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Rather than hijack July blooms, I thought I'd put this in a separate thread..
I know Carol, that you were interested in hearing an outsider’s view of the US so my observations don’t include the scenery, vastness and beauty of Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Inadequate vocabulary for some of the views, wildlife and experiences. Suffice to say we won’t forget our trip to Yellowstone – that’s for sure!
Friendly and Helpful! That’s the best way to describe everyone! We met some lovely people, from all around the US, great stories, great tips, and just plain nice folks. They helped make our holiday extra special.
CLEAN!! We were very impressed at how clean everything was. No litter anywhere.
I loved the signs along the highways and interstates - $750 fines for littering. Its £25 in the UK and you never ever hear of anyone being prosecuted. Nobody here ever challenges anyone for littering anymore, after a man was stabbed for his trouble.
Disability friendly!! I couldn’t believe how many people in wheelchairs we saw in Denver, going about their normal daily lives. The malls, shops and buses were all wheelchair friendly ïŠ I loved the ramps for wheelchairs on the buses, so simple – but brilliant, and the drivers were friendly and accommodating to everyone, including wheelchair users.
This isn’t something you see in the UK. It’s shameful. I appreciated that many of our buildings/roads etc were built before disabled people were allowed ‘out of the asylum’, but much more could be done. It’s attitude more than anything.
Rest Rooms!! Yes, loos are important! Again, we didn’t find a loo that wasn’t well furnished, well stocked and clean. Even a pit toilet 10,000 foot up a mountain was clean, had paper and hand sanitiser. There was even braille on the signage outside. Very very impressed!!!
Roads – Considering some of the extremes of weather your roads handle, they are in really good condition. I love your traffic lights above the road. This makes signage really clear. I don’t like the ‘turn on red’ malarkey. Not something I would recommend over here ha! Thankfully I was only bibbed once.
Choice…good grief, how on earth do you handle SO MUCH choice! It was like reading the Sunday Newspapers, being given a menu! …and guys, really? How many salad dressings do you need? Lol!! You must get seriously disappointed coming to the UK! The only choice you ever get given is how you want your steak cooked!
It was like 20 questions to get a cup of coffee, and it took me nearly a week to correctly order a hot coffee, unsweetened and unflavoured. I just wanted coffee flavoured coffee…nothing complicated, or so I thought! Fair enough, I was probably the only person drinking hot coffee ïŠ
Iced everything else gives me brain freeze!
Whilst on the subject of food, we decided it was safer to skip lunch or supper. We couldn’t handle two portions in a day!
Language…well we both speak English, but it really is two different languages lol! I only got sniggered at once…at Safeway in Lander. The coffee bar lady tried holding back her guffaw when I asked for ‘a skinny latte to take away please..’. This was followed by a big friendly grin and ‘thas some crazy accent you got there..’
Walmart…love em or hate them, I have to give top marks to Walmart for saving my holiday photos! My camera charging cable packed up, so we made a long trip out of Yellowstone to Cody. We found a replacement cable, and the assistant was helpful enough to open the packaging (easier said than done!) to check the connector fitted my camera.
I wear varifocal glasses, and found that my dark lenses were totally inadequate for the brilliance of the sun. Walmart had some nifty polaroid attachments that fit very discreetly over your lenses. At $10, bargain, and saved me a migraine!
Nil points to McDonalds in Cheyenne. 20 minutes + for a cup of coffee (unsweetened and unflavoured of courseïŠ)
Loud! I don’t know if this is because you guys all live in huge sprawling houses and need to make yourselves heard, by my goodness, we could certainly hear you coming! Breakfast was interesting..such a noise, and everyone all seemed to be talking at once. Who was doing the listening? Even chatting to the small groups whilst breakfasting at the ranch – the decibel level was incredible ïŠ
Saying that, ALL the children we encountered were beautifully behaved, well-mannered and charming. They were disciplined by their parents in a whisper – which was refreshing. They didn’t answer back either. Wonderful!
Baseball! We particularly wanted to see a baseball game, and were very much looking forward to it. Boy – do you guys fidget! We couldn’t understand that going to a game actually meant up and down to the food stalls every 5 minutes. There was more eating done than actually watching the match! ..and considering my comments ref noise, we were amazed that nobody joined in with the National Anthem (was it respect, or mouths full of food?). We were even more amazed that nobody cheered or got behind their team unless a big sign illuminated saying ‘make some noise’! You would certainly have a culture shock if you attended a soccer game in the UK. They aren’t quite as family/multi generation oriented as baseball games – but the passion and atmosphere are electric. …and you get a pie at half time. Woe betides if you leave your seat before then lol! (and there really isn’t the hooliganism that people might think)
…and the cherry on top?? A wonderful bus ride to Boulder to check out the artisan shops and meet up with Coralee and her hubby for a lovely pleasant drink and some fascinating and intelligent conversation. Thanks Coralee ïŠ
Julie, thanks for the juicy comments about your trip. Glad you made a thread about it, we were all waiting to hear about it.
Happy to know you had fun.
Very nice of Coralee to meet with you. Makes it even more special.
About noise in cafeterias......often they create noise artificially by playing 'noise tapes'....just like those 'canned laughter' tapes. Just to make it seem busy with people. A marketing ploy.....an employee at a restaurant told me once.
But, I agree it is usually loud enough to make people go deaf.
I'm glad you enjoyed your visit to the USA. Kevin and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and your husband and who knows, maybe we'll meet up again some day. It really is a small, small world!
Name: Carol Noel Hawaii (near Hilo) It's all about choices.
Julie...what a wonderful 'evaluation'...I love it! Well tempered, thoughtfully expressed. The only surprising thing to me was the well mannered children.
When reading your 'report'...I came to realize that we do have a very convenient life style..mostly.
Yes...the noise levels are horrific. I can't get my husband to go to the movies...they are so loud.
Carol...are you referring the the volume of the soundtrack at the movies - or people talking??? The soundtrack volume over here is loud enough to make your ears bleed! (oh no, I'm sounding like my mother... )
Coralee...you never know, our paths may well cross again! And, if you are ever in the UK - you must look us up
Let me know if we can be of any assistance if/when your son makes it over!
Perhaps I should have added that British Airways were dire...standards really have slipped since we last flew with them.
I suppose I should be grateful we got there and back without incident. The crash in San Francisco happened just before we left. The pictures were just awful...
We've just had a plane on fire at Heathrow. Thankfully it was empty at the time, but it still shut the airport for 90 mins. Quite scary when an aeroplane spontaniously combusts
...my only minor disappointment (if it could be called that) was that we didn't manage to see a wolf. However, in the grande scheme...we were lucky to see grizzy bears, black bears, odders (otters to me...but noone could understand my pronunciation lol!), an osprey, bison, elk, pronghorn deer and cute little furries that we don't have over here like chipmonks, ground squirrels and marmots
F A N T A S T I C ! ! !
I agree about the noise as well. I even have trouble of doing food shopping....forget about going to Ikea or stores like that. My headache goes through the roof on a spot...
About bears....if you wanted to see a bear, you should of visited NJ. Couple of weeks ago, I was sitting in traffic on my way home, and guess who was crossing a 6 lane highway?...A bear...Coming right at me....it's not usual here, so people started honking their horns to scare him away, so he rain into a local business complex.
We get a few up trees in the city here and one was killed on the Hwy by our house but on a 6-lane HWY.....wow! I'm surprised you don't see them more in NJ. It's pretty green there isn't it?
Coralee, I live in Northern NJ....it's very green and farms all around. I work 20 minutes from NYC and it's a very populated area, and bears are still wondering around. I have a lot of bears in my area: they take walks in the park, playgrounds (that's why I stopped going to the playground with my daughter where there are a lot of trees, more wooded area), back yards, golf course...everywhere... But I've never seen on a highway in a very populated area.
This morning the cops had to close off one of our streets becouse a bunch of bears were eatting berries by the side of the road and dome very dumb people were stoping and getting out of there cars with there kids to take photos.
Bears are probably frequenting town for groceries since their jungle food has been taken away by humans. As long as they get food there, they would not care about humans.
Friendly and Helpful! That’s the best way to describe everyone! We met some lovely people, from all around the US, great stories, great tips, and just plain nice folks. They helped make our holiday extra special.
Choice…good grief, how on earth do you handle SO MUCH choice! It was like reading the Sunday Newspapers, being given a menu! …and guys, really? How many salad dressings do you need? Lol!! You must get seriously disappointed coming to the UK! The only choice you ever get given is how you want your steak cooked!
Language…well we both speak English, but it really is two different languages lol! I only got sniggered at once…at Safeway in Lander. The coffee bar lady tried holding back her guffaw when I asked for ‘a skinny latte to take away please..’. This was followed by a big friendly grin and ‘thas some crazy accent you got there..’
Nil points to McDonalds in Cheyenne. 20 minutes + for a cup of coffee (unsweetened and unflavoured of courseïŠ)
Loud! I don’t know if this is because you guys all live in huge sprawling houses and need to make yourselves heard, by my goodness, we could certainly hear you coming! Breakfast was interesting..such a noise, and everyone all seemed to be talking at once. Who was doing the listening? Even chatting to the small groups whilst breakfasting at the ranch – the decibel level was incredible ïŠ
Baseball! We particularly wanted to see a baseball game, and were very much looking forward to it. Boy – do you guys fidget! We couldn’t understand that going to a game actually meant up and down to the food stalls every 5 minutes. There was more eating done than actually watching the match! ..and considering my comments ref noise, we were amazed that nobody joined in with the National Anthem (was it respect, or mouths full of food?). We were even more amazed that nobody cheered or got behind their team unless a big sign illuminated saying ‘make some noise’! You would certainly have a culture shock if you attended a soccer game in the UK. They aren’t quite as family/multi generation oriented as baseball games – but the passion and atmosphere are electric. …and you get a pie at half time. Woe betides if you leave your seat before then lol! (and there really isn’t the hooliganism that people might think)
ïŠ
Thank you for sharing! 
)
...what a lovely sight though 