One for the money, two for the show. three to get ready, let's go, go, go...

I'm off, au revoir, auf wiedersehen, ta ta for now. At silly o'clock in the morning I leave for a week of skiing with my friends which WILL be accident free and a fantastic time. We are going to La Plagne in France and the weather looks good for us at the moment. I have a spare few moments while the washing machine is on so I'm taking this moment to say that I will probably be going dark for the week. Not that I don;t want to brag and blog about how great my holiday is but I sent an email to our hotel and the Wi-Fi costs are crazy expensive.

Today has been a general mad rush to get things done before the morning and I had some interesting moments with work as our Internet Host decided to relocate our server last night and this morning our online payments weren't working. Some very tense phone calls in which I said all the usual stupid stuff you say to a support helpline like 'This is really important and urgent' like I would be calling and suffering the support charges if it wasn't. All sorted now though and even cleared a few outstanding jobs this afternoon too, so I can go on holiday with a clear conscience.

To treat myself for all my hard work I decided that I really needed to get in one last long run before the holiday and I begin my taper for the LA Marathon on my return. As the wind was howling I took the highly unusual decision to run on a treadmill, I know, you're shocked, but still. Having no car and missing the bus by a few lousy seconds I walked the couple of miles to the gym (honestly, no more complaining about the one in my apartment building).

My fear from yesterday was realised as I started off on the mill as the ambient room temperature was just as high and humid and with in the first few miles I was soaked and to be slightly indelicate, even having lubed my nipples they were already chaffing on my soaked singlet. I had to use every mental trick in the book to get anywhere near completing today's run. It was just a plain slog. I ticked off 5k then 10k then counted down until I had been running an hour, working in both km and miles to what ever provided the most interesting target at the time and then converting it in my head anyway to take my mind of the puddle I had become.

One ting that did work quite well was when Countdown came on. For those who are unaware of this afternoon British institution, a very quick description would be a quiz show where contestant pick 9 letters, choosing from either vowels or constants and then have 30 seconds to make the longest word they can. Everyone who watches it secretly want the god of chance to spell out a naughty word as the letters are chosen. there is also a number game as well to keep the math head people happy. Since I have left they have retooled the show as the Americans call it and I have to say Carol Vorderman's replacement is non to shabby. That took my mind of the run for a while.

Anyway, the target had been for a 22 mile run, all I could coax out of my body was 20 but to be honest given everything I'll happily take it.

After the gym I headed off to a local pub where I meet up with some good friends and had a good meal and drink while catching up with all the goings on. I even learnt about a chap in the bars girlfriend called Angela who is was being extremely vocal about.

Now I'm home and need to get my stuff stowed away for tomorrow, with only my skis and poles packed I really should get a move on but packing has always been a bit of an issue for me, hence the distraction of doing the blog to put off the inevitable.

I do hope to get on-line at some point during the week and catch you up on my goings on and to report no serious injuries but if not a week Saturday is when I'll be back blogging again.

As always, thanks for reading.

Time on my hands, errr... I mean feet

It is another late night entry into my blog so yet again I will try (I really do try) and be brief.

Tuesday I went north, well north for me at any rate, and visited Andrew, my boss, to get some work done that I couldn't do remotely like install some new computers and hook up printers etc. It was an early start considering I had not yet been in the country for 24 hours and I struggled to get up, especially as my alarm didn't go off due to my mobile phone not auto changing the time to the new zone.

After getting on my way my I had to stop after a mile to fill up with petrol (gas), and while Canadian gas is expensive, British petrol has you beat cold, I think a credit check was run on me before even pulling to the pump. £1.12 per litre (about $1.80 Canadian).

A few quick differences between my journey across North America and driving in England. First off, advertisement free radio is great, Radio 2 oh how I missed you. Secondly, I love 70 mph speed limits after being restricted in Canada and most of the I-90 it was great to be allowed to get up to a nice speed, in fact I almost felt naughty going at that pace. Next even with a 70 mph limit, it does not mean you can do 70, roadworks massive congestion and variable speed limits with average speed enforcements cameras make life a real hassle. I covered over 3,200 miles in 4 days yet going 130 miles took most of my morning. That being said there was some great scenery as I got closer to my destination with rolling hills and farms dotting the landscapes with some lambs in the field made it seem a worthwhile experience.

One last thing on driving, my mantra for the last few days has been clutch, clutch, clutch and also left damn it, drive on the left!

Work was good and I got a lot done and with Andrew converting a lot of his barns into housing and offices for the company it was great to look around the site and see all the developments.

I got treated to some great food and company and even thought my idea of going out for a run in the evening was dashed by some heavy snowfall I still had some fun watching the women's ski cross.

The morning saw too much snow and ice on the ground to run again and after all the good food I keep getting treated too I was starting to get a little worried about the race which is less than 4 weeks away now.

I got all the work assigned for the first visit done and then some and headed off back down to Wellingborough in the early evening. I made better time back and as soon as I arrived I decided to get out for a run even with some crappy weather outside. Martin laced up his shoes too and we headed out for a steady 10 miles (16k). After a few days off it was hard to begin with and the undulating hills took some getting into but I enjoyed the run and was happy at least to cover some ground.

Today has been hectic with getting some of the actually programming work done that Andrew I highlighted during my visit and with the hire car going back it has left me again with out transport which is a real bug bear. I was due to run with the local running club tonight Wellingborough District Athletics Club (WADC) but I really need to get some of my own plan done so instead headed for the old reliable treadmill. I used to do a lot of my work outs in the Waendal Gym but going back in after being away I noticed how incredible hot it was in there. It could be that it is busier than I ever remember but it made for a tough run, which in some ways I really needed but I was absolutely soaked when I finished.

I'm going to try and get a long run in tomorrow before heading off skiing on Saturday, but I am now nervous about trying that in the gym if it is going to be that warm but I will probably end up there as running long outside makes hydration a nightmare for me.

After the run and some food it was getting quite late but I did have time to catch up with some great British TV. I'm a big fan of last man standing where a group of men travel around the world and compete against local tribes in there own fighting techniques and endurance events. Now they have done Last Woman Standing and it is a great show too, although I must say that I don;t think that it was an accident that wrestling was the first show, hair pulling and angry women make good television that's for sure.

On a connected note I caught the opening of the Canada Vs. USA Women's Hockey match, 2-0 when I left it, GO CANADA!

Right off to bed before a ramble on any further.

Back in the Homeland

Since jet lag is hitting hard with another 5 hours disappearing from my day, I will try to keep it brief today.

After gate changes, delays and false starts I finally arrived back in to the UK at 10:30am this morning a little over an hour late but all in all not a bad journey. All bags accounted for and they even came off the carousel early on so no complaints. A big thank you to Andy for turning out and fighting snow, roadworks and traffic to pick me up.

The temperature was about what it was when I left Boston but with the rain and sleet I knew I was home.

The snow on the ground in Wellingborough was already melting when we got there by midday and has continued to disappear during the afternoon. I'm hoping that it will stay gone whilst I'm back, I have a fair amount of travelling to do and could do with it honestly, no matter how pretty it might make the countryside.


After settling back in at Martin's and opening some post that has been building up since I left, with a few nasty surprises to boot, I sorted out a rental car for this week so I can get around whilst I'm back. Strange, I actually miss the Skytrain.

The car has proved to be a little bit of fun for me, twice getting into the wrong door then revving very loudly and trying to ram it into first gear with out using the clutch, but these issues got quickly sorted out under the very worried looking gaze of the rental agent. The thing that I am really having to concentrate on is which side of the road to be on. The Brits may not want to hear this but it just feels more natural to drive on the right. The main problem is when you first start of each time, I just tend to head off on instinct and have to make a quick adjustment under the glare of oncoming drivers. It's all good honestly.

With car sorted and under control I headed over to my sister's house for a fantastic roast dinner where I was able to catch up on gossip and to get up to date with my Mum's latest quiz questions she is stuck on. unfortunately tiredness was taking its toll and I had to leave too soon. With a quick trip to Tesco (Equiv. Safeway) for some essentials I was back to the house where I was greeted with the awesome smell of fresh baked biscuits that Martin had decided to make. not to be ungracious I quickly ate my fair share / body weight to show my enthusiasm for them.

Tomorrow I'm off up North (it's grim there) to visit my bosses farm and to get on with one of the major reasons for coming back, work. I don't think I will be posting tomorrow night as I'm staying over there and it seems rude to disappear halfway through the night to my blog but I will do an update on Wednesday.

A side note, anyone who has seen me recently may have noticed my attempt to grow facial hair. I have been in Beardwars with Martin, with neither of us shaving since January 1st. Those that know us will quickly realise that I was the underdog in this race and getting back to day quickly revealed that there would be no surprise victor. Pictures will be posted and even a Facebook page will be created to vote for Beardwar winner which I will post a link for once it has been sorted. All of this does mean though that as as of Wednesday I will be resuming normal grooming habits but not before I think that I shall have some fun coming up with designs for my face as I shave off the excess. I was thinking handle bar style mustache but November is the month for that I would quite like to keep my goatee as I tend to look about 12 with out it. Again if anything interesting emerges I will post some pics.

Night all, I will sleep deeply tonight.

Heartbreak Hill Preview

I'm sitting in Boston's Logan airport and have found a plug a free WiFi so I thought I would try to get a post in today.

At the minute my flight is showing as 10 minutes late but I'm hoping this shouldn't effect my connecting flight as I have a hour or so spare that end. Fingers crossed. Checking in was a bit nail biting anyway, my main bag felt a little heavy and when I put it on the scales I had a whole half pound to play with, so all good.

After a week of basically no running I got up this morning and thought I really had to get something done before flying to the UK. So I looked up the Boston Marathon course and worked out that I could run most of the last quarter backwards and then double back on myself and run it to the finish line. The main thing I have heard about the course is something called Heartbreak Hill which is at about mile 18 just when energy is running low. I though now was a good opportunity to scope out this obstacle so if and when I get to race the course I will have at least some idea of what I'm in for.

I set off and after getting far too hot yesterday I was dressed more appropriately for today's effort i.e. shorts not running tights, still had the gloves on though. After negotiating a few back streets around the apartment I found the tail end of the course and proceeded to work backwards. The wind was even higher today and I was heading straight into and when it blew, gee it was cold. One good thing (kind of) is that the tale end of the course is mostly downhill but as I was going at it backwards the first 4 miles was all uphill into the wind. If I thought I was the only one to think of running part of the course I was very, very wrong. I have never seen more runners other than during a race. There were individuals and training groups out doing hill repeats, long runs, sprints and every other kind of training going. With a couple of months to go it seemed that people are taking the race very seriously. It actually made for a good atmosphere and I was offered water by some of the groups who had tables set up for there runners.

I hit my turn around point and started up the series of hills just outside of Newton that make up the Heartbreak Hills. I would say that they aren't much but even after just doing 7 miles before facing them they were certainly an unwelcome addition to the run so after 18 miles at a faster pace I can see them being a real pain.

I ran back into downtown Boston to where I thought the finish line is supposed to be but I have a sneaking suspicion that I was slightly off as it seemed to be a bit of a back street but will check when I get a second. I completed the run by finding my way back to the apartment which really is very close to the finish (maybe).

After a quick shower we headed off for my Target fix (best shop in the world ever) and found a great restaurant near Carolyn's for lunch.

I've just heard I have a gate change so I'm going to head off and hope to be back in Britain by the morning.

Boston Warm-Up

Waking up today at well passed 9 o'clock and not having any driving to do what so ever was fantastic! After lounging around for most of the morning I decided to get us out of the house and to see a bit of Boston. I have been here before back in 2003 but I didn't take any photos on that holiday so I decided to correct that a little today.

The weather in Boston has warmed up a little over the last week and today it was showing at least a couple of degrees above freezing before the wind chill factor was added. I'm not overly bad about running in the cold (expect gloves, I need gloves even if there is a breeze) but the thought of going at a recreational pace and stopping to take photos meant that I dressed up in what I reserve for the coldest runs, mainly running tights. Few have seen me in running tights and never in daylight but needs must and all. So with me in hat, tights, two top layers and thick, thick gloves and Carolyn in a running skirt and long sleeve-tee we headed out. One block later I had removed the hat, two and the sleeves got rolled up, three and I was sweating, the gloves stayed on.

I must say it was actually cold if you stood still and the wind was nasty but the sun was out and when it was on you it felt great. I had intended to take us to Boston Common and back, a gentle 4 mile (6K) run, but after we got to the park and I had stopped a few times for some shots I pleaded my case to go on a little further and much to my surprise Carolyn easily agreed, I did say it was a nice day.

From the park we followed the red line on the ground the indicates the Freedom Trail that travels through Boston to highlight most of the historical places to do with the American Revolution. The line is a little bit worse for wear these days and we lost track of it several times but managed to pick it up at the key points, mainly the site of the Boston Massacre (a whole 5 people died) and the North End Church where they hung a lantern to let people know if the British forces were coming by land or sea. There are lots more we saw and the trail is well worth the time exploring if you are ever in Boston.


By the time we had got to the church the wind had picked up a little more and we both decided that hunger had won out and we should head back to the apartment. I have to say even though I had sort of lost track of the directions we had turned to get there, looking at the GPS route later, I think I did a pretty good ob of getting us back in a fairly straight line. I will say thought that is was no accident that we ended up going past the location where the Cheers bar was set for the popular TV series and I had to get a shot of me with the sign. The run ended up being more like 8 miles (12K) but well worth the extra distance.

After having this taster of running around Boston, I look forward even more to coming back for the marathon in the next couple of years. Boston has some great history and architecture and should be a great setting for keeping my mind of the 26.2 miles (42.2K).

The afternoon saw a bit more tourist stuff with us walking past the Christian Scientology Church and Copley Square with Trinity Church to name a couple. Also a trip to the Cheesecake Factory happened to fit into the schedule too.

After a day of running and walking, this evening seemed like a good time to take it easy so with a cinema only a couple of blocks away we went to see the Rom-Com 'When in Rome'. This was never going to be Oscar worthy stuff and the plot if not obvious from the trailer was blatant from the beginning but my tastes have never been that high and I enjoyed it for what it was and it passed the evening nicely.

I have now checked in for my flight back to the UK tomorrow evening via New York so I doubt I will post tomorrow but will be back hopefully on-line on Monday. I have been told to expect cold and snow when I land so I am interested to see what I'll find.

Vancouver to Boston - Day 4

Yesterday had been such a long day that the thought of "only" 650 miles to do today seemed like a treat and even though we were on the road by 7:15am we stopped shortly after. As last night was a bit of a scramble to find somewhere to sleep, we didn't notice that breakfast was not offered where we stayed, so as we thought we had earned a little downtime we located the nearest International House Of Pancakes (IHOP) and got down to the serious job of eating half our body weight in breakfast.

Apparently we weren't the only one with this idea as six police cruisers were sitting in the car park and half the tables in the restaurant had officers chowing down on what looked like most of the menu.

Leaving North Olmsted, Ohio at around 8:30am we got caught in a little traffic around Cleveland but after a short delay we were back on the I-90 and heading for the finish line.

Quickly leaving Ohio behind, we entered Pennsylvania and skirted one of the five great lakes Erie. We followed this up in to New York State and towards Buffalo. At this point I noticed we were going to be within 20 miles of Niagara Falls. Quite some discussion was had about if it was worth the hour or two delay to go take a peek, we have both been there a couple of times before and even though a few pictures of the falls in winter with ice going over the top would have been nice, our backsides decided that the sooner this car journey was over the better.

Today was the day of the toll roads and low speed limits. After reaching Indiana it seems that the whole of the I-90 is toll road which added up in the end to over $60 of charges, if I were to do the trip again (highly unlikely) alternate routes would be used, seemed a lot for what you got. Also since leaving Minnesota the highest speed limit we hit was 65 mph with a fair bit of time spent at 60 or even 55 mph. Even with the mandatory going at 5 mph over the limit this seemed to make the eastern side of this trip drag out longer than necessary. We must have passed at least a dozen speed traps and the police didn't even blink at us going the 10% over.

New York saw more snow storms but nothing to serious and even with angry drivers the miles passed with out major incident. I even found time to brush up on my French while Carolyn had a nap. I found my Ipod and was mouthing along to the Michel Thomas and becoming fleuent in saying 'I would like to talk to you about the current polictocal and econmical situation in France at the present time.' I'm sure it will be useful whilst I'm skiing in a few weeks.

Entering Massachusetts, I breathed a big sigh of relief as the journey seemed to becoming to an end. Unfortunately like a marathon the first three quarters is just a warm up for the end effort where the race really begins. The Mass Turn Pike (big ass road) was jammed with traffic all hurtling passed each other in whatever lane they saw fit all trying to swerve and doge each other the best they could, which by the state of far to many of them was not all that often successful. Three and a half days of shared driving had taken its toll on me by this point and I have to say that I saw red on numerous occasions and came so close to some cars that cleaning the left wing may not be necessary (no marks, I did check).

We got to Boston city centre at about 6:30pm just in time for the tail end of rush hour and crawled our way over bridges and intersections making the last 3 miles take nearly 30 minutes.

But we have finally made it, we are here, no crashes, no tickets and very few cross words spoken. We have travelled from Canada to America (not far, granted), through 13 States, for 4 days, 3,280 'ish miles, far too many McDonalds and have seen some really amazing views. I could easily spend my days travelling these roads and enjoying all the bizarre attractions and natural wonders along the way.

Carolyn's apartment is brilliant, sat right near Fenway Park (home of the Red Sox) the old red brick building look great and there are some great period features in the building. I have already noticed that the building is only about 1 or 2 k from the end of the Boston Marathon so it will be nice and easy to get back to come next April. I have pointed out she can't move (unless closer) until then.

We have unloaded the car, taken a walk to stretch our legs and even had an awesome Thai meal to finish off the last 4 days. It has been a lot more pleasant than I thought it would after having driven up to Vancouver from Texas in the summer, not having a trailer makes all the difference. We have seen some amazing scenery, had great fun reading the road adverts of some truly odd sound attractions that could only be in the States and also enjoyed the varied place names that Americans have used to name the towns, including but not limited to, Sparta, Rapid City, Gary, Schenectady, Punxsutawny (think Groundhog day) and my favourite so far Coxsackie.

Tomorrow I am planning on getting a run in outside to shake out the cobwebs and get back on track for the L.A. Marathon which is scarily only 4 weeks away now. I will get some tourist stuff done as well and get some photos which I missed out on taking the last time I was in the city back in 2003. I'll let you know what has changed.

Until tomorrow...

Vancouver to Boston - Day 3

Well today was all about the mileage. We have covered about 910 miles and bar a few short stops for gas and snacks we have been driving all day.

I have been in a record number of 6 States today, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. I have to say, Minnesota was very cold, bleak and flat but I was happy to catch a few glimpses of places and road names I recognised from the John Sandford books I read which are mainly based there.

Wisconsin was nearly a major distraction in that I wanted to visit Milwaukee to see if the Fonz was still jumping sharks and Point Place to see if I could find Fez but alas time was not on my side and Carolyn was having none of it.

Driving through Chicago brought back memories of the marathon last October and it really is a fantastic skyline, again it was a shame time did not allow a stop over.

Indiana and Ohio were just a blur as we tried to get to the hotel as quick as possible. We did have a quick drive through a town called Gary and as you might expect from the name it was not much to look at.

Today saw the last of the time zone changes happen from Central to Eastern. Meaning that I get 24 hours back in my day, or at least until Monday.

One slight issue arose when the GPS told us we had arrived at our hotel for the evening, it wasn't there! After a quick look round we confirmed it was indeed not there and had to start knocking on a few hotel doors seeing if they had a room for a night. Thankfully third time was the charm and we are all checked in and looking forward to getting some shut eye.

Because we have covered so much ground over the last few days we should be in Boston by early evening tomorrow. We only have around 650 miles left to go so in the scheme of things it looks like an easy day lays ahead of us, here's hoping.

One last thing before I sign off for the evening. On Monday before this adventure begun I did make it down to the Olympic Flame site in downtown Vancouver. It is fairly heavily barricaded off so none of the stupid head protesters can mess with it but it does look rather magnificent. This outdoor cauldron was lit by some guy called Wayne*, who, my Canadian friends tell me, use to play a little ice hockey or something :)



Last road trip post tomorrow before a couple of days in Boston then back to the UK for a visit.

*N.B. If you don't know who the Olympic Flame lighter was, it was a the Living Legend, Wayne Gretzky. To him up in a few words for those that haven't heard his name before and I'm sure there is not many he is undeniably the best Ice Hockey Player ever to have been and has set the bar fairly damn high for anyone to follow. His nickname is 'The Great One' and this has been highly earned. It is said it was like he could see a few seconds into the future and would get to where the puck was going to be before it was even played. It would have been inappropriate for any other person to open the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.

Vancouver to Boston - Day 2

The facts and figures for day 2: 869 miles (1,400 km) travelled, temperatures ranging from a high of 35f (1.5c) with a low of 5f (-15c) 3 states visited, Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota, 2 sites of interest and numerous odd road side attractions including a life size dinosaur and a place described as the Mystery Cosmos.

The second day of the trans-American road trip started early with the aim of me getting a run in before we started out. I woke up at 5:45am and hit the gym, I thought I would get an hour run in. Problem was that due to the freezing temperates and snow outside, someone had decided it would be a good idea to keep the gym nice and toasty with the thermostat set to 80f (26.5c). It was like being back in Texas but with a crap treadmill that was stuck on an incline. Still I really wanted to get something done to offset sitting in the car all day so I started off at my warm up pace and within 5 minutes I was an absolute mess. I hate to say it but I gave up. Tiredness, heat, elevation, crap treadmill with no cup holder all played their part, I was not a happy bunny. And before anyone starts thinking why didn't I just go outside, I did think about it, but by the time I had changed into something warm enough for the outdoors I wouldn't have had any time for the run.

Because of the aborted run, we got away from Bozeman a little earlier than expected so we were confident of getting the ground covered. As I said yesterday, today's target was mainly to eat into the massive amount of miles left to do (about 2,400) and to have a quick stop at Mt. Rushmore where four former United States Presidents have had their likeness carved into the rock face. But an added bonus was to be thrown in. As we headed along the I-90 we started seeing signs for the Battlefield of the Little Big Horn. Having covered this topic at school I was interested to see what was there and as it was no more than 400 metres off course we took a drive down the side road to have a gander. Basically, not a lot to be seen. There is a monument and a big open space, what did I expect? Custer's last stand while leaving a mark on history did little to the place where he died.

We got back onto the road and started chewing up the miles again. 4 and a bit hours later after some bad weather, awful truck driving and at points zero visibility through an increasingly dirt covered window screen we started to get within smelling distance of Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota.

Now at this point I started to get nervous, we had had to divert a little further off course than I thought to get there and I felt a certain pressure on me that it better have been worth the extra drive. I had seen Ewan McGregor visit there during his round the world motorcycle trip and not being overly enamoured with it so it was with some trepidation that we approached the area. The town of Keystone which its sole purpose it seems is to provide food and lodging for visitors to the attraction, appeared to be deserted with big "Closed for Season" signs be displayed everywhere we looked, not a great start. We carried on up into the Black Hills and got our first glimpse of the monument. Long story short it is alright. It is a spectacular achievement and the visitors centre that has been built around it looks good. There is an amphitheater at its base which during summer months must be great to watch plays and concerts under the dramatically lit rock face. However in February with a light snow falling and freezing temperatures it was good just to grab some quick snaps and a fridge magnet and get back on the road.

We crossed through another time zone, Mountain to Central which meant another hour lost and some more snow storms caused some interesting moments of snow blindness but we passed through that and the rest of the day was plain sailing. Just before we reached today's termination point we had another roadside sign moment telling us we were passing De-Smet the home of Laura Ingalls-Wilder (think little house on the prairie). We rolled into Sioux Falls, SD at 10pm on the dot and an early night is calling.

Tomorrow should see lots more States covered and with any luck we should have the end in sight by Friday.

Vancouver to Boston - Day 1

Right, we left Vancouver at just before 8am this morning and made it to the Peace Arch border by about 8:45am. There was no queue at all and so we got straight in to speak to some one about re-importing Carolyn's car into the States.

We had done are homework and the fact that is was already an American car that we had exported to Canada it was extremely easy to get the car sorted. 30-45 mins later we were back on the road with all the necessary paperwork.

The overall trip from Vancouver to Boston will be about 3100 miles and change, so we wanted to get a good first day under our seat belts (couldn't resist). We had intended to try to get to Helena the capital city of Montana. After getting away from Border crossing in such good time we adjusted our goal to Bozeman which is a further 90+ miles on.

We travelled down to Seattle before getting on to the I-90 which appears to be the North's version of the South's I-10. It appears we pretty much follow it straight across the country. We travelled straight across Washington State into Idaho and through into Montana (No relation to Hannah). So today we achieved 2 Countries, 1 Province, 3 States and an imported car. Good enough for today.

The whole journey today has been full of spectacular views of mountains, lakes and snow. I must admit I seem to have got the better end of the gear stick (I'll stop soon) today as all my driving was in the light and fairly straight forward. Carolyn has had steep inclines and declines and rain, ice and darkness.

After my summer road trip from Houston to Vancouver I was nervous about attempting another cross country jaunt but I have to say, without a huge U-Haul trailer swaying behind you, it is a much more enjoyable experience.

Tomorrow is an early start with what I hope will be a run in the hotel's gym before heading off to South Dakota. The main target for tomorrow is to get to Mt. Rushmore to see the sculptured faces of 4 United States presidents into the rock face. We should get there early in the afternoon and then after a quick look around a a couple of photos we will try and make it across a bit more of the state.

We crossed over our first time line from Pacific time to Mountain Time. After having been caught out on this in the summer I was prepared and expecting it this time. The main problem is that heading east we lose an hour pretty much every day. We should hit the Mountain / Central Time line tomorrow and we will see when we get into Eastern time.

Carolyn's car for those that have seen it, is not the biggest of cars and having loaded her luggage and mine, plus our skis, boots etc. into the back it has left little room for us. It is going to be a cosy week with bags at our feet and balanced behind our heads.

More to follow tomorrow...