USA Recruitment Trip 2012

June 2012

Welcome to our USA 2012 Plane, Road, Train, Road, Plane trip, June 2012.
This trip is all about my daughter Bec, and her journey to select from the Universities that are offering her scholarships to dive for their teams from fall 2012. Read more

Date ascending

Stafford Family Travels USA Recruitment Trip 2012
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Jun 1, 2012, 12:15pm
- 🌧 20 °C
- Altitude: 2 m
- Australia Queensland Brisbane -27.4679, 153.032527°28’4” S 153°1’57” E
Day 1
Cheering for the Trip
June 1, 2012 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 20 °C
My Princess and I just having a great giggle over the upcoming trip, just 2 more days and we're on the plane to LA.

The trip is basically a recruitment trip for Bec to check out some universities over their (Colleges) that are offering her full ride scholarships to dive for them and do her bachelors studies.

We will commence with UCLA in Los Angeles, then drive to Flagstaff for the Northern Arizona Campus (NAU), off to Los Angeles and take the AMTRAK across the country to Chicago and then drive again to Youngstown State University (YSU) in Youngstown Ohio.Read more
0 likes
Stafford Family Travels USA Recruitment Trip 2012
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Jun 2, 2012, 12:15pm
- ⛅ 21 °C
- Altitude: 2 m
- Australia Queensland Brisbane -27.4679, 153.032527°28’4” S 153°1’57” E
Day 2
1 more day to go and then, up, and away
June 2, 2012 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
A Car like this would be enough to excite anyone's dream centre. I reckon I know a couple of rev heads that would just squeal to get a hold of this baby.
0 likes
Stafford Family Travels USA Recruitment Trip 2012
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Jun 3, 2012, 12:15pm
- 🌧 19 °C
- Altitude: 2 m
- Australia Queensland Brisbane -27.4679, 153.032527°28’4” S 153°1’57” E
Day 3
Nearly time to go...
June 3, 2012 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 19 °C
Countdown -8.5 hours

Seems a good chance to check out this off exploring app and try a few entries.
0 likes
Stafford Family Travels USA Recruitment Trip 2012
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Jun 4, 2012, 12:15pm
- ⛅ 20 °C
- Altitude: 2 m
- Australia Queensland Brisbane -27.4679, 153.032527°28’4” S 153°1’57” E
Day 4
Mascot, Sydney Airport
June 4, 2012 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Flight delayed due to fog. Departing 1h 20m late. From this picture we might determine that the girls are half smiling and half frowning I think, so close but still yet so far. Once we're on the plane it will feel like we are really headed to the States.Read more
0 likes
Stafford Family Travels USA Recruitment Trip 2012
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Jun 4, 2012, 6:15pm
- ⛅ 18 °C
- Altitude: 2 m
- Australia Queensland Brisbane -27.4679, 153.032527°28’4” S 153°1’57” E
Day 4
Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles
June 4, 2012 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Finally after a long 13h 40m flight we landed in Los Angeles. Too tired to think straight we collected our car from Thrifty and started to just make our way around LA. Them Garmin GPS's that thrifty use have troublesome touch screens, so after fighting with that and realising my fingers were too large to use it, the navigator, (Sue) took control. Her nimble fingers had the GPS working overtime in moments. First stop was the vist to UCLA to meet with the diving coach there and inspect the facilities, and University.

This place is massive and although quite incredible was a bit daunting to us little Aussie people having never seen campuses so grand. A complete city in itself within the borders of Beverley Hills. After inspecting UCLA we headed off to do some sightseeing around LA.

Cruised around Bel Air, Rodeo Drive, Wiltshire Blvd, etc, etc, etc. you know doing the tourist thing. Finally as we arrived at Santa Monica Pier someone realised we hadn't taken any photos. So we had pure scientific proof that sleep deprivation can do strange things.Read more
0 likes
Stafford Family Travels USA Recruitment Trip 2012
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Jun 4, 2012, 9:15pm
- 🌙 16 °C
- Altitude: 2 m
- Australia Queensland Brisbane -27.4679, 153.032527°28’4” S 153°1’57” E
Day 4
Ferris Wheel on Santa Monica Pier
June 4, 2012 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 16 °C
We had a great day exploring San Francisco and ended the evening with a trip to Santa Monica Pier. The Ferris Wheel at Santa Monica Pier just kept changing colours and patterns the whole time. The pier was actually freezing with the wind howling off the Pacific Ocean at 9:00pm. Time to head off to the hotel and bed for a good night's sleep. Tomorrow was the beginning of our journey across the USA. Night Night.Read more
0 likes
Stafford Family Travels USA Recruitment Trip 2012
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Jun 5, 2012, 10:15am
- ☀️ 15 °C
- Altitude: 2 m
- Australia Queensland Brisbane -27.4679, 153.032527°28’4” S 153°1’57” E
Day 5
Venice Beach, Los Angeles, California
June 5, 2012 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
Nowhere but LA, specifically the famous Venice Beach, CA. would one find a $40 medical certificate for permission to smoke marijuana on medical grounds.
A little bit disappointing after what you see in the movies, but once the crowds arrived it looked pretty good.
This is also where we got our Simple Sim phone cards at a pretty good deal. Now we are connected to the world via the USA.

Check out all Bec' s photos in the Venice Beach album.Read more
0 likes
Stafford Family Travels USA Recruitment Trip 2012
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Jun 5, 2012, 12:15pm
- ☀️ 16 °C
- Altitude: 2 m
- Australia Queensland Brisbane -27.4679, 153.032527°28’4” S 153°1’57” E
Day 5
Oatman, Mohave Arizona
June 5, 2012 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
We headed off from LA towards Flagstaff and as we had a little spare time we decided to try and follow, as much as possible, the old Route 66. Unfortunately California has done very little to maintain the historical integrity of Route 66, but once across the state lines into Arizona, it was a different story.

Arizona have obviously spent a lot more money towards keeping the history intact as it is still, for some, a great tourist journey. We decided to take the old route 66 in as many sections as possible, and boy are we glad we did. The scenery was absolutely amazing, and then we came around a bend by an old gold mine and came across Oatman. High up in the hills we came across this little town and what an incredible little town. Oatman is just as it was 150 years ago. Timber sidewalks, western shop fronts etc. Even all the old donkeys from the Gold Rush days are still around, or their descendants at least, and have made the town their home.

It just blew our minds when we saw it, not to mention the mule that blocked the road out of town and wanted to meet us by sticking his head in the car window. Check all the picks in the Route 66 album.Read more
0 likes
Stafford Family Travels USA Recruitment Trip 2012
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Jun 6, 2012, 1:15pm
- ☀️ 19 °C
- Altitude: 2 m
- Australia Queensland Brisbane -27.4679, 153.032527°28’4” S 153°1’57” E
Day 6
Flagstaff, Arizona
June 6, 2012 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
After a good nights sleep at the Northern Arizona Campus hotel we headed in to meet with the coach and our guides for the look around NAU campus. Again a beautiful campus, a lot smaller than UCLA, but none the less, still grand compared to many Australian Universities. Great facilities and beautiful scenery.

After the tour we left Bec to head off for her two day visit with the girls at NAU and Sue and I headed off on our own for some sightseeing around Flagstaff.

Sue just couldn't help herself, dragged me kicking and screaming into the first saloon she found in Flagstaff, Northern Arizona.

The place serves the same pizzas the cowboys ate back in the 1850's ha, ha.Read more
0 likes
Stafford Family Travels USA Recruitment Trip 2012
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Jun 7, 2012, 8:15am
- ☀️ 14 °C
- Altitude: 2 m
- Australia Queensland Brisbane -27.4679, 153.032527°28’4” S 153°1’57” E
Day 7
NAU Recruitment Tour
June 7, 2012 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
Well another day in Flagstaff. Heading off to Brekky at Maceys with the coaches and the further tours around the university. They really did take care of us especially well, and very keen to have Bec join their squad, as they had already placed her name up on the boards for next seasons schedule and roster.

Everyone over here takes their College life very seriously, such a shame we don't have the population in Australia to repeat the same process for student athletes.

Then off to the Grand CanyonRead more
0 likes