Baltimore & Washington D.C.

We spent a few days staying with Uncle John and Randi, and catching the train into DC to do some sightseeing. We saw all the typical DC sights- tour of the Capitol building, checked out the White House, Lincoln Memorial, WWII memorial, Vietnam War memorial, Washington Monument, and the necessary discussions around Forrest Gump. We also spent several hours in both the Natural History Museum and Air and Space Museum. Quotes of the trip (so far): 'who's Aaron Space?' and 'I don't really believe in space'- courtesy of the lovely Ms. Trisna. 

John and Randi were wonderful hosts, who took good care of us and fed us amazing home cooked meals. We spent Halloween with them giving out candy to the adorable trick or treaters, and staying up until 2am playing cards and drinking wine. We had a great time, thanks guys! Looking forward to repaying the favor on your trip to NZ!

For some presidential music, check out Bob Dylan's Theme time Radio Hour, Presidents' day special: http://www.themetimeradio.com/episode-68-presidents/
I like the Soul Stirrers version of "Tell Me Why You Like Roosevelt"

Maryland blue crab feast

Maryland is famous for blue crab. Kellie's Uncle John and wife Randi took us out for a good old-fashioned crab feast. The crabs are steamed, seasoned, and piled in the middle of the table. The table is covered in brown paper and everyone gets a mallet to smash open crab shells. Messy and delicious!

It was sunny in Philadelphia

We made a flying visit to Philadelphia on our way to Baltimore. We stopped in at Sonny's for a philly cheese steak sandwich, a must do in this city. It is really thin sliced beef fried with cheese in a bread stick. The pub next door is owned by Mac from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, great show if you haven't seen it.

The littleist state in the union

Left Rhode Island this morning, many thanks to Uncle Murph for his hospitality. 

Had a veritable seafood feast last night involving lobster, crab, oysters, mussels, swordfish, and New England clam chowder (of course). If you are a kiwi, clams are the same as cockles. If you want to make it, grab a bucket and head down to Pauatahanui Inlet or Otago Harbour to get the necessary molluscs. Here is a recipe I found for you: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/contest-winning-new-england-clam-chowder 

                         

New England

Arrived in New England and staying with my uncle in Rhode Island. Thinking of having lobsta and clam chowda for dinner tomorrow. Listen here to see why Jonothan Richman and the Modern Lovers love New England:

The Big Apple

We had a great time in the crazy, busy, wonderful place that is NYC. We are pretty stoked to have met up with our Wellington buddies Sean and Trisna who will be joining us for the next few weeks of our road trip. Torrey's cousins Helen and Lauren, and Helen's boyfriend Jesse, were the best tour guides in the city. They showed us the best roof top bars, neighborhood parks and bagel joints, comedy shows, free Statue of Liberty tours, and hole-in-the-wall music venues, none of which we would have found on our own. Huge thanks to Helen and Jesse for putting us up and being so awesome. We can't wait to return the favor in NZ, and look forward to seeing you guys in Peru!

New York City

We are currently having a great time hanging out with my cousins in NYC. Doing all the touristy stuff, seeing live music, eating good food. Here are a couple good bands we saw last night:

What state is round on two sides and high in the middle?

Ohio!

We spent a night in the middle of farm country where Kellie's mom grew up, and where the Dulin family has been farming for 200 years. It was great to catch up with Uncle Dave and Aunt Marilyn, and visit Grandpa Joe, who gave us a tour of all the Kenton sites, including the scrap yard, football field, fertilizer plant, new elementary school, all of the current Dulin farms, and several Amish homes, complete with horses and buggies. We also drove through Cleveland where cousin John showed us around University Circle and took us to the incredible Cleveland Art Museum. Great family time all around. 

The other windy city

Chicago, like the great city of Wellington, can be pretty cold and windy if it wants to be. We had a whirlwind tour of the city and got to hang out with our favourite Chicagans (is that a word?)... Natalie, Jimmie and Ophelia. We had deep dish pizza which is helping me towards my goal of 100 kilos. Don't tell Kellie.

South Dakota

Currently driving across the Mid West. For hours all we have seen is this monotonous brown grassland and these bugs splattered across our windscreen. Posts to come on Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Devils Tower... plus photos of a grizzly bear we saw. Yes you heard right.

The legend of Devils Tower

Devils Tower (a.k.a. Bear Lodge, Rock Tree) is a geological curiosity in Wyoming's North East. Well worth a trip if you are ever in the area. The tower sticks out a good 250m from the prairie around it. Geologists agree that it is an "intrusion" of cooled magma into a softer sedimentary layer of earth and that the soft stuff has eroded away. Exactly how this happened is a mystery as there is little evidence of volcanic activity in the area.

I like the Kiowa tribe's version anyway. In this legend, a group of seven sisters were being chased by a huge bear. They came to a flat rock which told them to hop on. The rock grew into a huge tower, which the bear started to claw at creating huge grooves in the rock. The sisters then fled up into the cosmos and became stars, and so did the bear in hot pursuit. This is why at times of the year they can be seen directly above the tower as the constellation Pleiades (what we call Matariki in NZ), being chased by another bear shaped constellation.

Le Grand Teton

The Grand Teton mountains lie just south of Yellowstone and made a great detour after the rolling hills and geothermal activity of its northern neighbor. Grand Teton means 'large teat' in French, likely named by French CanadIan explorers. We did some good walks, and Torrey had a swim in a glacial lake after an afternoon run. 

Yellowstone National Park

Fall is a great time to visit Yellowstone, crowds of critters instead of crowds of people. We saw elk, bison, antelope, a coyote... even a grizzly bear. He was rummaging around some bushes near the road into the Old Faithful geyser area. He must have been loading up on berries for his winter siesta. Old Faithful dutifully erupted at the advertised time.

Thanks Canada

We have left Canada and are now on the way to Yellowstone National Park. We had a great time staying with the Fisher family, celebrating our first Canadian Thanksgiving, and exploring Invermere/Banff.

Twin Peaks

Yesterday we visited Snoqualmie Falls and Salish Lodge, which you may remember from the intro to Twin Peaks. Lucky for us Bob was nowhere to be seen.

Spokompton, Spokanistan, the lilac city

Our first stop of the trip is Spokane, the largest city in eastern Washington, to see the always lovely Ms. Kori. We had a big night out with Kori, Ryan, Taylor and a few friends, and Kori graciously put us up for the night in her own bed. It was also great to see Margie the next morning at brunch. So many great people in this place!

Ryan and Torrey feeling a bit rough at the Satellite at 4am.

Off on our road trip for real

We are heading off on our road trip for real today. First stop Spokane (by way of Snoqualmie Falls and the Cascades), then the Canadian Rockies for the weekend. Lets hope the Gladiator likes mountains...and that the McDonnell green car curse doesn't rear its ugly head.

Moondoggies at Fido Fest

Went to "Fido Fest" yesterday (I think it was a music festival for dogs?) and saw the appropriately named Moondoggies play. Check them out, I particularly like this song:

Chihuly Gardens, Seattle

We had a great time in Seattle yesterday with the always hilarious Joe Bell, longtime friend of Torrey's family. The Dale Chihuly exhibit at Seattle Center was spectacular, check it out!