5th August 2024 at 06:14 - Damian
Cost of living comparison:
Magnum minis 3 pack.
Walgreens Logan Square Chicago NZ$4.60 /100ml
Countdown Northcote Auckland NZ$2.60 /100ml
Might have to stop whinging about NZ's cost of living crisis pending more data. Not that Magnum minis are necessarily the best to compare.
5th August 2024 at 00:40 - Damian
A rant about tipping:
The tipping culture in the States is such a massive pain in the arse. It moves the problem of HR from the business to the customer and seems incredibly inconsistent.
Many places are tap-to-pay where you're presented with a follow-up screen with options of 20/25/30% or the ability to customise your tip.
The price of a meal here is higher than NZ and I really don't think the service is any better. When you do get good service it feels forced.
Let's not have this in NZ.
5th August 2024 at 00:29 - Damian
We went on an excellent two-hour architectural and history walking tour¹.
We've found that a walking tour when you first get to a new city is a great way you get your bearings along with a bit of history and recommendations for things to do and places to eat.
We've settled on US$40 being about the right amount to tip for the both of us for a good quality walking tour.
5th August 2024 at 00:08 - Damian
Yesterday morning we walked from our Airbnb to Logan Square, bought a couple of paper day passes each and took the blue line into Washington Station.
8 lines converge of the centre of Chicago with 5 of them running a loop around the heart of the city above the street. Our blue line was deep underground.
The rail network is called the "L" for "elevated" (even though not all of it is aboveground).
4th August 2024 at 03:10 - Damian
We're staying in an Airbnb in the Logan Square neighbourhood in Chicago.
Last night we were knackered so we went to a nearby place called Monster Ramen for some comfort food and some shaved coconut ice on the way back.
The ramen was exquisite!
Today we're going to walk into Logan Square, buy some day passes and do an architectural walking tour in the city.
4th August 2024 at 03:03 - Damian
Before we left NZ we purchased a couple of T-Mobile SIM cards. Each with 10GB data and unlimited calls and texts. They're valid for 30 days each and we've offset their start and end dates to cover the 32 days we're here.
We got the cards online from Australia-based SimCorner. $106.50 all up. They were fast to deliver and have comprehensive instructions.
Which I didn't read.
My Nokia G21 isn't compatible with T-Mobile's 4G LTE bands so we're constantly hot-spotting from Sally's phone.
4th August 2024 at 02:54 - Damian
In Chicago they have the Ventra app which is geo-locked to US-based phones only. We hoped the app would become available once we were on US soil but no.
So if you want to get around you can each buy a physical card for US$5 and top them up or you can buy paper single ride tickets or day passes from vending machines at train stations.
We've opted for paper tickets because US$10 initial fee is a lot of NZ rupees and a waste of plastic.
4th August 2024 at 02:46 - Damian
In Denver you can download the RRD MyRide app to get around on public transport. It was easy to top up and use with multiple tickets.
We only ever bought $5.50 day passes and used them to go as far afield as Boulder.
We only used it on busses where you scan each ticket as you board. Day passes that include the airport are more expensive.
4th August 2024 at 02:39 - Damian
In San Francisco the main way to get around by public transport is with a Clipper card.
You can add it directly to an Android phone with Google Wallet and top it up from there directly. Then use your phone.
Except you can't. We found out when we went to use them. It just kept failing. Their readers aren't coping with RFID on phones yet.
So we each bought a physical card (costs US$3 initially) and you can top it up manually from machines or online.
4th August 2024 at 02:30 - Damian
On Thursday we left Denver at 1900 and arrived at 1430 the following day in Chicago. Once again, not a great sleep in coach class. Sally managed to sleep a bit but the seats are awkward and there are PEOPLE. America people. Sartre said it best.
The scenery through Iowa and Illinois was fields of corn that went on forever. Lush but what do you do when you're not combine harvesting?
We really enjoyed Denver. It felt cleaner and safer than SF.
1st August 2024 at 04:30 - Damian
Another early start today to get in line for a free tour of the Denver Mint. Unfortunately no phones allowed so no photos. Pretty interesting though.
Spools of metal are stamped into blanks, the blanks are heated and then run through dies to stamp the coins. They mint something like 7,000,000 pennies per day but can do much more. It costs 3c to make 1c and 11c to make 5c but that's made up for in the dimes and quarters.
The raised ridge on the edge of the coin is to reduce wear.
31st July 2024 at 05:49 - Damian
Set the alarm for 0430 in order to catch the bus to Boulder for a hike and beat the heat of the day.
11km walk along the river and up the Anemone Trail with good views over Boulder and Denver in the distance.
Incredibly dry. Apparently only 7% humidity which, as an Aucklander, I can't compute.
31st July 2024 at 05:28 - Damian
Lunch in Boulder at the Bohemian Biergarten. Rabbit and rattlesnake sausage. Actual rabbit and actual rattlesnake 🐇 🐍.
30th July 2024 at 10:41 - Damian
We tried out the app GPSmyCity as an alternative to a traditional walking tour. They have a 3 day trial but it costs US$19/year subscription. We'd be happy to pay that if it was any good but it was stale and dry. The self-guided tour we sampled of downtown Denver missed some quite interesting features (such as the Big Blue Bear) and tried to take us through a construction zone. Uninstalled.
30th July 2024 at 10:35 - Damian
Self-guided walking tour of Denver today. A bit hot out so we cut it short and went to a pub.
29th July 2024 at 00:49 - Damian
It's 0630 mountain time and we're passing through a little town called Helper somewhere east of Salt Lake City on our way from San Francisco to Denver on the train. Although the coach seats are huge we both didn't sleep well. Couldn't get comfortable. 20 hours in and only 12 hours to go to Denver.
28th July 2024 at 05:01 - Damian
Yesterday our bus from Yosemite to Merced was rescheduled which meant we missed our connecting train by 30 minutes. Which also meant we had to wait for four hot (40°C) hours in Merced for the next train. No biggie; we're on holiday.
We stayed in a hotel in Emeryville last night near the train station in preparation for the California Zephyr trip to Denver this morning.
28th July 2024 at 04:56 - Damian
On our last day we chilled out and walked to Yosemite Village, the Yosemite Falls (with many tourists) and took a loop bus down to the foot of El Capitan to swim in the Merced River.
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