Blogs from North America - page 6778

“North to the Chesapeake” We left Savannah after three days living alongside the very busy Riverwalk. The waterway north of here is some of the thinnest water between Norfolk and Florida. The Army Corp of Engineers has had to ignore the shoaling in this area due to lack of funds. There were several places where the channel has shoaled to less than 4’ during low tide. The good news is that this part of the coast has an average mean tide of more than 8’. We cautiously motored north and headed for Hilton Head Island. The weather forecast called for several days of high winds, thunderstorms and possible tornado warnings, so we opted for a slip at the Broad Creek Marina. This nice facility is located in the middle of Hilton Head Island. We rented a ... read more

We haven’t put anything up for a few weeks now, mainly because we have been working a fair bit and have been essentially living the lives of shift workers. We’re keeping the bar staff at our local wondering why we are so weird - rolling in at about midnight, dressed from head to toe in black (our work uniform requirements), carrying backpacks, dark bags under our eyes, ordering a couple drinks and then wandering out the back service door and into the back alley (we live on the other side of the alley). We’ve had a few firsts for us in the past couple of weeks. July 1 is Canada day, which is pretty much like Australia day with people enjoying free festivities, dressed in red and white, holding Canadian flags , sporting fake flag tattoos ... read more

Observations from Paul Some statistics from our onboard computer … 3324 miles 22.9 mpg 66.32 hours of “drive time” An average of 49 miles per hour Requiring 145 gallons of fuel There was an exhibit at the grizzly museum where manufacturers bring their “bear proof” homeowner trash boxes to be tested by the experts, the inmates, AKA the bears. This resulted in destruction of heavy metal containers of all sorts. One infallible container was a 55-gallon drum with welded steel reinforcements on the bottom and top, making use of the container by humans nearly impossible. But at least the grizzlies can’t get in! So in my contemplations driving through Yellowstone, seeing so many vans and SUVs, it occurred to me that we were driving one of many Rolling Grizzly Snack Boxes. These animals could tear apart ... read more

Just a short note to say that we have now been travelling for 250 days and Carol and I are still speaking!!! Carol has been absolutely fantastic and a real trooper. Still in the Wid West and thought we'd just put some pics together for you all. ... read more

The truth of the matter is that I can never move back to North Carolina. It's something I didn't want to realize; part of me had always hoped that I could return to the world I was comfortable and complacent within prior to leaving for Japan, with familiar walls and scenery that used to excite. I thought that maybe I needed my dog to feel at home, or friends close by, my old university right down the road from me. But I realized after being in my father's house for less than an hour that those things couldn't be returned: I really have changed. I remembered the exact reason why I ran away to Japan to begin with, and as much as I wish that it wasn't the truth.. It can't really be helped. Mail me ... read more