GAME DAY - ROCKIES VS YANKEES || USA TRAVELS

DAY 25

With very little sleep because of excitement, I was up and ready to go! I was so unprepared for what I was about to experience in the next few hours. I probably sound ridiculous but America is known for it's big sports such as baseball and I was so lucky that we were able to fit it in just before I left. 

For starters, the stadium is so much bigger than I thought it would be, so overwhelming. We got our tickets and headed in. At this point, the stadium was packed and there were people everywhere. The thing I learnt with baseball games is how relaxed the atmosphere is. It's not like Basketball where there are people shouting to the players and cheers constantly...of course there is cheering but not as intense. It is a family sport so there were lots of families around which was so nice to see. For the first hour, we walked around the stadium and had lunch. We managed to get up to the rooftop where all the bars were (sadly I couldn't get a drink) and get a perfect view of the whole pitch.

We wondered around a bit more as were weren't ready to sit down and just embrace the heat, it was 38 degrees on this day!! For lunch I got a pulled pork burger which was unbelievable. It is normal for stadium food to be at a low standard or just average but the majority of the food places at the stadium are gourmet standard, SO GOOD! If I could, I would've had another but it filled me up so much and I would've felt like a massive pig. 

We went to find our seats after getting my third bottle of water, drinking like I've never had water before. We were about 12 rows from the front so had a great view. To be honest, any seat is good in this stadium so I wouldn't have been fussed either way. I was apprehensive to who I should be supporting but I stuck with the Rockies as I was in Colorado (and they were winning at the time hahaha). 

We decided to leave about 20 minutes before the end so we could get away from the crowds quickly. We were all dying by this point anyway because of the heat so it was for the best before one of us got sun stroke. This was by far one of my highlights from the trip. They say you should go and see a baseball game, or basketball or one of these big sporting games if you ever get to America and I'm so glad I was able to go. I couldn't recommend it enough so get it on your list as a priority when you go to America...you won't be let down!

DAY 26
Sadly, Penny was leaving me today to go to Chicago for a wedding so I had to say an early goodbye to her but I'm adamant that I'm coming back in 2 years time so I'll see her soon. I was quite scared to be left in this stupidly massive house for a few days but I managed to survive. Going to bed at 8pm just to avoid walking around the house in darkness definitely helped.

DAY 28
After the last few days of just chilling and getting all packed up, it was sadly time to leave this beautiful place. I was so sad and knew that in a few weeks I would be reminiscing about the whole trip (which I am doing so right now). I keep looking at all the photographs and getting upset that I'm not there still. I will be back in a few years time though Colorado, with me x2 (my sister).

 

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FOOD POISONING CATASTROPHE || USA TRAVELS

DAY 22
Sadly, this was the last day Josh was with us as he was heading off travelling for work. While he played golf, me and Penny took a trip to the mall to do more shopping, there's always time for a bit of shopping! On our way back from the mall, we made a visit to Taco Bell (a must-do according to Josh and Penny) and I'm not going to lie, I wanted to go anyway. I got two tacos and they tasted absolutely incredible! When we arrived back home, we waited for Josh to come back so he could take me and Penny tubing on the lake. We were both apprehensive when we got onto the boat as there was thunder and lightning in the distance but we went ahead anyway, why not?! We were out for about 45 minutes and it was the highlight of my weekend; honestly so much fun. We were convinced Josh was trying to flip us off but we managed to stay on the whole time...our hands were very red from the hard gripping. I'm not going to put a photo up as they aren't the most flattering of photos I must say...let's just save the embarrassment.

DAY 23
Josh was sadly leaving us today so I had to wave him off until next time. I'm adamant that I will be returning in two years time so it's not too long to wait.




Yet another trip to the mall, but this time it was  a proper shopping trip and it was very successful. I just want everything in all the shops here, damn you money!

 The weather was very indecisive, one minute it was pouring it down, the next it was 35 degrees and we were dying. As we were returning home, we could see the storm approaching in the distance; it wasn't looking nice. Of course with the thunder and lightning in the background, me and Penny thought it would be a good idea to watch a horror film, The Boy; I got very little sleep that night. It was scary but the story plot wasn't very well made.


DAY 24
Early morning start as I was woken up by the two dogs coming into my room...it happened every morning but I would only ever hear their little paws, never actually see them, so funny!

Me and Penny were heading off to Boulder this morning to walk around the town, seeing the famous Pearl Street Mall which had loads of shops and restaurants, and ending the day with a beautiful hike up towards the flatirons.

Unfortunately this day slowly took a turn for the worst...

We decided to have lunch at the Cheese factory, yet again. I know we had already been before but the first time I had such a cold that I couldn't even taste the food so the whole experience was ruined. Penny had a "lunch sized" portion salad which we both agreed was definitely NOT a lunch size portion.

I had the same thing as last time which was Salmon and it was delicious! However, something was clearly wrong with it when I started to get a very bad stomach pain and became very ill very suddenly. Because of this, we weren't able to do the hike (without me being sick every few minutes), so we made our way back home. Val, bless her, went to the shops and bought every possible medicine for my stomach which helped and I was fine the rest of the evening. Penny slightly scared me as she said when she had food poisoning it lasted a good few weeks, I must've been quite lucky...just imagine the plane trip back home!! 

Regardless, I'm happy we made it to Boulder and had a good day exploring the town as it was soooo lovely, definitely recommend visiting the town if you ever get to Colorado.

Finally feeling back to normal, we went to the sports shop in the evening, along with some art and crafty shops, to find some presents for the family. We went down the main street at Cherry Creek which was all lit up with lights and looked so beautiful. The picture was taken on my phone so it isn't too great. Two very tired girls headed back to the house and had a lovely chilled evening and headed off to bed reasonably early so we had enough energy for the baseball game the next day (I couldn't sleep too much because I was so darn excited!!)

 

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BOTANICAL GARDENS IN 40 DEGREE HEAT! || USA TRAVELS

Day 21
We're off to the Denver Botanical Gardens today. Me, Penny and Val decided to choose the hottest day during my time here to walk around the Botanical Gardens, around 40 degrees all day! However, it was such a lovely day and so many people visiting the gardens. These sort of places are so relaxing; you can just take a day out by yourself and enjoy the surroundings without having to be rushed.

We walked around the gardens for about an hour and slowly started to feel ourselves deteriorating because of the heat. We finally found a cafe to grab a bottle of water each and started to head towards the exit. Just before the exit was an inside conservatory which was beautiful, mainly because there was air-con inside!! We decided to head back to the car to go and have lunch before we pass out.

We had a beautiful lunch out at a restaurant called Hillstone's but still haven't managed to cope with the American portions so couldn't quite manage the whole meal...pathetic I know!

After lunch we headed back to Vals to pick up the doggies and I finally got to meet Katie properly (Katie is Val's dog, a border collie). She can be unpredictable but she was a sweetheart. However, that house is a mad dog house with 4 dogs in it, they definitely take over the house!! 

After collecting the dogs, we got back to the house and went straight into the pool as we couldn't bare the heat. Managed to finally get on one of the swans which was a challenge but I managed to get on without falling off!!
I also took a kayak out because clearly I thought it was a good idea in that heat (it definitely wasn't as I came back looking like a tomato).

 

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SHOPPING FOR OUR FUTURE NEW YORK APARTMENT || USA TRAVELS

DAY 16
Today was our last full day in San Francisco. We've had an amazing time and I would definitely come back. I would recommend anyone who is thinking of travelling to the US to go to the West coast and take a few days to visit San Francisco, it is one incredible city! Even though the number of homeless people is staggering, you try not to let that ruin your experience.
Today we thought we'd spend doing some shopping and taking a walk (partly bus trip) up to Lombard Street.
This morning we had pancakes which the hostel made the mix for and we could just help ourselves and make as many as want! We only had one each as they were big and we also had toast on the side.

To start the day off we took a visit to Macy's and started to plan what our New York and LA apartments will look like. We may have high expectations but what's the point in having nothing to aim for in the future? We tried nearly every bed we saw even though they said not too but doesn't everyone do that? We also had lunch in Macy's in a place called Asian Box which was incredible and quite reasonably priced.




After a venturing around Macy's for a bit, we made our way over to Lombard Street which was so beautiful. However, cars being allowed to drive down it ruins the views and experience. I was incredibly surprised as to how popular it was. I don't know why as it's the most famous street in San Francisco, I'm just a bit naive!

To end our day and travels, we had a nice indian downtown which was really nice (even though the waiter spilt curry all down me but whatever). Sad to end our travels but onto planning the part!!

 

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ROAD TRIPPING FROM MONTEREY TO BIG SUR || USA TRAVELS

DAY 13
Today we are heading further down south by the coast to a town called Monterey. Before beginning the journey down there, we took the morning to do some shopping and explore Chinatown. Half way through lunch I realised that we wouldn't catch our train in time if we left later than 1pm. By this time it was precisely 1:06pm...great! There was no way we would get our train in time if we got the next bus as it was departing after the time of our train, very inconvenient! Therefore, we had to get a taxi to the station which was going to cost a fortune but ended up being cheaper than we thought as we split the price.
After another very smooth journey, we had arrived in Monterey. We arrived in the early evening so we relaxed at the hostel for a while and then headed out to watch the sun set and go to Monterey bay where they had bars, restaurants, casinos and lots of cute, little shops. Both me and Lia got burgers and I said from the beginning that I was not leaving America without having a burger and this one definitely did not disappoint!
We got back to the hostel and met one of our roommates (we were in an 8-bed dorm). her name was Julia and she was from Austria. Most of the people we have met along this travel have been traveling with cars so it's very easy for them to get around (easier than public transport for sure!) Julia was making her way down to LA gradually. After discussing our plans for the next day and finding out we were heading to the same place, Big Sur, she kindly offered to take us down to Big Sur and visit places along the way on the coastline.



DAY 14

So we woke up this morning bright and early and headed off to Big Sur with Julia. The drive down is so much better in a car as you can stop off along the coast whenever to get out and explore and obviously capture some beautiful photographs of the views, which is what we did.







Along the way, we stopped off at Carmel beach and Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park which was misted over but still a beautiful walk overlooking the sea.

Not much to say about Big Sur apart from how beautiful it was. Even though it was misty, the views were still incredible. Unfortunately we couldn't do any hiking as me and Lia both wore inappropriate footwear but we still had a lovely lunch high up above the clouds. 

DAY 15

Today was the day we were going back to San Francisco for the last few days before we head off in different directions and finish our travelling down the West coast. We took the morning to explore a bit more of Monterey and walked down to the beach called Lovers Point. It was a cloudy but clear day. Although around mid-morning it got very hot, up to around 27 degrees. 

After a short walk to the beach and back, we headed on back to San Francisco. Buses are so weird here as we either just hop on without paying or we lie about our age and get it so cheap (not that I'm complaining). We were so close to missing our train as the bus ride was very slow due to heavy traffic, luckily we managed to catch it with 5 minutes to spare! 

 

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