Let the games commence

So, here's what's happening. Last week I had my last day at work and moved out of my flat. On Wednesday I'm off to the west coast of America for a holiday then to Arizona to do a national parks volunteering thing. Here's my plan:

Wednesday 12 May:
Sleeper train to London.

Thursday 13 May:
Fly to Los Angeles.


Friday 14 May:
Hang around in LA during the day (I don't have long here but will be back in July) then get an overnight bus to San Francisco.

Saturday 15 May:
Spend the day in San Fran, looking at all the places where I used to go when I spent the summer there (and hopefully getting Jamba Juice, which is the eighth wonder of the world).

Sunday 16 May:
More San Fran time then hop on an epic, overnight 18-hour train journey up the Californian coast to Portland, Oregon.

Monday 17 - Thursday 20 May:
Seeing Frightened Rabbit on the Monday and generally hoping that Portland is the relaxed, alt.mecca that everyone says it is. There will probably be a lot of coffee drinking, book reading and hopefully local music going on.

Friday 21 - Monday 24 May:
Greyhound again, this time to Seattle for more reminiscing about when I stayed here and to meet up with old friends. I'm staying in this amazing-looking art hostel - all the rooms are designed in different ways (City Hostel Seattle).


Tuesday 25 - Friday 28 May:
Back on a plane to fly to Las Vegas for a few nights. This is the city I have least inclination towards, but I still want to see it. Hopefully the spectacle will be enough to entertain me for a few days, seeing as I don't gamble, drink on my own or require the services of hookers.


Saturday 29 May - Saturday 24 July:
Time to get the bus to Flagstaff, Arizona for orientation and the start of my eight-week project doing conservationy stuff, camping and generally sweating my ass off. I get lots of days off in the eight weeks so am planning a few trips to Phoenix and anywhere else I can find a reason to go to, but they'll be last minute type things.


Sunday 25 - Tuesday 27 July:
Back to LA for a little more of the tourist thing and hopefully a day here.


Wednesday 28 July:
Home. And about 600 hours of sleep. And showing everyone the gazillions of photos I will have taken. Then the Edinburgh Festival!