13/3-15: Reunited and it feels so good!

Took me a while to pack for 5 different locations in 2 weeks

Sent fredag den 13. kom der endelig to velkendte ansigter ud i ankomsthallen i Orlando Airport!

Jeg var kørt fra Valdosta allerede ved 16-tiden for at sætte to veninder af i Gainesville som er ca. halvvejs, og for også at have tid til at spise, fare vild, og parkere.. (Jeg for ikke vild!)

Så jeg havde altså været længe undervejs, og nået at opbygge en masse spænding og glæde over endelig at se nogen hjemmefra igen :-) 

Efter gensynsknus og opsamling af baggage satte vi straks kursen mod vores hotel (motel). 

Vi fik hurtigt tjekket ind og tog derefter ud for at finde en sen bid mad inden vi straks skulle i seng for at være friske og udhvilede til de to næste travle dage i DISNEY!

::::

Late Friday the 13th two well known faces finally came through the arrivals in Orlando Airport!

I had left Valdosta around 4pm to have time enough to drop off two friends halfway in Gainesville, and to eat, get lost, and park.. (I didn't get lost!)

So I had been going for a while and had plenty of time to get excited about finally seeing someone from home again :-) 

After reunion hugs and picking up luggage we headed towards our hotel (motel).

We quickly checked in and then went to grab a late bite to eat before going straight back to bed to be well rested and ready for the next two busy days in DISNEY!

Fint besøg!

Det er vist meget heldigt at jeg ikke skal gå hele vejen på de næste par ture jeg har planlagt.. 

I eftermiddag tager jeg afsted, og jeg kommer først hjem igen om lige over to uger! 

I mellemtiden besøger jeg: Orlando, Daytona Beach, Savannah, Boston, New York, og Pelham (en lille by tæt på Valdosta). 

På mit første stop får jeg endda fint besøg! Thit og Angus - min søster og svoger - kommer nemlig hele vejen fra Frankrig for at besøge mig! De skal også besøge en masse andre venner, og skal således flyve rundt i næsten alle hjørner af USA. 

Vi skal i Disney i weekenden, og så tager vi en enkelt dag i Daytona Beach hvor der kan hygges på stranden og opleves lidt amerikansk "Spring-Break-fever" :-) 

Derefter fortsætter de sydpå for at besøge en ven i Miami - jeg rejser nordpå til Savannah. 

På tirsdag er det nemlig St. Patricks Day, og Savannah har den uofficielt 2. største fejring i hele landet. Den største holdes i New York. 

Man forventer omkring 4-500.000 mennesker rejser til Savannah under festlighederne. Havde helligdagen ramt en fredag, lørdag eller søndag, havde man regnet med op mod en million! 

Efter ca. et døgn i Savannah kører jeg igen sydpå til Jacksonville for at flyve til Boston. 

I Boston mødes jeg med Freja og Johan, som jeg tidligere har været i Washington DC med. Vi skal være i Boston i 1-2 dage, og herefter tager Freja og jeg bussen til New York, hvor vi tilbringer ca. 5 dage. 

Efter New York vender jeg for en kort stund tilbage til Valdosta, dog kun for at omarrangere min baggage til en GRSP weekend i Pelham, som bliver slutningen på min spring break. 

I USA tager de fleste unge mennesker til stranden for at holde spring break. Populære steder som Panama City Beach og Daytona Beach bliver fyldt med college studerende, som gerne fester hele ugen - tænk Sunny Beach i Bulgarien ;-) 

Jeg glæder mig enormt meget til at se Thit og Angus igen - det er næsten ikke til at forstå at det er over 7 måneder siden jeg så dem sidst, og at jeg har været HER i 7 måneder! Tiden går stærkt!

Jeg glæder mig også enormt meget til at begynde min lille rejse, som jeg startede med at planlægge helt tilbage omkring jul. 

Vil prøve at opdatere lidt på bloggen undervejs, men når der rejses skal der jo opleves, så jeg lover ikke noget :-) 

::::

I think it's a very good thing that I won't be walking the entire way on the next couple of trips I'm going on..

This afternoon I will be leaving and I won't come back until just over two weeks from now!

Meanwhile I'll be visiting: Orlando, Daytona Beach, Savannah, Boston, New York and Pelham (a small town close to Valdosta). 

On my first stop I will even be getting visitors! Thit and Angus - my sister and brother-in-law - will be coming all the way from France to visit me! They will also be visiting a lot of other friends and will therefore be flying almost all over the US during their short stay here.

We will spend the weekend in Disney and then go on to Daytona Beach, relax on the beach and get some of that American Spring-Break-fever!

After this they'll head south to visit a friend in Miami, and I'll be heading north to Savannah. 

Tuesday is St. Patricks Day, and Savannah has the unofficial 2nd largest celebration of the country. The biggest one is in New York. 

They are expecting around 4-500,000 people in Savannah during the festivities. Had the holiday been on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, they would expect up to a million visitors!

After almost 24 hours in Savannah I'll head south again to Jacksonville where I'll jump on a plane to Boston.

In Boston I'll meet with Johan and Freja who I've been to Washington DC with earlier. We'll spend 1-2 days in Boston, before Freja and I will take the bus to New York where we'll spend 5 days. 

After New York I'll return for a brief stay in Valdosta only to repack my suitcase for a GRSP weekend in Pelham, which will be the end of my spring break. 

Here in the states, most young people go to the beach for spring break. Popular places are Panama City Beach and Daytona Beach, which fill up with college students who typically spend the week partying.. - For the Europeans out there: think Sunny Beach in Bulgaria ;-)

I am looking SO much forward to seeing Thit and Angus again - it's hard to believe that it's been more than 7 months since I last saw them, and that I have been HERE for 7 months! Time is passing so quickly!

I am also looking so much forward to beginning my trip , which I started planning already around Christmas. 

I will try to update the blog along the way, but when traveling you must experience, so I make no promises :-)

White sandy beaches and blue skies

Vores sidste dag på Cumberland Island bød på en luftforandring. 

Hele lørdag havde vi vandret inde i skoven hvor det var køligt og mørkt, men søndag skulle vi vandre langs stranden - der var dog lige et par sump-områder at krydse først. 

Da vi endelig nåede stranden var det ligesom at kunne ånde lettet op - åbent hav, hvid strand, blå himmel og dejlig solskin! 

Jeg fandt selvfølgelig straks en stakkels død søstjerne, som nu var meget flot at kigge på selvom den var død ;-) 

Turen langs stranden var væsentligt længere end turen inde i skoven, så vi fik vandret omkring 12-13 miles søndag hvoraf ca. de 9 var på stranden... 

I fuld sol.. 

Uden solcreme..  

AV!

Til gengæld var det en meget smuk tur, og vi havde tid til at slappe af på stranden og spise frokost inden vi skulle med færgen hjem igen. 

Jeg må indrømme at jeg var noget smadret da vi endelig kom hjem, men nok mest på grund af den rimeligt slemme solskoldning jeg fik anskaffet mig, så det tog lige et par dage at komme ovenpå igen. 

::::

Our last day on Cumberland Island offered a change of scenery. 

Saturday we had been hiking through the forrest where it was cool and dark, but Sunday we would hike along the beach - but first we had a few marsh areas to cross.

When we finally got to the beach it was like being able to breathe again - wide open sea, white sand, blue skies, and lots of beautiful sunshine!

I immediately found a poor dead starfish on the beach, though dead it was really pretty to look at ;-)

The trip along the beach was longer than the path through the forrest so we ended up hiking about 12-13 miles, where 9 of those were on the beach... 

In the sun.. 

Without sunscreen.. 

OUCH!

It was on the other hand, a very beautiful hike and we had time to relax and have lunch on the beach before heading home with the ferry. 

I must admit that I was quite exhausted when I got home, but mostly because of the really bad sunburn I had gotten myself into, so it took me a few days to really get back on my feet.

20 pounds on my back, and 9 miles ahead! WARNING: contains pretty pictures

Our ferry to Cumberland (the one in the back)

Lunch break! (Bae, Kate, Jill, Flora, Nadine, Sian, Jackie, Paula, me, Briana, Davis)

You can find lots of shark teeth on the main road on Cumberland Island

How you avoid visiting raccoons - hanging food from a tree

The Plum Orchard and a wild horse

Making tortillas - followed by: s'mores!

Fredag eftermiddag forlod vi Valdosta - 11 mand i en minibus med fyldte rygsække (10 tøser, 1 fyr)...

Færgen til Cumberland Island sejler kl. 9 om morgenen, og med et par timers kørsel til kysten, tog vi afsted dagen før, og overnattede i et shelter i Crooked River National Park. 

Der var omkring 3 grader om natten, så på trods af soveposen, var det altså en virkelig kold oplevelse! 

Cumberland Island er en fredet ø ud for Georgias kyst. Det er den sydligste ø i staten Georgia. 

Legenden lyder at de spanske conquistadors kom over atlanten med deres heste, og da de efterlod øen for nogle hundrede år siden, efterlod de deres heste som siden har boet på øen. Det er selvfølgelig ikke de samme heste, men skulle altså være efterkommere af de spanske heste - og så er de naturligvis vilde, så man skal ikke komme for tæt på. 

Da vi ankom til øen lørdag formiddag begyndte vi straks vores vandring til vores lejr - der var ifølge kortet omkring 7,5 mil (12 km), men det endte naturligvis med at være længere, og da vi nåede frem havde vi altså gået 10 mil (16 km), med alle 10 kg på ryggen. 

Energien var dog ikke helt udtømt endnu, så efter at have slået lejr gik vi (uden oppakning) op til Plum Orchard som er en gigantisk villa/mansion bygget i 1898. Vi kom desværre for sent til at komme indenfor, men til gengæld kom vi på samme tid som en af øens vilde heste :-) 

Aftensmaden og desserten blev lavet på trangia-sæt, og inden vi gik i seng blev taskerne tømt for mad og alt andet med duft, og hængt op i et træ for at holde vaskebjørne væk fra vores telte. Jeg stjal et billede af vores naboes "madpose" - vores var i virkeligheden to fyldte rygsække (piger har åbenbart rigtig mange cremer med på backpackingtur)... 

Turen var en af mange arrangeret af CORE Outdoors, som er en organisation ved VSU. De har de her ture næsten hver weekend, og det er en virkelig god mulighed for nogle sjove og udfordrende oplevelser!

Se de andre ture her.

::::

Friday afternoon we left Valdosta - 11 people in a van with stuffed backpacks (10 girls, 1 guy)...

The ferry to Cumberland Island leaves at 9 in the morning and with a couple of hours drive to the coast, we left the day before and slept in a shelter in Crooked River National Park. 

It was around 43 degrees at night, so even with our sleeping bags it was a really cold experience!

Cumberland Island is a preserved island off Georgia's coast. It is the most southern island of Georgia. 

The legend is that the Spanish conquistadors brought over their horses several hundred years ago, and when they left the island, they left their horses on it, which have been living on the island ever since. Of course it is not the same horses, but they should allegedly be descendants of the Spanish horses - and now they are of course wild, so you have to keep your distance to them.

When we arrived to the island we quickly began our hike to our campsite - according to the map it was around 7,5 miles, but by the time we got there we had already walked 10 miles, with each our 20 pounds on the back. 

However, we weren't completely exhausted yet, so after setting up camp, we walked another few miles (without the backpacks) out to the Plum Orchard, which is a huge mansion built in 1898. Unfortunately we were too late to get inside, but we were right on time to see one of the wild horses :-)

Dinner and dessert was made over the small burners, and before going to bed we emptied our packs for anything with a smell and hung it from a tree to avoid visiting raccoons. I stole a picture of our neighbors food bag . ours was actually two full backpacks (girls apparently bring a lot of lotion on backpacking trip)...

The trip was one of many organized by CORE Outdoors, which is a organization through VSU. They make these kinds of trips almost every weekend every semester and it's a great opportunity for fun and challenging experiences! 

See their other trips here.

Splashing out..

Appetizers/forretter

       

                      Smoked duck bruschetta w. blueberry balsamic                         lady crab sriracha soup

Blue cheese crumble and tomato salad

Rib-eye, grilled sweet potatoes and asparagus

The girls' entrées/Pigernes hovedretter 

Sian, Nadine, me, Flora

I torsdag var vi ude og flotte os lidt "Valdosta-style" - det vil sige vi tog på en af de fineste restauranter i byen til aftensmad - 306 North. 

Normalvis lyder det jo som en dyr affære, men i en lidt mindre by som Valdosta er priserne altså bare ikke på samme niveau som i større byer - og det skal man jo nyde :-) 

Først delte jeg to forretter med Nadine, hvorefter jeg var faldet for den største bøf på menuen - rib-eye med blue-cheese creme. 

På stort set alle restauranter jeg har været på her i USA, er det sådan at man bestiller en hovedret, og så kommer den gerne med to "sides" (tilbehør), samt en salat, modsat derhjemme hvor man bestiller en ret, og så er det altså det man får. 

- Jeg fik grillede asparges og søde kartofler - og det var lækkert!

Nu var det jo en grund til at vi sådan flottede os på en torsdag aften.. Fredag skulle vi nemlig på backpackingtur til Cumberland Island, og der stod den på dåsemad, trangia-madlavning, og en masse muslibarer, så depoterne skulle vel fyldes op :-) 

::::

Thursday we splashed out "Valdosta-style" and went to one of the best restaurants in town - 306 North. 

Usually that would sound like an expensive evening, but in a smaller town like Valdosta, the prices are jut not as high as in bigger cities - and you have to enjoy that :-)

I shared two appetizers with nadine, and for the entrée I had fallen in love with the biggest steak on the menu  - a rib-eye with blue cheese creme. 

In pretty much all restaurants I've been to in the US, when you order an entrée it comes with two sides and a salad, unlike at home where you order and entrée and you get whatever "sides" it comes with according to the menu. 

- I got the grilled asparagus and sweet potatoes - and it was delicious!

Now, there was actually a reason why we splashed out on a Thursday night... Friday we were going on a backpacking trip to Cumberland Island where the menu would be canned foods, anything cooked over a small burner, and a lot of granola bars, so obviously we had to stock up on good nutrition before that :-)