05/06/2008 - 21/06/2008 Florida

05/06/2008 - 08/06/2008 - Juno Beach. Juno Beach is the Beach before Palm Beach. The park we stayed at was in a great location, walk to the Beach, walk to the shops and walk to the restaurants, it is really well maintained with a great swimming pool. So of course we headed to the Beach for a swim in the Atlantic Ocean. The water was quite warm (Simmy even you would get in - without any trouble), Dave said it was too warm but it was just right for me. Juno Beach is really dog friendly, everyone who seems to go to the beach had at least one dog. All the dogs are so well behaved, there is hardly any barking and they all seem to play really well together and of course there are plastic bag containers for poop scooping everywhere. The sea air was obviously having the right effect on Dave as he offered to take be to a Thai restaurant (or maybe it was a ploy with our weight loss regime - who knows, but I was in), as many of you would know Dave isn't a big fan of Thai.

Once again we were surrounded by some interesting animals. If either Dave or I walked outside of our motor home, the turtles from the lake behind us would come swimming over looking for a feed - so of course I had to oblige. The turtles weren't the only animals about, there was also this green large (interesting ok ugly) lizard and her baby that would hang around. I'm truly starting to love the outdoors and everything it has to offer - unfortunately still very frightened of those snakes that are also around. When I'm out doing my walking I would love to do some more of the nature trails but the fear of snakes keeps me away - unless of course the Big Fella is with me and I send him in first. Another good point about Juno was that there was a hair dresser in the shopping centre so I finally received a hair cut and colour.

08/06/2008 - 10/06/2008 - Long Key, Florida Keys. After such a wonderful couple of days at Juno Beach we headed off down to the Florida Keys. The drive from Miami to Key West is listed as one of the top drives in the USA. The route consists of a series of Keys (Sand Islands). The first major Key that we went through was Key Largo, not at all what Dave and I expected, it was quiet run down and from the highway the water was no where to be seen. (So much for the Beach Boys song...) After a while out of Key Largo the drive certainly improved and we could understand what people were talking about. The water is a beautiful greeny/bluey colour and really does look inviting. We had planned to travel all the way to Key West (the last Key), but as we were driving along the highway we noticed a State Park that had some camping right on the beach.

So after a successful U turn in Stubbie (Dave's becoming a pro at these now), we entered Long Key State Park and we were lucky enough to be able to get a site for two nights. What a fantastic location - Dave did mention once or twice while we were there that he could spend months here. The site is right on the beach, it is like 10 paces from the front of Stubbie and you are in the water. So we parked Stubbie head first, and our view from the front is just sublime, no shutting the curtains here. Each site is fairly private as well, as Dave would say it doesn't get much better than this. There is a coral reef just off the beach , but unfortunately for us we had no snorkeling gear. The only down fall (if you could call it that) was that in low tide to get into some decent (water depth) water you needed to walk out a fair way. The park reminded us a lot of Heron Island without the birds. Dave even managed to get stuck into one of his books - we are so similar I was reading a Joan Collins novel and Dave was reading a book by Alan Greenspan. I managed to get Dave to come on one of the nature walks with me and I must admit it was a bit disappointing it was just walking through mangroves and then more mangroves, so I'm not sure how many more of these I'll get the Big Fella on. Unfortunately, we knew we had to move on, this is one place that we will both remember.

10/06/2008 -12/06/2008. The Big Fella is back in the game with a couple of wins in the battle of the bulge the score to date is Lisa 5 Dave 2. I think I could be in a bit of trouble - time to buy some more chocolates. We finally made it all the way to Key West. We drove Stubbie right into downtown Key West and what a place. Narrow streets, mopeds everywhere, designer Golf carts, electric cars all roaming the street and pushbikes for rent that came with a holder for our beer. We negotiated our way out of downtown and found an RV park on the beach where we could catch public transport into town. Key West reminded us very much of Bali with people roaming from bar to bar, restaurant to restaurant and the streets lined with locals spaced out on drugs or alcohol. The Island is a real mixture of the wealthy and the extremely poor. We made our way down to the most southern point of the US which is an easy 90 mile swim to Cuba.

We did what all the tourists do we bought the tee shirt had the lobster, drank mango and strawberry daiquiri's whilst watching the beautiful sunsets. It was a great time however it is time to move on, so we both got into Stubbie and tried to move forward - ooops we forgot to retract the Jacks - luckily no major damage.

We have also booked our flights back to Australia for Karleigh's 21st birthday so we will be back 11 July and returning back to the US on 1 October so we look forward to catching up with everybody and I know Dave is looking forward to a game of golf or two.

12/06/2008 - 15/06/2008 - We made our way back to Miami to go to the Beach's where all the beautiful people supposedly live. Miami is not very RV friendly so we took Stubbie downtown for a look see. It is amazing where you can take a big RV.. We found an RV park out of town that had public transport at the gate so it was back to buses and trains. These turned out to be really good. Miami has toll booth after toll booth so it is very expensive to drive around. On the other hand the public transport is very cheap and they have an above ground mini train system that just does the city and that is free.

The Beach's were white (imported sand apparently) and the place looked very much like Venice beach in California. The Big Fella was once again very happy, G-Strings and topless bathers everywhere. Unfortunately, the day we went to the Beach an afternoon thunderstorm hit, luckily we had an umbrella and a lovely yellow rain coat for Dave to wear. One other thing about Miami is that the main language (around the suburbs we stayed at anyway) was definitely Spanish. There are a lot of Cubans in the Keys and in Miami - time to get those CD's out and start practicing for our Mexico Trip at Christmas time.

15/06/2008 - 17/06/2008 - We made our way across the state of Florida from East to West. We took the Alligator Alley freeway and it certainly lived up to its name. Alligators every couple of miles. Lucky for us they had fenced most of the highway so it was hard for the Alligators to get onto the roadway. Not a good place to have a flat tyre or engine trouble. Oh and I must thank Ross and Liz for some of the music that I have had to endure / enjoy, I've gone from listening to Wham (which was one of the better tracks) to listening to James Darren (I had never heard of him or his songs).

We made it across the state and onto an island called Sanibel. Oh yes another RV beach resort so it is time to kick back and enjoy a bit more sun and surf. (I use the term surf very loosely - We are in the Gulf of Mexico and there is barely a ripple on the ocean. They don't have much call for surf boards.) The weather is quite similar to that of Cairns, hot and humid with lots of on again off again rain.

17/06/2008 - 19/06/2008 - Fort De Soto is famous partly for it being having North Beach which was named no. 1 Beach USA 2005 and 2008 by a Travel Magazine. So of course that's where we headed. The park we chose to stay in is once again a State Park. The State Parks have been fantastic they are normally good size sites with some privacy, Dave struggles a bit with the roughing side of things at these parks as they normally don't have Cable TV or WIFI. After a little bit of trouble trying to get Stubbie into the right spot, I not very brightly said it would once again be nice to have Stubbie facing the water - not my best suggestion, so after a few attempts and a few misses with the trees etc. we decided that it wasn't to be - the site was definitely made for reversing in.

After checking into the park and getting our water view site, we learnt that there was no swimming in the camping grounds and we also learnt that it was approx 8 k's to the famous North Beach - so once again time to get the bikes out and reacquaint ourselves with those bike seats. The bike paths are great they are about 12 foot wide all through the Park. North Beach was really lovely and set-up extremely well for families and for gatherings. There were numerous large picnic areas all undercover and in shady spots between the trees, lot of facilities showers, toilets (oops restrooms) etc. Dave has been a bit disappointed in the fact that he hasn't been able to find anything more than a ripple so. I finally asked a local if they had any surf beaches around here and they said you really need to go to California or Hawaii.

19/06/2008 - 21/06/2008 - We are making our way across to New Orleans, Louisiana to catch up with our good friends Desrae and Steve. Desrae and Steve are going to meet us in New Orleans and spend a couple of days travelling with us (whilst Rebecca and Lisa are back in Fort Worth, Texas practising). I'm really looking forward to seeing all the Gant family and especially watching Lisa and Rebecca compete in the world championships.

One of the aspects of Florida that has really impressed us is how well environmentally preserved their water ways are. They really love their boating, swimming and fishing. When they fish they normally walk out into the water until their belly buttons are wet, from here they cast their line out.

13/05/2008 - 04/06/2008 Nashville, Orlando

13/05/2008- Tonight we went to the Grand Old Opry. What began as a simple radio broadcast in 1925, is today a live-entertainment phenomenon. Dedicated to honoring country music’s rich history and dynamic present. It’s been called the “home of American music”and “country’s most famous stage.”The entertainment line-up was Jim Ed Brown, T. Graham Brown, George Hamilton IV, Del McCoury Band, Bill Anderson, Eric Church, The Isaacs and Keith Urban. It was a really good night and it was great to see Keith Urban perform - a bit of a bonus that he was singing. Each performer sings for about 15 minutes, the whole show goes for two hours and is broadcast via Live TV and Radio.

15/05/2008 - We've hired a car today to have a look around Tennessee, as the public transport system from our RV park is non existent. One of the things that we have noticed about most of the cities that we have visited (excluding Washington DC) is that their public transport system is not all that great. In the evening there was a free Blue Grass Band concert - I've decided that Blue Grass music is definitely not for me, to me it sounds as if they are singing through their noses.

Okay I've been very slack and I've not updated the Blog for quite awhile, so here goes...

19/05/2008 - 24/05 2008 - We decided to have a bit of a break on the beach, so we headed to a town called Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Well this park was rather large to say the least, it had over 3700 sites - which included anything from a tent to large holiday homes. We were lucky enough to land a site that was only one row away from the beach - score. However we were also 1.5 k's from the front gate. We had a really relaxing week with a bit of swimming (mind you the beaches aren't quite like the beautiful beaches and surf we have at home) eating, drinking and just relaxing. Dave is just loving this Cable TV, it has a Golf Channel, so he can lay in the bedroom with his air conditioning going and just watch TV in peace and quiet if he wants. Whilst I'm happy to lay outside and read a book - we are really enjoying this retirement thing, even though I know that Dave misses his Saturday golf and I miss my social life and we both miss our families, we aren't too stressed and we are reallying enjoying ourselves.

As this park is so huge many of the guests either own or rent a Golf Cart to get them around the park. Now these Golf Carts aren't like we are used to seeing out on the Golf courses. There are carts that are jacked up, have mag wheels, have really fancy stereo systems etc. etc. etc. This park had several beautiful lakes where people went fishing. The turtles even sun bake around the many fountains. The swans had their little signets swimming with them in one of the ponds, it really was a great place to stay. There was restaurants, pools, recreation rooms, shops everything that one could want. We would of liked to stay a bit longer, but it was Black Bike Week in Myrtle Beach, so the resort was completely booked up. On our last day in Myrtle Beach our Registration Plates etc. finally showed up - so we are now driving around the States legally.

25/05/2008 - 26/05/2008 - From Myrtle Beach we headed to the Ocala National Forest, Florida where we were hoping to swim in the Salt Springs which are rumored to have curative powers and according to the Lonely Plant Book (my Bible) the swimming is sublime. Well unfortunately, for us they were doing some renovations etc on the Salt Springs so these were closed. However, we did manage to get to the Silver Springs to have a great (if not cold or as Dave refers to it refreshing) swim. The water was crystal clear and just beautiful.

26/05/2008 - 30/05/2008 - After we left the Springs we decided it was time for some fun and action - so we set out for Florida - Walt Disney World. We made a decision to stay at Walt Disney's Fort Wilderness Camping Grounds - a little bit more expensive but only a ferry ride or bus ride to all 4 of the sites we wanted to visit i.e. Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow).

I had 3 fantastic days at Disney World (acting like a child again), I even think Dave enjoyed himself though he did mutter after only one day, that he had had enough of Disney World, okay to be fair we had been at the park at opening at 9:00am and we were still going at around 11:30pm. The next couple of days were much the same we tried to pack as much in as we could (okay I dragged Dave around most of it - but I know secretly that deep down Dave had a great time and that he enjoyed the rides as much as I did.

The Safari at Animal Kingdom was magnificent. To see the Lions, Giraffes, Rhinoceroses, Elephants, Hippos etc wandering around whilst travelling in a Jeep with no protection between us and the animals, it really did feel like you were in Africa.
The Fort Wilderness RV park was a great place to stay, the sites are very well maintained, there is a sophisticated bus system that take you from one end of the park to the other, we've got good use out of our bikes. here The park also has a couple of swimming pools, planned activities, speed boats, bass fishing, restaurants, horse riding and the list goes on. We were talking to one couple and their children and they have come to the park just to utilise all the facilities of the park and don't even go to Disney World.

30/05/2008 - 02/06/2008 -We still had one day left on our Disney passes to use -but it was time to go and see the Space Shuttle Launch, something that we were both looking forward to and one of the only things that we had actually planned. To witness this event was just spectacular and something that neither of us will ever forget. We were about 6 miles from the actual launch site (the closest you can get is about 3.9 miles and that's for the press, family and the command centre). From where we were standing (on the river front of the RV park) the sound of the launch was about 10 seconds behind the actual lift off. Everyone seemed to hold their breath for a few minutes and after it looked like everything was going well the crowd started to cheer and applauded - I ended up with goose bumps. We were told before the launch that - You see it, you hear it and then you feel it. It made the F1-11's at river fire look like mosquito squadren.

Whilst staying in this campground we found out what it must be like to go camping with the Eames's etc. There was this one tent that had air-conditioning, we just couldn't believe it. It was a box window type that had a stand build under it so it stood up on it's own accord and was cut into the fly screen of the tent. We have seen campers with their tents full of fridges, microwaves, toasters and of course being in the South their deep fryer's but this was the first one with an air-conditioned tent.

On Monday we went out to the Kennedy Space Centre to find out more about the Centre and to see the actual site where the Shuttle took off from. We really enjoyed learning more about the launch, the Space Centre and NASA - Dave was in his element and wanted to know how everything worked. We actually got to touch a piece of rock from both the moon and mars - whilst touching the actual rock wasn't that exciting - it just felt like a piece of slate, it was great to know that we had touched something that had come from so far away. Whilst at the Kennedy Space Centre we also realised why there was no one swimming in some of the beautiful lakes - Alligators were everywhere.

03/06/2008 - On our way back to Disney World we spent the night in an RV park in Kissimmee. When we arrived at the park we thought we had landed in the middle of Hicksville (it was close to Dusk). When I woke up and went for my walk (yep Dave was still in bed) I realised what a lovely little park this one was. I was walking along admiring all the wildlife I had come into contact with, horses, geese, turtles, cats, dogs, donkeys etc. when I came to one of the canals and yep there was this alligator only about 5 feet away from a fisherman. The alligator was just laying in the water watching the fisherman, who said that he is always there and if he gets too close he just hits him with his fishing rod to move him back a bit arghhhhh.

04/06/2008 - I got Dave out of bed early so we could get going early. The Animal Kingdom opens at 8:00am on Wednesday (for Resort guest only). I have our day planned we really only want to do a few rides. So we caught the Bus to Animal Kingdom - we went and did the Safari Ride again, from here we caught the bus to the Hollywood Studios to do the Rock N Roll Roller Coaster, this is one of the best Roller Coasters either of us have been on, the speed in which you start and go into the first loop is phenomenal, from here we caught the bus to the Transportation Centre and caught the Ferry to the Magic Kingdom were we did the Flume Ride, this flume ride is the steepest that I have every done and we were home by 2:00pm - Dave was very happy and has gone to his Cave. Dave is just like him Mum he can go to bed really late but getting out of bed early is not the easiest thing for him to do - I normally give him an hour or so before I even try to engage in a conversation. I'm more the other way around when I'm tired and it's after 10:30pm don't try and have an intelligent conversation with me...

30/04/2008 - 12/05/2008 - St Louis(MO) / Memphis(TN)

30/04/2008 - We booked Stubbie in for a few minor warranty fixes in the city of Terre Haute. Whilst Stubbie was in getting fixed we thought that we would go the movies - wrong they don't have the first session until 4:30pm. We needed to spend an extra night here as they still had some minor fixes to complete. Everything was fixed except the fact that the TV and Radio turn on whenever they want - seems Thomas (the name the Eames's gave our friendly ghost at Canyon House) has followed us here.

04/05/02008 - Today we headed for the Gateway Arch one of the icons of St Louis. The Arch is an interesting bit of engineering. A steel arch that stands 630' high with a trolley arrangement built into the centre of it that takes you to the viewing platform at the top - in what they call Trams. The trolley was basically a set of small drums which people were stuff into and each drum is attached to the pulley system. (It was like stuffing 5 people into a 88 gallon drum.) After the Arch and some lunch we went for the obligatory ride down the Mississippi which was bit like going up the dirty Brisbane river - now we know why they call it the Big Muddy.

05/05/2008 - We woke up this morning and decided to catch the local buses to the zoo. Well that was an experience, even though Dave is know getting used to travelling in public transport - I don't think he has done this since his Uni days. We were the only non African-Americans on the bus and on the streets. We had asked the driver were we needed to get off to catch the next bus and she told us that she would announce it for us. Well she did announce the stop for us - so off we got and headed to catch what we thought was the connecting bus (wrong) - unfortunately for us we were headed to a bus going in the wrong direction. The bus driver saw that we were headed in the wrong direction so she stopped the bus and yelled out to us were to go to catch the correct bus - we were very grateful. The zoo had Australia's national emblem. One emu plus a few Kangaroos. The zoo was very large with some animals that we had both never seen, it was well set out and we had a great morning just wandering around and it was free.

After the Zoo we headed off to find Blueberry Hill. Dave managed to find his thrill at Blueberry Hill. (Made famous because of the burgers.) An interesting bit of information at the the cafe was that Abbott and Costello did not make it big until they did the skit on "Who's on first." (If you have never head this then download it off the net - it is a priceless piece of history.) Blueberry Hill is a large Pub/Restaurant were apparently Chuck Berry still visits about once a month to sing.

Dave is really taking to retirement - After we left St Louis Dave said that we should try and slow down a bit - that we did St Louis a bit too quick.

06/05/2008 - We have certainly been improving with the packing up to hit the road. Today we were so proud all cupboards inside and outside had been shut properly, so took off with smiles on our face only to notice that after travelling a few hundred metres that we had left the front door open. We went to visit the Meramac Caves just outside St Louis. These Caves are the caves that the infamous Jesse James and his brother Frank used as one of their hideouts. This was something that Dave and I wanted to see because it was so close, but we didn't expect to enjoy it as much as what we did. Some of the formations inside the caves were just spectacular - however I still get confused on which is a Stalagmite and a Stalactite, I think I've got it now though Stalactite has a 'c' in it - so it comes down from the 'c'eiling.

08/05/2008 - We arrived at our RV park "Graceland/Memphis RV Park" to find out that we are virtually across the road to Graceland - another great bonus.

The King is not dead he is everywhere.... In Memphis they have one radio station that is dedicated to Elvis, they only play Elvis music all day.

09/05/2008 - So today we headed over to Graceland. We had a truly wonderful time - it was amazing to see just how 'The King' lived - we were disappointed that you didn't get to go upstairs to see the upstairs living areas. (They are always off limits to the public.) After we finished the tour of the house we went to what is called the Meditation Gardens, this is where Elvis, his mother and father, his paternal Grandmother (who outlived them all), and a memorial to his twin brother Jesse (who was still born) are all buried. Well it was amazing to see the emotions of so many people come out here -I had a lump in my throat standing in front of Elvis's grave and reading the inscription. Across from Graceland they have several museums of Elvis memorabilia (including two of his airplanes). We spent several hours watching old footage and reading the history of the era.

10/05/2008 - As we still have a few things to see in Memphis we decided to have a Rest Day. So I went up the office to check in for another two nights. Well the office advised me that there are strong storm warnings about with the possibility of Tornadoes, she then went into detail about the Alarm that goes off for the Tornadoes and where we are to go. No wonder everyone else is leaving the park, but hey not Dave and I we've just booked in for two more nights. So needless to say we are keeping an eye on the weather. We know understand while most other travellers are heading North not South. Nothing like travelling in what they call Tornado Alley.

So tonight we headed over to the Rock 'n Roll Cafe for a drink and some entertainment (an Elvis Impersonator). Well I was disappointed when we walked in and sat down I asked for a glass of chardonnay - guess what no wine only beer and Smirnoff Ice - Watermelon - so I did what anyone would do and ordered the Smirnoff, whilst Dave sat there and ordered Bud's - not happy Jan, it was just sooo sweet. The passion that the Americans have for their country is just unbelievable. The show stopped for a while as the impersonator welcomed back a soldier from his service in Iraq so of course everyone in the crowd gets up for a standing ovation that lasts for about 5 minutes, he then goes on to thank all the Vets etc which the crowd then applaud and cheer loudly. At the end of the show when he is singing his last song the American Flag drops down in the background - well the crowd erupts with another standing ovation. The singer did some really good impersonations and then some not so good impersonations, sometimes he looked more like Neil Diamond, but his enthusiasm and passion for Elvis Presley was unbelievable. In the crowd was the wife of Elvis's cousin who had lived in Gracelands for 4 years. We had an enjoyable night (whilst keeping an eye on the weather) and met a lovely Irish Couple who are travelling in celebration of their 25th wedding anniversary.

11/05/2008 - Well as you can probably tell we survived the night, sadly Tornadoes and severe storms did hit around us and about 21 people were killed. We got lots of wind, lightening and rain but no damage.

We started today's travels with a stop at Sun Studios the place were Elvis Presley recorded his first song. Elvis lied to get into the Studio to record his first single. He told the secretary Marion Keisker that it was his mother's birthday and that he really wanted to give her a record of him singing for her birthday - it wasn't even close to his mother's birthday. We listened to his first recording and it was very ordinary. Needless to say this didn't start his career it was another year until his career got started.

Sun Studios was also where other greats like Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and that era also recorded most of there records. We were able to stand in the actual recording studio that all these great artists made allot of the greatest hits. (The recording studio has not changed except for the electronics and it still functions as a live recording studio today.)

After Sun Studios we headed into Beale St (the place known for the Blues/ Jazz clubs). We went into BB Kings where we listened to a Blues Band play for about an hour, the lead guitarist was 87 and he was about to play for 5 hours. We have been use to seeing Australian Yellow Tail wine at nearly all the clubs / restaurants we have been to, but at BB Kings they have Alice White Wines (more Australian wine) - have a look at the photo.

After BB Kings we went to the Civil Rights Museum and visited the motel site that Martin Luther King was assassinated. (The Civil rights era was a very sad era in US history.)

12/05/2008 - Today we packed up and headed off to Nashville. Whilst we were glad to have stopped at Memphis and to see the sights, Memphis is not a city that we would go back to. Memphis seems really run down and this is one place that we didn't feel very safe.

For any of those competitive people out there, it's been two weeks since Dave and I started our bet on weight loss. The first week it was close but I managed to get Dave by .23%. Week two was a bit easier. I decided that last week was too close - so when I went and did the grocery shopping, I bought a few treats for Dave - he has no will power when it comes to chocolate. So on Friday when we weighed in I was a clear 1.8% in front. Now I'm not saying that we are losing much weight, but a least we are heading in the right direction - so it's 2 Nil.... and Dave is not a good loser. (Ross that means there has been no Apple Crisp).

13/04/2008 - 29/04/2008 - The Pope comes to visit

Dave has had control of the Blog for a while so unfortunately no Big Dave stories. But hey I got control for a while so here we go..... When we were in DC, we decided to take our passports into town (for extra id). Well Dave wanted to take in a separate Backpack that he would carry and look after the passports - he didn't trust me with them out in public - I think his comments were 'If you loose them - you will be lining up to get new ones' - okay so with the support of my husband I packed them in my handbag and off we went. I decided that Dave could look after the tickets for our tours and train/bus fares (not the brightest idea I've had - Dave being so good with details and the little things.) Anyway off we went - first stop of the Tour we get off the hop on hop off bus and have a look around - when we get back on the bus the tour operator asks us for the tickets - Dave goes into each pocket - but guess what they are not there. Luckily for us a lady on the same bus had picked up our tickets and handed them over, so they are now back in my wallet. Okay so after a long day of travelling and sightseeing we decide to head home. We get on the train successfully, then we go to get on the bus home and someone has now lost his bus ticket - so after we get one of the station masters attention and permission to go back into the train station and begin to search (luckily their train stations are immaculate) it wasn't long before we picked up the ticket, needless to say we had to wait for the next bus (Dave has not mentioned one word about me losing things or the passports - go figure.)

Travelling in the RV is really a great experience - better than we both thought. We are getting better prepared when we leave or enter a site - but it is still a bit of a comedy show. Today when we went to set up the site - we forgot how to extend the annexe - after a while of trial and error we finally got it extended and it looked like it should - time to celebrate - bring on Happy Hour. We are having many laughs and are obtaining many wonderful memories.


14/04/2008 - Today we headed into town in the afternoon to go to one of the shows at the Art and Space Museum and also to see the city at night. The city is a spectacular sight at night, seeing all the Monuments, Capital Hill etc all lit up. Dave and I both agreed that this is a great city and one we could both live in. The majority of the people are extremely friendly and helpful, you feel safe without feeling intimidated and the city is well planned out and very clean and their is always something going on.

15/04/2008 - Pope Benedict came to town to say hello so we decided to stay and go to the parade. We watched with great interest the pomp and ceremony on the White House lawn (21 Cannon salute) along with happy birthday. It was actually a bit disappointing how speedily he drove past us (we think this was a bit of an error) - because once he had passed us he slowed right down to something like Dave drives in the snow - so the security were able to keep up easily and walk beside the Pope mobile.
16/04/2008 - We spent the day pottering around. We also went to the Gym for the first time in a long long while - we think we may have been a bit keen and done a bit too much - tomorrow will tell.

17/04/2008 - And boy did it tell after we both fell out of bed, and crawled to the kitchen (only a few metres - the advantage of having a 32ft home) - the muscles and backs were extremely sore. We packed up and said goodbye to Washington DC and headed off to Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

18/04/2008 - We have had just a marvelous day. We spent the morning in Lancaster which is the oldest settlement of Amish people. (Remember the movie of Tim Allen (the tool man) and Kirsty Alley). Truly an inspiring religion. They only go to the eighth grade, they work on the land, they do not use electricity, they own farms and use mules and horses to plough the fields. They don't have cars (they use horse and buggy) and they are completely self sufficient. An interesting fact is the younger generation are not baptised into the church until around 20 years of age. Until then the boys can drive cars smoke and drink etc. Once married they have to give it all up.

They are just very friendly people who have no interest in the outside world. They do not look for recruits to their religion and the family is the absolute center piece of their world. Truly remarkable.

This afternoon we drove to Gettysburg where the famous Abraham Lincoln gave the famous Gettysburg Address. The place is full of battle fields and cemeteries which was once again very moving the way the Americans celebrate their history even though it is Americans killing Americans.

Tonight we decided to stay in an RV park in Gettysburg and it was just unbelievable the people that have got away for the weekend. When we drove into the park the line up was two lanes wide and there were about four rigs in each lane. There was a couple of people managing the line ups.

It's been great over the last few days we have actually been able to wear just one layer of clothing - so nice for a change not to feel and look like the Michelin Man - now I only look like one.

Another thing that we have realised is just how much we missed seeing greenery especially green grass - it has been really great to see something other snow or brown grass.

19/04/2008 - This morning we woke up and decided to go for a quick bike ride to try out our new bikes (the first bit of exercise either of us could face after out gym workout) before heading off to Pittsburgh. For my ironmen and bike riding friends at CorpTech I have a new found respect for the relationship you have with your Bike Seat. Also helmets over here in Pennsylvania (not sure on any other states) but helmets are not compulsory for anyone over the age of 8. Also I don't believe that when you ride a motor bike helmets are compulsory - because out of all the bike riders we saw today only about 20% were wearing helmets. Also another bit of useless information but which may be interesting (especially to my brother) is that only 18% of drivers wear seat belts.


20/04/2008 - Today we headed off to Monroe, Michigan just outside Detroit. When we arrived at the RV Park we noticed a Golf Course right next door and since the sun isn't going down until about 8:30pm we decided that we had plenty of time to get 18 holes in - so we hit of at around 4:00pm to my disgust I lost the bet with Dave who beat me on the last whole - I choked I 3 putted the 18th.


22/04/2008 - Today we visited the Ford Museum at Detroit. The museum was a lot bigger than what we expected. Not only did the Museum have many many cars incl. the Model T Ford, the museum also had the chair that Lincoln was shot at in the Ford Museum, the Bus that Rosa Park refused to give up her seat to a white man. After we finished at the museum we set off on our way to Chicago.

23-25/04/2008 - We arrived at the Chicago RV Park that we were going to be staying in for the next four days - and would you believe it the RV park was part of the Empress Casino. Could not believe my luck. After getting a few things sorted out we headed off to the Casino for a night out - well let me cut a long story short - Dave and I both had a win.

26/04/2008 - We headed into downtown Chicago to have a quick look around and get the feel for the city. Chicago is noted for it's tall buildings and windy streets and it lived up to both. Legend has it that they got to rebuild the city due to Catherine O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern and burnt the old city down. (Great Chiago fires -1871) and hence they had the opportunity and ability to rebuild the city and that they did. (Up, Up and Upwards...)

For lunch we stopped at a restaurant that was recommended to us - to try their famous Chicago's deep pan pizza. Well the Big Fella and I just ordered the medium size and all I can say is that we struggled, we couldn't even finish the pizza - believe it or not there was still two pieces left when we had finished. The Big Fella got through 4 pieces and I managed 2 pieces. There was just so much cheese on the top that neither of us felt like dinner. After the pizza we walked to the Sears Building (the tallest Bldg in the USA), where we were told that there was a 1 1/2 hour wait just to get to the video room - so we passed. We had also been told to go to the John Hancock building (96 floors) which is the next tallest bldg in Chicago.

27/04/2008 - Today we had an early start and got into town in time to go to the John Hancock Building. The view was absolutely spectacular and we got to see a really good view of Chicago. After a stop at the Hancock Building we headed off to see the Blue Man Group. They were really great. After the Blue Man Group we then headed off to the Navy Pier for an early dinner at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Restaurant. (Remember run Forrest run...). After a great day we headed for the train station - and for the first time we got lost and missed the 6:40pm train so we needed to wait for the 8:30pm train.

28/04/2008 - It was sad to say goodbye to Chicago - we really did enjoy the city and we both decided that though it would be just too busy and big to live there permanently - we could both go back and visit for a good couple of months. We headed off to Indianapolis, Indiana. Today Dave and I put ourselves on a diet - we have bets on who will loose the most % of weight - we are hoping that the competitive side of us will help us loose those few (okay more than a few) extra kilos.

29/04/2008 - We set off this morning to go and visit the Indy Race Track. Even though Dave and I are not into car racing - it was great to be able to drive around the whole track and understand the history of the 2.5 mile venue. The town was starting to gear up for the Indy 500 which was on at the end of May. Whilst the tickets to the event were very reasonable we decided it was time to move on.

01/04/2008 - 13/04/2008

02/04/2008 - This morning we found out that we couldn't insure our RV in NY state without a NY drivers licence. After much Internet research from Lisa, we managed to find a state that would allow us to register and insure our motor home with an out of state address. Finally we were able to Register and insure in Vermont.

03/04/2008 - Today we took ownership of our new motor home. We spent our first night at the dealers yard which gave us a chance to find out how to operate the motor home. The next morning we decided we knew enough and headed off down the highway. As I drove, Lisa was busy in the back closing cupboards and stuffing stuff back in so it wouldn't fall out again. Needless to say it was a bit of a comedy show. We made it through the first day even though we had to return back to Albany to collect our mobile phone. We spent our second night at a Flying J road house along with many other sophisticated RV'ers. It snowed during the night which tested out our furnace. All is well and we are now heading down the east coast looking for some warmer weather.

Surprisingly enough the motor home is very easy to drive and is extremely powerful. The only real difficulty is the width. When we get on tight roads it gets a bit scary however we are now managing to get ourselves around the shopping centres etc... I'm sure we will get smarter with our driving and directing - like not asking the height restrictions of a bridge after we've gone under it.

04/04/2008 - 07/04/2008 - We have spent these couple of days getting used to our new home and stocking the shelves.

08/04/2008 - We spent this day driving to Washington DC. We travelled over the longest bridge-tunnel structure in the world Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, whilst going over this bridge we noticed the speed signs have a maximum and a minimum speed. (Chesapeake is also the name of Brant's business back in Canada...) On the way we were learning about the history of the US. We have now called into a RV park that is fairly close to Washington DC city. After settling into the park we have given our motor home the name 'Stubbie' - what we thought was a large motor home (just over 32 feet) seems quite small in the park. You know how they say to have the worst house in the best street. I think RV parks allocate sites according to value of your motor home. We seem to be upper class however we are in the bottom end of upper class. Some people drive some amazing motor homes.

09/04/2008 - Today we headed off on a hop on hop off bus tour of Washington DC. Our first stop was the White House - we were bit disappointed that we couldn't get too close - but apparently you need to book about 3 months in advance. Our next stop was the Washington National Cathedral - St Peter and St Paul Protestant Episcopal Cathedral. Although this was not one of our planned stops - the bus tour advised us that this was worth seeing - so off we hoped. We were really glad that we did, the church was really interesting. The centre piece of one of the stoned glass windows was a piece of rock from the moon - representing an eye. Our next stop was the Arlington National Cemetery, the home to the grave sites of some of America's service men, women and their families including JFK his wife Jackie and their two young children. Also at the Cemetery is the grave of the unknown soldiers. At this sight they have a changing of the guard every 1/2 hour - this changing of the guard is done with absolute precision and includes the inspection of both uniform and gun. After the Cemetery tour we visited the National Air and Space Museum, one of the sights to see was the pod of Apollo II, this museum is dedicated to the many forms of flight and space exploration - unfortunately, due to time limits, we didn't get to see all that we wanted to see here - so we will be back.

10/04/2008 - Once again we were up early (Dave is struggling to get out of bed at 5:45am to catch the 6:45 bus) and heading of into the city. We decided we would like a bit of exercise so decided to do mostly walking. Our first stop was the Capitol Building, well the movies etc. that I've seen don't do this building justice, it really is an impressive and large piece of architecture. The building is guarded by many police some of which carry machine guns. Whilst there is a lot of security and police present - it isn't intimidating. After the Capitol we headed off to see some of the many monuments present in Washington DC. Our first was the Washington Monument built for George Washington other monuments included the World War II memorial, Korean War memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Lincoln memorial. As well as these memorial we were able to stand on the same spot that Martin Luther King Jr gave his famous speech 'I have a dream ....'. Some of these memorials made you stop and think about the number of men, women and children who have been killed in the wars. One that I loved was seeing the pool of reflection - this is were from Forest Gump - Jenny comes running through the pool to see Forest. Whilst other memorials are inspiring like the Lincoln memorial. From these memorials we headed to the Ford Theatre, this is the Theatre were Lincoln was shot, unfortunately this theatre was not open. We then crossed the street to the Petersen House, the house were Lincoln was pronounced dead. From here we headed to the Arts Museum to see some famous paintings from Da Vinci, Renoir and Monet. From here we headed to the Natural History Museum where we saw such items as the Hope Diamond, Dorothy's shoes (from the Wizard of Oz) and the original sign post used in MASH. We then headed back to the Air and Space Museum were we sat and had a coffee and our legs let us know that enough was enough.

11/04/2008 - 13/04/2008 - We have spent these couple of days enjoying the motor home and pottering around.

After looking back at the stress (and cold sores) and numerous discussions (that's what Dave likes to call them) and with the problems of the US Visa -we have decided that it was all worth while - we have learnt many things about travelling and Visa's and will be a lot more vigil next time we travel. To my surprise I have been interested in learning about the American History, it's a pity I didn't have this thirst for knowledge of history when I was back at school. We are having an absolutely fantastic time and are looking forward to seeing more of the States and then catching up with the Gantt family in Texas in June / July.