Our adventure continued on Amtrak from Omaha to Denver, Colorado, where we stopped and spent two nights with Derek, Debbie and Dylan. Derek is one of Mark’s good friends from childhood (and he hosts this site for us on his server!). He had a great itinerary planned for us. After dropping our bags at Derek and Debbie’s beautiful new house we took off for brunch in the happening university town of Boulder. Man, we have eaten well this trip and Colorado offered us another great feast. We had brunch at the gorgeous Boulder Tea House which served a nice fusion of brunch dishes. We followed this up with a walk around Boulder and a short hike in the foothills. In the evening Debbie and Derek took us to a fabulous Korean BBQ restaurant where we ate lots of pickled things and barbecued tonnes of different meats. The next morning we rose at the crack of the sparrows and drove with Derek into the Rocky Mountains. We did a 5-6 mile hike in the beautiful Rocky Mountain National Park, where we saw Elk and squirrels and were rewarded at the summit of our hike by a stunning view of a crystal clear lake full of trout, backed by snowcapped mountains. Then back to Denver and out for another yummy meal – local hosts make traveling so much easier.
Another early start to get back on Amtrak but this time we had our own “roomette” in the sleeper car, which is just a tiny room but has many perks such as privacy, service and food! The trip from Denver to California is incredibly scenic. The tracks run through the Rockies and down Glenwood Canyon, through the striking sunburnt landscape of Utah, and down into the luscious rich agriculture of California.

Traveling on the train is a really relaxing way to see the states. The seats are like business class on a plane and if you have a sleeper you get three meals a day, so you are well fed. If you don’t have a deadline then you can just sit back and soak in the scenery, eat, drink and be merry. We played plenty of scrabble, talked to some other travelers, ate, ate and ate. Unfortunately if you are on a deadline then allow an extra 2 to 4 hours for each leg!

We arrived at our final destination, San Francisco, only 4 hours behind schedule. We headed straight to Greg and Kavita’s place in the Mission, where they awaited us with home brew, a margarita and some delicious homemade tamales (you guys rock!). We started our Californian visit with a scrumptious Mexican breakfast at Red Cafe – huevos rancheros for me, please! We then hired a car and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and up to the Russian River valley to sneak in a bit of wine tasting and kayaking. Wine tasting went by the wayside this trip in favour of a hike through Armstrong Redwoods State Park and a 10-mile kayak down the Russian River. I think we both needed a bit of exercise after so many days of excessive eating.

We spent our last two days in the States hanging out with Mark’s friends Stefan, Esther, Scott, Nicole, Ajith, Greg and Kavita in San Francisco. It was a good old reunion and everyone made us feel really welcome. San Fran is such a fabulous city; very liberal and accepting. We had a barbecue in Delores park, walked through the Haight and Golden Gate Park, and went up to the observation deck in the new de Young Museum. On Saturday night we had a great time at an Obama dance party.

When the time came we couldn’t really believe that we were moving to Australia. Although we’d talked about it non-stop, the reality finally sunk in at the airport.

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