Chicago

I arranged to travel by Amtrak from Houston to Chicago.  I started off on a bus and changed over to the Texas Eagle train at Longview, Texas.  This train arrived about an hour late after 2 or 3 long freight trains passed through.  The train ride was about 18 hours, with the bus being about 5.  Although a flight would have been quicker, I was saving some money, the flight would have been probably $100 more plus another nights accommodation.  Overall, I found the train ride much better than the flight from Australia.  I guess this may have been in part because I didn't have to pass through numerous timezones.

When I got to Chicago, I got out at Chicago Union Station.  It's kind of a strange feeling when you get out and basically have no idea of where you are.  Luckily on the train it had power points at each seat and I was able to make sure my phone was fully charged for when I got off.  I was then able to use this with google maps and the gps in it to locate where I was, which direction I had to go, to get to the buses I had to take to get to the Hostel I was staying at.

Luckily I'm the sort of person that generally keeps a lot of loose change in my pocket so that I could pay the $2.25 for both buses I had to get to go to the hostel.  The next day I eventually found where I could get a week pass for $23, which I have since used extensively during my stay.

The first place I went and had a look at was the Navy Pier.  This is probably a place that kids would find more interesting, although they did have a stain-glass window museum there, that had many of the windows from around Chicago, that had been removed from churches when they fell out of fashion last century.

The next day I went to see the Willis Tower (formally Sears tower).  I bought a Chicago pass, which allowed me to go to multiple other Chicago tourist attractions.  This also enabled me to pass the long line and go to a much shorter line.  They then crammed as many people as they could into a elevator and then a few more and went up to the 103rd floor which is 412 metres above the streets.  On the way down, the line was longer than the one to go up.  After I got out, I went and had a look at the Federal Reserve building that I saw on the way to the Willis Tower.  After going in and clearing security I was able to have a look at a small museum of what the Federal Reserve does.

$1,000,000

Some of the more interesting things they had there was 3 lots of $1,000,000.  They had $1,000,000 in $1 bills, $20 bills and $100 bills.

On Saturday I went to the Shedd Aquarium. Here I saw some Pahranas, Electric Eels and Sea Horses among the more interesting things.  There was a focus on North American and South American aquatic animals as you can expect from a north American aquarium. I saw a very shortened version of Happy Feet in 4D - with air and bubbles and vibrations in my seat.  Finally at the end I saw a presentation of Dolphin training and them doing tricks.  I felt like I wasted a lot of time here but my ticket to see then presentation was at 2:30 PM.  Not that in the end they even checked my ticket when I went in to see it. 

After that I went to the Field Museum, which was next to the aquarium.  I had to quickly make my way through this because I had spent so much time at the aquarium.  In hindsight I would have preferred to spend more time at the Field Museum and less at the aquarium.  I had a look at ancient American cultures and artifacts, as well as Ancient Egypt.  I was meant to be able to get into a special exhibit "Under the Ground" but by that time the museum was closing so I missed it.

On Sunday I met a few locals. John, Peter and Rhiannon.  I went to the Art Institute of Chicago on Tuesday. I was very cultured and saw lots of paintings.  On Wednesday I went to the Industry Museum of Science and Industry.The parts that I found most interesting were the machines that I had read about when I was little.

On the Thursday I on an Architecture tour of the Chicago Board of Trade.  In my research, when I was in Australia I thought there was no way I could get in to see the trading pits.  I discovered however when I was in Chicago, that if I took a Architecture tour of the building I could get to see the closing bell of the days trading which is at 1:15 PM.  So that's what I did.  I ended up getting to see the Commodities pits as well as the Financial products pits.  Unfortunately they wouldn't allow any photos of the pits.

Houston

When I arrived at Houston, Texas I got picked up by Ben, who was on his way home from work as I arrived at about 5PM.  The next day I went to the Tourist Information place, to get an idea on what I could do in Houston.  One of the first things I did was to explore the Tunnels that run under downtown Houston.  These tunnels link many of the large skyscrappers together along with parking Garages.  They also contain many shops.  Infact above ground there is very few shops at all.  

These tunnels remain on the same level for the most part, avoid all the vehicle traffic and allow everyone to keep out of the heat.  I explored them quite extensively.  There was also several "Sky Lobbys" that the general public can go up to and have a look out of.

 

The next day I went to the muesum district.  I had a look at the Natural Science muesum for a couple of hours.  They had an interesting exhibit on the oil production process (as you would expect a Texas science muesum would have.  The next day I went and had a look at the Fine Arts muesum.  I could have gone and seen the impressionist painters' paintings, but I have already seen them in Canberra a a year or soo back.

Next I went to the Houston Rodeo and Show. While I was there I got my boots shined up, like an American.  Before the Rodeo actually started I watched some Mutton Busting.  I wish I was 35 to 50 pounds so that I could have done it as well.  I missed out on seeing the Pig racing though.

The actual Rodeo started just before 7pm. When I went to go to my seat I found that the seat.

On the final day that I did anything, I went and had a look at NASA.  Much of the area is targeted for Children, which I had just happened to put off this trip until spring break and so it was pretty busy.  There were a few interesting things there, but the highlight was rocket park.  At Rocket Park a full sized Saturn V is housed in a large shed which you can go in and have a look at.  There is also the Mercury Rocket outside, which looks tiny compared to the Saturn V.

I would especially like to thank Ben and Wendy for all they did for me while I was staying in Houston.  It wouldn't have been the same without them.

Las Vegas last few days [The untold story].

While I was out on my tour I had to book where I was going to stay when I got back.  NASCAR was in Vegas and so had pushed up the prices to more than double the price, and I didn't want to spend a heap more after just spending 10% of my budget in less than 1 week.  So I booked a back packers place, for $12 a day.  In hindsight it may have been better to go more upmarket.  The accommodation was very basic... and I felt okay, as long as I didn't go out in the dark.

On my last full day in Vegas I went to the Atomic testing museum.  This had all the story about the creation and testing of the atomic bomb.  I went there on the Sunday by bus, having learned how the public bus system worked in Vegas.  I managed to get there just as it was opening and midday on the Sunday.  I spent a bit over an hour looking around the museum and then decided to make my way back, after having some lunch across the road at a "Jack in the Box".

Just as I was finishing eating there, across the road a man was shot several times.  I was less than 100 metres away when it happened.  Sirens sounding, quite a few paramedic vehicles came as well as police cars... with suitable weaponry.  I decided it was better to get on the bus and get out of there.  So when it came, I got on and got out of there.

The next day I got picked up by a Airport Shuttle bus just before 7:30 and taken to the the airport.  I was glad to be getting out of there.  Many of the things in Vegas are blatant and "in your face" out in the open, finely tuned to try and make as much money out of everyone as possible.

They don't call it sin city for no reason.  I took a flight with US Airways to Houston, which was 10 times more expensive to get out of Vegas as it was to fly there from Los Angeles.

Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and Zion

Over the past 3 days I went on a tour of the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion.  On the first day I had to get up at 6AM.  I set my alarm for 5:30 and managed to get up and have everything ready for when I was supposed to be picked up.  It took me a while to find the place where I was to be picked up but eventually I worked it out and found the vehicle that I had to get into.  After everyone had been picked up from various locations around vegas we headed out to the Hoover Dam.  We had a quick look by going up on the bypass bridge.

We then followed on to the Grand Canyon.  This was a couple of hour drive, and eventually got driven to various lookout points along the edge of the canyon.  One of the places we had a look at was a tower on the edge of the Grand Canyon.  This had some Indian art on the walls.

Along the way at many of the stops Indians had tables out with a large selection of jewellary and other objects that they had made for sale.  I was amazed by the amount of the product that they had there, as it must have taken a very long time to make it all.   Some of those places get 50 buses coming through every day, and so they must make a good turnover.

After we had finished looking at the Grand Canyon we continued onto a small town called Page.  At Page we booked into a Motel, and a little while later went to a nearby Grill house.  I ordered a Prime Rib Steak.  When this came out it was at least 10x15cm.  After a good effort I managed to finish at least 3 quarters of it.  I could have eaten more of it but I didn't want to feel sick after the meal. 

The next day we started of and Antelope Canyon.  I nearly missed this part of the tour because I was using my mobile phone as an alarm clock and while I had changed my watch when we passed into Arizona (1 hour ahead), I didn't change my mobile phone. The main tour guide Jason, ended up coming back for me and speeding for me to get to the location, which we managed to get to the rest of the tour, just before the gates on the Indian reservation. This very narrow canyon that changes colour as the the sun moves across the sky.  It was a bit disapointing though because a lot of the canyon was quite dark, as it was early in the morning and because the days are still quite short.

Next the tour went onto Hourseshoe Bend.  This is a bend in a river that is in the shape of a horseshoe. The river has cut 350+ metre cliff face - the river is a long way below.  You could go right up to the edge and look right over.

Next we went onto Monument Valley.  The tour was meant to start at 1PM but they didn't have a driver so we had to wait until 2PM.  While we waited we had a look around the area, which had a muesum and had John Waynes cabin that he lived in when he was making movies.  There are many movies that have been filmed in Monument valley like "Stage Coach", "Forest Gump", Back To The Future - Part 3" and many others, especially old westerns.  I had a look for the Delorean time machine from Back to the Future, but failed to find it!  This was obvously a huge disappointment to me.  At the last photo stop on the tour, my camera battery went flat.  It also was one of the more recognisable places in the valley.  So I had to use my mobile phone to take a couple of pictures instead of my other camera.

On the third day we went to Bryce Canyon.  This was the highest part of the trip being slightly more than 2500 metres above sea level.

 

 Finally we visited Zion. To get right into Zion we had to pass through a approximately 2km tunnel that was made in the late 1920's.

On the way back to Las Vegas my ears were messed up from the altitude.  So far my ears are still not right, with things sounding a bit quiet.

Tomorrow I fly to Houston.

Las Vegas and my Trip to get a T-Mobile SIM.

My first full days experience was a bit of an eye opener. The main goal for the day was to get a T-Mobile SIM.  This was a little bit difficult because I didn't have a map of vegas, except my computer.  I went into a casino and was able to get a map of the strip, which I marked the closest T-Mobile seller.  Out I went, only realising later I had left the map in my room.  I eventually found where the store was meant to be, only to find a casino.

I decided to go on and have a look at the vegas strip, while looking for somewhere I could get internet access to look up alternative locations.  I got on the duece bus.  I thought at least I might get off the strip with this eventually, as I had lost hope of finding internet on the strip.

After some time I decided to get off the duece bus.  This place still had a heap of casinos and poker machines, but looked more like it had seen better days compared to the strip.  I saw quite a few offices of lawyers saying they dealt with "arrest bonds".  Eventually I found a krespy creams with an open wireless access point which I then used to locate an alternative T-Mobile store, and find where I was.  This showed me I was in "Downtown Las Vegas". Using this info, I walked for quite some time passing two large courtroom buildings - each individually larger than the high court of Australias building.

One thing I noticed was there was a line up outside a shop that buys "Gold and Silver".  I wonder if this means that the Gold/Silver market is toping or whether it is just the people desperate to raise some cash after a dramatic price rise in gold and especially silver price.

I gave up walking and found a bus that took me directly past the shopping center that had the t-mobile store.  This shopping center had a huge car park, but 2/3 to 3/4 of the car park was empty.  I think it reveals the damage the global financial crisis has done to Las Vegas. I got my T-mobile sim, only to discover that my phone, which I thought was not network locked, was network locked.  So this is not the end of my quest for phone/internet access.

By this part of  the day it was getting towards 4-5PM, so I made my way back to where I was staying, with a slight detour to take some photos of some of the Casinos at dusk.

Arrived in USA - I'm now an International Traveller!

I flew V Australia and arrived within a few minutes of the expected arrival time.  The first few hours were ok, because I watched Freakonomics, The Social Network and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.  After that though I couldn't sleep either.  I tried real hard but in the end could only manage to sleep for an hour or two.

After I arrived, I had to sit at LAX airport, waiting for my connecting flight that got delayed because it was late getting in from Boston.  I only had a $US20 note that I got paid with for a job I did and ended up getting some food at Burger King. 

When the flight to Las Vegas finally left a little after 2:15 PM, I fell asleep almost immediately and problably only started waking up when the plane started decending.  I felt much better for the sleep.  As soon as you get to the Las Vegas Airport, you a comfronted with what the city is known for.  I could have played the pokies within a few minutes of getting off the plane - at the airport.

After a bit of searching I found a shuttle bus that could take me to where I was staying, and finally checked in.  I crashed on the bed for a few hours then. Tomorrow, I will have to find a place that sells t-mobile sims so I can get my mobile working.  In the mean time, I have just been using my voip account on my laptop - which has worked fine when I had an Internet connection to my laptop.