Leaving US

So yeah, "Don't cry because its over, smile because it happened" might be very clever, but it doesn't change the fact that leaving something pleasant behind hurts. So I will do both - smile and cry.

What an amazing ride it has been. 5 months ago I tore up my life in Copenhagen, at least temporarily, and moved to Arizona. It doesn't feel like such a long time ago, yet so much has happened in the meantime. So many great friends... Hillary gave me a goodbye present the other day on behalf of a large group of my friends from UA. A photo book with letters from everyone - so amazing! I didn't have time to read it, and had to send it home with Helene who was leaving that same day, but I am so looking forward to digging into all that love!

Dropping Helene off in the airport two days ago wasn't easy either. Our roadtrip was perfect, really. We had so much travel luck, everything just worked out to the best. In total we drove 2400 miles/3862 km over a period of 2 weeks. On the way from San Diego we talked about all the people we have met, all the places we have been, all the stuff we experienced. We have over 1000 pictures and a lot of little movie clips, and I cannot wait to get home to go over it all again! :)

Being back in Tucson was a little weird but also kind of nice. We stayed at Hillary's place and went out to lunch with the people with whom it all started back in August... Hillary, Chris, and Jesus. We sat in the sun at No Anchovies enjoying some of the best pizza and best company in the world. Later I took Helene to the airport, she brought a suitcase home for me, and afterwards I went to the postoffice to ship home a box of books. Only cost 46 $, not too bad actually. Then I dropped the car off and went back to rest a bit before dinner.

I went to eat with Chris, and afterwards met with Hillary in SkyBar for one last margerita. Again, just lacking Jesus, it was like being wrapping things up where they started - in SkyBar with Hillary and Chris. Back home I figured I would spend some time writing my blog before going to bed, and taking off towards Phoenix 10 AM with Jesus, but those relaxing plans ended abruptly when Jesus called and asked if we could just leave immediately. Not having packed my back or said a final goodbye to Hillary it all became a little rushed, but afterall it was kind of nice just to "escape" from Tucson in the middle of the night without thinking too much about it. So we arrived in Phoenix around 4 AM, and I spend the next day sleeping in, repacking my stuff, reading in the sun, having ribs for dinner, and touring Phoenix by car.

Now I am in the airport, leaving for Guadalajara, Mexico, the first stop on my 1 month backpacking travel.

Day 14 - Last day of the roadtrip.

As Helene was flying out of Tucson in the afternoon Wednesday 12th, we decided that it would be better to leave San Diego in the evening the 11th instead of early early morning on the 12th, and hence checked out of the hostel and packed the car one last time.

We spent the morning on a retired hangar ship in the harbor, the USS Midway. Originally build in the 40s, it has been restored several times, but was taken out of service in the 90s. Equipped with an audio tour we found our way around the huge ship, trying to avoid the worst masses of school kids. The ship was build for some 3000 sailors, but often carried 4500. Crazy... I mean, it was big, but 4500 is a lot of people! So it must have been rather crowded. Really interesting to see the different quarters and areas of the ship! Especially the flight deck was fascinating, with all its examples of aircrafts and space for take off and landing. Would have loved to see it in action!

A little late we headed back to the hostel to meet with Seil, the Korean girl we met in LA, and drove to San Diego. We had agreed to go to In'n'Out burger for lunch! After some trouble finding each other (no cellphones... How did people find each other back in the days???) we headed north to the closest restaurant, which was indeed not that close. But anyway... With a car and a GPS its never that hard. :)

We dropped Seil off in the center, and headed south. Stopped by Imperial beach, as I decided that cursing Highway 1 without actually having had our feet in the pacific would be a shame! So we went there with a towel, picked up some seas shells and sand between our toes, and then continued on the road. Helene wanted to do some power shopping in an outlet mall before going home, and since I wouldn't be able to carry more stuff I spend the time packing my backpack for Mexico. Some hours later we headed towards Tucson, for the first time with Helene driving! Really nice to be able to sit on the side and not pay too much attention to the road for once!

The trip was 400+ miles, so around 650 km, and took us app. 6,5 hours. We arrived to Tucson 2.30 AM,  and had to call Chris in La Aldea as my key card was not working anymore. We were sleeping at Hillary's place, and she had left the keys outside for me. Talk about good friends! :)

Day 13 - WOW, SEA WORLD! :D

Monday morning we got up and left the motel with all our luggage to go to Sea World, one of San Diego's main attraction. On the way we stopped by the hostel we would be sleeping at that night, in order to get some discounted rate tickets for the park.

I imagine how Sea World can be a visitor hell during holiday periods, but on this perfectly sunny January day we had all the space we wanted in the park. Sea World is a hybrid between a zoo and an amusement park with shows mixed in as well. We spend the day walking past huge aquariums and enclosures with whales, sea lions, a polar bear, loads of fish, some birds, etc. etc. etc. The most remarkable things was of course the performances, we watched 3: One with sea lions and an otter, which turned out to be our favorite show. The other two were with dolphins and killer whales, respectively, also both very fascinating and entertaining. We really had a great day browsing through the park, and when we left around 4 PM we felt like the 63$ was really well spent.


From the park we drove to the old part of San Diego through the Presidio park. The surprise from the park on the hill surprised us a bit, as we could really only see highways to all sides. Back down we checked out some shops, and then walked through parts of Old Town. A super cozy area with little old houses, some of which contained small, authentic-style shops, like an old candy shop. After a while we found a Mexican restaurant for dinner, then went back to the hostel to relax. It was sort of troublesome with parking around the city-center-hostel, and we had to get up at 3 AM to buy another parking ticket. But as we were awake due to noise in the hostel anyway, it wasn't really a problem.

Day 12 - Arrival in San Diego; Balboa Park and the Gaslamp Quater

We left Los Angeles after breakfast, yet again with an extra passenger; Korean Seil, with whom we had shared a room in Hollywood. So with the car tightly packed, we went south once again, happy to have a GPS to guide us on the intricate network of LA highways.

The trip was rather eventless and took just over 2 hours. It took us a while to figure out where to drop off Seil, and also to find our own motel, which turned out to be in the outskirts of the city. However not a big problem. After settling in to our motel room, enjoying to have our own space after the hostel-experiences, we followed suggestions from several people and went to Balboa park in the nice weather. We walked around there and enjoyed the weather and warm atmosphere, with a lot of people using the park. It even had "free thrills" in the shape of a botanical garden and a small art museum. We only went into the garden because a guy outside informed us that it was gonna close in 2,5 minutes, and we figured that would be the perfect amount of time to spend in the garden. After visiting the Getty's center the night before, we weren't to much into the art either, but of course - you cannot let a free opportunity be! :)


We left the park in the sunset, driving towards the Gaslamp quarter, parked the car in a surprisingly free spot, and went to find dinner. We ended up in a nice Italian place, enjoyed our pasta, and went home to rest in the motel. Unfortunately our neighbors had arrived. A Spanish-speaking family with a swarm of children. I went to their room after hours of noise, just to let them know that we could hear every single word they said, and was surprised to see 10+ children standing in there. How they all found a spot to sleep is beyond my imagination, but it must have been an impressive sight! :D At least they calmed down a little later, and gave us silence to sleep.

Day 11 - Los Angeles

As far as I can see I left you all hanging somewhere on Hollywood Boulevard... Lets continue from there! We spent a whole day in Los Angeles, Saturday January 8th. One might say that is not enough for such a big city, but having been there before and knowing that it is indeed not one of my favorites, I could guide Helene around to the most important places. Plus she had discovered a great way of spending our evening - more to come about that.

So we woke up to have breakfast the usual way in our Hollywood hostel, and left the car there to take the metro downtown. Funny how everybody is like "Nooo, you don't wanna use public transportation, it doesn't work, you need a car to get around", when really the system is functioning really well. It takes like 15 mins to get downtown from Hollywood with the red metro line, and costs 1.50 $. Now who would say that isn't convenient?!? We started off walking to Olvera Street, an old little alley with loads of stalls selling Mexican-style souvenirs. It also has Los Angeles's oldest house for free visiting, so of course we went there. We like free stuff... :)

After having browsed through all the little shops, looking at amazingly colorful little thingies we headed towards the more cultural side of town. Unfortunately since it was Saturday we couldn't get into the city hall to see the view of the city, so we continued down the road to the large new cathedral. Nothing like what Helene had imagined, it is an impressive building, modern style with some unique decorations on the walls. Back outside, just as we were talking about having to see the Hollywood sign before we left, it appeared on a far away hill side. Though not up close, we decided that that would good enough!

Next stop was the Disney Concert Hall, which I had only seen from the outside on my first trip to LA. This time we took an audio tour inside, but it wasn't really that interesting, as we didn't get to the the concert hall itself. An then Helene discovered that she had lost one of her new earrings from Olvera Street, so she spent some time looking for it, with no luck. So we went to get lunch at the Grand Central Market, taking the short Angels Flight trolly/rail road down the hillside. Very cute.

In the market we quickly identified that Mexican (!) would be a good options for lunch, and ended up with a burrito and a tortas, respectively. Liking American Mexican food so much, I can only imagine that my Mexico travel is gonna be a success - if they don't make it too spicy down there. ;) After lunch I went home, I was having a light cold, so was rather tired. Helene went back to do some more shopping, and met me at the hostel when I had taken a nap a while later.

Our evening excursion was to the Getty's Center, on a hilltop in the outskirts at the city! Our research had revealed that it was free to park there on Saturday nights (compared to 15$ on regular days), and the admission is always free. Another free experience! And it was really great. Started out with a tram-ride uphill, to the center itself above the parking area. The huge area holds several buildings with different kinds of arts and other artifacts, so all in all paintings, sculptures, ancient books, icons, furniture, etc. etc. Also their garden is really nice, but what was most breathtaking was the night view we got of Los Angeles. Though close to the highway and their noise, we still got the feeling of being far above the city - a really nice escape. We went home around 9, after having spend several hours at the center. Made us think about how amazing it is that people who are as rich as Getty cares enough about their society to open a museum with free entrance for the public. Really cool! :)

Day 10: From San Luis Obispo over Solvang and Santa Barbara to Los Angeles

The morning of Friday 7th started with a solid breakfast, as usual consisting of our oatmeal, fruits and bagels plus what the house had to offer. In this case the addition was sourdough pancakes. We left the cosy little hostel headed south on Highway 1 once again, but soon left it to drive inlands. I had planned a stop of which Helene knew very little - Solvang. A peculiar little place. It is a Danish settlement from 1911, and thus we arrived there on one of their first days of centennial celebration. Didn't mean anything for our layover there, but still fun to consider. :)

It was fun to drive into the town, seeing all the Danish names of restaurants and streets, and little houses with timber framing. It might have been fake (painted on), but who cares. It looked fine from a distance. One of our first stops was the tourist information, as we needed a map and suggestions on what to do there.  In the information we met a nice man, Dean, who has family in Denmark and who spoke a little bit of Danish. He started talking about tebikes, frikadeller, flæskesteg, etc., Danish dishes that I miss so much. Hehe, but soon I will be back in my Danish kitchen! Dean also gave us some directions, and we headed out with our new map, two postcards with pictures of æbleskiver, and a voucher to get a free bag in one of the local shops. Its a cool one, a canvas bag with an imprint that changes color in the sunshine! 

Another cool stop of ours was the local museum, which according to the guide book is the only thing in Solvang that will tell something real about the story of the Danes in Solvang. The museum is called Elverhøj, and again we met people with Danish ancestors. Agnes was one of them, or well she was actually born in Denmark herself. I think she enjoyed talking with us in Danish, and she also showed us around in the little museum, pointing out her favorite items. So nice. :) 

After having spent way more time in Solvang than we planned, we headed off again this time towards Santa Barbara. It was Lise, whom we met in the hostel in Monterey, who suggested that we stopped there as well. We found a tourist information and asked for a map. Once well equipped also with suggestions for sights, we headed downtown. Charming little city, though I can imagine how it must be packed with tourists in the summer. We saw the court house, build in a Spanish style with loads of tiles and wall murals. Also there is a tower where we headed for a view of the city. Another good vista point was a park on a mountain side, which proved to be much harder to find than we thought it would be. But after twisting and turning on the same little roads for a while, we managed to get on to the right one, and find the park. And the view was worth it - we could see the whole city, the ocean, and the mountains around. 

After driving back to the city to refuel on some gorgeous fish and chips, we were off towards the destination of the day, Los Angeles. The sunset scenery on the way was amazing! We arrived to LA around 7 PM, and found parking and our room in our Hollywood hostel. After unpacking, we headed out to see Hollywood Boulevard in the dark, and came home with some groceries for a light dinner. 

Day 8 and 9 - Monterey and driving to San Luis Obispo

We left San Francisco on another beautiful morning after another great breakfast, a mix of what the hostel offered and oatmeal and fruit. After packing the car, we set off towards Monterey, 185 km down the coast. All the way down to San Diego we are planning to take Highway 1, a road that is following the coast all the way south. A much longer, but also much more interesting trip than taking the larger road inland.

The trip out of the San Francisco peninsula was incredible. There was fog over the water, the sun was up, and everything was so green! Helene caught a lot of good pictures, so check them out in Facebook. Here is one of them... We decided that it would be a shame to follow the straight road, and took a turn the GPS didn't exactly advice. So we turned down her voice and drove in what we believed was the right way. It turned out to be a mountain road twisting and turning up and down through a beautiful forest, and a good chance to play with the engine break.

On the way we took another detour to visit an outlet mall in Gilroy. I wanted to look for a backpack for my Mexico trip, but didn't have any luck. Helene on the other hand did find a bit of nice clothes at great prices. For the backpack instead we visited Walmart, where incredibly I found a backpack in the right size, and with a surprisingly advanced function to adjust the length of the straps to make it fit my back, which apparently is small, backpack-wise. Yeay!

Arriving in Monterey we parked the car and went for a walking tour around the old city, which the guidebook suggested. It wasn't really anything, but anyway it was a nice way of getting around to see the city. Afterwards we went to our hostel, in the newer part of the city. Or well, with the main road being Cannery Row, used to can sardines in the 60's, "new" doesn't really give the right impression of the area. Its like a small fishing town, with a laid back atmosphere. Probably in the high tourist season, it is completely different. I test-packed my backpack when we unpacked in our room, it seems to be a nice back. :) I don't even think it will be too heavy. We'll see how it goes - one week till Mexico departure! :D

For dinner we got a suggestions for a local fish restaurant, which turned out to be excellent. We had some white fish (forgot what its called) and salmon cakes with salad, rice, and coleslaw. After dinner we went for a short walk on Cannery Row, and then back to the hostel. In our room we met another Danish girl, Lene, who was traveling around US alone. She enjoyed some Danish company, and the next morning we mega-loaded the car, and drove her to the bus station. She was heading to San Francisco.


We however where continuing south, passing one of the most beautiful stretches of Highway 1. Taking the 17 mile drive (kind of a tourist trap, costs 10 bucks, but really is beautiful) we got to see some nice views over the ocean and we spotted a rock full of seals and sea lions. Was hard to see with the naked eye, but with the on-site (pay!) binoculars we got a great peak of the animals. Through Carmel we headed back to Highway 1, we were on our way to Big Sur where the Santa Lucia mountains rise up from the ocean. Yet another incredible landscape. We stopped to go for a short hike on the "Valley View Trail" and to see the Pfeiffer Falls in Pfeiffer National park. It was a nice little walk, took a little over and hour. The forest had some large red woods, happy we got to see them. When we came down around 2 PM, still not having had lunch, we munched some of the fruits, bread, and snacks from our car-stash, and then headed back to the main road. It did take a while till we found a place to get something to eat, and it ended up being two burritos from a convenience store that looked like it could drop into the ocean anytime. We enjoyed them nice and warm from the microwave, sitting in the car watching the ocean.

Helene in a red wood.

At this point we realised, that if we wanted to reach our day-destination in time, we needed to speed up a bit. The sun was approaching the horizon (Helene caught it on the camera of course!), and we had another 60 miles to go. And we were almost out of gas. One of these situations where the gas lamp comes on 1 mile after you passed the gas station, and really don't feel like turning back. It was all good though - there was a little town coming up and they had gas, the road stretched out instead of twisting through the moutains, and though it was dark we could easily see the way. We arrived safely in San Luis Obispo after shopping for groceries around 6.30 PM. A cute little hostel with a nice kitchen where we cooked pasta and meat sauce. Was popular among the people in the hostel, who came to get some of the leftovers. :)

We sat in the kitchen for a while talking with the other guests, who were a bit older than what you usually see in a hostel. Really cosy though, including a random sing-a-long incidence with a song in the radio! Then I went upstairs to take care of the 174 pictures of the day, while Helene showered. We slept around 10.30.