The Most Anticipated

Since we fly out tomorrow morning (AGH!), we've decided to each write a little bit on the parts of the trip we're looking forward to the most.

Ed
I've always been attracted to the wilderness. The silence, the stillness, the beauty. The USA is a humongous place and the size of the country allows for some amazing landscapes and natural parks. Seeing these places in films means you sometimes feel like you know them already, but it's not until you feel the blast of the desert heat in Death Valley and stand underneath El Capitan in Yosemite National Park that you realise it isn't anything like the movies.

When we visited California 4 years ago for a quick 2 and half week trip round the state, Yosemite and Death Valley really stood out for me, even though we only stayed a couple of days in each.

This time around, we really want to make the most of our time so we're spending longer and visiting more of the parks that we couldn't get to last time.

Utah, the epic scapes of the Grand Canyon, the heat of Death Valley, the beauty of Yosemite, the Pacific Northwest's rugged coast line, the grandeur of the Redwoods and barren Joshua Tree all really stand out as places we need to visit. There will be more along the way but these are the parks that we will be staying in or near.

Having lived in London for the past 6 and a half years the constant noise, amount of people crammed in to one place, the pollution and the hectic activity of the capital can really get to you.

I appreciate that we won’t be totally isolated from human contact in the parks and that most are easily accessible from major cities so we will never be too far from towns and services. It's fantastic that the US have these parks on their doorstep so this is the part I can’t wait for- getting out to the forests & finally feeling that desert sun on my back.

Ellie
Narrowing it down to just one place or thing that I'm looking forward to the most is quite difficult so, keeping that in mind, I'm choosing the whole of the Pacific Northwest. The misty, rain-sodden PNW might not be the part that sun-seekers would choose and I certainly do love some sunshine, but I'm pale, almost as pale as the vampires from a certain set of books set in Washington State, so always feel more at home under a canopy of trees.

Also, this is the home of some of my favourite music. The riot grrrl movement started in Olympia, Washington with, amongst others, Bikini Kill and slightly later, Sleater-Kinney. The latter are named after Sleater Kinney Road in Olympia, on which we're coincidently staying when we're there. Pretty stoked about that.

Seattle and Portland are both cities I'm desperate to get to, I'm a big fan of Portlandia and I grew up watching Frasier so nerding out over the locations is high on my list of to-do's. The food and coffee scenes are famously legendary and I'm a BIG fan of both so you know, I'm sure we'll get stuck in!