lørdag 28. februar 2009

West Coast Trip & Birthday

(click on the pictures for full sizes ;) )

Since last time so much has happened. I have to admit that life just races away sometimes.
I've finished track season, been on a magnificent trip to the west coast and been thoroughly surprised on my birthday.

Track season really fizzled out into nothing. After Conferences I was bumped down to alternate for the 4x800 relay, but I kept running. And then States came by, I watched the race, and my indoor track career was officially over.

The day after Trym, Terri (his host mother) and I stepped on the plane to Newark. Of course there was an hour delay, but fortunately we just made our connecting flight to LA! However, our luggage didn't. So we got a free little bag with a toothbrush, some shampoo, shaving cream and a razor. Of course the razor was horrible and I cut myself.

In LA we went on a tour of famous people's houses, hung out with my american sister Erin who lives out there and walked around in downtown Hollywood. There I found a great music store with thousands of records and cd's, both used and new at a great price. I bought the Gaslight Anthem and Kings Of Leon records.






Hermosa and Manhattan beach.













My new favorite store in the world.













Erin, Trym and me.










The day after we drove through the desert to Las Vegas. A huge 18 wheeler burnt down in the middle of the road, so we got the pleasure of enjoying a three hour traffic jam.








Sunset










Mountains in the "desert"











A rescue crew tries to remove the 18 wheeler











We almost (light blinking for ten miles) ran out of gas stuck in traffic, and when we finally got to a gas station it was a dollar more for gas than in any other gas station in the area. We still refilled half the tank. Las Vegas itself was HUGE, and the "strip" was tiny. And since both me and Trym were underaged we just walked around and shopped a little. There was a circular MILE indoors, with a highrised, arched roof painted as a sky. It was pretty cool. On the streets, there were mexican people handing out cards with pictures of nude girls and their phone numbers and prices. We slept in a fourty dollar motel right in between all the big an fancy ones.











Trym og en av "kort" utdelerne.
















Only in Vegas.














Vannshow utenfor et hotel.











The day after we got up early and headed for the Hoover dam, and the Grand Canyon in the evening. The Hoover dam wasn't too exciting, since we couldn't even stop to take a nice picture without paying for a tour.








Snowmen looking out over the canyon.


















Ignore the face..













Road to the Grand Canyon











The day after we went to Sedona, a national park further south. It's basically the edge of the same plateau as the Grand Canyon is on, eroding away. So the rocks are really cool. There's also some cool plants and animals. We took a "Pink Jeep" tour to see the landscape up close.









Trym & The Pink Jeep













The Camel Mountain


















Favorite picture, a cattle thing with caci.












Roadrunner! Meep Meep













Me, Terri and Trym









Afterward we drove to Phoenix where we slept over at Terri's friends house, Demetra and Paul (and their daughters Xanthi and Thallie). They are great and very hospitable :) We had a good time looking for and listening to records and visiting their enormous church. Its probably the coolest church I've been to. It was much like a rock concert, only with christian songs.

Unfortunately no pictures from there.

We also visited Terri's mom and sister in Tucson, swam in their pool, tried to tan and went cactus and desert animal spotting in a local "desert museum"











cool cactus



















another cool cactus












those two tiny peaks to the right, close to the bigger mountain is MEXICO!













there are "forests" of cacti.









And that was it from the West Coast! A great trip, some good and bad weather, good and bad food but only good memories :)


On my birthday, my friends got busy one by one, and I wound up thinking I'd be alone all night.. Then my host mom told me to go look for my host brothers check book in the basement, and I went down. I smelled some girls perfume, and was wondering what my host brother had been doing down there. I turned on the light, and all my friends where down there :) I was very, very surprised! Mom had the idea and provided food, and somehow Nick managed to round up my friends from all over the place :D. It was great! Thank you guys! And thanks to everyone who showed up :)































Other than that I'm hoping to finally go snowboarding soon :)
And I'm looking forward to the East Coast trip coming up.

Takk for gaven Vilde & Tine!

Og til Hove! fleet foxes :D
And thank you to everyone else who sent cards and money! I'm trying to get some cards (from the Grand Canyon) out tomorrow! :)

søndag 8. februar 2009

Hove!

Hovebilletten er kjøpt og betalt :D

+ Søkt på Lillestrøm i 3. klasse.

søndag 1. februar 2009

tomorrow's just a song away

Midterms are over,
I did well.

We had a yfu orientation this weekend,
it had some interesting, weird, strange, surprising and disturbing moments.

My new headphones arrived,
they are fantastic.

I fixed my polaroid camera,
but I'm waiting for a good occasion to take a picture.

I still run every day,
because states is in two weeks and coach wants me in shape in case i have to run.

I'm looking forward to a week of school
over winterbreak with Trym and Terri on the west coast.

Hove is announcing artists,
and there's some good stuff coming :)

And everything else i pretty much like before.

tonight I'm going to watch the Superbowl.