Sweet goodbyes

August 27th

The strange thing about travelling is that it always feels like you’ve been somewhere forever while at the same time it seems like just yesterday that you arrived. That’s how I feel now, it feels like time just flew by while I was in the USA while at the same time it seems like ages ago when I left New York. I am back at JFK airport now, waiting for my flight to Dublin (and then on to Amsterdam). I’ll arrive in Amsterdam Sunday morning around 10AM, after forty hours and five flights. I don’t know why I thought booking these flights was a good idea at the time, I am exhausted. At least I didn’t have to travel on my own for the first part of the journey. Jess, one of the other interns, was on the same flight to Salt Lake City as I was and in Salt Lake we saw Rosie and George, who had left Cody a couple hours before we did. It was so good to see them again even though they had only just left. I can’t believe how close I’ve gotten to all the people I’ve met on my travels and how much I’m gonna miss them. Thank you guys for making this an amazing summer and an experience I will never forget. It’s going to be quiet to be back home again and not constantly be surrounded by other people. I am already trying to figure out when and where I can go on my next trip. I always thought I wouldn’t be good at staying abroad for an extended period of time, I’d miss my family and friends (and horse!) too much. And I do miss them, but I also realised I love meeting new people and exploring new places and this is a good time in my life to do it. I must also admit I rather liked not having wifi and not constantly being in contact with everyone, it was nice and quiet.

This trip has made me realise I’m still a country girl at heart, even though I loved living in the city. There is no better feeling than riding through the middle of nowhere on your horse. The views in Wyoming were amazing, I don’t think they’ll ever get old. On every ride I was amazed by the mountains surrounding me. I love how the steep slopes that petrified me on my first day seemed easy during the third week. The feeling of trusting your horse to get you down safely is great. Even though I ride western back home and I am used to riding on a long rein (or without a bridle) this experience has thought me to just trust my horse to find it’s on way down a hill and not having to control everything. I got to ride a lot of different horses and learned a lot about training. I especially loved those training sessions. The methods they use are mostly in line with what I do back home but it’s amazing to see how much patience MaeCile has with the horses. Where others would have given up or would have gotten angry with the horse she just tries again. She also emphasizes the importance of taking small steps and giving the horse time to digest what it has learned. The amount of time she invests in ground work certainly pays off in the long run.

 

It was a weird last day as two of the interns had already left in the middle of the night. The rest of us got up at 5.30 to tack up for one final ride. Jess wanted to see the sunrise and we got to the top of the hill just in time. The second we arrived, the sun peeked out from behind the mountains. The colours were amazing, the sky was painted in shades of pink and purple. Even though it was freezing, it was one of the best rides of the holiday. When we rode back to the ranch over the mountains, we found the rest of the horses peacefully grazing up there. I’ve never seen them on top of the mountains and it was such an amazing sight, definitely my ‘gift’ for today.

After the ride, George took photos of me and Hazel. I love how great they turned out. I look like a real cowgirl. I did manage to lose my cowboy hat when loping around the arena and of course it fell on Hazel. She didn’t spook too badly though and I didn’t fall of this time ;) I wish I could take this horse home. She has been amazing, one of the sweetest horses I’ve ever ridden. She loved a good gallop but I never felt out of control and she was a true mountain goat! Unfortunately it was time to say goodbye to the other interns after that as their flight was around noon. It was really weird being at the ranch without them. Jess and I had lunch with Emelie and MaeCile and finished our packing. It was a struggle to get all my souvenirs (*cough* boots *cough*) in my bag but I did manage in the end. And like a true cowgirl I tied my rope to my bag with some bailing twine! With two carry-on bags instead of the one I came with, we boarded the plane in Cody. I was really sad to be leaving Wyoming and I hope I get to go back someday!  

Back in the saddle

August 26^th

I am so glad I was able to ride again today. My hip still hurt but I chose to ride Selim, a horse with a really comfortable gait. The ride was great until Emelie lost her stirrup during a lope. She held on for quite a while but then she fell. She landed on her side and was really struggling to breathe. We waited with her while Lucy rode home to get the car. They then took her to the hospital. We later heard she had broken a rib which had punctured her lung, really scary! Thankfully they took good care of her at the hospital. That was the third fall in our group, I guess bad things do come in threes.. They hadn’t had any falls that season up until we arrived, apparently we are a clumsy bunch.

After taking the horses back to the ranch we spend the afternoon helping Rachel and Sam built their log cabin. We we’re a little sceptical at first but it was a lot of fun. And we got everything we needed to do done as a team. The next day we went for a ride in the morning after which we headed to Cody to visit Emelie in the hospital. The staff was a bit surprised when such a big group came in, especially when some people started racing the wheelchairs through the hallway. Thankfully, Emelie looked a lot better and she told us she was allowed to come home the next day. After the hospital we went to ‘the Cody Cattle Company’ to celebrate Rachel’s birthday. We had dinner and saw a country music show. We spend the rest of the night in the ‘Cowboy Bar’ in Meteetsee where George and I tried to beat two of the locals at pool. I love the ‘cowboy’ live we’re living here!

Thursday was our last full day at Horseworks. I can’t believe how fast these three weeks went by. Lucy and I got up early that morning to wrangle the horses (I rode a mule for the first time!) and when everyone else had finally woken up we took a couple of the horses to the arena. I rode Buttercup again! She was great, I think she just needs to build up some muscle to balance herself and her rider when she trips. I wish I had more time to work with her.. In the afternoon we were allowed to go on a ride with just our group, with me and Lucy as ‘wranglers’. It was a lovely ride but we took it easy because I didn’t want anyone else falling off. Halfway through we saw a storm coming our way so we had to take a shortcut home. That shortcut led us over a couple of steep slopes. Thankfully everyone was well practiced in the art of riding up and down the hills by then ;) And we got back just before the storm hit!

That night I sat on my cabin porch gazing at the stars. It was a clear night, I could even see the Milky Way. I was really sad I would have to leave the next day. I’ve had such an amazing time in the US and particularly in Wyoming, I wish I could stay here longer… 

Falling down and getting back up (again)

August 22^nd

They warned me the weather in Wyoming was unpredictable but I didn’t expect a full day of rain after all the hot days we have had. The land needed it though and it gave us an excuse to go into Cody for some shopping! I still hadn’t been to Boot Barn and I was dying to go! We weren’t planning on staying there all day but I guess that’s what happens when you tell a group of girls to go shopping. I bought some great souvenirs in the shops on main street (my own rope, so I can practice on the sheep back home!). After a visit to Walmart (I’m really going to miss Walmart, I think I’ve been to at least one in every state) it was finally time for Boot Barn. I think I tried on twenty different pairs of boots. In the end I had two pairs left to choose between. By this point most of the others had gone to another shop, it took me ages to decide. Eventually I decided to just get both, while in Wyoming right?

I got up early Saturday morning to wrangle with Emelie and Laura. It was Laura’s last day so Emelie and Sam would be the only wranglers left. I was just having some tea that morning when MaeCile asked ‘so Aly is an assistant wrangler now right?’ I suddenly got promoted! We rode all around the property so Laura and Emelie could show me all the places the horses could be when wrangling in the morning. I rode Hank, a real mustang! He was such a giant sweetheart though. Two of the horses had escaped through the fence so we had some real wrangling to do.

In the afternoon I took Buttercup to the arena for another session. After some ground work I rode her in the arena and she was great. She is a really sensitive horse but very comfortable. She reminded me a lot of Hazel, who, as MaeCile told me later, is her full sister. She is such a sweet horse and I felt completely safe taking her on a ride the next morning. Unfortunately she tripped when we were loping through a field with a lot of sage bushes. I suddenly felt her disappear from underneath me. According to Lucy, who was riding behind me, she tripped over a bush and then jumped to the left, while I fell off on the right. I landed on my hip and hit my head as well. I was a little disoriented but after sitting down for a couple of minutes I really wanted to get back on. However, I couldn’t lift my foot high enough to reach the stirrup so I decided to walk home with Laura and try again in the arena. Halfway through the walk I got really dizzy and nauseous and I had to sit down. Laura took Buttercup home and went to pick me up in the car. I spend the rest of the day hobbling around the house…

The next morning my hip still felt pretty bad. MaeCile told me I wasn’t allowed back on a horse until I went to the hospital for a check-up. My insurance hadn’t called back yet though so I had to wait... Everyone decided they wanted to head to the Horseworks sign to take a photo so I was allowed to ride the smallest horse they had for the photo, Frecka. She was really sweet and even though it hurt, it felt good to be back in the saddle. In the afternoon, my insurance company finally called back and MaeCile took me to the hospital in Cody. They immediately took me to a private room, got me into a hospital gown and gave me one of those bracelet thingies with my name on it. I didn’t really think all that was necessary.. They were really nice though and kept checking up on me (I think I've seen ten different nurses, all asking me how to pronounce my full name). After watching Lifetime and history channel for hours the doctor finally told me the X-rays were clear, no broken bones, just banged up. It was nice to know that nothing was seriously wrong and I could ride again!

That night I went down to the cabins with Laura and Emelie, it was pitch black but when we turned around we could just see the moon starting to rise above the mountains. We stood there for a bit watching the moonrise. It was such a beautiful sight, a bit surreal even. I realized what an amazing time this has been and how glad I am that I finally decided to come here this year, even though I doubted it for so long. It was the best decision I’ve made this year. 

Cowgirl

August 18th

Remember when we accidentally went rock climbing in the Appalachians? I took it a step further and went rock climbing on a horse. After moving the neighbours cows, one of the cowboys took a couple of us on a ride up the mountain to see the petroglyphs. The native americans had left drawings on the rocks up there so we went up the steepest slopes I’ve ever seen, it was almost vertical and there were loads of rocks. I am really proud of myself I did that, even though I am afraid of heights, and it was really cool! Every hill we’ll be riding after this will be a piece of cake. I imagine this is what archaeology was like before they had cars and stuff: exploring ancient sites on horseback. Moving the cows was really cool as well, we had quite a big herd and I had to bring back stray cows a couple of times. I felt like a proper cowboy! It was fun to actually have a purpose on a ride.

Yesterday we had our first training session with Speck, he hasn’t really been ridden in years so we basically started from scratch. MaeCile showed us her training methods, she did join-up, lunging and a lot of desensitizing with different objects. It was really cool to see her working with a horse and to see how much the horse improved over such a short period of time. The principles she uses are really similar to what we do back home but I also learned some cool new stuff. We worked with him again this morning (I was up at 5.30 during my vacation…) trying to get him used to throwing the reins over his head. At first he was really spooked by it but after working with him for an hour he did great. It is so cool to see how much a horse can learn without forcing it into anything. At one point during the session we wanted Speck to get used to different movements so Ava, Rosie and I did jumping jacks in the round-pen, funniest workout ever!

I know I say it every day but today might have been the best day so far. We needed to wrangle nine horses from a field into an enclosure, and when I say field I don’t mean the kind of field we have back home. This field had a creeck, hills and was covered in sage bushes. We had a plan to get the horses in but of course the plan went out the window as soon as we started. The horses bolted so Ava, Rosie, Lucy and I followed them and somehow managed to get them into the enclosure within five minutes. I don’t even know what happened, it all went so fast. We were gallopping through the field, dodging bushes and rabbit holes while trying to keep an eye on the horses. It was the best ride ever, I was smiling and laughing so much it almost hurt, I must have looked like a crazy person. When we rode back, one of the girls didn’t want to ride so she took the car. I trailed her horse back on a leadrope, I even loped while leading that horse, it was a perfect day as a cowgirl ;)

Rodeo

August 15th

I feel like a proper cowgirl now. This morning one of the neighbours called and asked if we wanted to help move their cows tomorrow. We decided to go for a trial run this morning so we saddled our horses and went out to find our cows. I was riding Tina today, she loved working with the cows and knew exactly what to do. It was an amazing experience to wrangle the stray cows back to the group. After getting the cows in the corrals I had to wrangle the horses out, without letting the cows escape. It was so much fun and my day got even better when Laura taught us how to rope. We were using a barrel to rope but when it was my turn, Bob the mule came up, so Laura joked that I should try and catch him. He was still quite far away but I gave it a shot anyways. I never expected to actually catch him but somehow I did. Even he looked surprised! It was probably beginners luck but it was still really cool, especially for a first try.

Yesterday afternoon we returned from our trip to Yellowstone. We saw beautiful things in the park but it certainly was an adventure. We left Friday morning to do some shopping in Cody and pick up the rental cars, after which we drove along the scenic highway into the park. It was only a two hour drive but because we had only rented the cars at five, all the campsites in the park were full by the time we got there. We tried to find a campsite outside of the park but after driving for hours we decided to just sleep in the car. I don’t think I actually slept as it was so cramped. We put down the seats so Rosie, Cheyenne and I could sleep in the trunk but we still had to move in unison in order to turn around. The next morning we headed back into the park to find a campsite. Thankfully we did, so we wouldn’t have to spend another night in the car. By this point we had lost the second car (we went with a group of 10) and you can hardly get signal anywhere in the park so we decided to just explore Yellowstone on our own.

I think Yellowstone is my favourite national park. It had everything: beaches, canyons, forests, plains and of course the hot springs and geysers! The only downside was that everything smelled like sulphur. We were lucky: a couple of the geysers erupted just when we were there. Of course we also went to Old Faithful, the most famous geyser, but that one was not very impressive. Yellowstone also has a big bear population but unfortunately we didn’t get to see one (or maybe that’s for the best because it also has a lot of animal attacks) but we did see lots of bison (really close to our car!), bold eagles and a coyote! Even our campsite was beautiful, the best I’ve seen so far. It was next to a stream and surrounded by trees. I never thought I’d say this but I think I’m starting to appreciate camping.

After exploring more of the park on Sunday we went back to Cody for the rodeo in the evening. It was a championship so the best riders from all over the USA were in Cody. Only ever having seen a rodeo on tv I was really impressed. I must admit I felt like I was starring in ‘The Longest Ride’. The night started out with a short show, followed by the national anthem and honouring of the veterans. After that we saw bronc riding, roping, barrel racing and bull riding. The riders were amazing, I can’t imagine having to stay on a bull for 8 seconds (those 8 seconds last a lot longer than you’d think). There was even an actual rodeo clown. It was such a cool thing to experience in real live. The atmosphere was amazing, everyone was excited and was cheering for the riders. I am really glad I got to go as it was one of the things I really wanted to do.

Wyoming

August 9th

A short update from Wyoming. We don’t have wifi here ‘cause apparently the previous groups have used up all the data. We do however get unlimited access between midnight and 5 in the morning so I think I might have to get up early to post this!

I almost didn’t even get here because my flight to Salt Lake City from San Francisco was delayed, but the airport was small and kind of casual (as far as you can call an airport casual) so I made it into the tiny plane to Wyoming. Emily, one of the Wranglers, picked me and four others up and brought us to the ranch where we got to know the rest of the group. Everyone else is either from the USA or the UK, one boy and nine other girls. They all seem really nice though. We sleep in log cabins but mostly hang out in the house where MaeCile prepares amazing meals for us (I might gain some weight after all..). Yesterday we got an orientation to the ranch, we talked about what we’re gonna do out here, we met our horses and did some riding. I rode Hazel, a beautiful paint horse. She is a really sensitive horse but an amazing ride and very sweet. The way they ride here is a bit different from home but I hope I’ll catch on quickly! We went for a couple of short hacks up and down steep, rocky paths which was really cool! Emily said she was impressed by how well Hazel and I did so I’m very happy to hear that! 

We’ve got a great itinerary for this week. Tomorrow we will ride the horses out to ‘Cow Camp´ where we will be spending the night. Friday we plan on going to Yellowstone National Park for an overnight trip and on Sunday there is a rodeo in Cody. It all sounds really cool! And besides that, there are the chores around here like feeding the calves, chickens and horses, farmwork and riding to keep us busy. 

I’ll try to post some updates soon so stay tuned ;)

Death Valley & San Francisco

August 7th,

It’s been a busy couple of days! I am at San Francisco airport, waiting for my plane to Cody, Wyoming for the second part of my trip. Time flies, I’ve already been travelling for 3,5 weeks and the first part of the trip is over. I said goodbye to the rest of my group this morning. Even though I was kind of done with camping and packing up my stuff everyday I am going to miss it. I have spend three weeks with these people (in close quarters as well) and it’s weird to be on my own again. But it’s just for a little bit though as I will meet lots of new people on the ranch. I am very excited for this part of my journey, for one I am really looking forward to being on a horse again! But I am also really curious about the rest of the group, I have now idea how many people there’ll be. 

So what have I been up to the last couple of days? After we left Las Vegas we travelled to Death Valley, the hottest place on earth with a heat record of 57 degrees Celcius. When we were there it was ‘only’ 49-50 degrees but it was definetely hot. We walked across the salt plains for a bit but you couldn’t go far as even the wind was burning hot. I know I feel this way about every place we went to but I don’t think I’ve ever been sweating this much in my life. Back on the bus the aircon couldn’t handle the heat either so we did whatever we could to try and cool down, including listening to Christmas songs. I do think it helped a little bit. When we reached the visitors centre we laid down on the cool floor tiles. 

Thankfully we didn’t have to camp in Death Valley (I did see a campsite along the way!) but instead we stayed in Bishop. Bishop has ‘hot springs’ which were basically puddles with warm water. It was really nice though and by the time we had set up camp and eaten it was dark so we could see the stars while bathing in the hotsprings. At one point it started raining and because of the dry air the electrical cables above us started crackling, it looked really cool, like small fireworks!

We drove to Yosemite national park the next day. The drives on the last part of the trip were a lot shorter than before, which I appreciated. We reached Yosemite quite early so we drove around for a bit and visited a couple of scenic viewpoints. We walked to the giant seqouia grove to see these enormous trees. There was even a tree that had been cut down which you could walk through, it was actually big enough to serve as a tunnel (although you did have to crouch down a bit). It was a really impressive sight. 

Our campsite was located just outside the National Park and we were all excited to set up camp for the final time as we would spend two nights there. There were two other g-adventures groups there so our group wanted to have a party. I didn’t really want to join in on drinking games and stuff so I just hang out and chatted with a couple of the other girls. Unfortunately for the rest of the group, the campsite had really strict quiet hours and they were all really loud. The owner of the campsite came up a couple of times to warn them, after which they moved to the river. The owner still thought they were too loud though and unfortunately we were asked to leave the camp the next morning. I was annoyed that we had to pack up camp again and go to another campsite, but I had expected as much. I woke up in the middle of the night when everyone came back to the camp (we had already gone to bed) and they were all screaming. I almost yelled for them to shut up and let us sleep. Eventually I did fall asleep though. 

We spent another day in Yosemite, visiting the highest point in the park called Glacier point. We had an amazing view of the valley. After that we went back down into the valley and had some free time. Ushar and I decided to just have a chill day and after we checked out the visitor centre we just sat in a meadow for a bit, reading, talking and enjoying the view. It was beautiful out there, it kind of reminded me of the Alps. In the meantime, the guides had found us a new campsite. Unfortunately it was in Sacramento so it was a long drive and we arrived at the campsite around 23.30. We were all so tired we didn’t want to set up the tent so we just slept under the stars. It was quite cold so I finally got to use my sleeping bag! I was so tired, Wencke had to try and wake me up five times the next morning. 




After packing everything up and cleaning all the dishes and other supllies we had with us on the trip we packed the trailer for the last time. It was a short ride to our hotel in San Francisco but unfortunately most of the rooms weren’t ready yet so we all just hung out in one of the rooms. In the afternoon, we went to pier 39 to take a bout tour around the bay so we could see Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge up close. It was really cold and windy and I got sprayed by seawater on the boat so I was freezing, a completely different feeling from what we had experienced the past few weeks! When we got back from the tour the sun had come out again so we warmed up a bit and went for dinner. The diner had arcade games as well so we played around for a bit after which the rest of the group went out for drinks. Ushar and I walked around the city for a bit. We wanted to take the cable car but we couldn’t find the station. Ushar was convinced it was around there somewhere and eventually we did find it. We walked around the shopping area for a bit                                                                          and than headed back to the hotel.

The next morning it was already time to say goodbye. Even though I was done with camping and excited to head to Wyoming for the next part of my trip, it was still sad to say goodbye to everyone. We had an awesome trip, with loads of fun and laughs, amazing views, exhausting hikes, lots of sweat, visited awesome museums and I got to meet great people from all around the world. So let's see what the next part of the trip brings!

On a side note, we figured out part of the Skinwalker mystery! Apparantly Lewiss went to the toilet in the middle of the night and he shone his flashlight on the rock wall. When he did that, someone else (Jackson) flashed their light so he moved his beam and than the other light went off as well, so he shone his light again, as did Jackson and so forth. That doesn’t explain the guide or the protective wall of rocks around us but it does ease Jackson’s mind a bit.

Vegas

So here’s the story that goes with the pictures, sorry it took me a while. After leaving Monument Valley, we drove to the Grand Canyon. On the way there we visited Horse Shoe bend, a bend in the Colorado river which offers an amazing view of the canyon and the river. We set up camp close to the Grand Canyon national park and went out for pizza. Jackson and Erica told us about the game they play in which you have to try and get the best ‘Elkie’ or selfie with an Elk (some sort of big deer). Literally five minutes after they explained it, an elk crossed the parking lot of the pizza place. We all ran outside and took a group selfie. The elk was just crossing the road, completely at ease and expecting all the cars to stop for it. It’s an amazing animal, so big and imposing with its antlers. 

After dinner we headed to the Canyon. Erica and Jackson made us wear paper bags over our heads which we were only allowed to take off once we got to the viewpoint. When I took off the bag the view was amazing, it is so impressive, it’s even bigger than I imagined. We watched the sunset from that viewpoint. The next day we drove back to the Grand Canyon and had some free time. We went on a hike, about a mile down into the canyon and than back up again. Going down was fine, even though some parts were really steep, but going up was terrible. It was really hot, steep and exhausting. I climbed back up with Kirsty, we just went at our own pace and took lots of breaks. It wasn’t just us, everyone we passed on the way up was complaining, especially all the kids. There were a lot of other Dutch tourists out there as well. It was weird to hear Dutch after three weeks of speaking English. After the hike we walked around the rim of the canyon for a bit. I actually liked that better since there were so many different viewpoints and the view on the hike didn’t really change. 

So fun fact, apparantly I am allergic to chilli peppers. I was on the cook team that night and when I was cutting up peppers my face starting tingling and swelling. Erica had some medicine though and thankfully the swelling went down. I guess I can eat them, just not cut them. 

After the Grand Canyon we went of to Vegas! Everyone was really excited ‘cause they wanted to go out and party. I was more excited for the hotel and the aircon to be honest. We drove around the Strip so the guides could show us where to go. The hotel was close to the strip so after getting settled in I went to walk around the Strip and some of the hotels with a friend from the Netherlands who is travelling in the USA as well. It was nice to see the hotels but Vegas is not really my city. The next day I checked out the hotels some more. I loved the Venetian, it was painted in a way that made it look like you were outside, walking in an Italian city. There was even a canal and a gondola in the hotel (and outside as well!). All the hotels were just really over the top, kind of cool but a bit too much for my liking. It was also really hot that day. I walked to the Vegas sign, which was further than I thought and I was exhausted. I took lots of stops to rest and drink. When I finally got back to the hotel I was exhausted so I just chilled in the hotel for the evening, watched some tv and went to bed early. 

The Venetian                                                                                            Grand canyon!

Skinwalkers

July 30th

The wifi isn’t working properly as we are crossing mountain ranges and national parks so I might post a couple of stories on the same day. I’m also not sure if I can add photos, which is a shame because we’ve seen some amazing things. We spend the night in Monument Valley, in a Navajo reserve, sleeping under the stars. Yesterday afternoon we were picked up by a Navajo guide in an open jeep which resembled the game drive vehicles we used in Africa. He took us on a tour

of the valley, showed us some of the most amazing places and told loads of stories about the Navajo legends and beliefs. A lot of movies are filmed in this region and I can see why, it truly looks like the wild west, we even saw a tumbleweed tumbling by. A couple weeks ago they were filming ‘Valley of the Gods’ out here but we also stopped at a location from Forrest Gump. We saw sand dunes, rock drawings and mountains in all shapes imaginable: elephants, dragons, eagles. After the tour we went to our ‘campsite’ for the night. A place in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by mountains. We had a dinner the local people had prepared for us, some sort of round bread with beans and salad, after which they showed us some of the Navajo dances. They asked us all to pair up and join the dancing, it was great fun! After the dancing, the other two tourgroups went to a different campsite where they would sleep in a traditional Navajo house, the Hogun. We saw one of those Hoguns earlier. There are male and female Hoguns, the female one is shaped like a womb and has nine pillars on the inside, symbolizing the nine months of pregnancy. It also faces east to symbolize being re-born every morning. The men and women don’t live seperately in the Hoguns, the structures themselves are just defined as either male or female.

Anyway, we stayed behind, with our two tourguides, and got ready for bed. There were actual portable toilets there so no hole in the ground thankfully. We laid out our sleeping mats and bags and stared at the stars while one of the guides told us stories about the skinwalkers from Navajo legend. Skinwalkers are representations of people’s past demons that are drawn to spiritual gatherings. The skinwalkers look like shadows with clear white orbs for eyes. You can only see them from your peripheral vision, if you look straight at them, they disappear. They can also take the shape of animals. The guide’s voice was really soothing so after the story ended we had no trouble falling asleep. I woke up a couple of times but I slept quite well, especially compared to Jackson, one of our group leaders. Once we got back on our bus the next morning he told us he had the weirdest and scariest night ever. He woke up around 2AM because one of the Navajo guides accidentally stepped on him. He chose a spot a bit removed from the rest of the group to sleep, which the guide didn’t realize. Jackson then heard footsteps all around him but when he looked up, the guide was on the other side of the camp. He managed to fall asleep again but woke up a little while later when the guide was again walking around the camp. Apparantly he was building a wall of rocks around the rest of us. When Jackson asked what the wall was for, the guide said it was to protect us from ‘them’. In addition to the wall, Jackson also saw lights on the rock face next to us that couldn’t have been caused by flashlights (or so he said). The guide was really vague about it and told him not to worry about it, that it was taken care of. None of us noticed anything but he said it was the scariest night of his life..

We got up at 5.30 when it was still dark and drove to a different location to watch the sunrise. It was a truly amazing experience to watch the sun rise over the mountains, something I’ll remember forever. Monument Valley is so beautiful and I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to see it and get to know a bit about the Navajo culture. We even saw wild horses! Our guide told us that he trains horses so if we were to ever come back here we should come and visit him. After breakfast we had to leave this impressive place and head back to our bus, but the day holds more amazing sights as we are now headed for the Grand Canyon!

No Mountain High Enough

July 29th

I can’t keep track of the days nor our schedule so I’m gonna try and see what I remember. We are currently on our way from Cortez to Monument Valley. We were supposed to visit Mesa Verde National Park but apparantly part of it collapsed a couple of weeks ago so we couldn’t go there. Instead we went rafting. The first thing my sister said when she heard was ‘are you sure that’s a good idea, seeing how clumsy you are?’ But it turned out the water level in the river was very low so it was an easy route. We did get shipwrecked on the rocks a couple of times in the beginning but after a while we figured it out and we weren’t half bad at it. It was actually pretty cool and I’d love to do it again, maybe on a river that’s a bit more challanging.

We spent the night on the most beautiful campsite so far. It was surrounded by mountains and the sunset was amazing. Yesterday evening we didn’t do anything special, we just had a relaxed night at the campsite, playing games. Yesterday’s drive took us from Santa Fe to Cortez so we crossed another state line, from New Mexico to Colorado. Colorado apparently has some of the highest mountains in the US. I’ve spent most of the drive gazing out the window, the scenery was amazing! Every state we cross has me thinking I could live there but this was the prettiest part of the trip so far.

Santa Fe was really great as well. It’s the oldest town of the US and it was really pretty, the people were nice and the food was great. In the morning, we spent some time exploring the city and shopping for souvenirs. The nigth before we had already gone into the city to eat and one of the other girls and I listened to some music at a festival in a nearby park. Before coming to Santa Fe we explored the caves of Carlsbad. We went to see the bats fly out at dusk, there were hundreds of them, they just kept coming, it was a really cool thing to see. The caves were amazing as well. It was 750 feet deep (don’t really know how many metres that is?) and quite steep in some places. Thankfully we didn’t have to climb back up as there was an elevator. The cave system was massive. I think it took us about an hour to get down there and then almost another hour to walk around the big underground ‘rooms’. It was really cool and very pretty (as long as you don’t think about the amount of rock above you).

The campsite in Carlsbad was next to a highway (again, just like the one in Austin the day before) so I didn’t sleep much. But at least the restrooms were close. Our way of judging a campsite is basically this: toilets need to be close. We’ve had lots of different campsites, some on grassy fields, sometimes sand, one was in a desert like place and scattered with rocks (really comfortable..), next to highways, one was next to a train track, some had really big showers, one had a toilet that was basically a hole in the ground, most had a pool but last night’s one had the most amazing view. Althoug the one in Santa Fe was also really cool because you could see so many stars, and even the milky way.

I think I’m almost to the point where I ended my last blog, when we were on our way to Austin. It was really hot that day so we went tubing down a beautiful river. It was very relaxing and a great way to cool down. After the tubing we went into the city to explore a bit. We had bought spray paint so we went to test our skills at an outdoor ‘gallery’ but it suddenly started raining so we decided to grab some food and go back to the campsite.  

I think I mentioned before that we play games on the bus to pass the time (when people are not sleeping). One of those games is called ‘Horse´. Everytime you see a horse you scream ‘horse’ and the first to do that gets a point. If you see a horsebox you can ‘steal’ a horse from someone else but if we pass a cemetery everyone loses their horses. One of the girls was obsessed with winning and it was hilarious to hear her scream ‘horse’ all the time, because we saw loads of ranches yesterday. I’m really looking forward to my time in Wyoming after this bustour, all the horses made me realize I prefer riding through beautiful places like this over visiting cities after all.  

 We also went to Roswell, where they claim Aliens crash landed in 1947 :)

The Big Easy

July 24th

I had to ask someone what the date was ‘cause I was convinced it was the 22nd of July. Time flies when you’re having fun right? We’re spending a long day on the bus again today on our way from New Orleans to Austin (a 9hr drive). We just stopped at a burger place and I feel like I’ve had enough food for the next week, the portions are so big here. Earlier this morning we stopped at a gas station with billboards promoting their tiger. At first I thought they were joking but there was indeed a tiger there. The poor animal didn’t have a very big enclosure and it was really hot with barely any shade..

We spend two nights in the Big Easy, Crescent CIty New Orleans. We arrived in time to have dinner in the city and walk around Bourbon Street for a bit. I also enjoyed sleeping in a real bed in an airconditioned room for two nights. Our room was enourmous. We had eight beds between the six of us, a couch, a couple of comfy chairs, there was a tv and a big bathroom. Some of the other rooms even had a kitchen. The hotel was very cute as well, painted in bright colours.

The next day I went to explore the city with one of the girls from Germany. We walked around the French Quarter for a bit and strolled down the Mississippi river. We visited Lafayette Cemetery, a place that was featured in a lot of different movies and tv shows. I also took a ghosttour of the quarter. It was really interesting as I learned a lot about the history of the quarter. Our guide was either really into playing her role or she actually believed in ghosts 'cause when someone asked if she had ever had an encounter on the tour she told him that she had a run in with a ghost a week ago. I really loved New Orleans, a nice atmoshpere, lots to see and friendly people!

Before heading to New Orleans we visited Memphis. It was really warm that day and at night it was still around 27 degrees, which lead to people opting to sleep in the bathrooms where there was aircon. I slept surprisingly well though. There was also a pool so we took some time to cool down and swim. Of course we couldn’t visiti Memphis and not visit Graceland. Thankfully our campsite was next to Elvis’ house so we didn’t have to go far in the heat. It was great to see the place Elvis lived for most of his live. The property was huge! The house was big in itself but then there was also some sort of annex which was more of a house in itself where Elvis could relax, a garage for all his cars and even a stable and pastures for horses. He was also burried on the property so it was really impressive to visit the place. The decoration in the house wasn’t my style though ;)

In the evening we went out for BBQ in Memphis and a couple of drinks afterward. We passed by the Civil Rights museum and saw the motel where Marthin Luther King was shot. We spent some time at an outdoor stage in the city listening to country music before heading back to the campsite to just sit and talk for a bit, as it was way too hot to sleep. The only reason I didn’t sleep outside my tent was because of all the musquitoes.

As I mentioned in my last blog, we also stopped in Nashville. We didn’t get to spend a lot of time there but we did go out for drinks in the evening. It was nice to walk around the busy streets for a bit. Every bar had its windows open and there was live music playing everywhere, really cool! We went to a couple of bars and listened to the bands there and we went dancing for a bit before heading back to camp around midnight as we were really tired from all the travelling.

Tonight we will set up our camp in Austin (I think it’s four more hours before we get there) and tomorrow we’ll go to a natural pool and have a day to relax.