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An Ironman and The Midwest
Sad to say that yet again I’m dreadfully behind on getting this posted, in no small part because we’ve been busy, but also because I wasn’t sure whether it was worth putting these posts together… Still, in my efforts to document our fight for 50 states, I couldn’t leave these adventures unchronicled! Thus, I’m here to recount how, in October, James became an Ironman and we ticked off the remaining states of the Midwest! If you’ve been following along on our journey so far, you’d know that since moving to the US in June 2016, we’ve been trying to visit all 50 US states. With only 10 left to go,…
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San Francisco: Aussies Discovering New Adventures!
Well, it seems that our earlier 2018 West Coast roadtrip (here and here) just wasn’t enough to sate our beach-starved Aussie souls, and we’ve just done another trip back to spend the weekend in San Francisco. Why, I hear you ask? To qualify to ‘Take the Rock’ in our swim from Alcatraz next weekend, of course! Since we only spent a day in San Fran during our roadtrip earlier in the year, this weekend offered us a great chance to see a little more of the city and learn about it from some locals to boot. We walked—a LOT—and ate some great food—again, a LOT—and had an all-round awesome time,…
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Our Weekend Portland Jaunt
Well, it’s a shock all-round, but I actually have something to write about: last weekend we went to Portland to watch two wonderful friends get married! And in fact, the Thursday night before we went was the 50th Anniversary of the US Army Air Defence Artillery becoming a distinct branch, and we went to a ball. See? Doing so many things! (But seriously: this was honestly one of the most boring events I’ve ever been to: if this picture wasn’t so nice and it wasn’t proof that I’ve been leaving the house and wearing human clothes lately, I probably wouldn’t include it at all). Friday, 15 June — A Taste…
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Unplanned Escapades on The West Coast-Our Second Leg
I feel like ‘unplanned escapades’ really characterises pretty much all of the second leg of our mammoth West Coast road trip. Mammoth seems appropriate: as you can see in the photo below, we got in a lot in the second week: we calculated that we drove for about 100 hours total over a 2 week period. Newsflash: that is too much. Even after being home for about three days, late last week we were only just recovering from the trauma (emotionally: our bodies were still wrecked). In fact, our everything was out of kilter and I’ve been flogging myself to get uni done—hence the ridiculous lateness of this post. Over a…
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Conquering the West Coast: The First Leg!
It’s been so long since I wrote a blog post that I hardly know where to start, but with the opening leg of an awesome West Coast trip seemed a good place! I returned last Monday from a three-week trip to Australia and in a pretty short turn around, James and I set out on Friday for our most recent slew of adventures: to tackle America’s gorgeous West Coast. We’ve got the full fifty (states, that is) firmly in our sights now, and we’re ticking off another three this trip. (It’s four, if you want to be technical, but since we’re visiting Oregon properly in June, I see no reason to…
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Aussie Expats Update – Our Hawaiian Adventure!
Helllloooo everyone! I’m writing this blog post from my desk in chilly Lawton, OK, home safe and sound after a tumultuous and (predominantly) wonderful trip to Hawaii! It’s a long one, so if you don’t have the stamina, the short version is: we’ve ticked off another state, I am definitely a summer child, and there’s list of our recommendations at the end. Now, onto the post! Friday, 05 January. We started off less than ideally when we decided to spend Thursday night in OKC before our flight. It sounds like a good idea, right? WRONG: if you answered ‘yes’ to that question, then you are wrong. Now, it’s not your…
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Aussie Expats Update – Austin Adventures!
Well, I’m a little late off the mark (my politics essay hasn’t just been calling my name, it’s been shouting it and cursing to boot), but here is a recap about our amazing trip to Austin last week! We’re incredibly lucky to have family in the US and to have the opportunity to catch up with them while we’re living over here. Bill and Laura live in Austin and took care of James during his second half-ironman in October when I was back in Australia; he was so enamoured with the city he insisted that we had to go down for another visit when I was back… and last week…
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Aussie Expats Update – Diving Blue Hole!
Well: Happy Monday everyone! I’m delighted to inform you all that you’re currently being addressed by a qualified Advanced Open Water diver: no big deal [DISCLAIMER: by this, I actually mean that it is a very big deal and I’m very, very cool]. James and I have just spent the weekend in Santa Rosa, New Mexico doing a series of dives with the excellent instructor crew from Bluewater Divers in OKC in order to qualify for our Advanced dive ticket. New Mexico isn’t really the first place most people think of when brainstorming locations to go scuba diving, but it happens to boast a pretty impressive natural well called Blue…
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Aussie Expats Update – Our Second Thanksgiving
Hellllloooooo world! Well, it feels like it’s been so long since I did a blog post about James and I going on an adventure that I found myself not quite sure what to put in this one. Still, since I failed to put it together and get it out last week, I really had to pull myself together over the weekend to tell you all about our Thanksgiving in Tulsa. Before anything else, I just want to say that we feel beyond fortunate to have met so many kind, generous, and just all-round wonderful people in the time we’ve been living in the US. Our various friends have taken us…
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Aussie Expats Update – Scuba-Certified and University-Free!
Hello world!! Posting this is a massive success, so excuse me while I indulge in a moment of well-deserved elation. I’d hoped (but didn’t think I’d actually managed it… and I didn’t) to get this out yesterday as part of our ongoing Friday updates, but the day got away from me, mostly due to a tough exam I had to work on. BUT I have got it out today, and that’s a real cause for celebration. Especially because what was holding me up was my Australian Literature exam… and I have FINALLY finished it, my last assessment for the trimester. I now have three weeks of blissful freedom before starting…
