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Hello all my loyal followers! I am finally home, but shall give you a quick overview of the last 48hrs or so, even if you don't care.

On Tuesday, Luke drove me the two hours to Indianapolis where I caught my flight to LA, with a stopover in Las Vegas. Once in LA, I had six or so hours to wait until my 10pm flight to Auckland. Lets just say that the Air New Zealand terminal of LAX sucks big time.

The flight wasn't too bad which is so lucky as it was the one I was dreading the most. Thirteen hours is a long time to be flying! I was really lucky that the seat next to me was empty so it gave me and the guy at the window more space. I watched two movies (Going the Distance and Tomorrow When The War Began(!)) and managed to sleep for seven hours. Very happy with myself!

Once arriving in Auckland, I got straight through customs and called my hotel for the shuttle. I now had thirty-six hours to kill in an airport hotel. I purposely booked the hotel I did because it had internet but once I got there, I couldn't get it to work. Major annoyance! So I spent my time reading, walking around trying to find food, texting and sleeping. I actually got to fall asleep to bongo drums which was random but cool.

While waiting for my flight to Perth the next day, I saw Tegan and Sara and their band/entourage at Auckland airport. They were heading to Sydney and then Perth for their show here on Saturday night. It would have been much cooler if they had been on my Perth flight! Anyway, my flight was fine. The guy next to me smelt of alcohol and drank heaps on the flight but didn't give me any grief so that was good. The movie selection was crap on this flight, the only good option being Date Night (also watched She's Out of Your League and The Rebound) but they helped pass the seven hour flight so....

Arriving in Perth, the duty free shop didn't have the perfume I wanted (majorly peeved about this) and another flight came in at the same time so collecting luggage and getting through customs took ages, although when I finally got there I at least got to walk straight through.

So, Friday afternoon at 4:30pm, I arrived home. Everything is bright, with blue sky and green plants everywhere. And the sun is shining. We shall see how long it takes for me to wish for winter again. I hope you all enjoyed my travelling adventures. A big THANKYOU to Bec and Gaj, and Jeanne, Dick, Luke, Erin and Leah for letting me stay with them.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Day 8 in Fort Wayne

Today, my last day here, while everyone was at school or work, I repacked my bags (which took forever) and watched movies. I was so tired from last night so it was good not to do anything. Tomorrow morning Luke will drive me down to Indianapolis airport for my flight to LA. My trip has come to an end. I will try and post about my mid-air adventures when I arrive in New Zealand.

xox

Day 7 in Fort Wayne

On Sunday, Luke, Erin, Leah and I went to Debrands (the chocolate place) to use our free desserts. Did I mention the free stuff the other day? When we were there with Mum, the staff forgot our order and so because we had been waiting so long, they gave us all free dessert cards (worth more than what we had spent). So anyway we all got free gourmet chocolate desserts.

For Sunday night, Luke managed to get us tickets to see the Colts, which is Indiana's football team, play the San Diego Chargers. Seeing a live football game was the last thing on my list of things I wanted to do in the US so I was very excited to go. The game was two hours away in Indianapolis so Luke and I drove down in one car and Jeanne and Dick in another. This is because Dick was going to stay in Indianapolis for the night as he had a meeting there the next morning. Anyway, after scoring a free parking place near the stadium (almost impossible) we all met up and went to the game. The sports fever was insane. It was even more involved than when we have our footy finals (and this was just a normal game).

Disappointingly, the Colts did not play up to their usual high standards and alot of the crowd left during the fourth quarter. I'm quite proud of myself as I think I have pretty much got the hang of the rules. After the game, with Jeanne asleep in the back of the car, Luke drove the three of us back to Fort Wayne (arriving back at 2am), and thus my final US sports experience was complete.

Day 6 in Fort Wayne

Yesterday Jeanne and I drove Mum to the airport in Indianapolis which was a four and a half hour round trip. They were both a bit teary. Getting back to Fort Wayne, Jeanne and I met up with the rest of the family at her brothers' house who was hosting the family Thanksgiving this year. Jeanne has eight brothers and sisters so her family is massive. With all the cousins and aunts and uncles there are over forty of them. Most of this number is made up of little kids. It was a zoo! But the food was really good. After coming home, Luke and I went over to his friends' place for a little while to hang out but then left when they all went to a nightclub (that neither of us had any interest in going to). Also, just to remind you, it so so freaking freezing here!

The view I woke up to :)

Day 5 in Fort Wayne

Friday we went bowling with Jeanne's family as there are heaps and heaps of little cousins. I totally sucked at it.

Bowling with Leah and Erin

After bowling we went to Debrands which is a chocolatier here in Fort Wayne but after ordering our hot chocolates they forgot about our order so after we reminded them they gave us free sundae vouchers for next time we go. So that is something to do on Sunday. Friday night Mum cooked dinner for everyone and then we all played games.

Playing Jenga

Luke losing at Jenga

Day 4 in Fort Wayne

Thursday was Thanksgiving so around 1pm we headed over to Jeanne's sister's place where some of her family was meeting up for Thanksgiving lunch/dinner. We had the traditional thanksgiving food: turkey, stuffing,cranberries, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, peach cobbler, pecan pie... At six we switched from the football to the 6pm news to watch Mum and Jeanne make their Fort Wayne TV debut. Us 'kids' even got on. You can view the segment here.

Me, Erin, Leah and their cousin Tammy at Thanksgiving lunch

Mum on TV

We also made an appearance!

Trying pumpkin pie and peach cobbler. The pumpkin pie was ok but the peach cobbler was so good.

After leaving Jeanne's sister's house, they drove us around downtown Fort Wayne to see the stores and all the Christmas lights and decorations. It was raining through so sorry no pictures.

Luke and I looking through Black Friday catalogues.

The day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, is the day when all the stores have massive sales. They get a collection of catalogues bigger than our morning paper with all the major sales, some up to 80% off. It is a massive thing here and people camp out overnight. So you understand just how big it is, it is literally below freezing here and yet people sit out in tents waiting for the stores to open. Insanity!

First Day in Fort Wayne

On Monday we were rather slow moving but when we did eventually leave the house around one, Jeanne and Luke gave us a tour of some of Fort Wayne. There aren't 'sights' exactly here but we saw where the kids went to school and Jeanne's childhood home, things that Mum and Jeanne would have talked about over the last 40 years. The oddities of Jeanne's life as she put it. The four of us then went to lunch at their favourite Italian restaurant, Casa's, before dropping Luke to work.

Jeanne then took us to visit her sister Cheryl at her florist shop, who Mum originally got the pen pal reply from. Our next stop was her mother-in-law who Mum had heard a lot about although Jeanne got lost finding the house as she only goes there when she as to! After this we went grocery shopping and then quickly stopped in at Jeanne's work before heading home and making dinner. Erin also arrived home from college tonight.

The view I woke up to :)

Day 3 in Fort Wayne

On Wednesday we found out that the local TV station wanted to do a Thanksgiving special story on the 40-year pen-pal relationship between Mum and Jeanne. So that morning two people from the station arrived to film them (and us). While they were here we went through some of the old letters and found some VHS home movies we sent over, so ,after the crew left we watched the videos. So funny! I was such a strange child and our accents sound hilarious!

The interview for 21 LIVE

For lunch we all went and had lunch with Jeanne's work colleagues at Casa's and then went to the mall for a little while. After the mall we went to a bar called Duty's for $5 martini's and then back home as Erin was having friends over for the night.

Erin and I with our $5 martini's

Day 2 in Fort Wayne

Tuesday saw us having a tour of their yard which is seven acres. It's really pretty and must look amazing in the summer. Our next adventure was to finally check out a Wal*mart. All the Americans we have met have been shocked to hear we don't have them in Australia.

In some of the 7 acres

Em, here is the Wal*mart photo as requested!

After leaving Wal*mart we went to the drive through bank (can you get any lazier?!) and then got yummy Greek food for a late lunch.

The drive through bank

That night Jeanne had a bunch of her friends over to meet us and we had Mexican, watched basketball and just generally hung out and talked.

Farewell to the Southwest, Hello Fort Wayne

On Sunday we woke early and set off for the hour drive to Albuquerque as we were flying to Chicago. While on the flight, a guy who had met his girlfriend a year earlier on the same flight proposed to her, she said yes, and then a Beatles tribute band, called American English, who just happened to be on the flight played them a song. Also, the people who Mum sat next to and she had been talking to for the duration of the flight, gave her a handmade Christmas decoration made by the Atacama Indians. It was an interesting and eventful flight.

The drive to Albuquerque

'George Harrison' from American-English

After arriving in Chicago, we drove three and a half hours to Fort Wayne, Indiana which is where Jeanne and her family live. I can't remember if I have already told the story of how Mum and Jeanne met so if I have, you can just glaze over the next bit. Mum and Jeanne have been pen pals since they were 11-years-old (Mum wrote a letter to the Fort Wayne newspaper looking for a pen-pal) and have met up twice but I've never met her or her family (Em and I used to write to her kids who are our age) until now. Arriving in Fort Wayne in the dark, we finally met Jeanne's husband Dick, her son Luke and daughter Leah (daughter number two, Erin, was away at college). We had dinner, chatted a bit and then went to bed.

Day 4 in the Southwest

On Saturday, still in Santa Fe, we explored Canyon Road, which is over a kilometre of art galleries. Every single building is a gallery with paintings and sculptures. Suffice to say we didn't make it into all of them but some of them had some very cool art, although very expensive. If I had a heap of money I would have loved to have bought some of the sculptures.

On the way to Canyon Road

On the way to Canyon Road

On the way to Canyon Road

Sculpture at one of the galleries on Canyon Road

Love the fat sheep!

Rock, Paper, Scissors

By late afternoon we decided to head back to the plaza and do some last minute shopping and browse the back streets behind the plaza. We then headed to a bell tower to watch the sunset which was amazing and then headed back to our hotel for their free happy hour margaritas!

A street running off the plaza

Sunset

Just as the sun sets

After sunset

After the margaritas, Bob and Karen met us again and we went and had dinner at a bar called Cowgirl, then listened to the band that was playing and played pool.

Day 3 in the Southwest

On Friday we explored the main plaza of Santa Fe, buying jewellery from the Navajo sellers and checking out the very cool looking adobe buildings.

The Navajo Indian jewellery sellers in the walkway
(totally legal and very good quality)

Adobe buildings

Adobe buildings

In the afternoon we met up with Jeanne's brother in-law, Bob, and sister in-law, Karen, who live in Santa Fe. We went to an art gallery show and then to dinner at a bar on Canyon Road.

(L-R) Bob, Karen, Jeanne, Mum

Day 2 in the Southwest

On Thursday we left the cave house around midday and made our way down to Santa Fe. Once again the scenery was stunning and we arrived in Santa Fe around 4:00pm. Our bed and breakfast has free margarita's from four til six so we drank those and then had dinner at a great restaurant around the corner called Guadalupe's. We were dead to the world by 8:30pm.

Inside the cave

More of the cave

The view from the top of the cave

The drive to Santa Fe

First Day in the Southwest

On Wednesday we went horse-riding through Canyon de Chelly. You should all find this amazing since I am totally not a fan of horse-riding. We rode for 3 hours with our Navajo guide Patrick and it was a fantastic experience, even if I was quite sore afterwards! My horse was called Sherman and he was pretty wild at first but he calmed down after a little while but randomly decided to trot every now and then just to make sure I was still awake. I couldn't get the hang of this despite plenty of instructions on lifting myself up off the saddle so I didn't bounce too much. We realised afterwards that my stirrups were too long which was why I didn't like trotting (cos it hurt!). Horse-riding through Canyon de Chelly has been a dream of Mum's since she was a kid and it was very exciting to be there with her when she got her dream.

Myself with Sherman and Twister

Mum riding through Canyon de Chelly

After horse-riding we drove to another part of the canyon and hiked down it (yes I went hiking!) to some ruins which they call the White House Ruins (not after the on in DC). After the exhausing climb back up the canyon we set off on our drive to Farmington, New Mexico. The scenery was amzing and we drove over a mountain called Buffelo Pass which was a mixture of rock and forest. It was breathtaking and also a little nail-biting when we had to drive over winding, ice covered roads.

We hiked down to the bottom of here and around the cliffs

Driving through Buffalo Pass

Sunset through Buffalo Pass

Our reason for going to Farmington was to stay in a cave house which was built into the side of a cave, seven stories down, twenty-eight stories up. When we finally arrived in Farmington, we drove to Lindy's house (the manager) who then led us to the cave about five miles outside of town. She was very entertaining, a real character, and she led us down the side of the cliff to the entrance. It was dark and absolutely freezing but the cave was very cool (as in awesome) and luckily it was warm inside. I feel asleep in front of the heater like a cat.

Ta Ta New York, Greetings the Southwest

Tuesday morning we left a raining New York City to go to Albuquerque, New Mexico where we would meet mum's pen-friend of 40 years and then head on a road trip around New Mexico and Arizona. Our first flight was to Minneapolis and then our next flight was delayed for an hour so we were a bit late meeting Jeanne who had flown to Albuquerque from Chicago (and had driven from Fort Wayne, Indiana).

The drive to Chinle

Sunset in the desert on the way to Chinle

After meeting up and figuring out the rental car AND the GPS, we drove across New Mexico to Arizona (4 hour drive) and to a town called Chinle which is where you can find Canyon de Chelly (pronounced Shae), which was our reason for coming here. Chinle and the surrounding area is Navajo Indian land and is controlled by them. The people are so friendly and made us feel very welcome.

Day 3 in New York Round Two

Today, Monday, we took the free Staten Island ferry to, well, Staten Island. The point however, was not to actually visit Staten Island, but to get a free view of the Statue of Liberty for Mum (as I have already seen it). After arriving back on Manhattan, I took Mum shopping in Soho. We also had lunch at a fabulous little place called Freeman's which came as a recommendation from a friend of Mum's.

Mum at Freeman's

After finishing shopping, we raced back to the apartment so that we could get to the post office before it closed. As you know, we have of course bought a little too much while in NYC and needed to post stuff home. Three boxes to be exact. We then headed back down to Times Square so I could take Mum up Rockefeller Tower. I was getting excited as the massive Christmas tree is supposed to be going up sometime around now but when we arrived at Rockefeller Plaza, the tree was up but it was covered in scafolding. If only I was here next week...

Flags at Rockefeller

At the Top of the Rock, we had a great, if somewhat foggy view over Manhattan. It was very different from when I went the first time. For one thing, there were far less people there than which made it alot more enjoyable. And it was dark (we ran out of time for Mum to see it it in daylight).

Check out the fog over Manhattan from Top of the Rock

Heading back to the subway, we made a pit-stop at Magnolia Bakery for cupcakes and then once back near the apartment, we stopped by an Italian place for dinner. Here we had yummy pasta and enjoyed music being played by a guy 3 metres away from the restaurant. We thought he was busking but then a guy walked past and gave him a twenty and the musician was shocked and confused. As it turns out, he was just sitting on the front stoop playing guitar and singing because that's what he likes to do. He had great music taste, a fantastic voice and was very good on the guitar. It was a lovely dinner experience.

Back at the apartment we set about packing our suitcases for our flight to New Mexico in the morning. My apologies if this post is a bit dis-jointed but I am very tired and have to be up in 4 hours so we can go to the airport. Am not sure when I will next have internet access as we start our week long road-trip tomorrow.