Week 30

The next two days we decided to spend at Palm Springs. Although mum and dad claimed that it previously was known for the resort of the rich and famous, all I saw was sand and desert mixed with a couple of Palm trees. On the second day we all went to see Horrible Bosses at the cinema. It was pretty good. Palm Springs just seemed to be a big town with a lot of golf courses. The most amazing thing that I found about Palm Springs, was the unbelievably huge wind farm. There were thousands of wind generators. The next day we left for the last destination of our trip; Las Vegas. Mum and I were once again given the opportunity to choose the accommodation, so once again, we chose luxury. We didn't stay at Caesars palace, or the Bellagio, or any casino hotel. We stayed at the platinum which was awesome. That afternoon, we went for a big walk down the strip. It was odd being able to be right next to a slot machine, but not get into trouble. Unfortunately, whenever I'd walk up to the people handing out flyers they wouldn't give me one, even though there were cards with naked ladies strewn across the entire strip. The next day we had to move to different hotels, but before we did that we went for a drive to the Hoover Dam, and then to the Pinball Museum. The Hoover dam didn't seem too impressive, just more like a big wall. However, when you'd look over the edge, it was like a really steep slide. After going to the dam we headed to the pinball museum and emptied our pockets at the '1 quarter a go' machines. After playing pinball machines for over an hour we headed to the hotel was staying at with one of her friends. Dad and I were just down the road, at the Riviera. The buffet was good and afterwards we spent a long time in the pool, trying to offset the high temperatures of 99 (which is apparently mild). The next day dad and I had a tennis tournament. It was extremely hot and they had to stop play between 1 and 5. I made it to the semi's and dad forfeit. Yesterday we left early to head home. We left at around 9 and arrived at 12 at night. Although it was pretty fun, sitting in a car for 3000 miles isn't something I plan to do again.

Week 29

The first week of our road trip was very hectic, having to travel at least four hours every day. Tuesday we left Louisville and headed to a small town called rifle. We found that the name was very fitting after having dinner amongst trophy bears, mountain lions and an arsenal of weapons. Wednesday we drove to Moab via the long scenic route. There were some spectacular cliff formations along the way, but when we reached Moab we headed up to the Arches national park. The previous drive up was a bit of a spoiler but it was still pretty cool to see. Thursday we then went to Cortez to see the Mesa Verde national park. The main attraction was some remnants of an old building, but for us it was a gigantic walk down and then back up the mountain. It was also in extreme heat, so much so that mum nearly fainted. At this point we'd been in Colorado to Utah and back to Colorado. From Cortez we passed into Arizona and stopped at Holbrook. We weren't very impressed with the accommodation, questioning whether we'd found small stools spread throughout the cabin. The "forest" leading up to it was also misleading. It was a petrified forest with nary a tree in sight. The first of our road trip's major stops was next. We headed out to Grand Canyon to try camping. Despite the long drive out, the view was amazing. We set up our tent just in time before the rain came, but it passed quickly. We spent the rest of our time there (the afternoon) doing some walks around the canyon. We did two walks. The first walk was just along the rim, looking down into the vast chasms. The second was down into the chasm, although we only went to the first lookout due to not having water or sunlight. We also got some firewood and tried to make some light for us to use. After getting up at 5 in the morning, we packed up the tent and headed out to Kingman for our last day in Arizona. That Sunday was one of the days that were assigned to Mum and I for the accommodation. We decided to live in Luxury.

Week 28

This week is basically a rest week before heading out for our big road trip. We didn't do much, just a couple of things. Dave (neighbor), dad and I went for a round of golf and mum went for another walk with Jeanie, but the remainder of the week was lazing around. The exception was that on Monday night we were invited over for an Independence day party with the neighbors. Afterwards we walked down to see the fireworks which were really cool; especially since all the people there let their own off. It was like a competition for the best fireworks. We headed out for our road trip the next morning.

Week 27

This week was the cruise. The cruise was generally a sit down for a week holiday. A large amount of food was consumed and there was a lot of drinking while many cruise patrons volunteered their answers to the many trivia and 'game' shows available. Two of the days we spent entirely at sea scoffing at the many people running to the rare sightings of whales. The cruise ship had a circumference of half a kilometer and was packed with 2 golf driving cages, 3 shuffleboard courts, 2 ping pong tables, and lots of restaurants, bars, and buffets; and small rooms. As I said before, the best part about our room was that we had an awesome janitor. On one of the later days we went and explored some of the glaciers but was pretty uninteresting, 1 seal (says dad) and barely any (visible) ice. The first day after departing, was at sea. For that day I managed to win the ping pong competition. Unfortunately, on one of the later days, all the adults found out and there were platoons of people wanting to play. I got to the semis, but then a Chinese man who had his own ping-pong bat in a case destroyed me, while dad also got obliterated by his son. Throughout the cruise there were other events like trivia, shuffleboard tournament (which mum and I won), and lots of other things which earned you points. We collected 30 points and were given a t-shirt, water bottle and a deck of cards. That was basically the routine on-board the cruise ship; sleep, eat, play, eat, drink, eat, sleep... While on land we tried to do as much walking as we could. We travelled up two very steep mountains, shopped, and walked some more. The first town we went to was Ketchikan. There wasn't much there, not even shops. The only thing we could find to do was go for a hike up the Deer Mountain trail. It was wet and rained at the end, but once we walked a mile to the viewing platform we had a pretty good view of the town, the numerous cruise ships, and sea planes. The second village we went to was the capital of Alaska, Juneau. There we undertake another strenuous walk up the mountain. It seemed much harder, probably because of the stress (especially on the knees) from the last walk. At least once at the top there was a tram that took you back to the bottom. The third, and last place in Alaska, that we topped at was Skagway. Although we didn't do much that regular tourists would do, we went to some show called "Days of '98". I didn't like it very much, but they called on someone from the audience to help; he was the star of the show. Other than that we bought a couple of souvenirs from the shops. We got a hand crafted totem, mum bought an Ulu knife, and we got some dolls and a book. The only other place we stopped was Prince Rupert in Canada, where we bought some Canadian dollars and went to Safeway. Other than that the remainder of the cruise was eating, drinking, sleeping. The next day we spent at sea, doing just that. We also had a day in Seattle. We went to one of the museums which had an exhibit on fears. I did the falling, loud noises,& electricity displays but reaching my hand into the black box filled with cockroaches, scorpions and tarantulas was out of the question. From there we went to the airport and caught our plane back to Denver. Our first excursion of America. We got home and slept well, and rested on Sunday.
PICTURES ARE ON SEPARATE PAGE: "CRUISE"

Week 26

I couldn't find Internet (cheap enough) to do my blog on, so had to spent much time trying to remember the cruise as well as this week. This week prior to the cruise was pretty much a preparation week (especially for mum). Dad and I went for a round of golf, mum went for a walk with one of her friends, but we didn't do that much. On one of the days mum and I went bowling and on another we were invited over to one of the CITEL families' houses for dinner. Afterwards we all had a game of tennis in tornado weather. It was unbelievably windy, and there was lightning and thunder 6 miles down the road. Even though this was just the night before, the next day was bright and sunny. On Friday night, before we flew out mum and dad went to have dinner with one of the families from tennis, while I went to my last karate lesson until August. After waking up at 3:30a.m. we caught the bus to DIA. We departed early in the morning and got into Seattle at around 11. Following the train ride into the city dad wanted us to push the luggage bag to the cruise ship. Another traveller asked us for some directions, but we told them that we weren't from Seattle, let alone the USA. We got onto the ship and went out for some reconnaissance. We found a lot of places to eat and our very small room. Even though the room wasn't great the janitor guy was really cool. He made us animals out of towels, like a rabbit, a mouse, and something that none of us could figure out what it was. While we slept the cruise ship left for Alaska.

Week 25

The major event for this week was probably going to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Mum and I went to this cinema type thing only it was a part of the whole spherical ceiling. It was really cool, because it felt like the seats were moving, not the display. We also went and saw all these stuffed animals. Some of the bears, especially the Alaskan brown bear, were massive. When we were in the Australian section, mum overheard a conversation between two other women talking about a song to do with a laughing bird; embarrassingly mum started singing "Kookaburra sits in the old gum-tree...". The whole museum was pretty cool. Saturday was my test for a Green belt. Although it might seem the other way round, all the little kids were kind of intimidating.
Sunday we went to the Boulder Jewish festival. It was pretty boring, the best things were the free water bottles and the various samples of drinks and ice-creams.

Week 24

This is our first week of the holidays and we're trying to get a cruise up to Alaska next week as our first major event. This week we had a cricket match on Sunday. It was a T20 which our team managed to win (amazingly). I only got to field, but I took a catch and a run out. We then caught a lift with another teammate whose daughter also came. On Monday, Dad and I went to the Atmospheric Research Center in Boulder, while Mum went for play-dates with two friends. We were all invited over to an Americans house on Tuesday. Went went for a walk, had lunch, and were entertained by Bert; a big parrot that could sometimes say hello, and loved to make cat sounds. That afternoon, Dad and I went for a round of golf! We got cramped with some other guys, a pom and a yank. It was lucky the yank was there, it made me look mediocre. I managed 1 par, and 1 birdie, and the rest > bogey.

Week 23

It's now the start of the holidays although we're staying in Colorado for about 2 weeks and then trying to fly to Seattle and catch a cruise up through Alaska. Last Wednesday and Thursday our school had two half days, which were the last days before the holidays. Wednesday was the advisory Olympics. All the Advisories (PCs) dress up in a set uniform (my advisory's was tie-dye, dad's was plaid), then we participate in heaps of different activities, like human pyramid, 3 legged race, egg toss, soccer shootout, tug o war, and the watermelon eating contest. My advisory didn't win many, but i think we got the spirit award since we had a boom-box, tent and energy bars. Even though it was really fun, it was such bad conditions. The past couple of days it had been raining and the field we were playing on was drenched. The winner of the tug o war was just the team that could find dry land. Two people had ankle injuries, one was a student called moose who broke his ankle falling in the tug o war, and the other was a teacher who was wearing flip-flops and got trodden on. It was hectic, a fire truck and an ambulance were called in. On Thursday, the last day of school, was exhibition day. It was pretty boring, but afterwards the whole school had a picnic, and I just hung around my friends for a while and went home. The rest of the week was no school, except for dad who had to go in on Friday for planning. Sunday we went to the Coal Creek festival to see what it was like. I found it to be just like an amplified market, although they provided lunch with all the free samples. Monday was memorial day, and we must have been the only people who didn't put up the US flag. They had the Bolder Boulder on as well, it's a run like the city to surf. While that went on we all went up to Chautauqua park to do the final flatiron. We're saving the best one for when we have visitors.

Week 22

This week has been really wet. All through the week it's been raining, and the precipitation in the mountains has been so much that most of the ski resorts have reopened, which is unusual. We've also been listening to the tornado warnings and sirens in our neighborhood. On Friday Mum went out with Kristy (Australian exchanger) to a tour of the governors mansion. Most of Saturday I spent finishing projects for school, like making a website and creating a casino game for Stats: Prob. On Sunday we all went for a tour of Gold Hill, an old mining town up in the mountains. We even brought the metal detector that dad bought but only found a couple of old rusty nails. Now I've got volleyball and need a Tie-dye shirt for Advisory Olympics tomorrow, despite the heavy rain.

Week 21

Just a routine week. Played some volleyball, mum went out to lunch with another new friend and dad played tennis and cricket. On Saturday night we had a barbeque with some other Aussies in the pouring rain. They decided to carefully move the $14 dollar barbie into the garage to keep it's value intact. You know dad!!! Sunday, while dad was playing cricket, I competed in the Rocky Mountain Karate Tournament. I was placed first in two events. After the long walk home we sampled the local Thai food for dinner. Only 8 school days left until Summer Break!

Week 20

Had a couple of things happen this week although not too important. Tuesday night I had another volleyball game, but the team still hasn't won a match. Wednesday I had humane society on again and that night karate. Nothing really on Thursday, but on Friday I only had a half day because of the exchange meeting that afternoon. We went into Denver and had a light lunch until exploring the state capitol, which was rather boring to me considering that I saw Australia's Parliament house last year. We got to talk to a lot of the representatives (one of which was a pom) and got to ask and answer some questions of the difference of education systems. Following the tour all the party-goers went out to a Mexican restaurant to have some dinner. I didn't think it was that good. Just after getting off the bus we found a woman laying on the grass at like 8:30. Mum was called in to help but couldn't do much. The main event however, was on Saturday. I had Karate in the morning and at about 5:30 in the arvo, us and our carers all went to the Moody Blues concert at Red Rocks. It was a spectacular view which you could see for miles and all the lights of the cities were really bright. If you asked mum or dad they'd say that the music was good too, but I didn't enjoy them very much. The other really weird thing that happened at Red Rocks was that we were sitting next to a group of people smoking dope, so I spent most of my time breathing in through my jumper sleeve. Afterwards we headed back home and got stuck in very heavy traffic trying to squeeze out of the Red Rocks parking lot. That was the first major event of the weekend, and the second one is my first American cricket game. The game was pretty poor (by our team). I was the not out batsmen at the end, with a grand total of one run, which was pretty good considering I only faced two balls, and better yet beat dad's golden duck (faced one ball and then got run out). The game wasn't very interesting either, but some American lady came down and watched. She said she didn't have anything else to do on the Weekends so she just comes and watches cricket. She was as red as a beetroot too. Other than that we've just been lazing around doing routine stuff. Today was Dad's birthday (54) and he spent it marking tests.

Week 19

Not too much happened this week but still had a couple of significant events. Had mainly usual school throughout the week with  two days off. I had Wednesday off to begin with because of the ACT's (tests for 11th graders) but still had to do Volunteer work at the humane society in the afternoon so didn't do much else. I also had Friday off because the teachers at school had training for if there was a shootout. I think dad got a few pictures with the SWAT team and the other services. Meanwhile, mum and I went shopping at the mall for clothes for the Disco on Friday night. It was so awesome because it had an actual theme that was followed; Casino Royale. There were tables set up with cards and poker chips, drinks and snacks, a photo shoot where you could pick up pictures in a keyring, a red carpet and loads of other things. Unfortunately there wasn't many people at all and it was apparently a bad night. We had a day of rest on Saturday and managed to cross off another Indian restaurant from our area and dad went to a pinball show and placed 18th, winning a prize at 16th. On Sunday we all went to our first (and probably last) baseball game. Our team got smashed and the weather was cold and the food was bad but other than that it was a good experience. The only other thing is that (apparently) Osama Bin Laden is dead and so there is much celebration accompanied by worry with this news. I've got a few pictures from Dad's shootout day.

Week 18

Didn't have much happen during the week, just a couple of cricket practices, karate training and volleyball in the afternoons. Mum made some painted eggs for Easter but other than that didn't do much else. On the weekend though we went out to the Flatirons mall and got a new Macbook pro for me. Its really good and fast. We also went to an Indian restaurant recommended by some of the cricket team players. Mum also met a women at the bus stop which she's befriended. On Sunday we went to an ANZAC day celebration with other Aussies from Colorado; not just exchangers, permanent residents too. On our way home from the party, we went to a big boys arcade and had a go at some of the games. Didn't quite reach 10,000 points but managed enough to get a plastic cup with a swirly straw! Not long until the Summer holidays, just a couple of weeks and not too long before some visitors.

Week 17

Not much this week and didn't do too much on the weekend either. I tested for my orange belt in karate while dad played his first game of cricket with the Indians. We're like the odd ones out, there's Sampath and heaps of other exotic names in the team. Every Tuesday and Thursday we have practice. We couldn't believe that there was a man here called Bob O'Brien who has been here for 15 years and was born and raised in Taree!!!! We were stunned. Sunday mum had a play date with Kristy, an Australian exchanger, while Dad and I went to the Gun Show in Denver. There were heaps of guns, bullets, holsters, lasers, scopes and other gun accessories, as well as night vision goggles and mace. My favorite thing though was a mobile phone that had a stunner in it. Other than that we've been planning for a get together for ANZAC day and I think CITEL has organized something for us.

Week 16

Boring week this week. Just normal school but on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday I had karate training for this Saturday's test. We also had a volleyball game on Tuesday which we were obliterated in. I also took mum bowling on the weekend but didn't do very well; I barely made 100 and Mum didn't even get that much. Didn't do much else but on Wednesday I had my first day at Humane Society with the dogs. There's so many there and you can't pick the good/bad ones. It's really fun but they all want to pull you around the circuit. You go in, attempt to put the leash on, lure them out with treats, walk around with them and then scoop up some poop. That's about it.

Week 15

Back to school. Luckily its only 8 weeks long this quarter. I got my new subjects on Monday. There were some 3rd choices in there including Statistics: Probability as my AM block, Physical Science: Weather and Climate as my Seminar/Intensive, and US History: The Space Race as my first hour of PM block. My second hour, believe it or not, is Meditation and Mindfulness. We sit down on cushions and breathe and feel the world around us. The class has also incorporated tea (of some kind) on Fridays. This is what I needed, a class to relieve all my stress from all the different subjects I have to do. Apart from being refreshed every afternoon I've got volleyball matches on Tuesdays and I think I'm finally going to be able to do my community experience at the Boulder Humane Society on Wednesday afternoons. It's so hard to get in. First you go to an information evening, then you go to a training info evening and then you have to have a tour. I think it'll be really fun though, so I'm not complaining. On Tuesday this week we didn't have school, so went to I went to my first volleyball match. We got flogged and didn't get much of a game, any of us, because the coaches subbed themselves in. I didn't even have much school on Wednesday because I didn't have a CE to go to. Thursday I had my Humane society training evening which happened to fall on Mum's birthday. She wanted slippers. We went out to dinner, which wasn't very good. We didn't do much on the weekend but we went to listen to two story tellers. Neither were American, one was British and one was Irish. I cracked up when one of them was telling a story and said windle instead of window. It was a pretty fun week and now only seven weeks away from summer holidays.

Week 14

Spring break. This was our first chance for a bit of exploration but we mainly stayed around home. This week was made up a collection of small adventures. One of my favourite events was when Dad and I went to the shooting range. It was fantastic and unbelievably loud. They had two doors and even with ear muffs on it was so loud that we jumped every time someone would fire. The hardest thing was loading the bullets (to our gun for dummies). I think I'm a pretty good shot, but I had the most practice since dad only fired a couple of bullets. On a different day we all went for a big hike up Chautauqua Park to the first and second peaks. Mum was really grumpy going up. We also tried to go to the Denver museum of natural art and science but couldn't find it so just looked around Denver. That same day Dad and I went and joined the Boulder Cricket Club, if you believe it. They were all from either India, Bangladesh or Pakistan, and even more unbelievable was that they had all the proper gear. I was impressed even though they weren't very good.

Week 13

Finally, we're into spring break. This week led up to our first holiday in America. Last Wednesday I had my closing workshop session with a professional drummer. He taught us about the different types of drum sounds and all about African drumming history and culture; which was all really interesting. It was also my last karate lesson for a couple of weeks. Thursday was kind of like a wrap up day for all of my classes. I had my last CAP class as a rock-climbing excursion. Friday was our last school day which was only half a day anyway. People presented their work for the quarter; there was robotics, hip-hop, movies and marimbas. That afternoon I waited for mum to come and get me and go to lunch while dad finished his meeting. At about 1:30 we all left to go for a skiing excursion at Breckenridge with all the other Australian exchangees. We got their first and changed the bookings for the rest of them to stay in the middle of town. We just walked around the town that afternoon, I also got to go to the Bubba-Gump Shrimp store and get some souvenirs. On Saturday we went skiing. It was really fun; good conditions and you could ski all the way back to your hotel. I got home before dad via the gondola and caught mum back at the hotel room. We went to the main street and ordered some crepes, which were really popular and delicious. From their everyone caught up and we went back to one of the couple's hotel room for pizzas. Sunday was just heading home really. We thought we'd go to Aspen but when we got to Vail to stop for brunch we thought it was too far to travel. Instead we headed home via Blackhawk; a major gambling town, which we just drove through. Today mum and I headed downtown to pay a bill, while dad went for a bike ride. This afternoon mum and I went to the movies to see 'Limitless'. It was pretty good and afterwards we walked home. I'm not sure what we're doing in the next week but Tuesday week I have my first volleyball match. Here's some pics of St. Patricks Day, Dad's class and Exhibition Day.