The Nation's Capital!

Here we are hanging out in Washington DC. It was a beautiful sunny day today so a perfect opportunity to walk around all the monuments. Behind us is the Capital which was our first stop. We then saw the Washington Monument, which is a 100m tall obelix-type structure with 50 American flags around it. A short walk from there took us to the White House. Taryn says she spotted the President but Ryan thinks it was just a bush! There was a strong presence of policemen and some were even riding around on horses.

From there we walked to the World War II Memorial which was a beautiful fountain surrounded by a circular wall of pillars with names of all the States. Lincoln Memorial was the next stop and as we climbed the stairs the sun set over Washington making for some excellent pictures. On the way back we stopped at the Vietnam Memorial. There were tens of thousands of names of all the men and women who had died since 1959.

As it was now dark and the temperature way below zero, we found a Starbucks on the way back to the bus stop and indulged in hot chocolate...

St Louis

After narrowly escaping an avalanche by a day and with a dangerous storm approaching, we managed to fly out of snowy Colorado just in time. We arrived in St Louis and that night an ice storm hit the area freezing the rain to trees, telephone wires and roads. As a result, hundreds of trees fell onto electricity cables leaving thousands of houses in the dark and cold.

Met up with Taryn's friends, David and Brigitte, who showed us around the city. St Louis is situated on the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. It was the gateway to the West where travellers met and prepared for their adventures. It was a trading port and has now grown into a 3 million plus city. We were pleasantly surprised at how interesting the city was and that it had so much culture.

We got to visit the Gateway Arch which is over 200m high and is made of stainless steel. Can you believe that there is a tram inside the arch which takes you right to the top where you can see for miles. Ryan braved the tiny egg-shaped capsules that rotated every few metres to ensure the passengers remained vertical as they ascend. We both kept looking up at this incredible structure and marvelled at the video showing how it was constructed.

We were also very fortunate to have the opportunity to see Chuck Berry performing live at the Blueberry Hill bar with his son and daughter. He is 80 years old and lives in St Louis. Despite his years, he still put on an incredible show, jumping around on stage with his electric guitar.

Brrrr - it's cold!

Here is Ryan scraping off a foot of snow that fell overnight. We are in the Colorado Rockies at a place called Eagle - Vail. While Ryan was trying to get all the snow off the car, he had the car running with the heater on inside andclosed the front door; these fancy new cars have an automatic locking device and after a few seconds we were stranded outside of the car with our bags and keys for the house inside and no way of getting in! A locksmith helped us out.

The next morning, after a clear sky, the temperature plummetted to -23C, the coldest either of us have ever experienced! But that didn't stop the Zammits from hitting the slopes (or rather the slopes hitting us!) We tried our hands (or should I say feet?) at snowboarding and discovered how hard snow can be! On one occasion, Ryan's board dug in and he flipped so quickly that he landed on his head and did a full somersault! We managed to get in 4 full days of snowboarding with beautiful clear blue skies (pictures will follow when we can download them).

Just down the road was a beautiful place called Hanging Lake. It was about an hour's hike up a mountain and although the path was extremely icy, it was definately worth the trek. As you can see behind us, the waterfalls flowing into the crystal clear pond were all frozen but this didn't seem to worry the trout - they seem to thrive in the freezing cold water.

Just above this lake was a cave with frozen stalagtites and a waterfall that gushed out the middle of a rock face. Here Ryan was taking a picture and like a true photographer was so focussed on his shot that he wasn't concentrating on his footing and slipped (like you see in the comic films) right onto his back! He lay there for a minute and then managed a thumbs up to let Taryn know he was still alive.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year to family and friends! May 2007 be a year of great challenges, successes and happiness...