an american tradition... or 2

Well I have been asked to do a blog! Evidently you have already heard from the others so now it is my turn. So here goes.. I am not the most fantastic writer and as you can see from previous blogs, I have a lot to live up to.

Some of you may not know, but I am not the best first thing in the morning. In fact it takes me quite a while to wake up, (probably after a couple cups of coffee!) In order to get to Maine, which was about 6 hours travel, we had to leave in good time. Thus we travelled on bumpy freeways, stopped at rest stops and talked about whatever. The scenery from Montreal to Maine changed from flat and brown to hilly and brown. (it is the time of year we are traveling) Unfortunately we didn't see much by the time we arrived as it got dark just after 4 in the afternoon!

It was so great to see familiar faces when we arrived at Mark and Tina's. Their kids have grown up so much! I must say quite the young ladies. As you can imagine, I loved having a female friend to talk to (rather than just boring old Dave:) ).

Thanksgiving was at the Salisburys, however unfortunately Mark had to work, (being a nurse in the hospital emergency dept in Portland). Other friends were invited making a total of 16 people eating a mountain of Turkey (20lb bird fed everyone plus enough leftovers for another meal!) and the most fabulous pies (Blueberry, Apple, Pumpkin and Cherry Pie) for dessert. To be honest, if anyone went hungry, it was their own fault!! The meal started at 2.30 in the afternoon and by 5.30 I think we had had our fill. We did go for a walk in between times however... The decorations were very autumnal, otherwise it's very much like a Christmas dinner back home.

Another tradition is to go to the Black Friday sales. And when I say Black I mean 6 in the morning if you are lucky (or sleep in).. There are traditionally great savings to be made on this day however after getting up at 4.30 in the morning, we were a little disappointed in the discounts offered compared with last year. Probably due to the recession however I did get a cute little 10’ laptop to take home with me & Dave scored an ipod.

If that wasn't enough... we did Thanksgiving all again Friday evening (and again unfortunately without Mark who was still at work). We were invited over to some more of the Salisbury's friends. These friends had 11 kids, (7 adopted) plus a boyfriend and 2 other friends so all up there were 22 give or take sitting around 3 dining tables. Emma was the same age as one of the kids and looked just like her. They could have been twins! And yes it was a huge house with 2 makeshift dining areas to cope with us all. Ham was on the menu with desert of Chocolate, Banana and and Custard pies in addition to the types partaken of on Thursday. We had such a great time. The adults played Cranium, with American questions, which were not that easy for us New Zealanders.

For some reason no-one thought to take any photos of the thanksgiving dinners however here’s a couple of randoms. Hope you enjoyed my entrance into the world of blogging – it’s been fun.

Alex

violence is not a crime - in hockey

With the R.V broken, our Montreal sightseeing plans had to be put on hold. Hydraulics had a leak meaning jacks & slide weren't working, and there were also battery & generator issues. We found an RV fix-it place but they had other jobs on and couldn't look until after lunch. So Deanna, Emma and I played Cranium (a board game) – Deanna with the book and Emma and I with the clay. I made a lion and kept it’s head then with its body I made an elephants head and a rabbits head.

A little earlier we had spotted a couple of horses in a paddock. First we stuck our hand through the electric wire for the horses to sniff – there were two and the smaller one was a little bit shy and was golden, we think she’s a pony. The second one was a big brown horse and when he first smelt us he snorted as if to say ooh you stink. When we thought the horses had our trust Emma walked a couple of meters down the fence and ducked under, then held out her hands for the horses to sniff. When the horses came up to her and sniffed her she got scared and ducked back again.

Next it was my turn, so while Emma went to get the camera, I ducked under and petted the horses – not scared one bit... ok I maybe exagerate a little. When Emma came back she joined me and Deanna took photos. We swapped around until we had enough photos then just played with them. Talk about tame!

Since there was a campground right next door we went to check if it was open... it wasn't but luckily the owner said we could stop for the night. We need to 'hook up' at least every 3 days, or find somewhere to dump our waste which is not always that easy as most campgrounds up north are closed for the season & dump stations aren't that easy to find. It took all afternoon at the fix-it place but everything on the RV got sorted (much to Dad's relief I can tell you) so we went next door, checked in and had record quick showers... because... there was a hockey game 2 attend!

Rather than driving all the way to town and trying to park our behemoth of a vehicle in amongst all that traffic, we decided to take 'le metro'. Which was very cool because none of us kids have been on an underground before. It was quite an adventure buying tickets, going through the turnstiles, and finding the right train (in fact there were 2 trains). Did you know it goes right underneath the river, just like the tunnel into town we had driven through yesterday.

Talk about cutting it fine! We got to our seats just as they were singing the anthems for both Canada and USA (Canadiennes were playing Columbus from Ohio, USA). Then on came the gracefully gliding players to start their encounter. It's wicked how fast they can skate (either forwards or backwards) and change direction on a dime. The game is so fast with players subbing on and off every few minutes... and heaps of the announcements are in French! The players try and bash each other against the plastic barrier. Every time the Canadiennes scored a goal, the whole place erupted with cheers and chanting; "Go Habs Go!" Apparantly they have sold out every home game since 2004 (@ capacity of 21500 odd) - it must hard being the visiting team. It was a close game but the home team won 5-3 in the end. "GO HABS GO!!!"

Dad thought it would be freezing but we were all well overdressed so stipped off heaps of jackets and scarves in the train and at the game. We had been far too busy to have any dinner so it was a really late stop at McDonalds on the way home & an even later crawl into bed... but what a night!

til next time... from a much warmer Amy

gold for John Walker

Again more driving this time we started from Quebec and then drove down to Montréal, arriving just after lunch. Again, a warm sunny day (by Canada standards at least).

First stop on arrival after lunch was to climb the hill overlooking town called Mt Royal. Did you know that Montréal was named after that!? It was fun Amy Emma and I fed the squirrels they look so cute! We got a great view of the town from there even tho it was foggy. The hill wasn’t very steep so it was a nice walk, we then headed back to the camper and off to Olympic stadium.

Mum had a lie down in the camper while me Amy, Emma and Dad went and checked out the stadium. The Olympic swimming and diving was complex was open – cool 2 imagine the Olympics being held right in that pool. And this was also the stadium where John Walker won gold in the 1500m back in 1976. (Dad is always good for history lessons, particularly of the sporting variety!) We could not go to the top of Olympic stadium because it was foggy and unfortunately the last stadium tour was done for the day. Still cool to look around the complex & we played on the fountain (no water at this time of the year) until the security man shooed us away!

Interestingly, the Montreal Olympic stadium is still the tallest incline building in the world!

We stayed the night in a Wal-mart carpark it was really freezing because the furnace was not working – it was making a funny sound. Also hardly any lights because the battery was flat. In the morning it was 35F so I had to freeze just to go to the bathroom, hopefully we will get all our problems fixed tomorrow!!!

Lots of love from a cold Deanna!

as far north as we'll go - Quebec City!

We’ve been the furthest up north that we’re going to go… and yet no still snow! I think that’s a good thing but first let me start from the right place – the beginning. It was all sad goodbyes right before we left the Charlebois place. Then it was in the R.V and up the road to Canada. Have I ever told you how boring it is to have to travel all day? Well if I haven’t - keep reading. And if I have - still keep reading. It is so boring I’m not going to bother writing about it because you’ll fall asleep on your computer, and we don’t want that do we? There were only 4 interesting things that happened:
1)The crossing to Canada (not a bridge this time, just customs)
2) The stop for dinner at Sherbrook . We stopped by a river and had mashed potatoes, carrots, and sausages - yum
3) The French lesson dad gave us. We learnt things like :(a) bonjour, (b)bonsoir, (c)au revoir, (d)merci,(e) s’il vous plait,(f) je m’apelle Amy, and my favorite (g)parler vous anglais? Can you guess what they mean? The answers will be at the end.
4) The sleep.

I woke up wondering where on earth I was, because the last thing I remembered we were driving… it was 27F or -2C outside. We headed into Quebec City, luckily it was Sunday so hardly any traffic and plenty of carparks. All bundled up in our warmest cloths we headed up to the café for a hot chocolate. It was so rich and had whipped cream and chocolate on top - yum. Then we went back to the information centre were they suggested a walking tour. The walking tour was boring (for the kids at least) and I couldn’t concentrate. But there was one building in particular that I liked and that was a church that had been burnt down and rebuilt several times. We also saw the FIRST road and it was really small. My favourite part was when we went over the top of an old castle that had burnt down. The tour ended where a dude was setting up to be an angel because that’s how he earns money. We had a look around and had lunch by the docks. After that we went to see the cathedral in town, and even though we were told it was small compared to other ones, to us it was huge!!! There were candles every where and a huge organ set behind the chairs, on an upper level. After it was time to go we headed home but took a detour on the way…

The Citadelle where we walked all the way around but we were all getting tired by then and Deanna looked tiredest… but things aren’t always the way that they seem and we found out that later… Deanna was lagging behind but once we spotted the RV and she got the keys her speed hastened and she got there first. And that was when she brightened up while I could barely get up for dinner.

Answers : (a)hi, hello, good day etc. (b)good evening. (c)goodbye. (dthank you. (e)please. (f)my name is Amy. (g)can you speak English.

til next time... from Amy


OK, we need a PS from Dad… The old part of Quebec might be boring if you’re a kid but it’s amazing if you’re an adult! The walking tour talked about the original attempts to settle the area by the French in the early 17th century & the various attempts by the Poms to take it from them. And there were also military goings on involving the americans as well - all in all, loads of cannons, fortifications and ruins. This is the only walled city in North America north of Mexico! The lower city is so quaint and cool with lots of art galleries on the narrow cobbled streets, also heaps of really high quality murals ont the sides of some buildings. A large portion of the city was ruined by fighting on several occasions - check out the mystery cannonball at the bottom of the tree - no-one knows how it got there.

3 labradors & 3 comfy beds

Staying over night at a random shopping mall (again) we get underway hitting the morning traffic heading into Buffalo We drove for over 350 miles, on the way getting lost because our stupid GPS kept taking us under small railway bridges. Remember what dad said 12' good 11' or 10' not! We asked a nice lady at a quilt shop what she thought, she gave us full directions out to route 4 with out hitting any low railway bridges... cleverly leaving our map in the quilt shop - not! LOL

After travelling for what seemed like ages we reached Pittsfield, Vermont where at the gas station Mrs Charlebois met us and guided us up the hill to her place where she made us feel at home by giving us a drink, offering us a shower, a feed, a walk with the dogs or a movie. We had a lovely time with magnificent people and wonderful dogs. Finally getting a double bed in a room by myself, trust me I enjoyed it!

Getting to sleep-in was cool then also lying in bed watching TV was good for me. All day was fun we had a bath, walked the dogs and then went to the mall to get some glasses for mum (they were lost a week or so ago), as that was all happening we grabbed a slice of pizza and went for a walk were more candy was kindly made ours - Yum! (Mrs Charlebois spoilt us rotten the whole time 4 sure!!) Mum's new lovely red glasses were ready, then we & Mrs C went shopping for some groceries and some supplies while Mum & Dad wandered the mall. Today was a lazy day but great, after that we walked the dogs at the golf course, let some steam out of Gracie the younger playful one. Then we watched a movie about… can you guess? a dog!

Half way through the movie we fed the dogs and Mr C asked if we wanted to make smores after dinner. But for smores we needed crackers and we didn’t have any... so down to the corner shop we went. Back at the house we had a delicious dinner and then realised that for smores you need chocolate and we didn’t have any, so back down to the shop. Outside it was freezing when we lit the fire. You must be wondering the recipe for smores? They go like this... roast marshmallows till bubbly, put onto the chocolate and then the chocolate onto the cracker! Yum-o! After that we finished the movie and went to bed.

Man let me tell you Gracey is one enthusiastic dog because this morning she sat at my door whining, so I let her in, by golly that was a mistake I was half asleep by the end of it I was awake! We had a lovely cooked breakfast with eggs ham and strawberries! Gave the dogs a walk and then hopped in the sauna wow that was hot! Then me and my crazy sisters jumped in there pond (well Amy and Emma did!!!) it was the most freezing water ever - Amy even swam right across!! We had a shower, filled up water in the RV then off we went about lunchtime!

PS. thanks heaps for letting us stay Mr and Mrs Charlebois. Your hospitality was legendary!!!

it's the oldest & biggest in the world

Driving, driving and more driving was the plan - we had a date with some friends in Vermont in a couple of days. I don’t think we’ll get very far at this rate, especially if we decide to go back the next day. I’m talking about the biggest and oldest in the world! The US Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio has three massive hangars full of US military aircraft. Starting with a replica of the Wright brothers airplane and ending with the most modern and sophisticated of military technology. There was even a silo full of enormous ICBM’s (inter continental ballistic missiles) & rockets used for launching satellites into space. We didn’t have much time so we started of with the newest planes hoping to get through most of the museum - no such luck. We only got through the first hangar. But Deanna and I both managed to misplace our hats. We stayed as long as possible but when we finally got kicked out we had made our decision we MUST come back tomorrow. We put in the closest Walmart on the GPS and it sent us down a road that had a closed gate. Luckily some nice fellows helped us turn around (they thought we were dumbarsed Aussies, - which is good cos we don’t them thinking Kiwis are stupid so we didn’t bother correcting them).

We planned to be back at opening time but over slept our alarm - which caused a little panic and a quick start, even Deanna got out of bed quickly – record timing for sure. Jacks went up, slide went in and we were on the road headed for a big day at, once again, at the museum

This time we started in the beginning (oldest planes) and worked our way back to the end where Deanna and I found our misplaced hats squished under the seats of the cockpit we could sit in. Before leaving we took in an Imax movie about the blue angels (an air show group) and how the first people flew, then rushed back to another auditorium for our briefing on what to do and what not to do at the Presidential Hangar. There were 2 areas, the first containing 4 versions of ‘Air Force One’ used to fly presidents from Roosevelt to Clinton but we all agreed Elvis’s was much funkier. The 2^nd dome was called the R&D Hangar with planes much more crowded - a nice lady showed us some of the funny looking ones & explained what they were about.

So... by now it was 3pm and we were a day behind schedule so Dad took the wheel again and we drove... and drove... and drove. In fact after a quick stop for pizza dinner Emma and I put the beds down and tried to sleep but the roads here are so bump I don't think we had much luck. We ended up making it as far as Buffalo where our wheels finally stopped turning about midnight. But at least we were within striking distance of Vermont tomorrow.

Til next time... from Amy

OK, Dad needs a turn on this one. This museum was a treasure trove - you really can't describe the number and condition of the aircraft there, and almost all seemed to have some historical significance. They say it takes 3 days to do the museum properly, in the end we had a day in total but I'm sure we missed plenty. Short video clips on everything from the Berlin airliftto the holocaust to the B2 bomber as well as an air force hall of fame amongst other exhibits.

I was really pleased that we had some flexibility built into our schedule becase we didn't even know this place existed but we were able to stop and take a decent look. The url for this place is www.nationalmuseum.af.mil if you would like to take a browse.

Also below, for those who are interested, are a few photos we took and a brief description of each aircraft.

1. Air Force One (carried Kennedy to Texas for the faitful trip... and back again for his funeral. His successor

was sworn in aboard. Was retired after Clinton's term)

2. ICBM from the 60's

3. Valkyre (the 2nd fastest aircraft ever built, travels @ mach3, only 2 ever made & the other 1 crashed)

4. B2 bomber

5. F-117 fighter

6. Apollo 15 capsule (yep, the actual one)

7. bomb bay of B52

8. B52 (talk about massive!!)

9. Wild Weasel (used by the Americans so blow up SAM's)

10. SAM (surface to air missile, used by the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam war)

11. B-29 Superfortress (but not just any b-29... this is the actual 1 that dropped the bomb on Nagasaki!!!)

12. Mustang

13. Flying Fortress

14. V2 rocket (about 15000 of these were fired at Great Britian by the Nazis towards the end of WWII)

15. Spitfire

party in the usa - FOR REAL!!!

Hi from Deanna

OMGoodness mum and dad surprised us yesterday, we arrived in Indianapolis mum and dad said we were going to a game of American Football right but you would not guess we actually went to a Miley Cyrus concert! They had been planning this for 3 months and we never suspected a thing the concert was so much fun! Our seats were on the west of Miley we new most of the songs because dad had been playing them all holidays! She did lots of cool tricks like she flew over the crowd for fly on the wall, and she drove a car for party in the USA!!! The concert was so much fun and I would so do it again!

Hi its Emma

GO MILEY!!!!!!!!!

Mum and Dad called us into the room. They said they weren’t completely honest. They said we weren’t going to the football game but they had 5 tickets for something else. Deanna said “is it a concert?” Dad said “aaaaaaa.” I said “is it a Milley Cyrus concert.”

Dad said…… “YES!!!. WE all ran up to them and cuddled then and thanked them. Did you know they kept it a secret from us for a couple of months? but it was a good surprise. The first song she sang was break out she even sang party in the USA .We also got a t-shirt with a picture of Miley Cyrus. Mine also said Miley Cyrus on it. it was so cool!!! She is so good. Now I’ve seen Miley on TV and on computer and LIVE!!!

See you next time bye.

Hi it’s Amy

Yesterday as we pulled up by the basketball stadium where we were supposedly going to a football game, dad and mum called us to the front of the RV where they had got out the camera and told us to sit down. They explained to us that they were not honest and we were not going to watch a foot ball game. Our faces were straight as if saying so whatever or and….. Dad got us to guess Deanna guessed a concert, Emma guessed Movie. Dad said Deanna was closer and Emma guessed MILEY CYRUS CONCERT!!! And she was RIGHT!!! When we got to the concert Dad got us each a top with Miley on the front. The concert was awesome and I couldn’t stop talking about it. I’m really glad Dad and Mum went through all that just for us – it was loads of money for taxi, tickets merchandise and the extra miles and gas.

And now it's Dad's turn...

The surprise went off perfectly - thanks to all of you who most expertly kept it a secret. And thanks to Mr Geoff Milliken for the bright idea in the 1st place. The top photo is us waiting for the taxi, he drove right past us & we watched him stooge back up the street... & it was cold! As promised, there is a video clip taken as we told the girls what was actually happening - you can check it out on this link or it is posted below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsK8bfzIbnM

america's 2nd city

This morning we got woken up by a loud rat-tat tat on the door, last night we slept in a car park we were not really allowed in. Well we played lost tourist it works normally but this time it didn’t they made us pay another $32 after a lot of fuss and bother… That was the first time we didn’t wake up to our song.

After finding another park in town (luckily it was Sunday so only $30 for the day for an oversized vehicle in the middle of town - one place wanted $120 for the day!) we headed to the bus stop. There were a couple of companies offering double decker bus tours so after Dad did his usual haggling, we hopped aboard. In fact we managed to get us 3 kids on for free, saving more than the extra $32 the grumpy guy charged us at the 1st carpark. Swings & roundabouts eh.

Tim, our tour guide, was so cool. He as really funny and new quite a bit about rugby, (Dad liked that) & they also talked about baseball and other sports. At the start we had the tour guide to ourselves, until some more people hopped on. It was really interesting, did you know Barack Obama met his wife here and they supposedly fell in love! We also saw where he made his acceptance speech after winning the presidency.

Chicago is a really neat city - heaps of different architecture because a fair chunk of the town (except the water tower) was rebuilt after a huge fire in 1871. The city is massive - 2.8 million regular imhabitants but another 5 million commute in every weekday. You get the impression that they have a real complex about New York being bigger and better - locals often seem to refer to themselves as America's 2nd city. The lake & waterfront are really beautiful although the marinas were all empty... the lake freezes in the winter so all the boats are put into storage to avoid damage from the ice.

The bus tour is hop-on hop-off and busses come every 20 mins or so. So after going right around once, we alighted at Navy Pier which is 1 mile long and was used as aircraft carrier landing practise during WWII. The weather was freezing so we were glad to get into some warmth. Inside were there were heaps of shops & eateries but the best bit was a show run by the Disney Radio folk - me Amy and Emma watched it for over an hour and we won heaps of loot. It was cool! The olds walked right to the end of the pier and back. We then bussed to Portillos for a Chicago style hotdog which had mustard, chili, gherkin, tomato, onion, and like heaps more. Apparantly you can get kicked out of Chicago for putting ketchup on a hotdog! Then the olds had a beer @ Hard Rock Cafe & we had fries & a sundae at the biggest McD's in the world - it is 2 stories tall!

Then we went to the Sears Tower, recently renamed Willis Tower where the viewing deck is 103 floors high. They had 4 special viewing boxes that you could stand in and look down. You were standing on glass @ 103 floors above the ground!!!. This is the tallest building in the western hemisphere and held the world record for the world's highest building between 1967 and 1999. Apparantly they are building one in Dubai which is twice as tall!!!

The bus had stoped running by then so we took a taxi back to the carpark and decided to head out of town and find somewhere to sleep. Sometimes easy things become quite a mission - we got lost because the motorway was closed and the GPS got really confused. On a detour we went past a giant oil refinery, it was massive!!! We ended up staying the night at a Wal-Mart in a little place called Hammond, IL.

tomorrow we're headed to Indianapolis...

til next time, love from Deanna

fantasea

Party in the USA – our usual wake up call told me it was time to roll out of bed and as usual it was a bumpy ride... to Chicago. Our mission – to get to Chicago, find a park in town, and be out-and-about after lunch. Mission accomplished, we went for a lovely walk along the Chicago waterfront, then our first attraction was Shedd Aquarium (& the parking was $32 for the day!). Shedd looks huge from the outside and when you go through the tent tunnel up the stairs into the aquarium youcan see why it's the 2nd largest aquarium in the world. [in fact Mum & Dad have also been to the largest... which is much newer and in Atlanta] Since it was Saturday the aquarium was packed! When we finally got our tickets and were in the lobby we found there were about 5 different ways you could go. We went the way with the least people, and it took us to the giant Anaconda. We couldn’t see its head but we could see its tail and thick scaly body - enormous!

Then we went to see the Beluga whales. Did you know they are the only whales that can move their necks? The Beluga whales are white like the Antarctic where they come from, the babies are grey and become white as they grow older. There was one in particular that I liked because it would poke its head up out of the water as if it were saying hi.

Then we went into the Oceanarium where wer got front row seats to watch a show called Fantasea at 2:30 or so we thought… The show started of with a girl being 'picked' out of the audience and a seal pulling a rope saying 'pull' in order to close the curtains (he also did other tricks like waving, saluting & kissing his trainer). Then the girl hopped in a flying boat and flew to the other side of the water and onto the rock where, with the help of a lady in a full white suit, did tricks with some beluga whales. Then she raced around the water to catch the evil looking penguin man. When she did, he gave her a penguin costume and she did a waddling dance with the penguins, and that was when I got about an inch away from petting one. Then on came the red tailed hawk when suddenly the show stopped because of some technical difficulties.

The next show was at 3:30 so we went to that one instead. It started the same way except the girl was different... but had the same cloths and same mum. They also did more tricks with the whales. When the hawk came on this time it flew across the stage and another came in to do the same. Then most people's all-time favorite (but not mine) was the dolphins. Their act started when 3 umbrellas, 3 hats, 3 swings and 3 people came down from the ceiling. The three people simultaneously dropped of the swing and into the water and stayed there for what seemed like forever. They were the trainers. What a grand entrance for some grand animals. To tell you the truth I wasn’t that impressed with the dolphins but the belugas & seal lion were awesome... and a really polished show as you come to expect from Americans.

When the show was over we went to wild reef to see some big sharks, we even saw some ½ whale, ½ sharks. We stayed there until just before dark watching the frilly fish gracefully glide past. And when we finally got to the camper Deanna found out why we had to wait so long for the show to start…… We forgot to change our time back an hour when we came to Chicago!

We were quite unsure where to stay the night - the carpark said no overnight parking but there was hardly anyone there. In the end we decided to stay, the worst that can happen is that someone can knock on the door and tell you to leave...

til next time... from Amy

the bridge to cherry pie

It was an early start today, wheels rolling by 8:00, mum was doing our hair and she did my hair up really high. I flipped it over, which made it look wacky Dad then suggested maybe we should have a wacky hair day, and that’s what we did (well, for the 1st hour or 2 anyway)! I have been on heaps of bridges in my life time but none of them this enormous! This has to be one of the biggest bridges ever, it was so gargantuan!!! According to wikipedia there are loads of bridges longer, but it seemed to go on forever. We had to pay an annoying toll of $7 but not much I know. Did you know on one side of the Mackinac Bridge is Lake Michigan and on the other is Lake Huron?

As the title said bridge to cherry pie, yes that was the bridge, and no the city is not called cherry pie. However after travelling a while we reached Traverse City which is the city famous for their cherry pies. It was around lunch time when we arrived and we were all hungry for pie... so we had pie! YUM YUM, but really sweet. They said there were 2 types, we chose the less sweet of the 2 - glad we did! We've been very good making our lunch each day - this was the first time we had a bought lunch in America & it was worth waiting for. We went though a really beautiful area past Crystal Lake - it was really pretty, some trees still had their leaves - mostly we've been finding naked trees over the least week or so. I think Dad was getting a bit sick of driving on all the secondary (3rd-ary) roads & was glad to get back onto something decent!

We managed to find a campsite open just near Grand Rapids - all of us were tired by the time we got to the campsite & I think Dad had about had enough of driving! Unusually, the campsite didn't have wifi which was a pain in our rear because we could not post our blogs and Dad couldn’t listen to the All Whites on radio sport like planned (thanks Uncle Steve for the text updates). You wouldn’t believe the difference in the temperature, it so much warmer… well tomorrows Chicago so that will be a happening thing.

Further terms for glossary…
freeway queue = backup
traffic police = state trooper
no exit = no outlet

Love from Deanna...