Sandy_U

******************************** Unfinished blog better than no blog ******************************** The best view of San Francisco is either from the Marriott sky lounge of from the road getting out. San Fran stinks. Of every city I have been to, San Fran is the most turgid. For the first time ever I saw someone pissing on the pavement. Not against a wall. Not down a close. Just stopped midway in the pavement leaving a sticky stream for everyone to tramp through. The gap between rich and por is ridiculous, but all too close. Our Motel6 was in the rougher Tenderloin area; drunks, vagabonds and chancers abounded. In one block of 100 yards we were approached at least 6 times, each with their own unique tale of woe. 100 yards in the other direction was a car dealer specializing in ... read more

No time for stories, checking out in half an hour to pick up the Hertz Shelby. N... read more

Lynn & Co (tm) decided they were off to the Magic Kingdom for the day, so I waved them off and embarqued on a day of shopping. Off to Walmart to pick up a new mobile, 18 bucks bought a little Motorola with 10 bucks calling credit. Managed to spend another 100 bucks on nothing in particular. An hour in traffic saw me outside the Florida Mall, wallet in hand ready to take advantage of the best dollar rate in 26 years. Planning to buy a Macbook, I headed to the Apple store and passed a good hour or so playing with the Iphone and the Mac books. After finally convinvcing myself another 1500 bucks of debt was no big deal, I presented myself at the register and asked for the black Macbook of my ... read more

After the near 20 hour train journey from Jacksonville, Washington's Union station was a welcome sight. Second only to New York's Grand Central in terms of size and oppulence, Union station is not only where people go to catch trains, but where the pen-pushers of the city go to eat, drink and shop during their working day. I'd booked into the Washington HI for a couple of nights, so after a few stops on the monorail I was at the hostel, dumping my bags nights in the 8 bed dorm. I headed out whilst it was still light and caught some of the sights; The White House, Smithsonian Art Museum, Washington Monument.... Back at the hostel I was disappointed to findout that they had a no alcohol policy, they neither sold it nor allowed it on ... read more

Waking up with dull pounding head, I checked out of the hotel and headed to the Daytona Speedway where I promised myself a tour. Some how I ended up inside the Oval, not on the track but on the little island within it. Watching some very dull bike racing, the rain started to pour, they stopped the racing and I headed to Orlando, where it had all begun 4 weeks ago. I choose Orlando chiefly because it is so bloody cheap. Checking into the Quality Inn on International Drive the inevitable happened - Matercard was declined. My trustee friend over the last few weeks had reached it's limit and the frienship was at an end. After mumbling excuses, I withdrew the cash form an ATM and paid in full upfront; travelling really is all about new ... read more