With Brexit vote happening back in the UK, the fallout appears bizarre from over the pond and the drop of the pound against the dollar hasn’t helped with our budgeting on our final weeks in the US. We now head out of Nashville into the countryside. We had been keen to see an actual plantation house of the deep south. On our way was ‘the Hermitage’, home of Andrew Jackson the 7th President of the United States. He was a self-made man and influential in the early American history, notably defeating the British at New Orleans in 1815. He was a popular president and was a man of people, on the downside he signed the Indian Removal act that drove Indians west of the Mississippi River and he was pro slavery. After being greeted by 18th ... read more

We are heading back west to LA nearly completing our California/Oregon/Washington/Montana/Wyoming/Colorado/Arizona/Nevada (phew!) loop. Leaving Silverton we headed to Mesa Verdi National Park. This park is different from other US parks in that its main aim is to preserve the buildings of the ancient Puebloans, who settled here in the 13th century, staying only about 75 years. They left behind unique mysterious dwellings built into the cliff face, added to the fact that we had to drive high into these hills that overlook the surrounding plains, building and living in these dwelling must have presented great challenges. They would have farmed food and kept their animals up on the top plains, then climbed down into their dwellings. After stopping at various overlooks and the museum we drove back down the hills for an overnight stay in Cortez. ... read more

Leaving Yosemite by what seemed like the back end of the park, we headed north on the Highway 395 we are now in America’s big country with sweeping plains to the right and the Sierra Nevada mountains in the far distance to our left. We travelled 150 miles to overnight at Lake Tahoe a beautiful lake that straddles the California and Nevada state lines. Because of Nevada’s gambling laws there are quite of few large towns that have grown here. We picked the quiet town of Tahoe City on the California side with a motel by the edge of the lake. After another long drive we arrived at Klamath Falls, just to overnight. In Oregon you are not allowed to fill your own petrol. The girl on pump, enquired where we were from, when we said ... read more

Leaving Raratonga one of the smallest international airports in the world, we arrive at Los Angeles one of the largest in the world. It felt like being hit with a hammer, so many people, so many security and customs checks. We were to hire a car and drive straight out into LA’s busy road system. We came face head-on with the city’s extrovert nature when the car hire shuttle bus driver, decided he would paraphrase the automated information system himself saying, ‘ I usually play an announcement that goes like this, ‘Welcome to the Alamo and National shuttle ya-di-ya-di-ya-da, hold on as the bus might stop ya di ya di ya di ya-da stow bagages safely, ya-di-ya-di-ya-da and so on…’ I suppose it was what we were expecting! I had pre booked a midsize car, and ... read more

We’d been told of some fantastic glow worm caves at Waitomo, so we headed off debating how best to see them. Sounds strange but there are several ways to view the caves, boat abseiling and ‘black water rafting’. We both fancied the latter, but as we approached we changed our minds as we didn’t want an injury to spoil the rest of our trip- so the boat it was. A young lad led us (along with a few others) into a cave, quite interesting but then we got into a boat in silence, in the dark and drifted into the underwater caverns, then wow! a spectacular display of glow worms all over the roof of the cave….quite magical. We didn’t get a picture, no photography allowed, so Kim photographed the brochure, and just has to photo-shop ... read more