mixed feelings about that, but I’m mostly excited. Road trip is really tiring and living out of a suitcase makes me lose my mind. I will enjoy my last week and a half on the road because soon after that it is already time to go back to school.

Now we are in Salt Lake city and we are about to leave and explore the neighbourhood little bit before dinner. See you soon!

OH CALIFORNIA

First day was dedicated to Universal Studious and I can’t even begin to tell how excited I was about that. I love movies and I love amusement parks so this was perfect place to be. Our first ride was Harry Potter ride and even though we stood in the line for 85 minutes it was worth it. I cried when I stepped into area, I have grown up with Harry Potter and seeing all the things from the movies in real life was a dream that I had never thought I would fulfill. We did the Jurasic Park, Transformers, Shrek and The Walking Dead. I really like all the others except The Walking Dead one. I never have enjoyed the show and I just went along with my friends, but I had no idea what was going to happen. I walked into the ride, realised that I have to walk through the building to finish it. It was the worst experience of my life, I cried because I was so terrified. Human actors were dressed up as zombies and we literally had to escape a building. Afterwards it seems kind a funny how strongly I reacted but at the time I was scared for my life.

On our way to the hotel from Universal we stopped at Hollywood boulevard to see all the stars. It was really busy and the streets were dirty, so I wasn’t really impressed. It was cool to see some of the names, but most of the names I had never heard before. Our visit was short but I personally didn’t need any more time. It was late already and we had long day behind us and the only thing to think was bed and food.

Second day in California, was a beach day. We spent the day in New Port Beach and I have to say, I love the beach. White sand, happy people, blue water and warm, that’s what I like. The only thing I was missing was being able to surf, it would be awesome to learn one day. Also, I didn’t apply enough sunscreen because I was on and off from the water the whole day and now I‘m paying for it. Aloe vera and cold water are my friends for the couple of days, but I certainly learned something from this. Day was really nice except the burning part and it was a nice and relaxing day in the middle of the trip.

Last day in California was full of dreams, literally since we got to spend the day in Disneyland. I didn’t think I’d like it as much as I did but when we left the park at night I was in love. It is a magical place indeed. Everyone was super nice and happy. The lines where almost an hour for each ride we did, but it didn’t really bother me at the end. My favourite part of the day was the parades. They had one during the day and one during the evening. I didn’t even remember all the movies, but when I saw the characters dancing and singing it was like a wave from my childhood had gone over me and by the time the princesses went by us we were all crying like little girls again and we actually got kisses and sad looks from the princesses. It was absolutely unforgettable, all my childhood ‘heroes’ in one parade. When the evening came, it was time for another parade before the fireworks. We didn’t know that there was going to be another parade, but when we saw the castle from Frozen we where more than happy. After the parade was time for fireworks and honestly, I have never seen anything like that. The fireworks were more than fireworks, it was a music show with lights in the castle. People were singing with the music, I knew all the songs and while the show was going and I was looking the fireworks I realised something important.

I’m happier than I have ever been in my life, everything in my life is going as it should be going right now and I feel extremely happy and grateful of what I have and what I have been able to accomplish. I’m not afraid of what might come next or how life is going to play in the future and I just live the life as it is.

Now we are in San Francisco and tomorrow we are going to tour the city, I’m so excited. Have a great day and I’ll see you soon!

SEEING THE WORLD IS THE BEST WAY TO SPEND MONEY

Hello everyone!

Long time no see and this time I’m at the hotel in Anaheim. Everyday is new day, so much things have happened since New Orleans. I couldn’t use my computer for three days because I was storing all my friends photos in it for a while. Also we’ve been blessed with slow wifi hotels, so just checking instagram takes hours not even mentioning uploading photos to anywhere. I has been 40 Celsius degrees but at night it goes to 14 Celsius so I can happily tell that I’m sick now. It hasn’t stopped me from doing anything but sometimes I just wish I had all the energy in me.

Albuqueque and Grand Canyon were awesome. It was funny to see the place in real life where Braking Bad has been filmed, I recognized many of the buildings and many of my friends were super excited about it. Grand Canyon took my breath away, it was absolutely beautiful place. I feel like time had stopped there and it made me look so small compared to it. I would love to go back one day and hike the whole canyon by myself. Las Vegas was quite a quick stop, but it was enough for everyone. It was 45 degrees Celsius and since all of us are under aged in USA we couldn’t really do any typical Las Vegas things. It was cool to see the city and during the day it was pretty, but it didn’t really make me feel anything. I’m sure it will be totally different experience if I ever come back and spend night in Vegas.

We have been on the road for two weeks now, it feels forever since everyday we are in different place. It has certainly been amazing trip and I feel like now it just starts getting better. Next stops are California, San Francisco and Lake Thoe.

See ya later!

MEMPHIS & NEW ORLEANS

I’m trying to keep up with my posting because I don’t want to have too many days in one post but it is really hard when bed feels so comfortable and I just want to sleep.

All these days have been travel days with only couple thing to do so they will fit nicely into one post. For the past three days I have sat on a bus for 22 hours. Also I have visited Elvis Presley’s house, had a Rotary picnic and seen French Quarter in New Orleans. So much happens in such a short time that it is hard to keep on track when everything happens.

Elvis Presley’s house was pretty impressive, everything was kept the same and it felt like time was stopped there. I learned a lot of new information about Elvis and I’m glad I was able to visit his home and see all the things he had accomplished. After the visit, it was time to hop on a bus again and this time we were driving six hours to New Orleans, Louisiana.  Now you need to understand something, we’re I’m from, plus 25 Celsius is a lot so imagine my horror when I step out of the bus and the temperature is closer to 35 Celsius. There is nothing that helps in this situation, just standing makes you sweat and you feel so cross all the time that you don’t really want to do anything. Welcome to the South people.

Rotary picnic was organized for us by the local Rotary club and it was nice to chat with some other exchange students and also other Rotarians. They provided dinner for us, which is always a nice thing to have when you need to pay your meals for the month. After the picnic we had a pool party at the hotel and it was refreshing to get into water after such a hot day. Everyone was super tired after long day again, so when we went back to our rooms at twelve I think everyone was a sleep after couple of minutes.

Mornings are always bad, I feel like it doesn’t matter how much I sleep I’m still so tired that the first couple hours on the bus I just try to sleep. This morning it wasn’t possible because we went to French Quarter in New Orleans for few hours before we left the city. French Quarter was such a pretty are!! I can’t believe how cute it was with all it’s coffee shops and little stores. It was smoking hot and I was pretty sure I was going to die because of it, I have never felt such heat… Next couple of states will be interesting because of that, it is a test for me if I can survive heat. Probably not.

By the way if you are wondering why this post is in English but the other one as in Finnish and the one before that had both is simply because it is 11:30pm and I just can’t be bothered to write I both languages. It takes so much time to write in Finnish these days so it is just easier to go with English. Okay bye now, see y’all soon!

PIGEON FORGE, TENNESSEE

Tuntuu kuin oltaisi matkustettu jo viikkoja, mutta kuitenkin todellisuudessa ollaan päivässä neljä. Pitkien matkustusten, lyhyiden yöunien ja jatkuvan tekemisen takia, päivät tuntuu yhdeltä pitkältä hetkeltä eikä todellakaan enää tiedä mikä viikonpäivä on.

Vietettiin 4th of July ja sitä edeltävä ilta Pigeon Forgessa ja oli kyllä erittäin mielenkiintoinen kokemus ja paikka. En ollut ennen kuullutkaan tällaisesta paikasta, mutta yllätyin iloisesti. Päästiin kokemaan amerikkalaisin asia ikinä, nimittäin hevosshow jossa hevosten kanssa tehtiin temppuja ja näyteltiin Amerikan historia uudestaan. Musiikkia, hevosia ja kilpailua, erittäin tyypillistä. Eniten illassa kyllä yllätti se, että ruoka syötiin sormin samalla kun seurattiin esitystä. Tuntui vähän kömpelöltä syödä kokonaista kanaa sormin, mutta tällaiset asiat jää kyllä muistoihin pitemmäksikin aikaa.

4th of July tuntui kestävän ikuisuuden, viettiin yhdeksän tuntia Dollywoodissa jonka jälkeen loppuilta oli vapaa-aikaa. Dollywood on yksi USA:n parhaista huvipuistosta, enkä kyllä väitä vastaan. Kaikki laitteet oli todella hyviä, pääsin maailman nopeimpaan puuvuoristorataan ja puolentoista tunnin jonotus tähän laitteeseen kyllä oli sen arvoinen. En ole ikinä ollut laitteessa, jossa kävisin niin monta eri tunnetta läpi. Illalla käytiin puistokonsertissa ja katsomassa ilotulitukset itsenäisyyspäivän kunniaksi.

Pitää muuten mainita, että pikaruokaravintolat tulee melko tutuiksi tämän kuukauden aikana ja musta tuntuu, että olen nyt jo kyllästynyt niihin…

Palaillaan taas pian!