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

It's all in the moment

It's starting to sink in for the both us that we are leaving in less than a week. I've been thinking about the books I wanted to have reread before the trip but haven't. Two of them are 'On the road' by Kerouac and 'Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance' by Pirsig. Great books and essential in more ways than one for this trip. The blog being a 'continuous scroll' for one, Pirsig's trip lasting 17 days another and living in the moment being essential for both books.

Living in the moment will truly be one of the most essential feelings for us. There are three parts to this journey - there's us, the car and the road. A set beginning and end, and that's it. Whatever in between is up to us. I can't fix the car if it breaks down ( I could if we were doing the trip on my motor bike) but we will sure be more confident in each other and any mutual challenges we might face in the future.

jonas

In the sewer

The dollar hit a five month low this week. I was counting on it happening but I was not really sure where we were heading around the time of the stock market surge. They're printing money as if it were a game of Monopoly and there are now even rumors of a downgrade of America's credit rating.

I'm kind of ambivalent to this trend. One the one hand we will save a great deal of money when the VISA bill finally arrives sometime in August but on the other hand we're talking about a possible meltdown of the leading currency. And with an ever more expensive euro Finland's export figures are starting to look pretty grim.

This is by the way one of the most discouraging things concerning the economy I've seen in a while. This is one of the most encouraging.

Jonas

Blazing through the US

If we didn't mention it we are making the 5000 km (3107 miles) journey in a Chevrolet Trailblazer. It's supposed to be a pretty solid ride and by the looks of the video below it can be driven anywhere, be it desert, asphalt or ice. I'm going to do daily updates on how it's performing. Being somewhat new it should last the ride right...?

jonas

This is by the way what Wolfram Alpha had to say about the distance. 0,77 of the Amazon River or 1/8 around the world. Really, wow!

iPhone going down

There is a chance the combination iPhone and AT&T might become cheaper than ever before. And that perhaps before the end of May. Good news, since we both have been planning on getting iPhones AND we need a 3G subscription in the US to do the updates to the blog, flickr and twitter. Let's see how this works out. Yee.

Shopping

With only two weeks left it´s time to start thinking about what we want to do in the US. One thing every female person who has ever been to America tells me is this, Shop. Shop till you drop, more like it. You might just want to take some extra bags with you to have room for all the stuff, one said.
Well we´ll see how much time there´s actually going to be for shopping, but this place kind of cought my eye any way. We´ll just have to make time I guess.

Anna

Our common heritage

We are visiting relatives in Washington DC who are descendants of Finns who went to America in the early 20th century. This is part of what makes America interesting - the only native inhabitants are Native Americans, the others being settlers and immigrants who for one reason or another left for the great land in the west (and east, north or south for that matter). The only Finnish heritage I can find in the chart is up at the Canada border but the chart shows majority ancestry. If I'm not mistaken, my grandmother stayed in the same region in the 1920' after not being able to enter New York and continuing to Canada.

Many Americans I've spoken to find it interesting that we are from the Nordic region as so many left the small countries in times of need seeking better fortune in America. In some places the traditions run deep and the interest in our common heritage is still strong. In the end we are all one and the same in this melting pot so we need to stop bickering and start cooperating. That is what we need in these troubled times.

A friend of mine made a documentary on the 110 year old newspaper Norden (link in Swedish) in New York edited by Rune Erik Hermans a few years ago. I couldn't find any links to clips but the article on him is an interesting read on a passionate soul.

Jonas

Up down and all around

Ok, so let's summarize the situation so far. We have a spreading swine flu (for a lack of a better word) and many companies soon filing for bankruptcy in the US. Both Avis and United Airlines are predicted to merge with other companies in 2010 to avoid bankruptcy and these are our two traveling partners. Joy! These are strange times we live in.

But the Colorado Avenue showing in Telluride is confirmed, we have most accommodation fixed and the euro-dollar ratio is still strong. So the odds of this being a trip of a lifetime is on our side.

Here are two very interesting documentaries to keep you warm - I.O.USA and Inside The Meltdown.


Jonas

A run on guns

Today I learned that the Americans are buying guns and ammunition like never before. Apparently the economic crisis and the Obama administration have made the nation run for its guns. People seem to be afraid that the ´new president is going to compromise every Americans right to own a gun, so now they are stocking up while they can. The financial situation again is making people buy weapons for home defense, as times get worse crime rates go up. And so do the gun manufacturers shares, which have about doubled since January.
So if I´ve got this right people are buying guns and ammunition because they´re worried that soon they won´t be able to do that anymore. And if they don´t have a gun they can´t protect themselves from the other guy who´s holding a gun to their head and trying to steal their belongings. I get the idea, but I´m not sure I agree.
To someone who lives in a country where you have to be a member of a sports shooting club or a hunting club (for like a year) to even be considered as a customer in a gun store, all this just seems a bit out of control.



Anna

We ♥ America - visit card

We ♥ America - visit card
Originally uploaded by JForth

This will be a small social experiment.

We will drop these everywhere during the trip. If you stumble upon one, you will find all our trip, blog and Flickr information on the other side.

See you at your local airport, restaurant, casino, motel or shopping mall!

New York New York

I just finished watching the SATC box and realised that in less then 8 weeks we´ll be in New York, exciting! I realise that it probably wont be quite as glamorous as it seems from the couch at home, and maybe that´s just as well. But we still have to figure out how we want to spend our days in our final US destination. So much to do and so little time. When we reach New York we´ll probably be completely exhausted after a few weeks on the road, but hopefully not completely fed up with America and each other ;)

I just heard that one of my best friends is going to be in New York just a few days before us. Major bummer that we miss each other like that, how fun wouldn´t it be to explore the city together. But I guess we´ll just have to share our pics and experiences back home.


Anna

Lost luggage

I (Anna) read this somewhat worrying article in The Wall Street Journal about lost luggage. According to the article it is the largest airline companies that are most likely to loose your bags. That´s no chocker. But the fact that the rate of mishandled luggage for the major american carriers has gone up 28 % during the last ten years, at the same time as passangers in the US today have to pay extra for the luggage service that used to be free, has drawn some attention.
23 million people have had their bags lost or delayed over the past decade. That´s a lot of bags. United Airlines, among the top three worst luggage handlers, are handling our bags.
Fingers crossed.