Back from our USA adventure had an amazing time!

[katebar]

Well we''re back from our wonderful trip to the USA and if was just awesome

. We visited Hawaii (Oahu) Los Angeles Las Vegas and San Francisco. Favourite if I am allowed to have one was San Francisco we just felt at home right away and the Nappa Valley was terrific too. Hawaii was lovely but really want to visit Maui next time. LA well it was lala land but we still had a terrific time and being the shallow person I am I loved Beverly Hills

.
Las Vegas was so different than I expected. Boy you sure have to walk a lot to even get OUT of your hotel. We had some delicious meals here and saw LOVE which I love

. Also did a helicopter trip to the Grand Canyon which was amazing
thanks for all my friends here who helped me plan the trip. My family kept saying "what did they say about this on the forum again" lol so you guys were a big help.
No bling in the jewel sense but my m husband got me some lovely silver pieces at Tiffany''s in Beverly Hlls for my birthday(I know I am a sucker for the blue box

.

 

[iheartscience]

Yay! Glad you had fun here! I hope you took advantage of the pathetic dollar and shopped ''til you dropped!

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 10/11/2007 9:30:58 PM
Author: thing2of2
Yay! Glad you had fun here! I hope you took advantage of the pathetic dollar and shopped 'til you dropped!

Ditto!

I love San Francisco too; it is so beautiful! Glad you had a great trip. Isn't the Grand Canyon amazing?!?! Any pics? We do need pics of your jewelry bday gift.

Thanks for sharing.

You must be pooped doing and seeing so much, awesome!

 

[wolftress]

Yay, glad you had a great time Katebar!

Las Vegas is like a whole other world, isn''t it? I remember when we went on holiday there, we arrived at night and we could see the Vegas lights from miles and miles away.

Do you have any pictures to share?

 

[door knob solitaire]

Glad you had a great time!! From where are you back to? (wow that is not grammatically correct is it?)

What was your favorite dish you ate? Was there anything specific you wanted to eat? I just returned from our state fair and had my first EVA fried green tomatoes. Took one bite and tossed the rest. $6.00...arrgh.

DKS

 

[katebar]

Date: 10/11/2007 9:58:23 PM
Author: door knob solitaire
Glad you had a great time!! From where are you back to? (wow that is not grammatically correct is it?)

What was your favorite dish you ate? Was there anything specific you wanted to eat? I just returned from our state fair and had my first EVA fried green tomatoes. Took one bite and tossed the rest. $6.00...arrgh.

DKS

Back in the land of OZ otherwise known as Australia. We ate Italian most of the time as DD loves this and I had developed an severe allergy to certain foods before we went and I knew I had to be care ful.
We had some amazing meals in Las Vegas at Olive and Fiamma but my favourite dining experience was in the Nappa Valley at Auberge du Soleil for lunch. The view the ambiance the company and the salt and pepper calamari were sublime.
I don''t have too many pictures handy but since we''re talking food this was my daughter''s introduction to the servings in the US for breakfast lol

 

[door knob solitaire]

Wow...that is like a whole other country...

!!!

I love your daughters taste. She has her piorities in line. Have not done that myself...but would if I had the opportunity! What is the carmel colored stick things in the bottom layer of the stack? Inquiring minds want to know. That is too cool that you actually have an image...yeah!

In Austrailia...is there some type of food that is discussed as American?

DKS

 

[wolftress]

Date: 10/11/2007 10:11:03 PM
Author: katebar

Date: 10/11/2007 9:58:23 PM
Author: door knob solitaire
Glad you had a great time!! From where are you back to? (wow that is not grammatically correct is it?)

What was your favorite dish you ate? Was there anything specific you wanted to eat? I just returned from our state fair and had my first EVA fried green tomatoes. Took one bite and tossed the rest. $6.00...arrgh.

DKS

Back in the land of OZ otherwise known as Australia. We ate Italian most of the time as DD loves this and I had developed an severe allergy to certain foods before we went and I knew I had to be care ful.
We had some amazing meals in Las Vegas at Olive and Fiamma but my favourite dining experience was in the Nappa Valley at Auberge du Soleil for lunch. The view the ambiance the company and the salt and pepper calamari were sublime.
I don''t have too many pictures handy but since we''re talking food this was my daughter''s introduction to the servings in the US for breakfast lol

YUM!!!

I couldn''t believe how big the servings were over there! I had to share everything with my sister. The good part is you get to eat pretty cheaply because you share everything. The first thing we did when we landed was look for Taco Bell because it hadn''t arrived in Australia and we had heard so much about it.

 

[wolftress]

Date: 10/11/2007 9:58:23 PM
Author: door knob solitaire
Glad you had a great time!! From where are you back to? (wow that is not grammatically correct is it?)

What was your favorite dish you ate? Was there anything specific you wanted to eat? I just returned from our state fair and had my first EVA fried green tomatoes. Took one bite and tossed the rest. $6.00...arrgh.

DKS

DKS, I''ve always wanted to try fried green tomatoes after watching the movie of the same name. What''s it taste like?

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Oh...those pancakes look amazing! Sounds like you had a trip of a lifetime. Please post more pictures when you can.

 

[somethingshiny]

No wonder so many of us Americans are overweight. I didn''t think that portion looked too big at all! Shame on me!!

 

[katebar]

I hope people weren''t thinking I was poking fun at you guys but you do serve HUGE serves. DD couldn''t resist taking a pic for her friends back home so that how come we got it.
DKS I don''t thinks she made it too the bottom of the stack I think the stick things may have been flakes of chocolate. We think which is probably unfair I know that the USA is famous for their burger meals

. The main difference we noticed was the portion size and the ''sweetness'' of a lot of foods but apart from that its practically the same.

 

[door knob solitaire]

No offense to me...I can''t speak for the rest of America...I should be able to because as you know, United WE Stand...but as for serving size...IT IS SUPERSIZE or nothing. And well, that is just the way it is!!!

I have heard that even bottled coke is larger here. That it is served in tiny single serve glass bottles elsewhere...that resemble the airline liquor bottles...kidding not really that small...but we have a 40% larger bottle here.

We have a saying here...as american as apple pie. I was just wondering if every one thinks of appple pie as being AMERICAN!!

Wolftress...the tomatoes were served to me as an older couple was ordering. I asked if this is what they should look like...they said...no. They said they should look like fried squash or eggplant...what I was served looked like a fried onion ring-you know battered like fish and chips. They said a cornmeal coating is also done like fried okra. Ok ...so it doesn''t look the same. But what should they taste like I asked. The man said the green tomato should taste some what sour...or tart. And the coating balances it out!

Yuk I thought. If I had known it tastes tart...and not "tomatoey"...I don''t think I would have handed over $6. A few hours later I ran into them again. They begged me to forget this experience..and try once again to either make them or eat them somewhere else. They said these were that bad. Sorry I can''t answer your question with anything other than...they tasted terrible!!! But this was deep fat fried fair food.

DKS

 

[katebar]

Most of my photos have people in them and I''m pretty sure my family wouldn''t care to be seen even on the wondeful pricescope. But my daughter took this photo of some critter right in the Grand Canyon. We got a lunch pack with our trip on the helicopter and some people threw their food at these squrrelly things and my daugher snapped this shot. Neat I think!

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 10/11/2007 10:49:54 PM
Author: katebar
I hope people weren''t thinking I was poking fun at you guys but you do serve HUGE serves. DD couldn''t resist taking a pic for her friends back home so that how come we got it.
DKS I don''t thinks she made it too the bottom of the stack I think the stick things may have been flakes of chocolate. We think which is probably unfair I know that the USA is famous for their burger meals

. The main difference we noticed was the portion size and the ''sweetness'' of a lot of foods but apart from that its practically the same.

Hahaha...true...our portion sizes are huge...TGuy could not get over it at first...especially since he was brought up to clean his plate. He got sick a couple of times from trying. In the beginning, he was always complaining that everything was too sweet! He hates most of the bread you can buy here. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches really gross him out. And beer. Our beer is too sweet.

We''ll be in Oz in two months and TGuy can''t wait to have a Coopers on tap and a meat pie.

 

[wolftress]

Date: 10/12/2007 2:58:57 AM
Author: katebar
Most of my photos have people in them and I''m pretty sure my family wouldn''t care to be seen even on the wondeful pricescope. But my daughter took this photo of some critter right in the Grand Canyon. We got a lunch pack with our trip on the helicopter and some people threw their food at these squrrelly things and my daugher snapped this shot. Neat I think!

This is adorable! LOL at ''squirelly things''. Is that an actual squirrel?

TGal, which parts of Australia will you be visiting?

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 10/12/2007 3:22:54 AM
Author: wolftress

Date: 10/12/2007 2:58:57 AM
Author: katebar
Most of my photos have people in them and I''m pretty sure my family wouldn''t care to be seen even on the wondeful pricescope. But my daughter took this photo of some critter right in the Grand Canyon. We got a lunch pack with our trip on the helicopter and some people threw their food at these squrrelly things and my daugher snapped this shot. Neat I think!

This is adorable! LOL at ''squirelly things''. Is that an actual squirrel?

TGal, which parts of Australia will you be visiting?

Yup, that is a squirrel...TGuy was fascinated by them when he first got here. He loves em! Even has a shirt with a squirrel holding a stick over a stack of nuts with a headline reading "Protect your nuts".

We''ll be going to Adelaide, his hometown Wolftress, and just hang out there with the family. It''ll be my 5th time to Oz, so I''ve been a few other cities there. I just love Australia...it was my first solo trip destination and I never thought way back then that I would be marrying a native. I consider myself a very lucky woman to have a "home" and family in Oz.

 

[katebar]

Date: 10/12/2007 3:27:10 AM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 10/12/2007 3:22:54 AM
Author: wolftress

Date: 10/12/2007 2:58:57 AM
Author: katebar
Most of my photos have people in them and I''m pretty sure my family wouldn''t care to be seen even on the wondeful pricescope. But my daughter took this photo of some critter right in the Grand Canyon. We got a lunch pack with our trip on the helicopter and some people threw their food at these squrrelly things and my daugher snapped this shot. Neat I think!

This is adorable! LOL at ''squirelly things''. Is that an actual squirrel?

TGal, which parts of Australia will you be visiting?

Yup, that is a squirrel...TGuy was fascinated by them when he first got here. He loves em! Even has a shirt with a squirrel holding a stick over a stack of nuts with a headline reading ''Protect your nuts''.

We''ll be going to Adelaide, his hometown Wolftress, and just hang out there with the family. It''ll be my 5th time to Oz, so I''ve been a few other cities there. I just love Australia...it was my first solo trip destination and I never thought way back then that I would be marrying a native. I consider myself a very lucky woman to have a ''home'' and family in Oz.

Small world TGal I was born in Adeaide and moved to Queensland 15 years ago. Have you ever had a Perryman''s Pie from their bakery in North Adelaide they are very yummy and far better than the pie floater from the pie cart which to me is the grossest thing in the world but a must after a big night out and before the kebab shops arrived a must for late night munchie of the alchohol kind

.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 10/12/2007 3:36:02 AM
Author: katebar
Small world TGal I was born in Adeaide and moved to Queensland 15 years ago. Have you ever had a Perryman's Pie from their bakery in North Adelaide they are very yummy and far better than the pie floater from the pie cart which to me is the grossest thing in the world but a must after a big night out and before the kebab shops arrived a must for late night munchie of the alchohol kind

.

TGuy says that pie floaters are the most disgusting things in the world too...but after a night at the casino drinking, he insisted we all should try one. Thank goodness it didn't end up happening because it just sounds so wrong.

I haven't had a Perryman's Pie...at least I don't think so. I will have to ask TGuy if we did. I'm just excited to have my first Australian Christmas! TGuy's family apparently does an awesome seafood spread...hopefully I will be able to stomach seafood by then.

Where in Queenland are you?

I should hit the sack...still on Hawaii time and I know I'll be paying for it tomorrow morning...

 

[katebar]

Gold Coast and we have just had the most awesome storm really spectacular for 4 pm on a Friday!

 

[Harriet]

Hi, I'm glad you had a great time.

TG, I'm with you on pie floaters (although I didn't know what a floater was until I moved here).

 

[somethingshiny]

No offense over the portion thing. Every guy in my family chooses restaurants based on portion. Bigger is Better. I usually cut my plate in half. I eat most or all of one half and then have lunch the next day. However, I have watched (on separate occasions) my dad, my brother, and my husband each finish a 3pound steak. That just grossed me out! But, I do have to admit. I will leave room for the dessert! I LOVE my sweets!

 

[zoebartlett]

I''m glad you had a great time Kate! I love hearing other people''s perspectives of what the US is like. I''ve been to CA twice but never to SF or Nappa Valley. I''ve never been to Hawaii either but I''d love to go someday. I live on the eastern part of the US, so it''s not often that I make the trek across the country. We were a a friend''s house and my friend''s husband (who is originally freom Ireland) commented on how there are no squirrels or chipmunks in Ireland. I couldn''t believe it...I thought they were everywhere.

 

[Linda W]

Glad you had a wonderful trip Kate. Yep our portions are huuuuuuuuuuuuuge ha haha. We always take some home for the next day.

That little guy looks like a Chipmunk.

Linda