The Wahlfahrt Mobile wheels have stopped turning...

... 100 Days the road have finally come to an end, on the day America chooses its direction for the next four years.




Obviously as a non US citizen, I couldn't par take in the process of deciding which man is fit for the job as the leader of the free world... However my Travel buddy, Andreas is... So naturally he cast his vote...




I must say its been one hell of a journey of almost 15,000 miles across the 'greatest country in the world'*
There's been ups and downs, rain and sun, early mornings and late nights, beer and coffee, Romney and Obama, endless roads and state lines. But I've enjoyed it all, it's been an adventure which is just what I needed...
Earlier in the year before this trip had come to fruition, I was going stir crazy in my job and feeling like I needed a break. Thankfully I got the chance to do something I've always dreamed off, traveling.. I'd always thought I'd see Asia first.. But in some ways I feel like seeing America has really opened my eyes to the world in ways Asia might not have..




I'll be going back to Great Britain soon, and returning to the daily grind.. I'm sure there will be post-traveling blues, but I'm also feeling happy about being back in London.. And who knows, hopefully I'll be posting on this blog again, from another far flung location..
For now, I'm in California and watching the news coverage of the 2012 Elections.. Like most Europeans, I feel more aligned to the Democratic style of governance... But I have a better understanding now why people here align themselves to the various parties.. But the really outstanding memory will be that of how many people across the country feel fed up with both parties.. It really will be interesting to see how people vote today and what direction they feel is right for America..




Sadly my MacBook hard drive has gone kaput, so there will be a delay on posting all the pictures from the trip to Flickr... Check my instagram for my daily snippets of where and what I saw along the way..
Inoperable to get it fixed once back in the UK, I will ensure I publicise when they go up!
Thanks for reading,
Ady
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Location:Santa Monica,United States

American Beer, theres more on offer than just Budweiser...

Me on a MicroBrewery Tour in Manchester, NH (Millies Tavern)

Driving across the great distances of the united states is thirsty work. So much so that when we arrive in  a destination, often the first port of call is to the nearest Bar or Pub.

One of the great misconceptions i had before i started this trip, was that i'd be forced to drink the standard beers that america is known for back home in england; Namely - Budweiser. 

It wasn't long after i arrived in New York, when i first tried a great Mexican beer i'd not heard of before - Pacifco. Although not an American Beer, it made me aware that there was plenty of good choice out there... 

Ok, i should really confess something.. living in London for a few years meant that i was able to sample the odd american beer that made its way across the pond, Beers such as "Brooklyn Larger' and 'Blue Moon' are now fairly common on the supermarket shelves these days back home..

Anyway, the reason i write this post now is that the popularity of micro breweries has only really become apparent to me, since we got up to the north east and now the mid west.  

Trinity Brew House, Providence Rhode Island.

I think the flash point for me was just the other day in Omaha, Nebraska. Knowing next to nothing about the state its self or of its brewing capabilities. We'd be visiting friends who lived in Lincoln, but didn't really get much of a chance to explore the town or visit any of the brewpubs/breweries. However upon arriving in Omaha a day later, we had the evening to ourselves and thought we'd check out the bar scene in the Old Market District part of the town.

I started the night with a Miller Hi Life. Odd choice you might think, to mention this in a post about craft and local beers. Well without digressing to much i mention this because whilst in Milwaukee a few days earlier, we went to visit the Miller Brewery (mainly because it was free, and offered a healthy amount of free samples at the end of the tour) We both thought of Miller as one of the 'big boys' who taste like 'piss water'. We were both wrong and pleasantly surprised with the outcome of the 'Champagne of Beers' and what with German heritage of the beer, it now has an equal place in my list of top beers with some of the smaller breweries. 

ANYWAY, we then hit up this Cuban style cigar place... odd place to mention again when talking about beers. Well, they had a small selection of local and german beers. I opted to get a taste of the two beers they had on tap from the Empyrean Brewing Co. One being a Light Beer and the Other a dark porter. 

I've always tended to steer clear of the dark porters, as they tend to be bitter, and not as refreshing.. hence why i never considered even trying a Guinness before. This beer changed everything. The Dark Side Vanilla Porter was amazing, a perfect blend of dark roasted hops and a nice subtle aftertaste of Vanilla. This particular beer was brewing in Lincoln, and the brewery offers free tours, was kind of a shame that i hadn't found this whilst in Lincoln and gone to visit the place were it was crafted!

http://www.empyreanbrewingco.com/beers.html

Upon further investigation it would seem that mid-west and the rest of the states for that matter, are fairly well covered when it comes to small craft type breweries..

Brewery Map of the Mid West

I'm not going to ramble on anymore on the subject, if you want to know more about the whole American brewery scene i'm sure a quick google search will provide adequate answers..

Sadly i think i may have missed my opportunity to bring back some of the delicious Porter to the UK (Plus im not sure how bottled beer handles in a pressurised airplane hold?) so i will have to go hunt down some good UK versions.. and maybe see if i can convince a local brewery to try making it!

Thanks for reading.

Adrian

Detroit: From Boom to Bust.

Ask most people in the US and they'll all say the same thing about Detroit. once an opulent city, booming with the wealth that was brought here by the automobile industry. However now it resembles an scene from a film like 28 days later, where the streets are empty and the only human life you see are the old and homeless trudging along dormant streets.

Ok, so I'm painting a pretty desolate picture here, it wasn't quite that bad, but it lived up exactly the picture people had told us when ever we mentioned that we would be visiting there.


I had thought, it's not going to be that bad.. People are just giving it a bad name, because it used to be bad... Surely by now it'll be recovering.. That wasn't the case, this must have been the first time that a city had been the opposite to what I was expecting.

We arrived around midday on Saturday, and headed downtown looking for a bite to eat, thinking it wouldn't be too hard and the place would be a bustling hub of activity. It really wasn't the case.. Having found a place that was open ( in this case the American Coney Island Cafe) we got some food and decided what and where we should go.

The sky was heavy with battleship grey clouds.. Only adding to the overall bleak and depressing feel the city was greeting us with. The decision was then made to go check out the old abandoned Michigan Central Terminus Station. I'd noticed this large looming structure as we'd entered the city, which on the outset looked like an urban explores wet dream. Once we arrived at the old station it soon became clear that entering the building would not only be unsafe, but would also be a bad idea for a number of other reasons.



So while I was off taking pictures, Andreas had made conversation with the organisers of a church funded weekly event for the homeless. They could get donated clothing and a slice or two of hot pizza and something to drink. I retuned from my picture taking excursion and joined the conversation.

There was a number of characters there, who were more than happy to talk to us, being that we were from outside the US many of the questions being asked where about how we do things differently to the US.

The tables and chairs were soon all packed away, and we where left there stood talking to two homeless gentlemen with scarcely another soul in sight. That's when one of them took me aside, and began his plea for a handout.

Knowing full well the contents of my wallet, I tried to remain defiant in that I didn't have anything I could give away. The contents of my wallet being two $20 bills. More often than not, my wallet is empty as I prefer to rely on card payments, which had this been the case it would be an easy get out of jail card. So I relented, I made the mistake of getting my wallet out to 'check' what's inside it... Straight away the guy saw the $20....
"Oh, 20 would REALLY help me out...."
"Ahhh I'd love to help you out with a couple of bucks, but I could really use this 20 myself.."


After a little more two'ing and fro'ing I relented, and handed him the 20. I'd initially thought
"well, he'll be able to get a nice hot meal with that, maybe stay in a shelter tonight.. Perhaps make that money last for month.. Homeless people are resourceful"

So here's the But.

Having taken his picture (which turned out pretty awesome I though) I wondered off again to take some more pictures of things that caught my eye... Whilst doing so, Andreas and the two homeless guys were still talking. Then the older guy who I'd generously donated too, announced
"Well, I'm off to go get my drink on"

I returned and finally the onset of rain was enough for us to be able to end the conversation and head on our merry way.. It wasn't until I told Andreas of my philanthropic deeds that he told me about what the guy had said.

The rest of our time in Detroit was spent sampling some very good local bars and cafés. I had a very tasty Baby Back Ribs in a place called Slo's, some great coffee and Astro Coffee, some tasty brunch sliders at the Green Dot Stables and some tasty beer at Gussolines in Royal Oak.

The two short days we spent in Detroit really were an eye opener into what happens when a city effectively goes bust. I don't think there is any comparison to a city like this in the UK, perhaps in mainline Europe.

Location:Detroit, MI

The Daily Morning Shower: A Long Lost Luxury

Less than 3 months ago I would wake in the morning, have a stretch, yawn and roll out of bed and into the bathroom and have a shower.
This is a modern day luxury of life I took for granted, until the 29th of July this year. I always knew in the back of my mind that the hardest thing to obtain on this trip, would be the ability to start the day feeling fresh.
Over the course of 70 or so days, we've become increasingly resourceful in the methods we've used to get clean. The methods of obtaining running water (sometimes hot) to wash ourselves in has varied wildly.
We started off on our first night landing on our feet by staying with some family friends, who gave us beds, a shower and even a hot meal! The next shower ended up being a hole in the ground with water from a nearby hot spring...Which was surprisingly refreshing in the dry desert heat.

Vegas wasn't an issue, as we ended up staying in a hotel for two nights...
However that would be the last running water we saw again for some time again until Tucson, Arizona.
We stayed at an RV Park, and had the pleasure of clean showers, laundry and a swimming pool in which we sipped cold beers in whilst watching the distant thunder storm light the sky.
New Mexico would not grant us with a drop of water, and so it would be a Motel in Dallas when I could finally experience the wonderful feeling of hot water against my skin.Memphis resulted in a shower courtesy of a 'friend' that Andy made whilst there... But we would wait again till New Orleans before having the opportunity to wake up and have a shower...
At this stage I'm aware that I'm not really telling the most exciting story.. So I'll skip forward to Virginia where we got desperate and needed to find a new method to get a shower.
So apart from holes in the ground, motels, friends houses, RV Parks the other venues we've resorted to have been Gyms.
In Richmomd, we were having no luck with couch surfing requests, nor did we fancy shelling out for a motel.... That's when it occurred to me... Gyms have showers.
We rang around and found a gym, offering a 7 day trial membership. BINGO. After a quick tour of the place, and some paperwork, we were in and able to scrub off the previous few days of funk. Needless to say, this method of free showers, has been repeated more than once... Recently it didn't go exactly to plan, and meant that we paid $10 for a day pass.




I write this blog after having had a free shower at a service plaza on the I-80 where we spent the night on the way to Detroit.
There's still a couple more weeks to go, so who knows what other methods I'll end up adding to the list...

Location:USA

When 4 becomes 3...

Luck was on our side this morning... I think pictures will be enough to explain this...



So to recap. When you own a petrol station (OK, Gas Station) it's important to check you've set the pumps correctly each morning... For you see Supreme petrol isn't usually cheaper than Regular..... Unless you plan to operate your business in a style that generates no profit.



Well, we're having a very nice day as a result...


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Location:Exxon Gas Station, Providence - Rhode Island.

Fast Forward: Charlotte DNC.

Alrighty then, going fast forward my adventures somewhat to talk about today's events. That's right.. I'm blogging as things are happening! (that's a scary thought!)
So as the tittle suggest, I'm bringing you the trip live as it happens (well happened) here in Charlotte.
So, the morning started with an early start, due to my first CouchSurfing experience, which went very well. The lady that put 'us' (that's a separate story) up was very kind and left me a key out so I could come in late as she'd gone to bed.
So I drove around Charlotte for a while trying t find breakfast places. The satnav did its usual thing of take me to all the places that had shut down..
Finally found a cheap and cheerful place serving typically southern style breakfast: bacon, eggs, and grits.

After filling up the tank (in more ways than one) I decided we should park somewhere on the outskirts near the streetcar line and go into town that way...

Upon arriving in central downtown, it seemed the circus was already well under way... First stop however was: AT&T. Thank the lord for mobile Internet again!
After a bit more mooching around we settled on another Starbucks session to charge and use wifi.

I got bored of that fairly quickly and so decided to go explore the city some more... The following images are what I saw on my 'travels'...

Apologies if any of these shock or offend. But this is the norm over here in the US. And the democrats have caused offence to many religious and pro-life groups who support Anti-Abortion and Also Anti-Homosexuality.

In amongst all this craziness though, we came across some wonderful street music, in the form of a brass band playing some wicked jazz tunes. It was quite the contrast to see and hear everyone enjoying Jazz music on one side of the street, and anti-Semitic and anti-homosexuality on the other.

God bless America ehy.

And all this, and Obama has yet to give his speech... I shall update y'all later with anymore craziness.

Location:Charlotte, NC

Ark-en-sas. Thats how i'm gona' say it.

Next Stop was Little Rock.

i did not see the little rock the town is named after, nor am i sure there is one.. but i did see a whole lot of Bill Clinton related 'stuff'.

We arrived in Little Rock very late in the evening.. after a long drive from Dallas.

as usual, the sat nav directed us to the nearest Starbucks for free parking and free wifi. God Bless you Starbuck.

it was another hot and sticky night in the van, and yet despite another thunderous and violent storm unleashed on us during the night (which i slept through.. thank you ear plugs!) it wasnt much better heat wise the next day either.

having mistakenly left the fans on all night, we were in need of a jump start, so after making the call, we duly sat in the starbucks

 drinking coffee until our recovery man made it there.

The main purpose and thing to see in Little Rock was to see Bill Clinton's Presidential  Library. i personally enjoyed seeing the very industrial looking bridge next to it, and riding the 'street cars'.

Having only really spent the morning here, we were done.. after speaking with a very friendly man in the library we had two places to visit on the trip to our next main stop: Memphis.