America 2009

Sep 2009 3

San Francisco Zoo

Went to the zoo on the 2nd of Sept. Caught the MUNI L train there which is sort of a bus/train hybrid; imagine a bus, but electric, with steel wheels, in pairs or sets of four, and running in a subway. That’s the MUNI. After travelling through the subway for a while it suddenly surfaced and whizzed along the streets. Quite fun really. Arrived at the zoo which is right by the sea. The houses round here are very different to ours, every house shares a common wall with its neighbour, and each is a different pastel colour.

Arrived at the zoo. It’s very nicely done, so much nicer than Orana Park. The whole zoo has been extensively landscaped with trees everywhere, lots of shaded little paths and lawns, well sign posted, and not too far to walk.

The had penguins, all swimming around their own little pond doing front stoke, back stroke and splashing around. They werevery cute.

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Sep 2009 2

San Fran, So Far

Part 1: Getting there

Arrived at the airport, greeted Ange, checked in our luggage and made our way through customs. Waited for plane, boarded and sat at the back of a fairly squished cattle-class 737. Cloud set in shortly after Chch so there wasn’t much to see. Arrived in Auckland, took a fairly brisk walk along the blue line to International Terminal and checked in for remainder of flight. Got bomb sniffed, then boarded our plane, a 737. Much fancier and roomier than the 737, bit slower down the run way though. Then we were off on our way!

Slept off and on, ear plugs made a welcome difference to the constant roar. Watched the sun rise, but was on wrong side of plane to see the actual sun.

Clouds at dawn / Sunrise

11 hours, 30 minutes later we touched down in San Francisco! Another hour later we had finished taxing over the tarmac; big airport. What a relief to get off the plan...

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Aug 2009 27

Packing

Awww geez Dwayne, it aint never all gonna fit in there! Awww shucks Sharla, have some faith!

So looks like I need a bigger suitcase. One with wheels… wrrrrrrrrr rrrrrr clunk!

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Aug 2009 11

Three Weeks to Go!

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There once lived a boy — named Michael Adams oddly enough — who dreamed of a land where the trains roam large, free, and frequently. The scenery is massive, the towns are named Isolation, Dogfart, & Jackpot, and the people all speak with funny voices. Every second station plays good country, Mary Lou’s, Chuck’s, and Ed’s wander the street, and entire animals are served for dinner.

And… in less than 3 weeks I’ll be there!!

Itinerary

The plan is purposely very vague. Places on the hit list are:

San Francisco. Touchdown Clear customs Visit SanFran zoo, aquarium. Alcatraz Hire a car. Holy crap everyone drives on the wrong side of the road! Stock up on car snacks, water, anti-venom, etc. Cross the Sierra Nevadas, camp a few nights in the mountains, find some caches. Nevada Visit Reno. Gamble some, vi...
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