Hey y'all! Currently in Chicago and yes, it lives up to it's moniker as the windy city! Actually we're quite enjoying the cooler temperatures up here compared to the deserts we visted on our Trek America tour!

As already mentioned briefly we had an awesome time with Trek, really was a highlight of the whole trip. High points were Yosemite (especially for Greg who climbed half dome), Zion where we both climbed to the top of the world (well felt like it!) and the Grand Canyon (again Greg did the full hike, for me the picture of the magnet (I Hiked...) just about sums it up!). Also the general camaraderie (?!) within our group, we miss them all lots! The experience of shopping, eating and cooking food from American supermarkets was also an experience, we've discovered you can't get a decent loaf of bread, they all have sugar added and cost the equivalent of about 3 pounds to get a few seeds on top, ditto the cereal, the cheese is awful, no taste at all (unless you count Pepperjacks which has jalapenos in, Greg made that mistake when making sandwiches for us both for the Yosemite hike!) BUT I am now a convert to PB&J (That's peanut butter and jelly/jam!) and smores (biscuits, toasted marshmallows and chocolate!).

The tour finished in Las Vegas which we actually quite enoyed, not least because we got to sleep until mid-morning unlike some of the 5.30am starts we had on Trek to walk whilst it was cool! The whole place was so over the top it was fascinating and it was great just walking around (and taking advantage of the air-con, it was over 100 degrees F every day!). After a tour of 'The Strip' in a stretch Hummer (!!) and the dissipation of our group over the next couple of days we headed to Denver in Colorado. For those waiting with anticipation this was by Greyhound coach - let us know who gets the double rations!

Although our coach pass (bought in the UK) was a bargain we are regretting it as Greyhound America is basically a shambles! Firstly buses stop (literally) in the middle of the night and all have to get off so they can 'service' the coach. Second because we have a pass we can only buy tickets on the day of travel, we turned up two hours early for one coach and it was fully booked, we were told to get the next one five hours later! Also means that early morning coaches (our last one was at 6.55am) mean getting up ridiculously early to get a seat! On top of which all the staff are incredibly rude and unhelpful with no tourist info/onward travel info when you get to stations. All in all we're kind of glad we only have two weeks of it left!

Anyway,a rant over, unfortunately due to the lack of transport we couldn't get out to see the Rockies but Denver itself was very nice, lovely old buildings, a free tour around the state capitol building and nice pedestrianised shopping area etc, enjoyed just taking it easy and wandering around. Also made it to a baseball game (Colorado Rockies Vs Atlanta Braves) which was actually quite entertaining, so much so we've just watched first half of the all stars game on TV too - quite a big deal over here, Obama threw the first pitch etc. From there we made our way to St Louis (eventually, see above!) only to find the most uninformed tourist information staff ever and only one youth hostel in the entire state! After a battle with the public transport system we made our way to the nearest bar where we were restored by local food (it was a local tasting weekend) and some very nice locals buying us a beer! The day improve dfurther with a free concert (Sheryl Crow and Elvis Costello) under the local landmark (the gateway arch) with a free tour of the Budweiser brewery the following day :-)

We're now in Chicago which is also great to look around with some gorgeous buildings and lovely parks - we watched an open air rehearsal of the local symphony orchestra at lunchtime today - however a lot of the attractions are pretty expensive e.g. there are half a dozen really good museums but all cost over $10. We are also staying at a hostel which has separate male and female floors - makes life a bit awkward when you're sharing shower gel and toothpaste!

We are off to Toronto tomorrow and from there to Niagra and Boston before Washington and New York, can't believe it's now only two weeks until we fly home! Really looking forwasrd to seeing everyone and putting the backpack away for a while!

Loads of love to all
S&G xxxxxxxxxxxx