http://www.gerbenfoto.eu/usa/ en-us http://www.gerbenfoto.eu/usa/#15
Hold up, kitten? Yeah, Jens kitten Neo. The day before yesterday Jen went out to the bank to do whatever people do at banks and I went on to make some dinner (a delicious chili). After an hour I started to ask about her whereabouts because one hour is different from ten minutes!

"I nearly hit a kid" I heard over the phone, so I was like, damn, but okay; good thing u didn't actually hit him. So when Jen pulled up the driveway 30 mins later I sat down in the car to talk to her and this kitten crawls up my jeans to my lap mi-awing. "Kitten, not kid! Stupid bad phone reception".

Since we had a few long days and we just wanted to go to bed, not knowing what to do with the kitten we took it in so we would decide in the morning what to do with it. Its very cute, white with grey, about 6-7 weeks old, litter trained, very curious, etc. Overall a cat people would want to have. As we were considering to take it to the vet to have it checked out the landlady came up to us and told us the cat had to go!

Now of course there was a reason for it, let me explain the housing situation. We're (Jen and me) are sleeping and living in the basement of a big suburban house in the western suburb 'Lisle' of Chicago. The family is a mom, dad and two kids, of which one is temporarily not living here because of trouble with wrong friends (he's better off with his dad).

They also hired a driver because both the mom and the daughter have bad eyesight and cannot drive themselves while the husband is working. This driver is living in another room in the basement with several cats of her own. This driver is a she and has particularly weird ideas about life, but according to her its fine if we call her a weirdo.

The driver particularly couldn't get along with the husband very well. In fact, not well at all, so not well that the tense situation in this house escalated and the husband in a drunken rage decided to assault the driver (who got away in time) and call the cops.

A little before this happened we had a fight with the landlady and the result was that we had to move out and get rid of the cat, so after a painful moment we decided it was better off at the local police station.

Only to come back in the house to realize things took a turn for the wort and the husband started his rage, which didn't end before the cops showed up at the house for the third time at which point they failed to arrest him, something he probably got away with since the man used to work at the police himself.

Nonetheless, the man is now charged with assault and its needless to say that we didn't sleep very well last night. I did however wake up to find my landlady knocking on the door telling me I had a guest. The little bright spot of yesterday made its way back from Animal Control with a big apology from the woman telling me we can stay as the guy was going to be served a warrant for arrest due to domestic violence and assault on the driver and that he's certain of jail time. They also informed me that (unlike what we've expected) the 'mr niceguy' has also been convicted several times before, has a drug history and a history of violence.. We are now welcome to stay after all and the damage (on our side at least) has been undone :)

Overall the last few days have been like a script for a bad B movie, so there goes my relaxing holiday story :P. Well I'm glad we got the cat back, I am starting to pack and load up for the road trip and I will hopefully be back soon with stunning pictures. For fun we ordered 5 packs of Fuji 100c for the Polaroid camera to document the road trip and I'm very excited about it.

Gerben out.
]]>2010-07-16 17:13:58http://www.gerbenfoto.eu/usa/#14
So, after a bit of a spur of the moment thing I ended up in Chicago! Well just outside of it, in Lisle, a western suburb full of typical suburban houses with two story houses, picturesque windows, perfect gardens and two cars on the driveway.

After a busy week (I got here the 2nd of July) I finally have some time to catch up on the blog and show you some pictures! We (me and Jen) have been all over the area in the past week. We visited the northern suburbs, Lake Michigan, Wisconsin and of course the city of Chicago itself!




And some more pictures:




That's all for now. We're currently planning an East Coast roadtrip along the following places: Toronto, Montreal, Boston, NYC and if we have time Washington and Cincinatti!

Gerben Out.]]>2010-07-12 23:53:51http://www.gerbenfoto.eu/usa/#13 So here I am, waiting for Evans (Skaeleen) to finish with his work so we can go out and see some nightclubs downtown. While I wait I will give you a short summary of the places I seen in the past week. When I arrived here by Greyhound bus last week Evans picked me up at the busstation to see his favorite sandwich chain: Dagwoods. After a short introduction of the city and providing me with the Metro card I was dropped off at the Auberge Alternative in the Old Port of Montreal.
After checking in I found out my reservation wasnt for 3 days but just for one and I could be on the waitinglist for the other days, so I went along with that with a uncomfortable feeling. Now that last part was mostly because of the small beds in the open Dorm. The matresses were not much wider than my actual shoulders and both my head and feet stuck out the bed. After a somewhat uncomfortable night I went down to see how my reservation was going along and I was told that I had to move out of the dorm and come back two hours later to check in again.
So I phoned Evans to see what he was doing and he told me to come over to his place to see what it looked like and to show me some of his work, and so we did. If I recall correctly we even went out for dinner after calling in his girlfriend to come over. I must say that im pretty unsure what happened at what point, but I'm gonna let the pictures fill in the gap. Either way, back at the hostel I found myself the owner of a new bed in a closed dorm with only five beds. Picking the biggest one in the corner I had the advantage of a good night sleep. I had to sleep because the next day Evans would show me around Montreal by either means of transport.
So I woke up early to meet up with Evans at Lionel-Groulx and he showed me all around the island by car. After a nice meal on the patio in the appartment I went back to the hostel to recover, taking pictures on the way there.




[OK, gotta break off the blog because Evans girlfriend insist on showing me the other islands around here by car, i'll continue after I get back]...
[So its not after the tour, but next morning after spending all night drinking 'Grolsch' and printing fine art quality prints of my pictures]...

So where was I.. owh yes, the next day was one for me to spend alone, so I went to the art museum which I did not like as much as the one in Ottawa, but I liked nevertheless.



So Friday Evans decided it was time for me to show me around Mont Royal and the underground art community. Mont Royal was just walking a lot because we simply didnt know where to find the right viewpoints or the right landmarks and after countless wrong directions we found a amazing view over Montreal and a somewhat disapointing view over the Mont Royal cross.
Making our way down we headed towards the building Evans learned to know as packed with new galleries and talent. After viewing some of these amazing galleries we got bored, and went uptown again to meet up with his girlfriend Day to have dinner at the timeless restaurant Moe's.




Yesterday evening I found myself without a hostel so I was invited to stay over at Evans place and we made good use of the time to make some good prints and walk around in the neighbourhood at 3 am in the morning which I can testify is a creepy place to be.
Well for now I have to hurry up because I still have to pack and my plane is leaving in like 15 minutes so no links this time just the images.

Till soon! I just hope I can keep up the promise of writing a final blogpost when I get home ;).

Thanks Evans and Andreanne for the stay, I had a wonderful time.. sorry for messing up your lifes =).]]>2008-08-17 16:46:20http://www.gerbenfoto.eu/usa/#12Backpackers Inn, Ottawa, Canada. Its a bit late now, but I just had to write this blogpost before I take my Greyhound bus tomorrow down to Montreal. So its been quite a rush being here. So what happened since the last time I was in Texas? When we were staying at this crappy hostel in Arlington I caught the idea to fly north to Canada to meet two persons I have been chatting with for a long while now.

Easier said then done I finally managed to get my ticket sorted out and last tuesday we arrived at San Antonio airport. Me and the family would fly togehter to Washington DC and I would split up and go north while they catched their flight directly to Amsterdam. After being misguided several times at DC I finally ran in to board the plane to Ottawa and I found out to my big suprise that the small aircraft was only to cary 10 persons including two pilots and a stewardess that day. It was a very comfortable flight to Canada and as I was told the customs were only a formality. Better even, since there was no line at all I had a bit of a chat and then it was on to downtown Ottawa.

There I met up with Marie-Claude to have dinner at some fancy restaurant at Rideau center, which is just about the daily center of the city. All busses stop around this place, its packed with shops and full of people. Not long after that Marie had to go again and I was there on my own. Prior to the dinner we had my bags dropped off at this hostel so we could walk around town without being bothered by the bags. This hostel by the way is very decent for the price I pay! Its all very clean, secure and very open, the owner: Obi keeps walking around and talking to everyone, he even managed to say my name yesterday, which was pretty funny.

After dinner I just went back to sleep because the next day Marie had promised me to show me around town. So the next day we met up at Rideau center which I by now could find by myself to have a brunch and we went straight down to Parlement Hill. This hill houses the parlement building (doh) and the cities symbol: the Peacetower. After sneaking in on a tour we got in and went to see the tower which is the tallest building in the area (by law!). At some point Marie had to go to work so I took the chance to walk around town. What I didnt expect with this temprature was to be caught in a heavy rainstorm minutes later. I there found out that Canadians are overall friendly people, I kept seeking shelter in doorposts and everywhere I went people would start a chat with you, you dont see much of that in Europe!



In the evening we were supposed to meet up again, but when I called in Marie was very tired and we decided it was better to just meet up the next morning again. So after a small dinner I went out to see the sunset, went back to the Hotel and after a while I noticed some sounds comming from the river side, so I grabbed my camera and headed for Parlement hill, because beside the nice buildings it also gives you a plain view over the Ottawa river and the other side of the water (Gatineau). It turned out to be a amazing firework spectacle that lasted for a staggering 1.5 hours! I just couldnt believe how much fireworks they fired off, the whole river valley was covered with smoke at last, I think my cloths still smell like it. Either way, it was good for some nice shots.

Thursday morning I went out on my own to explore some more of the western side of town and I crossed the river to see the Gatineau side. It was pretty odd to see that once you cross the river everything is french. Now I know about the Canadian background of seperation between the languages, but I found it a little bizar that a river made such a difference. I only really went to make some pictures and some upcomming rain clouds made me turn back and visit the Canadian War Museum instead. It was here that I learned some interesting new views to the history as we get it taught in Europe, and I could clearly see back the intense bond between the dutch and the canadians. Overall it was very interesting and guess what? There was MORE rain :/.




Friday was a weird day for me, things just didnt work out as I had planned them. Instead of spending most of the day in town with Marie I generally went down on my own. I mostly just hang out and walked around town. At the end of the afternoon I noticed there was more things going on at Parlement hill and I found myself in the middle of a military parade not much later. I noticed some large pieces of artillery at the hillside and I went over to see them. After asking some military staff about it I was allowed to get closer to get some nice shots. I gave them the link to this blog so if you read this, thanks a lot. The shots turned out just right!

Saturday was again a day to be own my own, so I went to see the Musee Des Beaux-Arts Du Canada after experiencing yet another heavy rainstorm while I walked around at some hilltop near the river. The museum anyway was a unique experience. Its a huge collection of historical and modern day contemporary art in a facinating building. I was mostly impressed by some of the pieces, but how much I try to find them back, I cant give you a link to them. You will simply have to get down here some day to see them yourself :).




Today is, or well, today was, its well passed midnight at this point, a simple day. Got out of bed by noon after a long discussion on a chat channel last night (Yes, there is WiFi here and I got a laptop, plus I still suffer from Internet addiction so I chat in the evenings!) I just needed the sleep. I just went out of bed to fetch my bus tickets to Montreal. That at itself was quite a funny experience as I got lost in the lesser part of Ottawa. Its not a good neighbourhood and I managed to get lost in a simple square block structure. Not entirely my fault, because when I was just 1 block away from where I had to be I asked someone and he pointed me in the wrong direction! But okay I was in no hurry so I got there anyway. Getting there I noticed how different the people were, because I by then only seen parts of uptown and the richer suburbs. I ended up flirting with some girls for no reason, I must be changing! .. at last.

For now, I just have to sleep, tomorrow promisses to be a interesting day. I will be picked off the bus station by Skaeleen to have a little tour around the Old Port district of Montreal and some dinner with him and his girlfriend 'Day'. I have no idea what to expect because seeing Marie in Ottawa has been such a weird experience, but I will have to find that out tomorrow. For now bye and till soon (I keep hoping that the next hostel has WiFi too ;)]]>2008-08-11 08:15:35http://www.gerbenfoto.eu/usa/#11 The last few days have been quite a mix of driving and viewing, after our SeaWorld visit we packed our bags and set off to Fort Worth, TX.
We hoped to find some interesting things in FW and Dallas (which are two connecting cities) by getting a hotel right in the middle, in Arlington.
Now that was the worst idea so far because we ended up in a crappy hotel just 500ft away from a railyard with 2 mile long freight trains moving along all night, horning and squeeking.
The next morning I found myself laying in bed feeling terribly ill from no sleep and perhaps bad food the day before, we decided to leave the hotel and get a more comfortable place around Dallas itself.
After getting there I just made a dive for my bed and went to sleep. I pretty much just slept that day while my mother and the sisters went to the Dallas Zoo.

The next day I felt a lot better and we went out to see Dallas and later on also Fort Worth.
It started off with the 6th floor museum, from where if you may believe it was the spot J.F. Kenedy was shot.
Below are some pictures of the visit, and yeah sorry for the rather tasteless comment on the sightline shot.



After visiting the site we also went to the Holocaust museum which I really much apreciated. It is the first museum I visit in the US that did not promote the US of A in any way.
No flags, no american stories and hell even a public statement that the US failed during this period. Thats something you dont come acros every day ;).

Though it was impressive it was also a small museum as the bigger building was being planned and the exhibition was only temporary. Since it was well over 115F we gave up soon and got in the car to go to Fort Worth.
Now both cities arent really that nice to see, the centers are covered with tall office buildings and the remainings space is emtpy buildings with homeless people all over and some parking lots.
Outside of Fort Worth however you have this 'historical' tourist site called the Stockyards where you're suposibly see the life of cowboys and live stock trading. Its not very interesting, but they have all these little shops and I AM on a holiday with 3 females, so I was screwed.
They did also have this funny maze and a train platform in the middle of a building, but still not very interesting at all. It was just fun hanging around, but certainly not the most impressive stuff I seen. I guess that is the drawback of doing all the big stuff first and then go to Texas ;).




Now comes the interesting part, though my family flies back tomorrow, I will not.
I decided that I wanted to look up some people I have been talking to for a long long time and I value meeting them.
Since I am 'around' I figured I could take a shot up going north up to Canada. There I will remain for what I think will be two weeks till I really have to get a flight home to finish my work before college kicks back in.

Gerben

-- DUTCH --

Het is maandagmorgen en de laatste dag in San Antonio is ingegaan.Morgen vliegen we weer naar huis na een heerlijke vakantie van 3 weken. Drie weken waarin we heel veel hebben gedaan, beleefd, gezien en ervaren. 3 weken toeren door de States. het was een schitterende vakantie die wij alle vier niet snel zullen vergeten en waar we met plezier op terug kunnen kijken.
De afgelopen dagen hebben wij door gebracht in Dallas, eerste nacht aangekomen in Arlington waar we een motel troffen waar de kakkerlakken de badkamer bleken te bewonen en wij daar niet echt blij mee waren.Snel naar een ander hotel, ik ben toen met de meiden de Zoo van Dallas onveilig gaan maken omdat Gerben een day off nam. Alwaar wij te midden van allerlei dieren ineens een krokodilschildpad zagen lopen en die netjes af geleverd hebben. Was wel komisch, weten wij veel dat die dieren dus leven hier, hij/zij had het volle recht daar te kruipen.Ben je dus echt een blonde toerist.De dag erna hebben we het museum: the 6th floor bezocht waarschijnlijk allen bekend als de plek waarvan President Kennedy op 22 nov 1963 is neergeschoten. Bleek ons allemaal wel wat te doen met name ook omdat we allemaal de beelden kennen en wij er nu echt stonden.daarna de stad in om verderop het holocaustmuseum bezocht wat zeer indrukwekkend was.Na een tijdje in de verzengende hiite van de stad te heben gelopen stapten we de auto weer in om richting Fort Worth te gaan waar een stockyard is in cowboystijl. Alwaar we een middag de toerist hebben uitgehangen tussen alle cowboys in.
Gisteren weer een lange weg terug naar SA, maar wel een leuke route via een farmersroad die ik met heerlijke hoge snelheid nam, de heuvels op en af.Nu dus de laatste dag dus de koffers herpakken, indelen en zorgen dat we allen onder het gewicht blijven.
Dit was het laatste blog en wij hopen dat jullie ervan genoten hebben, wij in ieder geval wel.

Liefs Nel, Jeannetta en Andrea, San Antonio Texas!]]>2008-08-04 17:25:01http://www.gerbenfoto.eu/usa/#10San Antonio, Texas. Right, here we are after staying in town a little longer than expected to give my sister some more time to see back the surroundings she missed we are now packing bags again.
Tomorrow we leave for Fort Worth and the adjecending Dallas. There is only a few days left before we actually fly back home. Things are going really fast now. Yesterday we visited the famous San Antonio Seaworld and despite my fears of it being a childish park with dolphins it was great fun.
To be honest it WAS a childish park with dolphins .. along with a neat water park (YES, sunburns really hurt!) and a few rollercoasters. The day was pretty straight forward and ended with the famous killer whale (orca) show with Shamu as the main star.



Today after dropping off my sister at some book store we went down town again. Since it was a cloudy wednesday there werent as many tourists as last weekend and we finally got a chance to see the Tower of Americas and the Alamo without the tourists.
Now the Tower of Americas was pretty neat. You enter a elevator that goes up the side of the tower and you can clearly see the whole city. A top you have a good view over the skyline of San Antonio and I thought I could see the nearby Austin.
After the tower we walked down to the square to take some better pictures of the Alamo. Overall I think its just a funny thing. The whole of Texas seems so proud at the Alamo, but really its just a never completed missionary church with poor build quality that fell after a short but fierce battle into the Mexian hands.
Either way, the're all pretty exited about it and it took me a staggering 10 minutes to get a clean shot of the building without the fat police officer.



Till soon!

-- DUTCH --

Good evening/morning or afternoon from San Antonio, Texas.

We zijn hier nu 5 dagen geweest en hebben heel veel gedaan, waar ik zo over zal vertellen.Morgen vetrekken we weer dus de hotelkamer staat vol met koffers en stuff terwijl de kinderen trachtten er alles weer in te proppen. Ok, de afgelopen dagen hebben wij dus door gebracht in deze mooie stad. we zijn de Riverwalk afgelopen, hebben de vele winkels bezocht, zijn in the Tower of Americas geweest waar we een enorm uitzicht hadden over de stad. Gisteren een heerlijke dag door gebracht in Seaworld waar we allemaal nat vandaan zijn gekomen.Het was genieten.
Daarnaast even wat vertellen over de malls hier, dat zijn een kind of winkelcentra's die overdekt zijn, neem een paar C&A's, meng dat met boekwinkels, schoenenwinkels, bodyshops, dat mixen met een stuk of 10 eetgelegenheden, speelgoedwinkels en restrooms, stal dat uit over drie verdiepingen met roltrappen en je hebt ene beetje een beeld. Als je daar een rondje hebt gelopen ben ten eerste bevroren vanwege de airco die daar raast en zijn je schoenen versleten en is de 4 daagse er niks bij. Maar wel erg leuk om eens te zien.Dan loop je naar buiten waar je meteen flauwvalt omdat de temperatuur meteen 30 graden stijgt en loop je naar de parkeergarage waar het heel normaal is dat het minstens een uur duurt voordat je die hebt verlaten.Meteen toegeven aan deze kant,iedereen staat dan rustig in de rij naar beneden z dringen niet en laten je heel gemakkelijk voor gaan. Moet je in Nederland eens kijken.
Maar dat geld ook voor het openhouden van deuren, het je netjes laten passeren als de weg iets smaller word en ook op de highway is het heerlijk rijden, geen geduw geen gezeur. Ok het is eerst even schrikken om aan twee kanten te worden ingehaald maar dat went vanzelf.Het is alleen dat ik de snelheden nog wat langzaam vind soms en soms moe word van de waarschuwingen overal. maar we genieten nu van Jack( TomTom)die we te leen hebben gekregen van vrienden, hij leid/lijd ons overal heen al begrijpt hij nog niet zo dat wij Nederlanders meteen alles snappen en herhalen voor ons alleen maar tegen hem gaat werken. hahahahaha.
Zo jullie allemaal weer helemaal op de hoogte van onze reis die langzaam maar zeker zijn einde gaat naderen.

liefs nel]]>2008-07-31 05:40:59http://www.gerbenfoto.eu/usa/#9 Below, as promised the pictures from the two remaining days in San Francisco.




So yesterday we arrived in Texas and after dropping our bags off at the hotel we immediantly hit the road again to go see my sisters formerly host family. The main reason we came to Texas was for her to see the people she left behind a year ago.
Offcourse we aren't just here to see her friends, but also to see a bit more of Texas. Today we went to see the city center of San Antonio and I found it rather suprising.
I expected a modern cowboy, desert city with sand, heat and dry air. However San Antonio seems to be a oasis in the middle of all this plain. In the centre of the city there is a river with a sidewalk where its relatively cool and very green.
The people here are actually very polite (friendlier than in california for sure!) and helpful. Now I know this could be mainly superficial, but it still makes for a pleasant experience.



After staying in town for a few days we'll probably be heading for the coast. I think the next update will be written from there :) Till soon!

-- DUTCH --

Goedenavond/morgen/middag.

Gisteren zijn we gearriveerd in San Antonio, Texas we kwamen aan en werden met een shuttlebus naar de plek gebracht waar onze rental car zou klaar staan.Maar helaas bleek deze geen full size car te zijn, dus na het keuren van een aantal modellen hadden we een die voldeed aan onze eis en afspraak.Deze moest nog wel worden schoongemaakt dus wij in de hiite op de stoep voor het kantoor om te wachten.Na een wachttijd konden we eindelijk on hte road again en reden we op ons gemakje naar ons motel.
Daar aangekomen alles weer de wagen uit en ging Jeannetta aan het bellen om haar hostfamily in te seinen dat wij er waren.We hebben de hele avond door gebracht in een mexicaans restaraunt. Vandaag zijn we naar de riverwalk geweest en natuurlijk naar The Alamo,het was heerlijk op de Riverwalk en erg druk maar erg mooi en gezellig, uit allerlei zaken kwam muziek en waren er muzikanten aan de oever aan het spelen.San Antonio of in ieder geval dowtown is erg mooi en was totaal anders dan ik mij had voorgesteld.
Op dit moment zijn we alweer overde helft van de vakantie heen, de dagen vliegen voorbij en elke dag brengt wat nieuws, we ruiken nieuwe geuren, zien ander vogels dan wij thuis kennen.De gebouwen hier neigen meer naar het mexicaanse toe, wat niet verwonderlijk is zo dicht naast Mexico. Daarnaast cross ik tegenwoordig gewoon door alle chaos heen die hier heerst in de steden 5 baanswegen in de stad zijn vrij normaal, soms moet je rechtsaf slaan om ergens te komen en de volgende afslag blijkt dan ineens weer links te liggen, van de exits van SF naar de loops zoals ze hier heten.Andere verkeerslichten, andere snelheden. Elke staat heeft zijn eigen regels en het is aan mij daar vrij snel mee om te kunnen gaan, dus dan doe ik dat maar.
We zijn hier nog een paar dagen, gaan nog vrienden van Jeannetta te bezoeken, en er zijn nog plekken waar we heen willen.Daarna staat nog wat op stapel maar dat lezen jullie dan nog wel.

Tot snel, Nel]]>2008-07-28 06:00:51http://www.gerbenfoto.eu/usa/#8


The day before yesterday we arrived in our Motel in San Mateo after spending the night before that in Los Banos in the southern bay valley. Suprised that we could check in at 11 AM in the morning we dumped our belongings and decided to do a quick tour around the city.
After parking the Car at Pier 39 (yes, very expensive!) we walked around the northern 'Fishermans Wharf' area of San Francisco. It was a beatiful day and we were suprised to find out the local SAIL event was just taking place and hundreds of sailing boats sailed into the harbour.



After hiking around a bit it was getting late and we took the owh so typical cable car back to the harbour side, where I tried to obtain a circular polarizer filter. It turned out to be pretty hard and after visiting the fourth photo store I finally found the ones I needed.
The friendly salesman helped me fitting the right ones, combining them with other filters to see the vignetting and he even helped me cleaning up my wide angle lens since it was covered with dust by now. It all went well and I made a nice deal till I noted the guy I was looking for the price of a other lens.
That moment his friend came in and pushed the first guy away, he told me a 'amazing' story about a very bizare HD lens that was supposed to give me super quality HD shots with my normal lenses without buying a wide angle lens. I couldnt get him to understand that the very lens that was laying on the desk ready to be placed in my bag again was a high quality 10-20mm lens in the first place. Anyway.
I let him finish his story, cut him down on the price of the filters and walked out, leaving a very disapointed salesman. It was a nice deal though.



We ended the walk back at the Pier and returned to the hotel to get a long night of sleep to get ready for the second day of San Francisco



The second day we visited the coastline of California which was very very foggy. We didnt get a chance to persue the hint dear Erin gave me to visit some huge aquarium to the south of the coast and we went north towards the city.
Since I didnt have time yet to upload the pictures there wont be any of them right now, but comming soon. They consist of the coast of California, Golden Gate area and some of Presidio. I'll upload them as soon as I get a chance in Texas.

Today we visited San Francisco again, but it was not as much fun as the first day. I tried to find a portable hard drive in the city, but it turns out no-one sells them anymore or knows where the Best Buy is.
After a loooot of searching around, getting back to the hotel, finding out that there is a electronics store nearby, getting a hard drive and copying all the pictures I now find myself with blood on my feets from the new shoes I bought yesterday.
Yes, I bought new shoes, because I needed them and things are really cheap here! It was a bad choice however to walk on them for miles on the first day.

This story may be a bit short on the subject, but im very tired and getting ready for my early flight to Texas. So goodbye for now and I owe you readers the rest of the pictures ;)

-- DUTCH --

Hallo,

Hier een vervolg op de vorige verslagen die we maken. we hebben 3 heerlijke dagen doorgebracht in SF, de wereldstad en ja dat is het.Andrea heeft 3 dagen met haar mond open rondgelopen zich verbazend over de drukte, de gebouwen en de armoede die we ook hebben gezien.
Alle beroemde dingen die heir zijn hebben we bezocht, de Golden Gate bridge, Chinatown, Pier 39 en natuurlijk niet te vergeten Fishersman Warf. We hebben de heuvels hier bekommem en allemaal last van onze kuiten gekregen daarvan.We hebben de cable car genomen en de zeeleeuwen bekeken die met veel herrie lagen te zonnen. we zijn alle bruggen over gereden, zowel via de onderkant als bovenlangs.Daarnaast hebben we een tour gemaakt langs de Pacific en heb ik daar met mijn voeten in het water gestaan.d

Morgen vliegen we naar San Antonio, Texas om daar de laatste 10 dagen van onze vakantie door te brengen, ik zal daar dan ook verder gaan met het reisverslag.

Groetjes Nel]]>2008-07-26 07:30:24http://www.gerbenfoto.eu/usa/#7 After staying a very comfortable two days in the Route 66 motel in Kingman we had to pack again to make it to the booked room in Williams, Arizona. In the two lazy days we only went out to do some grocery shopping and some walking around. I spend quite some time in the pool catching a nice tan.
Well, after packing we left early in the morning to arrive in Williams. This Holiday Inn we had appearantly was managed by some grumpy latino bitches, so we werent able to check in untill a few hours later.
Thus we decided to drive on to the Red Rock County city: Sedona. After a gorgeous ride through the (bit rainy) red hills we arrived in Sedona. Sadly the rain picked up and I wasnt able to get some nice shots, however this is a nice town to visit. It was great fun to see how Americans have troubles with roundabouts ;).



After ending this roundtrip in Flagstaff we could finally check in to stay for two days, or well one and a half day by now since we would leave very early on the third day.
So Grand Canyon, in one word: amazing. I was told by my former boss that it would be hard, if not impossible, to capture on picture and he was absolutely right! I made a few panorama shots which I will compile later, but I think its a rather futile attempt to show the complete awe it invokes.



We mostly visted the Southern Rim of the Grand Canyon and also went along the 'side' to visit the Desert View watch tower. There is all these fake indian buildings and rather poor selling stands, but that didnt supress the fun we had.
Back at the Holiday Inn, bored of packing for the next day I went outside to watch the clouds go by in a attempt to clear my mind, I ended up running back to the Inn and grab my camera to take some shots of the amazing weather that passed by.



With that I conclude this entry, there will be more soon as we arrive in San Francisco tommorrow (or should be). We have two full days to spend there before we have to catch our flight to San Antonio on Saturday.
And just like this Inn the one in San Francisco will have (free!) Internet access so I should be able to upload some more pictures, lets just hope for some good weather!

Till soon.

Gerben

-- DUTCH --

We zijn nu aangeland in een motel in Los Banos, in de buurt van SF,de afgelopen dagen zijn voorbij gevlogen en we hebben veel dingen gedaan en beleefd. Na ons "prachtige"verblijf in dat fraaie motel hebben we de auto weer volgeladen en onderweg gegaan naar Kingman alwaar we een rustpauze hebben ingelast om de was te doen en even gewoon niet in de auto te hoeven zitten.
Eergisteren een mooie route gereden over de 66 en zo aangekomen bij Williams, Arizona. De eerste dag daar zijn we naae Sedona gereden een plaats waar ik 2 jaar geleden ben geweest en bekend staat als: Red Rockcounty.De bergen zijn daar dus dan ook inderdaad zoals de nama zegt erg rood en schitterend.Ik heb Jeannetta daar erg blij kunnen maken omdat daar eem Starbucks hebben en daar is deze dame nogal verslaafd aan geraakt in haar Amerika.
Gisteren op tijd de auto gepakt en richting de Grand Canyon gereden,het is en blijft voor mij een zeer mooie en prachtige plek, als je aan de rand staat voel je je heel nietig en klein.het is een enorme pracht en power wat daar te zien is.Helemaal toen er plotseling een Condor opsteeg en langs ons gleed.we hebben de hele dag rond gebracht bij de canyon en zijn door het Navajo reservaat terug gekeerd.
Vandaag heb ik ruim 11 uur doorgebracht achter het stuur omdat we terug moesten naar SF.Ik kan mij nu levendig voorstellen dat hier veel mensen zich doodrijden op deze wegen, ze zijn enrom uitgestrekt en saai.Het duurt uren voordat je eens een afslag moet nemen en de zon brand volop.het is dan ook mij vandaag een paar keer gebeurt dat ik de auto maar even aan de kant heb gezet omdat mijn ogen zwaarder werden en ik moe werd van het getuur op de weg.Maar we zijn er goed uit gekomen en zingend en blerend zijn we aangekomen hier.Nu morgen op naar SF om daar 3 nachten door te brengen.]]>2008-07-23 08:16:48http://www.gerbenfoto.eu/usa/#6'mild' 100F in the early morning I will attempt to write a small blog post. Additionally some of my family members will write a dutch report on their own below. (Onderaan staat het Nederlandse stukje!)

Our journey started off in the early morning on tuesday in Nederland where we were picked up by a cab off to the airport. After the usual boarding and customs formalities we could easily board the plane and get comfortable for a 9 hour flight to Chicago O'Hare.



On our way we flew over Greenland and I got some amazing shots there since Greenland is so beatiful at itself. Next thing I know is flying over Canada where I could clearly see the Montreal - Ottowa area to then prepare for landing.

Aboard the plane we figured there would be a short transfer time considering long distances on the airport, so we rushed towards the transfer flight to just catch it in time.

The next flight brought us straight to San Francisco International. By now we have had about 12 hours of flying and two hours of waiting in line and transferring flight and we were clearly feeling the effects of long distance jet traveling.

After checking in at some airport motel and sleeping tight we found ourselves in a rental car driving between commuting traffic over one of the many bay bridges towards Yosemity park.



After some navigating and resting at areas only our GPS device could find we finally arrived at Yosemity park in the Sierra mountains where we decided to stay over for the night. We did some walking around near the Yosemity Falls but we were still very tired from the long distance travel so we decided to get to bed early and leave the following morning. To any of you who ever plans to go to Yosemity: Staying in the Curry village tents for a good night of sleep is NOT recommended! Not only do you have to stow away all your stuff in stupid small bear box containers, the beds themselves are horrible. I ended up having lots of muscle pain for a day or so. However Yosemity park itself is simply amazing! Below some pictures:



Our next destination on the map is a little dot in the middle of nowhere called: Death Valley. After driving through this amazing landscape, wondering how anyone could survive here (or better, why WOULD anyone wánt to survive here?) we found ourselves unable to get lodging at Furnace Creek (The local ranch with small cabins). Since it was just under 120F and at the end of the day we decided to settle for a lesser solution: The 'luxe' hotel in Death Valley Junction, some 30 minutes away.



To give you a impression, Death Valley Junction is nothing but a crossroads with a old hotel and a Opera house.. Thats right, a Opera House. I remembered seeing a documentary on Discovery Channel and it seems that this is the most remote Opera House in the USA. Not that it mattered the hotel was not very glamorous. Clean, but minimal, no tv, no internet (doh) and we were unable to call during the daytime because the lines were overheated (!).

After having to have dinner in Nevada, in some casino at the state borderline, some 10 miles away we returned to have a long long night staying awake because of the airco unit that kept breaking down (read: falling apart on touch). To get out of the heath and more towards our final destination of this part of the journey (Grand Canyon) we decided to move down south towards Bastow and slowly towards Flagstaff where we have a hotel booked for the nights of the days we will spend near the Grand Canyon.



On our way we came acros one of the more famous tourist traps called: Calico. Some old mining town that was reborn as a tourist location to show people the old wild west. I wasnt very impressed and a rather lame trainride and a sun burned neck later I found myself the owner of a 'original' picture of the Calico bottle house. Not long after entering the village we left again to take the famous Route 66 down to Kingman where we found this very motel / holiday inn kind of place where we will stay for two nights to rest a bit before we continue in this heat.

-- DUTCH --

Hierbij het eerste verslag van onze reis door de States.
Ik zal bij het begin beginnen, afgelopen dinsdagmorgen vetrokken wij vol goede moed naar Schiphol.
Na de benodigde zaken konden wij richting het vliegtuig gaan.
Ik werd langzaam maar zeker steeds beroerder en misselijker maar stapte op tijd gewoon het gevaarte in.
Een opgewonden Andrea naast mij die voor het eerst van haar leven in een vliegtuig stapte.
Nou daar gingen we dan, Andrea bleek het heerlijk te vinden en heeft haar ogen uitgekeken onderweg, terwijl ik een aantal uren van gevecht tegen de paniek heb ondergaan.
Na een tussenstop in Chicago, waar wij flink moesten rennen om het volgende vliegtuig te halen kwamen we moe en plakkerig aan in SF.
Alwaar we onze auto konden ophalen, wat hadden we een lol toen we de enorme bak zagen waarin we de komende 11 dagen zouden rondcrossen.
We bleken voor die dagen de trotse eigenaars te zijn van een Chrysler!
Na een paar minuten van wennen reed ik door SF op zoek naar ons eerste slaapadres alwaar we met z'n vieren compleet instortten en meteen ons bed opzochten.
Woensdag op tijd vetrokken richting Yosemitepark, het eerste gedeelte van de route was wat saai en vlak maar werd steeds interessanter, de boomgaarden van Californie gleden voorbij en het werd groener en de hoogteverschillen begonnen we te merken aan onze oren.
Ik was in de tussentijd geheel vetrouwd met de grote bak onder mijn ....... en genoot van het rijden op de wegen van het grote Amerika.
Natuurlijk was het bergbeklimmen met de auto even flink wennen en stond af en toe het zweet mij op de rug, ok ook vanwege het enorme hiite buiten, maar wow ik genoot.
De natuur werd mooier en mooier en na verschillende stops arriveerden we aan het einde van de middag in Yosemitepark.
We besloten om daar te blijven slapen en kwamen terecht in een tentcabin.
Een soort van veredelde tent waar 5 bedden in stonden, met allerlei regels over het bewaren en opbergen van voedsel in verband met de beerpopulatie daar.
Een speciale box voor de tent moest ervoor zorgen dat de bruine beren nergens aan konden komen en ok moest de auto op de parkeerplaats helemaal leeg zijn.
Ik weet best veel soms maar wist dus niet dat die dieren ook op de geuren afkomen van champoo en zo.
Andrea was best bang van het idee van de beren maar liep toch moedig met ons mee.
Na alles te hebben ingeruimd vertrokken we voor een wandeling naar een waterval waar we meteen maar een behoorlijk stuk omhoog zijn geklommen.
Na afloop met z'n vieren aan de pizza gezeten en weer vroeg ons mandje in.
Vanmorgen weer op tijd op weg en na een prachtige rit door zeer verschillend natuuraangezichten en uitzichten reden we Death Valley binnen.
Als we de auto uitkwamen liepen we rechtstreeks een sauna in!! het was rond de 112 graden F en dat in de schaduw.
op een gegeven moment, na allerlei haarspeldbochten en dieptes kwam ik tot de ontdekking dat de meter van de benzine toch wel erg hard zakte en kreeg ik het redelijk benauwd bij het idee om in de middle of nowhere stil te komen staan.
Maar er bleek redding aanwezig en wel door een shellstation in dat kale, ruige gebied.
Phhhhhhhhh dat was een opluchting en met een volle tank reden we verder om te proberen in het midden uit te komen om daar te slapen.
Helaas en tot ons grote verdriet was er geen plaats meer in de herberg, hahahaha.
Dus door gereden, en dan nu, zit ik op het bed in een motel die je rustig kunt omschrijven als de lelijkheid ten top!!!
Maar wel zo lelijk dat het bijna mooi is, ik en Andrea hebben een kamer waar je tenminste het idee krijgt in een bordeel te zijn maar dan 1 vanuit het wilde westen, terwijl gerben en Jeannetta "gezegend"zijn met een pauw aan hun hoofdeinde.
Zo dat was het eerste verslag en nu maar hopen dat we eindelijk internet ergens kunnen ontvangen.

liefs Nel 17 juli 2008, ergens in the middle of nowhere.]]>2008-07-19 19:13:33http://www.gerbenfoto.eu/usa/#5
I will leave very early tomorrow morning.

But I still have a lot of work to do before I leave. Besides the regular packing and cleaning up the house I also leave a company behind. Luckily my dear friend Roberto volunteered to watch it in my absence. Thanks Roberto! (Now lets just all hope he doesn't screw up ;D)



Packing makes me sweat a lot.. its pretty hot here, sunny and just about 21C. I really wonder what Texas or worse: Death valley will be like. I seen temperatures just under 40C there and i'm pretty scared just about to die there. The car we rent better has Airco! We'll see about that.

More news as soon as I get a hold of a Internet access point in the US! (Wardriving for the win.. ghehe)]]>2008-07-14 13:07:32http://www.gerbenfoto.eu/usa/#1


See ^_^?]]>2008-06-23 02:14:33