We’re here!!…Isn’t everything big?!
I am feeling slightly pleased with myself for having been awake for 22 hours! Our flight was 11 hours and we’ve been on the go since. Sam has to nudge me every so often to check I’m awake. We’ve kept ourselves busy getting “groceries” at the “store” (I’m learning!). I think we’ll try and stay awake for another couple of hours, then bed!
This makes me sound like I live a small, sheltered life but…so far my observations are - everything is huge! I’ve been to the states before - New York, Boston and New England but stuff wasn’t this spread out. Massive freeways with loads of massive cars. The car rental man tried to get us to upgrade to a Hummer (?) HV3. I wasn’t sure what that was, then saw the picture and he told us “it isn’t as big as it looks”. I don’t think he understood our reasoning that we didn’t need a big car! We’re feeling left out now though!
Our accomodation is great - a massive bed and at the moment I’m watching something about polygamous marriages on a big TV. We’ve got the biggest oven and microwave I’ve ever seen and we’ve ordered pizza which I expect to be big! At the supermarket we really did see the biggest stuff I’ve ever seen. No wonder our fridge is so big!
I’m REALLY excited to be here. I think I’ll be even more excited tomorrow when we get a chance to see somewhere other than the inside of a car or plane.
Starbucks at Heathrow
Our car and the one we were recommended! (in the background)
Big crisps (chips?!), big milk and the biggest measuring jug ever, with a big microwave in the backgroud!
Our villa
Ok, REALLY tired now!! More excitement tomorrow!
May 13th, 2006 at 4:40 am
Woohoo!!!!! It is all so big isn’t it??? I can’t wait to see things through your eyes! Can’t wait!
May 13th, 2006 at 7:19 am
That’s great Rachel… I’m very jealous tho. Ah well… I was just there in November.
Deana - I’ve just noticed you are like always the first comment on every sinlge vox I randomly visit!! You really get around!
nooc
May 13th, 2006 at 1:45 pm
Greg, that’s what happens when your only human contact is with a 2year old all day.
May 13th, 2006 at 2:31 pm
[…] You can check out Rachel’s blog for pictures from yesterday. […]
May 13th, 2006 at 4:26 pm
that’s so cool, i remember everything being small in your neck of the woods… hehe… welcome, welcome, can’t wait to see you guys =)
May 14th, 2006 at 7:36 am
Rachel, I feel like tonight was too short. I can’t wait to see you again at Origins next week! Seriously, we’ll have to have a pajama party in the girls room, with you, me, Tina, Jenna, Lindsay, and anyone else! Lots more fun times to come, and a trip to Sheffield to plan! Sleep VERY WELL tonight and thanks for the lovely evening!
May 14th, 2006 at 4:28 pm
I must say…
Even though i didn’t spend the majority of last night talking to you and Sam, it was great having your presence there. I had such a blast, and i am so glad that you both were able to experience Ashes and Snow with us. As for that hummer…that is absolutely ridiculous for them to rent it to you. I believe that hummers are only good for running through brick walls, and california doesnt usually have brick walls on the roadways. I know what you mean by everything being huge though…it becomes somewhat of a problem especially with these gas prices! I hope you have a great time here, and hopefully i will see you both at the Origins conference
-Kunal
May 15th, 2006 at 10:30 am
Hey rach.Sounds really “interesting”!! hope you guys have lots of fun and have extra fun for me so i dont feel like I’m missing out.
oh,the milk does look big and heavy.looks like everyday will be a bit of excersize lifting and stuck
whats the time in that side of the world?
May 15th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
Thanks for the welcomes! I’m loving it here!
Staci and Kunal - it was really good to spend some time with you and experience Bubba Gumps! I absolutely loved ashes and snow. What a brilliant environment.
Hey Chantelle - everything is “interesting”! YOu’d love it. Wish you were here!
Deana - can’t wait to see you!
Niza - Really looking forward to seeing you!
May 15th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
Hey, I’ve been to that Starbucks!
Yes, in America everything gets bigger as you move West and South, culminating in Texas. Everything’s bigger in Texas. (Even Texas. Ask them and they’re not convinced Alaska actually has more square miles than them.) So we have this strange phenomenon of everybody loving Ikea for its functional “good design,” when nobody really needs clever space-saving furniture to begin with! Very odd.
The milk is normal, the chips are party-sized but still not unusual, the measuring cup is for mixing brownies in and we think it’s rather an unusual size, as well! My flatmate has one but I never measure in it, just use it for mixing in.
Hummers are excessive and ridiculous and I don’t understand anyone who hasn’t three or more children driving a large vehicle in California, of all places, where the fuel is an ungodly price and the air pollution is terrible. Thank you for choosing a smaller car, and try not to get hurt by those utterly crazy LA drivers!!!
I think you should all stop in Cincinnati on your way home, then you can see the Midwest. Much saner, I assure you. The middle of the country, all the “fly-over” states, are where it’s at. Good sensible folks, hard workers with a sense of humor and a lot of backbone. I feel like I never knew my own homeland until I took a cross-country road trip (not the whole way across the country, but a few days anyway). Then, I fell in love with it. Bluegrass music, small towns on little back-woods highways, old diners that’ve been serving the “best bowl a’ chili” for a hundred miles for the last sixty years, funny names on the exit ramps that all sound rather similar, because they were all taken from the language of the local Native American tribes. It’s not that I never want to leave; I certainly want to leave. But I know that someday I’ll come back. Back to the quirky land I love.
Nobody in Europe understands America because they only see New York, LA, and Miami, you know? The coasts are both quite different.