12 days till we go!
We've spent the last month trying to decide what to call the blog. In the end it was a toss between "slightly-different-this-time" , "time-out-in-america" and "star-spangled journey". The last one (suggested by our daughter Elaine) won the vote.
On 8 May we travel to Heathrow, flying out to New York the following day. Our journey across America will take us, mostly by train, from New York to Washington, Charlottesville, Staunton, New Orleans, Benson, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Flagstaff, Albuquerque, Chicago, Boston, New York. There will be some overnight train journeys - it'll be interesting to compare the American trains to those we travelled on during our epic journey from Bristol to Singapore in 2012 (why-didnt-we-fly.blogspot.com)
On 6 July we leave New York to travel back to England on the Queen Mary, docking in Southampton on 13 July. This seemed like a good idea at the time as there was an excellent deal to fly out to New York, and come back by sea. We thought it would be an eye-opener to experience the opulence of a luxury cruise liner, although we might be fish out of water - we haven't been on a cruise before, let alone on the Queen Mary, and we aren't renowned for our posh dressing (when did we last use an iron?!) We have realised however that our choice to return home on this magnificent vessel means that we have to carry Reg's suit, a couple of shirts (that means we have to buy one as he only owns one!) and ties - all apparel normally reserved for weddings and funerals, and a pair of "proper"shoes for us both, i.e. not trainers or walking boots. Will my couple of long"holiday dresses" suffice? Are sandals really not allowed in the main dining room after 6pm?? Our posh stuff really will be minimal as we won't have the room in our luggage. Apparently you can hire a tux for $90 a night .....
Reg has pre-booked all the train journeys and accommodation, mostly hostels where these were available. We've also bought international driving licences in case we need these when we hire a car; they were only £5.50 each so worth it really.
We've got our dollars and our Caxton Dollar Currency cards - it costs a lot less to draw out cash with these than with debit cards. We think we'll be able to use our credit cards most of the time in hotels/hostels and eating places. We've been told that restaurants expect a 15% tip and staff get funny if it's not forthcoming. This is mainly because restaurant staff are on very low wages. At least the visas and currency have been less of a headache this time as we're only visiting one country.
Reg has bought a new tablet device which can also be used as a kindle. This means (a) we won't be fighting over my kindle, and (b) I can use the notebook computer to my heart's content to write the blog, while Reg reads his English newspapers on the new tablet.... Reg bought it on our wedding anniversary last week, saying it was a joint present, but I think I know who will use it the most. It will definitely (vicariously!) benefit me though.
The hardest thing about going away is leaving family, and in particular our beautiful grandson Arlie who was 11 weeks old yesterday. He'll have changed so much by the time we return! At least we have Skype and Whatsapp to help us keep in touch. Also, with our mobile network "3" we can use our monthly allowance of phone minutes, texts and phone minutes to contact anyone in the UK at no extra cost. It sounds too good to be true, but it is!
Once again it's strange to see an empty diary for the next 2 months, but in some ways a good thing.. a sort-of retired person's sabbatical!!
We've spent the last month trying to decide what to call the blog. In the end it was a toss between "slightly-different-this-time" , "time-out-in-america" and "star-spangled journey". The last one (suggested by our daughter Elaine) won the vote.
On 8 May we travel to Heathrow, flying out to New York the following day. Our journey across America will take us, mostly by train, from New York to Washington, Charlottesville, Staunton, New Orleans, Benson, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Flagstaff, Albuquerque, Chicago, Boston, New York. There will be some overnight train journeys - it'll be interesting to compare the American trains to those we travelled on during our epic journey from Bristol to Singapore in 2012 (why-didnt-we-fly.blogspot.com)
On 6 July we leave New York to travel back to England on the Queen Mary, docking in Southampton on 13 July. This seemed like a good idea at the time as there was an excellent deal to fly out to New York, and come back by sea. We thought it would be an eye-opener to experience the opulence of a luxury cruise liner, although we might be fish out of water - we haven't been on a cruise before, let alone on the Queen Mary, and we aren't renowned for our posh dressing (when did we last use an iron?!) We have realised however that our choice to return home on this magnificent vessel means that we have to carry Reg's suit, a couple of shirts (that means we have to buy one as he only owns one!) and ties - all apparel normally reserved for weddings and funerals, and a pair of "proper"shoes for us both, i.e. not trainers or walking boots. Will my couple of long"holiday dresses" suffice? Are sandals really not allowed in the main dining room after 6pm?? Our posh stuff really will be minimal as we won't have the room in our luggage. Apparently you can hire a tux for $90 a night .....
Reg has pre-booked all the train journeys and accommodation, mostly hostels where these were available. We've also bought international driving licences in case we need these when we hire a car; they were only £5.50 each so worth it really.
We've got our dollars and our Caxton Dollar Currency cards - it costs a lot less to draw out cash with these than with debit cards. We think we'll be able to use our credit cards most of the time in hotels/hostels and eating places. We've been told that restaurants expect a 15% tip and staff get funny if it's not forthcoming. This is mainly because restaurant staff are on very low wages. At least the visas and currency have been less of a headache this time as we're only visiting one country.
Reg has bought a new tablet device which can also be used as a kindle. This means (a) we won't be fighting over my kindle, and (b) I can use the notebook computer to my heart's content to write the blog, while Reg reads his English newspapers on the new tablet.... Reg bought it on our wedding anniversary last week, saying it was a joint present, but I think I know who will use it the most. It will definitely (vicariously!) benefit me though.
The hardest thing about going away is leaving family, and in particular our beautiful grandson Arlie who was 11 weeks old yesterday. He'll have changed so much by the time we return! At least we have Skype and Whatsapp to help us keep in touch. Also, with our mobile network "3" we can use our monthly allowance of phone minutes, texts and phone minutes to contact anyone in the UK at no extra cost. It sounds too good to be true, but it is!
Once again it's strange to see an empty diary for the next 2 months, but in some ways a good thing.. a sort-of retired person's sabbatical!!
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