Have you heard that the weather has been rather bad in the US?! I expect so as two hurricanes have battered the south east. We are far away – up in Massachusetts – but Sunday dawned for our trip into Boston and the remnants of Harvey meant it chucked it down and was incredibly miserable. It was the England part of New England!

We caught the commuter train into the city to meet with Jenny and Martin. So lovely to see them – we did not stop talking all week. It is great to catch up on family stuff but also to hear about the burning questions – like how the first episode of Bake Off has been received?

So our arrival in Boston was far from ideal. It was wet, cold and miserable. For the first time in months we had jeans and boots on – yet by the evening we all had to change shoes and socks to get dry feet. Harvey decided to give everyone a drenching, but of course this was nothing compared to what it did to Houston or what Irma has done this week to Florida.

Because it was so wet our first stop was the Isabella Stewart Museum. To give you an idea of this museum, imagine a slightly mad rich woman at the start of the last century coming on a European tour and falling in love with Venice and all the art associated with the Renaissance. With sufficient funds she managed to buy up all sorts of things – paintings, church pews, tapestries, sculptures, furniture and even plates. She then commissioned for a Venetian pastiche palace to be built in Boston and put all these treasures into it.

I found it way too much – a sort of sweet shop of art. Instead of being amazing – the items detracted from one another as everything was competing for your eye. Without any logical curation, it just seemed all too much. It was packed out due to the inclement weather outside and was very gloomy to protect the objects d’art. Jenny and Martin’s jet lag really started to kick in about 5pm, so we left there and went for a wander whereupon the heavens opened again. We sheltered in a bar and subsequently after drying out a bit went to a lovely restaurant near where they were staying in South End.

Their place was great. A third-floor apartment in an area of red brick mansion blocks – not unlike Little Venice. A very trendy, urban neighbourhood. Matt and I – in need of facilities, checked into the Sheraton, the décor there was rather different – Abu Dhabi in 1979 I believe was the look that they were going for – but of course for us being outside of Reg it was wonderful to have a huge bed, the gym and a deluxe bathroom.

Luckily the next day dawned bright and clear and we hit the streets starting off with the Freedom Trail which is a series of red bricks set into the pavement that handily loop around all the must see historical sites. We also saw a trade union march which added to the excitement.

On the route, we saw the Cheers bar but as we all know it was really filmed on a studio lot in LA so no point in going in and it was too early to have a drink.

The trail was excellent and we ended up at the large market in the centre of Boston where we had some lunch and saw the excellent Holocaust memorial as we immediately exited. The path takes you through the Italian area, Paul Revere’s house and also the North Street church which is where the lamps were shone to warn the Minutemen that the British were coming (for those that remember Matt’s blog last week!). We had a little sit down by the river as it was rather lovely.

Another neighbourhood restaurant for dinner and as it was Labor Day there were a lot of people ending their summer holidays being out and about and no doubt dreading work the next day. Poor things!

Tuesday, we walked to the ferry via the Tea Party memorial and museum. Sadly very commercial and expensive to get in – nearly thirty bucks each – so we decided against it. But we went over to Charlestown where we saw the USS Constitution instead. As it is still a current US naval ship we had to produce photo ID to go aboard. Sadly, Jenny and Martin did not have their passports with them so Matt and I went on to check it out. Very impressive as she has been restored to such a degree that she can still sail, unlike the Victory. This ship was the flagship of the US navy and fought against the British and sank one of our ships… cheeky upstarts!

Also on Charlestown side of the harbour is the Bunker Hill Memorial which was too steep to climb on such a hot day, so like the old people we are – we just had a nice sit down and looked at it!

(I should not include food in these blogs, but just so you know we also had a delicious pizza on the other side of the water!)

Wednesday was grey again and we needed to leave with Jenny and Martin to get back to Reg by noon. We checked out and boarded the commuter train. As we approached the campsite the weather got worse and worse – so that we had to shelter in Reg with a cup of tea whilst we had a thunderstorm. Luckily it cleared and we set off for Salem with our guests on board.

Weird sensation as I sat in the back with Jenny and I can report that Reg is quite noisy when in transit. I am not sure Jenny would have enjoyed the 22,000 miles we have now done sitting at the table – but after an hour we got to the site.

We stayed on Winter Island, just outside of Salem. A pretty grim day and not the best place we have visited on this trip. Jenny and Martin are just starting out on plans to get a camper of their own and I suspect that we may have put them off with this 24 hours…

The site was a harbour one, so actually quite nice for views – little yachts and a headland on both sides to look at – but we had the loudest, drunkest neighbour that we have had all trip who did not go to sleep I think until about 2am. Coupled with torrential rain again and jet lag – I am not sure any of us got any sleep that night.

Salem was disappointing. We missed the official visitor centre, which was regrettable but a lot of the witch history seemed very commercial and a bit naff. The streets were red block paving and Jenny said it was like Guildford on a rainy afternoon. Apologies for that slur Surrey readers as I think that comment is not fair to Guildford – Salem was not nearly as nice as your lovely town – at least you have a hill!

Jenny and Martin left us on Thursday morning and got the train back to Boston. We set off for Salisbury Beach which is right on the border between Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Typically, the sun shone for the next three days and we had a great time. We also slept well without any drunken idiots beside us. How sad that they missed how great the camping can be… oh well never mind.

Salisbury Beach was rather lovely as you will see from the photos and it broke our journey nicely on the way up to Maine.

Saturday was a special treat as we went to Bradbury State Mountain Park. Who would have thought that there would be a park named after the Bradbury’s! As you got into the Isabella Stewart Museum for free if your name was Isabella we hoped that this might work for the Bradbury State Park – but the ranger was not having any of that!

Bradbury Mountain was really more of a hill than a mountain, only being 500 feet above sea level – but hey we have to start somewhere!

It was a varied and fun week. Super to see Jenny and Martin but always when people leave it makes us feel a bit sad. This did not last though as on Sunday we arrived at the house in Maine which we have rented with Gerry and Donna – but Matt will tell you all about that next week.

The Beans in Boston!

North Church

Tea Party ship

USS Constitution

Salem….why?

Salisbury Beach

Sunset at Salisbury

More sunset at Salisbury

Our very own park…

Cheers!

Aboard the ferry

A

From Providence, we drove south to Newport, I’ve never been to its Welsh counterpart and can only say if it is only half as attractive as its Rhode Island namesake it must be pretty spectacular as Newport Rhode Island has very beautiful scenery, great architecture and interesting history.  The island was developed for wealthy tourists in the late 19^th and early 20^th and when they say wealthy they mean Vanderbilt wealthy.  The ‘Commodore’ left $100 million dollars to his children on his death in 1877, by some calculations it was the equivalent of $185 billion in today’s money.  Two grandsons both built ‘cottages’ in Newport, we visited The Marble House built by William Vanderbilt for $11 million for his wife, Alva in 1892.  Amazing house with only six bedrooms for the family (they don’t count the rooms for the 23 servants), built in Italian marble and furnished with European art bought by Alva on a shopping trip to Europe that was quite something else.  This for a house they only spent around six weeks a year living in.

Alex gets ideas for our next home

We cycled along Bellevue Road where this mansion and dozens of others are located, many still privately owned but several now open to the public.  Really amazing display of wealth and power.  William Vanderbilt’s son, David, won the America’s cup three times while William’s daughter, Consuelo, married the 9^th Duke of Marlborough which her mother bullied her into.

The rest of Newport has several historic places and very pretty houses alongside the mansions on Bellevue and with a history of sailing which continues with some enormous racing yachts in the harbour.

On Tuesday we got up early and cycled all of the way around Bellevue and then Ocean Drive, a very scenic route thankfully not too hilly as it took us an hour and an half to complete.  We drove on to Cape Cod to spend the next three days in another location of rich Americans and history. 

Many of the towns on Cape Cod are named after where the early Pilgrims originated and we went to Sandwich (strangely twinned with Sandwich in Kent) for lunch.  Unfortunately, while a pretty little town it wasn’t a great lunch and not that interesting a town. 

Our night was disturbed by rain and the next day we spent much of it cooped up inside Reg and only set off to visit Provincetown around 4pm.  The journey took longer than expected and we rushed to get to the Pilgrim Monument before our guidebook said it closed at 5pm, hmmm … seems the guidebook was wrong and it was open until 6pm.  We climbed up the tower built to commemorate the first landing of the Mayflower’s pilgrims on American soil, finding no easily available fresh water they pushed off again to what would become Plymouth and the founding of modern America.  One minor point is they discovered a cache of corn seeds, most likely buried by native Americans for future planting, which they promptly stole.  Bit concerned about the moral foundations of the country already!

They like an erection in Provincetown

Original

Downtown Provincetown

After the monument, we walked down into Provincetown itself where we encountered bears of a completely different nature to those in Yellowstone and Yosemite!  Seems Provincetown is the favoured holiday destination for the New England gay community and it was teeming (if that is a good collective term for them) with gay men.  There were elegant drag queens, a jeep load of younger men promoting their review show (one of whom said to Alex they’d show her husband a good time!) and a lot of older men too.  We went to dinner but declined the later enticements of Provincetown and returned tired after a long drive to our campsite.

Thursday, we went to Martha’s Vineyard on our bikes.  We caught the ferry across from Woods Hole to Oak Bluffs.  They operate two large vehicle ferries and the Thompsons were crammed next to a number of posher (for a pair of Walmart bikes) bicycles and four by four vehicles for the 45 minute journey.  Being the US, there was a restaurant serving burgers and refreshments for the journey.

We cycled from Oak Bluffs to Edgartown along the seashore, a pretty cycle in lovely sunshine and flat.  Edgartown’s large houses were built for the captains of the large whaling fleet that used to operate out of the town, on one of which Herman Melville worked.  We went to the Sea Shanty restaurant for lunch where Alex had the New England speciality Lobster Roll, basically lobster mayonnaise in a white hot dog bun, and we both had a few beers while watching the pleasure craft in the harbour and the small car ferry shuttling backwards and forwards. 

After lunch, we walked around the town where we saw the fashion sight of the holiday and one that will give me nightmares for years to come.  There was an older lady walking down the street with a Zimmer frame who was wearing white cut-off jeans over her veined legs, I shudder at the thought even now.

Oak Bluffs was interesting for its estate of small wooden holiday cottages that were built for religious revival meeting visitors surrounding a large ‘temple’ with religious message exhorting the faithful. 

Sea Shanty anyone?

Oak Bluffs

Sunset in Woods Hole

Provincetown and Martha’s Vineyard were both great places to visit and rescued the area for us after some disappointment with the busy narrow roads that weren’t suited to Reg’s serene progression.

Friday, we drove to the Boston Minuteman Campground, while not being particularly near Boston, it was convenient for a train to Boston.  We would be leaving Reg parked up here while we went downtown.  Firstly, though we went to investigate the Minuteman part of the campgrounds name.

On Saturday, we went to the Minuteman National Historic Park in nearby Lexington.  It’s situated along what is known as Battle Road, this was the stretch of road between Boston and Concord Massachusetts where the first engagement occurred between what would become the United States forces and the British colonial forces.  It was in Concord the Minute Men, so called because they could be ready at a minute’s notice to resist British attempts to suppress the rebellion, fired upon the Welch Dragoons, this engagement led to a retreat to Boston and over 200 casualties for the British forces.  We learnt about Paul Revere’s ride from Boston to warn the local militia men of the British departure from their barracks and of the consequent skirmishing between the two sides.  At the end of the day the US would have 4,000 men against 1,700 British troops and would start the siege of Boston.  Washington would arrive to take command shortly after and the rest is history.

It was a really interesting introduction to the war and we walked along the route the soldiers took and met two park rangers dressed as early US patriot militiamen who gave us more insight into the day and its consequences.

More history to follow in the next instalment of Alex and Matts’ adventures in the United States

M

When Matt left you last, we were recovering from our weekend in New York… but Monday dawned and we were up with the lark to get over to Long Island to meet Michelle and John, our new pals who we had met in January on our snorkelling trip in the Florida Keys.

Sometimes on campsites as you can imagine there are a few permanent residents who we see setting off for work or coming back at night. Last Monday we must have looked the same as we took the 8am train back to Grand Central with all the other commuters. Lucky for us that instead of suits and shirts our luggage consisted of bikinis and swimming trunks!

We dashed across New York City (still loving it) and got to Penn Station where the Long Island Rail Road sets off from and took the train to Babylon station where Michelle came and picked us up. They will be reading this blog, so I want them to turn away now to spare their blushes – but we had the most fantastic time and they made us so welcome. Bearing in mind we have spent a limited time together previously and only been able to keep in touch with emails over the last few months, they were delightful company and we never stopped laughing or talking all the time we were with them.

They live on Long Island but have a motor boat which we loaded up with the cooler and our bags and set off across Great South Bay to get to their holiday home on Fire Island. Wonderful to be on the water with the wind blowing our hair (well maybe not so much for Matt!) whilst we sped under the road bridge and past the lighthouse which used to mark the end of Fire Island but is now five miles along the coast as the sand barrier that is Fire Island has repositioned itself.

Ocean Bay is amazing. We came into the port, moored the boat and then walked to the house. There are no cars on this part of Fire Island – it is a bit like a festival in that things are carried on trollies and people are on foot or pushbikes. As it is America it is still a grid, but one of sandy paths making their way down to the ocean with the loveliest wooden houses and gardens along the route. It was a beautiful place and Matt and I were thrilled to be part of it for a few days as we would never have got there in Reg!

Monday was the day of the eclipse in the US so we set off for the beach to see if it would go dark. Rather like our 1999 experience, New York was not on the path of totality so although the sun clearly had a bite out of it from the moon (which we could see with the special glasses) in general it only went a bit like twilight between 2 and 3pm.

The beach on Fire Island was superb. Sandy and very strictly policed (no eating or litter at all – we did a see a cop on the beach in full uniform and armed of course!) with the waves of the Atlantic rolling in, but it was warm enough and safe enough on our first couple of days for people to swim. If not safe enough, of course as this is the US there are also the Baywatch lifeguards to help. They do blow their whistles a lot – and when you first sit down you do half expect Pamela Anderson or the Hoff to come running along the beach carrying that stupid float. After a while you get pretty blasé and do not even notice people trying to drown themselves!!

Monday night Michelle and John took us to a great bar on the harbour for fresh lobster. Matt and I were completely cack handed getting it out of its shell but to say it was fresh was an understatement – it was delicious and came with some really tasty garlicy potatoes and corn on the cob.

After a few drinks, we retired inside and John and Matt played some pool. I have never known that Matt was such a hot shot and couple of times John was worried by the left handed, odd eyed genius that is my darling husband – until Matt sabotaged his own efforts by throwing in a few foul shots. John won the contest but maybe this will be continued… The music was excellent in the bar and it rounded off a perfect day.

Michelle and John

Cool hand Bradbury…

Tuesday, we started off after a lovely breakfast in the garden with a cycle ride around this part of the island. Another new skill for Matt and me to master were the bikes without brakes. Poor B and Tim had had these in Yosemite and I do not think I had appreciated what a knack it is to stop these things! You have to peddle backwards to come to a stop. We made it around the island and no one was hurt. John thought it was very amusing that at nearly fifty we had never ridden a beach cruiser before – but Matt stressed we have too many hills at home for these bikes to be safe. I think we got away with it!

Tuesday afternoon Matt and I walked along the beach to the actual National Seashore part of Fire Island. We love a national park as you all know by now – but the sunken forest which lies in the dunes was full of biting things which we did not love quite so much. Nonetheless the walk along the beach was perfect. Windy, salty, loads of shorebirds and gulls and crashing waves. Definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

Tuesday, we had a lovely meal at the house and Michelle supplied frozen watermelon margaritas. Lethal but we behaved ourselves and they were absolutely delicious.

On Wednesday, we went off for the beach again until it was home time. The waves were magnificent as the wind was coming from the north so really making them crash onto the beach. The whistle was blowing a lot that day and there was a ban on swimming.

We set off on the boat back to Long Island early afternoon. John let me have a go steering and I managed to avoid the bridge and oncoming traffic – but let him take over for the docking in their boat house at the end of their garden.

Sad to say our farewells but we might meet again in Nashville in the autumn and of course when we fly back from JFK in December we will be sure to see Michelle and John again then. They are only friends from this year as they were the nicest, youngest and most fun people to be with whilst camping. We have had some great chats about Trump, Brexit, the Queen – you name it, we have compared notes. Also, a lot of geeky camping talk as who else would understand about poo pipes and grey water?

So back on the Long Island Rail Road we heard from Sarah and Phil that they were in New York. Sarah used to work with Matt in Sydney at Hewlett Packard. They came and met us at Penn Station. It seemed things could not get any more exciting – Hanna, Michelle and John and now Sarah and Phil who because they live in New Zealand now we have not seen for a few years. We had a great catch up and met with their friends Phil and Joyti who were meeting Sarah and Phil in New York to celebrate their 50th birthdays. We had a super dinner in the Breslin and we dragged ourselves off to get our train to Croton to get back to Reg.

Seeing Sarah and Phil was so strange in the middle of NYC and completely unexpected as we had no idea that we would all be there are the same time. It was a special moment as we could have tried to plan it and it may not have worked out, but as it was it felt like we had seen them just last week the way that it does with good pals.

On the train back to Croton we struggled to stay awake, now with the tired and emotional commuters, but still a little sandy and salty no doubt compared to some of them. Reg was fine – covered in leaves and bit spidery on the outside but all secure and dry this week!

Thursday was a boring day of being back to reality. We washed, shopped and drove through Connecticut to get to next site. The traffic is very different in New England to other places we have driven. The roads are narrower and bendy. The drivers are European in that they are impatient and like undertaking. In our slightly jaded state on Thursday we managed to drive under a 10ft 8inch bridge which luckily could not have been labelled correctly as otherwise we have no roof! Thank goodness, we did not start our trip here as it like last November all over again – we are having to really concentrate in Reg to get him from A to B. I think if we had started here we would have given up as you have to have eyes in the back of your head. We went on an RV forum to try and get the best sat nav for RV’s to avoid low bridges after the Thursday incident and lots of people said do not drive an RV in New England – hire a car and stay in motels!!

Anyway, we camped in Mystic, Connecticut on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. What a charming place which will be known to you all from the Julia Roberts film Mystic Pizza. We explored the historic seaport which is a bit like Greenwich with the Cutty Sark – i.e. they have four tall ships which are preserved complete with rigging and sails. Men and women were climbing up and furling and unfurling these sails whilst singing shanties at the same time. There were also historic buildings creating what the dockyard would have been like in the middle of the nineteenth century. Sounds naff but it was well done.

After all that maritime information, we wanted to whet our whistles so we cycled on into town and found a great place – Red 36 in the modern harbour. Saturday night, sun setting, yachts in the harbour and most importantly yachties getting drunk – completely perfect. We had a couple of beers and some delicious lobster fritters to take the edge off. Cycled back – all uphill, but worth it.

Sunday, we left Mystic and headed into Rhode Island. We have done two things in this tiny, tiny state – the smallest for you geographers out there – Providence the capital and Newport home of the Americas Cup. Matt will tell you about Newport next week so here are the highlights of Providence.

Everywhere we went we could see Roger Williams this, Roger Williams that and we sadly had absolutely no idea who this man was. We now feel terrible for our ignorance as he is clearly a bit of a good egg!

British born he came to Massachusetts in 1631 but quickly fell foul of everyone as he disputed the closeness of the church and the state and believed that charters should not be used to take land off Native Americans. Way too forward thinking for those times – so to cut a long story short he founded a new colony in Providence. His ideas of the church not being part of the state apparatus are the basis for what Jefferson enshrined in the US constitution over a hundred years later. So, he was a complete visionary. Women too were given land in the new colony – so a bit of a hero it seems.

Aside from Roger, Providence had wonderful buildings to wander around. We did a self-guided walking tour which also took in Brown University which is an Ivy League one and the capitol building, but called the State House in Rhode Island. As ever one minute we were walking in streets of historic buildings, all built of timber, painted different colours – charming and elegant – then quite quickly we were back into modern day America and some pretty run-down neighbourhoods. Interesting that even in a state with only one million people there seems to still be such inequality.

We had a wonderful week. Thank you to Michelle and John. Great to see Sarah and Phil and thank you for letting us gate crash your trip. We have survived low bridges, late night trains and our first encounter with New York City this trip – onward and upward to Boston and Jenny and Martin’s arrival.
A x

We drove 1,600 miles last week across America – along the old Route 66 as best we could – or the Mother Road as it is called and we saw some interesting things… but first I have to announce that our site has been contaminated with FAKE NEWS!

Last Sunday we were not in Palm Springs as the bearded correspondent reported, but in fact we were in Indio which is a separate town – near Palm Springs, but not Palm Springs. I make this correction as it was only when we were driving out of town we realised ourselves. Who would have thought FAKE NEWS could affect us too?!

Day 1 – California to Arizona – 289 miles
So, starting from Indio where we had camped after the Joshua Tree, day one dawned incredibly hot. We managed to do our run in the morning, I have no idea how as you could hardly step out of Reg’s cool AC interior without breaking into a sweat or ‘swimmers’ as we like to call it when your hair drips on to your shoulders in a really attractive way.

We had a rota for driving, snacks prepared and drinks lined up. What we should maybe have had was a full tank of petrol… So, we set off into the desert stretch at the bottom of the Joshua Tree. As we were driving along Matt announced that the petrol light was on and he thought there might be a town nearby. Well I looked out of the window and just saw complete wilderness. We had no phone signal and it was baking. We were rather worried until the phone signal came back and learnt that we had 50 miles to the nearest garage with about 50 miles worth of petrol in the tank. We made it thank goodness but it was a bit scary for a while. It just shows how silly little mistakes can put you in difficult situations. We turned the AC off to preserve fuel as we drove along so as well as sweating, rather like a management exercise we both came up with emergency plans. Matt was going to hitch and I was going to cycle to get help. Luckily the garage appeared on the horizon and we were saved. Not the best start!

That night we stayed in Seligman which is in Arizona and is on Route 66. Funnily enough we had been here before on another trip so it was fun to see all the Mother Road memorabilia (or for that read a lot of tat). The Arizona/California stretch of the road is lovely – (maybe we did not appreciate it enough as now we have just driven through the flattest parts in Illinois and Indiana). It has gorgeous hills and climbs for Reg to keep him match fit.

We also that night borrowed a DVD from the site – Jackie – which was excellent we thought.

Day 2 – Arizona into New Mexico – 254 miles
Started the day with a cycle ride from the campsite at Seligman up Route 66 – the quiet part. The actual road was decommissioned in the 1980’s but the I-40 runs basically beside the old road – so it is great to cycle and some states have preserved it very well. Others not so well. One town has utilised part of it as the runway for their municipal airport!

Luckily not so eventful as day one in terms of dramas, but again more amazing scenery. We drove through Albuquerque, but where last time we went up to Santa Fe and had all our adventures in Georgia O’Keeffe land – this time we stayed lower and kept heading east.

We stopped for lunch at the Petrified Forest where we had visited in April. It was weird being back to the same spot having now driven and seen so much. We had a little reminisce and read our diary entries for the Petrified Forest last time around. I can hardly read my own writing now, so in a year or so it will be complete gibberish!

That night we stayed in Gallup, but were too far out of town to cycle or walk into the El Rancho hotel which is the famous thing to see. The last thing we felt like was to drive into town and of course we had lost one hour due to now being on mountain time.

Day 3 – New Mexico – 312 miles
Set off and had a coffee at El Rancho as we were curious to see what the fuss was about. It was a very popular place on Route 66 back in the day and just about every Hollywood star has stayed and left a framed signed photograph which is in the lobby. I saw a few favourites – Doris Day, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn and of course people like John Wayne. It was naff but fun.

Back on the road and New Mexico is huge so we spent all day within its borders. As the fifth largest state in terms of land area it has great driving views. Cliffs, burnt red hills, green plains and more climbs for Reg up and down. Very good roads too in the west which we appreciate as it keeps the rattling to a minimum.

That night we stayed in Tucumari which was a rather sad Route 66 town. Very run down – the old neon signs looking a bit tragic but the town is surrounded by farmland so a few birds and lovely trees to keep us happy.

Day 4 – New Mexico – Texas – Oklahoma – 265 miles
Journey all going to plan so far – so we made it to Texas for lunch, through Amarillo. This drive is across the very top or panhandle of Texas. Not the most attractive part at all – huge wind farms – literally as far as you can see and also we passed the smelliest cattle feed lot ever recorded. The smell was still with us 20 miles further down the road!

We pushed on that afternoon and went into Oklahoma. A new state for us both we always try to photograph the sign and record the moment. We also have at this stage I think passed 20,000 miles on the clock. Oklahoma were marked down for not having a fancy sign welcoming us, so will be off our Christmas card list this year!

Our site was beside a lake so despite the appalling humidity we set off for a trek around it. After nearly two hours involving some trespassing, a hurdle over a crash barrier, running beside the interstate we did finally get back to Reg. Not sure Matt is so pleased that I like to do my step target despite us being on the road!

That night we were off to bed and noticed a lot of lightening on the horizon and felt a bit sorry for a man in a tent on a motorcycle in case it might rain. Two hours later we were woken up by the worst storm I have ever seen. The thunder was directly overhead, the rain torrential and it even had winds gusting up to 50mph! No idea what happened to the man in the tent – but hope he is alive somewhere.

The storm went on and on. Matt described it as a male storm. Just when the rain started to slow down to a dribble it then started up again! At 2.30am and after we had discovered a leak in Reg on my side of the bed we were getting quite fed up with it. I think that night we possibly had about two hours sleep – but it was a spectacle.

Day 5 – Oklahoma City – 107 miles
We planned to spend Friday night in OKC as they say, so had time today to have a proper lunch which we did in a town called El Reno. Loads of Route 66 places to eat and stopover, but we chose Sid’s Diner as advised by our Moons guidebook.

It was burgers, fries and shakes. Hearty portions and we sat at the counter. Proper Americana and the experience stayed with me all afternoon as my insides struggled to digest the onion burger – but it was a treat of sorts. We also saw two wind turbine blades loaded on the longest truck/trailer vehicles you have ever seen being driven through the town. Not sure that was a good idea for the drivers, but we felt a bit cocky about our prowess with Reg as we set off to OKC.

We arrived at our site which had been completely destroyed by a tornado in 2011. At this campsite as well as showing you where the showers are they pointed out four underground bunkers in case it happens again! America has serious weather and it makes us nervous.

We went into the city and visited the Oklahoma state museum which I thought was excellent and then the capitol building. By this time, we are very hot and bothered so we went into the Brickworks part of town which is the trendy bit with all the breweries.
We went and checked four of the bars and can confirm that they did indeed sell beer.

One had live music – a blues band who were keen to tell us that they had once played at Dingwall’s. Another bar had some baseball on which we got a bit into as the Yankees defeated the Red Sox at the very end of the game. It was really quite exciting as we have to practice the rules all the time. It is a little more interactive than it sounds!

Day 6 – Oklahoma City – Bartlesville – 155 miles
Oh dear the day of a hangover and jobs to do. The rain had caught us up and it was torrential. Never mind the dust bowl – Oklahoma had the worst rain we have seen in months. We did washing and shopping and made our way to Bartlesville which is in northern Oklahoma. A detour as we wanted to see Price Tower, which we did on Sunday. We missed out Tulsa as the weather was so bad.

Bartlesville had been suggested as the best small town in Oklahoma, but please don’t be fooled into thinking you need to go. It was incredibly quiet on Saturday night and despite walking all over it between dusk and 10pm we officially could not find any atmosphere! We retired back to Reg with our lingering hangovers and watched a DVD instead.

Day 7 – Oklahoma – Kansas – Missouri – 243 miles
Price Tower is a Frank Lloyd Wright building. In fact, it is his only ‘skyscraper’ and he built it for the Price family who owned an oil pipeline business in Bartlesville as well as doing their country estate which is not open to the public. Bartlesville apart from being a bit dull is a serious oil town. Frank Phillips found oil there in the 1910’s and made a fortune becoming Phillips 66, who have now merged with Conoco.

At Price Tower, we had a guided tour and it was excellent as these things are. We paused to really look at the concrete, the windows, the ‘tangle of angles’ as the building is affectionately known. It is very impressive in design terms but a complete white elephant to live, work or occupy. The Price family have given it back to the people as I think the upkeep is so high, and it has a boutique hotel operating on some of the floors – which would be an interesting place to stay one time. The Tower was a complete nightmare in terms of what it was meant to be at the time which was a mixed-use HQ for the Price family. The flats were too expensive for tenants – with only three having ever been occupied. It was great to see though and a welcome distraction from the road.

After the tour and late in the afternoon we took a little detour ourselves off the Interstate and up to Kansas – just so we could see it. No sign of the ‘Wizard of Oz’ but it looked just like that. Huge corn fields and small towns.

We drove into Missouri and were hit with more terrible weather but camped up the night in a place called Waynesville. I have no idea who that is in honour of…? Rooney or Sleep – take your pick.

So, we covered the miles, saw some great things and survived a desert, a thunderstorm and torrential rains. Matt will update you as to how this week is going in due course…

A x

PS we could also have compiled a soundtrack this week:
Aside from Route 66 itself we suggest the following:
Albuquerque – Prefab Sprout
Amarillo – Tony Christie
Twenty-Four Hours From Tulsa – Gene Pitney
Oklahoma – Howard Keel (?)
Lebanon – The Human League (small town in Oklahoma)
But we never made it to Wichita… too far north!

As befits California we had a bit of a laid-back week, with only one visit to a National Park the whole time.  We wanted sun, sea and sand this week so we drove south, inland unfortunately owing to the landslides along California Highway 1, then to Oceano just south of San Luis Obispo.  We stayed in the public campground just up from the beach which was the busiest location we have yet seen for ATV’s (all terrain vehicles) with the beach used as not just a road but a campsite for dozens of RV’s that were literally parked on the beach.  Several looked as though they would be overwhelmed by the tide when it came it, we can only assume they were all still there the next morning as there were no emergency sirens in the night.

From Oceano we continued southward and found a campsite in Ventura Beach, between Santa Barbara and Malibu.  They had upped their prices slightly because the Ventura County fair was on, however the $86 a night was still far cheaper than the $170 for one in Malibu we saw.  We settled in for three nights but chose not to see Huey Lewis and the News nor KC and the Sunshine band who were headlining the fair. 

We both really loved Ventura, the beaches were sandy the sun was shining and you could watch hundreds of surfers waiting patiently to catch a wave.   Downtown was walkable from our site and we had fish tacos on the pier, rode our bikes along Highway 1, and lay on the beach reading our kindles and simply relaxing for the time we were there.

On Friday we drove from Ventura, via a tyre shop to replace yet another worn tyre, to Temecula an area of wineries south east of LA.  OK, we should have known, however we were on the road at 2pm and the traffic around LA was dreadful, apologies to Craig but why does anyone want to live in a traffic jam?  We took four hours forty five minutes to go 160 miles, along four, five and six lane freeways, all clogged with traffic.

By the time we reached our campsite at Lake Skinner Park we were tired and fed up.  Thankfully Sally came along on Saturday to give us the excuse to go wine tasting down the road, where we had lunch at Falkner Winery.  Lovely setting overlooking their vineyards, and their wares were satisfactory, particularly the Viognier from their own estate.  The rest of the diners seemed to be predominantly brides towing their prospective grooms around for viewings and a couple of the quietest hen parties we’ve ever seen.   It was lovely to catch up with Sally, to hear about her girls and how they’re both doing and to commiserate on the loss of her mother.

We woke this morning slightly sore headed, particularly those who had a white Russian before going to bed, and set off towards New York on our race across the continent.  It’s not such a race, however, that we can’t stop for a National Park and en-route was the Joshua Tree.  We drove to the visitor centre at the north entrance to be greeted by 100 degree Fahrenheit and posters of a couple in their early 20’s who are missing from the 28^th July.   They still haven’t been found and hope is running out for their fate unfortunately.

With this in mind we asked the ranger about the walk we had intended to do, she was wary to put it lightly as it is three miles with a 1,000 foot elevation and the time was around mid-day.  So, we decided to follow her advice and do several shorter walks and leave the longer one for a day in the future.  The park is famous for its Joshua Trees which are Yucca trees rather than cactus, there are thousands across the high dry plains in the norther section where the Mojave desert meets the Sonoran desert.  Nope couldn’t tell the difference myself apart from the Joshuas stop suddenly and give way to cactus for as far as the eye can see.

The park includes another striking feature in the rock formations created underground and then pushed to the surface by volcanic activity around 10,000 years ago.  The rocks are fractured and some appear in shapes reminiscent of animal and human forms, one such is Skull Rock which looks like Homer Simpson’s skull would I think.  It’s another example of the varied natural beauty of North America and we were both really happy we took the time to have a look.

We left the park and have parked in Palm Springs, eerily the park is really empty as this is their down season as its too hot, most people come in the winter as summers are generally too hot.  Tomorrow we start in earnest on our trip across the continent with a 300 mile drive to Arizona.

 M

Hi all, this is a GoPro video we took as we cycled through the giant redwood forest in North West California.  They are awe inspiring for their size and there is an untarmacked road that you can drive along and we cycled that takes you through them.  Also, amusingly for those who enjoy schadenfreude there is a clip of a large ‘truck’ grounding at the end of the film.

Last Monday dawned bright and warm as you would expect in California in July, but to be truthful it was boiling hot – never below the mid-nineties I would say all the time we were in Davis with B and Tim, Sophie and Ollie. What better way to start the week than a little trip to San Fran?

The Wilkos drove to the city, whilst Matt and I caught the Amtrak which is way easier than negotiating Reg over the Golden Gate Bridge. As with all public transport there were some issues – i.e. the first train that we planned to get was cancelled and the next one was two hours later – but we had a lovely coffee and pastry in Davis whilst we waited. As a university town Davis was very good for coffee shops with Wi-Fi and I took some photos of their cabinets for cakes – ready for Al’s Café when I am back!

We met up with the others in San Fran by the middle of the afternoon. The train journey was fun – who doesn’t like a double decker train as the views are so much better and it seemed to hug the coast as we approached the city. We had booked a hotel at Fisherman’s Wharf so we all met up and went for a wander around that area. The sea lions on the pier looked enormous and were very funny making that honking noise. I must say after a week of drinking and eating with B & Tim I feel that I might resemble one!

We had a late lunch and then set off to show Ollie and Sophie the trolley buses. I am not sure that they could believe them – they are incredibly exciting and dangerous. Matt and I had forgotten how exhilarating it is to be on something about a hundred years old, operated by someone who looks as old as the bus, with just one handle, up and down those huge hills! Then when you want to get on or off you have to brave the oncoming traffic!

The reason for being in San Fran on a Monday evening was to go to the AT&T stadium and see the San Francisco Giants take on the Pittsburgh Pirates at baseball. Sadly, the Giants are really bad this season, so despite the organ and the entertainment between the innings – which consisted of a t shirt gun, quizzes, kiss cam, etc. – the evening did fall rather flat as the Giants were thrashed.

As you would expect dear reader we threw ourselves into the game as best we could. We seemed to be seated in a section for foreigners – so we had French, German and people from Southbourne (?!!) near us. We all drank as much as we could in the time and ate pizza, hot dogs and pretzels. Pretty much like all sporting stadia the world over – this was all over priced muck and we suspected that the beer was even watered down!!

Oliver I think probably enjoyed it the most as a sporting spectacle. The rest of us loved the view from the stands which make you feel that you are actually out to sea. As the sun set it was hard to stay focused on the game when ferries and cruise ships were docking nearby.

Tuesday started with one of Matt’s desires being satisfied – breakfast at the IHOP. Dreadful – so we don’t need to go again on this trip – so that was good news – to have it out of the way.

The six of us hired some bikes and rode to Golden Gate Bridge and it was frankly perfect. Windy and sunny (when we were last in San Francisco with Barbara in 1999 – the weather was very hit and miss – but this time it was glorious). The city is very cycle friendly so we were all safe on the paths. The bridge itself was a nightmare as one side is being worked on – so not much space for cycling what with pedestrians, other cyclists and dogs – so we turned back just before half way. However, we made it and it is such an impressive structure that it makes for a great photo backdrop. A little extra magic is supplied each time a tanker or chopper goes over or under it too.

Super lunch by the water and then B, Sophie and I decided that we would do a little bit of shopping. Oliver started out with us, but the allure of Tim and Matt just sitting in a coffee shop held more appeal – especially as by now we were in a changing room. No one wants to see their old auntie in her underwear…

Matt and I trained it back that evening and we were all thrilled to be back in Davis and the lovely house with the pool. It was a super trip to San Fran and I thought so much of Jenny and Martin who were married there and of course when we went last time Caz and Chaz who were honeymooning when we met them. It is a great place – looks much more affluent than in 1999 – lots of apartment blocks downtown and perhaps not quite so many tramps… but still absolutely loads compared to other places we have been.

We had a chilled day on Wednesday in Davis. Spent the day by the pool and nonstop chatting. As you can imagine after all these months of only brief calls to my sister – we had loads to catch up on. That evening we went to the farmer’s market in Davis, which was very jolly – lots of fruit, veg, bread, olive oil, street food, live music but unlike the UK not one beer tent! Imagine that at home?!

Thursday, we set off early to take Reg into Sacramento to have a service. We have now done 19,000 miles and before we do our epic drive across the States we wanted to have his brakes and radiator checked. He had a little funny turn on the day of the fire in Yosemite where he overheated climbing up the hills, so we cannot take any chances. Whilst he was in the hospital we had a lovely breakfast watching the political workers come and go outside the state capitol all with their security passes and hot office clothes on. Brought back memories of having to wear proper clothes and high heels (well Matt anyway!) and gave us a stark reminder of how lucky we are to still be doing this.

The Wilkos joined us late morning and we did a self-guided tour of the capitol building. California is so big and rich that their state government is larger than some European countries so the buildings and the associated offices were impressive. We even saw a political demo outside the door about gay marriage. After that we had a little stroll around Old Sacramento up by the river, but my word it was so hot we quickly gave up and went back to the house after Reg was given the all clear (albeit with some new oil and filters).

Friday, we had to leave Davis so we headed down the coast so that B & Tim were closer to LA for their flight back. We stopped in Morro Bay which is a bit like Gibraltar. A huge lump of rock beside the beach which seems to attract sea lions and otters, plus pelicans and gulls galore. We had a wonderful last evening together. A bit too rowdy perhaps for some of the other guests – but my word we went out with a bang – even dancing was involved much to the embarrassment of Ollie and Sophie.

Saturday was a sad day to say goodbye to the Wilkos – but it had to be done. We parted and they went down the 101 to Santa Barbara and Matt & I briefly went back north as we wanted to go to Salinas again and see a bit of the Big Sur. Because of the weather earlier in the year – i.e. the terrible rains that California had in Feb and March the road has been swept away in a few places and it is not currently open to drive along – just odd sections. Anyway, despite our sore heads we managed to have a nice lunch below Hearst Castle (did not do the tour as we had done it previously) and watched the pelicans fishing and seals getting very close to the beach.

Sunday, we returned to the Steinbeck museum in Salinas and saw ‘Rocinante’ – which was his Reg from 1960, that he drove around the US in. Travels with Charley has been a very influential book for us on this trip – so it was good to revisit this brilliant museum and Salinas which is a great town.

After the museum we did drive the Monterey part of the Big Sur and spent last night in the Big Sur state park. To say California is busy at the moment is the understatement. We cannot believe our luck when we manage to get into a site and last night was a case in point. The site is right beside a washed-out bridge so we went for a walk along route 1 and had the road to ourselves. The businesses along the route are just about hanging on as some of the damage is very severe and they will miss this summer’s trade completely.

Today we headed south ourselves. We see Sally on Saturday which will be a good tonic after leaving B & Tim. It has been a wonderful week for us – a proper holiday within a holiday – but now back in Reg and excited for the next four months.

Have a super week and happy birthday Rachel and Bean. Sorry that the cards are not in the post!! A x

After Redwood National Park we drove down the coast for a while and then inland to Clear Lake State Park, the largest natural lake in California nestled below green hills and with small settlements hugging its edge.  It reminded us both of the lakes in Northern Italy, although not quite as expensive as Como I wouldn’t believe.

On Monday, we took the B’s out for a kayak and I managed to get a tear in B1, most probably from a discarded fish hook on the boat ramp.  I repaired it with the included patches, however I haven’t had an opportunity to test it so perhaps in the near future Alex will write up the sinking of B1 with all hands (hopefully no lives will be lost).  Alex spent a gorgeous sunny morning filming Ospreys fishing in the lake and I fixed B1.

Tuesday, we drove to Upper Lake where we did some research on local wines at the Lake County Wine Studio, run by a pleasant woman who sold us four bottles of a very nice local Pinot Noir and slightly further afield Cabernet Sauvignon.  Our next stop was Jackson but en-route we had a warning of how hot the weather had become and how dangerous as we saw a fifth wheel’s rear drivers side tyres besides the road guarded by several fire trucks.  This was the only remaining part of the vehicle and was beside a scorched area of grass that crossed the hillside beside the road.

We then drove on to our first Casino on a reservation, Jackson Rancheria, where we stayed in possibly the smartest RV park we’ve been to.  It was on top of a levelled hill and even the dump station was housed in its own building.  Because it was on the reservation we weren’t allowed to walk or cycle from the RV park to the casino itself so as not to disturb the members of the tribe who lived there.  We had to take the shuttle bus and to our horror, we discovered that the Casino is dry!  We made do with a slice of cheesecake and a coffee but no substitute for beer in my humble opinion.

From Jackson, it is a relatively short drive to Yosemite, or it would normally have been apart from the large bush fire raging between ourselves and the park.  Google maps sent us on a route that avoided the fire, without telling us there was a fire, consequently we were within 20 miles of our destination when we were stopped by a county employee who advised us on an alternate route, unfortunately the diversion was 100 miles in distance!  Slightly despondently we set off and about a mile along the road we watched a fire fighting helicopter fly over us on the way to tackle the blaze.  As he disappeared behind us we spotted the verge of the road we were travelling on had caught fire ahead of us.  Bit of a dilemma with fire behind and ahead of us we paused to consider our options and a country fire truck raced passed to tackle the grass fire ahead.  After discussing with other vehicles, we drove through the fire with it fiercely burning beside Reg but we made it through the other side and past the onlookers who had got out of their cars to watch the firefighters, if the wind had changed I’m not sure I would have much sympathy for them!  As we drove further along a convoy of six other fire trucks raced past to tackle it.

To reach our campsite we had to drive into Yosemite, where there was a stream of traffic leaving and not much entering, and out again.  We reached our campsite in Mariposa around 8:30pm and were greeted by ash falling from the sky.  There was a notice on the office explaining that the local town had been evacuated and the power cut off to our area, there was some water remaining but the pressure was low.  The local emergency services had closed the road disrupting many peoples travel plans.  A neighbour knocked on Reg’s door to ask if we had any phone signal as he had left his wife in Yosemite to catch a shuttle bus back while he drove to the campsite in his RV.  She hadn’t then shown up and it was over three hours since he’d seen her and couldn’t reach her.  Fortunately, she arrived during the night but many people were displaced and worried about their safety.  We settled in to a sombre campsite and hoped that B, Tim, Sophie and Ollie would be OK to reach the park the next day.

Thursday dawned clearer with less smoke, however ash had settled on Reg overnight.  The campsite owner had decided to close down the park until further notice as it was difficult to operate without power and water.  We drove into the park and it was slightly hazy but still very hot and the sun was breaking through.  We parked Reg in his primitive campsite and went to the Half-Dome Village and had just begun our first beer when the Wilko’s arrived.  It was lovely to see everyone and Sophie and Ollie have both grown since we last saw them at Christmas.

They had booked into the permanent tent sites in Half-Dome and what can be best described as looking like a military encampment, square sided tents with bear cages outside for any food or toiletries that might attract the attention of the local black bears.  They all seemed happy with the arrangements, although there may have been some nervousness about the security against bears of simple canvas.

We gave them a tour of Reg and then set off to walk to the foot of Vernal falls and spent the way catching up on news back home.  Alex, B, Tim and Sophie went back to Reg to begin dinner (and it seems sneak a couple of rounds in) while Ollie and I climbed the Mist Trail, so called because of the spray from the waterfall, to the top of Vernal falls.  A great trail but we were both soaked on our return.  We had a barbecue for dinner along with several bottles of Modelo and three bottles of red.

On Friday, we had booked a campsite back outside of the park, however we put our name down for a cancellation in the parks own campsites in the hope that the fires would deter people from arriving.  After doing so we rode our bikes to meet the Wilko’s who hired single gear bikes for the day and we rode around the park loop, stopping to admire the beautiful vistas and, in particular, Yosemite falls within the park.  Alex and I returned to the campsite reservations desk for the 3pm ‘auction’ of available sites, this is a nerve-wracking process where the campground employees shout out the names of those on the list who have been lucky enough to get a cancelled site.  We were delighted that for the three names before us on the list there was no response and we landed the 15^th and last available site, meaning we didn’t have a one and an half hour drive to our campsite, woo-hoo!  We chatted in the queue to a pleasant grandfather and his grandchild who lived in Oakdale and had been visiting Yosemite since the 1960’s.

Sadly, on Friday we had to leave Yosemite, we stopped on the way out to look at a stand of Sequoia trees, it’s humbling to realise they have been on the earth longer than the majority of civilisation and that man spent much of the 19^th and 20^th centuries cutting these majestic trees down for timber.  We drove to Davis, California, where the Wilko’s had rented a house for a week.  Really comfortable house with a pool and excellently appointed kitchen and good air conditioning which was required as the temperatures hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit, around 39 degrees centigrade over the next week.  We lounged by the pool and relaxed for the rest of Friday and most of Saturday and Sunday with only a walk into Davis for Saturday lunch to break up the days.

M

This set includes Alex’s opinion when walking through the ‘slough’ on the way to the Pacific beach and worrying about mosquitos and more importantly for her the thought of slugs (there weren’t any).  Crater Lake National park, the clearest water on the planet and the Comet Falls at Mount Rainier.

Beardy and the bird

Wizard Island, Crater Lake

Comet Falls

Leeches?!