We set out from the Grand Canyon wonder in search of Route 66. Our initial intention all those months ago was to drive the entire Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles but with so many options it didn't materialise but we knew this was a taster so of that we were driving 100 miles of the 2000 stretch! At least we were doing a very historical part of the route, this particular part is the longest stretch in tact. To actually follow the full route you need to be Sherlock Holmes as many roads lead to fields and dead ends, but this part, at least, is obvious following 'Historic Route 66' through Seligman and Kingsman, Arizona. We took the turn off, Lauren very excited snapping photos of the sign. Although you'll struggle finding an actual ... read more

After arriving at such a late hour from Vancouver via Dallas, Texas we had decided to only go to the typical New Orleans centre the next morning, and as we had been pretty busy the last few weeks we didn't actually get our butts into the centre till lunch time on Tuesday. Now this Tuesday was a notable one for one main thing only, no not that hugely publicised election between Obama and Romney, this was the ONE place that Ben wanted to go to when we set out all those months ago. "Lauren, " he said, "we can go anywhere your heart desires, but I want to go to New Orleans". So Lauren was set the impossible task of working this in using the American Airlines miles off her dad to tie in with hiring ... read more

We landed at Seattle airport not 100% sure who we would be meeting, Hannah or her mum, Corinne. We realised as well that we had not exchanged contact details beyond Facebook, but luckily Hannah checked herself in on Facebook saying she was at the airport picking up an old friend! So you can imagine Lauren's surprise when she suddenly hears Corinne's voice saying "There you are!" It was a lovely surprise though and after big hugs she told us Hannah was driving the car round and they were going to swap as we awaited our bags! Hannah appeared about ten minutes later and we both spotted each other at exactly the same time, and well you know the one, two friends reunited almost running to each other embracing! It was lovely and surreal to be honest, ... read more

Following a simply stunning scenic train journey, even if at nine and half hours it got slightly repetitive, we arrived in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Having heard from several sources the Canadian side was better we were eager to go and face the thunderous Falls sooner rather than later. We cleared customs fairly quickly and hopped in a taxi to our hotel. Back in the UK we made the decision with Ben's folks to get a great view of the Falls from our hotel room even with this the room was considerably cheaper than any room you can get in NYC! We arrived at our 33rd floor room and gaped at the view before us! We had barely seen the Falls as we arrived as our taxi driver turned uphill away from the river just as they ... read more

We arrived in LA on a day we had already endured in Fiji, we take you back to Tuesday 9th October. We checked into a gorgeous Marriott hotel (cheers Alan!) for the start of a two and a half week vacation amongst the trip. We were presented with an awesome 24 hour gym complete with eucalyptus towels and enough weights to dazzle Arnold Schwarzenegger- a world away from our gym in Fiji. We had wine and beer at happy hour and ate at the hotel before catching some shut eye before our early morning flight. Our old friend jet leg swooped in though disturbing our slumber leaving Lauren hammering the treadmill at 2.30am local time! We had been to LA in a previous trip and decided we would see new places rather than revisit old ones ... read more