America, done.

Well, it’s finally here, day 90 🙁

I think America has been fairly comprehensively ‘Done’. We’ve had an absolutely incredible time and we’ve been lucky to experience so many things for the first time, from riding a helicopter into the Grand Canyon to quad biking in the desert, standing atop 4 of America’s tallest buildings, swimming with some amazing animals, watching shows on Broadway, jazz clubs in New Orleans, driving a speedboat, flying a jetpack, standing where JFK was shot and feet from where Martin Luther King was murdered (and learning a lot of history in the process). We’ve seen Kurt Cobains house, Graceland, stood on the edge of a meteor crater, riden Segways past the White House,  visited Alcatraz, Roswell, stayed in a lighthouse, seen the most beautiful national parks….. I could go on…

It’s been an absolute dream come true and we both know how lucky we are to have got to experience it.

Anyway, I thought we should collect together a few stats and favourite photos to finish this blog off properly…

 

Days: 90
Miles driven: 13,059
States driven through: 35
Hotels stayed in: 41
Visits to blog: 1824
Friends met:  4
Modes of transport used: 15 ( car / airplane / seaplane / quad bike / jet pack / speed boat / catamaran / segway / zip line / ferry / bus / helicopter / team / monorail / cog railway)
Number of photos taken: 12,613
Number of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups eaten by Jon: We lost count.

 

People also keep asking us where our favourite place has been so we’ve given it some though and pretty much agreed on our top 5 places in America

  • Heceta head / pacific coast
  • Las Vegas
  • New orleans
  • Lake Tahoe
  • Boston

 

… and our top 10 things we’ve done while we’ve been here (we tried to do 5 but they didn’t fit).

  • Quad biking in the Valley of Fire
  • Helicopter tip into the Grand Canyon
  • Flying a Jet Pack in Key West
  • The world’s longest zip line in Whistler
  • Riding the speed boat along the Chicago shore
  • Swimming with sealions, dolphins and manatees
  • Seeing The Lion king on broadway
  • Visiting the jazz clubs in New Orleans
  • Taking a seaplane to Dry Tortugas and snorkeling there.
  • Riding Segways in Washingto D.C.

 

While we’re compiling lists, here are some our favourite things about being in America…

  • Turning right on red lights
  • Free refills on coffee and soft drinks without asking
  • Conversations with strangers
  • The food (most of it)
  • The weather
  • The scenery (it really is incredible)
  • Air conditioning, everywhere!!!

And there are a few things we won’t miss…

  • Not being able to get a cup of tea (Jen)
  • Not including tax in any of their prices
  • Mosquitoes
  • Their money (specifically the coins)
  • American Cheese, Bacon and Beer – they can’t make any of them.

 

We’re really going to miss being in America, but we’re both looking forward to a roast dinner and a good night’s sleep 🙂

Anyway, we tried to pick our favourite 50 photos from the trip but only managed to get it down to 74, so here goes…