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Road Trippin’ USA

septiembre - noviembre 2023
Una aventura de 90 días de Levin & Birte Leer más
  • 59huellas
  • 3países
  • 90días
  • 950fotos
  • 29videos
  • 16,7kkilómetros
  • 8,3kkilómetros
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  • Road Trippin’ USA
    2
    Día 6

    Tom's birthday

    7 de septiembre de 2023, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Upon our return from Detroit, we immediately went to The Earle Restaurant to celebrate Tom's birthday. The food was very good, but we most enjoyed the aperitif that Tom suggested: Kir Royale, a crème de cassis cocktail topped with champagne 😋.
    Back home, Tom opened his presents and we had some cake to fill the little space left in our stomachs...    Leer más

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  • Road Trippin’ USA
    1
    Día 7

    Matthaei Botanical Gardens

    8 de septiembre de 2023, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    On Friday we went for a bike ride to the Matthaei Botanical Garden. They have a lot of cacti and succulents. Outside there are a lot of bonsai trees, some of which were really old and impressive!
    After that we went to Dixboro for coffee before heading back to Ann Arbor.
    Tom and Nancy were also out on their tandem. They suggested we meet at Townies, a small craft brewery not far from the house. We had a beer by the fireplace. They even served American Kölsch and Altbier!

    All week we had been trying to catch a movie at the Michigan Theatre, but they were renovating one of their theaters, so there were almost no movies scheduled. The evening was still early and we wanted to see a movie anyway, so we went to the State Theatre and watched Barbie instead 🤷 .    Leer más

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  • Road Trippin’ USA
    Día 8

    Wolverines vs. UNLV

    9 de septiembre de 2023, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    We were lucky enough to arrive just in time for American football season. Nancy told us there would be a game on Saturday and invited us to her hospital group's tailgating party.
    We also asked Ember, one of Birte's good friends from her time in Ann Arbor, and she was right on board. Somehow she even managed to get us free tickets! Thank you, Ember!
    The city goes crazy on game days. Imagine 109,000 people in a stadium in a city with a population of only 120,000 🤯.
    Near the stadium, there are tailgating parties in many yards, in all the public parks, and even on the golf course. Many homeowners are renting out their driveways and front yards as parking lots. You can smell the barbecue on every corner and see people throwing footballs across parking lots and streets. Some people bring their own TVs and put them in the back of their cars to watch the live broadcast before the game starts.
    After three hours of tailgating and playing cornhole, we walked into the stadium. It was pretty impressive to walk into. Since we waited almost until the game started, the stadium was already pretty full. Coming out of the tunnel it got loud and bright. Blue and yellow everywhere. The marching band, dance groups, and cheerleaders were firing up the crowd, t-shirts were being thrown in the front rows, and in the background you could see the large number of football players entering the stadium to the roar of the fans and a collective chant of "Go Blue!
    The strange thing about an American football game is that there is simply no break for the senses. The game keeps stopping all the time, but as soon as the referee blows his whistle, the cheerleaders, dancers, a Frisbee-catching dog, and the huuuuge stadium screens take over to continue the constant entertainment. More than once we missed individual plays in a round because there was just so much other stuff going on 😵‍💫🙃.
    It was an intense and really fun experience.

    On our way home from the stadium, we stopped for ice cream to cool off. The sun had been shining mercilessly all day, except in the morning when it looked like it was going to start raining any minute, causing us to forget to put on sunscreen. A mistake we would see and feel for days to come...    Leer más

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  • Road Trippin’ USA
    Día 9

    Eastern Market, Detroit

    10 de septiembre de 2023, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Eastern Market is a small area in downtown Detroit. Several days a week, the open pavilions are filled with stalls where people sell various products. We chose Sunday for our visit, the day when the focus is on crafts, art, and food.
    Tom and Nancy decided to join us since they hadn't been there in a while.
    We had breakfast in one of the small restaurants that surround the main market area before wandering the aisles.
    There was a lot to see, not only inside the pavilions, but also outside. Many permanent shops with small clothing brands, handicrafts, art, cafes and restaurants can be found all around the market. The walls are often painted with large murals and offer great photo opportunities.
    We found a few things that we would have bought at home or at the end of our trip, but right now...well, it is hard to transport a traffic light in a van for three months...and then on a plane 🤔    Leer más

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  • Road Trippin’ USA
    Día 9

    Snarky Puppy at Hill Auditorium

    10 de septiembre de 2023, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Ever since we found Snarky Puppy on YouTube a while ago, we always wanted to see them live. There was a brief opportunity last year when I checked the concert dates and noticed that they were playing in Hannover the next day! However, it was during the week and work was pretty intense at the time, so we passed on the opportunity.
    This year, while planning the US trip, we saw on Instagram that they were playing in Ann Arbor in September, so we planned everything around the concert 😅.
    Tom and Nancy joined us. The concert took place at the Hill Auditorium, the biggest and maybe oldest concert hall in Ann Arbor. It is really nice inside. We had seats on the highest balcony in the first row. Perfect view.
    The concert was great! They played some old songs, but most of them were from the new album. All in all they played for about 2 hours and went all out for the whole concert. We really enjoyed it. However, when it comes to jazz, I'll stick to my rule of thumb: the smaller the venue, the better the experience.

    (Video: I did not take any videos during the concert, but at the end I really wanted to capture one of the fantastic drum solos. Unfortunately, Findpenguins only allows 120s videos... so the re-entry of the rest of the band is missing here...)    Leer más

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  • Road Trippin’ USA
    Día 10

    Good Bye Ann Arbor

    11 de septiembre de 2023, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    We spent our last day in Ann Arbor with a short bike ride to Barton Dam, a small recreation area north of the city. There are some nice houses around the lake!

    In the evening we met up with Ember again and played pool at the 8 Ball Saloon. It was a great last night in A2.

    We had such a good time here and it was really hard to leave and say goodbye to Tom and Nancy. But now it's time to hit the road!    Leer más

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  • Road Trippin’ USA
    Día 11

    Oak Park, Chicago (Illinois)

    12 de septiembre de 2023, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We took the 7 a.m. train from Ann Arbor to Chicago to pick up our rental van in Villa Park, a suburb of Chicago. We arrived at Union Station in downtown Chicago and had to walk to another station to catch a local train. The layout of the train was really weird. There were tiny stairs going up to the second level and it felt like sitting on the hat rack up there.

    We got our rental van called "Squares" without any problems (I have to admit I was pretty nervous the whole day...).

    We wanted to make the most of our day trip to Chicago, so we stopped in Oak Park, another suburb of Chicago. Frank Lloyd Wright lived here with his growing family between ~1890 and ~1910, the first 20 years of his 70 year career. When he bought the land for his house, it was all prairie and woods, but the area was about to be developed, which accelerated his career and provided several opportunities to restore houses in the neighborhood or to design and build new ones.

    His own home was remodeled several times to meet the needs of his family and his work. After they sold the house, it was remodeled again and changed hands several times. It was not until the 80's that some FLW fans bought the house and turned it into a museum.

    The house tour was great. Of course, it's not Falling Waters yet, but even in this early period of his work, you can find many elements of his unique style, such as clever lighting, incorporating nature into the house (a tree grew partially inside the house!), and cleverly combining practical needs with aesthetically pleasing interior design (a grand piano in the wall to reduce the space needed but still have the full musical experience; the back of the piano hung in the staircase and filled the whole house with music when played).

    After the house tour, we walked around the neighborhood trying to find as many FLW houses as possible. Some of them are obvious, but others are quite atypical. This is due to the fact that he had to take all the jobs he could get early in his career and it was still the 19th century! His style was very unusual and somewhat futuristic for the time.

    We were very excited to see these houses and still wonder why we don't see houses like this in Germany...    Leer más

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  • Road Trippin’ USA
    Día 11

    St. Joseph (Michigan)

    12 de septiembre de 2023, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    After leaving Oak Park in the afternoon, we tried to catch the sunset at St. Joseph's Lighthouse on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, the traffic in Chicago was insane! We have never seen such a freeway system. At one point, three or four freeways merged and cars were getting on and off the freeway on both sides. Everyone was changing lanes like crazy. We counted over 10 lanes! Of course this leads to huge traffic jams...
    In the end we missed the sunset by 10 minutes. But it was still beautiful and very windy! Although it is only a lake, the waves look more like in the ocean. The way to the lighthouse was constantly flooded by big waves, which created a very dramatic atmosphere.

    And if you look closely, you can see where Birte got the inspiration for the tattoo on her elbow 😉.    Leer más

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  • Road Trippin’ USA
    1
    1
    Día 12–13

    Niagara Falls (Ontario, Canada)

    13 de septiembre de 2023, Canadá ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    The journey begins.

    The van is ready. We bought a first round of food, got some sheets, blankets and towels from Nancy, the water tank is full and all the crash pads are stowed in the van.

    First stop: Niagara Falls. The Canadian side.

    I don't know why or what, but at some point in my life I must have done something that put me on Interpol's blacklist. Every time I cross a border with border control, I get the extended questioning. I have been searched by border police in several different countries, whether I crossed on foot, by train, by car, or by plane. So when we arrived at the Canadian border in a rather colorful van, we were a little nervous about what would happen. The officer was very friendly. He asked us some standard questions, filled out some paper, gave it to us, and told us to go to the office building where we would answer some more specific questions and then get our entry stamps. So we went to the building. We were met by 5 officers who told us to get out of the van and hand over our passports. One of them stayed with us in front of the car and talked about soccer, Munich and his upcoming vacation in Germany, while the other four pretty much dismantled the van. They were very courteous and thorough. The whole search took about 15 minutes. By then they had gone through every single bag and sock. They found nothing. And we were allowed to cross into Canada. 🤷

    We arrived at the falls in the early evening, parked the van and walked up to the cliff. There were a lot of tourists, but wherever we stopped, we had a clear view of the falls. There is simply nothing in the way, which is both a blessing and a curse, because I could take lots of pictures, which led to me taking lots of pictures...

    After sunset we cooked and ate. A fox came by and stayed with us for a while before leaving for the casino. "Ein Fuchs muss tun, was ein Fuchs tun muss."

    The next morning we got up very early and watched the sunrise over Niagara Falls. It was definitely worth setting the alarm. Few people were there that early and the changing colors of the water and spray in the first rays of sunlight looked beautiful.

    We had seen a lot so far and only spent $15 for parking, so we figured a few bucks for the Behind The Falls Tour would be fine. Not sure if it was worth the money, but feeling the power and hearing the roar of the falls in the tunnel was impressive.

    All in all, it is a strange place. On the one hand you have these beautiful natural waterfalls and on the other hand you have casinos and a huge amusement park that stays open until midnight. You can zip line into the gorge, learn about power generation at the Niagara Falls Power Plant, drive a 1.5 mile go-kart track by moonlight, and then play action miniature golf at a dinosaur park. All in a single day. 😐    Leer más

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  • Road Trippin’ USA
    1
    Día 13–14

    Niagara Glen (Ontario, Canada)

    14 de septiembre de 2023, Canadá ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Niagara Glen is just a few minutes north of the falls. Of course we didn't want to miss the opportunity to climb along the Niagara River.
    Even though the rock is limestone, the boulders are spread out like in a sandstone or granite area and most of the boulders can be climbed!
    We had a great day and climbed a bunch of fun lines, my favorite being Neoilithic, V7.
    The only negative thing about the area is the bouldering permit, which is $25 for a day or $50 for an annual permit. So a day trip is quite expensive, but it was worth it.    Leer más

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