Before we go

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Bags are packed....... 90% done ! 2 more sleeps and we are off ! Time only to go for a drive in the MG tomorrow and to see the Saints play Essendon tomorrow night.... GO SAINTS !

Geoff and Maureen's Itinerary 2008


Leave Melb 12.00 noon Sun 20/04

Arrive Auckland in NZ 3.25pm Melb time (5.25pm in NZ)

Leave Auckland 6.30pm Melb time (8.30pm in NZ)

Arrive LA 6.45am Mon Melb time (1.45pm Sun in LA)

Leave LA 9.00am Mon Melb time (4.00pm Sun in LA)

Arrive Chicago 11.56 am Mon Melb time (9.56pm Sun in Chicago)

Pick up car at airport and drive to Best Western at Hillside

Mon in Chicago - having a look around probably get a bus on/off ticket

Tues more time in Chicago - at night go to see Chicago White Sox V NewYork Yankees at 7.10pm

Wed, leave Chicago & drive south to about mid day and arrive at Arthur. See their quilt show, have a look around, its also an Amish area; staying at Marsha’s Vineyard B&B

Thurs leave Arthur driving south to Paducah Kentucky arriving about mid day. The pop is about 20,000 reasonably large country town. Catch up with Tom & Marilyn who left the day earlier from Michigan (but don’t know how we will find them yet). Maureen will go to the American Quilters Society Annual Show. The show is on all over town at several places. It’s a big thing, motels booked out for 30 mile radius. We are staying 30 miles away to the west at Moors with Tom & Marilyn which is a holiday resort on the west shore of Kentucky Lake. We will have to commute to Paducah and back each day. We stay there the nights of Thurs/Fri and Sat.

Fri/Sat same thing.

Sunday see rest of Paducah away from the quilt show before travelling to South Union Kentucky about 2 hours drive. South Union is where the Shakers set up in the early 19th century. It’s a small town. The Shakers are all gone now but were a religious peaceful sect who had strict laws. They were very good wood workers and made fine but plain items and furniture. We stay at a restored Shaker house B & B.We will see the museum probably early the next morning.

Monday 28/5, drive east right across Kentucky to Shaker Village (yes another one) at Harrodsburg which is a restored historical village precinct and museum also for shakers. It’s a bigger site than down at South Union. Straight afterwards late in the day we drive east for an hour to Lexington Kentucky staying at Best Western Regency. This is the city where the Kentucky Derby is run which is one of the top four/five USA horse races (real big like the Melb Cup)

Tues & Wed driving north out of Kentucky and into Indiana. Will find some covered bridges and the longest covered bridge on the fist day. Will also try and get to an historical site or two, maybe even get to Tippercanoe (a battle site Indians versus American about 1811

Thurs 1/5 we should be up in north western Indiana region in some Amish towns before moving onto Winnie’s place in Rockford Michigan which is about 2 hours over the border northwards.

We stay with Winnie’s for a week, about 2/5 to 9/5. We will take it easy there and mix with the locals, I’ll try and get to turkey camp with Tom and take a long canoe ride with Tom down the Rogue river which is at the end of Toms backyard and Winnie’s backyard (kind of like down the back fence area of KB). Might also get to a MG place at nearby town.

Fri 9/5 or possible Sat 10/5 leave for drive south back to Chicago. I hope to see an old warplane at Valparaiso in north west Indiana. If we leave Fri we have a full day in Chicago on Sat.

Sun 11/5 9.55am fly (12.55 am Mon Melb time) from Chicago to Calgary in Alberta Canada just to the east of the Rockies (big mountain chain that runs right down the north American west coast. Hire another car.

Mon 12/5 start driving all through the Rockies and go to Banff, Lake Louise, Kamloops (there’s a quilt shop near there). All through here will be cold with snow but should be very scenic - it has a big reputation and many holidays even from Aust are taken in that area (see any Sunday travel guide in the The Age/Herald Sun) and onto Vancouver where we take the cruise out Mon 19/5? (I think). We are in the Rockies for about 7/8 days.

The cruise begins from Vancouver 19/5 I think, but before we leave we hope to see the world famous Butchart Gardens on Victoria Island near Vancouver and if I can do it, drive south to the Boeing factory near Seattle in Washington state in USA (big tour). If we do this, then back to Vancouver for the cruise that goes for about a week along the inside passage which is another famous scenic area of the world. The ship stops each day at historical towns. The whole area is rich in history, animals, gold rushes and glaciers that finish at the sea.

Arrive Anchorage early on Mon 26/5. The boat stops at Whittier which is a few hours away, so we will have to find a local tour bus to get to Anchorage the big city in Alaska. We hire another car and stay one night before driving east to Denali National Park where we stay two days. Hope to see the big four - Moose, grizzlies, caribou and musk ox. Somewhere I will pray, that we catch up with some Kodiak brown bears because that’s what I want to see up there! (much bigger than grizzlies)

Back to anchorage about Thurs 29/5, stay overnight, fill in the next day and we leave that Fri night by plane 11.40pm their time for Denver Nevada arriving early morning, wait two hours and fly west to LA. Spend the whole day there (maybe find Caesar if he is walking some dogs) and leave that Fri night their time 10.30pm (about 2.30 pm the next day Sat in Melb time) and head for home.

Arrive Auckland at 6.40am their time (4.40 am Melb time Mon 2/6 - we loose a day crossing the international date line). Leave there 7.40am Mon 2/6 their time ie 5:40am Melb time and arrive Melb at 9.30am same day at Tullamarine.

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