travel

My travels got off to a good start this year. I had a work thing in Phoenix this week and as I usually try to do, I managed to take an extra couple of days for myself. I didn't really have much of a plan. This is a part of the world I really just enjoy exploring and following my nose but I wanted to see Sedona, a Saguaro and spend a night in Flagstaff - possibly taking in Meteor Crater which is an hour East of there. Alas, mother nature had other plans. Saturday night, a large Winter storm ble

These desert vistas absolutely boggle my little mind. Most people come to Las Vegas for the brash, expensive and over the top spectacle. Indeed, it is fun for a night or two. But given the choice between a night in Vegas or another night on those dunes, there's simply no contest.

That really was a weekend to remember. Cat's birthday happened to conincide with a business trip of mine to Miami. I know, hard life right? I'd visited Miami as a teenager when Mum brought us to Florida but Cat had never been before, same for the Florida Keys. Bingo, we had an itinerary. Miami is only a short sub 2 hour flight from Raleigh. We picked up the rental car and drove to our hotel in Key Largo had plenty of time for a nice dinner. A colleague of mine from Miami recommended a spot call

The road from the North East entrance leads directly through Lamar Valley. A very famous place in park for watching wildlife.

Wow, what a day. We saw several Bears, an Otter, a Wolfpack (no, not the NC State kind) and Mammoth Springs. It snowed blizzard style, in June.

En-route to the West we passed by Old Faithful and the main geyser basins in the park. They are something to behold. Steam emitting from seemingly every orifice the ground has to offer.

The architecture had a certain 'western' feel to it without being obviously a pastiche. A tumultuous thunderstorm (pictured above) made its way across the back of the scene as we hopped out the car for a short walk across a bridge spanning the 12 tracks here at Laramie.

"We were in the desert 6 hours ago" was the often repeated phrase of the day today. Leaving behind Utah and the gorgeous red rocks we headed for the Rocky Mountains.

A quiet day today with only a light 4-5 hours of touristing. The afternoon today was 38c, far too hot to be out in it so we took the executive decision to nap through it.

Mum is coming. I'll be on my way to the airport to go and collect her shortly. Having taking the plunge and emigrated almost exactly 6 months she is the first family member to be able to visit us and I couldn't be more excited.

America, as it turns out, is quite large! This is just the main itinerary from our 2018 USA summer roadtrip. To put this distance into perspective London - Israel is 3000 miles.

Comparing August 1999 to June 2018 might seem odd at first but bear with me. In the UK aged 11 we move from Junior School to Secondary School and it's a huge step up. 11 year olds mixing with Year 11s (16 year olds) means you have to toughen up fast whether you like it or not! That summer before big school though I remember being acutely aware that everything was about to change, that I was performing certain actions for the last time and that above all, I should try and enjoy the here and now a