KIWIS on TOUR

Jazz, Mardis Gras, Beignets & Cafe au Lait...

That's some of what makes up the Big Easy, NOLA, New Orleans, Louisiana...

A town of vibrancy and living life to the max - including the Frozen Margaritas!!!

Once again everyone has split off and are doing their own thing and it's been loads of fun. Tours have been taken of the French Quarter, the infamous above ground cemeteries and the Lower 9th Ward (the hardest hit suburb ofHurricane Katrina).

We've had Beignets and Cafe au Lait at Cafe du Monde. They are yummy and you do just have to go there because Cafe du Monde is one of the institutions of New Orleans.

On our first night here I asked the Concierge at the hotel where to go for dinner, after a couple of descriptions we hit on NOLA, a restaurant by Emeril Lagasse - do you remember him? BAM! - Well OMG! It was DIVINE with a capital D! It was a little more expensive than the average meal, but not over the top, so well worth visiting if you get the chance. Certainly my food highlight of the entire trip.

Peter, Paul and Derrick today headed off to the National World War II Museum and report that it was VERY educational and in parts very emotional! They learnt a number of things about the American participation in WWII that they did not know and are very pleased that they spent a number of hours at the museum absorbing it all.

One thing that they did miss, as a misguided local informed then that bookings were not necessary, was a concert by impersonators of the Andrews Sisters and their war time performances. They were disappointed to miss this.

Yesterday evening the same Trio experienced the delights of The Cocktail Tour, this started at 4pm, so Paul was going to meet me back at the hotel about 6.30pm, at 7.45pm someone sort of walked back into the hotel!!! 

Today's reports of the cocktail tour by Peter and Paul said that the guide was more than happy to guide them for longer as they were such a good friendly bunch so the tour that should be two hours long was nearly 4! Do I believe this story or not?

So tomorrow we start heading north, first across Lake Pontchartrain then across Mississippi to Meridian. This is really the beginning of the end as we are now less than two weeks away from making our way home! 

We've been so many places in such a short space of time it's quite mind boggling!

When I will next be able to post I am not sure as I will not be able to get my laptop fixed here - very sad.

So, until next update.

Au revoir

Jodi

 

The Everglades and a visit with Mickey & Friends

Note: My laptop died! Very sad I know... but we must continue with updates and it's been a few action packed days!

After departing Key Largo we traversed the AMAZING Everglades National Park, I think every group stopped at a different air-boat ride provider along the road. There were all sorts of tales to tell of Alligators, Native Raccoons (that were CHEEKY) and other wildlife, but the most talked about was the sighting of Manatees in the area. Team Intrepid, even with their sadistic air-boat driver, managed to hunt them out.

I on the other hand, in the car, had to make a pit-stop and I went into a lake area run by the National Parks team. AS I'm driving in I notice this "log" in the lake and think "could it be?" Well I watched for a few minutes and came to the conclusion it was in fact a log, so trotted off to do what was necessary. When I came back to the car the "log" had moved and now visibly had a long nose and looked very much like a 'gator. So I sat and watched for the next 20 mins as this (approx 10 ft long gator) lolled around in the lake. It was AWESOME to see this creature in a totally natural way, no side show to go with it. I was OVER THE MOON.

The Everglades met suburbia VERY abruptly and that was it, we were into the mayhem of Southern Florida/Naples area 3 lane roads and strip malls. The strip malls lasted all the way to our nights accommodation in Fort Myers. Even the best shopaholic would have been over this.

Next morning we awoke with varying degrees of excitement... we were off to Disney World. I was just buzzing - one of my fave places to go... YIPPEE!

We could not check in until around 3pm and progressively everyone arrived, in the usual order, The Three Musketeers were in first, Team White Stick came next and finally Team Intrepid. The check-in process was lengthy as each party had the explanation of how it all worked. This time we were all issued with Magic Bands and these amazing little bands about the size of a watch were our keys to our rooms, our entry pass to the theme parks, our dinner payment and if you wished your way of buying souvenirs as your bands get loaded with credit too! It was fab as you don't need to carry anything else with you, just your camera, if you want, as the package deal I had organised also included photos with the in park photographers. (It's Disney, it's a business and they think of EVERYTHING to keep you captured in the moment!)

We had two days at Disney and 4 theme parks, should you choose to accept the challenge! Russell and Paula did, Russell took on most of the roller coasters - TWICE! Derrick was like a kid in a candy store seeing Disney and all its glory. Wayne and Pam took it a little more quietly as did we, Paul and I, we enjoyed actually just taking it easy and wandering the parks. It was HOT though, you certainly slowed down mid afternoon. Peter had his mate Noel join him, from Chicago, so Peter, Steve and Noel took on the challenge of the Wine and Food Festival in the World Showcase at Epcot, there was some vague reminiscing of Moroccan Beer, in Morocco, Margaritas in Mexico and Whiskey in Scotland. Funnily enough their day two was just a tad slower!!!

The two day stopover came to an end all too quickly and we were off on our way North West, the start of the journey to the Big Easy! Our first nights stop off was at a town that Florida has pretty much forgotten called Perry. It was a hole! (And that's being polite!)

The next day we headed to Panama City Beach and I was thrilled to bits to catch up with my friend TC who drove from her home 1.5 hours away to see me! Unfortunately we only had a few hours together but I so appreciated her taking the time to catch up. We know each other through the scrapbooking world and we just know we could get each other in a lot of crafting trouble if we got to spend some quality length of time together!

Well that's it for now, sorry there are no photos, will remedy asap!

Cheers

Jodi

We've been to the bottom!

Every time I pass an airport or the sign for an airport now I cannot help wondering if (Team Intrepid) Paula, Russell, Wayne and Pam have visited?! Particularly when the airport is right beside the road we are travelling - I wonder if they proceed through the Terminal just as sort of a nostalgia thing?...

As expected the further south we got the hotter and more humid it got. But there has still been so much to see that you've kind of had to ignore the fact that you are hot and dress as lightly as possible and get on with it!

St Augustine was a hit for all, everyone agreed another day there to explore would have been great - but we must press on! An old town settled by the Spanish in 1565 and served as the capital of Spanish Florida for 200 years until it "changed hands" (or the bloody Brits took over!!!).

The fort in the centre of the town, Castillo de San Marcos, is a pretty awesome structure in itself and is the oldest masonry fort in the continental USA. Then there are gorgeous buildings in varying styles around the historic town and the oldest Wooden Schoolhouse in the USA to boot!

From St Augustine it was on to Daytona! Destination Daytona Speedway to see the circuit where all those races happen. It seems that all the blokes were in their element!!! One even decided to lay down on such hallowed ground (Peter)?!

After the inhalation of gasoline fumes it was off to Kennedy Space Center - the home of NASA - again it was all about boys and engines - but this is a WHOLE different level of machine! It's incredible that just up the road a little we were looking at a strip of grass where the very first flight took place in 1903 and in such a short way a way we are confronted with machines that took us to the moon and back!

Miami, you know, Party in the City where the Heat is On!... Welcome to Miami - Bienvenido a Miami - well they weren't kidding when they said the heat is on!!! BLIMEY!  But along the way we travelled the coast visiting/passing through Palm Beach and Ft Lauderdale... some of us spent more time than others in Palm Beach, I visited The Breakers hotel and Team White Stick really splashed out and had lunch there!!!

Steve describes the hotel and Palm Beach as this: 

"...Next stop was The Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach where we had a late lunch. This is a very opulent Hotel for the rich and famous. However we were made very welcome. A valet showed us where we could park our bikes and dressed in riding gear we were directed to the restaurant where we could have lunch. Absolutely stunning building. King Edward stayed here with that sheila Wallis he was shagging. Palm Beach is a beautiful spot the beaches have become white and the water turquoise. It is all about the rich and famous. The houses worth millions and the locals are driving Bentley's, Rollers and Jag's. A stunning place if you got the dosh..."

Steve certainly has a way with words...

Miami decided the the heat was all too much also and threw her toys and gave us an awesome thunderstorm! Fork Lightening bouncing around the sky, buckets and buckets of water. The city soon became quite flooded. Team Intrepid aquaplaned across a causeway and the Three Musketeers sat the worst of the storm out under shelter. We were all VERY surprised to hear Team White Stick managed to stay dry the entire time watching the storm dance around them!!!

A late but yummy dinner was enjoyed by all in the hotel's Greek Restaurant before everyone ambled off to the land of nod.

Next morning the sun was out in full force again, but only a short ride today to Key Largo, Team Intrepid still managed to double the miles!

The hotel setting at Key Largo was very tropical and relaxed, right on a canal, palm trees - we immediately felt transported.

Pete and Steve were fortunate enough to score seats on the African Queen - the little Steam Boat used in the Humphrey Bogart movie of the same name - so they were like little kids in a candy store!!! That was the last we saw of them that evening, disappearing down the canal and on out into the Atlantic.

Yesterday was all about getting to Mile 0, Key West, the southern most tip of the Continental USA. And everyone did it. Can't say I was enamoured with Key West, it's somewhere I think you want to go to in the real off season! It was manic - but I've been there and done it! Would definitely approach differently if I ever got the opportunity to go back. And all the causeways and bridges to cover the 100 miles between Key Largo and Key West were impressive (both old and new versions!).

Pam, what did you do with the throng of people to get a shot like this?

So that's it for now, Mile 0 done, the challenge of the East Coast now covered from the Northern most point of Maine (plus Canada of course) to Key West, mostly on Highway 1. Now it's play time, we're off to Walt Disney World then New Orleans... 

Cheerio!

Jodi

Rain and heat = H U M I D I T Y !!!

It's only been a few days since we departed DC and yet we are already in Florida - that happened way too quickly!!! But then, we are now in the second half of the trip and it seems like an age since we were in New York or Nova Scotia - but they certainly are not a distant memory!!!

So, let's go back a little and catch you all up with the shenanigans!! I mentioned having dinner with Marie on her last night with us... what I didn't say was that it was pouring with rain that evening!!

The next morning we crawled out of bed to RAIN! Bums! Yes, for those on bikes it was time to drag out the wet weather gear and wrap up for the day... Jenny had decided to join me in the car for the day as it would be easier on Merv and to add to the mix Jenny had a head cold too! So Team White Stick ("Peter, Paul and Hairy" aka Steve! - it just works!!!) had two extras along for the day... Merv & Derrick. Russel, Paula, Wayne & Pam (now known as Team Intrepid - going places no "normal" man would choose to go!!) set off just after the other five. I left last, saying a final goodbye to Marie and letting the others get ahead a little.

So departing the busiest commuter city in America proved to be slow going! Not half as slow as it turned out for Team White Stick - with Peter in the lead and he losing his daily instructions at the first corner - they managed to take several wrong turns and apart from heading West (instead of east) managed to get themselves on the outer ring road of DC and completely circumnavigated the city before leaving!!! Made one of the longest days riding on the trip all that more special by adding probably another 50 miles to it - all in the rain! Go on, you know you want to laugh!!! We did!

The whole point of the ride that day was to ride down the Peninsula to to ride the amazing Chesapeake Bridge / Tunnel that transports you to Norfolk, Virginia. It's an incredible 23 miles long with two 1 mile long tunnels to allow for ships to pass through! It was certainly spectacular. 

Once Jenny and I had arrived at the motel I started looking about for somewhere to eat. We were in a group of hotels just off the Interstate so I assumed it would not be too far to find something - then I noticed a Hooters Restaurant, so everyone arrived in a little damp (understatement) we let them get showered and changed and told them we had a surprise venue for dinner. And yes, as the "boys" arrived there was all sorts of discussion (and assumption)! Anyway, a good night was had by all, especially Derrick (our "single" male in the group!) - yet again he fell in love!

Next morning, the weather was a little drizzly but predicted to get better so people jumped on their bikes and headed off to find breakfast and then hit the road for Kitty Hawk. Paula has kindly written a detail of what they've been up to so the next few days events are in her words:

Team Intrepid (me, Russell, Pam & Wayne) have had an interesting few days discovering the pleasures (and pain) of air and water and a partly successful search for wildlife.

Our first air'brush' was the home of the Wright Brothers first successful slight at Kill Devil Hills / Kitty Hawk in North Carolina. Another groan from me about another museum, but I came away appreciating the significance of that day in December 1903. Slightly more colourful (and certainly more interesting to photograph) was the Kite Festival at nearby Nags Head Beach where, ironically the giant panda, dragon and octopus dominating the Wright Bros. airspace were all made in New Zealand!

On our way to Jacksonville, South Carolina we ventured off-road in search of the advertised red wolf and bear, risking heavy fines if we were caught 'interfering' with them - as if! Our expedition led us to one one snake (well spotted Wayne), half a dozen turtles and one giant ants nest. (Bear Grylls would be proud?!) I feel we can't claim the points for the road kill along the way (1 deer and an armadillo were spotted today!)

Not quite as exciting as the Wright Bros Airfield (but certainly Team Intrepid went where no Kiwis had been before) was our visit to Myrtle Beach Airport. Apparently, so Team White Stick and the Three Musketeers (Jenny, Merv & Derrick), Myrtle Beach itself was the draw-card of the days trip, but a wrong turn saw us going the wrong way on a one-way road and we ended up luckily unscathed, at the departure terminal of the airport.

Our attempt to completely change the road system in the USA led us to get completely lost, resulting in us arriving in to our motel in Charleston after two hours driving around in torrential rain as well as being in the dark. Something I now know I have to get used to!

Coastal North and South Carolina hold an amazing amount of water - I have never crossed so many rivers in such a short space of time. There are no banks separating water and land - everything is on one level. No wonder there are abundant swamps.

Having dried off we set off next day for Jekyll Island, on Georgia's South East coast. My diary entry for this journey reads: "poured all day!"

The next morning we left in dry weather (hurrah!) The VERY ORGANISED Three Musketeers rode off first, as they usually do and always manage to follow the recommended route, always arriving first. White Stick Tours (now wearing matching t-shirts) decided to explore the island on bicycles (again without taking a map) whilst Team Intrepid rode to the wildlife viewing area on Jekyll Island to continue their pursuit of local critters. Result: one bird and one squirrel. We may have to change tactics.

We did however come across the Jekyll Island Airport (our 3rd in 3 days) only 12 feet above sea level and right alongside the ocean, we were concerned what would happen to the rows of electric buggies (lined up for arriving passengers to use on the island) in the event of a 2 metre swell?!

After all this it was time to head down south to Florida, to St Augustine.. hmm... wonder is they have any airports there?

Bye for now Paula

Thanks Paula, the one thing you forgot to mention is the build up of heat since Norfolk Virginia. Jeez Louise, it's HOT, damn HOT! for the last three days we've been in between 70% & 90% humidity and from 25 deg C to 30 deg today! By the time we hit Key West (in three days time) we'll be able to tell you how hot Fall is in Florida!

Photos to follow - sorry keep running out of hours in the day!

Cheers

Jodi

 

 

The Capital

Everything in Washington DC is BIG! The buildings are just massive, many take up a full city block each! But what is inside many of these buildings had our group all over the city. Most started off by purchasing a two day pass with one of the trolley tour companies. This company had 4 different loops that could be taken and as I understand it most people only managed to 2 or 3.

What did we see? Being that we were staying in Arlington, we had Arlington Cemetery virtually opposite our hotel, thus forming the start of the trolley tours. From there it was a simple trip over the bridge to Lincoln Memorial and "National Mall" encompassing the well recognised Reflecting Pool, Washington Monument and at the opposite end the Capitol Building with the huge domed roof.

   

The Washington Monument (honouring none other than George Washington) is deceptive but stands 555 feet high and is seen from many parts of the city.

Then of course there is the one and only "White House". Unfortunately the maintenance people were not attentive to the needs of travellers having clear shots of the building... grr...

Then there was the visit to Union Station and the US Postal Service Museum, followed by a walk around Arlington at the end of the day.

The final day in DC for many was spent at the Smithsonian Aerospace Museum. An ALL DAY excursion!!!

   

 

And being that it was Marie's last night with the group we had to find somewhere a little different for dinner. So a smaller group of us headed to the Metro Diner - a fun night it was - with Steve enjoying a Rib Eye to boot!

So, now we're working our way down the coast...

We've reached the Southern States so we're now being told "ya'll have a good time now y'hear"! 

Bye for now

Jodi

New England in the Fall

B E A U T I F U L !!!

The trees are only just starting to turn and you can but imagine the splendour they will create in a few weeks time, but for now, we had the beauty of yellow, orange, amber, maroon mixed with various greens and this still painted a gorgeous picture. To add to the mix the architecture is stunning, many turn-of- century (last) and prior coupled with rivers, streams, reeds and covered bridges.

Skirting around the northern side of the White Mountains in New Hampshire and down to cut across the Green Mountains in Vermont, to Saratoga Springs and Cooperstown in upstate New York, the roads and scenery were just what a bunch of Kiwi motorcyclists were looking for!

It was gratifying to hear that the roads were a perfect ride!

    

     

     

As we passed through the stunning little town of Cooperstown everyone commented on how gorgeous it was and how clearly there was plenty of money in this area. Cooperstown is also the home of Baseball and the town is clearly happy to continue its association.

Then it was on to Hershey, Pennsylvania, yes, the home of Hershey Chocolate!!! A town running on chocolate and as Milton Hershey, along with wife Kitty, were such philanthropists they invested in educating under privileged children. Their legacy of this continues today with the most incredible schooling system all paid for by Hershey Corp./ Trust. As one of our group said, "makes you feel better about eating Hershey's Chocolate". 

If ever you get the chance to visit this town make sure that you do the Trolley Tour - that's where you hear the story before, behind and around the chocolate story. The rest of the attractions are really more geared for children, but still informative none the less, and also to make you want to buy chocolate!

 

Yes, Marie and I participated in the "Make your own chocolate" tour, which required none of the hairnet, apron or hand sanitizer as apart from using some touch screens, all we did was watch our chocolate from the other side of the plexi glass!!!

While we were doing this the rest of the group headed off to York for the "Open House" at the York Harley Davidson plant. It was a typical HD event with PLENTY of HDs in the carpark. I'd forgotten what gatherings these are until I saw the photos!

Then it was on to Lancaster, in the heart of Amish country. Russell and Paula, Wayne and Pam made a point of visiting some areas known for seeing Amish people around the streets. And, so it turns out, Amish folk are just as interested as these guys were at seeing Hot Air Balloons go up.

So now we are all in Washington DC enjoying the many sights of the Capital city! You'll hear all about that next post... of course the two big news items here are the 1) the guy leaping the fence and getting to the front door of the White House and 2) the US Governments decision to assist in air strikes on ISIL.

Cheers

Jodi

Nova Scotia, PEI, Fredericton back into the USA...

Yes, it's been a while since we posted an update, the WiFi Gods have been against us!!! But hey, that just makes for and extra interesting update.

When we last posted we had just arrived in Nova Scotia with several different agendas while we were there. First up I have an update written by Wayne about his and Pam's and Russell and Paula's little adventure to the north of Nova Scotia.

From Wayne:

We split from the group at Halifax after just one night in Halifax to head up Cape Breton Island with the intention of circumnavigating this upper island. The first night we stayed at St Peters in a cool little motel converted from a family home where the family had once housed their 11 children!

We woke the next morning to steady rain and ended up in Baddeck after MANY wrong turns, muddy roads and NO TRESPASSING signs plus a few close encounters with deer...

[The bike covered in mud..]

[so too was Paula - bummer being a pillion!]

[How to add insult to injury!!]

Baddeck is the home of Alexander Graham Bell so we headed off to the museum to see exhibits of many of Bell's inventions such as the first plane flown in Canada, an iron lung, his telephone and gramophones as well as a massive hydroplane, that along with its two V12 engines with propellers on each side, was rescued from the side of the Bras d'or Lake in the '70's after being abandoned.

 

[Here's the rebuilt Hydroplane]

[Pam with Mabel and Alexander Bell]

The next day we headed west through Dunbegan, along the coast of St George's Bay to Troy. Along the way we saw some cool canals and locks as well as many rotating road bridges that allow tall boats to go up the canals.

We reunited with the rest of the group at Fredericton after 750km on the road that day! Many of the kilometers passed by quickly once we were on the Trans-Canada Highway at 120kms per hour. You may think that sounds fast but we were being overtaken by MANY trucks that afternoon, clearly we were going too slow!

The rest of the group

While the aforementioned four were off gallivanting in the north the rest of us chose to take a tour of the South Coast just below Halifax visiting the picturesque areas of Peggy's Cove and Luenburg.

The meandering winding roads of this coast meant the scenery of the inlets and little hamlets was a feast for the eyes at every turn. We also started to see some interesting road names along the way - the first being Round Toit Rd, there was Dead End Rd plus a range of others that are now escaping my mind because I want to write them down!

One thing you got very used to seeing were the lobster traps... here's a few photos to show the splendour of the area:

 

[Peggy's Cove Lighthouse]                            [Lunenburg]

This was Saturday in Nova Scotia done and dusted! They predict rain tomorrow... hope it's not too bad as Marie and I have chosen to head off to Prince Edward Island as I want to see the home of author Lucy Maude Montgomery and see the places that were her inspiration for the Anne of Green Gables books from my childhood.

Marie and Jodi's jaunt to Prince Edward Island

We departed Halifax at about 9am (once we had the last of the teams bags on board!) and headed off on our 320km journey to PEI. It was easy motoring across Nova Scotia. We stopped and had some lunch in Port Elgin (blink and you would miss it!) before taking on the 12.9 km bridge onto Prince Edward Island. Wahoo, what a bridge! The first kilometre (estimation) is a steady climb to the 40m height that most of the bridge is at, there is a piece that stands at 60m high for ship traffic. It cost 1 Billion Dollars to build, all people crossing this bridge in a car help to pay this off at $45 a time! The bridge is also curved and was way too big to photograph by us, so I took the liberty of using a pic I found on google to show you!

So that was the awesome introduction to PEI, once on the island it was an easy little trip across to the north side to the area of LM Montgomery's home. We toured the house, talked to a distant relative and then moved on to the house that was the birth place of Lucy. The guide at this house was very interesting to talk too, not only did we learn a lot about Lucy but also had some interesting facts about the tourists that go to PEI. A huge number are Japanese and they clamour to see homes and history of LM Montgomery, I found this rather intriguing! Even some of the signs inside the homesteads were also written in Japanese!

We ended our day at the gorgeous Rodd Hotel in Charlottetown PEI, had a fab dinner in their restaurant and then it was off to the land of nod.

We too regrouped with everyone else in Fredericton the next evening!

Those that remained in Halifax went to the Titanic Museum and mulled around the city looking at the sights there.

As we all departed Fredericton we headed north for a little bit to go and visit the longest covered bridge (of its type) in the world in a little town called Hartland. Was well worth the trip and from there we crossed the border into the USA at Houlton, that evening we returned to Bangor to overnight in Maine.

 

 

That's enough for this post!

Next post will be about our journey through New England and down onto Washington DC.

See you!

Jodi

Oh Canada!

The coast line, the Lobster Pots, the gorgeous little towns... from Boston through to Nova Scotia there has been a consistent theme here but certainly worlds away from being monotonous! Since Boston we've tracked up Highway 1 or 1A. There have been bikes darting in all directions... 

Russell and Paula are on a mission to cover as much road as possible and they are making many little detours! A correction to the other day too, I said that Russell and Paula were heading in the wrong direction in Newport... well apparently they were simply "looking for the Barnes & Noble store, they weren't lost"! (wink wink!)

On the way up to Nova Scotia we stayed in Bangor, Maine (and yes I keep singing in my head "didn't we have a lovely time the day we went to Bangor!!!) Then it was onto Saint John in New Brunswick, Canada so that we could catch the Ferry to Digby, Nova Scotia. So two rather large days of riding and sightseeing were under the belt with a morning to relax before the 12 noon sailing.

Three hours of calm ferry ride across the Bay of Fundy we arrived in Digby and immediately headed north on highway 1 until we reached Windsor where we had been told the road got quite boring, so at that point we hopped onto the Motorway 101 directly into Dartmouth (next door to Halifax).

After checking into the hotel we all headed off to dinner together, to a restaurant called Brewdebakers (yummo!), to also discuss the options for the next two days. Some had got inspired by locals on the ferry to go around Cape Breton and by the end of the ferry ride there were going to be two people left in Halifax for the whole time - yikes!

In the time bertween the ferry and dinner some had thought about the distance involved and decided that other options sounded more relaxing. At the end of dinner we had Russell, Paula, Wayne and Pam heading off to Cape Breton, the rest of us were going to cover the South Coast from Halifax one day and then look around Halifax for the second day.

The trip south today was stunning. We visited Peggy's Cove Lighthouse, flanked by a cute, quaint fishing village. We then, on recommendation, continued south to Leunenburg, a UNESCO world heritage site.

Tomorrow Marie and I are breaking away from the group to go to Prince Edward Island. We'll let you know soon how we've all got on!

Au revoir

Jodi 

You wanna go...

...where everybody knows your name...

Do you know where we are? Yes, BOSTON! But what did it take to get us here???

Read on...

So last I left off we were awaiting the US Customs people to decide that we were all good people! Well, the decision was made in our favour late on Wednesday afternoon and we were told to collect the bikes around 11am on Wednesday. Wednesday arrived and we got a message that we could get the bikes at 10am - so we were OFF! We were unpacked, crates all repacked up ready for transportation to Savannah and we were on the road at 11:30am!

Destination - Newport, Rhode Island - a nice simple ride, according to estimates about 4 hours riding UNTIL we hit the traffic jam for George Washington Bridge in New York (about 12 lanes merge into 4!! and it's the main truck route - need I say more?). OMG, what an experience! One we NEVER want to repeat, but we can now all put it down to experience!!! Our journey took 9 hours instead of 4 - we rolled into Newport a day late at 8:30pm, everyone shattered. As it was getting dark, the last two hours of the trip were done with the Support Car playing "Mother Duck" to the 7 bikes. We checked into our hotel and then regrouped in their restaurant for dinner and then it ws BED!

Traffic Jam Geo Washington Br!
 

Friday - a new day and a refreshed bunch...

Before heading off to Cape Cod we all decided to take in at least one thing in Newport before we left. For most they chose to go to The Breakers, the Vanderbilts' Summer Home. The wealth in that era brought so much excess it is phenominal!

Driving around the streets of Newport, oh would I love to have a home there!! The archtecture in stunning and the district seems very laid back.

On our way out of Newport we saw Paula and Russell going in the opposite direction and were worried that they were lost, so we did a U-turn and tried to locate them. This proved fruitless so we text them to tell them what to do and then moved on ourselves.

Our next destination was to see the Kennedy Compound at Hyannis Port on Cape Cod. We got close enough that we were able to see the end of Joe & Rose Kennedy's home and Robert & Ethel Kennedy's home on Marchant Ave, we then went around the corner to see Jack and Jackie Kennedy's house (that backs on to the others).

Then it was onwards to Provincetown at the very end of the Cape for our night at the Blue Sea Motor Inn in North Truro. Once we were booked in it was time to take a couple of car loads of people up into Provincetown for dinner. Provincetown is certainly a feast for the eyes, there is so much happening there. A fab night in a FABULOUS town!

Saturday - we off to Boston...

As everyone had chosen different ways to get to Provinctown the day before they also had plans for different routes to got off Cape Cod too. Some were going via Hyannis as they had missed that the day before, others were taking the northern coast road. Whichever way you chose it was very scenic!

Marie and I were lucky to happen upon an Arts & Crafts Market in Sandwich before having brunch at Beth's Bakery and then visiting the Sandwich Glass Museum. We arrived at the glass museum just as Wayne and Pam were leaving it.

Then it was straight on North for our hotel on the North side of Boston in a suburb called Woburn.

So, now we're all caught up, we're "on the road" and everyone is happy seeing the various sights.

Bye for now... 

Jodi

BOTTOM!!!

Well, what a saga! Our bikes arrived in the USA on August 22nd, we were all very happy that they arrived and would be waiting for us... until...

US Customs decided to pick on our container for a routine inspection, you know, check that the bikes are clean etc - all fair and reasonable!

After we arrived on Friday morning I found out that US Customs had then decided to do another inspection on our bikes but we should all be good for a Tuesday pick-up.

Then the bombshell, we've now been chosen for an inspection by the US Customs Contraband team - OMG! We're now being asked all sorts of questions like are we sending weapons in the container?  are there any drugs in the container? have we any criminal convictions?

The worst item I think we have in there is a fruit knife - so we are hoping that we will have a clean bill of health?! Else someone else stowed something in our container and we will be taking the rapp??? 

I know our shipping agents in NZ and here in the USA have been dreading every phonecall with me but thankfully we are all a philosophical bunch and know that we are staying here in New Jersey until US Customs are happy with our shipment.

It's just disappointing that we should of been nearing Newport, Rhode Island about now to enjoy the sun and sea air. But fingers crossed we get our hands on our bikes tomorrow and we are on our way...

Over and out from New Jersey (still)!

Jodi