Priceless

Getting picked up in an ambulance: $663.60

Having some skin cut off your face and a crappy hospital sandwich: $330.00

Being able to draw maps like these...

Cycling route

Complete route

... Priceless.

Happily Ever After...

Listening to: Freebird.

Another milestone reached: £1000 raised for Depression Alliance. Big big thank you to the Thwaites for this support at the end of my trip, and throughout the whole experience.

This post is long overdue and there are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, I've been lazy. I'd like to be able to say that I've been distracted by getting a new job and setting up a new home, but no, I've been playing Gran Turismo 5 and embracing the lifestyle of a bum. When you're doing anything constructive, it's far too easy to put it off when there's no reward for completing it or nobody to punish you when you don't. Secondly, the nature of this post makes it fairly tricky to write something decent without making myself sound like a right dickhead. I'm not sure I've managed it, but still...

After cycling over 3000 miles and traveling a further 7000 miles by Greyhound coach, you've got to be a pretty vacant person not to think about things and reflect on your experiences. Much of this post is to try and get clear in my own head what I've learnt and to try and put it into some kind of context to make it valuable to everyone else. With this in mind, this post is going to be long and painful and not entirely coherent.

Achievement / Accomplishment
 Achievement and accomplishment are synonyms, but achievement infers success as a result of greater effort and overcoming hardships and this is very important in relation to the reasons for my trip. If anyone has read the 'About Me' section of this blog, I did a bad job of saying that I'm a nobody. I've gone through life following what I believe to be an almost natural progression. I've gone through the UK education system with little effort until reaching university. Even going through university I've always known that I had the aptitude to get a good degree. Through my short career to date, things have fallen into place and I've done a lot of good and valuable work, but I've hardly been out of my comfort zone. I've accomplished a lot, but I feel as though I've achieved very little.

But is this assessment a valid one? I've met so many people to whom university, being a chemist, the Space industry, and being in a position to leave a job in the Space industry, is completely foreign. To those people (and there's a lot of them) I've achieved so much. If these experiences could be put on some sort of scale, accomplishing even a quarter of what I've done would be a huge achievement.

To not recognise that I've been incredibly fortunate in the opportunities presented to me would be foolish and I'm immensely grateful for those opportunities. Considering the wider world, it is fortune that has got me to where I am today (ignoring the unemployed and living with my parents bit) and not achievement. But there is achievement in recognising the opportunities that exist and seizing them for personal and social gain.

I should acknowledge my fortune, but I must recognise my achievements. I have done some amazing things that have benefited many, and yet, as said above, I don't feel as though I have achieved much. Even compliments about this trip are met with protestations that it was actually fairly easy to cycle 45 miles every day and just takes time to rack up the distance. Celebrating success is recognised as one of, if not the best way in which to stimulate growth and further achievement (think monkeys and bananas), and if you can't recognise and feel good about your own success can you ever realise your potential?

Life / Living
In reference to my reasons for going on the trip, the discussion between life and living is similar to the argument between achievement and accomplishment. I've gone through life taking easy options when the opportunities present themselves. I've gone through the UK education system to get an MChem and then I entered employment to work with two very successful companies. But having been thinking about life, the universe and everything for well over 15 years, this is living and not life.

A distinction has to made between the two because otherwise this is really confusing, and my distinction will probably be the opposite of many other people's. This stems from thinking about humanity in the animal kingdom and questioning what it is that makes humanity consider itself as a higher species than any other. There are a number of things which all living things do that define them as a living thing: MRS GREN (Movement, Respiration, Sensitivity, Growth, Reproduction, Excretion and Nutrition - yeah GCSE biology!!!). All these things are done in order for a species to survive, but theories of evolution and social pressures can also be applied to define actions that are needed in order to survive. In the modern Western world, in order to get food and shelter money is required. To get money, you need a job, and to get a job an education is required. So for the purposes of this discussion, I define living as those actions that lead to survival such as education and employment. Life is those actions that are carried out purely for the self, that have nothing to do with survival and I'd argue that it's the ability to carry out and appreciate these actions that makes humanity a higher species, although there are of course exceptions.

So, introducing some sort of context, I felt as though the massive majority of my actions to date have been living and not life. It's linked heavily to the perceived lack of achievement, but I didn't feel as though there was anything where I'd grasped life in order to call it my own and so going off to conquer the States on bicycle was a big way in which I could. Who else cycles around the States, especially going to State capitals? But really, the truth of the matter can be seen in a film I've mentioned before: Zombieland. Apart from the zombies, a part of the film is about finding pleasure in a small nonsensical thing - eating a Twinkie. It serves no purpose and yet it brings massive pleasure (in the film anyway; I've not had a Twinkie so couldn't comment on the amount of pleasure it actually brings but I'm guessing it isn't that great) and it's a small action. Attached to the Twinkie is the theme of enjoying the little things. A massive gesture isn't needed in order to claim a life to be your own. Rather than the massive gesture, you only need to appreciate and give time to the things that you enjoy, and enjoy for a nonsensical reason or for any other reason. The message is simple - give time to yourself to enjoy whatever it is that you want to do.

Generosity / Greed
America is a model of Western capitalism. Americans may like to believe that the country is founded upon freedom and opportunity, but really it's greed. Companies tailor their practices to a lazy public resulting in the drive-through Starbucks, drive-through cash-machine, and the drive-through off-license or liquor-store. In a quest to the White House, Mitt Romney claimed that it was his job to not care about 47% of Americans. There is a healthcare system propping up an insurance industry, where the primary concern is the wallet rather than care (I met an Aussie guy who'd been run over and dropped off at a hospital and they were asking him how he was going to pay for the treatment before he'd figured out where he was). This system was defended by one person as they didn't want to pay for the poor choices of others.

So, America is a greedy country. But the generosity that's been shown as I've travelled around has been incredible. From people giving directions, sheltering me from storms, giving me lifts, giving discounts just because I've asked, to people giving up their sofas, giving up their time to show me the sights and sounds of their local surroundings, feeding me, plying me with drinks and doing whatever they can to make me feel welcome. And then there's Terri and Mary and families who have done so much more.

But, so many people are awesome. People who just want to be kind and generous whenever they can. And these people are everywhere. For the past 4 years living in Oxfordshire I've been pretty lonely but that needn't have been the case. There are so many people in every area who are easy to get on well with, who share the same interests as you, have the same queries, troubles, ideas and dreams. It's too easy to go about with your head down, keeping yourself to yourself for fear of interfering and inconveniencing, but making that effort to talk to the people around you, be it neighbour or someone who keeps sitting at an adjacent table in the pub, or even offering your help to strangers in need, will enrich your life and the lives of those around you.

Proactive / Passive
This section stems from a philosophy of life of mine: what wants to happen will happen. On one front it's a way for me to deal with things that go wrong - bad things happen all the time whether we want them to or not and it isn't the end of the world (unless it is actually the end of the world), it's a part of life that has to be dealt with. It also helps guide me in certain decisions in that some things happen easily and I'm going to be better at the things that I find easy compared with the things that I struggle with e.g. I could decide that I want to be a poet, but that's only going to be painful for everyone involved so I'm going to stick with the much easier career of chemistry (it helps that I have a degree in chemistry). Negatively though, and I have had arguments about this before, this makes me quite passive - I wait for an opportunity to present itself rather than creating the opportunity.

 Another factor in deciding to cycle around the USA was that nothing interesting was happening. I write emails every now and then with the most interesting and hopefully funny events that happen in my life, and they've been a bit lacking. I knew that this was down to my passive nature, so I decided that the time was right to make something happen. I'm a firm believer that anyone can do anything that they chose to do, and I chose to cycle round the States. The thought of doing something different and unknown is a scary one, but that doesn't mean you can't do it successfully.

Conclusions
 These big trips, pitching yourself against the elements in an unknown environment, is often described as a life changing experience. Personally, I'm not feeling it. What the trip has done, is to help give me a position in which I can reassess my life and what I want from it. My life isn't any different, but I know a few ways in which I can improve it. The trick now is to remember those improvements and to not to succumb to routine and external pressures.

Summing everything up - have friends around you that you can rely on for the big things and the little things, such as an impromptu couple of beers. Make sure you give the time to appreciate the things that you enjoy e.g. if you enjoy listening to music, stick on an album and do nothing other than listen to that album. Don't be scared to do the things that you want to achieve. Finally, recognise your success and don't be afraid to celebrate it.

You only have this life once; enjoy it.

Home Again

Leaving New Orleans I spent 26 hours or so on the Greyhound heading up North to Washington DC, my original starting point, to see Mark again for a BBQ (see the last post). Him and his wife, the lovely Lauren, were the first familiar faces I'd seen since I'd left DC over 4 months previously and so somehow fitting that it should be those two I'd see again at the end of my trip. Diving into DC, it's an amazing feeling to recognise some of the landmarks and know that you've been there before, that you've gone pretty much all the way around the States in an epic 10 000 mile journey.

Greyhound Route

Again, getting into New York City, when I came round the corner to see the familiar skyline I knew that it was my last stop. My last 20 minutes on a Greyhound coach and my last few days before making it home. Just before that though I was reminded of the tactical brilliance of getting the train into NYC the previous time I was there as NJ (or that bit of it at least) is just horrible. Met up with an old colleague for some Venezuelan, and then had a couple of days with an old Uni friend (the incredible Chelsey, who I didn't see last time as she'd broken her collar bone). Somehow did essentially nothing in NYC until my final night when I met up with a couple of girls I'd met in DC to go to an off-Broadway (very far off) show in some small basement in the East Village.

Brooklyn Bridge & NYC Skyline

Plane left Newark on time, and entered a queue of 20 planes for take-off. Over an hour later, we were back in the gate refueling. So what went from being half an hour ahead of schedule was now an hour and half behind schedule. Arrived in Brussels to be told that I'd missed me connection and so I'd have to go pick up my bag and head up to the ticketing desk to get a new flight. My bag wasn't where I'd been told it was. Talked to the baggage services desk, and had to go to the other baggage services desk then wait for them to send it up to where it should have been originally. Finally made my way up to the ticketing desk, which was closed for lunch. I could just sense all these flights to Manchester leaving as I was forced to sit by the desk waiting for someone to sort me out a flight home and let me use their phone. Turns out I didn't have to get my bag after all for whatever reason so I could have come straight up to ticketing for the new flight, but eventually I had my new flight details. Manchester, via Edinburgh. Flying into Edinburgh gives an amazing view of the city and up the Firth of Forth. In Edinburgh I found out that I had access to the business lounge and made full use of it for all of 7 minutes before boarding. Time left NYC - 13:30 (EST). Original landing time in Manchester - 10:10. Actual landing time in Manchester - 17:45. Body-clock time on landing in Manchester - who knows.

Gave my phone to my Mum when I left to put somewhere safe. It's still somewhere very safe, but we are looking for it.

Before & After

Let's have a quick look at the effects of traveling for 4 months. Before....

April

Just ignore the gurning. And after...

August

N-O-L-A NOLA

Butchering the lyrics just to achieve a rather spurious blog title from: Lola by The Kinks

New Orleans

On the bus from Austin to New Orleans I had to endure possibly the worst journey yet - Lethal Weapon 4 was being played. Give me back the brain damaged and the fat guys with Swastika tattoos any day. I do perhaps get an easier ride on the buses than a lot of people, and I think I have it pinned down to one reason - everybody hates the beard. Ignoring that I don't have any gear to trim it down, and despite all the insults and questions about shaving it off before I come home, I've kept at it, and besides, growing a traveler's beard is a rite of passage. But having this beard has led numerous times to me having two seats to meself on the bus and not having to provide a head support to some drooling convict (I should point out that this is a not a sweeping statement to imply that all Greyhound passengers are drooling convicts - I'm well aware that not all convicts drool).

Louis Armstrong Park

Got off the bus in New Orleans nice and early and headed over to my hostel to ensure I had somewhere to sleep and to figure out where I was and what was going on in the real world (or on Facebook). Couldn't check in until after 4pm but I could use the internet. After half an hour sat in the front room, noticed a couple of bedbugs crawling over me top. Hadn't noticed that before, and with numerous reviews of the hostel complaining about bedbugs this didn't look like a good situation. Miraculously enough though I was now allowed to check in before 4pm; funny how that works. Started ironing, noticed how many seams there were in me shorts, gave up and decided to just throw them out and buy new clothes whilst monitoring the situation of other things such as me rucksack. For those people in DC, NY and back home, I'm pretty sure the bugs were in the chair and not the rug and so haven't gone into me rucksack, but I won't be offended if you demand all my stuff be isolated in dual heavy-duty bin-bags.

Garden District Cemetery

Onto the city itself. Had a walk around the first day while hoping that some CouchSurfing requests would come through before I had to go back to the bedbugs. It's on the water, it's a destination for stag dos, loads of shops selling tat and 'comedy' T-shirts, even more bars with neon lights competing with each other to offer the strongest novelty drink, and a number of strip clubs (3 Hustler clubs within 2 blocks) I've seen this before - Blackpool! Only in Blackpool the alligators have more leathery skin and wear sashes, cackling inanely as they're out on a hen night for the first time in over a decade. Also, the food is far worse in Blackpool.

Once away from Bourbon St. the nightlife becomes much more entertaining (assuming you need more stimulation than a drink in a neon green plastic container and a girl in or out of a bikini). I'm not really a fan of jazz, but some live music with some people swing-dancing makes an amazing atmosphere.

The Spotted Cat

Recently I've been feeling really tired. I just want to go home. There's a slightly different feel to things having stopped cycling - I'm now a tourist rather than a traveler. Not the biggest of differences, but I think subconsciously it makes you think about things in a different way. Going round all these tourist destinations you do the same things each time of seeing the usual suspects (big buildings, monuments, parks, museums, etc.). These places have a nightlife and to not experience it is to miss out on a major tourist activity so you go out for a few drinks every night. It's difficult to get away from the tourist hotspots as having done no research you don't know where the bad areas are or if you'll find what you're looking for even if you do go adventuring. As a break from routine, this is great; you can live the holiday excessive experience. But living it all the time so many things are put on for tourists and it's difficult to find a personal experience. I've talked previously about motel rooms offering the same experience wherever you go, and as an analogy, tourist destinations are the same. There's a lot more variation, but everything is still geared towards taking your money and the same methods are used. I'm really craving my own bed, curled up in a duvet hidden from the drizzle outside (I'm assuming it'll be drizzle back home - it is Manchester), being able to cook something as fancy or simple as I desire and paying for the things I need or want rather than parting with money for things I'm told I want and tipping for the privilege.

Not sure all this quite makes sense, but it's almost there. But rambling done - I've not got the focus or inclination to make it any better. I've got into a better mood than this morning as I've managed to sort out all accommodation to the end of the trip and after seeing nobody for over 4 months I'm hopefully seeing 5 familiar faces before heading home.

If Everything Goes Right, Then Everything Has Gone Wrong

Austin TX

The advice I've been given before is that taking the Greyhound in the North of the US is not so bad, but then in the South it gets horrific. We stopped in the most desolate God-forsaken place in New Mexico, at a combination of laundrette, post office and general store with no sign of the town these services were supplying. The shop was barren and had even less items of nutritional value leading to the beginning of 26 hour's eating of a Mars bar, a pack of Skittles, and a pack of M&Ms. Putting up signs to not put paper towels down the toilet is a good incentive, but needs some work as some people don't understand the difference between paper towels and toilet paper creating a smell wafting from the bin of which the Golgothan shit demon would be proud. Back on the bus, a family had got on having been rejected from an earlier bus due to some dispute about the age of their child or something. The T-Shirt with the cheesy picture of a wolf and fat guy with a Swastika tattooed on his chest pointed to only one thing - rednecks.

After arriving in Austin and meeting me CouchSurfing host it was back onto a bike for the Thursday Night Social Ride; about 100 cyclists cycling around the city in the dark, trying to avoid parked cars, moving cars, street furniture and, more difficultly, each other.

Many people say that Austin is the only good part of Texas and with it being a university town, it's a bit of a party town. Did nothing Friday afternoon (I'm blaming the timezone change as well as the previous night's drinking) but then went out again for the evening. Met a load of Ray's friends and had a few drinks and then went to another bar to experience a bit more of Austin. We went to some bar that's notorious as an easy place to pick up women. Even I had me arse slapped walking through the place and we were only in there for 2 minutes. Straight out of that place and headed next door where there was some live Country music happening - amazing when you're drunk.

In the supermarket attempting to get food, me credit card was declined. Not the end of the world, probably Halifax being a pain in the arse again. Logged into me account and there was no connection to the account: credit N/A, available balance £0, no recent transactions. Weird, but seems as though the system is temporarily down. After a night of drinking logged back on to find that things are back up and normal, except me card's been cleared out to tune of £2000. Card cancelled, I'm now on cash or having a £1.50 charge for each and every transaction.

The weather has continued to be ridiculously hot, but we have had some rain at last. There was a bit of a storm in Flagstaff with it being monsoon season and then we've had a couple in Austin. Still hot and humid, but at least it's a change.

Sunset Tours

As all five of us on the tour group had never had the experience before, we were lined up, had to cover our eyes, and with one hand on the shoulder in front were marched forward like a precession of prisoners. On opening our eyes, we were treated to this sight...

First view

And then once our eyes adjusted and I'd put me shades back on, things looked like this...

First view, once I could see again

And then I looked around and things looked like this...

First view, looking around

The Grand Canyon is immense. We were on a sunset tour so we spent the afternoon going to different spots taking plenty of photos (I was armed with both of my cameras for this trip) before finding a rock above the canyon where we could see the river in two directions, having a beer (the reduced oxygen makes walking uphill extremely tiring, but it also makes you drunk much quicker) and watching the sun set. I also managed to achieve one of my life goals that I never realised I had: having a piss off the sand dunes on West Sands (don't do it into the wind) is pretty liberating, but pissing off the Grand Canyon is just epic.

Not even this picture does the place justice

San Diego

USS Midway, San Diego CA

Let's start off with the good aspects of the St. Christopher International Hostel in San Diego. There was a very relaxed atmosphere where everyone was introduced to one another upon arrival by Juliette, the hostel manager. We were encouraged to bring back beer and wine (no spirits) so we could spend the evening with the other guests learning about each others cultures or playing card based drinking games. This place had the hostel spirit of bringing together people from different backgrounds better than any other hostel I've stayed in.

Balboa Park, San Diego CA

And the not so good? Juliette was incredibly friendly, kind and helpful, but this is not the best thing in the world when you don't want your things washing just before you intend to use them. And the relaxed atmosphere is great for sitting around recovering from the heat and the Greyhound, but not so great when you ask for a sheet for your bed and each time you're told she'll get one for you as soon as the washing's done, and you probably won't need one anyway. Yes the room was dark and at least 30 degrees with no air flow so the temperature isn't a problem, but with no door and 5 other people sharing the room I'd be more concerned about exposing my sweating slumbering body to the rest of the hostel - nobody deserves that. The most obvious negative, obvious once you've been there at least, is that the hostel is on the flight path so every couple of minutes there's a 737 flying at about 30 ft bringing all conversation to a temporary stop. Also, I was staying in the 'African Room'. I think she had another reason to call it that, but she was much more animated in telling the story of the orgies that took place in there when a couple of Nigerian lads stayed. If the stories are to believed, those bunk-beds took a battering.

San Diego itself is an alright place. If you like boats then there's plenty to see down at the harbour and I had an amazingly geeky afternoon aboard the aircraft carrier, USS Midway, sitting in ejector seats and F-4 Phantom cockpits. I also went up to Balboa Park with the intention of going to the world famous zoo. I remember having a CD about San Diego Zoo when I was little, but at $42 I thought it was a bit pricey so just went round the desert garden instead for free. Apparently it's much like any other decent zoo so just image Chester Zoo in 40 degree heat and you're there.

Goodbye dear friends...

There was a sad moment before leaving San Diego as I had to say goodbye to a good friend. Two good friends in truth: my trainers. They were stinking! Plus I'd made my way through most of the sole. They were left with the good people at Sketchers to be incinerated as a biological hazard. This time I've toned down on the colour from yellow to red, but to make up for it I've gone for more colour. You should have seen the yellow ones though - not even I could get away with wearing them.

...and hello to my new obscenely red friends.

Arizona somewhere

Another overnight Greyhound bus trip has got me to Flagstaff AZ. Again, no proper crazies, just a late bus, a border patrol check, and someone who'd just left prison as an initial traveling companion. Traveling across Nevada and Arizona has a similar kind of feel as traveling across Montana, except it's far dustier and there's one or two more cacti.

Today, the washing machine. Tomorrow, the world! Or the Grand Canyon, whichever's easier.

Baghdad By The Bay

San Francisco

I was hoping for great things from San Francisco after hearing so much, and first impressions? Feels like London, smells like Amsterdam. Or at least the commercial bits do anyway. When you get out to the piers, London doesn't have quite so many sea-lions. And speaking of sea-lions, we can briefly bring back the wildlife list which has taken a bit of a break since New York or somewhere as all the wildlife has been the same. But now, much further south and on the Pacific Ocean, we can add sea-lions (have I mentioned that I've seen some sea-lions?) and also some pelicans (bit more of a natural setting than the ones in London). I saw some bison too, but they weren't wild.

Pacific Ocean

For a city that I don't think is very photogenic, somehow I managed to take over 125 pictures which is a lot for me. I went on a walking tour with Wild Wes, went round the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), but I spent most my time walking around the shoreline or Golden Gate Park as they are massive. Quickly back to SFMOMA and my comparisons of art museums that seems to have become a substantial part of this trip. The Columbus Museum of Art is still easily the best I've seen. SFMOMA like so many other places has an amazing building, a fairly large collection, but being modern art so much of it goes straight over my head and nothing really stood out as being exceptional. I did however manage to complete a game where you have to find clues hidden in pieces of art and then decode the message to find some result. The result in this case was a phone number and with such a crappy phone I didn't find out what that was about. But with a different result, it could be a really good activity to make people more involved in such obscure art.

Some quality scenery to be seen walking around underneath the Golden Gate Bridge and then following the headland for my first proper view of the Pacific Ocean. One hell of a long walk though. There's also a hill on Moraga Street which is less well known than the Twin Peaks, but still some stunning views across the entire city, and when I was up there really shows the strange weather systems that the city can experience.

Looking over San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge is hidden in the clouds somewhere

Top of hill on Moraga St.

Back on the bus for a relatively short overnight trip down to San Diego. No crazies. No overwhelming smells. Just an absolutely rammed bus. And with it being an Express coach (kind of like 1st class for Greyhound) I thought I'd be able to get some decent sleep. But with the guy next to us encroaching on my seat space (think of when you share a bed with someone, the girl always takes the middle half) and some strange seat design that makes it impossible to rest your head without straining your neck, I got pretty much no sleep. The lack of suspension and the prevalence of bumps and potholes didn't help either. Neither did the condescending driver turning on the lights at half 1 in the morning to wake everyone up for the stop at Burger King.

Golden Gate Bridge

Being driven down the West coast, I've seen a number of places that I would have stayed at had the cycling continued, and from the "comfort" of the bus those places are horrible. Having seen that, and not having a mission to distract me, I really want to come home now. I don't really want to deal with motels, hostels or couches. Once you've seen a place and taken some photos, with nobody to share it with it quickly becomes mundane and the whole experience becomes even more lonely. Hopefully I can see some familiar faces soon and in just over 3 weeks I'll be home again. Cannot wait!

Finally, for anyone adventurous enough to have a Google account and venture into Google+, I've posted a load more photos on there, up to and including San Francisco photos. Link on the right takes you to my profile, and then you should be able to get to my photos from there.

Another One Rides The Bus

Hours without a proper meal: 28 hours.

Those aren't clouds, that's the gunk on the window ruining the view of California

Seattle done, and another 24 hours or so on the Greyhounds. This trip wasn't so bad, although things began with a completely rammed bus sitting next to some hippie who hadn't had a shower for at least 3 days. How did I know this? He told me. Couldn't smell anything over the stench of garlic I think he'd rubbed into his clothes to hide his own smell.

The buses are supposed to stop every couple of hours for a break, but our driver didn't seem to know about this tradition and carried on like a machine for 5 hours straight not letting off the bus for more than 4 minutes and the quickest cigarette smoking ever. Fortunately I think I've cracked the art of sleeping on a bus and was rewarded again with a chin covered in drool. I'm hoping it was mine, but it could quite have easily belonged to the middle aged Hispanic guy I discovered snoring softly on my shoulder at half 5 this morning. Slightly ruined the sunrise over the mountains.

Sleepless

I've still got another night left in Seattle before getting back on the bus, but thought I'd get this written now.

Look Mommy, it's Superman!

Overall impressions of Seattle - small and expensive. You can walk to wherever you need to get to easily enough and pretty much all the attractions are $20 and half the size of places that would be $15 anywhere else.

The best thing I've seen here (other than the Blue Angels turning up again unexpectedly) is EMP Museum. Certain things send a shiver down your spine when you see the scale and atmosphere of something that is truly awesome, and the opening to Thunderstruck by AC/DC being played at Donnington did it for me. I must have spent an hour watching the videos of AC/DC gigs. I also got to indulge my geeky side seeing iconic items such as Captain Kirk's chair, Buffy's Mr Pointy and a dalek (totally ruined by the inevitable "what's a dalek?" being asked by someone walking past). And after the number of kids who've said "Hey look mommy, it's Superman" (or the occasional "Spiderman") as I walk past wearing me Superman hoodie, it was a special thing to see the actual Superman costume from Superman III.

There's one thing in Seattle that really impresses and that's the market. It just keeps going and it's really easy to get lost, but there's loads of really good food and it really made me miss me kitchen. I did however manage to stock up on a stupid amount of fruit which disappeared pretty quick.

Chihuly Garden & Glass

Even when you're only down in Oxfordshire, hearing a northern accent is an amazing thing and you end up gravitating towards that person. So to hear a Mancunian accent on the table next to me in the hostel was an amazing coincidence and we were able to have one of those conversations between strangers that are only completely normal to Northerners - apparently artificial insemination is expensive and difficult to get through all the psychological tests; a much cheaper method of becoming pregnant whilst single involves 2 pints of Stella and a trip to Wetherspoons on a Saturday night.

Change of Transport

After the first of 4 buses to get from Chicago to Seattle, I thought that things were going alright. Second bus though, mother of pearl! All the stories you've heard are true and all the stereotypes justified. We had a guy wearing a denim suit and cowboy hat, some guy complaining about the person behind kicking their seat, a black woman swearing loudly and taking no shit from anyone especially when it concerns being accused of kicking the seat infront, and a hillbilly who seemed to have never left their own town.....

To set the scene, we had a film playing to try and keep the kids on the bus entertained, and we had this episode causing the bus to be pulled over and stopped...

Black Girl: No! Fuck you! I didn't do fucking nothing!
Other Passenger: Language!!!
Black Girl: He started it.
Guy: You shouldn't be kicking my seat.
Driver: We can sort this out now or you can both get off at the next stop.
Hillbilly Woman: THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE SOUND!!!!!!!!
Driver: Sounds alright to me.
Hillbilly Woman: THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE SOUND!!!!!!!!!!
Driver: Well, what do you want me to do about it? It sounds alright to me and everyone else so there isn't anything I can do.
Hillbilly Woman: I don't know. If you stand here you'll hear that there's something wrong!

Later in the trip and I couldn't help but overhear a conversation between the hillbilly and her fella...

HB: We're going to see your sister!
Fella: Where does my sister live?
HB: errrr.....
Fella: What's my sister's name?
HB: errrr.... One of them is called.... Susan?
Fella: ....
HB: Sandra?
Fella: I only have one sister.
[There was a little more here that I've either forgotten, unintentionally or not it doesn't matter]
HB: We're going to see your mother?!
Fella: No.
HB: .....
Fella: Why are you hung up on female relatives?
HB: I don't know.
Fella: What's the opposite of female?
HB: errrr..... male. We're going to see your brother.
Fella: And what's his name?
HB: errrr.......
Fella: Jeeeeee.....
HB: errrrr.......
Fella: Jeeeeeeeeeee........
HB: Jack?
Fella: Jeeeeeessssss....
HB: errrrr....... Jessie! Yeah, I just forgot for a moment.

Clearly she wasn't all there, but everything she did was annoying. Shouting/screaming at people to wear 'earplugs' when they were playing music, consistent trips up and down the bus to use the toilet despite having only just got back on the bus after a toilet break, repeating whatever she said at increasing volume until someone responded, no consideration towards others and completely selfish. Did I feel bad for thinking this once I found out that she did actually have a brain injury? Nope, not at all - she was bloody annoying.

Some passengers were a good laugh though. Me favourite was the episode near the beginning of the third bus journey as we were trying to get a DVD working...

Driver: Technical assistant to the front please.
[Several people try and fail.]
Driver: If anyone's got a knife they can bring it up to the front, open up the DVD player and prod a few wires. Something's got to work, right?
Random: This guy wouldn't make a very good airline pilot, that's for sure.
Other Random: How much weed do you think it would take to hot-box this bus?

I believe this is somewhere in East Montana

Comparing the bus and the bike? The bus is most definitely faster. The bus is also comfier (Remember that this is a comparative 'comfier' and not in any way 'comfy'). But the bus sucks for taking photos of random scenes you pass and you're always on the wrong side of the bus. As I've mentioned, some of the people can be less than desirable traveling companions (guess who was either a couple of seats away from me or right infront of me for the majority of the trip?). I didn't even know it was possible while sat upright on a coach, and I swear I didn't mean to, but somehow I ended up spooning the woman in the seat next to me. Whether this is a benefit or disadvantage of the Greyhound is up to you. Sleep is quite a disadvantage on the bus. There's no real opportunity to stop at a comfy motel, find somewhere for dinner and get as much rest as you need in a king-size bed. Nope, I managed to sleep on the second night, but it needs some refinement as I'm sure it involved snoring and it definitely involved drooling over myself and the hapless bastard next to me.

Somewhere in the Rocky Mountains

 Scenery though has been amazing, even through the grease and snot covered windows of the bus. More flat farmland on the first day but woke up on the second to find meself on the plains. I've said before that Oxfordshire is flat. I've then been surprised that Ohio and Indiana are even flatter that Oxfordshire. But North Dakota, wow! Insanely flat! And then when you get into Montana, still flat but there're all these hills and rocky outcrops where you can almost see where the glaciers had been. Then you get to the Rocky Mountains; rows of mountains followed by plains. No idea what the bulk of the mountains were like as it was dark and I was drooling soundly, but what was seen was fairly impressive.

And Freudian slip of the week?

Driver: And on your left you'll see the festival 'Testy Festy' beginning. A lot of fun stuff happens at that place, you'll want to take your beads. Not those beads, oh dear. Well, maybe you do, I've heard things can get pretty wild there.

EDIT:
Oh, I forgot something. At one of the bus stations they had the TV on the fine 'History Channel' - a source of factual programs examining some of the most crucial periods of history you may think. Not at around midnight it's not. Even Channel 5 bases some of it's documentaries on research and fact (even if all their programmes are about the Nazis) but History Channel? The History Channel goes with 'Aliens in History' and a look at how Leonardo Da Vinci met and was influenced by aliens. Da Vinci did mirror writing, so obviously mirroring images are important and if you cut the mirrored image vertically through the face and superimpose it on top of the original you come up with an alien face!!!!! The proof is there people!

Windy City

Sue, Field Museum Chicago

Arriving in Chicago I headed over to the hostel to get meself a bed for a few nights. Yeah, didn't go so well, but at least I had something for one night. Without a bed I had to spend the evening trying to find a couch to sleep on so I couldn't really relax and enjoy the city. Next morning I headed off to the aquarium as I've not been to one for a while. Hour and a half queue? Field Museum instead will have to do instead. Fairly decent, but has the kind of normal museum set-up where I just get bored after a little while. Also, for a natural history museum, having a toy of Belle from Beauty & The Beast as an example of a human ("not lifesize") is a pretty poor show.

Went to meet my first host, Andrew, and managed to accomplish a few things. First of all, I got a post onto Craigslist to sell my bike. Second, I got directions to a department store where I could buy new pants, new socks, new shorts, and a new shirt. Finally, I booked a flight home (landing in the not-so-fair city of Manchester on 2nd September). That new sock feeling is just incredible, but to be able to wear clothes that don't hum makes a good change. The bike had interest and was effectively sold within 20 minutes to a guy called Igor who wanted to swap a couple of things round, but the bike itself will be continuing to tour around the States at various times so it's a happy new beginning. With Andrew and my new clothes we headed out to go drinking. $10 for an open bar and 3000 miles to celebrate.

Piece by Roy Lichtenstein

Another day and another host. Met Zach after selling the bike and buying me Greyhound Discovery Pass. One authentic Chicago Deep Dish Pizza later we headed back to his, a little North of Chicago, to meet his cat, dump me bag and then head out to a street festival and to meet a couple of his friends. Grabbed some beers and played a fairly complex game about farming where myself and another newcomer to the game were well and truly trounced despite our more diverse and prosperous farms.

Time for another art museum comparison, and this time it's the world renowned Art Institute of Chicago. Incredible building, great collection, still not as good as the Columbus Art Museum. Maybe it's just the size of the collection and the need to show it that takes precedence over coming up with ways in which it can be interacted with?

After a spot of rock climbing (my phobia of heights is just getting worse) a few more beers, and being woken up at 6:15 am it was time to leave Chicago. Coming up soon: The Greyhound Diaries.

Fin!

Feeling: Elated at being able to throw out my incredibly manky socks.

From the last post, I forgot to mention my most recent and worst bit of abuse I've suffered on the bike. As I was leaving Lansing someone threw a bottle of what I believe was used chewing tobacco at me. These kind of things are annoying, but like all the verbal abuse it does no damage so you can just carry on cycling. And then when you meet someone watering their crops just down the road who lets you borrow their hose to wash all the crap off you feel good as if you've had a small victory.

Clarence F. Buckingham Memorial Fountain, Chicago IL

Yup. 3063 miles and I'm in central Chicago IL. From the beginning I wanted to get to Chicago as I loved it on a previous visit that lasted only an afternoon between airports. At about half 2 on Friday 27th July I pushed my way through the crowds to reach the Cloud Gate in Chicago's Millennium Park and my personal finish line. There were fanfares and shouting and cheering and congratulations and all of it in my head in the last few miles. Once at the park, nothing. You want to be able to let it all go and celebrate with everyone, but you can't because you're all alone in a foreign country surrounded by people who don't know you, don't know what you've achieved, and have achieved more themselves. Plus, the journey isn't fully over yet - there's still that simple matter of finding somewhere to sleep, along with selling the bike, buying a ticket for the bus, finding plane tickets home, and finding new socks as yours need hammering out before your feet will fit in them. I always thought that that 'new pants feeling' was the best, but no, it's all about the socks.

Lets have a look at the numbers...
3063 miles.
15 State capitals, 18 States.
108 days, of which 70 were on the bike.
28.4 miles per day average over the whole trip, or 43.8 miles if you only count the cycling days.
Maximum distance in 1 day was 85 miles from Williamsport down to Harrisburg PA.
Countless gallons of Powerade drunk.
Too few gallons of chocolate milk drunk.
1 train ride (but in my defense it was through New Jersey).
1 crash with 1 trip to hospital. 4 other very minor injuries.
1 bike, 1 new wheel, 2 new tires, 3 new spokes, 3 sets of new brake pads.
Just over 1 stone in weight lost, and a couple of inches from me waist.

My reflection in the Cloud Gate - the finish line in Chicago

What now for this blog? Well, I've still got some things to say and the fun isn't over yet so things will be continuing until I'm home in early September. Many thanks to those who've sent me messages and spoken to me through various means, keeping me sane and cycling (they're not mutually exclusive, it just seems like it).

The End Is Nigh!

Drinking: Chocolate milk by the gallon

So the last significant post was back in Indianapolis where I'd covered 2500 miles and reached 14 State capitals. I've been slack in keeping up with the blog and taking photos, but I've not been slack on the bike. I've now got 15 State capitals and 3000 miles under me belt, and also crossed a timezone somewhere (I'm entirely confused this morning).

Welcome to Michigan - A Meth Watch Community

Cycling up from Indianapolis towards Lansing, there really isn't much to say. It's all flat and there's nothing but corn fields. Everything looks the same from the west side of Ohio, through Indiana and into Michigan. On me travels I've seen a number of different communities such as the neighborhood watch community, the bike friendly community (usually just as the hard shoulder ends forcing you into the traffic), even a golf cart friendly community. As I entered Michigan I was assured that I was entering a meth watch community which tells you a little of the area.

State Capitol, Lansing MI

Despite Michigan being full of 'chemists' I've met some amazing people and had a great time starting off with lunch in a really small place in Albion, The Red Lunch Box Cafe. Just a shoebox of a building, painted red, but run by a family and with most of the family there. I usually end up in a Subway or something as most towns seem to have only 'bar & grills' and nowhere that looks intriguing or enticing. Meeting a group of people who are friendly, welcoming and interested in who you are and what you're doing just makes for a better experience.

And so began a long weekend of CouchSurfing and drinking, starting off in Eaton Rapids (20 miles outside Lansing) where I stayed with Karen. Myself, Karen, and her son, Tom went into Lansing to visit the Michigan Brewing Company for a flight of beers and some food. Other than that, it was just a relaxed evening watching TV and fussing over the dog.

My first night in Lansing was nice and quiet drinking homebrew with Kuba, his girlfriend Sara, and their housemate Ben. I had the same conversation with each of them about how little stuff I have with me, but it was a much needed evening of just sitting down and doing nothing and throwing a screaming toy monkey with a cape into a ceiling fan. If you've ever done something similar and felt like you've wasted an evening, you're wrong.

Breakdancing at Vacant Lansing

Next day it was off to meet my second host, Pam. We went down to the market for some food, wine tasting (5 free samples, or 10 if you're me), and a basil plant, before going to an old outdoor swimming pool in the shadow of a power plant. Once more of Pam's friends turned up to sort out specifics for a wedding, Pam and I went to Vacant Lansing (expect nothing). The organisers had sent out a couple of clues as to the theme  and a Google reference for the location, but that was it. One of the big attractions of this event is that no-one knows what will be involved until you turn up. They take over a vacant building for one night and explore how the space can be used to draw attention to the area and hopefully begin regeneration while raising funds for a worthy charity at the same time. We had a 90s theme with beat-box and break-dancing, arcade machines (I suck at Pacman) and some painting things going on. After that, more relaxing and drinking the wine bought at the market earlier and making Smores (Smores and wine is not a classic combination).

Drinking day number 4 began with breakfast followed by ruthlessly decimating the wedding playlist that had been worked on the day before. Seriously, no wedding playlist is complete without the half past 10 Chesney Hawkes, Jon Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams combination of cheese. Things got a bit complicated then as a number of plans varied and intertwined as I was supposed to be cooking for Kuba and playing kickball, but got an offer of frisbee and volleyball at the lake with Pam. I forsook the cooking and kickball in favour of frisbee, volleyball and a pint before heading back to Kuba's for a friend's birthday and much more drinking.

I can confirm that drinking does very little to prepare you for a 65 mile ride on a really crappy road in ridiculous heat. I was in agony when I reached Grand Rapids, but I had somewhere to stay as one of Pam's friends, Jeff, had agreed to host me. With another of his friends, we went for a tour of the local breweries to complete the 5 day drinkathon.

Meeting and staying with people is amazing and makes for a much more interesting and fun time, however it is pretty tiring and I wouldn't have made it anywhere near as far as I have done. Think I'd still be languishing in New York or Pennsylvania if I'd have been CouchSurfing the whole time.

Warren Dunes State Park, Lake Michigan, MI

Since the Lansing drinkathon, I've made it to Lake Michigan which I'm following round to my final cycling destination - Chicago - the end is nigh!

Apologies

So, I know I'm well overdue a blogpost. There is one coming, but right now I'm knackered after a weekend of drinking, partying, sports and drinking followed by 116 miles in 2 days in high 30s C heat with even more drinking at a number of breweries. That, and before Lansing there isn't really much to say - one corn field looks much like the next several hundred.

Actually Michigan, but could be anywhere between Columbus and Lansing

IN Indy

Listening to: Human Fly performed by Brown Bottle Flu

State Capitol, Indianapolis IN

Three achievements to report here: 14 State capitals, 2500 miles and 3 months in the States. From here on in, I'm making use of the B2 visa.

Following on from things going randomly right in Richmond, my public request for a couch in Indianapolis was answered by a teacher called Brandon who has an entire summer off with nothing to do other than party. Events were started with a trip to a brewery where they do tastings much the same as they do in wineries. Great concept, but a fair amount of beer to get through in one go and by the time you get to the last beer you can't taste anything nearly as well as when you started.

Original LOVE sculpture, Indianapolis Museum of Art

Another day, and another art museum - the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Decent collection of art, and home of the first 'LOVE' sculpture, but not as good as the Columbus Museum of Art. The IMA has a better collection but just doesn't inspire the same connection with the art. There are some good quality gardens that are well worth the look around though. The best thing to cure a day of culture? A bar where you turn up with your own giant goblets for cheap beer (cheap crappy beer anyway).

Canal District, Indianapolis IN

After a little confusion I met up with my second CouchSurfing host, Becs, and do I fancy going to see a band? Of course I do! We were driven down to Bloomington IN by one of Becs' friends after we picked up her previous CouchSurfer, a crazy German guy by the name of Axel. Arrived at the venue and nothing. Band haven't shown up. Bit of berating on Facebook over dinner and the gig's back on! First time I've seen a 3 piece punk band play with only 3 bass strings, playing to an audience you could count on your fingers, but quality version of Human Fly. The guitarist and bassist were both in separate bands in a battle of the bands playing across town. We did the groupie thing and headed over where there was a crowd so big you'd have to take at least one of your socks off to count the number of people. 1 beer, 1 hairy bear, 1 share of a fishbowl, 5 bands and home at half 3 - decent evening.

I think I now know what my next plans are. I've been cycling for 3 months and I've covered a significant distance, but if I carried on cycling I'd have to really bump up the distance cycled per day and I'd still miss a lot of sights. The massive three people who answered my question on Facebook have confirmed that stopping cycling and doing a bit of sightseeing is the right thing to do. The plan then is simple: cycle to Lansing MI for capital number 15 and follow the lake round to Chicago IL. Sell / give away / abandon the bike and continue the journey by train or bus most likely in some kind of loop going to Seattle, San Fransisco, Utah, New Orleans and work my way back to New York to fly home again. If anyone has any suggestions for places to visit then leave comments, send messages, Skype, email, etc. etc.

Sometimes, Things Just Go Right

Listening to: Sly & The Family Stone (on vinyl)

Columbus OH

With my second host in Columbus, the lovely Kristen, things started off with a late evening. From nowhere a load of people turned up, largely thanks to an app called GroupMe and there was plenty of talk about bikes. Really good group of friends and housemates who were completely relaxed and laid back with each other. After a day wandering round an area of town called the Short North and doing my best to avoid the sun, we headed out to a club that plays proper 50s rock 'n' roll. In my slightly "worn" t-shirt and trousers I thought I'd be under-dressed for a place like this, but no, not even close.

Ohio - it's flat

Leaving Columbus, I nailed 75 miles to get to Englewood, north of Dayton. Finally, my fitness is back good and proper. I'm now well and truly in the flat part of the States. I'd heard that it'd be flat, and it really is. Not even 4 years in Oxfordshire can prepare you. In Maine there was ocean to look at, in Vermont there was mountains and forests, in New York there was lakes and wineries, in Pennsylvania there was plenty more mountains, but in Ohio there's just flat fields. As I approached Englewood I was cycling along a ridge when I heard a jet engine with the unmistakable sound of afterburners and I knew that something decent was overhead. Just about kept one eye on the road as 4 F/A-18 Hornets flew past in a tight 4 diamond formation - only America's equivalent of the Red Arrows, the Blue Angels.

From Englewood I headed to Richmond, Indiana. Along the way I met another cyclist (Ross), heading towards California, in a petrol station. As we were both heading to Richmond we rode together to meet his Richmond contact through WarmShowers (Aaron). Once there we had some icecream and spent the afternoon playing guitar, violin and accordion with a songwriter friend of Aaron's, Nathan. I am incredibly jealous of these people as they're so creative and can connect with each other through music and write songs together with no apparent effort. The unexpected and unasked for generosity of people has been shown again today by Aaron who prepared dinner for both myself and Ross, and also found a friend nearby who could host me for the evening so I'm now staying in a massive old house with the incredibly kind Kurt. Sometimes things just work out and work out well. It's a great feeling to be a part of it when things do work out like that and I hope that I can be on the giving end of random generosity once home again.

America - Fuck Yeah!

(Sorry Granddad, it's a reference to Team America. You won't like it.)

Everyone is wearing: Short shorts.

4th July fireworks

Columbus Ohio - State capital number 13, over 2300 miles covered. I arrived in Columbus on 4th July, an important day in America celebrated with quality foods such as burgers and hotdogs, and by blowing shit up. Independence Day celebrates America's independence from British rule. A key influence in this was the raising of taxes on the Colonies without representation in Parliament.

Taxation without representation is tyranny.

A tyranny that Americans fought against and upheld the principle as a cornerstone of their democracy, unless you live in the nation's capital, Washington DC, in which case you get taxed as much as anyone else and only have one guy in the House of Representatives who can only listen to what's happening and not vote and that's it as far as representation goes. Independence Day is a reminder that America is free from British rule. That Britain no longer has any say in its direction or development. That Britain can claim no responsibility for America's growth and rise to superiority as a global superpower. That Britain can no longer claim any responsibility for America's foreign policy, warmongering or crippling debt. That Britain is free!

Fine pair of beards

My stay in Columbus began with meeting my WarmShowers host for a few nights, Josh. Got to say - he has one luxurious beard. 4th July in America wouldn't be 4th July in America without a cookout and fireworks and I've been fortunate enough to experience it. We headed out to a friend of Josh's for burgers, hotdogs and beers with an impressive collection of beards on display. On the way to the park to watch the firework display, we were surrounded by kids with glowsticks. Looked like something out of Avatar and not something to be tried on a bad acid trip. The fireworks came complete with patriotic soundtrack that everyone claimed not to like or listen to and yet they all knew the words. We missed the start of the fireworks as they were set off a little early to miss the approaching storm (another one - this 40 C heat with 60% humidity is just crippling; the dew point was 25 C the other night) which we just about avoided on the way home.

Mobiles constructed by visitors to Columbus Museum of Art

In COSI, yup, another science museum, I thought I had a new favourite museum. The first exhibit about the ocean was just incredible. There were water jets and games and fun things all over the place in a space that looked like a cave with a giant statue of Neptune looking over things. After that though, somehow I just couldn't connect with the rest of the exhibits. There seemed to be too many things that were for kids and just there for the sake of fun and the educational aspect didn't really come across, or there was just displays of things that were a bit boring and didn't inspire. So, Connecticut Science Center remains my favourite museum for now. Honourable mention for the Columbus Museum of Art though. Not the biggest collection, but with post-it notes and set questions all over the place, materials to make sculptures and tags with emotions to make you find a piece that conveys that emotion, the museum engaged visitors with the art better than any other museum that I can remember. Any place that has a collection of shapes and holes and tunnels and asks kids to make a quality fort with supplied sheets and cushions has got to be doing something right.