And we're off again, ...... into the Wild Yonder.

We packed a few things, strapped the bicycles onto the back of the car and off we sent.
  Albuquerque here we come.
A quick request via "Couch Surfing" and we've been accepted as guests to a lovely lady by the name of Jan. Turns out she's a Parliamentarian of all things. What is that ??.  well, .... She writes and co ordinates stuff at parliament for goodness sake..... Maybe we need her in SA.??..

Jan is an elderly lady, retired but very spiritedly and absolutely "with it". Frankly our politicians wouldn't stand a chance!!!! . Our room was offset to one side of the home, having its own Bath on suite. We couldn't ask for more. Absolutely perfect in every way.

Sadly I cannot find any pic's of our host so it will have to wait awhile ...
(Possibly not a bad thing as we don't want her cronies using this against her . lol)

During our travels we cycled along the Rio Grand and found it to be pretty disappointing to say the least . We were expecting a huge raging river but nothing like that at all where we were, Just a little stream relatively speaking, if it was 20 meters across it was a lot.

Loads of photo's missing here sadly ........  that's me crying away in the background.....

Anyway off to Santa Fe we go enjoying it immensely. Lovely old churches , etc, etc...... After a few
hours wondering around our next stop was "Tinkertown".

An old ram-shackled bunch of corrugated building slapped together but having a wondrous array of cool artefacts from the old circus and festival days.

On our arrival the snow had began to fall, just light snowfall which did nothing to deter our enjoyment that's for sure. We met the "Keeper", a lady whose husband was responsible for the collection and creation of the museum. Sadly he had died some years ago and now it was only her trying to maintain and keep it up. Sadly she is losing the battle.

There were folks who were helping her but over time she noticed many things rare and collectable, going missing so that was given up as a bad idea.

THE NEED TO CONSOLIDATE AND PREPARE FOR OUR HOMEWARD BOUND TRIP

Well, all good things come to an end and now we needed to find our way back to SA. The bad part of this equation was that the closest airport that "Virgin Int" flew out of was Las Vegas.  As luck would have it though, prior to leaving SA I had arranged another House-Sitting job there, the dates of which were pretty flexible. Fortunately the owners were happy with our revised arrival date, after which they would be heading on their local holiday and into Yellow Stone Park for two weeks.

who would have guessed we would be securing our bikes on the roof of a Pruis

The time had come for serious packing as 1st we needed to get to Las Vegas, only than would our baggage allowance of 75 kg per person kick in.  This was a huge dilemma as by this time B had become extremely fond of her luxury (old) bicycle and was loathed to give it it up.

Yes, that's right, she wanted it to come home with us so she took it up on herself to investigate and find the cheapest airline that would also allow free "Sporting Goods" to accompany us. ( which she did via Internet). Wishful thinking, when we had arrived at the airport we were informed that this was not the case and that and extra charge of $ 100 p/bicycle was due.

Between cursing and cussing, along with various telephone calls to the powers that be, we were now convinced that these wonderful bicycles would be remaining behind. Fortunately we were alone at the book-in counter with this one guy one on duty who we got chatting to,and who, after a bit of persuasion began looking up which sporting goods were allowed free. Finally he agreed ( wink, wink) that our bicycles were " Ski Shoes" and proceeded to book them in accordingly.

Someone is ALWAYS looking after us !!!  take a guess who?......

LAS VEGAS !!!!!!  (whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!! .)

Meet Bernard and Jennifer, our wonderful Hosts. Bernard, an American citizen who was the editor for Cape Times many, many years ago. As he had an understanding of SA it was very fortunate and much easier to discuss our home challenges with someone who can relate.

On arrival, Bernard gave us the tour of Vegas, told us where to go, what to do and what to look out for before heading home to meet Jennifer. Our room was once again to one side of the house, having our own bathroom etc. Couch Surfing is great!!!

Before heading off on their planned holiday we all drove to Red Rock Canyon and on the way back stopped off for a delicious lunch at Bonny Springs.

Psst we even had a communal swimming pool to cool off.  Plus a gym which we used very now and again between jaunts.

The next surprise was that before leaving on their holiday, Bernard insisted that we use his Nissan 4x4. to investigate the area and surrounds. ( lol, no that wasn't his Ferrari). Beside Vegas, there is actually also another wonderful world out there. In fact there were even normal people living it it!!, (not all of them but some at least) . Add to that a couple of  Movie Stars that live out there and it's wonderful countryside and suburbia. The area is extremely quiet once out of the city.

Hoover Dam, Henderson, Lake Mead, Pahrump, and Vegas surrounds.
Once again I can't seem to locate many pic's......  

LAS VEGAS you say , yes we were there. 

Freemont Street, the Main Strip, the dancing girls, the under-dressed, the bizarre,  spandex, downright stupid, and of course the music which occurs all over the place but mainly in Freemont Street.  We listened to great musicians whenever we had the opportunity.

And the BAD !!!!! ???? Yep it happened after all..........

Having now arrived in Amarillo and been introduced to Debra our host, we set about unpacking to enjoy our 1st House Sitting job of the journey. This would be a most welcome "slowdown" for sure. Debra was off to enjoy a few Holiday points somewhere up north and our job being to look after her lovely cat. Feed it, empty the poop tray, etc. Maybe even mow the lawn while we're there. No problem, all in a day work old chap.

The funny side of it was that the Feeder Tray and Water supply was automatically fed while the Poop tray was also automatically emptied and neatly scrapped twice a day ..... !!!  ????   ..... Yep you're right, .."why were we there" ? .... .

 It later became obvious that  Debra really didn't need anyone to look after her baby but just wanted it to have some company in her absence.   And we were the lucky folk to offer this ... WONDERFUL!!

Debra was great , such a loving person and one in a million kind of girl. We caught fish together, had scrumptious restaurant lunch, visited the museum and generally chilled out which was great!!........ and then she was off to enjoy her holiday .....

OK, and the BAD ???????   . Well it all started before arriving in Amarillo, only becoming evident when moving the car the next day. A huge puddle of oil right there,
.....on her lovely cement driveway ......!!

 Long story short, it was our transmission so off the to local Honda dealer we go. Now it gets interesting, ... We're introduced to the Manager who insists on the use his company car while he and his team evaluate the damage... He suggests we pop in to see the "Cadillac Ranch " a few miles out of town to wile away the time and insists on us NOT worrying about a thing. So off we toddle feeling relieved and not so stressed anymore...

What seemed to be an eternity later ( four hours), I receive the chilling news, ... " The transmission repair would cost as much as we paid for the car. Not only that but the repair could not be carried out locally. It would require transporting over 200 miles away for repair........  A joke right?.... nope .. all true.

ANY GOOD NEWS come out of this you ask ????????    

"....Well yes but just how to explain it??"

First, lets meet Debra and see a few cool pic's of our time while in Amarillo. 

Its now time to meet our LIFE SAVER !!!!   what a great representative of what can only be subscribed as " Going the extra 100 miles" type of guy !!

Having been the bearer of bad news and learning that we would be staying in and around Amarillo for another two weeks he, 

 .... can you believe it ..........  !!!   

Steve blew the wind out of our sails by insisting on the use of his company car for as long as we needed it.   Not only that but he suggested we MUST see as few places, including and not limited to Albuquerque which was over 450 km away.

Well this opened up a new world of new experiences. Allowing us to continue our journey of discovery albeit different to the original plan. WONDERFUL !!!!

First we concentrated on investigating Amarillo and quickly came across a local Art Exhibition which in itself was an adventure. We met and laughed with wonderful Artists, all the time drinking offered wine and snacks while wondering around. We got on so well with one artist in particular that she invited us to meet her family and " SA connected / travelled "friends at home the following night for a splendid evening meal. What a GAS !!! . Enjoying stuff like Root Beer for goodness sake!!

How much more American you think we can go?

Many thanks to Lil and Taylor for the invite and great meeting both Karen and Wally who stayed in Pretoria in the 70's

Sadly we could kick ourselves for not participating at another invited event being a Special BBQ taking place at a nearby Ranch. Turns out the guy has all sorts of exotic animals and at which everyone was entertained and eat themselves silly .

Oh well, you can't have it all can you ??

..... this is a question still  not answered successfully ..... but I'm working on it .

"Not much on Route 66 then?".... I hear you ask.  Sadly  you're right. Notably over the years with the new route / highway being built it seems only fools and horses (and some idiot tourists)  feel the need to reminisce on something that has expired years and year  sago ..... We did however enjoy the ride, viewed many interesting dilapidated buildings, managed to enter a few "still active yet unprofitable" establishments,  visit the main Route 66 Museum which was fun and informative.   PLUS ..... partake in lunch at two REAL LIVE Diners !! .  The food was nothing to write home about either time but he experience was enjoyed as unique indeed.

Anyway, back to the trip , ....... I tried a surpise visit to see Buddy Holly in his hometown but he musta been on tour cause he was ain't there!!   Off to Palo Dura Canyon, the 2nd largest in USA. ( we missed the Grand cause of the car man ,..bugger ...  ).

On the way back to Amarillo we came across whose things called Cowboys & Gals. They was doing somethig called "Barrel Racing". "Howdee folks" we said, "any chance we can take a peek?."  They they were mighty fine folk and they obliged accordingly, so we mooched on in and took a seat.

Goddang, but they could move. Yeeha i say , Yea Ha. (or some-ting)

USA trip in 2015 = EAST to WEST

How can one summarise 2 months of absolute joy into one single post???  You're right, "Just do it".

Well here goes.......

USA is a great place, it's people are great,  the cities are great, the countryside is great, the sights are great, family is great!!!!!!

Lifesavers include:        (but not in order of importance as these differs per occasion.... )  

Couch Surfer hosts, House Sitting jobs, Family, Burger King, Garage Sales, Free Cycle, Walmart.

Without doubt, minus any one of the above our trip would have been a lesser experience. The mishaps along with the pleasurable is what make any trip worthwhile and remembering fondly.

The mission this year was to travel East to West, connecting with the Route 66 experience and continuing on until San Francisco.
Starting once again in Boston at B's step sisters home where we managed to locate a similar vehicle to the previous one. Albeit a worse conditioned Honda Odyssey it meant that I needn't modify the "Camper Unit"which was waiting for us, strung up high and out of the way in Bruce's garage.

1st Stop this year was to collect two lovely FREE bicycles which were donated from an elderly couple we met on FREECYCLE.  Thank you so very much folks,  without these bikes our trip could not have been as comprehensive not fulfilling!!

 Our Trip now began in earnest. 1st we were off to our friends, Mel and Gywn in Philadelphia who we met the previous year. They in turn visited SA  in 2014 and made a point of coming to stay with us for 3 days which was great. This year we were invited to meet a load of their friends who were invited over for dinner in celebration of us popping in. Can you believe it ! Wow! loads of fun around the dinner table . We spent a few days wandering around Phili taking in the sites and then off to the next stop.


Larry and Jean Comden from Pittsburgh were our hosts allowing us full access to their downstairs self contained apartment. Wonderful!! . Larry had some time so he offered us the Pittsbough tour which was superb. The following evening we were off to see the Ball Game. Oh what a hoot !!! so cool, so energetic!! very memorial for sure. Tx folks for your graciousness.


Off to Cincinnati we went, Our host being Jon who wasn't even home when we arrived. Simply lift the floor mat to collect the key with instructions that our bedroom was the upstairs on the right. We only met him the next morning at breakfast. What a great person, well travelled, well versed, and an excellent conversationalist. Tx for the GREAT double bed !!  Perfect sleep. Sadly we were off to our next destination which we regretted immensely.  We did a total injustice to the CS principle. REAL sorry Jon !!

Nashville here we come..... Sarah Zhanq being our host for two nights. Spent the daylight hours roaming Nashville and at night spent it listening to live music thanks to your host. !! . The days were a bit rainy which put a damper on things ;). Non-the-less it was great fun.

And we're off again, this time to good old Memphis, the home of Elvis. What a gas, meeting Aaron Fowles and his lovely lady. So many stories, so many laughs, so much fun. Years younger than us BUT he allowed me to operate his turntable and "collectables" music. Listening to his collection of LP's when not messing in the city brought back many memorial moment in time!!.  

That evening Bryony made a delicious Peppermint Mint pudding which was briskly devoured by all. The next day brought about our introduction to the " Hot Wings Festival " downtown. We ate way too much but oh what wonderful tastes. From Sweet to Frigging hot they were!!  We also HAD to pop into "Peabody's Hotel" where the ducks roam.

GRACELAND, yep we popped in there and said "HOWZIT to our gyrating King!!. 

Sadly he had left the building.  :(

 
 
Fort Smith arrived in sight just before nightfall, our Hosts Curtis and Maili offered up there young daughter bedroom which was most comfortable indeed. Curtis and I kept each other entertained with stories and the like late into the night before retiring to bed.
Fort Smith was deemed to be just a rest stop-over but we did however enjoy driving around and enjoying a few sites. Miss Laura's Den of Inequity comes to mind. What splendid establishment it must has been, Gunslingers and the like wandering the hall if you know what I mean.  . Bugger I missed it by a few years . :(

We said our goodbye's and moved on.

 Oklahoma here we come.  Thanks goes to Jodine who prepared a lovely Chilli dish ready for our arrival. We enjoyed a scrumptious meal, chatted and sipped wine way into the night before retiring. She was so impressed that I washed the dishes willingly???? . Go figure, don't all men do this type of thing from time to time???  The following day we investigated the city. The most distressing yet uplifting experience was touring the Oklahoma bombing area. it must have been devastating to say the least . God Bless America !!

This stop off was a most enlightening experience. 

Off into the deepest darkest TEXAS we ventured. We've never seen so much "nothingness for many a year. The Karoo had nothing on the vastness for this barren part of the world.

  The heat took its toll for sure, but this only became evident a little later.......

 TO BE CONTINUED ..........  see next post.