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  • Ancsa Székely

Americas

Colombia and a roadtrip through the US after graduating from university Read more
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  • Ancsa SzékelyAmericasTraveler
    Perfect background for trustworthy sellers (another inn with only weird people around)A bit of snowVolcano in a volcano

    Crater Lake National Park

    December 11, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 1 °C

    Right after a shopping spree in Walmart (Oregon has zero sales taxes) we had professional carwash in Grants Pass from our German engineer, (who also almost managed to fix our AC), only to make a lovely photo shooting of the car, preparing for an irresistible listing. Then we tested the car in extreme conditions before selling it: two meters of snow and ice on the road. We've been only let in the park after accepting that we enter at our own risk without chains. The car made it, and we got to the visitor centre, which had a snow tunnel at the entrance. After trying to get through snow in the unbearable wind for an hour, we decided to return to the café and get a beer (unfortunately no muled wine) and a tea. Then we drove to Klamath Falls, next to a beautiful lake, where we had dinner at a brewery, tried some local beers and watched a movie for the good old Morocco times.Read more

  • Ancsa SzékelyAmericasTraveler

    Lava Beds National Monument

    December 12, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 2 °C

    After having read the snow warning for northern California and going to sleep while it was snowing, we didn't know what to expect in the morning. We woke up with sunshine and beautiful weather, so we hit the Lava Beds national monument. We drove through an amazing volcanic landscape, with dormant volcanos, lava and lakes. Then we hiked down to some lava tunnels, where we tested our eyes and orientation in complete darkness. We made 10 meters in the tunnel, then we turned back on our flashlights. We walked in the Golden Dome cave, where the water drops on the ceiling and the moss made the rocks look gold.
    On the way out of the park we drove some crazy unpaved roads, with ice, snow, and burning woods. After Google maps wanted us to turn to a road which was completely full of snow and fallen trees, we decided to turn around.    Read more

  • Ancsa SzékelyAmericasTraveler

    Burney Falls

    December 12, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 2 °C

    After leaving the Lava Beds, we drove through some snow warning area with a beautiful weather, but once we got to the falls, it started raining. Nevertheless we did a small hike around the breathtaking waterfalls, which were recommended by our pub buddy in Sonora. Then we drove to Susanville in a snowstorm, beautiful winter wonderland, and very nice music thanks to DJ Aron x Olli.Read more

  • Ancsa SzékelyAmericasTraveler
    Carson City had on of the few mints back thenState Capitol of NevadaBlue bull pubOur neighbours in the hotel, at least for huge gunsState Capitol from insideSupreme court from GermanyTheodore Roosevelt, the only president visiting Carson City, sat on this beautiful chair

    Carson City

    Dec 13–14, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Since the snow situation still hadn't improved, we were a bit clueless and drove towards Carson City. On the way, we did a little hike on the Lake Tahoe Rail, where we should have had a nice view of the lake. It snowed the whole time, and we were walking in snow up to our ankles. After we realized that we had no view of the lake, we went back to the car and headed to the shore because we wanted to go swimming. However, the weather didn't play along and the parking lot was completely covered in snow.
    On the way to the diner we saw the absolute highlight of the city: the garden if the Capitol. Everything covered with Christmas lights. The best park.
    After a nice dinner we explored the local bar, where we learned that there was no club in the city. So we went to Miami Vibes, a karaoke bar. We sang one banger after another until the Nicaraguans also joined, then we had reggaeton and German music after each other.
    The next day (after the boys had rested a bit from the night) we went to the Capitol. Because of the snow there was no guided tour, so we explored the building ourselves. Then we ran through the snowstorm to the best donut shop, and then to the Railroad Museum, where we took a train ride with Santa.    Read more

  • Ancsa SzékelyAmericasTraveler
    The biggest little city of the world
    Yummy cakes in a machineMining tower in the hotelChristmas everywhere

    Reno

    Dec 14–15, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    On the way to Reno, the world's divorce capital, we got out of the snow storm and got back to a desert landscape again.
    The city's entertainment was built for the people who came to Nevada for its liberal divorce law and had to spend here 6 weeks for getting divorced.
    We checked in to our cool hotel, Circus Circus and had dinner with a lovely ambience. Then we went to a casino which we've been recommended by our Uber driver. After the boys really escalated with the dices at the craps table, their luck quickly changed at baccarat. We then checked out the Strip, where loads of people did a pub crawl, dressed as Santa, Grinch etc.
    Before leaving on the next day we went shopping in the gift shop, as the lost suitcase still hasn't arrived.    Read more

  • Ancsa SzékelyAmericasTraveler
    Silver shaft
    Main street of Virginia CityThe vault of the bank, today a pubMap of the mining areaCamel Up in real lifeIt seems to be quite a thing hereHaunted house, this time without ghosts

    Virginia City

    December 15, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 1 °C

    We've been recommended by many people to visit Virginia City, a gold rush town in the hills between Reno and Carson City. We had a mine tour which started from a pub, what used to be a bank, with a vault still inside. We walked around the town, saw the opera, the church, a lot of old saloons and at the end we did ghost tour as well, where a ghost and paranormal investigator showed us around in a huge old building, full of puppets and creepy stuff and showed us videos of his ghost sightings.Read more

  • Ancsa SzékelyAmericasTraveler

    South Lake Tahoe

    Dec 15–17, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ -1 °C

    After crossing the pass to South Lake Tahoe in snow, we unfortunately ended up back in California, missing the border by a few meters. We missed the scenic view of the lake for the second time because it was already dark as we drive by. After a delicious dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, we had a cozy movie night to recover from the exertions of the last few days.
    On the next day we wanted to hike and see the lake finally, but we had a huge snow storm and all the roads were covered with snow, so we just walked to the lake, to see the clouds, and then went shopping. In the afternoon we chilled in our pool and at some point we even saw some sun and the mountains around.
    On our last day we had a nice breakfast and finally saw the lake with good weather.    Read more

  • Ancsa SzékelyAmericasTraveler
    2

    Silicon Valley

    December 17, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Since our friend flew back to Germany today, we had to take him to the airport. We finally left the snowy landscape behind us and went back to San Francisco, of course driving all the way around the bay to save every cent on toll. So we drove through Silicon Valley and first checked out the Apple headquarters in Cupertino. Since there wasn't much to see there, we went to the Google headquarters, where we of course took a little ride on the colorful Google bikes.
    At the airport we hoped that Jan would finally be able to pick up his suitcase that he had been missing. However, all he got was high blood pressure, and we went back to Sacramento without our suitcase.    Read more

  • Ancsa SzékelyAmericasTraveler
    State Capitol of California
    Symbols of CaliforniaThe office of the governorRecycling in the US - extra slot for the pizza boxRonald ReagenThe original vault of the California treasuryThe biggest and most expensive portrait in the gallery, our highlight

    Sacramento

    Dec 17–20, 2024 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    After a long drive we finally arrived in Sacramento, where we first filled up the car at KLM's expense. After two weeks of sleeping in quite fine inns, we had a really nasty one this time, full of strange peoples, with a small and dirty room where we had our drive through dinner in bed because there were no chairs. The next day was supposed to be the car selling day.
    We drove down a street with at least 30 car dealers, but we only got unsatisfying offers. We were both very unhappy until we got a slightly better offer. At one car dealer we had to listen to the craziest conspiracy theories about man-made hurricanes and so on. At least we got a recommendation for stand-up comedy. In the meantime there was more bad news, Jan's suitcase was no longer at the airport, as previously confirmed, but had long been in the hotel in Reno where we had been a few days ago.

    The next day we were in the Capitol, where we got an interesting tour and we were even able to listen to the Christmas concert in the rotunda. The highlight of the visit was the Gallery of Governors, with paintings of all governors of California. Afterwards we walked through the city center, with nice old wild-west houses, old trains and a cool bridge. When Jan came back from Reno with his suitcase, we celebrated it with a beer in a cool pub with a very nice Christmas atmosphere. In the evening we went to see some stand-up comedy, which was on our US-must-do list. On the last day in Sacramento, after a lot of back and forth and several problems, we were able to sell our car and even got two license plates as a gift.    Read more

  • Ancsa SzékelyAmericasTraveler

    Monterey

    Dec 20–21, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Our plan for the last three days was to drive along the coast on Highway 1 down to LA. So after selling our car we headed to the Pacific with our rental car. We had dinner at Wienerschnitzel, the world's largest hotdog chain (no, they don't sell schnitzel). We spent the night at Monterey, at a very nice inn, close to the shore. As we were planning our route, we realised, that the highway was closed in the middle, which completely ruined our plans.
    So instead in the morning we walked at the wharf in Monterey, saw some seals, a lot of divers and some cycling Santas    Read more

  • Ancsa SzékelyAmericasTraveler

    Pinnacles National Park

    December 21, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Because the highway was closed, we had to drive deeper in the land, so we drove past the Pinnacle national park. There we went on a hike, with a beautiful rocky landscape, a bit of rock climbing and we even had to go through a cave, which meant a bit of climbing as well.Read more

  • Ancsa SzékelyAmericasTraveler
    Surfers in the background
    Valle de OsosA not so shy deerCormorans1

    Morro Bay

    Dec 21–22, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Since our accommodation was finally in the city center and not in a shady suburb, we explored the city's nightlife. We found an incredibly cool place, called The Siren, where a brass band played Christmas mash and other hits, where we had loads of fun. In the morning we went to the highlight of the town, Morro Rock, where we were hoping for a nice view, unfortunately it was so cloudy that we could hardly see anything except the huge waves hitting the rocks in front of our eyes and lots of surfers riding the waves. Afterwards we drove to Montaña de Oro State Park to take a short walk along the coast. The view wasn't much better, but we saw some wildlife again and there was a bit of sunshine at the end.Read more

  • Ancsa SzékelyAmericasTraveler
    Santa BarbaraSanta BarbaraSanta BarbaraMalibu beach

    Malibu

    December 22, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    We drove all the way down to Malibu, looking for some sun and a nice beach. Our plan was to swim in the Pacific, the first time for all of us. We stopped at Santa Barbara, walked on the pier, and then went to Malibu for the sunset and for swimming. We were all afraid of the temperature of the water (supposedly around 15 degrees) but it was not that bad in the end. The beach was again full of surfers, we were the only ones in swimming suit, the others all had a wetsuit. The waves were quite big, after a few minutes of fighting them we had enough, had a beer watching the sunset and continued the way to Los Angeles.Read more

  • Ancsa SzékelyAmericasTraveler

    Los Angeles

    Dec 22–24, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Our first stop was Santa Monica Pier, where we had a nice walk and a very good first impression of LA: cheap parking and clean public toilets. Then we drove up to a viewpoint, but it was closed and also very foggy and smoggy, so we couldn't see anything.
    On the next day we drove through Beverly Hills, walked down the Rodeo Drive and then tried the viewpoint again. This time it was only smoggy, so we could see the silhouettes of the skyline and the Hollywood sign. We had lunch in Chinatown, in the famous Foo-Chow Restaurant. Then we had the third try to see the skyline, this time we went to the City Hall, which was a quite nice building. In the evening we had some fun in the back of our inn with the fireworks we had been carrying for a month now, then we walked down the Walk of Fame, and had a goodbye beer.
    In the morning the guys left early to the airport, but I still had a bit of time. So I had breakfast at IHOP (open 24/7 for breakfast, even at Christmas) and headed to the airport by metro and bus. It was even foggier than the day before, I couldn't see anything besides a few palm trees on the side of the road. Not the goodbye I was hoping for.
    After an hour of delay and mentally having prepared for missing my connection in Frankfurt we finally took off. The view over the sea and later on over Vegas and the mountains compensated for the gray sky in LA and Lufthansa made the impossible and we landed on time in Frankfurt.    Read more

    Trip end
    December 25, 2024
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