Well no sleep during our last couple of hours. Breakfast served, breakfast on United Airlines obviously isn't their strength judging by the experience of our two flights, and the time passes quickly. Well what with the flight landing 30 minutes early, then baggage claim being straight forward and finally getting straight through customs we are left with a long wait for our coach. We talk about grabbing a beer but to be honest we have been up for 24 hours and neither of us can really be bothered to make the effort. We grab a paper for a quick read and before you know it it's time to get on our coach. Despite leaving on time the traffic is terrible getting out of Heathrow and continues till well after Luton, tiredness catches up with me and I keep nodding off, I send a couple of texts, making little or no sense,to Elle to say what time we should be back in Leicester. We got in at 7.45pm, just as Leicester were kicking off against Porto just down the road, great to see Elle and Nurul and we are soon in the car. I had expected that Malisha and Jay would be waiting at home but Elle didn't know if we would be too tired, always so thoughtful, but Nurul went to pick them up straight away. I must say we are so blessed, we have a fantastic family, so many thank-yous to say. Thanks to Elle and Nurul for picking us up.....Thanks to the Ahmeds altogether for looking after Dandelion....Thanks to Elle and Mum for cleaning the house top to bottom so we haven't got to worry about it, so unexpected ...Thanks to Dad for organising the towel radiator in the bathroom and trying to fox proof the garden...Thanks to Mum for the soup which hit the spot before bed....Thanks to eveyone involved in the garden tidy and a special thanks to Malisha and Jay for their enthusiastic and loving welcome...You have all made us feel very special. Oh and Leicester have won 1-0 as well.
Some thoughts that we have brought home from our travels....How many shredded tyres litter the American Road System, How one of the richest and most powerful countries in the world has so many homeless people and so many elderly people asking/begging for money to fund their next meals, How many people choose / have to ? live in trailer parks or obsolete motels or caravans just by the side of the road and how many diners, restaurants etc do small towns really need?
Reflecting on our Adventure in numbers....
25 nights away
9297 miles flown 3942 out and 5355 back
3695 miles driven
2 cars used
3 lots of roadkill.
16 hotels visited
9 States visited
3 time zones
2 Helicopter trips
1 boat trip
3300+ photos to sort through.
2 tired and emotional travellers, no alcohol involved, well one glass of wine and one small bottle of Heineken.
Countless laughs, experiences and good times, oh and burgers lol.
Now finally a last couple of thankyou's. Firstly thanks to everyone who has shared our adventure your comments and the knowledge you were reading have helped keep me disciplined to complete this blog every day lol. And last but definitely not least thanks to the person who inspired this trip my faithful navigator, in life not just this trip, my best friend, wife and the love of my life Donna.