Elizabeth, 25 May 2009
U.S.A. , California

California: Not the sunshine state!!!

Hello Everybody

Executive summary: We are doing good, california is one big turist trap but the sunshine is rather nice. We are loving the national parks and encountered bears!!!! I'm still in one piece, Anders hmm... well is he ever in one piece... ha ha ha...

Real letter:


Hmm… I don’t know what to say, but California has been one big surprise. It’s been really weird being amongst people everywhere once again, since we’d kind of gotten used to the wide open spaces of the south. The first city we visited was Los Angeles, and it’s nothing like you see in the movies. It’s huge – absolutely huge. And it’s really ugly, dirty and just not very appealing. It surprised me how many Mexicans there were, and often in the stores it was Spanish and not English that was the first language. Having never been in Los Angeles before, I obviously don't know how it normally would be, but I was struck at how hard I think the recession has hit here. Everywhere we saw people hanging on the street corners, and especially the Mexican men seemed to wander and look for work, while giving off this rather sad and desperate look.

We did all the obviously touristy things, such as Warner Brother Studios, Universal Studios, Walk of Fame, Kodak Theatre, The Hills, Long Beach, Venice Beach etc. All in all that was all fine and really cool to experience. We saw the Hollywood sign, and especially the Warner Brother Studio tour was really good. We actually sat in the couch from Friends, and we saw a lot of film studios, including Gilmore Girls, which I’m a huge fan off. We’ve started this tradition of buying mugs over here, and in Los Angeles we added quite a few to the collection. At Venice beach, it was like we were a completely different place. I’ve never experienced that much Marijuana, and even though the police patrolled all over it kind of seemed okay – a least nobody got arrested, and it was extremely hippie like and very laid back. We swam in the pacific ocean (Stillehavet), which was rather wild…. Unfortunately nobody got in trouble so I didn’t get to see David Hasselhof run across the beach and rescue anybody…..

After Los Angelos, we were heading north, and made sure to stop in Solvang, this tiny little Danish settlement, where there is a miniature Rundetaarn, Dybbølmølle etc. But this was not the highlight of the tour. For days before Anders had talked about the Danish Buffet, we were gonna enjoy. Especially he'd looked forward to the Liverpate. And it all lived up to our expectations. The staff were really nice, and totally impressed that we were actually Danish people. The town were super funny to look at, since it was like being stuck in the 17th century, but most importantly we ate liverpate until we dropped....

We had really counted on California being this laid back, friendly and liberal state, but so far we’ve seemed to get off on the wrong key with people….. Driving on one of the smaller roads, we’ve actually gotten spat on – yeah that’s right, a big disgusting one, because the guy thought we were driving bad…. And just to top if off – the gave us the finger too. That has really surprised me a lot, since at another hotel we almost got kicked out of for using a four letter word – Fuck. I know that it's not okay to use it over here. But all over in California we've been meet by rude, unaccommodating, and just all over very unfriendly and so far very un-American. Our experience over here, has until California, been that American people, are the most friendly, help full, welcoming people ever. So California we figured should just be sold off to Mexico.....



After Los Angeles, we drove up along the coast taking one of the most scenic routes in America, and it was some rather amazing views, rocks as high as several hundreds yards, the ocean just under you, and trees and the sun just behind you. That was wonderful, we stopped at Morro Bay, where we stayed near the water for four days, while Anders was working on his paper. That still hasn’t been finished…. Today however seem to be the night…. It’s taken quite a toll on his beauty sleep…. Driving up the coast here we were fortunately enough to see Sea Elephants (Søkøer) they just laid there all over the beach, soaking up the sun, and enjoying life. It was really amazing to see.



Then our great national park adventure started and we reached Sequoia National Park, with the biggest trees in the world! Sequoia was amazing, we hiked in the forest for two whole days – for any of those that think this means that we actually carried our own luggage – let me correct you. I have found out that I do like to camp, there is just a couple of hmmm let’s see conditions that have to be fulfilled. Sun, dry weather, the same camping spot for SEVERAL days, a good campground, which should include, nice clean toilets, baths, a little store, fireplace etc. Then off course there is the whole question of animals, the campground should have electricity and running water, there shall be grass and off course the grass can’t be too high, since this would hide animals. It shouldn’t be in a forest, since there is too many animals, and it shouldn’t be at the beach, since that means sand everywhere, then it shouldn’t be completely bare since that is too hot, and ohh yeah, you have probably all lost your temper by now. I have liked camping but let’s face it – MGM Signature rocked and camping well it sucks – okay not sucks, but it’s not really something I think I’ll be doing too much of again… One of the things that I do like very much is the hikes, and we’ve hiked quite a lot, we usually go about 10 miles and bring loads of water, snacks, lunch, a book and a little blanket and then we just make stops when ever. I could defiantly hike again!! So back to telling more about Sequoia, since I really loved that place. We hiked amongst those huge trees - one was as wide as 11 meter in diameter. Most of them were extremely tall also and you just walked there all by yourself and enjoyed the views. We actually meet bears, the California Bear, 3 times all together we encountered these magnificent animals, and it was amazing. First off course you are a little scared but then you realize that the bears are more scared of you. One time we were actually only 3 meters from a mother and two cubs, isn’t that amazing. She ran off fast, and it wasn’t like we had followed her, she just kind of stepped out in front of us.

After Sequoia we drove north to Yosemite. It was a mixed feeling for me, since I really wanted to see the park, but also kind of felt that we have seen so much already that it’s hard to not feel almost filled up. Anders has it a bit the same way, but he’s also eager to get the most out of it, and I think he’s dreamt about Yosemite more then me. And yes it is amazing. The first day we stayed in the center, where pretty much everybody goes. And it was kind of like going to a big sales event. We were driving in a line of cars, waiting, trying hard to find a parking spot, then walked out in a line and were just surrounded by people all the time. It wasn’t like really being out in the nature, it was like being in a movie, were there were nice sets of the nature, but all these people just made it seem crowded. So the next day we drove to the north entrance, to a place that should be much more deserted, and ohh it was wonderful. We hiked the whole day, got soaking wet going past a waterfall and had the most amazing views. We meet hardly any people and felt like we were the only people in the world – that had been fortunately enough to find this one path that took us all these gorgeous places. The day after tomorrow it’s once again moving on, and this time – ohh God I’m embarrassed to tell you – but we are going to a very small Casino in Nevada, so I can get my addiction to blackjack settled a little. So two days there, and then it’s of to Yellowstone National Park, the last of the big National Parks, before heading back to wonderful Twin Falls, Idaho, where I almost can’t wait to see all the people and feel so much like home again.

Well folks, I think that was all for now, I find it really hard to actually fully write all the things we see and experiense, I kind of feel like I'm just limbering off our itenerary. So wait in exitement, for our photoslideshow - so far 5000 pictures.....

Big Hugs Elizabeth & Anders