Day 8 - Steers and Queers

Another night survived in a run down motel. Relatively quiet really apart from the guy above us. It was another really humid night. I woke at around 7.30am and stayed awake because i was so uncomfortable in bed due to the fact my bed sheets were literally wet from me sweating in the night. George and Sam slept in today untill 9.30am so i laid in my own sweat reading my Bear Grylls book.

After packing up we set off at around 11am for some brekfast/dinner. We drove past a old fashioned diner in downtown Oklahoma so parked up and headed in. We got yet more sandwichs, pretty much all we have had other than burgers. It kinda annoyed us that the girl on the till when we ordered printed off our receipts and gave us a pen to fill how much we would like to tip. Our arses hadnt even touched a chair and they were wanting tips! Crazy.

We didnt have a massive drive today. We were heading to Amarillo, Texas today. We checked out some of the attractions on the way and decided to check out a Route 66 museum in Clinton, Oklahoma. It was really awesome. It really did feel like we had stepped in to 1950's which i think is the coolest period of time. Everything from the corner dining booth next to the jukebox surrounded by route 66 memorabillia to the vintage cars with Elvis standing next to them. All the while top hits like Elvis himself and Buddy Holly playing in the background. It was also interesting learning about how the people of Oklahoma and surrounding states had to up and leave during the dust bowl due to lack of farming and headed on route 66 to California.
Just outside across the road there was a motel where Elvis would stay regulary in the same room. All in all a good $5 spent. I ended up buying a really cool cup/flask from the gift shop that i love but George and Sam arnt enthusiastic as i am about it.

After stopping for gas and a refill on my favourite drink, Arizona Ice tea, we pressed into Texas. The change in landscape and scenary seemed almost immediate. Everything was suddenly so open, distant plains on the with distant horizons. The sun was back out again. We pulled into to Amarillo at around 5.30pm and quickly found a motel in centre of town. It was $52 for two queen beds and the guy seemed really nice and helpful so we payed up. It is 50 times better than last night. Wi-fi is a big bonus to. The room actually smells nice and clean. It finally time to do some laundry also so we sorted that out, without detergent mind but better than nothing.

After showering we headed into town and ended up in a italian bistro "Eddies". We supped on a few cold Buds which was good. Sam was ready to break his veggie run of 8 months tonight and had a pasta/prawn dish which he didnt really enjoy. They are both trying to break themselves in slowly as it seems the veggie options on the menu's are becoming more and more scarce. I was loving watching them eat meat though for some weird reason. Im gonna get them on the steaks soon. Speaking of steaks we drove past a place today that has the challenge of eating a 72oz steak with chips and salad. If you eat it all in under 60 minutes you get it free, if you dont you pay the bill. I would love to have a go but really dont fancy paying for it. 72oz of cow would be pricey.

After a couple of beers we headed around town looking for somewhere to get a few more but it was literally like a ghost town ! We decided to call it a night at around 10.30pm and maybe just in time. After 10 minutes back in the room cracks of thunder and huge bright flashes every few seconds light up the sky. It was a proper storm. Makes english thunder storms look pathetic. As i write this its still going on now actually. Storm warning keep flashing on the t.v. The rain is absolutely bucketing down. Hopefully our car will still be there in the morning. George is now asleep but Sam and i are watching the news. Warning that flash floods and thunderstorms are going to be ongoing until 4 am. Possibility of tornado's too. I dont know wether to be excited or scared. Either way we shall find out in the morning.

Day 7 - Tornado Alley

Well last night was the most humid sweaty night of all time. Didnt drop below 29 degrees!
 And this creepy motel didnt help to much either. But you get what you pay for i guess.
Woke at 7.30 am and laid watching the most horrific show about these guys collecting stuff for auctions.
After a quick shower we headed out to a local phone shop "At and T" to sort out a cheaper way to call home and eachother. George and i still havent spoke to anyone from home yet and im sure my mam is freaking out. The weather this morning was pretty dull but the humidity was still ridiculous. Black clouds were sat on the horizon to the north as we entered the shop. The clouds were getting closer and the chap serving us began telling us about a tornado that this time last year ripped through the town of Joplin and destroyed a thrid of the town. This was quite worring to us as this was tornado land. Feeling a tad scared we headed back out to find the storm clouds right over our heads and it starting to rain.We were heading 5 minutes up the road to wallmart and by the time we reached it the rain was pouring heavily and thunder and lighting was cracking right above us, it was awesome. Running in to the shop and back out we ended up being absolutely soaked.

It was nearly 11am here which meant time to watch England vs France so we drove back across town to the bar we at last night. The match had just started as we pulled up seats right under a huge flat screen showing the match. We were given a little sound box with the sound of the tv which was pretty cool.
Half time we ordered some baskets of nachos which were amazing. During the second half a lady came in and began talking to a local lady who was fascinated by our trip and plans. She was called Kelly, about 45 and dressed in a casual bohemian fashion, sporting a trilby. She began telling us about the tornado last year that came through the town. She was still recovering from the carnage. She showed a little picture book she had as she zipped on her cocktail at 11.30am. The pictures were what was left of her house. It wasnt much, just bits of debris and wood. There were no walls left and actually no furniture. Nothing. She has a job interview tomorrow so i hope she gets it and some luck. The girl behind the bar who us three were fascinated with gave George and i some free shots for some reason which was awesome. We felt like staying but we had plans and got going after saying bye to everyone, including a yankee liverpool fan and got back on the road after the match.

After a hour on the road again we pulled into a little town where they had huge cherokee totem poles which we got a few snaps of. Its little things like this making the trip really fun.

We arrived into to Oklahoma city at around 6pm and found another cheap motel to check into. 21 dollars each wasnt bad at all but no wi fi.  The place was yet again creepy and the manager seemed a little out there. After getting a shower we drove into town and parked up. Walking around the streets was really nice. Was a nice warm night and we came across a almost european style strip. There was a small canal running down the street with trees hanging over and bars and restaurants on either side. There was a nice restaurant with a talented chap playing guitar, a bass drum and a trombone and even singing too. It was a little pricey but we wernt bothered as we have lived on burgers for the last 6 days! George made the huge decision to get salmon. He has been vegetarian for 2 years so this was a big deal. Thankfully he really enjoyed it, even convinced him to have a little piece of my chicken. After that we headed back to motel room at about 11pm and sat nervously as the guy above who looked a little rough played music loudly. Its always fine but your imagination starts to run away with you. Tomrrow we will enter Texas. Yeeehahhhh!!!!!!!

Day 6 - Here come the meat sweats

Had a great night sleep last night. The hotel is bloody lovely, could stay here longer. There was an indoor pool downstairs so we woke at 7.30 and headed down to do some lengths which basically just turned into messing about like kids. The hotel came with a free brekfast so we headed into the dining area and tucked in. We started with these horrible plastic type omlettes with cheese in but could only handle one so went back to peanut butter on toast and yogurts AND a cup of english tea which was a treat after a week without any. After all showering we were out by 9.30 and headed into the downtown St Louis. We found a place and payed the meter giving us only two hours to explore. The huge arch structure looking over the city was visable anywhere so we headed that direction. We heard that you could take a lift to the top so we were quite excited. It was an amazing structure. 650 feet high and wide it stood mighty above the city and the famous missippi river.

We headed underneath the "gateway to St louis" and went through security checks which took half an hour so by the time we got through and had to wait for tickets we wouldnt have time to go up. So we looked around the free museum and then went back up to the surface. The misisipi was right there so we felt the need to walk down and just touch it. Walking back to the car we went through the park where loads of kids were playing in the water fountains and old rough looking dudes played guitar. It was a great place and one the best cities ive ever visited. But now it was time to start the journey on route 66!

We got onto the mother road and used our route 66 travel book for tips where to stop. Our first stop was a "Ted Drewes", a ice cream parlour that was supposed to be amazing. Pulling up it was booming with life and customers waiting to be served. A good sign. We all got something different but all had the same reaction " wow this f*cking amazing!" I had apple pie and ice cream, george strawberry and ice cream and Sam a strawberry blend thing. It was so good.

After some funny conversation with some middle age american women we got back on the go. The book reccommended a stop to visit the biggest chair in the world. It was in a small town with nothing much else going on apart from this huge chair. Why its there i have no idea but its pretty cool.

We were enjoying travelling on route 66 alot more already due to the fact of the complete random awesome things you find on the way such as the chair. We were heading for a town called "Joplin" just near the state line of Oklahoma to spend the night. George and Sam swapped driving shifts and i got to ride up front, the new pattern at the moment and we headed on west. The road has some really funny billboards now and then that crack me up such as " Choose Jesus or burn in hell!" and so on, religous nonsense but its hilarious.

The heat again today has been crazy, topping at 35 degrees the sun was out often but it was just the sheer humidity that was getting to us. Sitting in the car was just awful as having the windows down was just way to loud and the air-con uses alot of Gas so we sat shirtless most of the way actually dripping with sweat. Burgers and pizza literally oozing out of us.

Arriving in Joplin at around 7.30pm we headed down the main drag and saw a motel advertised so decided to check it out. It looked okay but these places always make me a little un-easy, maybe just to many horror films. The room was only $60 for 2 queen beds, considerably cheaper than last night so we agreed and moved our stuff in, under the watchful eye of some whitetrash women smoking fags in her doorway.

I did some quick research on the laptop for somewhere to watch England vs France in the euros tomorrow morning and found a few names of places. Getting in the car we headed out to check them out to ask if they weree showing them and to my delight we found two so i was absolutely buzzing about that. On the way back we stopped in a sports bar for some food. The boys had some veggie wraps and i had fajhitas, strangely acompanied by mashed potato and gravy. It was quite nice, just weird.

The bar maids were all fancinated by our accents and we were loving the attention its got to be said!

So i need to get some sleep ready to cheer on England tomorrow! COME ON !!!!!

Day 5 - 500 miles until a beer

Well we are alive. Bit of a creepy night in the motel last night. Its just our imaginations running away but there were some shifty looking characters around outside our room, and being at the top of the stairs there was quite alot of noise going on. I woke at 3am some guys shouting in the hallway at eachother. We packed up at around 9 and headed out for some brekfast. Ending up in subway again we tucked into a foot long which went down a treat, but i think by the time we get to this farm we will have put on a stone!
Todays task was to get to St Louis. We have been driving quite fast through the states so far as we just want to get onto route 66 really as thats where we have read about alot of cool and interesting attractions. So it was 500 miles away, quite far.
There isnt to much to talk about really as we just drove all day. Stopped for 10 minutes at a mcdonalds where its crazy cheap! Cheesburger, strawberry sunday and refill on gatorade, $3!! Amazing. We stopped a few times for petrol which is really cheap compared to England also.
It was 7pm when we arrived at St Louis where the streets were full of people. There was a baseball game on where the stadium looked pretty awesome as you could see in from the street. We thought about getting tickets but the game wouldnt be on for to much longer. There was also a free street concert going on as it was a marines memorial day. So trying to find a hotel was tough. We typed different ones in to the sat nav but they were either to tough to get too as roads were closed off or just massive like the hilton, therefore to pricey. We finally found one just out the centre of town and told we were lucky as pretty much every hotel in the city was sold out this weekend! It was a little pricey but we had no choice. Turns out we got what we payed for. Two huge beds, flat screen and just a massive posh room. We quickly got ready and called a taxi to take us somewhere. The lady in reception recommened that we check out the " Delmar loop", which was a strip of bars and restaurants as we looked like the type who would enjoy it. Turns out she was right. There was a university campus just round the corner so there was people our age everywhere. We had a quick wander down the strip and found a nice pizza place where we were seated outside. It had been 35 degrees all day and was still 28, even at 9 o clock! Just so humid. A5 chap with a huge beer took our orders and asked we were having a beer. George and Sam are both 21, however im only 20 until july 1st so i was shocked when he asked but so happy! We orderd a round and sat back and amdired the american college chicks everywhere!

The pizzas were amazing, just like everyother meal we have had so far.
After being stuffed with what was called small on the menu but was actually massive! we walked down the strip and came across a bar with live music blasting out. We went in and tried our look and to our suprise he didnt ID us! So we bought a round and took a seat. We sat there and took in the atmosphere of the place, a real american bar.

We had a few rounds and decided to head somewhere else. I thought i might have been biting off more than i could chew and i was right. The first place we tried i was embaressingly turned down and on the second occassion also. It was so painful! It was now 12am so we decided to get a cab. We called one but he didnt turn up. We noticed a guy sitting in a cab and asked him, interupting him from his harmonica playing. He was such a sassy black guy, he was fantastic! As he drove us home we enjoyed listening to him tell us about things from gun problems with youngsters to being careful in town as all the women have sexual diseases. It was quite hilarious. We headed up stairs to our room quite happy with the night and hit the sack. Tomorrow we shall explore the city.

Day 4 - My word its Hot

Woke up nice and early at 6.30am to birds singing. We all had a decent night sleep but it got pretty cold during the night. The skies were blue and it looked like another nice day. After eating leftover pizza we packed up and set off again in Mary ( the cars new name ). A quick pit stop at walmart for some water and sarnies for the day and we were plowing on west again. We were driving on interstate 80 still and decided to aim for a town called youngstown just over the border of Ohio for a pitstop and maybe some tourist attractions. The sun was blazing down once we had reached youngstown by 12. We ate our food in a car park and studied the map. There was a huge lake, Lake Milton on our route so we thought we would check it out. After a short drive we exited the interstate and found our way to the lake. The water wasnt crystal clear but on a hot day like today it seemed to good. It was now 31 degrees so we stripped down into some swimming shorts and made our way to a little pier with unattended docked boats. It was bloody freezing. We took some pictures of us acting like 13 year old lads jumping in and some good videos. It was very refreshing and cooled us down.

We went and sat on the grass and chilled out for 20 minutes starting on our sun tans. I ended up burning my shoulders abit so sun tan cream will be needed from now on. There were some big kids swings in a little park and we ended up on them for a while. I hadnt been on swings for years. I felt like a child again.


Back on the road again for around 2pm we headed west past a town " Akron" and the southwest on interstate 71 and headed for a town called mansfield. George started to get tired from driving after a good full day behind the wheel, a first for him so we decided to call it a day and look for a motel. The first one we checked out looked like a crack den. It was absolutely horrible! We swiftly moved on and went into the centre of mansfield where we saw " Merrit inn". It was cheap enough so we checked in. Whilst sat in our room there was suddenly a massive smash outside the window. We ran too look and saw 2 cars smashed into eachother under our balcony! Thankfully nobody was hurt, just shook up.
After a quick wash we headed out to look for some food. We wandered around but with rumbling stomachs we gave in and decided to hit and indian buffet. It was fantastic and we managed 3 plates each ! Getting our moneys worth! The waiter Don was really friendly and was good conversation. As we were leaving he invited us out for drinks in town later in the night. I took his facebook and we took off. George was exhausted though so sadly we had to pass. We ended up, or as i write this we are sat in bed watching crap tv but we are all tired so its all good. So tomorrow we should hit our target, St Louis! Good times. Thats if we see the morning, this motel is very dodgy!

Day 3 - Pot aint a drug, its a plant

Well another long day. We woke up for our last morning in NY and quickly gathered all of our belongings thrown across our hotel room and headed down for brekfast, a little earlier than yesterday. We managed to get a seat and forced down lots of watery scrambled egg to fill up for the day. After blasting a few coffees down we went over the plan for the day : take train to times square, another to penn station, take train to newark airport and then monorail to pick up our car. We checked out and loaded up like little work mules carrying our bags down the streets of queens. We managed to get an early train into times square without confusion like the days before and quickly got into conversation with an interesting chap. He began speaking to Sam first asking him where he was from what was he doing, then got myself and George and a few other passengers into an awkward conversation. Turned out he was a homeless guy. He said his wife had left him after 20 years together and now he has lost everything. Quite sad really. He was a really nice guy. He was determined to convince us pot was good for us though. We parted ways after he showed us the direction to the train we needed and watched him wander off down the subway on way to atlantic city, i hope he won some big bucks.

After two other trains we made it to pick up the car. We went through paper work and were shown the car. A silver chevolette cruz.Was a bit better than we thought it was gonna be. Quite posh. We fiddled with the buttons and decided Sam would drive first. I cannot as im not 21 yet sadly. We tried our sat nav that we had bought in NY city. The thing wouldnt find a signal. We tried for half an hour and to our frustration could not get it to work. I swear if i ever have the pleasure to go back to times square i will take that sat nav and shove it up the guys ass who sold us it. Completely ripped off.

We walked back inside and sadly had to pay another large fee to rent a sat nav from the car hire, but it was needed. We were all a little nervous and as we should be. Not one of us had driven in USA before, or a automatic car ! So Sam sat for a while trying to pump himself up in the garage. He finally started up and we began to move forward to our relieve. Taking it slow we made our way out onto the freeway. The stress of finding our way around the huge roads began. At a toll road Sam nearly smashed staright through the barriers, it was hilarious. For that first our i really was fearing for my life! But well done to Sam. He got us on the go in one piece. We made our way on interstate 80 northwest through New Jersey. Soon enough we made it over the border into Pennsylvania to a sign "welcome to the Pennsylvania wilds". It really was we drove from 1.30pm untill 7pm through endless forests and trees. It was so beautiful, apart from the roadkill that littered the roads. The main target sadly seemed to be deer. During this drive through the mass of green we stopped off for some dinner at a mexican place " Moes" at a rest stop. We had vegetable quesadillas and nachos, washed down with unlimited gatorade from the machine. We carried on listening to good tunes speeding west. The weather started off very sunny on the morning but by 3pm it was raining and we were looking to camp for the night. We decided to keep going hoping that we woukd drive out of the storm. Thankfully by 6ish we had and sun was beating down again. We saw a sign for a campsite and followed directions into a a quiet town and onto a shady campsite. We parked outside a small cabin and went in pushing past a squeaky door to find an elderly old man and woman greeting us. They were very charming and looked like they had been here forever. We settled a price and drove down to the campsite. We quickly set up camp and went back out in the car searching for food. Only 2 minutes down the road we found a italian place " Sweet Basil". We headed in to be greeted by several hot waitresses which we loved straight away! We ordered 3 pizzas. Three enormous pizzas arrived and we tucked straight in. We took leftovers in a box and after some funny banter with the girls we headed back to the camp with. Cracking a six pack open,  of newcy brown ale ! we sat round looking at the stars and toasted to making it alive for the first day !!

Day 2 - Wassup Big ZEEE

So, what a day today has been. We must have walked 20 miles and covered pretty much all of Manhattan. Waking this morning feeling refreshed from a night in a big queen bed we pulled the curtains to see a beautiful blue sky. Perfect for a day of exploring. We headed downstairs for some brekfast in the hotel. The room must have have been no bigger than the average living room and only had ten tables so was a little cramped for the whole hotel. We managed to get some eggs and yogurt which was pretty tasty before we went and waited for our ride into Manhattan. A huge SUV wwith blacked out windows pulled up and we saddled up for our journey into the city. Was so exciting on the way there, like wacky races watching the cars flee from lane to lane. We were dropped off at the famous times square. It was absolutely outstanding. The size of the buildings and amount of huge billboards and electronic advertisements was crazy! It was "visually noisy" as George said. We walked down the street opened mouthed and couldnt stop laughing at the sheer size of this place. I had only walked about 300 metres when a african-american guy jumped in front of me, shook my hand and shouted " Wassup Big Zeee!!  Was just epic!

We made our way to the Rockerfella Centre building taking in the sights and atmosphere around this amazing place. Once there we payed for a ticket to head to the observation point at the top. We were sent to a elavator and began heading up, 70 floors in 42 seconds it was like a space shuttle nevermind a lift. Once at the top we walked out and were met with one of the most amazing views i have ever seen. 360 degrees around us was the never ending horizon of New York city. One side you could see all of Central Park, the other the hudson river and statue of liberty, the other empire state building. It was bloody amazing. We stayed up there for a good while taking photos.

We took the lift back down to the street and decided to head towards central park. We stopped on the way at a food vender and got some burgers, pretty much all we have eaten so far. As usual they were very tasty. We then headed into central park and noticed a zoo so got tickets. It wasnt the biggest but still awesome range of animals. We watched seals, red  pandas, snow leopard and luckily saw a polar bear emerge from his little cave. All in all a well spent $12. After we walked through the park in the sun and breaked for an ice cream. After a short sit down people watching ( mainly the hot chicks) we walked back into times square and bought a cheap sat nav for tomorrow when we pick up our car. Hopefully it'll work! 

We headed over to Grand central station in rush hour madness and managed to sort out some subway tickets to take us downtown to Bowling Green, where we walked to take the ferry to the statue of liberty, however once we arrived there the smiles on our faces we soon wiped away. We had missed the last ferry by 5 minutes so had to look at the old gal from a far. It was still amazing to see but could have been even better it we got over to the island, but we gave it a shot. We headed back to subway station still loving the atmosphere around the city, guys playing drum sets, small bands playing on street corners and enjoying conversations with random strangers. We took a tube ride back to queens. After popping back to the hotel we decided to have a walk for some food back to Van Dams diner where we ate last night. We were treated by the same fantastic food and epic portions. You guessed it, the veggies got veggie burgers and fries and i went for a ranch burger, otherwise know as a heartattack in a bun. It was so good! We had a chat with the owner again and told her our plans then said bye and headed back to the hotel. So tomorrow we have got to get back to the airport to pick the car up which should be interesting, then the adventure will surely begin.