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. :(
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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.
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