Ah. No, officer, those six containers of body butter are not plastic explosives....

So as luck would have it, we had to check an eleventh bag at the eleventh hour...I was enjoying a pat down from a stern woman wearing very comfortable shoes, if you know what I mean, so Glenn had to take my leopard print on board suitcase to the desk and convince them to check it 40 mins before our flight...no problem. Hmmmm. Luckily he was able to bamboozle the young girl into checking it....and not charging! Karma is cruel and our joy turned to suffering when we arrived at the gate to discover every seat and square inch of floor taken and our flight delayed - the baggage handlers must have gone on strike ;) thankfully we found a seat in the bar!

LAX....Mission Impossible is NOTHING!

Baggage entitlement: Six bags, 300 pounds. Plus four on board bags. Actual baggage: Ten bags, 500 pounds. Plus 8 on board bags. Flight status: Full flight. Excess baggage fees: Way too scary to consider. We needed to get it all on the flight free. Impossible you say? We say impossible is NOTHING! We oozed charm! We arrived four hours early. We said G'Day a lot. We asked about her day. We smiled a LOT. The whole military-like operation had been war-gamed to perfection and was flawlessly executed! The nice middle aged Latino lady at the counter never had a chance! So now we sit enjoying a glass of wine, a nice meal and free wi-fi - safe in the knowledge that in six weeks we drove 13 600 kilometres, we single handedly saved the American economy (but just reduced the profit margin on United Flight 839) and we had fun. A lot of fun! But we are so ready to come home! Miraculously, we survived living in close quarters 24/7 for six weeks. We navigated the turbulent waters of husband and wife AND Tom Tom in the cockpit. Somebody got left behind, once. But nobody (the children) got hurt, we didn't file for divorce and we are all still smiling...it has all the markings of the adventure of a lifetime - and it was! So thanks for following! But before we sign off... A special shout out to Glenn's BFF who is NOT a morning person but is getting up and driving to Sydney to meet our 6am flight and be our baggage mule....respect, Craig, respect. Can't wait to see you all! xo

so it's been a while.....

Sorry folks, we haven't posted for a while, we have had limited connectivity and when we have had it the strength of signal was not enough to upload photos.

So we left you in Chicago...since then we have driven across America, through the Rocky Mountains, to Los Angeles! It's a long way and not a lot to see on the freeway and we didn't have enough time to take the back roads so we had to settle for pulling off the freeway and exploring towns and sites and getting back on the freeway. But we saw some incredible things! And a lot of nothing! And a lot of amazing scenery, it was a week of contrasts!

We event went off road in the Sled!

We went to an animal refuge centre in Colorado where rescued animals live. We saw lions, tigers, bears, all sorts of beautiful and exotic animals that now live in peace and quiet on 750 acres. The way the refuge is set up is all about the comfort and protection of the animals so you walk above them on a suspended walkway 50 feet off the ground. Apparently walking along the ground is threatening to them, but they don't view the space above them as their territory so they aren't threatened by you and really pay no attention. It means you get to see them in their natural habitat.

we found a lion who sleeps like Henry!

We stopped in lots of cute little towns in the Rocky Mountains, and saw what a huge ski resort Colorado is, it was mind boggling how much bigger the ski fields are than in Australia and how much more infrastructure there is. There were outlet malls and shopping centres, hundreds of restaurants and shops, it was amazing.

The towns were lovely but we picked a remote stop with an amazing view for dinner. Love being able to pull over and make a meal wherever we like, it is one of the great things about the RV.

The weather was bitterly cold and it was snowing as we drove through the top of the mountains. But we felt compelled to stop for a family pic using time lapse. We got there eventually!

Then we went down the mountain and into Vegas and stinking heat! It was unbearable! We stopped at Calico, a ghost town that has been restored and is run as a tourist attraction. We enjoyed the actors playing miners and all the touristy stuff but we really loved going into a real mine and seeing how it worked. It was so nice and cool down there too!

This house is made out of wine bottles!

I've been saying for years that shoes are art.

After we had explored the ghost town we hit the road and went in search of an old school diner so we could have the quinessential burger and fries and sundae! We found two, couldn't decide so had burgers at one and sundaes at the other. It was really cool!

We picked up a cool T'shirt for Glenn at one of the MANY truck stops we frequented. He will wear it with pride...once we are back in Australia!!!

We thought this T shirt deserved an honourable mention too...great use of humour from the Colorado paramedics!

After many long days driving hundreds of miles we stopped at a cute little town for dinner and to let the kids have a play in the park and eat dinner outdoors. It was one of many towns that has died since the freeway went in and the kids thought it was so cool that we were the only people around. The train track ran right through town and trains with upwards of 50 carriages went through while we were there.

After days on the road in close quarters the mood was a little tense so rather than a bonding family meal the boys decided they would rather a quiet al fresco meal for one.....

so it took some morale building icecream sundaes to get their smiles back!

We eventually made it to LA and DISNEYLAND! The boys were beside themselves for pretty much every second of the 12 hours we spent at Disneyland - it is open until midnight! The lines were long, at least an hour each, and there were millions of people but it was still fun, it is the happiest place on earth as they say!



One of dozens of pram parking spaces. It was incredible how many people there were! We all struggled with the crowds a bit.

Glenn was pretty impressed with my choice of footwear for our night session at Disneyland. Sorry Mum, I know you will be mortified but it turned so cold! Plus, everyone else wears them out around town! And it was dark!

The crowds dropped a little once the sun went down and with all the lights Disneyland just became even more magical.

 So Disneyland has submarines! That actually work...no, I'm leaving that one alone.

And Glenn has a silly hat fetish...which is easily indulged at Disneyland...

we went on lots of rides, even Mummy went on some! (not the scary ones though)

And this look on Will's face during the fireworks display and singing and dancing show at the end of the night is what Disneyland is all about. He loved it. Every second.

So now we are in a Navy base RV park in Los Amitos trying to figure out how to pack 20 bags worth of stuff into 10 bags. I'm being VERY quiet. The children have legged it to the playground and Glenn is muttering a lot. I could be in trouble here, there is no hiding all the shoes and bags now!

Tomorrow we hand back the Sled and swap it for a normal car and we are going to explore LA and Hollywood for two days before we get on a big jet plane Friday night.

We should get one more post in, of our Hollywood adventures, so stay tuned!

Chicago and the Great Lakes

So we have had a busy few days. We had a lovely time with our friends Bill, Jen, Henry, Madeline and Marianne at their gorgeous lake house in Michigan. It was blissful and we really didn't want to leave but time is getting away and we are a long way from LA! We had such a nice time we forgot to take pics of their gorgeous cottage on the lake with their own jetty, it was like something out of a movie.

On the way to the lake house we stopped at Lake Eerie and checked out the national park and science centre. It was so cool, the kids loved it and didn't even realise they were learning. The Americans do a great job of preserving and promoting their natural wonders and it's been really easy, even in the RV, to get the most out of them. Lake Eerie is truly remarkable, it is so big you can't see the other side, the kids took some convincing it wasn't actually the ocean, we had to show them on the map that it is completely land locked!

 

Next was a trip through the Amish region, we went to one town I can't spell or pronounce that is 90% Amish, it was very cute and quaint but DAMN did it stink of horse poop!



 We then wandered along back roads to a winery Bill and Jen recommended and tasted some wines, they even had non-alcoholic wines for the boys to taste! They are both red drinkers if you are wondering...didn't get that from their mother!

Next we hit Chicago, the windy city and OMG I fell in love. It is possibly the most beautiful city I have ever been to, and that is a big call given how many countries and cities I've travelled to all over the globe. We had a great list from Bill and Jen and we stuck to it and got the non-tourist experience. We drove down endless tree lined streets of beautiful homes. The architecture in the city is incredible, we would have loved to find a book about it, it really was amazing.

We cruised the shops down town....yes, Glenn drove the RV in and yes he reverse parked it down town! He is Batman.

So I had to take a pic of this. They have an Ugg Boot boutique next door to Prada, Gucci, Tiffany etc. I was blown away. The Americans not only pay upwards of $200 a pair but they wear them like fashion shoes. We have seen people in them everywhere....downtown Manhattan to Anytown rural USA. Bizarre. What would the Bogans think?

Then we went for drinks on the 94th floor of this building.....

 Needless to say the view was amazing, pity the weather was overcast. It would be spectacular at night in a cute frock and heels, sans kids and plus champagne!

Then we went to a Chicago institution for the signature Chicago dish - deep dish pizza. Due's is the coolest, we loved it.

We consider ourselves experts on pizza so were waiting expectantly for the famous Due's (pronounced Dooo-EH's - like the word for two in Italian) deep dish pizza. They aren't lying about deep, they make them in cake dishes about 2 inches deep....

Will, our most enthusiastic expert, takes a bite....

And I think his face says it all....

 Then we ordered the pizza dessert....and this is what John looked like when it arrived....

 It has a giant chocolate chip cookie for a base, warmed in the pizza oven and topped with icecream and topping. YUM...

 We reluctantly hit the road for California, starting the long trek across the 'square states' - Iowa was INSANELY windy, the RV got thrown around like a kite, Glenn's arms must be sore from keeping it on the road, it was quite scary. We saw one truck get blown so hard it went into the next lane and nearly took out a car. They don't call it Tornado Alley for nothing I guess.

It is very pretty though, lots of green fields and red barns.

Tomorrow we keep driving, we hope to hit Denver and stop for a break to check things out there.

Love to you all!

x