USA-Mexico-Canada Tour 2007 - September 8th - 19th

September 8th, it took me pretty much a day to get through Texas...it's huge. Yeah and they really have these oil pumps along the highway...

September 9th, after 37 hours on the bus from Tucsan, AZ I finally arrived in New Orleans, LA. What a relief to get off the bus, even though it was already very hot and humid at 8am. I went staright to the hostel and had breakfast and a shower. Later I went to downtown and esspecially the French Quarter where I spent pretty much all day enjoying the city. Still there a lots of signs of the Hurricane Kathrina that almost wiped out the city 2 years ago. More than half of the population didn't return after the hurricane and I guess that there are still 70% of the houses not rebuilt yet. I met a couple of people that just returned on the same day when I arrived there and it was interesting to hear their stories and their reasons why they returned to New Orleans. On this picture you can see my Hostel, they rebuilt it after the Hurricane and is now a cool place to hang out with a pool in the back.

September 10th, my second day in New Orleans I used to see some other parts of the city. I checked out some of the famous cemetries with the tombs and other parts of downtown where I saw more buildings that are still in bad condition. I also went to the superdome where after the Hurricane thousands of people waited for help to arrive because most of the city was under water. In the evening I went to the French Quarter to enjoy some of the reasons why New Orleans is so famous - the awesome live music esspecially Blues and Jazz.

September 11th, today all the newspapers and TV shows were full of the rememberance thongs for the 9/11 attacks...and people in the bus stations watched the TV shows about the ceremonies all over the US. I spent another day on the bus, I left New Orleans and went to Panama City, FL. On the way we passed some really nice beaches...but the bus didn't stop there, I arrived in Panama City at around 7:30pm. It was already dark and there was no hostel...so I planed to sleep on the beach, I didn't plan that it would be dark when I arrive there, also I didn't plan the humid heat and a rain shower that lasted all night...haha so I slept under a tarp on a small stretch of beach and I got wet but not from the rain...from the heat.

September 12th, that's where I woke up the next morning, the rain stoped sometimes in the early morning but it was still hot and humid. So I went back to the Greyhound station, refreshed myself a little bit in the cool building and then headed out to explore the city, unfortunately it was too hot to do that all day so I went back to the station and spent there my afternoon waiting for the bus.

September 13th, Miami, FL! But before I got there I had to spent another night on the bus but it seems like I got used to that and I really can get some sleep. On my way from the Bus station to Miami Beach, FL I met some Australians that also stayed in the same hostel as I did and we evend ended up in the same room. After we checked in we went straight to the beach, South Beach...and no doubt Miami deserves to be famous for it! Awesome beach, warm clear water and lots of bars along the streets. In the evening we made a little bit party in our hostel room and later we went clubbing.

September 14th, after sleeping in I went out to the beach again and also walked a little bit around in Miami Beach island which is separated from Miami itself. The evening we spent drinking some drinks on our room and later we went swimming in the dark but still warm ocean...

September 15th, today I took the bus down to Key West, FL. This is the southermost point in the USA, also the point closest to the sun and just 90 miles away from Cuba. I arrived there around 5pm, checked in at the hostel where I had a dorm room all by myself and then I went for a long run along a white beach and through the small city Key West. Later I checked out the nightlife in Key West.

September 16th, all day I walked around in Key West, FL. It is a nice little city sourounded by water and only connected to the mainland over a network of 40 bridges and patches of islands that stretch 150 miles down south from Miami, FL. In the evening I boarded the bus to get to Atlanta, GA.

September 17th, after 23 hours on the bus I arrived in Atlanta, GA. I took the bus to the place where I stayed and then had dinner. After that I got a little tour of Atlanta from the people where I stayed for the night.

September 18th, I spent pretty much all day checking out Atlanta, GA. I visited Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth place, his church and his grave. Then I went to downtown and did some sightseeing there, Olympic Park, CNN headquarters, Coca Cola museum und some other places. And then around 4pm I went to the Greyhound bus station to catch a bus to Washington, DC.

September 19th, after I got here in the morning I went to the "Mall" and checked out some of the famous buildings, Union Station, United States Capitol (picture), Supreme Court, Library of Congress (biggest library in the world), Botanic Garden, National Museum of the American Indians, National Air & Space Museum, Washington Monument and the White House just to name some of them...one thing that is really annoying here is the security...I've never seen so many police, FBI and secret service agents in one city. Well somebody has to protect Mr. Bush, eh?!

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