Thursday, June 24, 2010

Yellowstone - A little piece of Norway

After a long but nice trip trough a few states we finally arrived to Yellowstone National Park. As we were driving in we actually went throughout Montana first for about half an hour, yeeeey another state, and then we came in at the west entrance to the park.

Everyone wow'ed a little bit as we drove in because this place is exactly like Norway, only PACKED with animals. Theres a lot of bears and buffalos here, and almost everywhere you look you can see a "Do not approach buffalo, stay safe, stay away" or "Bear Country". We saw many buffalos and then we saw an actual wild bear!!!!! Cool.













So everything was just like Norway and we felt close to home or at home. We stayed in a nice little place called Bridge Bay where Lars had made reservations for us. The first night the weather wasnt too nice so we ate out and in the evening we all gathered in one tent and played cards, except for LM, who wanted to be a badass and meet the bad weather that came in over us. First there were dark, dark clouds, then thunder and lightning. Then it started to rain and then it actually started to hale!! It haled for some time and things got a bit wet but then the sun finally came out. Crazy, cause we experienced all four seasons in like 10 minutes, haha.We weren't too prepared for the nights out here, i think we all agree on that. The first night we all almost died, im totally serious haha. It was soooooooooooooo cold and i was wearing tights, pants, a top, polo and a sweater and it still didn't help. So to you guys, if you ever go here or anywhere up north like here; bring WOOL and many smart clothes, and for Gods sake; don't sleep in a sleepingbag that holds down to 6 degrees (celcius)………………

So Yellowstone is beautiful. We've seen many animals, and buffalos are as common here on the fields as cows like we know it. They weren't so many as cows though, but we saw them frequently. On Monday we went to see the Old Faithful geyser, the most known and popular attraction here in the park. Every 60-90 minutes it erupts and it lasts for anything between 1-5 minutes. It was cool to see it and it went high. At the average it can go as high as 130 feet, which is about 40 m. Pretty cool.
After that we went for a walk around in the Old Faithful area and there was more geysers and hot springs. Then we went for a hike up a trail. Again; bear warnings, so i sang and clapped all the way up and down to scare any bears away, haha.

In the afternoon and evening we grilled as it was very nice outside. We met a few guys from, i think Washington and Seattle?, and they were alright. Before they came over we played Beat for Beat by the fire, which was very fun!

Tuesday we didn't doo much. The weather was horrible so we just went to another camping to wash a lot of clothes, and then we hung out at a hotel and played cards for hours! Fun enough! :) it was nice to sit in the hotel because we felt sivil again.. sleeping on the ground in a tent for days is a biiiig contrast to being inside an actual house with hot water in the taps and showers! Were we in Las Vegas, really?? With luxury and marble anywhere you looked lalala... <3

Back to the cold. Wednesday was check-out day. We went to the Mammoth area, which is in the north-west part of Yellowstone. Here we saw the hot springs that are really cool because they lay in a terrace formation or whatever. Im really bad in explaining things like that, um, youll just have to see in the pics again haha.

You can suppousively bathe in the springs, though it didnt look like you could. But that day we were told that it was closed anyway so we only got to see it.
We didnt do much else here, we were gonna go horseback-riding but that never happened. Im kinda hoping that we'll meet someone cool in Kansas with a big-ass ranch who will lend us some horses!

Next up is South-Dakota - Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Jewel Caves AND and a place calld Hot Springs with Actual springs that we can Actually bathe in!

Hey, please feel free to commet, i will appreciate it!

- vic -

Passing through Utah and Idaho and Montana

Next up on our roadtrip was a pitstop in a little place right after the border to Utah called Kanab. This place is know for many many cowboy movies that have been filmed here and a lot of celebs in the genre have stopped by to grab a bite every now and then.
We found a nice campground here with very nice people and went for a bite at Nedra's Mexican Restaurant. They had the BEST salsa ive EVER IN MY LIFE tasted and i got full on nachos and salsa before i got my dinner. Ops. Clint Eastwood has hung out at this restaurant several times too.

So we were in Utah. We spent the night in Kanab and then we went on north to Bryce Canyon. Bryce is kinda hard to explain so youll just have too see in the pics but the place very western and we could go horseback riding down the canyon but it was kinda expensive. We bought cowboy-hats though, so now me, Torgeir, LM and Magnus are officially cowboys haha!
We didnt go to the canyon but what you can see in the pics is pretty much what Bryce Canyon is about, only the canyon is covered in that scenery.We went on and drove to Salt Lake City. We didnt really stop, only to try to take out some cash. The city was clean and all that, but i didnt think it was that much pretty and all. We saw to little probably!We continued our trip after we made the decision to camp in Ogden, right after Salt Lake City. When we got there we couldnt find any campground so we decided to keep on and drive further towards Yellowstone.

We crossed another border, in to Idaho. No Youdaho? Haha just kidding. Anyways, we found a spot in Idaho Falls, put up our tents and went straight on the next day, but we didnt get far before we found a bear park called Yellowstone Bear World. This place was really cool because it was made so we could drive trough the park, right beside all the animals. We saw moutain goats, Rocky Mountain elks, American bisons, GRIZZLY BEARS!!, moose, black bears and white-tail deers.We stayed the night in Idaho Falls, not much to say about that really and we only passed trought Montana right before we got in to Yellowstone National Park, which lies in Wyoming.

Ill upload a little more pics to this post later.
The jurney goes on to Yellowstone!

- vic -

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Grand Canyon - One of the seven natural wonders of the world for sure!!



















We hit the road a little late because we did some sightseeing in Las Vegas during the day. We checked out the Stratosphere and wanted to take the Big Shot ride, but it was closed down because of wind. We got a good view of the city though!

On the way to Grand Canyon we saw Hoover Dam too! We were lucky because they closed the place down when we came but i talked to a policeman and begged since we <>, so he let us in for 5 mins!

ANYWAY we arrived to the Grand Canyon National Park a little late. We came in at night and there were a lot of animals right beside the roads so we had to drive like really slow to not hit any. We looked around for some campgrounds but everything was full and closed so we actually ended up sleeping in the cars. Some of the guys set up their tent even though they werent allowed to by the park. It went okay though!
We did end up lucky the next day though because Mather Campground had 1 spot left due to cancelling, so we put up our tents fast and then we went up to the rim trail at Yavapai Point (i think thats what it was called). Can you imagine eating breakfast by one of the worlds most beautiful places?

We went back to the campground and played cards, badminton and caught up on some sleep. Later on in the evening we went back to the rim trail at Yavapai Pt. to see the sunset. Lars and the guys brewed some coffee and we all sat at the edge of the canyon as the sun set and put the canyon to sleep. It was so beautiful, almost like and illusion.






















I thought it was really cold during the night but i got through it. The next day we checked out at 1130 and went straight to another trail called Kaibab, where we did some hiking down the canyon. We didnt go far, or for a long time, but it was pretty steep, so the walk back up was a liiiittle heavy, at least for me haha. The hike was gorgeous and it felt very unique to be walking down this incredible scenery. Everywhere we looked was, well, the pictures tell everything....

Grand Canyon is the greatest end neatest thing we've seen so far, for me it tops Vegas for sure. Everyone should go to the canyon and experience it. Theres no hole in the ground like it!!
Next we're off to Yellowstone but we're going to stop a few places because we have reservations the 20th.





Until next time

- vic -

Saturday, June 19, 2010

What Happens In Vegas, Stays In Vegas....


I think all of us had huge expectations to this place and as our car finally rolled in on the Strip we all screamed of joy and excitement! We had all waited so long for this and was looking farward to have a SUPER time, and it all started of absolutely great as we checked in at the fantastic MGM Grand hotel, right at the beginning of the strip! When we came it was like a shopping-center with shops and restaurants, and then we got to the main lobby which was amaaaaazing!! The hotel has a theme with lions and they had to actual lions in a huge cage made of glass for all visitors too see. Youll see pics when i upload on facebook!

So the first thing we did was to put our things in our rooms and then we went straight down to the pool where we bought a bucket with beer and just enjoyed ourselves. In the evening we ate fabolous Sushi at one of the restaurants at the hotell. Lars hadnt tried before and i had bad experience with it but everyone liked the dinner and we wanted to eat it again the day after. We wanted to check out the Bellagio fountains but we didnt make it of course as the last show ran at 12 AM.












The next day we all hung out at the pool again, it was so beautiful down there, and how chill isnt it to just hang out by a pool having drinks and beer all day??








In the evening we had rented a Limo which was sooooo cool and we drove around for about two hours. We all felt a little rich and famous as our driver, yes Our Driver, drove us around so we could see some famous things in Vegas such as the welcome sign, the kinda fall-looking fountain at Aria and we went to the old town, like the original Vegas, where the worlds biggest screen covered a whole roof. It was so awesome!Of course we had to check out Caesars Palace and that place was amazing! Everything was in of course Roman style and we hit a nightclub there.

Im not gonna say much about stripclubs here in this city, other than that theres many of them.........:p

The biggest event of the trip was of course when we finally caught the shows of the Bellagio Fountains. It was sooo amazing and i cant believe how much work has been done to make the whole thing work. It runs different shows with different songs and choreographies, i dont remember how many, but here is one show, one of the most spectacular ones we got to see:

So we left Vegas a little shorter on money but we had the most amazing time so far and im definitely going back there sometime! Soo much to do! I found out that you dont have to be 21 to have fun here too, lucky me!

Off to The Grand Canyon!!

- vic -

Roadtrip kick-off in Hollywoooood

So we are finally on the road but first the boys had to say goodbye to Ron and Ginger. I think they all we're sad because the landlords were really nice and South-Mission was a beautiful place to stay for half a year to study. Cant say no an apartment at the beach by 30 meters!

Here are the boys and the landlords.
We started the day with breakfast at The Mission, a great place in North Mission and me and LM bought pancakes!! I mean, of course we had to try the tradisional american breakfast! A good breakfast, but it was way too much to eat.....! Anyway, we've now officially started the Pancake Tour of America!
We went on speed-sightseeing and saw Coronado Island, La Jolla and the seals there and then we went to Mount Solidad and checked out the view over all of San Diego before we started the
trip to LA. This was to show Runa and LM San Diego, as much as we could because that was the only day they could see the city.

In LA we stayed on a hostel called Banana Bungalow for two nights, which was nice enough. All seven of us had a dorm for ourselves so we had two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom that only we shared.
The first night we celebrated the first day of the roadtrip with a glass of wine or beer at a very nice restaurant. The next day we went to that nice spot that me and Lars found the last time we were here to see the Hollywood sign. We fooled around a lot and took some funny pics. LA isnt complete without seeing the sign!!
After that we went to the Hills (Beverly Hills) only to see if we could catch a glimpse of some celebrities. We ate lunch at a expencive restaurant called the Ivy where suppousibly all celebs and rich peps go hang out. Unfortunately we didnt see much famous people but Lars and Runa are sure they could recognize a lady and i think all of us thought we recognized her in the end, (probably cause we just REALLY wanted to see a celeb) but we never found out what her name was haha.

Then we saw the Chinese Theatre like any other tourist and on this day it was the grand premiere of Toy Story 3 so the Hollywood boulevard was closed off for the red carpet. Unfortunetly we were in the Hills at the time when all the celebs came to the premiere BUT after seeing the Chinese Theatre we went at the back of the premiere-local and YES; we finallly cought glimpsES of celebrities! We didnt see many but we saw Nikki Blonsky (Tracy Turnblad from Hairspray), we saw the girl from the Jonas Brothers TV-show, Chelsea Staub, AND we saw the main star of the whole movie: TIM ALLEN!!!!! haha, yeeeey!



















We all had a great time here but we found out that Los Angeles is a little too much if you are planning on sticking around for a longer time. All the glam and celeb-hunting can tire you out haha....

- vic -

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Welcome back to San Diego!

So June 11th i finally flew back to San Diego! I had companions with me, Runa and Lars Martin aka The Awesome, who are also coming along on the roadtrip, and i think the trip was a little easier on everyone having someone to talk to all the way haha..


The flights were too long this time but we finally arrived and it was soooo good seeing Lars again, i cant even describe it! <3 onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimVx6RLyYdl-7CoECuNWL1UF1FclTR3Xv8oZYYt1rTbgc5T4wKqnbxdEx33uB116lc2EZ1yE-F6A5IWE8hKumhygSjI0BmO8oqClPeETgORo29a3HAykZNsgnrwZXssvN3UCs03UY8FEA/s1600/DSC09077.JPG">
Here we are, finally reunited!

Today is Los Angeles day and Hollywood, but first we're gonna do some speed-sightsing of San D so Runa and LM can see this place, and then we're off!


- vic -

Friday, June 04, 2010

Sex and the City 2!

So i finally have some time to write!

Yesterday i was at the Sex and the Cuty 2 glam-premiere and it was sooo much fun!
It was me and 4 girlfriends, all stashed up with dresses and heels and we started the evening at a luxurious hotel with "paparazzies", red carpet and champagne and we got to see the Spa there which was georgeous, then we went to the theatre for another red carpet and more paparazzies, haha, (im eshausted of all the fame, man) and ate cupcakes in Sex & the Sity style (they were soooooo god), saw a fashion show with was very fun and then......the movie!! It was GREAT!

Loved all the glam and fashion as always and i loooved Samantha, God shes just so crazy!

I hope theres gonna be a third, and ive heard rumours that there will be!!
After the movie we all went to a bar and had more fun and drank a Daiquiri, i think it was a Strawberry Margarita and it was D_E_L_I_C_I_O_U_S!!! Im definitely buying that one again!!

So it was absolutely a great girls night out, The Hills style without any drama (not The Hills style) and i cant wait til next time!=D

Next time
- vic -

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

School, school and more school

I hardly have any time at all to blog these days and i was really starting to get into it again, dang! So anyway im awfully much at school and i probably wont be able to blog again before im all done with my exam! Luckily its only 10 DAYS 'til im going to San Diego again and the 12th we're off on the, to-be, legendary roadtrip!! I CANT WAAAIT i seriously cant wait..!

Well thats it for now, i gotta go sleep! Night.

- vic -