Johnnie traveling around the world

Thumbs Up Johnnie is coming with us back to Finland and he'll show up here and there around the world, Iceland probably being next during the autumn. Here he is in St. Louis. You will find more of him on Thumbs Up Johnnie. Check it out.









Our biggest thanks to Michelle, Wayne and Mark. The hospitality and the food get four big thumbs up!

St Louis

From Kansas we moved on to St Louis. And St Louis was busy! Stayed at Michelle´s and Wayne´s house, met some of their friends and explored the city. We started at the Arch, St Louis´ famous landmark, went to the Loop, a busy street where we found a great vintage store and Chuck Berry´s regular hang out the Blueberry Hill. We also got our first parking ticket on this trip, don´t really know what to do with it though.

The Arch and an angry sky.










The Loop.


Laid back in St Louis. Simon.

A change of scenery

We've experienced cityscapes, deserts, mountains, forests, hills, valleys and great plains. At the start of the journey we feared that the long drives might be tiresome and tedious. But time just seems to fly by while the scenery keeps on changing. There is just so much to watch along the way.

With the cruise control on, in a comfortable car, the trip is a true joy. And anyone wondering about driving in the US, we can can only tell you that it is one of the most elementary things.

Killing time

We made two MP3 discs out of all the radio documentaries that Swedish Radio's P3 has produced over the years. Listening to it while driving makes time fly. Amazing stuff, check it out.

Economically speaking

One of my friends advised me not to go on this trip out of a hunch he had that there might be riots here, due to the credit crunch and the possible ensuing social problems. Nothing could be further from the truth. Either we are visiting the 'right' areas or the problem is greatly exaggerated. Sure there are Sale, Going-out-of-business and For sale signs everywhere but people are optimistic.









As one of the people we on the journey said - the financial crisis is for the best. People have been blinded by money and greed and now we're returning to a more normal state of being. Maybe we'll learn something but probably not.

Colorado Springs

We left Telluride this morning and headed for Colorado Springs. Just when we thought the view could´nt get any better we ended up here. Breathtaking, once again.


In Colorado Springs (or Old Colorado city) we felt a bit adventurous and left the navigator at the motel. Of course we regretted this five minutes later when were reading our crappy map upside down. We sure missed the lady in the box. But our small detour led us to Manitou Springs where we´d never gone had we not got lost. There we once again met some great people and had the best pizza on the trip so far.


PS. We think we´re done looking at rocks.

Good people, good view

Still in Telluride, still think it´s great. We have met so many great people here. We had breakfast with Eric, a great guy with roots in Finland, took a walk around the town and the graveyard with Vicki whose grandmother was part of the Finnish community here, and ended the day by having drinks with Beth and John and some of their friends. It is the people that make Telluride such a great place, we understand what Tom and Katie sees here. And the view is ok too.


In between being social we hiked down the mountain (yes down, we took the gondola up). And we learned that the weather is unpredictable in the mountains and that everything is much more exhausting at an altitude of 3300 m.

Colorado Avenue

The screening of Colorado Avenue at the Telluride Historical Museum went great and the turnout was double. Many thanks to Beth, Lauren, Pam, Scott, Dan and Vicki for the arrangements. This was so much more than we expected. I hope people enjoyed it as much as we did.

Telluride

What a wonderful place Telluride is an what great people. The film showing seemed to be a success, a lot of people turned up and hopefull they liked the film. After a lot of food and conversation with newfound friends Beth and John we´re now happy, exhausted and eager to go hiking on the mountain tomorrow and try the hot tub on the roof.

Gas guzzler

The car runs 22 miles on the gallon or approximately 9 km per liter. Gasoline is fortunately cheap though. We've gone 1000 miles on 60 euros. You start to realize why were running out of it.

On higher ground

We left the Grand Canyon this morning and headed for the Rockies. Driving in the mountains is a great experience. Just look at the view.









And up in the mountains we met these nice people. They´re also on a crosscountry trip. Respect.

Some traveling literature

We barely manage to read with all the moving around but we do want to recommend the ones we carry with us - The Plot against America by Roth, Notes from a big country by Bryson and Falling man by DeLillo. All great reads for a trip like this.

Our Lifeline

We just wanted to introduce you to our best friend at the moment, the Where2. She knows all the great places, tells us where to go and does so in Swedish. She does sound cranky sometimes when we take a wrong turn and she has to figure out a new way to where we want to go but all in all she's a good sport. How people managed before is a mystery.

A Grand experience

The Grand Canyon is a refreshing experience after Las Vegas. It´s nice to breathe fresh air and notice that people here actually cares about the planet (well it is a national park). This reminded us about the carbon footprint we´re leaving behind having flown here and blazing through the continent in a gas guzzler. To ease our conscience we bought this fellow below, the 25 dollars spent on him goes to the preservation of the mountain lions and other wild animals here.

Vegas

Las Vegas was a lot in the middle of nothing. See for yourself.

Getaway

It's starting to feel like we're running to something as well as from something. Kind of like Bonnie and Clyde but not really. It's been 75 years since the events of 1934 and the FBI have released the documents of the case. Moving from place to place, reorganizing, counting our money and never looking back. Thought that we might very well have to after an incident at a store yesterday...

LA by night

Yoko, Brian and Eisa took us to the Griffith Obeservatory to give us an other perspective of the city. Wow.
Thank you so much for having us, we had a wonderful time! We hope to repay the favor someday.

Jonas & Anna

LA

Today was a hectic day. Picked up the car in the morning, figured out how to drive it and, more importantly, figured out how to drive in enormous traffic. After a few wrong turns we finally arrived at Yoko´s and Brian´s house in Pasadena, and what a lovely house it is, like a tree-house of glass up on a hill. We also walked on the beach in Venice, strolled on Santa Monica Pier and walked in celebrity footsteps on the walk of fame in Hollywood.
And did a lot of driving.

Eerily familiar

We arrived in LA at 5 PM local time and you immediately felt in you were in the US. I had this feeling in the back of my mind that we would have some difficulty getting in but we didn't. I'd thought of what to say so not to hesitate when asked of our business - "Yes, leisure. We are visiting friends and relatives by car and we are going all the way to New York". The answer was most often - "Really, that's a long ride you know". Yes we know.

There is something strangely familiar with everything. I suppose it's the accumulated knowledge of America by watching TV for 20 years that's coming back to haunt you.

Things we noted: There are a lot of medication ads on TV / Portions are big here.

Wash them hands

Our friends at Thumbs Up Johnnie are promoting good hand hygiene as a key to winning the swine flu, which is plaguing the world at the moment. We are doing our part as well and we have bought hand sanitation lotion to keep the germs at bay. So everybody hosting us will be greeted with fresh handshakes.




jonas