USA - May 22nd to June 16th
We arrived in San Fran a little jaded, but managed to negotiate our way to Neil and Emi's place, where they were waiting with some yummy dinner and a comfy bed, I was feeling a little apprehensive about living up to the "Flight of the Concords" reputation - but they didn't seem to mind we didn't bring our guitars with us! :)

The next morning on Wednesday May 23rd we were feeling a little jaded, so after a bit of a sleep -in we got up and wandered down to the local shops to catch up on some laundry and grab a coffee. We hadn't done any laundry for our whole time in Turkey so it was a little desperate!

Aaron made the mistake of ordering a large hot chocolate, forgetting what country we were in!

In the afternoon we borrowed some bikes and rode over the hill to the Golden Gate Bridge and Waterfront. We also managed to find an outdoors shop, making us realise just how expensive gear is back home! I was very tempted to grab a sleeping bag and sneak into one of the tents for a wee sleep too :).

On Thursday we were up early to catch the Ferry to Alcatraz, it was an interesting trip and had a good audio tour. I had to laugh at the Audio tour tho, as it explained where you needed to walk in great detail - Better not think for yourself, just in case you get hurt!! A little different mindset to Turkey and Morrocco. 

After the Alcatraz tour we headed into town to hunt for some outdoor stores and have a look around.

We then meet up with Neil and Emi for some yummy mexican food and an awesome evening at the Science Museum. The place was amazing - every Thursday they would have drinks in the evening and you could wander round the exhibits. They also had a super cool rainforest, aquarium and observatory presentation. It was great fun!

On Friday 25th Neil dropped us off at the airport and we headed off to Kansas City to see Hamish, Cole and Trevor. We arrived there in the afternoon after a couple of quick flights and were knocked over by the heat, a lot warmer than San Fran with its cool sea breeze.

That evening we headed out to the speedway, a little different than the night before! It was entertaining to watch (the people as well as the racing!), and cool to see a different side of American culture, and some very disturbing looking food!

On Saturday we headed out to Bass Pro (A huge fishing and hunting store) which included an aquarium! We then headed out to a local lake where Aaron caught his first fish in North America! That evening we had a BBQ and were entertained by Floyd, a dude from Mississippi who cooked some yummy BBQ chicken :). We were doing well at sampling the food on offer in Kansas.

On Sunday we visited another big sports store where we picked up a good cheap travel rod and Aaron drooled over some more fishing gear. We then headed home for a proper Kansas City BBQ cooked by Hamish, it tasted so so so good, and I ate way to much food!

Monday 28th was Memorial Day, so we headed out to Hillsdale State Park, a great camping spot by a lake where we meet some more friendly locals and tried a little bit of fishing. We then discovered another dangerous food item - 69cent 32ounce softdrinks! So so good on a hot day!

Tuesday 29th we headed to another HUGE outdoor store (Cabellas) and for a bit more fishing, I was starting to get a bit of flu again so we had a quiet next few days. On Thursday we walked with Cole to a local lake and fished for some Bass, Aaron caught a tiny one, and Cole a decent one. I am sure Aaron was impressed! We also spent some time catching a Turtle in the pond near there house

On Friday 1st of June we headed down to the Lake of the Osaaks about 2.5hours south. We stayed in a cool bach on the lakes edge and did some fishing of the wharf that evening. We caught some Bass, Catfish and a thing called a Crappie (that doesn't taste crappie). 

On Saturday the boys were all up early to get into the fishing, Cole and Aaron headed out in the paddle boat and Cole got a good Bass. We fished all day catching a few fish, including Aaron with a big Carp. In the late afternoon we headed up the lake in the neighbours boat, it is a huge lake network with amazing houses and boats all along the edge.

We ended the day with a yummy BBQ and Smores cooked over the fire (toasted marshmallows and chocolate in-between biscuits) - Way yummier than the traditional kiwi ones (that don't have chocolate) :)

The next day we did some fishing in the morning and headed home, stopping at some red-neck craft stores: "You know you are a red neck when a 7 course meal is a 6 pack and some roadkill" - that was on a t-shirt in one of them!

The next few days we relaxed, on Wednesday 6th we made a Pavlova for a BBQ that night, it went down pretty well, especially with the Kiwis! On Thursday we were up stupid early to catch our plane to Portland (about 330am!), after a couple of easy flights we arrived in Portland. We dropped our gear off at Marisa's work confusing the security guard with our accent! We checked out REI as well, yay for outdoor stores!

On Friday we headed off camping a couple hours out of Portland, we arrived at the camp in the rain and quickly pitched the tents, they boys then spent the next hour setting up a Tarp over the fire and were set! We cooked smores on the fire and listened to the rain which didn't let up the whole night!

On Saturday 9th the sun was out and the rain had stopped,Aaron was up early fishing the Santiam River catching a few little fish and hooking some unknown monsters. Marisa and I went for a bit of a walk and then we all spent the afternoon playing Frisbee and inventing Frisbee games. 

After a walk to a waterfall we cooked another feast before more Smores and Whisky by the fire. 

Well out for the walk I left some hot chocolate mix on the picnic table, a cheaky chipmunk got into it and had some fun! This is the pic of what was left as he dragged the bag away.

Sunday 10th we packed up and headed home the scenic way, catching glimpses of some of the Volcanoes in the area. We also stopped by some nice pools on a river and tried to catch some fish, we threw everything at  them (including rocks) and they wouldn't move! A little frustrating...

We spent the following week in Portland enjoying the sights and awesome Powells Book Shop (a Huge 2nd hand book store) where we spent hours admiring all the awesome reads! It is a lovely town with yummy food, beer and coffee! On Thursday 14th we went to a couple of the Brew Pubs famous in Portland (starting with Cascade) and tried some yummy brews. Aaron's favourite was Piney The Elder (http://russianriverbrewing.com/brews/pliny-the-elder/).

On Friday we headed up to Bellingham to stay with Marisa's parents (Herb and Vicky), at the their lovely house by the lake. The weather was crap but we still managed a walk in the woods, BBQ (complete with Pavlova) and swim in the lake! (a very quick swim!).

On the Sunday we caught the train to Vancouver and headed across to Vancouver Island - will update that part of the trip as soon as I can.....