San Diego

Last day in California was quite of a rush, we needed to drive from LA to SD in the morning, take some time off there and drive back to LA in the afternoon just not to miss the flights home from LAX, though some of us did miss after all.

Traffic in LA is terrible, if not worse than NYC. Every hour is virtually rush hour, and since it's so big a city, no matter where you go, you might want to consider a 10 to 30 mins' delay depending on where your destination is. We were clever enough to pull traffic layer out on Google Maps so as to avoid those sections marked yellow and red. Once you are out of LA, road is all yours!

First time to set my feet on a real air carrier in San Diego. The carrier is so huge, we spent 2 hours in the lower decks and when we finally made it to the top deck, only to find a long long line waiting to board the carrier bridge. So had to quit and rush to airport.

Also the first time to get involved in a rear-end collision, not by my fault. Miraculously, though the sound when the collision happened makes me think it's gonna leave a huge dent and scratches on the bump, the rental car survived without even a scratch! Gelievable!

Malibu State Beach

We've made a very wise decision to drive to Santa Barbara via US1 road, it's built along the coastline so as you are driving, you get to appreciate the beauty of the ocean, the Pacific. Malibu State Beach is just one of the places one must stop by along the way.

Lots of rich people live there, so on one side is the great ocean, on the other side on the hill, it's luxurious houses and villas. This is exactly when one would wish to work very hard and make a fortune!

Santa Barbara

Photos by 360 Panorama on iPhone from Superior Court

Zion National Park

Breathtaking scenery with water falls, mountains, ice, fog and bushes in Zion National Park. It's about three hours drive from Las Vegas crossing Arizona and into Utah. Though it's a short drive inside the border of Arizona, it's not an easy drive. There's this 10 miles' zigzag shaped highway that gives me goose bumps even now I'm thinking about it. It's completely in the mountain, so a lot of frequent sharp turns while on high speed, especially dangerous in the night.

As it gets closer to Zion, you'll start to appreciate the grandeur of nature, be thrilled by the scene and completely forget about all the adventures along the highway.

Las Vegas

Having heard so much about the city on desert, about its gambling business, strip clubs, and how every new couple gets married there, it has never occurred to me that my first visit to this city is primarily for a concert of a super Hong Kong star, Eason Chan.

Typically, anyone who visits Las Vegas would choose to stay in one of these luxurious hotels along Las Vegas Boulevard, spend hours in line waiting for a spot in one of these fancy restaurants for lunch buffet, and then play slot machine in one of splendid casinos, having a foot massage or a spa possibly along the way, and enjoy in one of these gorgeous show arenas one or several strip shows in the night. None of these happened to me in Las Vegas.

So I stayed in a Holiday Inn far off the strip, went to one state park and one national park during the day, and had every meal in Chinatown, spent the night wandering around the strip, watched a Chinese concert in a seat where even the screen looks blurry, took a bold step to the top of Stratosphere tower for three insane rides, which scared the hell out of me and some other kids going with me!

Being special feels so extraordinary!

Valley of Fire

Valley of fire is Nevada's oldest state park just one and a half hours drive to the north of Las Vegas. It gets its name from red sandstone formations. So you are driving and driving, bored by those normal treeless grey hills along I15, but all of a sudden, the the stones and rocks turn red, it's just going from one world to another, except that the other world makes you so exciting.

The other thing about Valley of Fire is petroglyphs just as the one in the photo. It's said that some sort of ancient people used to farm here, and they communicate by these kind of symbols. Well, of course now it's considered rock art open to all tourists.

Fireworks at Epcot

Miami Beach

We stayed in a hostel right on the Miami Beach for three nights, but only got 2 hours to actually see the beach in day time. Why is that? Because we headed out early to other places and headed back at night. So on the last day in Miami Beach, we decided why not give it a couple of hours to the beach only 5 mins walking distance away. That turned out to be one of the best decisions ever made.

I proudly present you "MIAMI"

what a scene!

Hop on, I'll give you a ride to deep blue!

Key West

Key West is a city in the very south of Florida, also of USA. Anything there is labeled as the "Southernmost something". e.g. the southernmost christmas tree, the southernmost buoy. You cannot miss the sunset in Key West, Mallory Square is said to be the best place to see it.

Sunset in Key West

on Mallory Square

People make big fusses about the end of US 1 road in Key West, you would see this "Mile 0" thing on many of postcards there. Probably that's the best proof of being in Key West, moreover, the southernmost place of America.

Indian Key

I'm not sure if it's the right name for it, but I saw this plate right on the bridge which says "Indian Key Fill", so I guess it's more or less that.

As we were driving along US 1 from Miami to Key West, the astonishing view on both sides of the road kept us screaming. Nobody believes it's winter time. So when I about to drove onto a bridge, I saw this parking sign, that was when I decided I wouldn't waste another minute in the car.

little red

Let's just call it the Indian Key Bridge for now

Marathon

This Dodge minivan has been with the seven of us the whole trip, it's part of the group. It always serves our comfort first though asks for lots of gas. It's in this white minivan have we acquainted with the song Life is Wonderful by Jason Mraz, which later becomes the theme song of this trip.

After about 4 hours' driving from Miami, everybody's hungry, so we rushed to Publix and bought some chicken wings, cakes, drinks, and cookies and had a picnic right on this beautiful beach in Marathon.

Everglades NP

West Palm Beach

The first beach we visited on this trip, unfortunately, nobody saw this coming and we were the very few walking on the beach with jeans and sneakers on. Yet we still managed to have fun and buried Ray alive in sand.

He's volunteered

St Augustine

St Augustine is said to be one of the oldest cities in USA. So we've decided to have more fun!

The Flagler College

Castillo de San Marcos

Trip to Canada - Blue Mountains

It's concluded by a friend as a crazy sports trip in Canada, as I went all the way from Florida to Canada to play tennis and badminton, and finally something reasonable, ski! People from north would get so excited when they get to see the sunshine, the beach and the ocean in the south, the same thing happens to southerners when snow is right in the touch, especially when you have all the ski gear on and ready to manipulate the snow. Well, in my case, it's being manipulated. You cannot avoid several nice falls as a beginner no matter how cool you could pose in front of the camera, before you know it, you are wallowing in snow. It's the height and the speed that are in effect, you will be just so scared of speeding and hitting something and never get up again. So you voluntarily put your ass down and make a nice and slow contact with mother earth as long as you feel a little acceleration. That is exactly why I spent 30 minutes right from where I was standing in the picture on "skiing" down to where all the cars were. For an experienced skier, it's a less-than-a-minute job. Anyway, ski is fun!

Trip to Canada - Niagara Falls

It might not be the best season to appreciate the Falls, but it's definitely the coldest season to see it. I got all soaked up by merely standing on top of it. But it's all worth the wet and cold. The view is just spectacular and is only offered to visitors on Canada side.

The famous horseshoe fall

you only see this in fairy tales.

Trip to Canada - Toronto

Spent 7 days in Canada (actually 5, the other 2 days were merely either waiting for plane or on plane). For a southerner like me, coming all the way from sunshine state of Florida, it has never occurred to me the kind of coldness of actually below zero or even more. It wasn't when I walked out of Toronto airport did I realize the huge difference between the these two trivial numbers, +20 and -10! It's so freaking COLD! That was when I decided the North would only be a destination of short visit!

Had some walking around Toronto in the first two days, yes, in the cold! Though I had brought all my winter wearings to Toronto, it's never "winter" enough. I was this hoodie guy touring around the city in the coldness and wind. I could actually feel the wind cutting my face and lips. When the attendant in the hostel asked me, "where is your jacket?", I said, "I don't have no jacket", she raised her thumb and said "you are brave!" Am I? I simply don't have one.

My favorite part of Toronto trip is Chinese food, it's the best taste I've ever had for almost half a year since arrival in Florida! The good thing about a metropolitan city is that you always find big Chinese community there, which means authentic Chinese food and merchandise. I'm just so jealous of my friend at University of Toronto, they're just a few walking distance to China Town!

The CN Tower

Toronto City Hall

University of Toronto

Inside one of UT's buildings