I took an overnight train from Chicago to Denver and actually managed to get a full eight hours of sleep sitting up. When I woke up in the early hours of the morning I discovered a completely flat landscape outside, glowing in the yellow morning light.

I used Denver, at the very foot of the Rocky Mountains, as a base to explore the mountains. The actual city did not excite me very much although I did see some surrealist pop art at the Denver art gallery which I though was interesting. I also visited the Santa Fe district, home to another few decent art galleries.

I stayed with Jim Bergstrand, the son of Jay Bergstrand, who works as a Project Manager for a construction company. I also met his girlfriend Tina. Together, the three of us went to a restaurant where I was served a ridicolously big milkshake

written by  niklasbergstrand on January 17, 2009 from Denver, United States
from the travel blog: Niklas in America
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First on my itinerary around the mountains was the Rocky Mountain National park, one of the most visited areas in Colorado. I tried to do some exploring by foot, but because of the high altitude I quickly became out-of-breath from just doing some easy hikes.

In the evening I arrived with my rental car at a beautiful serene mountain lake. A few times I stopped and explored its large beaches and a deserted campsite.

Next day, on the way to the village of State Bridge, I discovered a beautiful gorge with a river.

I had to climb down for an hour to get to this river, which I then followed upstream for a few kilometres.

In the evening I arrived with the car into Glenwood Springs through a ravine that was so steep that the road was built hanging off its walls, with opposite traffic running on a road built underneath. Glenwood Springs, where I stayed for the night, wasn’t my kind of place. Apart from two bars serving beer to loud snowboarder types there was not much entertainment to speak of.

The next day I drove to Aspen, one of the most famous ski resorts in the US. As the weather was quite rainy I decided to continue on with the car.

About half an hour outside Aspen the weather turned very snowy and the road took me up some steep mountains. With only a few months of driving experience I was a little nervous driving along this icy road.

My next stop was Leadville, an intriguing little mountain town full of trashy but eccentric houses / trailers. I spent a good hour just driving round with the car, marvelling at all the odd architecture. Each house was a spectacle of its own.

From the local museum I found out that the town had been a significant silver-mining town some hundred years ago. Things used to be very rough here with gunfights, train robberies and drunken brawls. The town also used to feature countless brothels and saloons. A few people became rich and built themselves grand Victorian villas on the hills. Most residents however remained very poor, even to this day.

Many original residents were of Slovenian origin but at this graveyard I also found tombstones with several Swedish names.

The Swedes used to live in this part of town called Chicken Hill, named after a local fortune seeker called “Chicken Bill”. They moved here after having driven away the Irish whom they were constantly in fights with. Before I came to America I had not seen many trailer-houses, but this place was full of them. I suppose it’s a cheap alternative if you cannot afford a house.

This used to be the Swedish church.

This bearded man, bearing the unusual name “Cosmos”, was a walking museum of his own. He had lived in Leadville for over 20 years, but came from Armenia. He had many interesting stories to tell about his life as we sat and talked on his front porch.

I found Leadville so intriguing that I decided to stay there overnight. These people were a couple from Denver who I met in one of the local pubs.

The next morning I went up the mountains to explore the remains of the old silvermines above town. Among these mines I met some local skateboarders who were shooting a skate-video to raise money for rebuilding their local skatepark.

I left Leadville feeling that I had seen a a place left untouched by business interests and large-scale tourism. There were some grave social problems with poverty, unemployment and drug addiction, yet I felt that people maintained a lot of pride in their place. It was a fascinating blend of redneck trash and arty bohemia that I did not encounter anywhere else on my travels. The town even had a college, several bars and restaurants, an opera house and its own film festival - so it was definitely not lacking in entertainment.

written by  niklasbergstrand on January 17, 2009 from Leadville, United States
from the travel blog: Niklas in America
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Salt Lake City is perhaps best know for being the Mormon capital of the world. This religious group came here in the 1840’s after having been driven away from settlements in Illionois and the East Coast. Polygamy, previously a common practice within the church, was offically banned in 1890, but I was told that a number of mormons still live in such arrangements.

I visited the temple area in the centre of town where young Mormon girls of many nationalities eagerly await visitors who are looking to receive a guided tour. I met a Swedish Mormon girl from Jönköping, the closest Sweden comes to having a Salt Lake City of its own. Above is a picture of the holy temple, which you can only enter if you are a Mormon.

My host Kristina showed that there is more to Salt Lake City than bible-studies, anti-drinking laws and polygamy. She is a big fan of rockabilly music, swing dancing and 20s burlesque performance art. One night she took me to a club full of tattooed, beer-drinking locals, where I (despite futile resistance) was forced to participate in an introductory swing-dance lesson. I experienced a short-lived sense of relief as we left, only to be subjected to further public embarassment at a karaoke bar later on. Half of Salt Lake City are strict followers of the Mormon faith, while the other half seem more devoted to partying and wreaking havoc. Kristina was good fun.

written by  niklasbergstrand on January 17, 2009 from Salt Lake City, United States
from the travel blog: Niklas in America
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Sacramento, the capital of California, has a pretty old town centre.

In a record shop I became friends with Brittany who worked there. She later invited me to a party / concert at one of her friends house which was a very nice event, full of heartful performances from young singer / songwriters.

written by  niklasbergstrand on January 20, 2009 from Sacramento, United States
from the travel blog: Niklas in America
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Jerry used to be a flight photographer and had many interesting stories to tell from his life, including some near-death experiences! This is Jerry and his son Paul at a place called Salmon Creek Falls.

The leaves in Oregon at this time of year were turning into beautiful shades of yellow and red.

These sculpture heads on one of the main university buildings were made by Edna Dunberg, a relative of mine. She sadly passed away from cancer at the age of 24, soon after she had completed this work.

This is me with Janee(upper left), her sister Barbara (top right), her cousin Lynette (bottom left) and her aunt Ruby (bottom right). I also met Janee’s son Russel who works as a fireman.

written by  niklasbergstrand on January 20, 2009 from Eugene, United States
from the travel blog: Niklas in America
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To many people of my generation, Seattle is first and foremost known for being the birthplace of Grunge music. My guidebook also reminded me that Starbucks coffee, Microsoft and Boeing have their headquarters up here. Other than that, I knew rather little of what to expect of this Northwestern metropolis.

The first day I stayed with Julian (second from left) from the Couchsurfing website, who works as a programmer for Microsoft. He had a nice, big house and I slept very comfortably in his guest room. In the evening we went to a bar where I met some of his friends.

The next day I ventured into town, walking round aimlessly, curiously wondering what would await around the next street corner. Seattle has some very beautiful neighbourhoods but also a large population of homeless people.

Although being a fairly large city, the public transport service is awful. A pointless monorail system connects downtown to the “Seattle Centre”, a complex of amusement parks, museums and concert halls. Paul Allen, Microsofts co-founder, has put a lot of money into a tram system originally called South Lake Union Trolley. Apparently it was not until locals started printing SLUT t-shirts that the developers realised what the acronym was. The system now bears the slightly less offensive name of South Lake Union Streetcar, or SLUS.

In the afternoon I met up with Emma, another couchsurfer. She showed me Pike’s Place Market - a lively place where you can buy anything from fresh fish to vintage clothing. In the evening we had dinner in Ballard, a part of town which was once an old Scandinavian fishing village.

The next day Emma and I went for a stroll in town and met with Anne (another couchsurfer, on the left) and Emmas friend Lauren (the one with the amazing dress). In the afternoon we went to an alternative music / art festival which was full of interesting acts.

written by  niklasbergstrand on January 20, 2009 from Seattle, United States
from the travel blog: Niklas in America
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I stayed with Barbara and Rich for a day, seeing some beautiful coastal scenery in the nearby areas. This is on top of a mountain overlooking the archipelago.

Near Shelter Bay was an Indian reserve. Tragically, drug abuse and social problems were rife in this area and many of the houses looked like rubbish dumping grounds. This is Barbara and Rich in front of a totem pole.

written by  niklasbergstrand on January 20, 2009 from La Conner, United States
from the travel blog: Niklas in America
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On the ferry we bumped into Emmas old friend Jackson, and we spent the night having a little party over at his girlfriend’s house on Lopez Island.

The next day we caught the ferry to San Juan Island, visiting her old school (where we even attended a class) and the homes of her step-sister and her step-parents. The island was a quaint paradise and felt very un-American. The main town is an old fishing community, thankfully spared of Starbucks, McDonalds and the like, but with plenty of small restaurants and cafes. The rest of the island consisted of green small-scale farmland and beautiful coastline. After a dinner of clam chowder, we returned with the ferry to the mainland to stay at Emma’s dad’s little cottage.

Emma was an excellent tour guide and a great person to be with, making my visit to the San Juan islands area one of the highlights on my trip. I left feeling privileged to have seen a place that perhaps not that many other tourists from Europe would have ventured to.

written by  niklasbergstrand on January 20, 2009 from Friday Harbor, United States
from the travel blog: Niklas in America
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This is me and Jim outside the Saint Helens town hall.

written by  niklasbergstrand on January 20, 2009 from Saint Helens, United States
from the travel blog: Niklas in America
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Portland is known for being a very open-minded place, full of environmentally-conscious arty types. “Keep Portland Weird” is the city´s unofficial slogan - a reference to the urban bohemia that also local authorities encourage and support. The place is definitely eclectic. Seldom have I encountered so many bookshops, record stores, odd little shops and independent cafes as I did here. The city’s flagship bookstore “Powell’s books” is an absolute Mecca for any book-lover. Think a huge, three-floor department store filled to the brim with books of every kind and you might just begin to get the picture.

Emma in Seattle had put me in touch with her Portland-based friends Ben and Heather, who invited me to come along with them to a halloween party. Heather had previously owned a vintage clothing shop and had a whole garage full of old dresses. My outfit was perhaps not in the league of some of the others at the party, which included a mad scientologist and a guy dressed up as “Robama” (a robot version of Obama), but I had a lot of fun.

Ben and Heather also took me to see a rendition of the Rocky Horror Picture Show the following night. We didn’t expect it to be performed by an amateur troupe of nervous high school kids, confusedly shuffling about on stage and acting out the various scenes of the movie. I thought the whole thing was absolutely hilarious. We finished the evening with a drink in the bar in the tallest building in Portland.

When I was not with Ben and Heather, I stayed with my Jim and Becky. One day they drove me to see some beautiful waterfalls outside of town.

We also stopped at another beauty spot where the view over the Columbia river was magnificent.

written by  niklasbergstrand on January 20, 2009 from Portland, United States
from the travel blog: Niklas in America
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