Portland felt like the kind of city I'd imagined Seattle to be. They've got a nice downtown with a lot of old red brick buildings, and there was always something happening, like the Cinco de Mayo festival which celebrated the heritage of Mexican immigrants and had rides, mariachi bands, jumbo corn dogs and banana drinks with little umbrellas in them. Very festive. People in Portland were also surprisingly friendly, they'd smile and say hello in the street, which is so unusual for a city that size I was too startled to reply every time. Overheard a lot of conversations about drugs though, which probably explains why they're so cheerful all the time.
I also caught up with Geoff in Portland, who I met back in New Zealand in 2006. He and his girlfriend took me out to the Columbia River Gorge, just outside the city. There's heaps of waterfalls here, including the spectacular Multnomah Falls, the second highest in the US. It was a fantastic day, especially since it was early in the spring and seeing things like green plants and running water were still a novelty. Another highlight of Portland was Wahington Park, the Japanese Garden and Arboretum there are quite pretty with all the magnolias in bloom and the views of Mt Hood and Mt St Helens in the distance.
Twin Falls, Idaho, I originally chose just to have a break on the way to Wyoming, but I really enjoyed my time there. The downtown is typically small town America, a bit empty and neglected unfortunately. There's the usual strip of fast food chains, shopping malls and cheap motels (where I was staying - there were no hostels in most of the places I went in the States so spent a bit of time in budget motels, but it was nice to have my own room and TV for a change). Idaho is pretty much completely flat, farm country (famous for it's potatoes) but Twin Falls is situated on the edge of the Snake River Canyon which makes things more interesting. I hiked down into the canyon (refreshed with a free Coke from the folks in the visitors centre which I thought was mighty nice of them), along the rim and across the Perrine Bridge. This is about 500m above the river and is a major draw for basejumpers from all over the world. Most people I spoke to thought I was there to jump off it actually (especially when they found out I was Aussie), which was crazy. It was far too windy. Did make it out to Shoshone Falls though, which were well worth the long walk to get there.
Jackson, Wyoming, on the edge of Grand Teton National Park was next up. Jackson's a really Western town, with wooden boardwalks around the streets of downtown, plenty of Western style buildings and lots of people getting around in cowboy gear (I'm still really tempted to get a cowboy hat). I didn't really have much chance to get into Grand Teton unfortunately, was still a bit early in the tourist season for a lot of the transport and activities to be running. I did get a nice look at the mountains though from the National Elk Refuge, which is home to a couple of thousand elk during the winter, a lot of whom were still hanging around due to the unusually late cold weather, even got some snow around while there.
Onwards once again, to Yellowstone National Park, I stayed right on the western edge of the park in West Yellowstone, Montana, a tiny place which basically exists for people visiting or working in the park. Though there'd been a little bit of snow in Jackson I was stunned to see it piled up to over 6 feet by the side of the road, which meant it was time to dig out the longjohns and winter coat again, although not in time to stop my third cold for the year. D'oh! I only had a few days here, but went on 2 bus trips which cover most of the major highlights of the park. Didn't have much choice because surprisingly for the country's busiest national park there's no public bus or mass transit system unlike the ones in Yosemite or Denali. With my cold I wasn't in much of a mood for hiking anyway and considering a grizzly attacked a bison calf right beside one of the boardwalks in the Old Faithful area (the day after I was there) it wasn't somewhere I cared to be wandering alone. The tours turned out to be pretty good though, the first day concentrated on the geothermal areas in the southern half of the park; hot springs, mud pools, fumaroles and of course geysers including Old Faithful, and also the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, which is an amazing spot.
The next day we covered the northern section, the terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower Falls. There were heaps of wildlife sightings both days, hundreds of elk and bison - the bison in particular were great to see, they're such big, imposing creatures, I find it really sad how their numbers have been completely decimated. There were also deer, coyotes, pronghorn antelope, and finally, some bears. We saw 2 black bears, one way down in the bottom of the canyon, but another right beside the road so joined in one of the bear jams (that's where a bunch of cars stop to watch the bears, not where a bunch of bears sit around and play music) and got to watch it for quite a while, pottering around by the side of the road. They were actually the first wild bears I'd seen in a whole year over here, so was pretty happy about that, and also to have lots of other people around who I could outrun if I needed to.
Bozeman, Montana, is probably one of the nicest American towns I've been to, in one of the nicest looking states. Unlike Twin Falls they've managed to avoid having all the life sucked out of the old downtown area so it's quite a lively place. It's set in the middle of a huge valley and is ringed by distant mountains way in every direction. Were some interesting old buildings there too, old flour mills and stuff, and a really steep hike which practically killed me - will be more careful about tackling the routes which are described as 'vigorous' in future. Rapid City, South Dakota was next. It's situated between the Great Plains and the Black Hills, a gorgeous mountainous area which is where Mt Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monuments are located. Did a day trip out there, they're both quite impressive, although there's decades of work left to be done on Crazy Horse (and I think it's a bit of a shame how much of the mountain they planning to blow up to make it) which also included a trip to a gold mine and Custer State Park, also very pretty.
I'm having a bit of a whinge in the next bit so you can skip it if you just want to hear the good stuff.
From Rapid City I was basically heading straight to Chicago. I could have caught the bus straight there but it would have been about a 24 hour trip. The Greyhound buses in the US are generally pretty full too (of very... interesting characters, it's definitely an insight into American culture) so instead of another marathon bus trip I thought I'd stop in Minneapolis, Minnesota to get a decent night's sleep, and also see the Mississippi River which runs through town. Turned out I should have just stayed on the bus because my whole experience with Minneapolis was pretty much a disaster. It started that morning, I woke up early to catch a bus which ended up leaving 6 hours after I thought it did, spent about 12 hours on the bus and didn't stop anywhere to get any real food until 10pm. Got into Mineapolis around 1:30, got a taxi to the hostel I'd booked which cost about 7 bucks. The driver said he didn't have change for a 20, I don't tip that generously so I said fine, I'll pay by credit card. He took my details, I hopped out of the cab, found the hostel reception was closed for the night and then realised I didn't get a receipt for the taxi which I had a bad feeling about, and figured I'd give up on Minneapolis so walked back to the bus station to see if there was another bus to leave. Turns out there wasn't so had to find somewhere to stay for the night, the security guard called a taxi driver friend of his though who took me to a slightly dodgy place he recommended where there was a man wandering the carpark (at about 3am) asking me if I could smell something burning. I couldn't, and wouldn't have cared if I could, finally hopped into bed for a few hours of sleep before I was up to get back to the bus station and out of town. Turns out my bad feeling was later justified as the first taxi driver took my details and had a party to the tune of about $650 before I could see what he was up to and cancel my card. Have since got a temporary new card, which works maybe half the time, and have got Visa looking into it to see if I get the money back, but don't exactly have fond memories of my visit to Minneapolis. And I never even saw the Mississippi.
Still, can't complain too much about one really bad day out of a whole year I suppose. To balance things out I did have a fantastic few days in Chicago. I caught up with my Mexican friend Priscila and her friend Juan (they make and sell robots, probably the coolest jobs in the whole world if you ask me) (and she's promised to give me one one day). Chicago's a great city, with beautiful old skyscrapers, the many bascule bridges crossing the Chicago River where it runs through the downtown and it's nicely situated on the shores of Lake Michigan. Then there's some great parks and public spaces (and a great Art Gallery, always good to see more famous paintings in person) and good nightlife too - we went to one really good bar with duelling pianos, lots of fun.
For a change of pace I flew to Ottawa next, wanted to catch up with another friend, Florence, who was one of the first people I met over here last summer in Victoria and was over here from France. It was also nice to see Ottawa in the summer rather than winter, it's quite a different place, but surprisingly low key for the national capital. Lots of good walking though, along the river or on the other side in Gatineau, Quebec, along the Rideau Canal, and a really nice market district in the downtown which is home to lots of bars too so always lively at night.
Had to decide which direction to head next from here, had originally planned to go back west but decided since I was so close I'd head east towards Newfoundland. And of course, there's the whole Forrest Gump thing where I can't stop until I reach the ocean. Anyway, thought I'd head down through New England this time, stopping by White River Junction, Vermont, which was nice enough, not particularly thrilling but I'm sure would be spectacular in the fall. Very dense forest around most of Vermont, was expecting more in the way of farms and fields. Anyway, was back to Boston, which was also quite a different experience in the summer. It was really quite warm here, 35 degrees and very humid, reminded me of summer back home but was unusual for them. I did enjoy exploring Boston a bit more, went to a baseball game with Helen, my Kiwi friend from back west, that was pretty neat to see, despite the extortionate prices for all the snacks. Also went up and saw Salem, the site of the witch trials, but was more interested in the waterfront and old houses rather than all that stuff. Lots of new age stores up there too, which I find odd given their track record.
Was getting kind of grumpy in Boston though, what with the heat, bed bug attacks (I really hate those things), really bad hayfever and troubles trying to use my temporary credit card it was a relief to get to Bar Harbor, Maine. It's a small holiday town on Mount Desert Island, most of which is protected in Acadia National Park. There's heaps of great hiking here, along the beaches and rocky coast, and through forests dotted with beautiful lakes and nice, easily hikeable mountains. Best of all, there's no bears to watch for. It was great to wander on my own all day without worrying about running into anything more dangerous than a deer or moose, which just kick rather than bite. Lovely place, thinking of getting back there later on if I can.
Think that'll do for this entry, congratulations if you made it this far. Will save my return to Nova Scotia for after I've made it up to Newfoundland next week.
