DAY 110 WEDNESDAY 26th DECEMBER 2007

Hollywood, Florida (Miles to Date: 13000)

Today we decided to head off to see some of the real Florida – well sort of. We decided to go with the Caldwells to visit the Florida Everglades Holiday Park and take an airboat tour of the Everglades. The park itself is very home spun but the offer hour long tours on the air boat at a reasonable price (something like $20 for adults) – the boats are largish (taking about 30 people) but are covered at the front and back to protect your from the elements (not that we needed that on this date). I had looked at some more intimate tours on smaller boats – almost like a personal charter but these seemed to start at about $350 which was a bit too much. Perhaps on another occasion! As it turned out the tour was great – we initially sped out over the water and boy are those engines noisy but it was a wonderful feeling to skip over the water and vegetation. After a few minutes the boat was pulled up in one of the airboat channels so we could get some close-ups of alligators. An did we get close – the boats themselves ride low in the water, the sides are perhaps 18 inches above the water – and the alligators swim right up to the boats. I suspect these particular alligators are quite tame and the boat driver helped us to befriend these particular beasts by chucking them some bread. Having said this it was a fantastic opportunity for some great close ups of these wonderful creatures. As well as alligator spotting we were given an overview of the Everglades – which contrary to my understanding is actually not a swamp but is about the slowest and certainly the widest river in the United State, and is almost completely made up of fresh water. In between the channels of water are vast fields of saw grass, which are homes to an amazing variety of wildlife especially birds.

After the tour we had free tickets to see a show with real live alligators – although they seemed to be pretty sleepy to me. I would not be surprised if they were taking something to calm them down. Anyway our host was partly toothless – more so than the alligators and he was also missing three fingers which was somewhat disconcerting. It seemed a bit inappropriate to ask whether the lost digits were as a result of playing with alligators – so it remains a mystery to me and probably it is better that way.

Having fed our need to discover the real Florida it was now time to feed ourselves with food. We headed off back to Hollywood and to Route 1. Desert was already planned – an ice cream store called Jaxson’s, a local institution. When we arrived there were long lines outside so we started to walk back down the road towards an Italian restaurant we had passed – as is often the case the walk back was further than it seemed when driving it. When we did arrive the atmosphere was a bit staid and the food expensive so we walked back and stopped at a burger place called Checkers. Now for the desert! The line was still long but we decided to wait and after about an hour we were in – not before we had been introduced the loudest screaming 3 year old in the world – who tried to bite Karen’s finger off as she tried to calm him. Unfortunately once inside this 3 year old horror was still next to us and indeed it got to the point where the waiting staff were suggesting they leave … and finally they did. Not deterred we ordered our sundaes and what came was humungous. Karen shared with Laura, Jack with Sam and Emily with Jessie. I decided I was up for the full desert but sadly was beaten and could not force down another mouthful … hate leaving anything especially ice cream. Totally bloated we left for our respective dwellings.

DAY 107 SUNDAY 23rd DECEMBER 2007

Hollywood, Florida (Miles to Date: 12800)

One of the issues we have had in changing from our tents to the motor home is the fact Mark had booked our campsites based on a tent not the motor home, so we had to call around and change our site plans. Unfortunately this is the busiest season for accommodation in Florida with all the Snow Birds escaping the frigid north and flying south for the winter. By and large this has not caused to many problems except at the site we were due to stay at in West Palm beach over Christmas. Mark had to frantically call around to find somewhere for us to stay and fortunately we found an RV campsite (RV stands for recreation vehicle for those non-Americans reading this) in Hollywood, Florida (between Miami and West Palm Beach). Although not far from Key Largo we didn’t arrive until about 5:30pm, having made a few stops on route – such as to Bass Pro to return the tent we had had for all of one week. As we pulled in Karen noticed a sign on the entrance saying “over 55 community”, assuming this referred to age not the number of people on site we were worried that we might not have anywhere to stay over Christmas (unless we could find a stable with room to park a motor home!!!). Also the office on site was closed and the person who did the after hours booking was off having dinner with his 90 year old mother at her nursing home. So we spent a worried couple of hour waiting for the gentleman to return. As it turned out all was well and we were able to stay. Phew!!!

The site itself is mainly “permanent” mobile home with a few trailer sites. It is in the Seminole Indian Reservation close to a couple of casinos. We have a lovely view across to the back of a gas (petrol) station and a yard for Budget Van rentals, which has bright security lights on all night which our motor home blinds are no match for. Never mind we have a place to stay and it is only for a few days after all.

We are mainly staying close to home and apart from the occasional trip to pick up a bit of last minute shopping we have not strayed to far from base camp. The only exception was that we managed to find a weekend campout for Jack with another Scout troop. We were co-ordinating this trip with a lady called Shannon who proved to be quite hard to pin down. Finally we got an email with the details of where to meet – the Elks Lodge (reminds of the lodge that Fred and Barney belonged to in the Flintstones) in West Palm Beach. We were told to arrive at 3pm which we did but there was no one there – and the people in the Lodge had no idea about any Scout meeting. Of course at this point we started to worry and called around the names of the leaders that Shannon had provided and of course none were answering their phones – so we left messages and sat down and waited. Fortunately the people in the Lodge were very kind, particularly Sandy the lady serving behind the bar. We were able to wait inside, and Laura, Jack and Emily were quite happy sitting down and watching 101 Dalmatians on the large projection TV. Finally we got a call back from one of the leaders saying that they were on their way – finally arriving at around 5pm. This was the troops Christmas party so and there was secret Santa so we left Jack to settle in and the rest of us went to the mall to get him a present. When we got back the party was in full swing (sort of) but was largely an unorganised affair, with the leaders sitting around whilst all around them was burning (figuratively speaking). Fortunately there was plenty of food, mainly of the burger and hot dog variety. We got talking to the Scout Master, Frank who was from Germany is passionate about scouting – he’s even called his dog Scout. Frank who has been involved with Scouts since the age of 10 collect scout badges (has 10,000 from around the world) and over 200 uniforms in his collection.

After eating the secret Santa presents were given out – Jack got a voucher for a local Army and Navy surplus store, which ever so kindly passed on to a new scout in the troop called Chris – who obviously didn’t have much (he was in a passed on uniform) and was also someone with special education needs. He was delighted with this. Frank had bought all the boys a very expensive looking Eagle knife – but obviously Jack was a late comer, but was not forgotten and Frank had for him a limited edition Norman Rockwell painted plate depicting a scouting scene. Jack was delighted with this gift. After after an hour or so we left Jack for his camp out and went back to our motor home. Karen picked up Jack the next morning and he had a good time although the boy he had shared his tent with had thrown up – so Jack was very indignant when he got back home and Karen made him help clean the tent.

DAY 104 THURSDAY 20th DECEMBER 2007

John Pennekamp State Park, Florida (Miles to Date: 12500)

Tuesday we picked up Laura from Miami airport. This was after a phone call at 3:00am from Laura at Heathrow saying they wouldn’t let her on the plane because she didn’t have a return ticket. Fortunately we had booked her a return ticket – Virgin Atlantic had not looked it up on their computer system. Thanks for the early call Mr Branson!!! Anyway when we got to the airport we waited and waited. Generally when Laura travels through airports she has assistance from the airport staff but for some reason this did not happen this time around but Laura being the experienced traveller she is managed to collect her bags and find her way through immigration and customs. Good for Laura!!

Not wanting to give Laura too much rest, today we went out to kayak on the mangrove swamp. Jack partnered with Laura, Karen with Emily and Mark on his own (lucky old him – alone time!!!) We passed through the narrow channels between the mangroves, luckily no alligators or crocodiles live around this area, but there were sure to be snakes around so we didn’t want to get into the water. After an hour or so we just about done in – we are not getting too much exercise.

This afternoon we took advantage of the calm weather conditions out at sea – the waves being less than 1 foot high, and went out on a snorkel tour of the reef. The main reef areas are a few miles out at sea – but the reef is in shallow waters, only being 7 or 8 feet down even at low tide. The boat dropped us about 40 feet from the reef and we all snorkelled out in the clear waters. The sea life was stunning with large schools of brightly coloured fish swimming in and amongst the polyps of the coral. There is a huge variety of coral and fish to see. Laura who had not really snorkelled tried her best and got to see some of the fish. We were really lucky to see several barracuda and sharks. Karen and Jack got within a few feet of a 6 foot Bull Shark – which are can be deadly, but fortunately the group of us were large enough to scare them away. Mark also got to swim close-up to a sting ray. The only real danger in the water were jellyfish, not so much the plate sized moon jellyfish but the smaller but prolifically tentacled Portuguese Man-of-War which bear a very nasty sting. Karen and Emily saw the only one of this type and we all stayed well clear. This was an absolutely marvellous experience which we’d love to be able to repeat sometime during this time trip.

DAY 99 SATURDAY 15th DECEMBER 2007

John Pennekamp State Park, Florida (Miles to Date: 12250)

We finally took possession of our motor home and have moved down from Central Florida to the Florida Keys. The motor home feels luxurious after months travelling around in a small van and living in a tent or small hotel room. Even domestic chores like cooking are fun … sure the novelty of this will wear off soon.

We are staying in John Pennekamp State Park, which is focused around the reef some mile or two offshore – so most of it is under water (at least the campsite is on terra firma). Our camp site is quite cosy but unfortunately it is right next to pond which is an ideal breeding spot for all types of unpleasant bugs – the worst of which are affectionately known as “no-see-ums”. The creatures are horrible, biting bugs – which are cover you with little bite marks which itch like crazy. Also they don’t seem to be put off by most insect repellents. Fortunately there are lots of creatures like lizards and spiders around to eat these beasts – but not enough to kill off the populations of bugs. We have seen plenty of wildlife including some land iguanas – which are about 4 feet long and plenty of white ibis and other bird life.

One of the main reasons for being here was to go out onto the sea – or, more accurately ,to go in and see what is down under the water. We have bought ourselves some snorkelling equipment and have tried it out off the beach at the park so we could get used to it. Fortunately the water is still warm this time of year (mid 70s – which most Floridians think is cold) so we didn’t come out suffering from hypothermia.We wonder what Laura will make of snorkelling and kayaking!She is flying in on Tuesday and we are all looking forward to spending time with her again.

DAY 96 WEDNESDAY 12th DECEMBER 2007

Hillsborough River State Park, Florida (Miles to Date: 11750)

It has been a very busy couple of days in central Florida.

Yesterday, having bought a motor home we now felt the need to buy a small, cheap car to tow behind. As we desired to flat tow, rather than put a car on a trailer or on a dolly, this greatly reduced the choice we had. With only a day to buy a car there was not much time for shopping around so we ended up with a bit of a beaten up old Jeep – but it is only for travelling around when we are parked up- it should do the job.

Today it was time to forget about motor homes and cars because we had a special treat planned; a snorkel trip down the Homosassa River to swim with the manatees. The only problem for us was that the boat left at 6.00am from Homosassa Springs and we were 65 miles away!!! So our alarms we set for 3:30 am and by 4 we were on the road ( I would being lying if I said we were bright eyed and bushy tailed). Still in darkness we arrived at the shop where the tours are run from at 5:30am – with the promise of coffee and doughnuts. This turned out to be disappointing as they only had caffeinated coffee and about a dozen doughnut balls – at least this might have made putting on our wet suits somewhat easier ( I think not!!).

So at 6:00am we set out and as well as being still dark there was thick fog hanging over the river. After an hour we reached the spring of the Homosassa River, where the waters are 72degrees all year round. This sounds warm, but is still on the chilly side when you’re planning to be in the water for an hour or so; the wet suits are most welcome if not entirely flattering. This is apparently the best season for seeing Manatees as the don’t like cold water and as the Gulf of Mexico cools they swim upstream of these rivers where the water is that constant 72 degree plus all year. Unfortunately for us it is unseasonally warm in the Gulf so not as many manatees as usual are there. After slowly moving the boat around we spot a manatee, Emily is the first in but panicked a bit, splashing around, which frightened off the manatee. So we all got back out and went in search of more manatees. Fortunately a couple of minutes later we found one and, carefully this time ,we got back into the water. These animals are very gentle and are quite happy having people around as long as you move slowly and don’t splash. We got within a few feet of the manatee but it was a bit sleepy and didn’t really want to play .. but still it was great to get this close to these wonderful animals. After a hour we got out the water and started to feel the cold – so one at time we squeezed into the minute toilet to change clothes.

By the time we got back it was breakfast time so we found a local café which was used by the locals and we got chatting to a couple of local fisherman. Indeed these were about the last two fishermen based out of Homosassa Springs – very much a dying industry in the area. Fortified we set out for Homosassa Springs State Park. This used to be a private zoo but has now been taken over by Florida State Parks and is used to exhibit indigenous species (with one exception a hippopotamus called Lu). We sat and watched a couple of the Ranger talks – our favourite being the manatee one where the six captive rescued manatees swim right up to be fed by the rangers. Another chance to get close to these wonderful creatures!! As well as manatees (and a hippopotamus) the zoo has some really large gators, plenty of bird life and other creatures like bears, mountain lions and bobcats. The zoo grounds are extremely beautiful and it is a great day out.

DAY 93 SUNDAY 9th DECEMBER 2007

Hillsborough River State Park, Florida (Miles to Date: 11500)

On Friday we had the chance to go on canoe tour down the Hillsborough River with a Ranger to guide us. The river itself is quite narrow in places, with trees, non-indigenous plants and rocks causing it tobecome narrower still in places. This all made an extra challenge for us non-experienced canoers. Jack, partnered with Karen, managed to hits the banks several times, whilst Mark, travelling with Emily got trapped on some rocks and only some frantic manoeuvring freed them. There was plenty to see on this hour long trip, including white ibis, turkey vultures and a 10 foot long alligator who was quietly basking on the river bank.

This weekend we had Jack away for most of the time. Karen has organised for him to attend a weekend campout with a local Scout troop. We took him to the offices of the Gulf Ridge Scout Council in Tampa and enrolled him with their council as a Lone Scout. The Council staff turned out to be incredibly helpful and made what could have been difficult process pain free. The campsite itself was out at Lake Wales, south of Orlando – and we dropped Jack off for a two night campout with a complete set of strangers. This was an opportunity for Jack to earn a merit badge – and he chose to do archery for this weekend.

For the rest of us the weekend was a relaxed time – the campsite had filled up for the weekend with mainly people from the local area (church groups, scouts etc). This gave Emily the chance to play with some new friends. We also had the chance to go fishing with a new rod that we bought in Bass Pro. Rather that having to cast the line out this rod fired the line out, by some catapult mechanism, and the hook is held in a pod and is only released when it hits the water. Needless to say we did not catch anything.

Today we picked up Jack from his camp. Just as we were pulling up to the campsite, eagle eyed Karen spotted a plate site tortoise on the road – which turned out to be a gopher tortoise. Concerned for its health we stopped and Karen picked it up and put it down on the side of the road. Just as we completed this mercy mission the phone rang, and it was Jack wondering where we had been. Thirty seconds later we were at his side – not too close though as he was filthy wearing the same clothes as we had left him in 2 days earlier. Dirt washes off....smiles don't!

On the way back to Hillsborough we called into an RV/ Motor home dealership. We had seen some one on our campsite with a map on their motor home upon which you can stick the States you have visited. This part of mission was successful but whilst we were there we decided to have a look around some of the motor homes. And as chance would have it we fell in love with a pre-owned vehicle on the dealers lot. For a little while we had been feeling the pressure of travelling cramped inside a van and staying in hotels – with four people in such close confines it can be very pressurised at times. In particular the home schooling was proving to be difficult and keeping Jack and Emily’s work organised was proving to be hard. So the long and the short of this is that we decided to buy the motor home. We couldn’t take it away there and then as we need to organise a few things like insurance etc. but it was essentially ours.

DAY 90 THURSDAY 6th DECEMBER 2007

Hillsborough River State Park, Florida (Miles to Date: 11100)

Yesterday we travelled down from Georgia to Hillsborough River State Park, which is situated about 20 miles north of Tampa, near the town of Zephyr Hills (famous for its bottled water). The journey itself was long and uneventful apart from negotiating some thunderstorms – which fortunately had passed by the time we arrived at the campsite. It was getting towards sunset as we set up camp – the site itself is set in amongst the longleaf pine trees -a very peaceful location and with so few people staying there it felt almost as if we were out in the woods alone. This was the first time we had put up our new tent, and the concern was would we get this done before darkness set in – but fortunately it was easy to set-up and we were done well before the night skies were upon us. So ,tired from a days travel, we settled in for the night only to be rudely awakened by crashing noises from the undergrowth outside and sounds like a person walking right outside our tent. So suspecting either racoons, deer or a local inebriate we went outside armed with our Maglite torch. What we found was an armadillo, who seemed totally impervious to us approaching him or shining lights into his eyes. We later learned that these prehistoric looking creatures are more or less blind, deaf and somewhat dumb. Having said that they are cute and Emily thought they looked a bit like Shrek with a goaty beard and with cute little ears. So we went back to bed and ,now knowing what the noises outside were ,we settled down for the night.

Today was a quiet, relaxed day; the only thing we had scheduled to do was do a Ranger guided tour of Fort Foster, a replica of an 1837 fort from the Second Seminole War. The Seminoles were the local native American Indians who were resident when Florida was ceded to the United States from the Spanish. The Seminoles were not overly happy with giving up their lands to the settlers so they attacked them, and to protect the settlers soldiers were provided by the US Government. Three forts were built on the road from Tampa to Ocala, one of which was Fort Foster (the original of which was burnt down). There were six of us on the tour with the Ranger, a lovely lady called Kate, who on the route to the Fort gave us the background on the ecology of the area. The Fort itself had been beautifully reconstructed and had been set-up to show how the resident soldiers had lived during those times.

DAY 89 TUESDAY 4th DECEMBER 2007

Savannah, Georgia (Miles to Date: 10750)

We have one day to spend in Savannah. Back in July we had spent a brief couple of hours in this splendid city but there was to much to see in such a short space of time so we decided to come back during this tour. The historic area of the town is made up of delightful squares and splendid houses. The town itself was a major player in the cotton trade industry and consequently was an important centre in the slave trade. Its role in these early industries made Savannah and its residents very wealthy, which the stately houses in the historic district attest to. There are many ways of touring the city – trolley buses (or normal buses built to resemble the old trolleys), horse drawn carriages and your own trusty feet. We chose the latter. Our fist stop was the residence of Juliet Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of America – this was a must see for Karen and Emily, whilst Mark and Jack decided to go for a walk around town. About an hour later we got back together again and took a tour around the town, walking down to the cobble streets running past the Savannah River. We walked through many of the historic district streets admiring the architecture of the houses and stopped frequently in the squares to admire the statues and read the historical markers, such as that for John Wesley the founder of the Methodist Church who lived and preached in Savannah for one year. After a good long walk we are ready for a hearty lunch – we had already pre-planned to eat at Mrs Wilkes Dinning Room, a place we had found in our Road Food book. It was a marvellous experience. When we arrived a large party was there waiting and we thought it might be a long wait, but no fear! We were in and sat down within about 15 minutes. They sit you down in tables of ten people, so immediately you are surrounded by strangers, and then the food is brought out. There is basically just one thing on the menu – good old Southern style cooking and as you sit there bowls of food including fried chicken, barbequed pork, beef and a dozen or so different vegetables (including macaroni cheese – which is apparently a vegetable in the South)are rushed to the table. The bowls of food are passed around – just like eating at home – and there is plenty of it (and more if you finish the bowl). It was fantastic – we ate our fill. At the end of eat-a-thon we followed the Mrs Wilkes tradition and took our plates and glasses to the kitchen to pass to the lady doing the washing up. So the only thing left was to pay. As we were paying Jack picked up a Mrs Wilkes cook book (Mrs Wilkes passed away several years ago but her family continue to run the restaurant) and asked the man at the till how much …. and then asked Karen whether we could cook some food from within its succulent pages. Karen explained this would all be too difficult on the camp stove. The man serving us at the till, who was obviously a family member, took pity on the poor, destitute Jack and gave him the book for free,

writing a personal inscription to Jack in its covers!Jack was touched by this generosity ... it is still difficult to see how we will cook anything from it!

We had on chore to do before setting off down to Florida and that was to change our tent. The reason for this is that our large 9 man tent is of a shape not too dissimilar to a croissant, and we were concerned about fitting this on to some of the sites we planned to stay on. So we found the local Bass Pro Shop (for those not familiar with Bass Pro they are the most amazing outdoor world retail chain) and selected another tent – this one being of a more regular shape – long and thin.

To end our day we planned to do a ghost tour of Savannah. This tour had a difference in as much as that you get to sit in the back of a hearse as you are driven around the town. The top the hearse (where the coffin would sit) has been removed so the passengers can sit there in somewhat makeshift chairs with their heads out during the tour. Our tour guide was ever so slightly mad, and had obviously seen some life, kept screaming loudly in mid sentence… which scared anybody we were passing at the time. So the four us plus a three others set off on the tour. We stopped shortly at a local hostelry and took on some liquid refreshments – which tended to try and leave its' vessel as we took some of the corners almost on two wheels and shot a couple of bumps in the road (which all added to the fun). Our hostess screamed," We are all going to die!" every time she did this! The tour went on for about an hour and a half … and as there were no more tours planned for the day we got the extended tour. It was not the most serious and frightening of ghost tours but it was great fun – albeit a bit cold on this chilly night.

DAY 88 MONDAY 3nd DECEMBER 2007

Savannah, Georgia (Miles to Date:10680)

Today we are travelling down to the historic city of Savannah. Before heading off we decided to drive out to Stone Mountain to the see giant relief carving of the Confederate Memorial, depicting three Confederate heroes of the Civil War, President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. The entire carved surface measures three-acres, starting 400 feet above the ground, and measures 90 by 190 feet, and is recessed 42 feet into the mountain. The monument was started by in 1923 by Gutzon Borglum but he fell out with the Memorial Association and went off to work on Mount Rushmore. Fortunately they found someone to finish it off.

It was a very chilly morning but we braved the frigid air and tromped down to the base of the “mountain”, which is actually a large granite monolith. We snapped off a few photos and beat a retreat back to the warmth of our van, and onto our long journey down to Savannah, Georgia.

DAY 87 SUNDAY 2nd DECEMBER 2007

Atlanta, Georgia (Miles to Date:10,400)

One of the things we had wanted to see in Atlanta was the aquarium. Of course Altanta is someway from the sea but they have built the world’s largest aquarium right in the centre of the city. We had been following the story on television of a sick beluga whale at the aquarium who had been distressed since Thanksgiving. Unfortunately the whale died the night before and Emily was most upset.

The aquarium was absolutely fantastic – right down to the most excellent selection of food in the cafeteria. The design of the building and the exhibits were amazing with incredible attention to the details of the design. We started with touch tank where we were able to reach down and touch sting rays and small reef sharks – around the same area were other touch tanks with star fish, hermit crabs and shrimps. There was also a tank with a huge loggerhead turtle that playfully played with a diver who was cleaning the tank and was using a brush to amuse the turtle so it didn’t try and eat his oxygen pipe. The next exhibit was focused on colder climates and in here they had large Japanese spider crabs which were large enough but could apparently grow to the size of a small car (which would be scary). The primary exhibit here was the beluga whales; the timing of our visit being poignant with the death of one of the whales the previous day. Fortunately they still had three more whales on exhibit and it was fascinating to watch them playfully swimming around the tank, we sat there for quite a few minutes just marvelling at their grace in the large tank. Right next to the belugas was a giant octopus who was playing ball with the tourists this particular day by attaching itself to the glass window of its tank – which apparently is rare. We then got to see some very cute sea otters, seals and penguins. It was difficult to imagine what could beat these displays but in the next area, entitled 'Ocean Voyage' you get to see the enormous tank containing thousands of fish of different sizes including hammer head sharks and the world’s largest fish -the whale shark. The have 3 in the Georgia aquarium, one of which is around 20 feet long – but these giants of the sea grow to be greater than 40 feet in length. Fortunately the largest things they eat are plankton otherwise we might be in trouble. The best bits of this display are the acrylic tunnel where you can watch the fish swim right over your heads and the large 450 square foot window on to this wonderful undersea world. Jack in particular was mesmerised by this area and we had trouble dragging him away. Lastly we went into the display “Tropical Diver” which takes you into the realm of the tropics with displays of colourful exotic fish, coral sea beds and the gently waving tentacles of sea anemones. It the most peaceful experience in the world to watch these brightly coloured creatures gently manoeuvring their way around this brightly lit exhibit. All too soon it is time to leave.

Just across the way from the Georgia Aquarium is the World of Coca Cola. Atlanta is the home city of Coca Cola – where it was invented and today is still made (although there are many other plants around). This centre is a tribute to the Coca Cola Company and is a relatively new. As we walked across the building we noticed what we thought to be a brown matting – that actually turned out to be parched grass. The South East USA has had a very dry summer which has left water levels dangerously low so there has been no watering of lawns. Also the formal fountains and ponds outside the Coca Cola building had been drained. Once inside we treated to a bit of a lesson on the history of the Coca Cola company – firstly inside a small room full of memorabilia, then followed by a short film. Once your initial indoctrination is complete you are let into the rest of the building where there are several more galleries – one demonstrating the brewing and bottling process, another showing the development of the Coca Cola brand. One of the final exhibit areas is the tasting room – where they have 63 different Coke products on tap from around the world. You can more or less drink yourself silly on fizzy drink – which is of course what Emily and Jack proceeded to do. The aftermath of which was the most horrendous sugar rush and two children who could not get to sleep until the early hours of the morning.

To finish the day off we decided to visit the Cyclorama depicting the Battle of Atlanta, one of most significant conflicts of the Civil War. In capturing Atlanta, the Union forces were able to cripple the supply lines of the Confederate forces by disabling the rail network. The Cyclorama itself is a pictorial and model representation of the events of the battle – the exhibit itself is circular and you sit down on a rotating platform which passes around the Cyclorama. The story of the battle is told through a narrative that accompanies the pictorial elements as they pass by.

DAY 86 SATURDAY 1st DECEMBER 2007

Atlanta, Georgia (Miles to Date:10,350)

Today we planned to visit the Dr Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic site close to downtown Atlanta. Rather than being a single building this historic site is built around a street, Auburn Street, in Atlanta. This street is home to the birth place of Dr King, his burial site and the Ebeneezer Baptist Church where he and his father were both pastors. There is a large visitor centre close to the street that shows some films covering the life and times of Dr King and has some fascinating exhibits detailing different periods of his lifer, with excerpts of some of his speeches. Myself and Karen were deeply moved by much of this, and we felt very solemn as we toured this, in fact during the film of Dr King's life we were fighting back the tears. Particularly moving was the speech he gave in Memphis on the eve of his assassination on 4th April 1968 – in which he talked about his death and what he wished to be remembered for.

After leaving the visitor centre we crossed Auburn Street to look at the Ebeneezer Baptist Church, which is a very plain building but nonetheless its association with the King family seemingly gives it a strangely spiritual aura. Unfortunately the church itself is closed to the public as it is being restored to how it looked in the 1950s and 1960s. We took a couple of photos and then moved a few yards down the street to where a wonderful, water based memorial (which it totally open to the public) is home to the final resting place of Martin Luther King Jr. and his spouse Coretta Scott King. Coretta King had planned most of the memorial site prior to MLK's death....she felt his involvement in the Movement would inevitably lead to his untimely death-what a sad prospect for any wife to face.

We spent some time there just contemplating the huge impact this family had on society even beyond their involvement in the Civil Right Movement. The courage of the King’s and their total belief in non-violent protest is inspirational and the more I learnt about the man the higher my regard for him became.

Finally we had a guided tour of the simple four bedroom home, just a few yards from where he is buried, where Dr King was born and raised. The house is still owned by the King family but they let it be run and maintained by the National Park Service. It is, as you might expect, a functional yet comfortable family home – the stories retold by the Ranger helped build further the picture of Dr King the man. It is all too easy just to see the legend but for me it is the character of the whole that is of most interest.

We left feeling sad at the untimely death of great man but at the same time we felt that from the time here and in Alabama we had got a sense that, as is often the case, a senseless death can often create martyrdom and a legend that amplifies the cause for which they are fighting. It was now time to return our rental car and pickup our repaired van – or so we thought. As it turned out the part the dealership thought it had in stock was unfortunately not to be found so we somewhat frustrated – and they were embarrassed (which did not help our cause one iota). So we had to accept the challenge of finding a part elsewhere and move on.

DAY 85 FRIDAY 30th NOVEMBER 2007

Montgomery, AL to Atlanta, Georgia (Miles to Date:10,300)

Before moving we wanted to visit one more place in Montgomery. This was the Dexter King Memorial Baptist Church. This is the church which appointed the 26 year old Martin Luther King Jr as its pastor in 1954. We enter the basement of the church, which a meeting room – the same one that was used to organise the bus boycott in 1955. On the wall of this room is a 47 foot mural painted by deacon John W Feagin, a personal friend of Dr King, depicting characters from the Civil Rights movements and events in Dr King’s life and post his death. We had a great tour guide who explained the events shown in the mural and then took us up into the main church sanctuary where services are still held to this day. This was a great way to end our visit to Montgomery and set the scene for our visit to Atlanta where Dr King was born and is buried.

The journey to Atlanta was thankfully uneventful. We had found back in Colorado Springs that we had seepage in a hose within the transmission system. Unfortunately finding a replacement hose was proving to be problematic – and there were only three dealerships in the whole country who supposedly had one of these hoses and one fortunately was on our route in Roswell, Georgia about 20 miles north of downtown Atlanta. So we dropped our van off at the dealer, picked up a rental car and set off for our hotel for the next couple of nights.

DAY 84 THURSDAY 29th NOVEMBER 2007

Montgomery, Alabama (Miles to Date:10,050)

We had planned to spend the day wandering around Montgomery, the State capital of Alabama. One of the things we were most interested in was the role Montgomery played in the 1950s and 60s in the Civil Rights movement.

Fortunately we were once again blessed with splendid weather. The downtown area of Montgomery is splendid in white, with grand government buildings decorated with palladium pillars. We walked up to the Montgomery Capitol building onto the very steps where Jefferson Davis was declared the first president of the Confederacy in February 1861. One of the things that continues to amaze us in these dangerous times is how easy it is to enter major public buildings in the US – although I remember having to go through metal detectors when entering the Department of Motor Vehicles in Elizabethtown, New York (which is a tiny place in upstate New York!). We walk into the foyer of the impressive looking Capitol building where we are greeted by an elderly gentleman who welcomes visitors to the building – he shows us the impressive three storey, cantilevered spiral staircase. The acoustics in this foyer, as a result of the staircase, are amazing and he shows Jack and Emily how the sound is amplified from one corner of the room to the other.

On climbing the stairs you enter a room with the main rotunda which has a magnificent painted ceiling and murals on the walls depicting historical events in the State’s history. Off the rotunda are 2 historical meeting rooms where the Alabama senate had met in days past. These rooms had been preserved to reflect their original glory.

Leaving the Capitol building we set off to discover more of Montgomery’s more recent history. In 1955 a seamstress and Civil Rights activist Mrs Rosa Parks got onto a Montgomery bus. When asked to give up her seat for a white passenger who had boarded the bus after her she refused and was subsequently arrested. This led to a series of events, marshalled by the local churches and activist groups, which resulted in a boycott of the Montgomery buses. The leader of the protest group was a young local pastor of the DexterAvenue, 2nd Baptist Church, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. The bus boycott lasted a year before the courts ruled segregation on public buses was illegal – this was a seminal moment in the US Civil Right movement history and led to many of the remaining segregation laws being made illegal over the next two decades. We started our exploration of the Montgomery Civil Rights at the Rosa Parks Museum – the main section was closed but fortunately there is an adjoining children’s section. This museum has a “ride” disguised as a time travelling Montgomery bus – which takes you back in time through the period mid 1800s to 1955. The whole thing was a wonderful experience – and afterwards you get to go to a resources room full of materials such as the police records from the bus boycott period. Jack and Emily were allowed to reproduce data for use in their project work.......what a learning experience going through all the catalogues of original materials!

We still had some time left in the day so we visited the Civil Rights Monument. The Memorial is dedicated to those, both black and white, who died in the struggle for equal rights for African Americans. It gives profiles of individuals – most of whom are not household names and were simply people who cared. The startling thing is the number of deaths at the direct hands of the authorities; many others fell to the murderous actions of white supremacists. This is a very powerful experience. A movie tells the story of some of these people, -particularly moving is the story of Emmett Till who was murdered for calling a white shop assistant “baby”. He was murdered and his body disfigured and dumped in a river. His mother returned the body to her hometown of Chicago and put her son’s remains on display in a open casket so people could see what was happening to innocent African Americans. This event had a profound effect on the black community and sparked the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s. At the end of the museum is a Wall of Tolerance – this a huge electronic display upon which you can pledge to be committed to tolerance of others irrespective of their colour, faith, sexuality or disability. We ,of course ,added our names which are now permanently displayed on this wall. Outside of the Memorial is a permanent monument, a round marble table topped waterfeature listing the names of the fallen – including the names of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and Emmett Till

DAY 83 WEDNESDAY 28th NOVEMBER 2007

Huntsville, AL to Montgomery, AL (Miles to Date:10,000)

Today we push further south into Alabama moving towards the State capital Montgomery. En route we decide to call into Birmingham, Alabama. This town was once a thriving industrial town based around the iron manufacturing industry but as time has passed it has to reinvent itself, focusing on new sectors like medicine.

One thing that had captured our imagination was the Vulcan Park, which is based around a large cast iron statue of the Roman God Vulcan (god of fire and forge). At 56 feet this is the largest cast iron statue in the world, and was built for the 1904 World’s Fair in St Louis to demonstrate Birmingham’s iron industry. It is mounted on top of a large pillar on a hill overlooking the City of Birmingham. On the grounds of the statue is a museum cataloguing Birmingham’s industrial past and it’s history through the Great Depression and role in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. One of the things we had noticed on arrival was several school buses full of children on school trips to the park. Fortunately it was lunchtime so we were able to dodge in amongst their lunch munching – what bliss!

I feel a bit sorry Jack and Emily who we continue to drag around museums, to be fair they are good about it but need to be reminded this is their education for this year. So we had to pull them up a few times and make them look at the displays and read the information otherwise we would be through and out of the museum inside 10 minutes. The museum itself had only been open since June so had yet to be wrecked by visitors and although small it was very well presented.

After touring the museum we wanted to go up the monument. The two options were the 150 odd stairs which run up through the inside of the tower or the elevator. Foolishly I decided to take the steps, which only sufficed to remind me what I already knew about my fitness. Karen on the other hand was wiser as her hips were playing her up again she took the elevator. Around the top of the tower is a platform which gives great views, the unfortunate fact for those suffering from vertigo is that the platform is made from a wire mesh. This gives a splendid view past your feet to the base of the tower – and whilst Jack loved it Karen and myself were not so happy so we did not spend a lot of time up there and were quite happy to go back down to terra firma.

After recovering our breath we returned to our van and set off to find some lunch. We had decided to find another “Roadfood” book eatery – fortunately there was one close by in Bessemer, Alabama. Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q is an award winning restaurant serving, surprisingly ,Bar-B-Q food, but our plan was to try out their meringue topped pies. Unfortunately our will power was not up to the task and were seduced into eating their pulled pork sandwiches and the most enormous pickles (see the attached photos). Of course we still had the room for pies – so we selected the coconut and chocolate pies, restricting ourselves to two pies between four of us.

After eating our fill we had one more stop to make – the Mercedes Benz visitor centre in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. As with most things to do with Mercedes the centre was extremely classy – with a small museum showing vehicles back the Company’s early days through to the latest M Class cars made at this site including a reproduction of the vehicle used in “Jurassic Park II”. There was also a fascinating film showing, in easy to understand terms, the production activities in the Tuscaloosa plant. Although it was my wish to visit the visitor centre Jack and Emily really enjoyed it and it was a great finale for the day.

It was now time to continue onto Montgomery, Alabama. Our resting place was a Marriott Residence Inn. We arrived just in time for their happy hour – so food and drink was at hand, of course it would have been rude to refuse such good Southern hospitality. To Jack and Emily’s delight they were also running a bingo night. The Residence Inn is a long term stay hotel so some residents are there for weeks or months at a time so the hotel runs some “entertainment” for them a few days a week. Unfortunately we were lucky enough to win a few prizes, and the lady who was running the bingo had a little catch phrase which went something like “You’re a wiener” (of course meaning winner) in her lovely, lilting Southern dialect. Feeling good about being “wieners” and arms full our winnings (two books, a cuddly snowman and Christmas stocking) we finally went off to find our room.

DAY 82 TUESDAY 27th NOVEMBER 2007

Huntsville, AL (Miles to date: 9800)

The bad weather from Sunday continued through yesterday. I don’t want to speak begrudgingly of these wet days – especially when this part of the country is suffering from a terrible drought. Also living at such a whistle stop pace over the last 3 months it is nice to have days when we simply chill out. So yesterday we did a few domestic things and spent a couple of hours in the Barnes and Nobles bookshop reading books and drinking coffee.

Fortunately today the weather was significantly better which was great as we had plans to visit the US Space and Rocket Center. This is linked to NASA Marshall space center and Redstone Arsenal which are only a short distance away. Just after World II a group of 100 rocket scientists from Germany; led by Wernher Von Braun, came to the USA to work for the Federal Government. This was the same team who had developed the V-2 bomb. Over the next decades Von Braun worked on developing missile technology for the US military, but his big ambition was to develop space vehicles to take men into space. His work led to the Saturn space vehicle developments which ultimately led to the Apollo missions. Through this work the Marshall Space Center was created alongside Redstone Arsenal, where today they work on the future space launch vehicles (to replace the shuttle) and rocket engines.

The Space Center has a great set of displays outlining the work of Von Braun and his team and also exhibits of space technology including the lunar landing craft and earth return craft from the Apollo missions. This is also the home of Space Camps where children and families can attend 3 to 5 day camps, working on various activities related to astronaut training. This includes simulations of being in a space shuttle launch and working aboard the space station – looks great fun! The outside exhibits include a Space Shuttle together with the solid fuel rocket booster and Saturn I and Saturn V space vehicles (which are huge).

To end our visit we went to the IMAX dome theatre where we saw a documentary called “Hurricane on the Bayou”. This is a fascinating film made about some musicians working in New Orleans to try and save the wetlands outside New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. They were trying to get government support to recover these wetlands saying that the elimination of these would be catastrophic for the New Orleans should a powerful hurricane hit. Their words were prophetic as midway through the filming Katrina hit. There film included some of the footage during and after Katrina. A real case of “I told you so”!!!.

We all loved our visit to the Space and Rocket Center – anyone who loves this type of technology should try and make a visit there if they are in the area.

DAY 80 SUNDAY 25th NOVEMBER 2007

Chattanooga to Huntsville, AL (Miles to date: 9750)

What a night! When we arrived at the Best Western Heritage Inn one of the things we noticed was a school bus in the car park, which immediately suggested that there might be a load of kids in the hotel. As Karen was checking us in it was confirmed there was a group of children from a soccer team and their leaders staying there, and they had already been warned and were being threatened with eviction. The reception desk team were a mother and daughter team who were intellectually challenged – the mother sitting on a towel… perhaps an incontinence issue here?

Fortunately, or so we thought, we were given a room at the other end of the hotel. First thing we found was that the light in the bathroom did not work and nor did the heating. We were too tired to worry about these things until the morning so we crashed into bed. Not long after there was a commotion out on the balcony. Karen got up and checked. She was greeted by three creatures of the night – judging by their sagging butts and pendulous air bags they were female. Obviously angry these women were having a full blown shouting match, using a wide ranging (or narrow depending on your perspective) vocabulary.This seemed to go on forever, just as we thought they were calming down it started again. We decided to call down to reception who said they would call out security. An hour later (by now it was about 1am) and all hell was still breaking loose outside so we called reception again to find out that security was on its way but the firm was based in Cleveland – Tennessee not Ohio – but still 30 miles away. The fact that the on site security was two less than able women and the cavalry was not just over the hill did not fill us with a secure feeling.

One lesson here is the choosing of hotels. Typically we have been using Holiday Inn Expresses, and whilst they do not offer a wide range of services, they are consistent and generally have a business people as their clientele. Of late we have been using some online sites to book hotels as some get very good room rates. On this occasion we had booked using Hotwire which does not tell you the name of the hotel until after you have booked the room. Unfortunately we had been booked into a Best Western in Chattanooga. The problem we have found with Best Westerns is that whilst they are cheap they are not consistent and sometimes attract a different clientele – which can on occasions means issues with unsociable behaviour.

We had planned to stay another night in Chattanooga but our experience of the night before had put us off considerably so we decided to do an extra night in Huntsville, Alabama. So as soon as we could we left the hotel and headed off. Today, in sympathy with our mood, was grey and overcast. Low clouds covered the surrounding mountains and hills – which supposedly makes a wonderful setting for Chattanooga. One of the things we had planned to do was to visit Lookout Mountain – but unfortunately on this day you could hardly see the bottom let alone the summit. We did a quick drive through the downtown, which looked a pleasant town, but with the bad weather set in for the day we continued on to Huntsville.

DAY 79 SATURDAY 24th NOVEMBER 2007

Knoxville (Miles to date: 9500)

Last night was dreadful. We had arrived late into Knoxville, not having left Mammoth Caves National Park until after 4pm. We were staying at the Holiday Inn in downtown Knoxville, and it is very late before we all settle down. Unfortunately the glazing on the windows seemed to be very thin and there was a lot of stuff going on the outside (being a Friday night) and the grownups were still awake in the early hours. Karen got frustrated by the situation and called down to the front desk to get a room change. It was now 2.45am so wanting to speed up the process Karen went down to reception. Nightlife in hotels is not something most of us see but it is in fact a completely different universe inhabited by the weird and wonderful creatures of the night. Karen was welcomed to this strange land by the bug-eyed keeper of the reception desk who aided her with a room swap. With this change made he instructed his security cohort – a female (or so we think) with a plastic hair piece as rigid as any helmet. With the aid of these night beings we picked up sticks (Mark was somewhat grumpy by this stage) and moved to room at the back of the hotel. Still we got very little sleep.

The next day we had a surprise planned for Emily, so weeks ago we had bought tickets for the Hannah Montana concert in Knoxville for this night. The problem was that we had bought these from a broker and despite numerous calls we still did not have the tickets in our hands at this time. Calls to the broker the previous day said that a man called Howard was picking up the tickets from the venue this day and would leave them there for us to pick up later. All this sounded very precarious, particularly as we had paid significantly above the face price on the tickets. We were somewhat nervous and had yet to tell Emily to avoid her being disappointed.

To calm our nerves we went into Knoxville to have some breakfast. We found the Market Square where there are several restaurants and after a bit of searching around we selected the Market Square Café. We sat down and ordered our food (delicious sounding omelettes) from a dozy waitress. After quite sometime we didn’t have our food or had been given our coffee – we weren’t happy. Our food did finally arrived as did the manager of the café – Karen said the food was great but we were disappointed with the service, and to our surprise she said the waitress had left and was not coming back. We felt a little guilty at this – but not for long. As we left the café we got a call from Howard – the ticket man – saying our tickets were at the box office and we should get their soon to avoid the crowds. Not wasting any time we drove off to the venue – parking up a little way away so Emily would not guess why we were there. Karen disappeared off and about 10 minutes later returned smiling. We got Emily out of the car – she was still unaware of what we had planned – and when Karen handed her the tickets the look on her face was a picture.

With a little time to kill we went off to do some shopping, after which Karen and Emily were dropped off and Mark and Jack disappeared to go to the cinema, to see the film (Beowolf …which is not very good). A few hours later we got back together again. Emily was still on an amazing high from the concert.

After all this was done we set off to our next stop, Chattanooga, some 90 miles away.

DAY 78 FRIDAY 23rd NOVEMBER 2007

Mammoth Caves and Knoxville (Miles to date: 9350)

After the peaceful time of Thanksgiving we needed some exercise to work of the previous days feast. We had booked a cave tour some time ago, expecting it would be popular the day after Thanksgiving and we were right as the tours had sold out.

The tour we had chosen was the longest tour the Ranger service runs, covering 4 ½ miles and lasting for 4 hours. We are taken on a bus to the entrance to the cave and dropped with the other 80 people and our 2 Ranger guides. The initial part of the tour is through some high caverns showing the effects of earlier erosion by the waters that once flowed through the caves. This leads through to a long wide section cut out by an underground river. There are occasional stops for the Rangers to give a talk about the geology and the history of the caves, but apart from that it is a real hike. After about an hour and half we reach and underground eating area where you can sit down and partake of the food packs on offer, soup and coffee. Being intrepid independent explorers we had bought our own lunch.

The Mammoth Cave system is the world’s largest with about 367 miles of known and explored packages (and probably many more undiscovered). They have been carved out by underground rivers over the years which flowed through the limestone rock formations through to the Green River. As the level of the Green River has cut lower into its gorge the under ground rivers have moved to lower levels, therefore the areas of the cave system we are walking through are dry (hence no interesting formations of stalactites and stalagmites).

The first section we had passed through was wide and open the next sections are very much narrower – some no wider than your shoulders. For people like Karen who are claustrophobic these sections are challenging. Other areas open up into vast open caverns with names like “Grand Canyon” and ”Grand Central”. The pathways themselves are well maintained and are free of rocks and other obstacles, but they do undulate significantly. There are some long steep climbs – with some slopes reaching angles of 60 degrees. Certainly got the pulses racing.

The final section of the caves changes are this is section where water has been able to permeate the top of the cave allowing formations to develop, the main feature being the “Frozen Niagara” a hundred foot plus limestone pillar.

After four hours we finally reach the end of tour and a welcome return to sunlight. We are tired from this hike and still have nearly 200 miles to travel this day – it was certainly a wonderful experience.

DAY 77 THURSDAY 22nd NOVEMBER 2007

Thanksgiving Day (Miles to date: 9100)

Today is Thanksgiving. It is a cold, wet and miserable day and we settle in for a quiet day (for a change) – a chance to chill out. Finally mid-morning the rain stops and we go out for walk through the park land. The main attraction of this National Park is underground but there are hundred of acres of land above the surface with trails through it. We go for a walk in the woods that finally takes you down to Green River and to where the River Styx leaves the security of the limestone hills and spills into the Green River.

After this walk our appetite has worked itself into a bit of a frenzy. We had not really planned anything for a Thanksgiving dinner but as it turned out the hotel was running a Thanksgiving buffet. Our expectation was low but as it turned out it was excellent. A lot of people had the same idea and the dinner was very popular (and a lot of people were local which means it must have been good) which gave it a great atmosphere. We had great meal – with all the usual Thanksgiving trimmings.

A nice relaxing day, just what the doctor ordered.

DAY 76 WEDNESDAY 21st NOVEMBER 2007

Cave City, Kentucky (Miles to date: 9100)

We rose today to another fine morning. We have been staying in McMinnville in a cottage in the grounds of a late 19th Century mansion called Falcons Rest, owned by George and Charlien McGlothin. The cottage we’re in has two bedrooms in our wing and as there is nobody on the other side of the property we have the run of the building to ourselves. Breakfast is served in the coach house adjacent to the manor which is used for weddings other events held at the mansion. The food is beautifully presented, made by Charlien.

The mansion itself was built in 1896 by Clay Faulkner, a local entrepreneur, who made his fortune in mills where he had a line of trousers called “gorilla pants” (obviously in reference to their strength). He built the 10,000 sq ft mansion for his family. After his death none of the family wished to carry on the estate so it was sold and eventually in the 1940s, Clay Faulkner's mansion was converted into a hospital and nursing home. In 1968 the hospital closed it’s doors for the last time. The owner found it impossible to sell the property decided to try and strip the inside, removing the woodwork and even unsuccessfully tried to remove the brick work. Essentially the house was a wreck when it was purchased by George and Charlien in 1989.Actually the house was purchased by George as a "surprise"for Charlien. He mortgaged their home to bid for it! They had experience in reconstructing old properties, but this was a real project, and took them 4 ½ years to complete doing about 90% of the work themselves. They don’t actually live in the property but use it as business running tours, providing a location for weddings, meetings etc. George who is a bit of a thespian also runs a few shows including a vaudeville show, a murder mystery dinner and “ghost at the mansion”show.

We decided to do the tour. As we were the only ones there is was a personal tour for the four of us. Jack and Emily were particularly interested in the tales of the ghosts haunting the mansion. It is somewhat spooky doing the tour with only a few of you. The house has been fully restored and filled with period furniture collected by the McGlothins from antique shops and fairs. We get told about the Faulkner family and then about how the house was used in the time it was a hospital and rest home. When you see the photos of the property at the time George and Charlien bought it you see the amount of work they had to do during their renovation. It is just as well we’re doing the tour today – a week later they are being invaded by 400 fifth graders (nightmare). After the tour we let Jack and Emily spend a little time in the Victorian gift shop which has some very nice things on sale.

It is now time to head off for our next stop, Mammoth Caves National Park in Kentucky. As we head north a rain storm crosses our path and this is also the day before Thanksgiving – so travelling is not a lot of fun. Finally exhausted we arrived at the Mammoth Caves Hotel – which will be where we spend Thanksgiving this year.