Panamericana

Hi there!  (19.08.08)

I did it – I’m on the road, rode about 72km today and I’m really done for today! I found my way out of Anchorage onto the Glenn Highway without getting lost, not bad, hihi. All I had to do was to follow the Glenn Highway but that wasn’t too easy, because it’s big and there’s a lot of traffic – you can compare it to the Autobahn. There were signs saying that bicycles and pedestrians were prohibited, but often there was no option. The Highway Patrol didn’t stop me, so I guess it was ok.

Sometimes there was a bike path along the Highway and for a few km I could take roads that were parallel to it. Now I’m staying at “The Homestead RV Park” (17$ including hot showers), it’s about 10km to Palmer from here. I already pitched my new tent (for the first time), ate tuna sandwiches and bananas for dinner and took a long, hot shower. Now I’m laying in my tent while outside the mosquitoes are waiting for me. When I was resting at the Thunderbird Falls a french-american couple gave me their bear-spray since they luckily didn‘ t need it and are flying home tomorrow. Thanks guys – I’m just hoping I won’t need it either!

I didn’t take any pictures today since there was no possibility to stop on the Highway and when I got off the view wasn’t as good. It‘ s really a nice scenery I’m riding through. I’m sure I’ll take more than enough pictures the next days. I just hope the weather stays as nice as it was today: almost no wind and about 20° C.

That’s it so far, I‘ ll just pack my things together, read a bit and hopefully fall asleep right away then, although the Highway isn‘ t too far away and there‘ s still a lot of traffic.

Hi there!

I know, it’s been a while… By now our roadtrip is over. We had a great time and were kind of busy – that’s why I didn’t get a chance to update my blog.

After 3 nights in BOW at the Rubin Family we had to say goodbye – thanks again, we had a great time staying with you!!! When we reached our destination, Cayuga Lake, which is one of the Fimgerlakes, it started to rain. But that couldn‘ t stop us – we pitched our tents and started our BBQ anyways. Though we could hear thunder far away and it rained all night our tents did a good job and we stayed dry.

The next day we hiked along the rim of Taughannock Fall and then down to the Fall, which is higher than the Niagara Falls but not as wide. It was quite hot and we took we had a lot of fun taking some pictures. Later we swam in the Cayuga Lake and were very impressed to see four (4!!!) lifeguards on duty at the small swimming area. After the refreshing bath we drove to Ithaca – a different kind of City (that’s all we’ll say about it;-)). At night we had another BBQ and sat at the campfire toasting marhmallows, drinking beer and singing some songs.

Thursday, august 7th, we drove to the Niagara Falls. It was pretty crowded there and we had to pay 10$ for parking. We walked across the rainbow-bridge and entered Canada. At first we walked to the Falls, than we made a boat-tour which took us very close to the Falls. It was very impressing, loud, wet and windy down there. And we all looked kind of funny in our free blue rain-ponchos.

Back in the US we drove along Lake Erie when a thunderstorm came up. We just stopped to grab some food which we had to eat in the car when the rain started to pour down. Since it didn‘ t stop for a while we decided not to go camping but to drive some more miles. We stayed at a Days Inn, played some card-games and were glad that we didn‘ t get all wet.

I think I’ll stop here for now because it’s getting late and tomorrow is the big day. It‘ ll be the first day of my bike trip!!! I can‘ t believe it and it will probably take a while until I can ;-). I’m really looking forward to load up my bike and get out there!

Good night,

Anja

My bike is loaded and I already know that I’m carrying way too much stuff with me. It‘ s always the same. When I have to climb the first passes it’ll be the time to decide what I don’t need and send it back home or just throw it away. It‘ s already 10:42am, a late start. The plan is to cycle about 70km to Palmer. Ok, I’m outa here!!!

Anja

Hi there!

The first week of our road trip is already over and I guess it’s time to start writing in English.

Friday was our first long driving day. We got up at 7am and started with our first self-made breakfast (no fast food!!!) – bagels, cream cheese, turkey and cheese slices, chocolate milk and fruit juice. We left Piscataway around 9am and arrived at the campground in Plymouth at 5pm (8 hours of driving). The campground was very expensive. There were only 2 adults allowed on one site, that’s why we had to pay for two sites. Though they where next to each other we only used one (don’t tell anyone;-)).

We went for a swim at the campground-lake what was very refreshing. After that we drove down to Plymouth, had a look at the Mayflower II and checked out a few restaurants ‚till we found one that seemed to be a good choice. We ordered a sea-food platter (fried clams, shrimps, scallops …) for two for the four of us. And – surprise, surprise – though we are all good eaters we couldn‘ t eat it all – that was quite disappointing. The food was very good and it seemed as if many locales where buying their dinner there as well. On our way back to the campground we stopped at a liquor store (in Massachusettes you can buy alcohol only at liquor stores, not at regular grocery stores) and bought some beer. We had a hard time getting our campfire started since the firewood we bought was a little wet. We had a great time sitting near the fire, drinking beer and watching our neighbors who arrived late and tried to set up their tent in the dark reading the manual.

On Saturday we left the campground around 10:30am. We drove to a town called Braintree where we took the train to Boston. There we walked along the Freedom Trail which is a red line that leads the curious tourist to all the important and interesting sights of Boston. Just when a thunderstorm began we sat again in the train back to Braintree. We still had to drive 1 1/2h to visit Annikas‘ cousin Hanne and her family in BOW. They welcomed us very friendly and made us feel at home.

Sunday morning we ate a great breakfast with different kinds of delicious bagels.        Then the four of us and aunti Gudrun drove to Hampton Beach. We swam in the Atlantic Ocean – the watertemperature was perfect and we had a great time. Suddenly the sky was full of dark clouds and the lifeguards told everybody to leave the beach instantly. It was quite an adventure to watch everybody rush away from the beach. A pretty bad thunderstorm started just a few minutes later – but we where safe in our car again. Then we spent some time at the Kittery Outlet Stores before driving back to bow where Hanne and Richard had already prepared a delicious dinner with steak, chicken, salad, corn on the cob and baked potatoes. Later we played the game „Zug um Zug“.

Monday morning we drove to the Lost River Gorge where we walked, crawled and robbed through some cages. We had a lot of fun there. Later we drove along a scenic route and got some nice views of the mountains and stopped at a waterfall – the water was pretty cold but there where people swimming..

Our next destination was North Convey – another Factory Outlet Center. I bought a new waterbladder for my camelback and a pair of sunglasses. We arrived back in BOW around 8:30pm, had some dinner and planned the next few days of our trip. We’ll stay at campgrounds the next days and we probably won’t be on the internet for a while.

Take care,

Die Walker (AAAD)

Hallihallo!

Mittwoch waren im Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ. Unglaubliche Rollesrcoaster, verschiedenste Variationen. We had a great time, absolut empfehelnswert – nur die angekündigte atemberaubende mega Attraktion, eine „AchterGeisterbahn“ war der absolute Flop.

Gestern sind wir dann mit der Bahn nach Manhattan gefahren. Unsere Entdeckungstour begann bei Macy’s, dem weltgrößten Kaufhaus. Dann waren wir am Times Square, am Empire State Building und dann sind wir mit der Bahn zur Staten Island Ferry gefahren, mit der wir umsonst (ja wirklich) nach Staten Island und zurück gefahren sind, vorbei an der Freiheitsstatue und mit grandiosem Blick auf die Skyline von New York. Zur Belohnung schien sogar auf dem Rückweg die Sonne durch den sonst bedeckten Himmel.

Dann ging’s weiter über die Wall Street und zum Ground Zero, wo jetzt eine riesige Baustelle ist. Schwer vorstellbar, was hier 2001 losgewesen sein muss.

Da unser Reiseführer – nicht Dirk, sondern der aus Papier – einen Spaziergang über die Brooklyn Bridge als ein MUSS deklariert hat, stand der nächste Programmpunkt ohne Diskussion fest.

Nachdem wir und Chinatown angesehen hatten, sind wir mit der Metro zurück zum Empire State Building gefahren, um uns dort von der Aussichtsplattform im 86. Stock New York in der Dämmerung anzusehen. Beeindruckend tolle Aussicht auf die Skyscraper, den Hudson River und die zahlreichen Lichter der Autos (vorwiegend Yellow Cabs), die sich durch die Straßen drängten.

Webalbum „Roadtrip“

Die Walker (AAAD)