The "Road West" in Usa with Swanson's 1992.
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Page 1: Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, South Dakota, Wyoming. Page 2: Wyoming, Utah, California. |
Last Updated December 14, 2010.
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We were still in Wyoming on September 29, 1992 when we drove out of the south entrance
of Yellowstone Park on our "Road West" with Swanson's.
Shortly after that we came to our first stop for the day; The Teton Mountains. These mountains were named by French Trappers who came here during the 1900th century and thought the mountains looked like the chest of a woman. Teton means breast in French but I cant say I saw the resemblance at all but it was very beautifully here. We stopped here to have a look around and then continued to the first church that was built here in the valley. |
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This old church are also supposed to be the first building ever built in this valley between the Teton Range and
The Gros Ventre Range. Gros Ventre is also French but I don't have a clue what it means except "big" something.
After our short stop here we continued to Jackson Hole where we did some exploration of the small western town before we headed more south to Utah and Salt Lake City. We had a very long day in the bus. |
 The very first church build in Jackson Hole! |
Utah
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We drove through Idaho for a short period of time, just a couple of miles, and then we were in Utah,
where we started up by driving over the Beaver Mountains where it was extremely beautifully. The first couple of days of this trip everyone said "Ohhh" and "Ahhh" every time we drove through some beautifully countryside. By now, at least for me, I was just thinking to myself that the people who lives here are very lucky to be able to live in such beautifully environment, because it really is, it's very beautifully. Anyway, we came in to Salt Lake City driving through Brigham and Ogden and for a while we drove side by side by the Salt Lakes. The next day we went sightseeing.  The Capitol Hill, the parliament building of Utah! |
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Memorial statues of Brigham Young (and his people) at the "This is the Place Monument" and on the street of Salt Lake City in front of the Temple! |
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On our sightseeing tour the next day we went to the Capitol Hill, the parliament building of Utah.
We went to the Mormon Temple of course and saw among other things the big organ inside the tabernacle
and learned more about the religion itself.
We also went up to the point where Brigham Young and his people and his 27 wife's in 1847 stood when they first came here over the mountains. Where Brigham took his decision and said: This is the place! The place for them to stay and build a city. |
California
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We were only staying in Salt Lake City for one night so later in the afternoon after our sightseeing
in the city Jerry took us to the airport from where we first flew back to Denver, transferred
to another plain and then flew straight to California and San Francisco.
The next day we had a sightseeing tour of San Francisco and the surrounding area. |
The Fisherman Wharf sign in San Fransisco!
 Alamo Square with the famous Victorian houses! |
 The Golden Gate Bridge! |
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On our sightseeing tour I believe we covered it all. We went to Fisherman's Wharf of course, The Golden Gate Bridge,
Alamo Square with those famous Victorian houses. We also went to the Japanese Garden, Cliff House, and Twin Peaks a viewpoint but unfortunately we didn't see that much because it was really foggy outside at the time as it is quite frequently in San Fran. We passed by Presidio, the big Army Base and went over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito on the other side of the bay. Sausalito is supposed to be home for a numerous celebrities, like Michael Douglas for instance. We did a lot more than this but these places was the highlight of this sightseeing tour. I was dead tired after that trip but in the evening we had our goodbye dinner, which we of course had in Fisherman's Warf with Swordfish on the menu, and that actually tasted really good. |
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The next morning we left San Fran for the day and went to the Muir Woods on the other side of the bay with all the big
Redwood trees. After that we continued to the wine district for some wine tasting on several different vineyards in Napa Valley.
We drove by the vineyard that used to be in the TV-show Falcon Crest but unfortunately it was closed so we couldn't go in there to have a look. We of course made short stops on several vineyards in the valley to do some wine tasting and had a long lunch at the V. Sattui Winery with wine, bread and cheese, which tasted lovely. |
 A Redwood Tree cut in half so You might see how big it is. In the Muir Woods. |
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This day was going to end this trip for almost everyone in the group, except for me who was going to stay by myself for
a while.
I was going to spend almost 2 weeks on my own and had planned for a few more days in San Fran. Then I had planned to go further south with the Grey Hound busses to Los Angeles and then back with the bus to San Fran for a day or two before I was flying home to Sweden. |
On my own in San Francisco and Los Angeles
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So was I then on my own for the first time ever on a trip and to tell You the truth I was a little bit
spooked first by the fact of being alone. It's amazing though how much things You can do despite that You are alone.
Today it doesn't bother me at all to do things on my own when I travel, but of course it is always nicer
if You got some company to share the adventure with.
I started up by switching hotel, to a hotel downtown of San Francisco and then I hiked the streets of San Francisco, up and down, up and down. I also took a boat tour in the bay to see Alcatraz and to see the city from the sea. |
 The famous Alcatraz! |
 San Fransisco seen from the boat to Alcatraz! |
 The Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles! |
The next morning I checked out of the hotel and went for the Grey Hound terminal.
My bus wasn't leaving just yet but I wanted to put in my backpack so I could walk around town without any problems.
I had been warned from other people that I shouldn't do that, I mean put in my backpack at the terminal because otherwise I wouldn't know that my backpack really was on the bus when it left San Francisco. But I just couldn't put it somewhere else and my bus wasn't leaving until late afternoon so there was nothing else to do. I spent the day walking around town again and then my bus left for Los Angeles later in the afternoon. |
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I had decided to stay at the
Santa Monica Hostel in Los Angeles and booked a couple of nights there. I hadn't really planned
for what to do in LA except for some resting at the beach.
It was early morning the day after when the bus arrived in Santa Monica and no people on the streets and still dark, it was about 4 o'clock in the morning. Luckily I wasn't the only one that was heading for the Hostel from the bus. I got some company with a Dutch girl and a guy from Korea. That felt really good since it was a bit spooky walking around the streets in LA in the middle of the night. My backpack? Yes, I should have listening to those people that had warned me about putting in my backpack at the terminal. Of course my backpack wasn't on the bus when we got to Santa Monica. GRRRRRRRR!!!! I got it the day after, in the evening. |
 The dancers on their roller blades at Venice Beach! |
 The famous guitar player from many movies at Venice Beach! |
 Desdemona and Bogart at Venice Beach! |
 Eduardo, Desdemona and Rolf in downtown LA! |
I have during my travel in the world stayed on different kinds of Hostels and in my opinion Santa Monica's
is one of the nicest I have been to.
The Dutch girl,Desdemona, whom I have company with during the walk from the bus to the Hostel became a good friend and
we went around LA together.
After a couple of days we also became friends with a German guy, Bogart and then we also met another German fellow, Rolf. Another day on the bus to downtown LA we also bumped in to Eduardo from Equador, who showed us around the Spanish part of downtown LA where he actually lived. Traveling by Yourself can actually make Your day a little bit different sometime when You bump in to all kinds of nice people from around the world. |
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So what did I do;
Well, I went to Universal Studios and had a lot of fun, I went downtown LA.
I spend many days at Venice Beach watching the famous guitar player (from many movies) on his Roller blades and saw many of these dancing people as well on their Roller blades. I went to Muscle Beach, where a lot of celebrities do their workouts and went to Hollywood of course. I went to see the Hollywood sign on the hill (in a huge smog), went on a tour in Beverly Hills and saw all these huge houses of the rich and famous. Last I spent a lot of time on the beach getting a tan and just relaxed. Those days went so quickly and I had a lot of fun and saw a lot but suddenly my time in LA was over and I had to take the bus back to San Francisco and another day up there before I had to get back home to Sweden. |
 Chinatown in San Fransisco! |
 The many seals in Fishermans Wharf! |
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I came back to San Francisco early morning again and this time I went for the Hostel at Mason Street in the downtown of San Fran.
My last day here I went of course back to the Piers where I saw the Sea-Lions on their usually place in the harbor but also to China Town, Union Square to do some shopping and much more. The next day I was on my way home to Sweden and my very long vacation in the US was over for this time. I knew I was most definitely coming back here again some day. |
Myself at the harbor in San Francisco that last day in the US. Bye for now!
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Last Updated December 14, 2010 - 08:30 CET.