Fall Break #12: Morro Beach, Hearst Castle, Elephant sea lions, and Raegged Point

Morro Bay is where we should have stayed over for the night. It was a bigger town with a lot more eating options, which was lacking in Pismo B. From Morro Bay it was possible to go on sea tours to watch whales, but once again time was what we were missing. Morro Bay is famous for its huge volcanic cliff that is part of the bay and it is home to a lot of big birds.
It was here that my next trip came to my mind – sailing down the coast on a sailing boat from Seattle to San Diego!
With out time to stay longer we continued to Hearst Castle, which is a huge private made castle in the hills next to the sea. You have to take a bus tour to get up there, and with no time it was not an option.
We went on the road again, and found something we had time for; looking at Elephant sea lions, who were sunbathing on the beach. We continued up the coast to Raegged Point where we had lunch/dinner. I had a seafood salad, which was very delicious.
From there on the landscape was even more beautiful and the road became more and more like the small ones in the Alps.

Fall Break #11: Pismo Beach

We stopped in Pismo Beach to sleep, but before that Manuel and Elin thought we should celebrate our trip, I agreed and we had a really fun night, we went to bed at 5am. I woke up at 0830am and felt fresh. I took a shower and woke the others up. Elin was fine about getting into the car and get moving, but Manuel was not feeling well at all. Before leaving we went to the pier at Pismo Beach, where you can see all the surfers trying to find the perfect wave.
We went on Highway 1 and drove up to Morro Bay.

Fall Break #10: Highway 1

Highway 1 runs a long the west coast. Highway 1 to SF is about 11 hours without stops, if you take the interstate it will only be 5 hours. We used almost 2 days! On the way you drive through many small cities that everyone have heard about including Malibu, Santa Cruz, and Santa Barbara. None of those three was special from what we could see, actually we didn’t even see Malibu beach, because there is NO sign, how STUPID is that!
Anyway – the way (he he) is very beautiful, but not before you reach Pismo beach.
We did leave Highway once to head inland to visit Solvang, which is kind of a Danish city in the middle of America. There were a lot of fun things, but just as in Denmark all the shops closed early. Dam you lukkelov!

Fall Break #9: LA – Kathleen and Brad

Kathleen is the daughter of some of my parent’s friends. She has lived in LA for many years, and lives with Brad who is an actor. (Looking forward to seeing you on Heroes Brad, he he!) They live in Hollywood and we met them for dinner. Kathleen gave me perfect directions and we found it without any problems. They live one block from Hollywood Boulevard. We went to a small restaurant/bar named Birds. We all had something with chicken and it was very nice. After that we went to a small French bar, where we had some drinks. We had a lot of fun and it was nice to see them again.We went down Hollywood and Sunset Boulevard to look at the “stars” and to go see a movie. We missed the movie and went back to bed. We were very disappointed with the “stars” in the pavement. The streets were very dirty and did not even have nice shops.

The next day we went up in the hills in hope of getting a nice picture of the Hollywood sign, but because too many actors and instructors were committing suicide by jumping off it, it is now closed for the public – how ironic! Anyway, we wanted to see how close we could get. When driving up Elin suddenly went crazy, she was screaming and telling me to stop the car. I was immediately sure that I had hit something, but no. What the fuss was about was the fact that Vince Vaughn was standing right next to us. Hmmm, said Manuel and I, and than we drove on.
We reached the end of the road, got out and hiked a little hill. The view of the sign was ok, but we had hoped to get closer. When driving down we also saw the Observatory, but once again no time to go there.

We now wanted to go north on Highway 1, we drove through Beverly hills, where we saw some big house, but Rodeo Drive was not on our way, and I will have to go back and visit Kathleen and Brad again to see the things that I missed.

Fall Break #8: New Car

(The old car - picture of new car will come later)

After a nice sleep in Vegas I went to the airport to change the car, which was pretty easy. We got a Pontiac V6. Is was smaller inside, did not have a satellite radio, small trunk, a little dirty inside, but it had a much bigger engine, wipers that worked, and a much better cruise control system. All in all the trade was ok. I, however, forgot to fill gas on it that cost us $50 in fees!!

Fall Break #7: Las Vegas

We came to Las Vegas through the north end of the strip, which is not the same as coming from the south. Besides the obvious reason of being a different direction, it was as if everything was faced a little bit to the south. We stayed at Travelodge again, they are always located good, good price, and the rooms are prefect for us.
We went to the Cesar Palace buffet. It was once again perfect; however, some of the atmosphere was missing. I assume it was due to the fact that we were there on a Monday, and there were a lot less people compared to when Elin and I was there the last time.

After dinner we went to the Stratosphere, which is bye far the tallest building in Las Vegas – on top of it there are 3 rollercoasters! I tried the Insanity-ride, which is a very fitting name for it. It spins around so fast that the arms that are holding the seats are close to horizontal, and you can look directly down!!!!

After getting settle down after our tour to the top and a beer in the bar we hit the Casino. Elin won some money on the slot machines, while I introduced Manuel to roulette. He quickly got the hang of it, and made some good bets. He started out with 20 dollars, which he made into 40, but some unlucky outcomes took his winning away and he ended up breaking even, which is good for a first time. I took over after him, and started ok, but what had taken Manuel’s winning away took away $40 from me. I have never seen a series of 6 plays where 0 and 00 came up every second time! $40 is a lot for me, so I stopped and we went home to our hotel to get a nice long sleep.

Fall Break #6: Hover Dam

We left Grand Canyon to drive to Las Vegas. Two hours before reaching Las Vegas Strip we came across the Hover Dam. Just like the Grand Canyon it came out of nowhere. Manuel and I can’t really figure out where Megatron was supposed to have been. (hint: Transformers)

Fall Break #5: Grand Canyon

We left the ranch heading south to see Grand Canyon. A long drive while the sun had gone to rest. We unfortunately had to leave at night, and were therefore not able to see the landscape we past, which I think was very nice based on the curved roads. Manuel and Elin fell a sleep and I listen to my iPod while eating miles at a fast pace. We past one huge car accident, it looked like a truck had run over a small car; all that were left was the trunk!
We reach Travelodge in Flagstaff late and went directly to bed. The next morning we went for breakfast next door at a very small dinner/bar. It was very local and everyone knew each other. It was the day after NFL Gameday and there were lot of talk about the results.

The owner was very happy, since his Cardinals had beaten the Steelers. Our waitress was a Broncos fan, she was not happy; they were destroyed by LT and the Chargers, whom finally find a rhythm. After having the biggest pan-cakes ever, (I could not eat all three – has never happen before to me!!) we went of to Grand Canyon. We drove for two hours, got out of the car, walked 100 meters/yards, and there is was – a view that has stunned so many millions including the three of us. There are 16 miles a cross the canyon. I will upload more on the online photo album soon.

Fall break – MUST READ

Below are 4 posts that will tell you about how unbelievable great our fall break already has been. REMEMBER to read them in the right order.

Fall Break #4: Case 12 - Car vs. owl

On the way back from dinner, an owl hit the car while we were driving 55 miles per hour. After turning around we found it sitting on the road. Our front light cover was broken, but the light was still working. After 20 minutes the owl took off, leaving us without evidence for the police officer whom was on his way. We are glad that we got the insurance from Avis, but we still don’t know what will happen.

Next time I write will be about, Grand Canyon, Hover Dam, Las Vegas, and what happen to the car!

FALL BREAK #3: Speed and Bullets!

ATV (four wheals), Motorcycle, Buggy, Horse Riding, Swimming, Shooting.
The ranch has lots of land, which we have explored on the ATVs, motorcycle, and the Buggy. See all the photos for the different rides.

We also went shooting. I was actually really good at clay shooting, hitting 5 in a row. We tried a shotgun, an 8 mm police gun, and a semiautomatic riffle similar to the ones being used by the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. It was scary with the gun and the riffle, but a lot of fun with the clay shooting.

FALL BREAK #2: Mike, Jordi, and George from Clear Creek Ranch

Mike is in Manuel’s class, and he is married to Jordi. Jordi’s dad, George, has a ranch, Clear Creek Ranch, which is right outside Zion National Park. It is an unbelievable place. I finally understand why people want to have a second house (I think they are a group of families who owns the ranch). This place is beautiful, and there is so much to do. George taught me how to ride a motorbike, took us shooting, bought us real cowboy hats, took us horseback riding. He, Mike, and Jordi have been the best hosts ever, and we can never thank them enough for being so nice, showing us everything and gave us some incredible memories that we will never forget.

THANK YOU

FALL BREAK #1: The drive and the car:

I had to pick up the car at the airport, to get there I had called Tom (Lucile’s nephew) to get a ride. We met at Trolley square, and it turned out that Lucile was going there with some other family members, so we all had a small lunch together.
Tom drove me to the airport where I went to Budget’s front desk, and than all the trouble came!! I had rented the car on orbitz.com and called both them and Budget to assure that everything was ok, like that we could get all the insurances and it was ok that I was only 24. When I came they knew nothing about the cheap insurance and when I told them I was 24 they said we could not rent a car!! They transferred us to AVIS, whom match the rate. A lot of trouble with the insurance that we were supposed to have through orbitz.com ended up not being an option, so we got it through AVIS, which was more expensive, but it turned out to be a good idea.

Our first stop was at a ranch in south Utah next to Zion National Park. Manuel was invited to come to a ranch by his classmate Mike. I will tell more about Mike, his wife and her dad. The drive was about 4.5 hours, and half an hour of that was in heavy rain and a little bit of snow. We are going to stay at the Clear Creek Ranch for two nights.

Fall Break is here!

It has been two really busy weeks since I was in Las Vegas; several tests and midterms, which went fine. I had a small quiz yesterday in OB, and I did badly on that. I really don’t like the multiple choice tests, but this one I should have done better on. I am still waiting for my grade in US Economic History, which I have a good feeling about, but you never know, so that will be exiting to see if it gets posted before we leave today.

We will leave today at 5 PM, but before than I have to; return a backpack, do the last laundry, go to the chiropractor, pick up the rental car, go to bestbuy to pick up our GPS system (to rent one of those for a week is between $75 and $125, but was not possible with the car we rented, however a GPS locater with software was $100, so vi bought that), have lunch with Tom, shop at Smith’s marketplace, pack my bags, and, well, I think that was everything.

There are a lot of clouds outside my window, and it looks like it is going to rain heavily today, and it is suppose to snow tomorrow!

Anyway, I better get started on my to-do list.

I will try to blog while being on the road.

Take care everyone

Rugby vs. Football (Video for fall-break)

What is my favorite??

My very good friend Tomas from Copenhagen Business School, was the first to point out that I used the sentence, ”It is the world best…”, ridicules often. But, what if the things that I have are the best, hmm, I will probably never agree with everyone, but if you want to know what my favourite it, scroll down, and find a selection of my favourites under the nice picture of me in the pink/white stripe shirt. You might agree or disagree that is all up to you and only you.

I will ad more, when I have come upon true knowledge of what is my favorite!

Take Care

Fall Break Road Trip - 1532 miles in a week!

• 1532 miles in a week.
• Four States, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California.
• Three major cities, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
• Two major parks, Zion National Park, and Grand Canyon.
• Estimated 500 photos.
• Infinite amount of memories.

View Larger Map

Snow, Win, and Homecoming!

Utes beat Utah State today, while the weather totally changed. Yesterday I was walking around in shorts and t-shirt, but during the game, rain turned into snow!!!

We won 34-18, which was the most important thing. To night is homecoming – I will go to the dance and hopefully meet up with Devin later at Greenstreet.

Be back soon with more!

Marc

Two midterms are over - another one next week

I had two midterms today - I did not do as well as I could have, had they not been placed on the same day with only 30 minutes in between. Next week I have another midterm, which will account for 50 % of my grade in US Economic History.

Time is being spent on planning fall break.

Take care - Marc (who loves Vegas)

I woke up in Denmark!

Well that is what I thought this morning – 13 degrees Celsius and rain!! I did not sign up for that – please turn on the heat again.

It is gameday today – hopefully will be 2-0, but the weather might have an impact.

LAS VEGAS is Awesome

The two days in Vegas were unbelievable. I loved it. And, it did not make the trip worse that I actually left Vegas with plus $450 – from the roulette table!!
I am so glad I went on this trip, and would very much like to go back to Vegas again.

I have uploaded a lot of photos from the trip – go check them out in the online photo album.

Below is the New York – New York complex – I went on the rollercoaster, which goes all the way around it.
MGM Grand is the biggest Hotel, and it is where I hit number 5 in roulette, and had my entire trip paid for.
Cesar Palace – is huge and they had a great buffet.
Here I am eating king crab from Alaska from the Cesar buffet.

The Bellagio is one of the most prestige places in Vegas. I played my last game of roulette there – and made $20 become a $100!!
Now it is back to the books. I have two very important midterms on Thursday, therefore I will not write on the blog before after Thursday – except if something totally crazy/important happens.

Take care everyone – and go to Las Vegas if you ever get the chance!

Marc

Utes losing in Vegas!!

Louise, Elin, and I went to Las Vegas with the Muss, which is the fan club for the football team. The last game had probably been the best one ever, and this one was the worst ever. We lost big time!! Louise did not go to the game, so it was only Elin and I who saw UNLV beat us!

Next game is against Utah State, which we really have to win - GO UTES

LAS VEGAS HERE I COME!

After 4 hours of sleep, I will tomorrow get on The Muss Bus to Las Vegas to support our football team on Saturday. But, there will of course be time to go out and win some money – so everyone should please cross there fingers the entire weekend, Thank you.

Photos and news will come during next week, but it might be delayed since I have to midterms next week that I want to study hard for.

Marc – Number 5 on the roulette!

Real vs. Galaxy

The game ended 2-2. It was slow and boring until there was 10 minutes left. I will never go to see a game again, without DC. United being the oppenent or if Beckham is playing!

Ciao

PRISON BREAK is back

Monday this week, was the premier of the third season of Prison Break. I have bought the season pass to iTunes, so that I will not miss any episodes. I will watch the first one on the bus to Las Vegas on Friday.

REAL SALT LAKE vs. L.A. GALAXY

In an hour I will leave for my first visit to a pro soccer game her in America. I am not expecting a high level, but maybe some good goals. Unfortunately David Beckham is not playing.

Go Real.

Another midterm done!

I had a midterm in Current Economic Problems today, which went all right, but I should have done better. I knew the answers, but didn’t think the multiple answers were fitting. I might be a little disappointed with the result, but I am hoping for the best.

I have two midterms next week, which requires a lot of studying. I will spend a lot of time studying for those before I am leaving for Las Vegas.

Marc

REDSKINS WINS over Eagles!!

I went to Skybox and saw my Redskins Win. It was a difficult game, but we are 2-0.

GO Redskins.

I have a midterm on Wednesday, and a lot of school work this week, before leaving for Las Vegas on Friday.

Take care - Marc

One love is the team!

The flag football season started today, and I was quickly picked up by a team. The team name is One Love, and they are a group of guys who all know each other.

We scored on our first drive, but looked really bad on defence. But we implemented an extended version of 4-1 and suddenly the other team was totally controlled, just like with the Utes vs. UCLA. We made 3 interceptions and won 28-6. We totally eliminated the long passes and with some good tacklers they didn’t stand a chance.

I still don’t have my cleats, please send them quickly Nike, and I started of a little confused, since it was 7 on 7, and the rules are very different from back home. But I picked it up; and had 2 int, 2 TD and some tackles in the second half.

Nice group of guys, whom I am looking forward to playing with.

Koalas back home did not advance to the best division, so I will have another year in the second best division when I get home.

Now I am going downtown to watch Redskins play Eagles.

Take Care Marc

Utes beats UCLA 44-6 = Unbelievable – Crazy – Total Dominance!

I went to the second home game of the season, and it was totally crazy. We totally destroyed UCLA, which is rank number 11!!!! GO UTES

The atmosphere was unbelievable – check out the video.

Utes win 3-2 (Women’s soccer )

Manuel, Jamie, and I went to support the women’s soccer team last night. The game was delayed one and a half hour because of lightning. The girls played well, and got in front 1-0. In the second half Idaho State fought back and got the lead, 1-2. In the last 15 minutes Utah was controlling the game and they un-leashed one attack after another, and 5 minutes before the end they got the equalizer.
In America there has to be a winner and a looser, so no tied games. We went into overtime and Golden Goal. After 10 minutes Utah made a beautiful setup for the final goal, using the flanks and scoring to the delight of the majority of the fans.
I am leaving in 10 minutes for the Utes football game – GO UTES.

There is a lot of studying; I am working hard on an assignment about corruption and legal aspect in relation to exporting to Argentina. But I will try to post as much as I can, especially with the Redskins winning on Monday and with Elin, Louise, and I going to Las Vegas next weekend. Anyone who has been in Las Vegas, please send me tips on where to go and what to see – thank you.
Marc

$=help, and study hard!

I received a wonderful email this morning; telling me that I have received a grant. The money is needed, and will contribute significantly to my stay here.

All of my classes are up to full speed and there is a lot of studying to be done. In Human behaviour I had a midterm last week and scored 85 %, which is around B or B+. Being my first midterm here I am satisfied with the result, but I will have to work harder for the next exam.

In international marketing I will do a presentation with my group on Thursday on the dispute between U.S. and Vietnam on catfish imports. We also have to have the first part of our International Marketing Brief done for Monday.

Next week I will have a midterm in Current Economic Problems, the test will primarily be about economic terms that I know. But to remember 8 chapters of terms takes preparation.

The picture below is from my walk home from U.S. Economic History, which is really interesting. There are still a couple of weeks before the first test, which is nice with all the work that I have in the other classes.
That was a small update on my four classes here. During this week a lot of the intramural sport starts and I am looking forward to working out somewhere else than the gym. (I will actually go to the gym tomorrow morning at 7 AM with Manuel – we do that every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)

Take care

Marc

REDSKINS WIN!!

I went to Sky Box with Elin this morning to see Redskins win the opening game of the season. CP is back together with a strong D. Looks good.Next week it is Monday night football against Philly - GO REDSKINS.

(now I have to study!)

Great Atmosphere but we lost!

I went to the first home game of the season for the football team. With a lot of injuries on the team it looked really bad before the game started. However, we were able to keep the Air force to only 3 points in the first half. In the second half Air force suddenly could move the ball, and they scored 2 TD.
Our offence had not really been able to produce anything except a field goal in the first half. But as soon as they became more committed to the passing game they were able to move to ball.
First they scored a nice passing TD, bad cover by the cornerback, but great catch by the receiver. Than we got the ball back with 3 minutes left. We marched down the field to the 1 yard line. 3 and 1 – did make it. 4 and 1 – did make it.
EXTREMLY bad play calling made us so ineffective, and we lost the game!

Sumo - I beat Manuel 3-2!!