The Pull of Ohio...

So I'm back in the Buckeye State (what is a Buckeye, you ask? Answers on a postcard.) The second half of the trip was equally as good as its slightly better documented counterpart. I'm sure I'll fill in some gaps at some point (a Melville-esque adventure romance with whales and everything...) but for now I want to talk about THE date on Bowling Green's social and cultural calendar, some might call it the Royal Ascot of Northwest Ohio, yes, The National Tractor Pulling Championship.

For readers unfamiliar with the "sport" of Tractor Pulling, er, think beefed up farm equipment dragging weights on a sled, spectated by an equally beefed up fanbase. The aim of preliminary rounds is to complete a "FUUUUUULLLLLL PUUUUULLLLL" in order to secure yourself a place in the "Pull Off." Anyone who hopes the sexual innuendo might be accidental should keep in mind that the supporters' fave slogan is "Git R done." There are also team colours and we eventually fathomed that these referenced the different types of tractor engine; John Deere, International, etc. It is earsplittingly loud and you can hear it all over town whether you want to or not.

However, I shouldn't sneer because it was actually pretty good fun; tractors spewing flames, shedding wheels and rearing up on their back ends provided quite a spectacle. Then there's the food - fried in all its forms, and preferably on a stick. I was particularly fond of the fundamentalist hotdog stand with its overarching "JesUSAves" banner - clever that, eh? I suppose if you wanted to find that contradictory mix of religion, patriotism and bigotry then it was there (especially in the scary array of bumper sticker on sale in the trade stands). But at the same time, these farmers are the ones largely responsible for feeding the country and the army recruiters stalking around reminded you that these are also the people on the front line in Iraq. When the war was mentioned over the tannoy it was pretty poignant. Although comically followed by the announcement, "Ashley Fisher please go to the Info Tent - you have won the chain saw."

This is my first attempt at putting a picture up. If it worked you may be able to see Ali and me throwing pistachio nut shells into a cup?

"Rockingly Good" (TM)

Just digesting a huge breakfast on my last morning, west coast stylee. I've been staying in beautiful Pasadena, LA with Ali and Rob at their cousin's house after driving from San Francisco a few days ago.ali rules - says he. Yesterday we went out to the desert at Joshua Tree and unexpectedly encountered thunderstorms. It was amazing to sit on the still-warm rocks and listen to the thunder rumble across the otherwise eerily silent landscape. I've really never experienced a place comparable to it - a surprisingly varied array of vegetation (not least the fuzzy-looking trees themselves) as well as lizards, road runners, jackrabbits and funny-looking stink bugs. We clambered about a bit with not a soul to be seen and picnicked for lunch before attempting to carry on further into the park. However, we found the road had been blocked by flash floods from the storm earlier so we had to turn back. Nevertheless, this was quite a spectacle in itself to see so much water gushing over the scorched ground. And yes, it was really really hot.

Later that night we went out for amazing Sushi (not even on the same planet as the supermarket versions I'd tried before) and Ali confounded expectations by trying one of everything. We are going to head over to he beach at Santa Monica for the rest of the day before I fly back east to meet the parents - exciting stuff!

Little England?

How to write about such crazy, beautiful, deranged city as San Francisco in no time at all? - it really has felt like a time outside of time the last few days we've been here - not too sure what day it is... Anyway, staying in the very comfortable city center Hostel in the rather sleazy Tenderloin district (advice in one of the hostel's open journals: "Don't fear the Tenderloin, just respect it; like the sea" - very true I felt). I am constantly amazed every time I walk around a new corner here; the place seems teeming with life in so many strange and different new ways, and yet there are also some bizarrely familiar elements. We went to a "Scottish Pub" near our hostel on the first night and Rob delighted in finding a jukebox full of old britpop records. We had fish and chips for dinner yesterday. And following our random meeting with the Kaiser Chiefs on Sunday, we saw them again in the Amoeba Music store on Haight Street (maybe they thought we were stalking them). Thanks to Ali's expert scenester networking, they offered to put us on the guest list for their sold out show at the Fillmore that night - a very elegant venue decked out in photos of everyone who's anyone who's every played there. It was a great gig too - so much energy - and they'd brought The Cribs with them who exuded "wow-I-can't-believe-we're-here" enthusiasm. Brendon Benson played in between them but seemed to be just going through the motions. However, the Chiefs were triumphant and, what with Ali and Rob being there, it almost felt like being back in Leeds for an hour, especially since the sudden appearance of hords of Beckham mullets and people drinking excessively suggested that half the crowd were Brits on holiday. So once again, travelling thousands of miles to see bands from home. Stupid?!

We have, however, also been doing plenty of sight seeing (and what sights they are!) Yesterday we spent quite a bit of time in luscious Golden Gate Park and strolled around Haight-Ashbury (a totally bizarre experience). Our ride across the bridge was also amazing (although Ali had a strop coz he was cold half way across!) We've also been through China Town - dazzling- climbed up to see indescribable views from Coit Tower and generally ambled about all over the place trying to take it all in. There's so much more to say but right now we're off to the Museum of Modern Art.

Randometer

Living it up in beautiful San Francisco - the randometer is going off the scale (ran into a school friend of Ali's at the hostel and half of Leeds' own Kaiser Chiefs near Union Square.) Biked the Golden Gate bridge today. Ended up at bizarre warehouse party last night. Saw man walking a lizard earlier. Portland was ace too - saw Sufjan Stevens one night and Weird War were playing at our jazzy hotel the first night. Ridiculously good stuff. More another time...

Seattle is Go!

Yet more scenery on offer as we drove from eastern Washington through the (insert synonym for "beautiful" here) North Cascade mountains to Bellingham. We also passed the exact site of the great Isherwood RV crash of the summer of 2001, but that's another story.

Took a trip to Seattle yesterday (about an hour's drive from where we are staying with C's cousin Lesley). We visited the Experience Music Project which is fantastic, both architecturally and in terms of its exhibits. Had some great stuff on musical traditions in the Pacific Northwest (never thought I'd see one of Sleater-Kinney's guitars in a glass case) as well as brilliant temporary displays about Dylan and Hendrix. Then I bought an entire yet slightly stupid outfit for $15 in a four story junk emporium - bargain - although I'm starting to wonder just how many nasty stretchy shirts and velvet jackets one girl needs (this one's cherry red - oh so tasteful). After dinner we went to see The Go! Team play, who were most sprightly and induced much funky dancing and waving your hands in the air like you just don't care. Unfortunately we first had to endure three of the worst opening acts I have ever seen - apparently the dreaded 8o's revival is still in full swing round these parts - I had hoped that a city of such proud musical heritage would have had something slightly better to offer but I guess you can't win 'em all and The Go! Team well and truly made it worth the wait (typical - I travel thousands of mile over land and sea to watch a band from Brighton). Tonight we are off out to listen to some Bluegrass in Bellingham with Chelsea's cousin and her boyfriend. Spent today by another gorgeous lake reading (Everything Is Illuminated - pretty funny so far) and dozing off yesterday's exertions. Also went kayaking and didn't even fall in. So there.

Tomorrow takes us to Portland where we pick up Ali and Rob - am very very excited indeed - and then down to San Francisco - yessssss! Probably won't be writing much for a while then. xxx

Camping it up

Have safely arrived in Spokane, WA and now seems about the right time for bringing this thing up to date (god - blogging is such a commitment, kind of like owning a hamster or something) anyway...

We were up campingly early for our last morning in the Tetons and treated ourselves to a hearty breakfast in the park's Employee Dining Room (may write a travel guide: Scrounge Your Way Around North America) and then bid a slightly reluctant farewell to Lily and her co-workers. Am seriously thinking about trying to wangle myself a National Parks job for next summer.

Our route took us straight north into Yellowstone Park which was pretty impressive but by this point we were fully paid up members of the Teton fan club and so marked their more famous neighbour down for being more crowded, touristy and scarred by forest fires. So, we basically drove through, spotting steaming geysers, a Bison, something that we identified as a possible Pronghorn, and a mini-bus load of Amish folk. No sign of Yogi (just yet).

The drive into Montana was completely spectacular - craggy ravines, ranches and Big Skies. I took no photos because I was so overawed by the scale but I warmed to the iPOD when it randomly selected "I Understand It" by Idlewild with its opportune opening line "Mountains wouldn't part for me..." - a good and memorable moment. The journey to Missoula passed without a hitch (hard to get lost when you take one road all day) and I was even permitted to take the wheel at one point but felt rather like I was taking someone's only child bungee-jumping or something. So I was relieved to hand over controls again after my complete failure to master cruise control.

Upon reaching the edge of Missoula we ran into some difficulty locating the "Outpost Campground" we had planned to stay at, finally arriving at a scruffy looking shack on the edge of the highway after driving past it four times. We exchanged worried glances before venturing into the "office", noting the pet piss smell, aggressive notes from the 'Manger' and a crotchety old woman stumbling into view. Still we gamely signed up, handed over $15 each and were told to "camp anywhere." Behind the office we were unnerved further by the discovery of a completely deserted but pretty permenant looking trailer park. Chlelsea asked me if i'd seen Deliverance, which I haven't, but apparently it was like that. In short, rather terrifying. So we sped off down the road to the almost sickeningly wholesome "Jellystone RV and Camp Ground" - resplendent with pool, mini-golf and plastic yogi bear statues. The friendly owners helped us contrive a cover story and we bravely returned to the Outpost to get our money back - successfully - and pitched our tent on the 1.5th attempt, feeling much safer and less in need of firearms. The night ended watching the sky fade from gold to purpley blue and humming along cheesily to "America" by S&G while digesting the mammoth helpings of Buffalo Ribs, potato salad, BBQ beans and corn bread I had put away at the nearby Truckers' Plaza.

We spent the next day in Missoula proper, taking a campus tour around the University of Montana in the morning as C is thinkng of applying to their MFA program. The tour guide's opinion of everything the uni has to offer can be summed up in one slightly overused word - *AWESOME* - fact: U of M is the only US college to own the side of a mountain. We spent the afternoon hanging out downtown - Missoula is thrift store heaven and reminded me of a cowboy-style and slightly less pretentious version of Ann Arbor. The highlight of the day was stumbling across a weekly food/beer/music event where I ate dee-lish chinese food and a portion of shaved ice the size of a small dog, while watching hippy moms and their cute kids dancing to the blues band. We rounded off the day with a swim at Jellystone Lap of (not proper) Camping Luxury and enjoyed another classsic sunset while swigging the 1999 Merlot Daniel had given us from its bottle.

Right now we're checking out Eastern Washington Uni near Spokane, staying with some very hospitable friends of Lily's. Last night saw the AMAZING Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and also witnessed the madness of Harry Potter book launch parties. Off to Bellingham and Seattle next.

"How's Prince William Doing?"

...wins prize for stupidest question asked of me by any American thus far, although I suspect he was joking. Anyway, The Big Road Trip has commenced and I find myself writing now on the sly in the library at the University of Montana in Missoula. We also just got a large-scale free lunch after taking a campus tour - bonza. But I am skipping far too merrily ahead...

We left BG just under a week ago on an insane mission to drive west to Colorado in one day. This was achieved entirely by Chelsea who is reluctant to hand over control of the 4Runner - which suits me as I get more time to gawp at the scenery and fiddle with the iPOD. So, we sped through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois (dropping our friend Daniel at the train station near Chicago in return for coffee and donuts from Grounds For Thought at 6.45am). Iowa was not the hellhole Slipknot had had me imagine, comprised mostly of rolling hills and farmland speckled with barns and silos. The map also alerted us to the birthpaces of Reagan, Hoover, Glen Miller and the (future) birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk. Upon entering Nebraska I was dissuaded from a detour around the Midwest Indie Mecca of Omaha by it being rush hour so had to be content with locating Saddle Creek Road on the atlas. I did, however, enjoy this exchange with a gas station attendant after spotting a big pile of swords and machete-looking things by the Buffalo Jerky stand:
Me: "Are those real?"
She: "Yes, but they aren't sharpened."
Me: "Oh."
She: "You aren't allowed to sell sharpened blades in gas stations in the US."
Me: "Well, that's reassuring."
As we drove onwards the landscape became increasingly flat and Chelsea revelled in the 75mph speed limits. The sun got lower in the sky and America's heartland displayed its best side. Favourite towns passed were: Normal, Indiana; What Cheer, Iowa; and Friend, Nebraska. We started to feel the strain as we approached the Colorado state line and still had three hours to go before reaching our first stop outside of Denver but eventually made it around midnight after crossing two time zones, totalling 19hrs on the road. One word: Madness.

We spent the next day relaxing by a reservoir in Aurora with views of the mountains and being thoroughly fed by our hosts Joe and Cindy (family friends of Chelsea's). I finished Atonement by Ian McEwan and have now started These Demented Lands by Alan Warner (my latest literary crush). On Sunday 10th we set of north from Aurora and headed into Wyoming. I-80 West took us through Cheyenne and Laramie, deep into cowboy country. The center of the state had comprehensive stretches of nothingness-as-far-as-the-eye-can-see, with only the odd fence to suggest humans had ever been there. The towns that we did see were usually clustered around an oil refinery or cattle ranch and consisted mostly of trailer-type homes, a few stores and an army of knackered-looking pick-up trucks. The views were wonderful though, with craggy rock formations and the mountains to which we were headed gradually coming into view in the distance. As we made it further west, there were more substantial ranches and the scenery got even more spectacular with rivers, deep ravines and high grassy slopes with rocky outcrops. After 8hrs or so we got to Jackson, WY which is a well-known winter ski resort (full of yuppy-priced Westernalia (if that's a word)) and then it wasn't too much further to get into the Grand Teton National Park - our home for the next three days. The drive was breath-taking as we skirted alongside Jackson Lake as it reflected the mountain range. We also passed the National Elk Refuge but all the Elk were apparently taking refuge elsewhere until winter. We suspected they were perhaps watching HBO in the nearby Elk Motel.

Once in the National Park we hooked up with Chlesea's friend Lily who is working there this summer. She managed to wangle us a free campsite so we erected our stylish dome tent and went for a tastily hybrid meal of thai-chicken pizza washed down with local Snake River ale at a restaurant with beautiful views of the lakes and mountains. (There are a lot of these coming up so I'll abreviate to BVOLAM). After that we made a campfire by the lake along with a load of the other camp employees who all seemed like friendly and interesting people and it struck me that this would be a fine way to spend a summer. They stay in dorms in the park and work in the shops or whatever and then get to do all the fun stuff for free on days off. People come from all over the States to work, which led a drunk guy named Eddie to proclaim Colter Bay "The New York of Wyoming" owing to its "diversity." There were s'mores and campfire stories about a crazy old guy from Maine who chases away bears with his home-made knives. We had Chlesea's stadium-sized flashlight to use as "hippy mace" in case of animal attacks. We then retired for a rather sleepless night on our ill-chosen tent spot and so rectified this the next day with the purchase of $15 mats fashioned from the foam of the gods - or so it seemed in comparison.

Day 2 in the Tetons (in numbers):

A NINE mile hike around TWO Oceans Lake (so-called because it straddles the Continental Divide, meaning that water from it eventually flows into both the Atlantic and Pacific). SEVENTEEN mozzie-mouth-shaped holes in poor Jenna's shoulders.
SEVEN THOUSAND, EIGHT HUNDRED and TWENTY THREE feet of elevation at the look out point - tiring but sooooo worth it as we could see for miles over to Mt. Moran and the Grand Teton itself. Definitely the highlight of the trip so far.
Sighting of ONE teenage black bear on the way down. We started backing away slowly until it ran off and then we proceded forwards making as much noise as possible to warn off any nearby family members.
Expansion of waistline by approx. TWO inches at Mexican Cafe in Jackson with Chelsea, Lily and her boyfriend, Cody, in celebration of eating rather than being eaten.
As we drove back to the camp the sun was going down behind the mountains and sending shafts of light across the lake and valley - a fitting end to a great day.

We spent the next day reading books and writing our journals by the lake. I also made three rock pile sculptures which weren't even knocked over by anyone, did a passable pencil drawing of the scenery, walked a few mile along the shore and went for a swim in water so clear it made me want to open my mouth and let it all sluice through. It was that fizzy kind of cold that makes you feel warm at the same time. Blissful! Later that night were more campfire antics and some guy did indeed ask me about Prince William's wellbeing. We were sad to leave the Tetons the next morning after scrounging a free breakfast in the Employee Dining Room (motto for trip thus far - Thriftiness is next to Godliness. Cleanliness not a priority, and anyway - the grime accentuates my tan).

Well, that's it for now... I have more to say about Yellowstone Park and craziness in Montana but the sun is shining and I gotta go, like, look at some stuff instead of this screen.