Well, well, well, over a month in and we're all still alive - just. I've got to admit that travelling is by no means a stress free way of living your life and there have been times where I wish I was at home in my own bed without the worries of a greyhound bus or the safety of your stuff. But the good times have completely out shone all the worries.

We've spent the last week or so coming across central America towards Woody's favourite destination of Seattle, Washington state. That included a short 3 night stay in Denver, Colorado where we were really fortunate to spend our time doing some amazing things. The "hostel" we stayed at on the other hand was your true definition of budget and we were sleeping in a boiler room (before we forced open the glued windows) on sheets that would best suit a kids room from the 1980's! But hey, it was a place to crash and was within walking distance of everything we needed.

Our first night we managed to make our way down to Coors field to watch the Colorado Rockies vs the LA Dodgers. Now I wasn't overly enthusiastic about watching a baseball game as I'd heard it was America's alternative to cricket but I was actually really pleasantly surprised! The game was entertaining and the crowd was packed full of fans. The stadium itself was huge and where we were sat we had a great view of the pitch with a backdrop of the Rockie mountains. The Rockies unfortunately lost 5-4 in the end but the game itself had 3 home runs and the entertainment between innings was great.

Our second day we decided to check out the main shopping strip of Denver where they'd also put on a mini rock festival and art display for the memorial weekend. The place was packed full of people and it was a really nice day out seeing the live music and seeing some really cool art. We also found our way to the tourist info centre where some really helpful woman (a surprising rarity in America so far) mentioned a greyhound schedule that went up into the mountains.

We jumped at the chance and our last full day was spent in the most picturesque town of Breckenridge. The views up to the mountain resort were out of this world and we were surrounded by snow capped mountains, streams and ski lifts heading up to the huge peaks. The town itself was full of lodges, hotels and querky little shops where you could buy anything from the worlds most amazing cookies to souvenirs and art. It was such a contrast to the hustle and bustle of some of the places we'd already been to and was a really great relaxing day out. I'd love to get back there for a winter season to see it in it's full glory!
But anyway, then came our epic 32 hour coach journey up to Seattle where we've been for 4 nights.

Night one was purely finding the hostel which turned out to be a really nice budget motel with some much needed double beds. Because we were all starving from the long coach journey we decided to head down to Pike Market and find a food place to eat at. We eventually went into Ghengis Khan, a Chinese place just off the waterfront - damn the food went down well! Well I say that but George had been unfortunate to have drunk or eaten something dodgy on our journey and suffered a less than decent nights sleep because of it... Not what the doctor ordered!

Our first full day in Seattle was really cool. After rising from the beds pretty late and doing our typical supermarket sweep, me and Woody went out exploring the shopping district. After chatting to some really friendly locals, we found our way down to the public market at Pike Place. Now we knew this was a renound tourist attraction but WOW, we didn't expect anything like we saw. Stalls selling everything from spices and jams to magic shops and amazing food places offering cuisines from all over the world. As we'd got down there pretty late the place had lost some of the rush, but it was still absolutely fascinating. On our way back we went through the shopping district and oh my god, the prices are just so low compared to back home. Abercrombie stuff for 20$ and tons more - I could have spent a fortune but want to save my money for the experiences.

Me and Woody raved on about the market so long that we decided to go back! The next day George was feeling better and Wild wanted to come along too so we headed out a little earlier to give us time to take it all in and do a spot more window shopping. We also hit SAM (Seattle Art Museum) as it was free entry for the day. The exhibits were a bit hit and miss if I'm honest but they had a really interesting section on Kurt Cobain which was pretty cool to see. After a pretty busy morning we headed back to make some food and then headed out to see the famous Seattle Space Needle - not as huge as I thought it was, but still really impressive. As the evening got closer George wasn't feeling too good and after losing some of his shopping at QFC, we decided to chill out for the evening and watch the first game of the NBA finals which the Lakers won. I've got to admit, basketball would definitely be a sport i would watch if I lived in the US. It's fast paced and has alot of excitement in the games - hopefully we might be able to catch a game before we head onto the Cook Islands.

Our last day was spent seeing the sights and shops of Seattle that we'd skipped over the past couple of days. Woody and Wild headed off to the cemetary to pay their respects to the one and only Bruce Lee whilst me and George did a little retail therapy in Abercrombie. In the end I managed to resist buying myself a new wardrobe and came away with a new tshirt for £13 or so... Half of what you'd pay in the UK. We met up with the other guys and continued shopping through Seattle before heading back to get some sleep before our coach journey the next day.

And so here I am, sat in our San Francisco hostel which is pretty sweet. The city so far looks amazing with plenty to see over the next week. The hills are going to be a nightmare to climb though but it'll only work off the food we devour :-)

But anyway, I guess that's it from me for now. Next blog will be up in a couple of weeks after San Fran and Vegas... Will hopefully be packed full of things we've done. As a point of interest it'd be cool to know what you guy (whoever reads this) want me to write about - please feel free to add comments on the message board letting me know!

Much love,
Nick