So it was another early start on Tuesday, with a pickup at 5am to take me to the airport. The flight was short so I actually spent more time at the airport waiting to board than I did in the air. The airport at Kona was the first on this trip that didn’t look like every other airport, because it’s small and much of it is outdoors. A shuttle bus took me to my accommodation – the Hilton Waikoloa Village. Of course, it was only 8:30am so while I was able to check in, I couldn’t access my room yet. However, I was told that it would be ready in a few hours, which meant I would be able to get in there before I was to be picked up for the tour of Mauna Kea. ... read more

My last day with the car (Tuesday) began slowly because my plans for the day were to visit the Astronaut Hall of Fame before dropping the car off at the Orlando Airport. The Hall of Fame opened at 12 and I was there when it opened. There was not a lot to see, so I only spent an hour and a half. Inside was an interesting history of the American space program, particularly focussed on the astronauts themselves, and a few artefacts. The final section was pretty interactive. I landed a space shuttle and went on a trip to Mars before heading out. Dropping off the car was a very easy process, even though I had accidently thrown out my paperwork. It turned out I drove a total of 3,311 miles (5,329km). I had left plenty ... read more

After a relaxing day and night doing nothing major, I left Richmond (Virginia) on Wednesday morning to head down south, into the Carolinas. My destination for the day was the site of the battle at Guilford Courthouse, which is near the modern city of Greensboro, North Carolina. The drive south was pleasant, if long - 3 ½ hours. It was expressway the whole way, but it was quite nice scenery through leafy forests for the most part. I stopped at a couple of rest areas along the way to stretch my legs, but otherwise I headed straight to the National Park. Once again, there was a museum and short film in the Visitors Centre. Both were nicely done and gave a good overview of the battle. There was a second film presentation as well, this one ... read more

On Wednesday morning I had a nice, big breakfast before heading out to look around Washington DC. Much like Canberra, Washington is a designed city and, like Canberra, it is not in any state but in a territory (or, rather, a district – the District of Columbia, or DC). Washington is also full of government offices, like Canberra. However, comparing Washington to Canberra is like comparing a Mercedes Benz to a Hyundai Getz. The layout is based around the National Mall. That is the long stretch of park that runs from the Capitol building down to the Lincoln Memorial. I figured the Capitol was the closest starting point to my hotel, so I headed there. It’s a very impressive building and I later was told that no building in Washington is allowed to be taller than ... read more

Saturday morning found me in a hotel in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The good thing about weekends when you’re on holidays is that the hotel breakfast is usually open later than normal. As I didn’t have too much planned, and far less to travel than some previous days, I had a lazy morning and didn’t get on my way until 11am. I was a little apprehensive too, because the area I was travelling to was expecting a big thunderstorm in the afternoon, with possible tornadoes! Lancaster is in the middle of “Dutch country”, which means that one of the local tourist attractions is the local Amish communities. So I had been planning to check that out, but judging by the pamphlets at the hotel, it seemed overly touristy and really only seemed to offer buggy rides and genuine ... read more