UK and USA 2004
We prepare for the BIG trip over the pond.
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First a few places to go in UK and a few things to get. |
We took a trip to London to attend the Dakar press day and meet the gang. The Rallyraid team were all in Morocco at a rally.
We spent a day at the fantastic RAF Museum at Hendon.
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Then we went into the city and saw the Queen as she visited St. Pauls to see the restoration work.
Onto Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery for a little bit of culture. |
The Motorhome show at Peterborough is a great place to get all those bits we needed and we met a couple with another Omni.
We are not sure who was the most surprised to find someone else had done a conversion!
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A farewell to the family and the UK |
Then it was time to drive away and say goodbye to the UK. The motor home would never return. On the way to the docks we stopped for a photo shoot at the famous Liver Building at Liverpool Pier Head.
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Then along the dock road to the Royal Seaforth Marine Terminal for shipment to Baltimore, Maryland USA. |
The family organised a farewell party at Sandbach and this lovely cake had a photo of another family meeting at Layoune in Morocco.
Dot and Jim with three grandchildren-we will miss them! |
Next stop was Manchester airport for our flight to the USA. Staying in a hotel on Seventh Avenue, New York we spent a few days sightseeing.
The Staten Island ferry gave us great views of the statue of Liberty and the famous skyline.
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Jim bought hotdogs which we ate in central Park after a visit to the Natural History Museum.
The city was crowded with visitors and there were many families enjoying the hot weather. |
This is the view from the 86th floor of the Empire State Building.
Riding the subway was not too difficult but getting meals was a bit hit and miss-either cheap and nasty or expensive.
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Jim achieved his ambition to board Concorde.
Unfortunately this one was parked on a barge on the river at the Intrepid Museum.
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Times Square at night was a fantastic sight and we had to visit the huge Toys r Us store.
Our credit card was glad the grandkids were back home! |
We spent a lot of time around the city, we watched baseball and visited the Guggenheim museum.
One stop was at the famous Met where we looked around the impressive displays of Egyptian artefacts.
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The Amtrak train took us to Washington DC where Dot found another new friend.
On every street corner were highly decorated pandas which caused much amusement for the visitors.
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We had seen a tourist DUKW in Liverpool, UK while the one below was in Washington DC-
boy they sure get around! |
The new WW2 memorial fountains had only just been unveiled.
On the night tour the memorials were spectacular.
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The raising of the flag at Iwo Jima has become the most significant of all the memorials.
The original Star Spangled Banner flown at Fort McHenry, Baltimore is preserved in the American Museum. |
On 4th July the weather changed-it had been very hot and humid
The rain came down and washed out the parade and flooded a lot of streets.
The only view we got of the White House was from outside the railings. |
The evening concert on the lawns in front of the Capitol was magnificent with a huge firework display.
We felt privileged to join in the celebrations.
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Next stop was by train to Baltimore. |
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The inner harbour at Baltimore is a lovely place to explore with all types of boats. We took a ride on the water taxi to Fort McHenry where the Americans repulsed the British fleet in 1812.
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We hoped the canons would not sink the Atlantic Cartier that was bringing our camper from Liverpool.
Exploring this lovely area around Chesapeake bay we enjoyed an evening concert by the sailors of the Naval College at Annapolis. |
This couple were packing their folding bicycles.
They put them on the dinghy and set off out to their rather large yacht moored at Annapolis harbour. |
All sorted-the ship had docked-our camper had arrived! |
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With hardly any fuss the Kalbarri Silverstream was handed over to us and we drove out of the Dundalk terminal and onto the streets of America!
Now we had to find deisel, gas and food! The weather station inside the bus had recorded a maximum of 93degF and a minimum of 39deg F on the journey across the Atlantic.
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At the KOA campground just outside Baltimore we spent our first night in the bus amongst the trees.
Then we had to unpack everything and get used to the heat! Our neighbours showed us how to cook shrimps over the fire and gave us cherries soaked in moonshine-
we had arrived! |
Not everyone has modest motor homes-some have trailers the size of a small block of flats! Others had much nicer transport.
These Gold Wings belong to Bob and Barb form Minnesota. |
Off on our tour of Northeast USA. |
After visiting Gettysburg we came to another Liverpool in Pennsylvania. A hose burst on the clutch and the family Fernimick came to our rescue as the bus stopped outside their gate near Wellsboro. Thanks guys!
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Back into New York State and the shoreline drive beside lake Ontario which led to the spectacular falls at Niagara.
Yes-we got very wet on the Maid of the Mist and at the Cave of the Wind. |
Our route took us into Ohio as we followed the road along lake Eire.
The Great Lakes region is very popular and this State park campground at Monroe, south of Detroit was beside a sandy beach. |
After crossing Michigan to Lake Michigan we came across this familiar camper on a state forest campground-
like Merlin but without the winch and one or two other things!
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The region is famous for lighthouses which are all along the coastline of the lakes.
This one at Marblehead Ohio was dated 1821 and is an Historic site. |
This one at Grand Traverse Bay, Michigan is also historic but more like a phone mast with a light!
We have been travelling amongst cherry orchards and through towns with familiar names. Milan, Macon and Dundee were all within a few miles! |
There are lots of small airfields in this region and it is usual to park your RV beside your plane!
Along the many smaller lakes are marinas that also provide RV parking.
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In the USA off road driving is strictly controlled and an annual ORV
licence is required for bikes, quads and 4x4. The fee pays for the tracks to be clearly
marked, maintained and maps made available. At the Silver Lake dune area all types of vehicles come to play!
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The guys from Silver lake Buggy rentals took us out onto the dunes in this magnificent specimen.
There are 2000acres of state park dunes alongside lake Michigan and 450acres are set aside especially for driving. |
Many vehicles are stock showroom models and just enjoy getting stuck or having a picnic beside the beach. Others carry quads or bikes out onto the dunes and then play.
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This six seat flag strewn buggy was just one of many specials that roared around. 'Inferno' boasted a bored out Hyabusa engine with twin turbo-awesome!
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All these wonderful places to go and ride made Jim determined to buy a new bike and at last he found a Yamaha WR250F in a shop in Livingston, Michigan.
But he is sure it should be orange! |
We visit the Worlds Biggest Air show!!!
--------Oshkosh------
