A Sense Of Closure

A number of people have commented that our trip still hasn't officially ended, as our last post was from Rhode Island which, as you point out, is still more than a couple of hours from New York.

Well, the good news is we made it back; however I'm sure you already knew that :)

The last part of the journey was somewhat eventful - it began pouring rain and visibility was greatly reduced. A number of crazy drivers also appeared on the road, including one bus driver who decided it was time to move into my lane, despite the fact that I was already in it...

A number of hours driving through Rhode Island and Connecticut brought us to the New York state border. We were almost home! Everything went smoothly on the approach to NYC, until we reached the Triboro Bridge. In all the rain and darkness we missed the Manhattan exit and ended up in Queens.

We got ourselves back on track and finally arrived back home at around ten to Midnight. After moving our bags back into our apartment, we cruised the streets looking for a spare parking space. We were keeping the car for the week, as Mum & Dad were flying in for a visit later that week.

It came as no big surprise that street parking was just not available, and so we decided to use one of the many parking garages scattered across the city. I really don't know how people keep cars in the city and search for street parking on a regular basis!

We were home at last - what an adventure! 65 days and 17,500 miles later we had journeyed across the entire United States, visiting all 48 contiguous states as well as a quick trip into Mexico and Canada. It really was the adventure of a lifetime. I said to Liz as we arrived in New York City - "that was fun, lets do it again!". For some reason she wasn't up for that suggestion...

We're Almost Home...!

It's 8pm, we've just finished a nice Thai meal in Providence, Rhode Island & are about to head out for the last stretch of highway through Connecticut and back to New York.

It's been an amazing journey - one that we will remember forever.

It's been tremendous fun, & we have really enjoyed bringing you all with us along the way.

Looking forward to catching up with you all sometime soon - wherever you may be across the world...

MARK & LIZ

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Sent from my Treo

A Bit Of News...

Just a quick post to let everyone know that Liz & I are engaged!

We are in Montreal, and I proposed to her last night as we were strolling back to our hotel. Yes, I did go down on one knee, and yes Liz did cry :)

Indianapolis Grand Prix

We happened to arrive in Indianapolis on a Saturday, and were very excited to catch a few laps of the Grand Prix! It wasn't the Indy 500, but it was on the same speedway as that race.

We ended up staying in town overnight, as we had run into some more car troubles. Luckily they turned out to be minor, and we were on our way again the next morning.

Only In America!

Have you ever arrived at a service station and found you were just too tired to walk a few feet to make a call? That payphone next to the cashier just a little too far away to get to? No problem - just drive up, drop in your quarter and start talking!

During a quick stop at a service station to fill up the car, we had one of those "It could only happen in America moments"...

An Awesome Breakfast In St Louis

Our last stop in St Louis was spending the night at Kelly Tripp's place. Kelly is another friend from Reuters, who very kindly invited us to stay with him and his family. We took this photo in his backyard, with Kelly and his two children Garrett & Heidi.

Kelly cooked us an awesome breakfast and sent us on our way with a full & happy belly. Thanks a lot Kelly for having us over, and it was great to see you again, and to meet your wife Karen & your two kids :)

Dinner At Charlie Gitto's

After a quick stop to get changed, we went straight from the Arch to meet Tricia & Megan (some more of my friends from work), and their husbands Bill & Tony for dinner. I thought I'd really dress up for the occasion...

They took us to Charlie Gitto's - a really nice Italian place for dinner (Tricia had told me St Louis was famous for it's Italian food, and I can see why - it was delicious!).

Thanks Tricia and Megan for organising the dinner, we had a great time :) And Tricia, I'm glad we finally got to meet in person after all this time!

Gateway To The West

In the short time we had in St Louis, we managed to drop by their famous Arch, and travel to the top to see the view.

Due to the shape of the Arch, the elevator ride was more like riding the Ferris Wheel than an ordinary elevator.

I was very impressed with the Arch - it makes the St Louis skyline very distinct, and is a great piece of architecture. I could have happily photographed it all day, but sadly only had a short time there before heading over to dinner with some other Reuters friends.

Saying Hello In St Louis

Our next stop was St Louis to see some of my friends and colleagues from the Reuters office there.

We had planned on getting to the city in the early afternoon, but unfortunately we did not arrive until much later. Our delay was thanks to being stuck in some traffic for over two hours just outside Chicago (good old I-55)...

When we finally got to St Louis, I dropped into the office and saw a few people, including Connie Nuelle & Kerry Casey (pictured). I was really glad to see our St Louis office and say hello to everyone. I was never quite able to swing a trip there through work, so I was pleased I could include it as a stop on our great USA adventure.

Connie, thanks a lot for organising things in the short time we had (sorry we couldn't get there in time to enjoy a local brew with you), and providing us with the maps & directions so we could make it to the Arch on time :)

Dropping Into Chicago

I caught up with Dave Jaras (an old Ernst & Young buddy) and his fiancee Leslie when we dropped into Chicago for the afternoon.

We had some excellent hot wings and beer at their local pub Yak-Zies, where we met them after they won a game of softball in their local (friendly) competition.

It was really nice to see Dave & Leslie again. Thanks guys for making the time to see us :)