Friday, 7 May 2010

on the move...



***Miles travelled today: 132
***States travelled through: Massachusetts, Maine

...and so our trip begins... we made our way back to the airport to collect our hire car... only to be informed that their system only had us booked for 31 days and that we were returning the car to Boston!!! Anyway... with an extremely helpful, YES - helpful woman assisting us, as our voucher had all the dates and the fact that we are delivering the car to Seattle in 70 days... it was eventually all sorted out!!! and... we then ended up with an upgrade... as we are going to be 'living out of it', for the next ten weeks... so we now have a 4x4 Jeep... which we are now trying to figure out miles to the gallon and how many litres in a gallon... maths was never our strong point!!! (If my Pops was still around he would have an answer for us!!!) Anyway... it's lovely... all the better to be travelling through all the National Parks we intent to do!!!
... an hour or so into our 'drive', as we are armed with trip tik map printouts (from AAA), a map book and a Tom Tom (which has been christened Tam Tam)... there were a few disagreements on which way we should be going... Jay seemed to believe that Tam Tam was right and not Linz!!! I was trying to be humorous when I said, "You've known me for 20 years and Tam Tam for less than ten minutes and you would rather believe her!!!" Anyway... Jay was fantastic... and we managed to get out of Boston without incident - even driving an automatic car!!!
We stopped off at Salem for a few hours this afternoon and then made our way to Portland... we actually just walked into the Best Western hotel and asked if they had any rooms available for tonight... as easy as that!!! Thankfully they did!!! We then did an evening drive out to watch the sunset...

PS: Thanks to everyone for posting comments...
...and Suzie... you can put your next sticker on now... look for PORTLAND!!!
(have just noted that our posts are still going on with UK time/date settings... so this is Friday the 7th!!!)

7 comments:

  1. Wow, a jeep. That was the car I had before moving to the UK........and automatic and you've managed it all. Any surprising stops when you by mistake pushed the brake rather than the clutch?! So you didn't say who was right about the directions: Linds or Tam Tam.

    It's Sat here and you are missing an overcast, coolish day. No contest you say?
    Ann

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  2. Have you been shopping yet? Jace, we are very disappointed with you if you haven't managed to find a mall yet! Get Tammy to help! (we're nicknaming the sat nav Tammy!!!!!!)
    Tammy will be updated by satellite regularly, so no excuses! Keep the map handy though as sometimes Tammy's can get confused!
    Have you had pancakes yet?

    Janice has helped with conversion for you:
    There are 4.54 litres in a gallon
    So, a gallon of UK petrol would cost approx: £5.49
    Hope this helps!!!!!

    Enjoy and keep having fun.......
    J&M
    xx

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  3. Hmmmm..... Interesting how the "booked" organised, stuff went wacky & the unplanned "walked-in" bit worked out just fine......

    It truely is about how you respond to situations that set the tone of the experience
    & clearly your two heads are better than just any one.

    Agreed the Jeep will allow the roommates more "room" along the way (o-,)

    Have my jealousy in a strangle hold & tamping it down for the most part. You girls really get to live a dream opportunity here.

    Enjoy! Enjoy!! Enjoy!!! Be kind to each other.
    ^j^

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  4. Love the picture of the sunset. What is it they say about the best laid palns of mice and men! Sooo jealous sounds you are having such a brill time.
    Enjoy :)

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  5. Hi yous twos - caught up with you at last - you sure hit the ground running - and by your comments and pictures are having a fabulous time - which is great - as that is what this trip is all about! Boston looks to be a lovely city - though I am sure there will be one or two more photos to see - in due time. I love the ducks, but guess they must be nailed down - or would have disappeared by now! I remember the name Pauline Blues - that certainly took me back a few years - but how lovely to hear from you Pauline. You must post a photo of your 4x4 with Jace at the wheel - you did great Jc - coming out of the airport onto the motorway must have been quite a drive - especially with a stressed out Dickinson lady by your side! Hope your day has been fun with lots of new things to see and do - how is your weather over there - have you found the sun yet? Take care of yourselves - keep safe - luv Moi

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  6. Wow, is that the USS Friendship, a reconstruction of a 171-foot three-masted Salem East Indiaman built in 1797. U are so lucky! All that USA history

    I see you're all having a great time. Fantastic. Keep it up, we're watching in case we're asked questions later

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  7. So pleased you have gone for Best Westerns

    I loved Salem with its history. The car sounds cool - we need a photo of that one.

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