Day Five

Actually slept quite a lot, although maybe losing the hour made it seem as though we had slept for longer. Woke to the devastating news that Ermington's cricket match had been called off due to rain. Looked out the window and it wasn't raining. Remembered we were actually somewhere where the weather is nice.

Got up and had breakfast in the hotel. Packed up and hit the road. Ann decided that she wanted to drive. Headed out of Michigan back into Indiana. Nearly got attacked by a crop dusting plane.

I picked a helluva day to quit drinkin'!

Bonus points if you can get the movie from that quote. Paul Knightley will be able to.

Stopped for a quick break. Broke our Dunkin' Donuts duck, having never been there before. It was alright, I had a strawberry iced ring, Ann had something.

Carried on driving, moving into Ohio. Plugged in the iPod and put our 60/70s rock music on as we went. Nothing better than cruising to Creedance Clearwater Revival and Grand Funk Railroad. Went off the beaten track for lunch, driving off piste until we hit Celina. Parked up by the old courthouse. Ate in the Fountain Restaurant. It was ace, old school diner in the heart of the town.

Scrap at the Fountain

As we walked back across the street to the car, I pointed out to Ann that the courthouse looked like the one in Hill Valley in Back to the Future. There was no sign of Doc carrying out weather experiments. Carried on driving south. It was very flat. Listened to K-Mullet radio. Not much more to report on the drive other than we completed it. Arrived in Beavercreek, Dayton, Ohio. This place is just down the road from our hotel.

Crazy name!

Checked in.

Decided to eat yesterday's leftover pizza for tea. Bought some extras from Walmart to go with it. Had a Hershey's dessert. Tasted very much like a 'Birds Eye Lovely' dessert from the 1970/80s. Watched 'Waiting for God' whilst we ate. Thought it was very strange for it to be on American TV.

Ann is now watching Downton Abbey. Bates has just been sentenced to death and Isis is missing.

Bears seen - 0

Moose watch - low

States Visited - 4

Day Four

Time to leave Chicago.

Got up at 7am, out at http://eggsperiencecafe.com/ for breakfast again by 7.40am. I had waffles, Ann had eggs or something. She sat in blueberries and ruined her white shorts.

Back at hotel to pack up by 8.30am, checked out by 9am.

Walked out of hotel, taxi drove past, I looked at it, it stopped. We got in and were back at O'Hare Airport by 9.40am.

Taxi dropped us off right by the Alamo Car Rental office. So far, everything had gone to plan. That didn't last long.

We had booked our car pre holiday and as ever chose a standard SUV. Now both previous times we have ended up with decent size cars, but today we ended up getting the exact one it gives as an example of the size, a Hyundai Sante Fe.

We got in it and within seconds Ann got a paddy on. To sum it up succinctly, she hated the car and couldn't understand why we had it. I tried to point out that it was exactly what we had booked but she didn't want to know. I tried to point out that on both previous occasions we have ended up with bigger cars by luck rather than judgement (In Washington, we got to choose from four different ones that were ready to go out and in Miami they had nothing except a bigger SUV so the guy just said 'It's not the right one, but just take it'). This time however we got the standard SUV we had booked, end of argument.

At this point I offered to get on a plane and fly home to help out. Apparently, that wasn't a helpful solution. By the look in Ann's eye, I could tell that the next twenty five days were going to be hell if I put the car into drive and left the car park.  Eventually I told her if she wanted it changed she needed to go back inside and speak to someone. She did. She came back and said that we could change it if we paid for an upgrade. So, what do you do in this situation??

Answer: get your credit card out and shut up.

I did just that. The two ladies behind the desk were on Ann's side, but seeing as they work for the company presumably they wanted us to throw money at them. However, they also did their best to help us. We paid for a one level upgrade, but they sorted us a two level upgrade car. One of them then went and made their maintenance guys do an oil change on the one they wanted us to have, as we were doing such a long journey. She then had it washed and drove it over personally. Ann hugged them. They asked if they could come on holiday with us. Computer said no.

We got in the car. Ann was no longer in a paddy. She was in a Dodge Durango.

The right car!!

Set the sat nav for Stevensville and away we went. It took us back into Chicago as it felt that was the best route following I90 and I94. What this did mean was that two hours after leaving, we were right back where we started. Traffic was slow. Felt like we were never going to actually be able to get away from the city. An hour later and we were still within the outer reaches of the suburbs. Eventually we managed to break free of the city's force field and into the state of Indiana.

Didn't stay there for long, moving into Michigan and to Stevensville. You can tell when you get to Michigan as the road surfaces are bloody terrible. Arrived at 2pm, although it was now 3pm as we had changed time zones. Checked in, ate left over cheese and biscuits for lunch and then headed out for quiet afternoon.

Went to Jean Klock Park beach on the shore of Lake Michigan. Sat in the warm sun and swam in the warm water. The perfect antidote to two days in Chicago. It did resemble the Alfred Hitchcock film 'The Birds' though. Lots of seagulls all just stood motionless, staring at you. I stared back. Think I won the war of minds.

Eventually we headed off and stopped for dinner on the way back to the hotel. Visited an old favourite from the last time we were in Michigan.

Still Fabulous

Sat in the car and ate it. Ann dropped sauce over her other pair of white shorts. I got sauce on my shirt and the sun visor. Bought stain remover from Walgreens.

Headed home and now sat doing this whilst Ann has been down the launderette cleaning all her shorts.

Just seen another USA shooting massacre on the news, this time in Louisiana. Made us glad that we are literally dipping in and out of the state later on in the trip.

Bears seen - 0

Moose watch - low

Seagull Watch - extremely high

States visited - 3

Day Three

Woke up a bit later this morning, which was good. Told Ann about last night's fire truck activity. She didn't hear any of it, which considering they were right outside the window with the sirens blaring for twenty minutes, says much about how dead to the world she was. Mooched about for a bit longer before heading out for a late breakfast.

Went back to the same place as yesterday, http://eggsperiencecafe.com/ . I had waffles, Ann had something. Saw some guys washing windows via the medium of abseiling. Didn't fancy that as a career.

Headed back to the hotel in order to get ready for the day. Got everything and then headed back to the http://www.coachusa.com/chicagotrolley/ . Caught it down to Willis Tower, where we got off and boarded a different tour. This one took us much further south, via Chinatown and the US Cellular Field (Home of the Chicago White Sox), to the Museum of Science and Industry - http://www.msichicago.org/. The journey took much longer than we were anticipating. We were dying by the time we arrived.

Found our way in and immediately got a drink, before setting off around the place. From our past experience of American museums, we knew to expect a slightly simpler selection of exhibits and labels. Today we learnt some interesting facts, for example, did you know that a tsunami is a big wave? It was ok, not the best museum we've ever been to, but not the worst either.

Did see a vortex.

And this. U505 captured by the US Navy during World War II.

Up Periscope

We had a look at most things before deciding it was time to leave. Caught the trolley tour back to downtown Chicago. Stopped to claim the free t-shirts we got with our two day passes. Walked back to the hotel and then went out for dinner.

Went here. http://www.unos.com/ It is on the corner of our block so not far to travel. It claims to be the home of the deep pan pizza, the first company ever to make it. We both had pizza. It is very deep pan, like a pie with cheese. To be fair, we both weren't particularly keen on the pieness of them.

When we finished we headed down to the Navy Pier for our last Chicago activity. Proved to be the best. Went out on a large speed boat to see the Chicago skyline before returning back to the harbour to watch fireworks. Tried to take pictures, but was very difficult due to darkness and the boat moving. The video came out better.

A great way to round off our stay here. The skyline at dusk was amazing on its own and then to see the fireworks was the icing on the cake.

When we got back on land we had a look at the pier attractions. Saw this.

The big wheel is too big to ride on.

Wandered back to the hotel to start the packing up procedure and to type this. Thought I would show you the hotel lift having mentioned it the other day.

Cover up

Now have The Late Show with James Corden on TV.  As ever, Ann has gone to bed.


Bears seen - 0

Moose Watch - Low

Submarine Watch - High

States Visited - 1

Day Two

Woke up at 6am. Not too bad all things considered. Tried to sleep for longer, didn't really work. Got up at about 8.30am. There was a knock on the door, it was housekeeping. Told them to come back in about an hour and we would be gone. Put on some 60s/70s American rock music and got ready.

As good as our word, we went out at 9.30am. Headed a short distance to this place  http://eggsperiencecafe.com/. Had breakfast -  pancakes with syrup, Ann had scrambled eggs or something. First three pancakes were fine, last one was a struggle.

Headed back to the hotel to get ready to head off across downtown Chicago. Room had not been serviced. Went out again. Bought a two day pass for the Chicago Trolley and Double Decker Bus Co. tour. Caught said bus to our first port of call, The Willis Tower. It used to be the Sears Tower, but now it isn't. Used to be the tallest building in the western hemisphere. Now it isn't. The new WTC 1 in New York has beaten it. Chicagoans seemed annoyed by this.

Walked into the entrance to find that the approximate waiting time to get to the viewing deck was an hour. Seasoned pros like us had already foreseen this and had bought fast track passes in advance. We made it to the 103rd floor in no time. Took photos of the various views across Chicago.

What you talking about, Willis?

The tower has a new feature which we decided to queue for. There are now four glass boxes sticking out from the edge of the tower that you can go and stand in. Whilst queuing, came to the conclusion that people these days don't want to experience anything anymore, they just want a picture of themselves at the experience. Couldn't believe how long we had to wait whilst people took a million photos of themselves and each other doing various crap poses. Of all the people who went and stood out in the box we queued for, only one, a boy of about five, actually looked down. He was utterly transfixed by it and I don't blame him.

When we finally got our turn, we spent most of the time staring down at the gaping drop. We did take a couple of photos, but mainly so we could show you good folk what it was like.

We're Walking in the Air!

As I stepped out onto the glass I was hoping they had built the thing properly. Mum would have loved it!!

After we had had our fill, we headed back down to earth and caught the bus again. Went just one stop before getting off and walking back to the hotel. Nipped to the Subway opposite and bought lunch, then went back to our room to eat it. Room still had not been serviced. Skyped Paul. Knock on the door, it was housekeeping. Said we're going out in a minute, come back in about five and we'll be gone.

Headed out to the Navy Pier. It's a pier. Quite hot in the sun, so sat inside and ate huge ice cream cones. I had chocolate, Ann had something.

Then we made our way to the second major activity of our day, a Segway tour of the waterfront with http://www.chicagosegwaytour.com/. Had to be there for 5.10pm, so we got there just before 5pm. Sat and waited. Filled in a form that basically said if we died or whatever the company were not to blame. Waited for ever. It was meant to start at 5.30pm, hence why you had to be there early to fill in forms and get a bright yellow helmet. People were still arriving at 5.35pm. Man was not happy. Another man who worked there came riding in on a bike quite fast, before turning a corner and falling off. We laughed a lot. Eventually they started the safety stuff and then we got to have a go. Ann was chosen first.

I finally got my own Segway, and when everybody else was up and running we headed on out. Tour lasted nearly two hours. There was the odd bit of trivia but basically it was an excuse to drive a Segway around. Shame we had to follow the bloke really. Our group had one or two incompetent people in it, who seemed to travel very slowly. We stopped for a photo op.

Niles Crane and Daphne.

On the way back, I heard a scream from behind and saw a French girl that was in our group speeding out of control. Luckily she was heading straight at me. She seemed to have forgotten how to stop, so panicked and jumped off. The Segway ploughed into mine. I had seen it coming so was prepared for impact. It was very funny. Man got annoyed with the girl and from then on she had to go at the front with him, the Segway equivalent of the naughty step.

It was great fun and would thoroughly recommend it. Told Ann I want to get my own Segway. She asked why, I said so I could spin around on it.

We eventually finished the tour at 8.10pm, which scuppered our final plan for the evening. We were hoping to head to Lincoln Park to watch a free outdoor screening of Wayne's World, but as we finished late, we couldn't get there in time.

Instead we wandered back home, picking up some cheese and biscuits for tea. When we got back the room had been serviced. Hurrah.

It is now quite late as the computer decided to do some updating so had to wait an age for it to do so.

As ever, Ann is asleep. She has just missed out on this though.

Eventually, they all got back in the trucks and buggered off. Time for bed now.

Bears seen - 0

Moose watch - Low

States Visited - 1

Day One

It's never good when on the first Monday of the holidays your alarm goes off at 6.25am. Although we'll make an exception in this case.

Got up, got ready and were sorted by the time mum and dad arrived to drive us to the station. Arrived at Totnes just a little bit early. Sat in the café for a while. Eventually the train arrived. A rush of people trying to get on meant I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye as said people blocked the door. Found our seats.

A quick quiz question. If there one hundred empty seats on a train and only two have reserved tickets in them, which do you sit in?

Well, if you are miserable bastard wearing a light mustard jacket then you sit in a reserved one. As we arrived by our seats, he had the temerity to point at the seats opposite and say you can sit there if you like. That didn't go down too well. I pointed out that we'd like to sit in our seats. He huffed and threw his laptop across the table and moved in a deliberately flouncy way. We gave each other a sideways glance and sat down.

Train got busier and busier. We thought we'd never seen a First Class section so full. Turns out the train before us was cancelled due to a dodgy speedometer, so they were just piling everybody on to the train in any seat, and then any aisle. By the time we left Westbury our carriage had people stood all the way down the aisle. Ann and I agreed that we should be smug as we had reserved seats and had no intention of offering them to anybody.

I had the joy of a Waitrose family standing next to me. Both parents appeared to be utterly pointless. Their young daughter's eagerness to show her father the writing she'd just spent half an hour doing was soon met with him taking the book, not looking away from his phone and saying 'That's amazing' before jabbing the book back at her without a glance. She looked very glum. I felt glum for her.

Eventually arrived at Reading. Got off train, got on RailAir Link coach. It was less crowded. Breezed along to Heathrow Terminal Five. Checked luggage in, ate some lunch, sorted out my car insurance and then waited for the gate to open.

It did, got on plane, waited, waited, waited, eventually took off fifty odd minutes late. Flight was fairly uneventful. Watched a couple of films, bit of TV, won 'Who wants to be a millionaire', ate food. Not much more to say.

Before long we saw this.

The Windy City

Landed at Chicago O'Hare. Got through immigration without any hassle. Caught a cab. He tried to drive past our hotel. Checked in to http://www.acmehotelcompany.com/

It is a bit funky, a bit old school punk rock. Album covers on the lift walls.

Got to our room, looked out the window.

Chicageeee!

The bathroom is funky too!

He's the Lips

Went for a walk to grab some drinks as we both were feeling a bit dehydrated. In the shop, Ann threw a whole shelf load of stuff across the floor. Neon sign said it was 87 degrees. Feet got hot.

Now back in the room. As I type this Ann is awake, which is unheard of, although I think she may be asleep with her eyes open as she has been very dopey since we've arrived. She has just been unable to find her phone charger which was right in front of her.

Anyway bed soon as it is now 10.20pm CDT, which is 4.20am BST. Travelled 4000 miles and been up for nearly day. Need to be ready for tomorrow.

Ann is now asleep as ever.

Bears seen - 0

Moose Watch -Low

States Visited - 1

Day Twenty Four

Last day. Needed to check out by twelve o'clock. Flight was at 6.50pm. Hotel said they'd store our luggage until we were properly leaving.

Packed everything, made sure it was all neatly done and all into four bags. Checked in online for the flight. Checked out hotel, left luggage and headed over to Manhattan on the ferry. Caught bus to Skylight Diner. Had a very late breakfast or early lunch. We didn't have much planned, just killing time. The one thing we needed to do was go to Abracadabra Superstore. Ann had researched that they sold stage make up that the Ermington Players use but much cheaper than you can get it in the UK.

We left the diner and used the subway to get there. Found shop. They no longer stock it. Bugger.

Next went for a walk along the Highline Park. It is the park up on the old elevated metro line that we quickly visited the other day. Walked along a short section. Saw this mural.

Pretty Cool

Got off the Highline, stopped for a quick drink and then headed back to the ferry port. Got ferry to hotel, picked up stuff and got ferry back to Manhattan. Got a cab. To JFK please.  Drive wasn't too bad. Arrived at JFK.

Walked into terminal. Saw biggest queue in the world to check baggage in. Got in line. Still had fair bit of time until flight left. Occasionally BA man would walk around asking for specific flights as they needed to beat the queue in order to make the flight. Thought he'll probably say ours in a minute. Queued for a while. Eventually said to another man 'Our flight is in forty minutes are we going to be called through'. Told him flight number. He said 'Oh that flight is already closed.'  He said they had been calling out our flight number for ages to make sure anybody who needed to could check luggage in. I said we have been queuing up for ages, not once have we heard our flight number. Had long argument with him. He was not interested. Bearing in mind it was still forty minutes until it left the terminal and we had been there queueing, not like we turned up late at that moment, I felt it was a bit unhelpful. 

Upshot was we had missed our flight. Feared the worst. Had to go to ticket desk to see if we could get on another flight. My language at this point my not have been the best of the Queen's English. Next two flights were full. Third one had space. He booked us on. Said very loudly to Ann 'Now we have to go and get in that bloody queue again, starting all the way at the back'. Man said 'Its ok, go and check in at the Club World desk, tell them I sent you. There were four people in that queue. Bit shorter.

A BA woman came over and asked if we were in the right queue. We explained, she said I just thought it would be quicker for you to use the First Class desk. Off we went. Checked our baggage at First Class. Shame we didn't get upgraded.

Next issue was when we would land at Heathrow. We had train booked at 9.35am. originally that would have given us three hours from landing to get to Reading. Unfortunately we were unlikely to get back.

Flight was fine, only about six hours.

Landed at 8.30am. Thought there may be a glimmer of hope of getting to Reading on time. Only glimmer as passport control is always very busy. Plane took ages to get to gate. Got off. Legged it to passport control. Empty. Got straight through. Ran to baggage conveyer. It was 8.55am. Forty minutes to train. Bus journey takes about 35mins. Still glimmer. Stood waiting at baggage conveyer for what seemed like an eternity before ours plopped out. By this time it was now 9.10am. Glimmer over. Got on bus that left Heathrow at 9.15am. Arrived Reading 9.55am. Twenty minutes after our First Class seats had left. No choice but to buy slum class on next train. Phoned mum to tell her the change of time and destination.

Good news was the discovery the Everton had beaten United.

Managed to fight scum off to get two decent unbooked seats next to each other. Sat on train. Went all the way to Plymouth. Got off. Found mum and car.

Got in.

Home finally.

Relieved.

Unpacked everything, try to file it all away neatly whilst trying to stay awake. Put new fridge magnets on the fridge.

Ann is now asleep. I have been up for 33 hours. Tired.

Last blog finished.

Bedtime.

Day Twenty Three

The last full day in the states. It has absolutely flown by. So much has happened today that this can only be a brief overview, otherwise I'll miss the flight. Got home very late, hence no blog until this morning. More on that later.

Headed across on the ferry to Manhattan about 10am. Got free bus to 50th Avenue. Arrived at the Rockefeller Plaza. Got in elevator. Arrived here.

Spectacular views across the city. Last time we went up the Empire State Building which has a higher viewing platform, but the difference this time was 1. Less crowded  2.  You get to see the Empire State Building in the skyline.

Central Park

Downtown

Hung around for nearly ninety minutes just taking it all in. Got asked to take a photo of a couple. Eventually left and went back down to earth.

Headed to the Evergreen Diner for lunch. Was ok, food was ok. We decided that the other meals we've had here were better.

Got on subway and travelled down to the American Museum of Natural History. Last time we were here we got to the museum late on and it was about to close, so this time we made sure.  It is very big. Lots of interesting things. We spent a good couple of hours looking at everything, and even then we missed most of it out.

Moose watch - 2, shame they are stuffed

Got asked by another couple to take a photo of them. Asked Ann why people kept asking me? Came to the conclusion my undercover cop look makes me appear very trustworthy. Left museum and got some drinks. Went to Central Park and sat. We moved from time to time, but generally sat. Busy but fairly peaceful.

Lake

Thought about getting a rowing boat, but when we got to the boathouse there was a huge queue. Calculated it would take an hour at least to get on boat. Thought better of it.

Eventually it was time for the last activity of the day. Headed to the subway. Got very confused by the line closures. Eventually got the right train and arrived at our destination. Got off, picked up our tickets and went in. Got some food and sat in our seats.

If you haven't worked it out, we were at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx to see the Yankees beat the Boston Red Socks 4 -1.  Evening was exciting, but the game of baseball is actually very dull. Had to stand for the Star Spangled Banner to sung before the game. Don't know why, I'm not American. Game finally finished despite the fact only two blokes actually hit the ball all evening.

Left, finally got subway train and it took forever to get back towards midtown Manhattan. Arrived at 12am. Waited for free ferry bus decided to walk back down the route. No bus. Got all the way back to the ferry port to find the last bus was 11.30pm and the last ferry was 12.10am. Oh dear. Asked man if there was a normal bus service. Not on a Sunday night he said. Told him I thought this was the city that never sleeps. Obviously it does on a Sunday. Had no alternative to get stung by a cab again. Got back to hotel in a bad mood.

Time was 1.30am.

Went to bed.