Memphis

Got to Memphis yesterday. Went to Graceland this morning, I am not that big an Elvis fan, but it was still pretty amazing. You get to walk through his house (but not the upstairs part). You also see his and his parents graves (if you believe that Elvis is buried there and not walking around Forest Lake somewhere!) Also went to Little Rock Arkansas yesterday, the place where Bill Clinton was governor before he became president.

Memphis is pretty cool, music is obviously pretty big here, everything focuses on Elvis and soul music.

Off to New Orleans tomorrow, going on a river boat cruise for dinner, after a swamp boat ride, where we will apparently see alligators!

All is good, will post soon. Here are a few photos. I am actually in Memphis Public Library using the PC at the moment, so I should be able to post a few photos.

Kel

Seligman, Route 66.

Me with the Grand Canyon behind me, the photos totally don't do the Grand Canyon justice.

Ricki, Sarah, Nicola, Liz and I on the jeep tour. I can't remember where (I have been to so many cities and states lately, it was somewhere in Colorado.) There was snow in the mountains there, it was pretty cool.

At the NBA basketball game last night. Memphis Grizzlies beat the Indiana Pacers by about 15 points.

At the front of Elvis' mansion. It is pretty surreal walking around inside. You don't get to go upstairs though, but you get to walk through all other areas.

Texas

Hi
In Dallas, Texas tonight. Heading out shortly for dinner, hoping to find some Texas ribs somewhere. Went out to a cowboy bar last night in Amarillo Texas. That was fun. The only bad thing is that Texas is one of the few states in the US where you can still smoke inside bars, which everyone knows frustrates me, so I came back stinking of smoke.
Oh well.
Going on a tour of the Dallas Cowboys football stadium tomorrow, and going to a NBA game on Monday night.
See ya.
Kel

Colorado, Grand Canyon, New Mexico etc

Hi all
What a busy few days. Am currently in New Mexico. Spent most of the day in Colorado, did a jeep ride which was awesome. It is quite amazing here, the first part of the day we were in desert territory in Cortez Colorado, then around lunch time we were in mountain territory in Durango Colorado (which had snow capped mountains) and tonight we are Albarquarqe New Mexico. Seeing and eating heaps. Was in the Grand Canyon and Vegas a few days ago, did a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon. (I did do a post a few days ago, but it seems it didn't save). Have heaps of photos, but it is really hard to get to a computer to upload stuff, so will show them when I get home.
All is good. Hope everyone is ok back home.
Kel

Inside the Seattle Central Library. Fantastic looking building.




The famous Pike St Fish Market. I only saw them throw a very small fish!




Sun setting in Seattle. Taken from the Space Needle

Greetings from Seattle

Hi
I finally made it. The plane only left 3 hours late. To all those people who made comments about the Qantas plane falling apart, and me saying that it would all be fine, I apologise. There was something wrong with the hydrolic brakes. I guess it is better that they found out before we left as opposed to after!

The flight was pretty good, as well as long haul flights go I guess. I had the row to myself for the first half of the flight. I felt pretty guilty, as the people behind me had 3 strangers all together in the row. A lady moved to the aisle seat in my row about half way through, I wasn't too concerned. The middle seat was still free, so I could stretch out a bit.

Anyway, made it to LA without dramas. Got through customs much easier than expected. I thought they would go through my luggage and play 20 questions. But I got through without being stopped, not as if I had anything to declare - so it wouldn't have been a problem anyway. The flight to Seattle was fine. LA airport is a bit of a dump though.

So that brings me to Seattle. Beautiful city, a lot like Melbourne. Old buildings mixed in with cutting edge technology. I did a behind the scenes tour of the Seattle Central Library this morning, oh my god that place is amazing. I fell in love with the place. Unlike Brisbane Square, they designed all the floors separately. I won't go into too much detail, but have a look on the web for photos (or check some of mine out below). Pretty amazing. Got to love the red section!

I also did an Underground tour of Seattle today. This shows the history of Seattle, and how it was rebuilt after the great fire of around 1889. http://www.undergroundtour.com/ I also did the Space Needle last night. I am going to do Pike St Fish Market, the Seattle Centre and Ride The Ducks tomorrow http://www.ridetheducksofseattle.com/

The hotel here is great! Free internet access. Wasn't expecting that. jetlag is catching up with me, it is only 5pm here, but I think I will go out and grab some dinner, and then have an early night.

Will blog again soon. Here is a photo of the Space Needle taken yesterday. Will post some more tomorrow hopefully.
Kel.