May 2012

In order to make it to Billings Logans Int’l Airport in time for the return of our rental car at 7 am, we had to get up early. And I still can’t understand why we chose a time that early, when our flight departed at 10.29 am? Anyway, after a few hours spent in the airport we finally boarded the plane and I must say it was the smallest airplane I’ve ever flown in, so far. So small! You almost got claustrophobic. After 1 hour and 30 minutes we arrived at Denver Int’l Airport and stretched our legs. We were fortune enough that the flight to San Francisco departed from a gate just nearby the one we arrived at. Though we had about 2 hours to change flight, but Denver Int’l Airport is BIG and you never know how far you need to go!

The flight between Denver and San Francisco took 2 hours and 45 minutes and during that time we had changed time zone again. At San Francisco Int’l Airport SFO we had to find the rental car company to pick up our rental car. Even though the airport was big the signs were well-posted and so much better organized than at Tacoma Int’l Airport in Seattle.

We received the car keys and the GPS and walked to the parking lot and got our car. This time we got the car we had booked. But once again the GPS didn’t work right away and it took it forever to find the satellites and help us find the way to our hostel in downtown San Francisco.

We didn’t have much time to explore San Francisco today since we had to get early tomorrow morning and needed to sleep.

Worst breakfast ever at the hostel, so we had to stop for breakfast on the way towards Yosemite National Park. It took about 4 hours to drive from San Francisco to Yosemite National Park (time for breakfast along the way not included in that time). Many roads were closed due to snow just like in Yellowstone National Park. Yosemite National Park suffers from forest fires every year and there were posted signs in the beginning of the park that warned about forest fires. Besides beautiful views there are many high waterfalls and a lot of animals – we saw coyotes, squirrels, lizards and deer.

During sunset we started to drive back to San Francisco again. Along the way we randomly stopped in Mariposa, a small village in the middle of nowhere. And here, in the very same restaurant we had chosen, a company also talking Swedish came in. We started talking to them and after a while we discovered that one of them actually lives in the same city as my fellow traveler and that person also knows my fellow travelers' mother. What a coincident! What are the odds? One in a million?

But we couldn’t stay for long since we had to get back to San Francisco before midnight. Driving in a completely unfamiliar area on roads you never driven before and with worthless headlights on the car was not fun. While driving in middle of nowhere we discovered an interesting phenomenon. In several intersections after each other there were 4-way stop signs, though it appeared to be only fields around us as far as we could see with the headlights out in the pitch-black dark night. So weird. But we couldn’t just ignore the signs, and then it would definitely have been a police car hiding in the dark waiting for us and initiate a pull over.

Due to fatigue we had to take turns driving and it felt like ages before we came back to San Francisco again. Eventually, after making one wrong turn (which we blame the GPS for) we got back to our hostel and got into bed at 3 am! So once again we cursed and threatened the stupid GPS.

After a well-deserved sleep-in and breakfast at a restaurant nearby, we walked to China Town. You couldn’t help yourself feeling like stranger here, but at the same time it was an interesting experience. After seeing Transamerican Pyramid we went to Lombard Street, the world’s most winding street. I would like to add the world’s steepest street as well! After walking uphill to the top, you could really feel how steep the street really was. Then we walked towards the wharf and took a Cable Car to Union Square. We found a cozy restaurant and had lunch. After lunch we took the Cable Car back to the wharf.

We walked to Fisherman’s Wharf and did some window shopping. We started walking towards Pier 33 which the ferry towards Alcatraz departed from. We had pre-booked this tour since it’s very popular and sells out days in advance. We felt it would be nice to have something to do in the evening as well so we had booked an Evening Tour.

It took 10 minutes by ferry to get to the Alcatraz Island and it was mighty to see the prison IRL. When we disembarked the ferry there was an uphill slope (totally 40 vertical meters) before we got to the actual entrance of the prison. Once inside we all got our audio tour player with headphones that guided you around on your own. It was almost unreal to walk around in there and listen to actual prisoners that once served time here in Alcatraz. A few cells were put up and staged just as they were 50 years ago when the prison was still in use. It was also interesting to see the cells from where a few of the prisoners actually escaped. And as I understand they still haven’t found one of those escapers. It was dark outside when we embarked the ferry again and San Francisco’s illuminated skyline silhouette was amazing. Now we were tired and even though we took a taxi, it felt like ages before we came back to the hostel.

We checked out from the hostel on our last day in San Francisco and drove to Golden Gate Bridge. We didn’t have to pay any toll fee while driving north across the bridge. After some photos of the bridge we got lost trying to drive back to the Golden Gate Bridge and got all the way to Muir Woods and Stinson Beach. That stupid GPS once again fooled us in the wrong direction. Even though we had typed in an address south along the Pacific Coast Highway 1, the GPS showed us to drive north. Then we decided to look at our paper map and defy the GPS and completely turn around. We followed the paper map and road signs instead and after a few miles the GPS surrendered to us and recalculated the route in the right direction. So finally, the GPS, the map and my friend and I were all on the same page. Now driving south, we had to pay toll fee crossing the Golden Gate Bridge.

Now we were driving southbound on Pacific Coast Highway 1, with the steep hills, the ocean and the beaches. It was really stunning and the further south we got the more the sun shined. We stopped several times along the way for photos and to feel the temperature of the ocean water in the Pacific Ocean. In the end of the day it got pretty warm but windy. The road lingered itself along the coastline and in the evening, we had the opportunity to photograph an amazing sunset over the Pacific Ocean. When it was dark, we actually passed a beach full of Elephant Seals, unfortunately too dark for any photographs so we decided to go back tomorrow for photos in daylight. We found a staying in San Simeon for the night, not far away from the beach with the Elephant Seals. San Simeon is located between San Francisco and Los Angeles along the Pacific Coast Highway 1. It’s a nice little community in the middle of nowhere. In the evening we went out for dinner and at the pub nearby it was karaoke and an Elvis look-a-like that performed. It was fun to watch.

After check-out from the hotel in San Simeon we went back to the beach with all the Elephant Seals to take some photos in daylight, since it was too dark yesterday evening. The first we got to see were squirrels and especially a female squirrel with two adorable squirrel babies, they were sooooo cute! All the Elephant Seals were down at the beach being lazy, splashing some sand on or itching themselves. Today in broad daylight they weren’t “talking” as much as they had done last night.

We kept on driving along the Pacific Coast Highway 1 towards Los Angeles. When the highway passed through larger cities it was poorly signed where to drive, which got us lost several times. Anyway, we got down to Oxnard and I did have an extra eye out for “the Hammer” (Ernie Orosco), the well-known police officer in the town of Oxnard that once initiating a traffic stop, he will give you a ticket no matter what. But I didn’t see a single cop in Oxnard. We drove further along the Pacific Coast Highway 1 and reached Malibu Beach and Malibu Pier. Honestly, I thought the pier was supposed to be larger than it actually was. Well, been there done that anyway

We drove the short distance left to Los Angeles. Once in Los Angeles we checked in at our staying and went to a local restaurant for dinner. We nor had time or wanted to do something else that evening since we were so tired.

We started the day by strolling along the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. It is 2,1 km long and contains almost 2500 stars in fake marble. We took photos of some of the most famous stars. We walked and walked and the stars didn’t seem to end. Eventually we had to turn around and walk back since we had booked a sightseeing tour in Beverly Hills and to the Hollywood Sign.

The driver drove past many celebrity homes during the tour in Beverly Hills and at the time I remembered which celebrity lived in which house, but now years later I can’t remember anything. But few of the famous celebrities we drove by were Dr. Phil, Heidi Klum, Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Osbourne, Steven Spielberg, Britney Spears, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis and Michael Jackson.

After that we got to the Hollywood Sign. Nowadays you can’t get as close to the sign or climb your way up (like people still do) as before due to the danger of falling down. But we got to the Viewing Point Area. Nearby we spotted cactuses growing and blooming (I think it was Prickly Pear Cactus).

In the afternoon we took the car and drove to Venice Beach and took a swim in the Pacific Ocean. It was darn cold, but totally worth it! Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any surfing boards for rent.

In the evening we walked back to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the last part that we hadn’t seen yet. Last but not least we came to the stars we wanted to see most of all… Elvis and the Beatles. Their stars are placed on a separate street from all other stars. Hmm, I also want my own star on my own street
Then we visited the Hollywood Wax Museum, you know the museum with all the wax dolls looking like celebrities. Though I wasn’t that impressed since many of the wax dolls didn’t look like the real person at all… so that was when I started to think “And what were they thinking here?” I mean I would probably have done a better job than that! When we bought the ticket to Hollywood Wax Museum a ticket to Guinness World Record Museum was included and the museum was just across the street from the Hollywood Wax Museum. I wasn’t impressed at all, maybe because it was so late at night and I was so tired? So today we mostly saw and visited things and most of all did some walking. Our tired feet were proof of that. But it was probably just for the best since we had been and would be sitting a lot in the car during this road trip.

The entire day was dedicated for the visit at Universal Studios. We had booked VIP Experience tickets in advance so we would get the most out of this day, while we were here. And it was worth every penny! I highly recommend VIP Experience tickets for those who visit Universal Studios for the first time. To be able to enjoy all VIP services everyone with VIP tickets got a necklace that they had to keep the entire day. We were divided into smaller groups of 10 people in each and every group got their own guide. Our guide was Doug, a super nice, well-spoken American that really loved his job. He talked and talked and he had great humor as well. So, thumbs up for you Doug! So, during the next 7 hours he guided us around the Universal Studios.

So, what was included in the VIP Experience?
Beside priority lane to everything in the park (and seats in the front), a fabulous lunch was included at a luxuries restaurant with buffet so you could eat all you wanted. Lovely dessert! Doug told us afterwards that the lunch itself did cost about $250! And on top of that we got free water bottles the entire day. We also got to ride on our own VIP-car with Doug by the microphone speaking and joking about everything. The VIP-car drove us to Wisteria Lane, known from the TV series Desperate Housewives and where they actually shot the scenes. And when we passed a studio and it said C.S.I. on one of the trailers outside I really wanted to get off the VIP-car and go inside but I couldn’t… unfortunately. We visited another studio and went behind the scenes of the TV series Parenthood. We also got to walk through the Costumes and Props (for the entire Universal Studios) that beside all clothes also contained props like lamps, cutleries, paintings and so on.

What about all the rides?
Well, we started with the Jurassic Park Ride. Doug warned us that we would get wet during this ride and handed out rain ponchos for each and one of us. I thought: ok, it can’t be that bad… but I must say it was nice to actually wear that poncho because the water came from everywhere! And the entire ride ended with a 25-meter fall… that was not nice! A little warning would have been nice! And they photographed us during that fall and afterwards you were able to buy that photo. Only $24! Haha, are you kidding me? Damn that was expensive. It should have been included in the VIP ticket in my opinion!
Transformers in 3D. Not impressive at all. Sure, the 3D effect made it a little more real, but a lot of robots running around and fighting each other… no thank you.
Revenge of the Mummy – the Ride. Finally, a ride with some speed. Thumbs up! And we liked it both my fellow traveler and I. I think we rode it like 4 times or so during the day. Also, here they took a photo of you that you could buy for a shameless price.
Terminator 2: 3D. Say what you want about Arnold in the Terminator-movies, but this show just sucked! The volume was too high, the 3D movie was mixed with (bad) acting on stage and everything just got into a mess. It was just bad!
Water World. I have no idea what this is really about or where they got it from. But a few people rode around in a water landscape, sometimes on boats and sometimes on water scooters and fought each other. I didn’t like it. For us with VIP tickets had reserved seats in the back, and not in the front. But we soon realized why. The two front rows were marked as Wet Zone and before the show started, they tried to get the audience wet by spraying water on the people in the Wet Zone. Haha, that was the only fun part of the Water World.
The Simpson Ride. As a fan of the Simpsons I was looking forward to this ride. It was what I had expected but a little short.
Shrek 4D. I had no expectations at all for this show. I mean, I was actually more bothered when the seat jumped up and down, got sprayed with water and getting compressed air in the neck… would this really give you a better experience??? No, I did not like it at all.
It was also a Special Effect Stage, which is exactly what it sounds like. A stage where they perform special effects and show you how it’s done. But honestly, I already knew how those effects were done. So, I got a little bored.

So, by 5 pm we said goodbye to Doug, our guide and we had an hour to walk around in the park on our own before it closed at 6 pm. Doug recommended us to visit Universal Studio’s Citywalk since the traffic is very intense around 6 pm when the park closes. Don’t even bother to try, he said. So, we found a small ice cream shop that also sold Frozen Yoghurt. We got to taste every flavor first before we decided what we wanted and then we paid after the weight. Very clever! And the Frozen Yoghurt was great! While walking to our car, we experienced an amazing sunset over Los Angeles – photo moment of course!

Last day in Los Angeles and we felt pretty done with the city by now. Packed down sandwiches for our road trip across the Mojave Desert and started driving. We passed Mojave Desert which had a temperature of “moderate” +35,5 °C. Desert as desert perhaps, but it was still beautiful with many shades of colors, barren nature and vegetation that we don’t have back home in Sweden. All and all it took us 4 hours and 30 minutes to drive to Las Vegas, a break included.

When in Las Vegas, we checked in at our staying at Fremont Street and we got our room on the 18th floor with an amazing view over the city. Outside our hotel window on a building few blocks away there was a display that showed time, date and temperature. And the temperature was +28 °C today. We had lunch and took a power nap before we headed for Fremont Street just outside our hotel which beside several hotels also includes many gift shops, souvenirs and casinos. And when darkness started to fall over Las Vegas the mood on Fremont Street changed and the city was lighted up by billions of lamps. That in itself was an experience!

The evening was rounded up with a drink in the hotel bar. Then we decided to get early to bed since we had a long and warm day waiting for us tomorrow.

Today it was finally time to visit Death Valley National Park. Before our trip to the US I had googled a lot about this national park and I was really excited to experience everything I read about. So, we drove 1 hour and 30 minutes to Shoshone for lunch before we kept on driving into the Death Valley National Park. We had planned to enter the National Park from the south and drive north so we had the sun more or less from behind, because we knew that it would be hot (and sunny) today. And oh yes, the further into the national park we came the warmer it got. The record for the day was +109 °F, which is +43 °C! After driving for a while an animal appeared on the road. It was a coyote that came towards our car begging for food. If I had reached out my hand outside of the window, I could have petted the coyote. That’s how close it got. But when it realized it wasn’t getting any food from us it went to the car behind us in line. I’m a little surprised that a coyote decides to live in the desert. But it must have had access to water somehow otherwise it wouldn’t survive.

Eventually we reached Badwater, the US’s but also the entire west hemispheres lowest point at 86 meters BELOW sea level. Here it was “only” +40° Centigrade. Badwater is a dried-out lake and now the bottom is covered with dried out salt and they have made a walkway so you could walk out in the salted area. It was a mighty experience. But the thing that got to me the most was the silence. It was so quiet! You neither heard the cars passing by nor the people talking to each further away. Only when you were right next to people you could hear their voices. So weird! When we got back to our car it was literally boiling inside and it took a while for the air conditioning to cool it down again.

After driving a little further down the road, we turned right onto a narrow lingering one-way road that led us to Artist’s Drive and Artist’s Palette. A barren yet beautiful landscape appeared in front of us with hills in different colors and shades and as an artist myself I thought it was incredibly beautiful. I tried every setting in my camera in order to capture these amazing colors in my photos but unfortunately, I couldn’t. So, the photos above represent the best settings I possibly could. Soon thereafter my fellow traveler ran out of water so we had to make a stop at Visitor Center and buy some more. I can ensure you that you really need to bring a lot of water due to the extreme heat. We drank water like all the time so whatever you do – do not forget to bring water visiting Death Valley National Park!

Zabriskie Point was next on our road trip, a nice place with a lot of sand banks. Zabriskie Point is not far away from 20 Mule Team Canyon Road, a canyon named after the carriages that was pulled by 20 mules up and down in the mineral mines in that area. We felt we didn’t have time to drive that road and it is preferred to have a jeep when driving that road and not a city type care that we had.
Last but not least we drove up to Dante’s View (yes, you can drive all the way up there) with an amazing view over Badwater and many mountains in the distance, Telescope Peak for an example. Next to Dante’s View is a hiking trail to Coffin Peak which is not far away and Dante’s Peak. When the weather is clear they say you can actually see the US’s highest and lowest point from Dante’s Peak. But in that heat and all the warning signs for snakes and scorpions we decided not to.

On the way back to Las Vegas we made a stop at Devil’s Hole in Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. The signs to get there were not that well-posted but surprisingly the GPS actually knew where it was! Devil’s Hole is a deep water filled hole and the home of the almost exterminated Death Valley Pupfish. Nowadays it’s a fenced area with security cameras and as a visitor you were able to walk inside a steel cage bridge over the hole and have a look. Near Devil’s Hole you can find Crystal Reservoir, where you actually can take a swim. In the area you can also find several hot springs but due to the heat we really didn’t feel like swimming today… at least not in a hot spring!

When we got back to Las Vegas and after well-needed showers we went down for the Las Vegas Strip (a.k.a. the Strip) with Caesars Palace, Mirage, New York New York among others and walked around in all the casinos. Though we never played or bet at any casino since people smoked like crazy inside and we got headaches after only 5 minutes. So tragic it has to be that way.

We had gone to bed late last night which was why we spoiled ourselves with a well-needed sleep-in today with a late breakfast. After check-out we headed for Hoover Dam just outside of Las Vegas. Honestly, I though the dam was supposed to be bigger than it actually was. After all Google researching about it, looking at pictures and reading about it I had built up high expectations. Though it wasn’t that spectacular IRL and I got really disappointed. Well, well… “been there, done that…”

We kept on driving towards Grand Canyon. After discussing which entrance to drive to we realized that the best entrance for us would be the West entrance with its famous Skywalk. The last part of the road towards the West entrance – basically a dirt track – was in such bad shape that you could barely drive. Due to the number of tourists visiting Grand Canyon every year you would expect the road to be in better shape than that.

When we arrived (the parking lot was asphalted thought) the entrance fee was US$76 to get into the area and getting access to the Skywalk. At the entrance there was a gift shop with various souvenirs to buy. Just outside the entrance building the buses ran all the time back and forth to the Skywalk only few kilometers away. After some photos of the Grand Canyon and the Eagle we decided to take the next bus to the Skywalk. The security was rigorous before you even could get out on the Skywalk. You had to lock up all your belongings (cell phones and cameras included), passing through a body scanner and put on shoe protections to protect the glass floor out on the Skywalk. Then you were allowed to enter the Skywalk! It was a pretty cool feeling walking around in “the air” above Grand Canyon. It was literally like 100 meters down to the bottom of the canyon underneath you and due to the glass floor, you stared down at the almost bottomless canyon. So, if you suffer from fear of heights might want to think twice before entering the Skywalk. My fellow traveler actually suffers from fear of heights and was actually crawling around at first, but after a while she managed to stand up and walked around. So brave of her!

The sunset started and it was time to leave Grand Canyon and find a staying for the night. We drove as far as we could and ended up in Kingman before we checked in for the night.

Before checking out, we ate breakfast at the hotel next-door. The hotel we stayed at had that service… if you didn’t like the hotels own breakfast you could walk over to the next door hotel and eat there. Thumbs up!
From the town of Kingman to the community of Ash Forks we drove on the classic Route 66. First stop in Valentine and the Keepers of the Wild Animal Park where they take care of rescued wild animals. They had a lot of animals; lions, coyotes, wolves, tigers (Siberian and White), jaguar, cougars, bobcats, ostriches, emus, monkeys, turtles, raccoons, skunks among others. Most of the animals stayed in the shadows though due to the heat. After that we drove to Grand Canyon Caverns and had lunch. We thought about getting down into the caverns but unfortunately it was too long time to wait for the next tour to start so we had to skip it. They do actually have a hotel down in the caverns which you can stay in but I don’t think I would though…

We kept on driving on Route 66 to Ash Forks and then southbound towards Jerome, now the biggest ghost town in the US. Jerome was founded on top of the mountain Cleopatra Hill and was thanks to its copper mining a big mining community at the turn of the 19th - 20th Centuries. But during the Big Depression in 1930ies and after the Second World War the demand for copper decreased and the mine was closed in 1953. From a population of 15000 people only about 50 people were left in Jerome after the mine was closed.

We arrived pretty late in Jerome and had only 30 minutes to walk around in the mining area. But it was enough time though if you ask me. Outside the gift shop there was a birdfeeder where they had put sugar water to lure out the Hummingbirds. We stood there waiting for a while with our cameras ready. And after a while they dared to approach the birdfeeder and we managed to get a few nice photos of them. But it is true as they say, they do hum a lot when they fly.

We drove the steep downhill road from Jerome and south to Sedona. Unfortunately, we could only spare a few minutes here in Sedona so the choice fell on visiting Cathedral Rock for some pictures. It was really beautiful with the Red Rocks in the sunset! I’ve never seen such colors! You would probably need at least a day or two to see more of Sedona and its beauty. Though we had stick to our strict itinerary and drive to Phoenix and our pre-booked hotel for the night. As we got closer to Phoenix hundreds of blooming Saguaro Cactuses showed up beside the road which was amazing to see. For those of you who don’t know, it is the classic tall and thin cactuses with several arms growing on the sides, usually seen in cowboy movies. The heat in Phoenix was overwhelming and even though we took a swim in the hotel pool, you didn’t get any cooler.

As a tourist there is nothing interesting to see in Phoenix, so we just passed through driving south towards Tucson. Somewhere between Phoenix and Tucson we stopped at a mall with an outlet with a lot of clothes. We shopped at GAP. I bought a thin sweater among other things that could be really useful later during the ranch week.

It was really hot in Tucson. I would have guessed at about +37 °C in the shadow. We stopped at Pima Air and Space Museum. I had emailed the museum prior to our trip and asked if they had any F14-Tomcat for display. And yes, they replied, they even had TWO. So, I was overexcited and thrilled when I paid the entrance fee and then ran around and looked for them. The first Tomcat was placed inside in the Flight Central Hangar and pretty easy to find. Then I started to look for the second one they claimed having but I couldn’t find it. And when I asked one of the staff members, he looked like a question mark; “What? Two? We only have one.” So, I guess the person that replied my email couldn’t see the difference between a F14-Tomcat and a F15-Eagle. Sure, they look very alike, but if you work in a flight museum shouldn’t you know/see the differences? I’m just wondering… Other interesting objects to view were MIG-29, Black Cobra, Mohawk, Blackbird among others. And on top of that they had several hangars with older airplanes from e.g. First and Second World War. And out in the open yard they had commercial airplanes and few space shuttles as well.

After lunch we visited a shopping mall with all kinds of stores like Victoria’s Secret, GAP and Nike. Before we left the mall, we had to buy refreshing Frozen Yoghurt. It was really great! Then it was time to check-in at the hotel next to Tucson Int’l Airport and return our rental car to the rental company before 7 pm. The airport wasn’t that big and it was well-posted where to return our car. It didn’t take more than 5 minutes to walk from the airport and back to our hotel again. The staff from the ranch was picking us up tomorrow so we didn’t need the car anymore. In the evening we swam in the outdoor pool and even though the sun had gone down it was still warm outside (and in the pool as well)!

When the alarm rang and it was time to get out of bed I almost flew up. I was so homesick and longed for my own bed. Our transfer from White Stallion Ranch to Tucson Int’l Airport left at 6 am just after sunrise.

The flight from Tucson to Denver took 2 hours. At Denver Int’l Airport we had to kill some time before the flight via Reykjavik to Stockholm - Arlanda. When the flight finally taxed out of the gate at Denver Int’l Airport it was delayed by 30 minutes. But suddenly the airplane drove back to the gate. Great! Now what? Is something wrong with the airplane? After a while the flight attendants announced in the speaker that they had shut down the entire airport. OMG! Is it a bomb threat? I thought for myself. But no, it was just bad weather just outside Denver. Thank God! So, when we finally got permission to taxi to the runway, we were 2 hours delayed. Perfect! … or NOT. We had a connecting flight in Reykjavik and now we would miss it! But when we asked the flight attendant about what we could do we got a positive answer. All the other connection flights (from the same flight company) on Iceland would wait for our flight! Now that’s service! Thumbs up! Now I could relax knowing that I would get home to Sweden according to plans, although delayed. So, after 7 hours and 20 minutes we landed on Iceland and we literally had to run to the next flight towards Stockholm Arlanda. Now we only had 3 hours left! But it was a challenge itself since the entire body was itching and you almost couldn’t sit still. So, after totally 12 hours and 10 minutes of flight time we were finally back home in Sweden. I must say though I had no problems adapting to the Swedish time zone again. We managed to book flights so the time change went smoothly. My fellow traveler though had a hard time adjusting back to Swedish time again.

But one thing you never can take away from the American people is their friendliness. That's why I like traveling to America. They are kind, helpful and chatty unlike us Swedish people. Here in Sweden we are almost afraid of starting a conversation with completely strange people or being forced to sit down on a seat next to an unknown person on the bus. So, we could really learn from them.