USA

Benefits: National Parks; portion sizes (specially for me who really like to eat!), service (the standard one); availability of hotels on the road (a lot of them but normally we took the Best Westerns); nightlife (NY and Miami)

Concerns: Local food; tipping (10% or even more is already included in the bill); California’s beaches (no doubt, much better on TV specially Malibu); in general lack of flexibility for non-standard services; speed limit (too low)

Places visited (& days): 47 days from 28th July till 13th Sept. - Las Vegas (2), Grand Canyon National Park (3); Los Angeles (3), Carmel & Salinas (1); San Francisco (3); Modesto & Yosemite National park (1); Bridgeport (1); Winnemucca (1); Salt Lake City (1); Antelope Island & Rexburg (1); Yellowstone National Park (1); Cody (1); Rapid City (1); Chamberlain & The Badlands National Park (1); Grinnell (1); Chicago (3); Niagara Falls (1); Little Fall (1); Boston (2); Newport & Marion (1); New York (10); Miami (7)

Transport (time or distances):
By air from Auckland (via San Francisco 12h) to Las Vegas (1h)
By car from Las Vegas till New York:
Ø Day 3 - Las Vegas – Grand Canyon: 420 miles (676 km)
Ø Day 4 - Grand Canyon: 64 miles (103 km)
Ø Day 5 - Grand Canyon: 56 miles (90 km)
Ø Day 6 - Grand Canyon – Los Angeles: 530 miles (853km)
Ø Day 7 – Los Angeles: 59 miles (95 km)
Ø Day 8 – Los Angeles: 89 miles (143 km)
Ø Day 9 – Los Angeles - Salinas: 387 miles (623 km)
Ø Day 10 – Salinas – San Francisco: 130 miles (209 km)
Ø Day 11 – San Francisco: 0 miles
Ø Day 12 – San Francisco: 32 miles (51 km)
Ø Day 13 – San Francisco - Modesto: 235 miles (378 km)
Ø Day 14 – Modesto - Bridgeport: 302 miles (486 km)
Ø Day 15 – Bridgeport - Winnemucca: 241 miles (388 km)
Ø Day 16 –Winnemucca – Salt Lake City: 352 miles (566 km)
Ø Day 17 - Salt Lake City - Rexburg: 279 miles (449 km)
Ø Day 18 – Rexburg - Yellowstone: 213 miles (343 km)
Ø Day 19 – Yellowstone - Cody: 203 miles (327 km)
Ø Day 20 – Cody – Rapid City: 398 miles (640 km)
Ø Day 21 – Rapid City - Chamberlain: 337 miles (542 km)
Ø Day 22 – Chamberlain - Grinnell: 532 miles (856 km)
Ø Day 23 – Grinnell - Chicago: 307 miles (494 km)
Ø Day 24 – Chicago: 0 miles
Ø Day 25 – Chicago: 0 miles
Ø Day 26 – Chicago - Niagara Falls: 558 miles (897 km) – Longest Drive!!!
Ø Day 27 – Niagara Falls – Little Fall: 258 miles (415 km)
Ø Day 28 – Little Fall - Boston: miles ( km)
Ø Day 29 – Boston: 13 miles (21 km)
Ø Day 30 - Boston – Marion: 150 miles (241 km)
Ø Day 31 – Marion – New York: 28 miles (400 km)
By air from New York (via Washington – 1h) to Miami (2h)

Currency: 1 Euro = 1,38 $

Funny Experiences: Sleeping in a motorhome when all the hotels were fully booked; I was not expecting in such a country which sometimes has very strict rules but everyone use their mobiles (cellular in US) while driving and normally do not use helmets riding their motorbike;


LAS VEGAS

After almost 6 months travelling alone, I got a new mate for my trip around US: my sister who is doing a PHD in Mathematics at Columbia University in NY decided to join me. On top of that, my parents also visited us in California. Of course we had a great time all together and it was very nice to share my thoughts with people that know me very well. Their first impression regarding myself was that I looked the same and did not change so much (I don’t know if it is good or not!)

Venetian - Las Vegas

Nice surprise with Las Vegas. I am not a gambler but really enjoyed the city and walking around especially at Las Vegas strip. Great and huge hotels (Venetian, Bellagio, Luxor, Ceasers Palace, Mirage...). But for me the best attraction was the fountain show and specially the Love Beatles - Cirque du Soleil (with no doubt, the best show I've ever seen).


GRAND CANYON

4 words to describe this place: Enormous proportions and colourful scenery, which makes this canyon unique! We spent 3 days in the park at the Yavapai lodge, visiting a lot of sights and of course doing some treks (the south Kaibab trail).

Grand Canyon National Park

The 10 miles width already gives an idea of this huge canyon, but knowing that it is 277 km long makes this site a magic place in the world.

There is a new attraction nearby which is the skywalk (glass bridge 4000 feet, around 1200m, above the Colorado River). Unfortunately (or not, because I was really scared) there was a storm and the skywalk access was closed.


LOS ANGELES

I was not expecting very much from this city and I had a good surprise. First because the hotel was really fashion (the Standard) and there were always parties and nice people around. Secondly because some of the sight visits were really super, specially the Getty museum, Walt Disney concert hall, Beverly Hills (rodeo drive), Hollywood, Santa Monica and Venice's area.

Walt Disney concert hall

Hollywood

Hollyood Walk of Fame

LA to SAN FRANCISCO

On the way to San Francisco, driving along the pacific coast with scenic views is amazing (specially the Big Sur - 90 miles from Cambria till Monterrey). We stopped at Carmel (small village on the coast with no street lights) and then drove the 17 mile from here to Monterrey!

Pacific Coast

SAN FRANCISCO

It was freezing all the time. How is it possible to have such a wheather beginning of August. They call it the foggy summer.

Nice sights were, the Lombard Street, Golden Gate Bridge, Civic centre, but my favourite visit was a tour to the Alcatraz Prison.

Lombard Street

To have dinner Castro and North Beach are good areas. I really recommend the Swan Oyster for lunch and L'hosteria del Horno for dinner.

Alamo Square

SAN FRANCISCO to YOSEMITE

From San Francisco, we drove to Berkley, then to Napa Valley (winery) and then Modesto where we visited one of my sister's friends, Sofia Castelo Branco. Sofia was working in Modesto and was living with a Brazilian/Portuguese family (Joao Fernandes). We had a wonderful dinner all together, mainly Portuguese (bacalhau - I think the last time I had some, was in Dubai with Antonio Carvalho). After dinner, we did a quick sightseeing and ended at the Bacchus bar, with nice live music.

Madalena (my sister), Sofia, Pedro e Joao at the Bacchus

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

Sofia, Pedro and Madalena under a Giant Sequoia

Trekking here is nice (but be careful, because some of those old trees can fall – it happened to us and it didn’t hit us by coincidence!). The Giant sequoias are impressive but I expected to see more. The best view in the park is when facing the half dome.

The Tuga with the half-dome behind

We left the park so late, that when we finally arrived at our destination: Bridgeport at 22.00 all the hotels were fully booked and even worst all the restaurants were closed. So we had to rent a motorhome for one night and to eat we had a beer and some chips (UAU!!!)

Moterhome (Hotel) at Bridgeport

Next stop was at Winnemucca. Here there was nothing to visit but we wanted to have a break and specially buy some camping stuff. The reason was very simple: we didn’t want to have fast-food all the time, and we wanted also to stop on the most remote places with incredible landscape

Preparing our camping stuff before lunch

SALT LAKE CITY

Nice town, very clean but also very hot. The day we arrived it was 38 degrees Celsius! It was here that the winter Olympic Games of 2002 were held. This town is also the headquarters of the Mormons. It is incredible their "marketing" since they have guys everywhere to tell you about the Mormon religion.

Salt Lake city

On our way to Yellowstone, and before an overnight stay at Rexburg, we stopped at the Antelope Island.

Antelope Island

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

After visiting the park, it is easier to understand why it is ranked as the number one in US with more visitors per year.

Mammoth Hot Springs

For me what makes it really different compared to the other ones (if I can really compare it) is the combination of different sights to visit and specially the wildlife around. It was easy to spot animals as bears, bison (American buffalo), deer...

Bisons at Yellowstone National Park

CODY

This is the right place to stop after visiting the Yellowstone Park and going east. This is the town of Buffalo Bill When we arrived, who knew that there were some Rodeos during summer time (incredible how those cowboys can catch those animals just in a few seconds!).

Cody Rodeo

RAPID CITY

Our idea was just to visit Mt Rushmore where the heads of 4 American presidents (Roosevelt, Jefferson, Washington, and Lincoln) are carved in the hills. But everyone in town told us that we should not leave without seeing the Crazy Horse.

Mt Rushmore

This is an incredible sight! It will be the biggest in the world. Now you can just see the Indian face. The sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, died in 82 and now his wife and 7 of his ten sons are working in the project. They do not accept funding from the state since they think the project must be supported only by public donations! Nobody knows when the project will be concluded!

The Crazy Horse (statue and the monument behind)

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BADLAND NATIONAL PARK
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It was a small detour from the highway, but it was really worth it. After having crossed the Rocky Mountains, we were at the Great Plains and as the name points out, everything is really flat. The only exception, was this funny land which is now known as the Badlands. It is hard to describe them but it is like huge sand castles along 35 km.

Badlands National Park

We stayed overnight at Chamberlain and the next day we visited the famous bridges of the Madison County

One of the Bridges of Madison County

GRINELL

Just before Chicago we stopped at Joliet to visit the prison (the one from the TV show - Prison break)

Joliet Prison

CHIGAGO

We probably couldn’t find a better hotel just in the centre of town (The intercontinental at North Michigan Avenue).

Millenium Park

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I really enjoyed the great views from John Hancock Centre, the Millennium Park and its fountains and the Art Institute museum with an impressive series of the Claude Monet paintings.

View from John Hancock

NIAGARA FALLS

The last time I visited some huge falls was 9 years ago when I made a trip to Zimbabwe and South Africa with a friend of mine (Vasco M. Almeida). I remember that we spent a lot of time walking around the falls since at each corner the view, sound, and lights were totally different.

Niagara Falls

Niagara falls are probably smaller but anyway it’s a gorgeous sight.

Unfortunately, the day we visited them it rained a lot. To get the best view, we had to cross the border to Canada.

BOSTON

Here we visited a cousin (Jaime Almeida) and a friend (Pedro) who was doing a PHD at Harvard University. Boston is a lovely city, but on that weekend we suffered a lot since it was really hot.

We visited Beacon Hill, Cambridge and Harvard Square, North End (Italian neighbourhood) and we even had time for a delicious meal at one of Boston’s Portuguese restaurants (Casa de Portugal).

Dinner at Casa Portugal (Pedro, Madalena, Pedro and Jaime)

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Harvard University

NEWPORT & MARION

Newport is a small city, well-known for sailing and for their impressive mansions (e.g Chateau sur Mer, The Breaks…). We stoped here to visit the International tennis Hall of fame. By coincidence there was a veteran tournament going on and we saw the final (John McEnroe against Todd Martin)

International Tennis all of Fame

Before going to NY, we visited and stayed overnight at Jaime's mother (Tia Diana) at Marion. It is a very calm area, and we had a good rest before heading to NY. We chated for some hours since there was a lot to tell and explain from the US trip but also from my roud-the-world one.

NEY YORK

End of our trip. We returned our car after having done 10287 km!!!!! (6392 miles!). At my sister´s apartment I was feeling like being at home. After having visited NY a couple of times, this time the main goal was to follow the US Open.

Joao Zilhao, Madalena and Pedro

We had tickets just for 2 days, but we were lucky since some friends (Sheila Campion, Joao Zilhao & Joao Lagos) from the tour were around and helped us to get more tickets, sometimes even with access to the ATP lounge

 

Pedro, Sheila, Joao Lagos, João Zilhao & Madalena

Pedro and Carlos Ramos

At the US Open, I met Carlos Ramos, an old friend, who now is one of the best tennis referees on the tour (2007 he did the Wimbledon’s final of Federer against Nadal).

New York sunset from the US Open

Time Square by night

MIAMI

This was the last stop, before leaving to Costa Rica. I stayed at Miami Beach which is the right place to relax and enjoy beach, nightlife (Lincoln Road, Social Miami - Sagamore, Delano) and the great restaurants around.

Ocean Drive - Miami Beach

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I had some good friends in town that really took care of me (thanks Jose, Lauren & Rocio)

Japanese dinner with Rocio at Lincoln Street

With Jose Duarte and his family, we did some sightseeing around the city, visited Coconut Drove, Coral Gabels & Key Biscayne, the Evergaldes (crocodile spot) and went to some nice restaurants (Mandarin Hotel and Graziano’s). I also had the chance to meet another colleague, Paco Mateo. Unfortunately Goncalo Leitao was out of town at that time.

Crocodiles at the Everglades

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With Lauren, who I met on my trip this year in Tibet, we also did a lot of sightseeing (Spanish Monastery and the Viscaya Museum and Gardens) and great dinners (the best at Prime One Twelve).

Jared, Lauren, David and Pedro at the Prime One Twelve

Another worthwile visit was to Key West to the southern point in US and walk around Duval St and visit Hemingway’s’ house.

Nightlife at Sagamore