Good times

We were so lucky that we finally managed to catch up with Billy in NYC as we had missed the opportunity in Boston. His company had put him up in the Hyatt in a great suite which he invited Celia and I to share with him on one evening. We had a truly grand time with dinner at a phenomenal restarant and a few drinks, kindly all on the company. My only charge whould be the cab ride back to the hotel.

It's always a little strange for me to spend time with friends in a foreign place when you are so used to seeing them day in, day out at all your familiar haunts in London. It was the same when Billy was in SA for our wedding and now in NY (not for his) in his backyard.

He was in his element too, knew all the places, who to call and where to go. Good times! BTW, just found this picture of him onine. Wooooohoooowaaahaaaaahhaaaaaa. Waaaaaaaaahhhhahahahahahahahaha. God bless Google.

Still moseying around New York

With not an awful lot to to and only a few days to kill, day's were mostly spent watching the 60 inch plasma and drinking Flavio's Pepsi stash and home made biltong. after a few days of more than 100 channels of cable, you settle on your favourites, and then your favourites run out of shows, so it's mostly 'The Girl Next Door', Kardashians, and "The Deadliest Catch' reruns. I was going to add 'The Family Guy' to that list, but Peter Griffin does not get grouped with anyone.

We somehow managed to find time to rip ourselves off the couch and head into the city to do the Natural History Museum. Now I sadly never got to go to the one in London, I know, pathetic. I was only there for six years...

The museum was pretty good with the animal exhibition (mostly African) being my favourite by a long shot. I think it's maybe because looking at the dinosaur skeletons does not really invoke many emotions in me. Possibly the lack of imagination, which in itself is hard to believe with the amount of day dreaming I usually do.

I must say that the exhibition here was not dissimilar to the ones at Cabela's hunting stores around the US. The stuffed carnivores all set up in attack position ready to devour the defenceless prey in their path. Some of them are excellent, like you are stuck in a real life freeze frame, and if I had to show you some of the pictures I took you would thing I was somewhere in the African Savannah or the North American plains.

With all the game viewing we had there, there was sadly not enough time to go to the National Portrait Gallery which was Celia's pick for the day. I thick you might need a day for that on it's own if it is anything like the Louvre or the Smithsonian in Washington (you see how I've listed the only two art museums I've ever been to).

We managed to fit in a couple more walking hours in to the day and went for some great coffee and cakes at 'Le Pain Quotidien' just off central park as well as a world famous hot dog at "Gray's Papaya'. It was a good hot dog, but you understand what I mean when I say how different can you be from your competitor when you are selling a wiener in a roll.. Michael being the the only true American among us, assured me it was a great hot dog.

I did manage to spot the Chris Elliot who famously played Dom Woganowski in 'Theres something about Mary' adding to my celeb spotting total in America to a satisfying '2'.

Recalculating

Celia and I had to get back to 'Woodbury Commons' outlet mall to get some bargain shopping done so Flavio lent us his car for the day, but we had to come and pick him up from work. In true holiday style we only left the house just after lunch and after punching in the coordinates in our GPS we were on our way. All was going pretty peachy, and we had this GPS speaking to us in every accent available, but I started passing the same trees and seeing the same landmarks usually pre-empted by the Australian bird on the GPS saying "recaaalllculating". I dunno how it happened but the directions kept telling us to take the incorrect exit off the roundabout. It took me until the third time to ditch the GPS and ask for directions (wasn't happy about that) showing that you generally shouldn't listen to an Aussie woman giving you directions.

Back in the Big Apple

The drive back from Cape Cod was fine, I got arrogant and chose the coastal road this time, rather than sticking to Google Maps prescribed route which may be a touch quicker, but about as exciting as say, reading… I have stated my new stance on reading I'm sure.?

Well i'm telling you anyway.

I have decided reading a book is an utter waste of time as the world just passes you by as your nose is stuck in between printed paper. So the nine books (eight unread) I bought at a library sale (totaling about $4) somewhere in the California desert will have to waste somebody else's time rather than collect dust on the back seat of our Honda Accord.

This brings me to the next part of my day. We had to drop off our rental car, apart from being a major chore as it had to go all the way to JFK airport; it was a pretty sad moment as it was the first bit of finality of our trip and the last road trip we would take of our world tour. We had a bit of a moment with our car on the way to the airport and bode it farewell.

When I checked it in at the Hertz counter they tried, but couldn't just scan my rental agreement and wish me a good evening, they had to go in a and manually enter my details as the system would not accept the fact I had driven 8500 miles in just under sixty days. It made me realize what an epic journey we had just completed, and the emotions came yet again.

Well our last week in New York was reserved for shopping and maybe a visit to a museum or two. Fortunately for us Michael was on spring break and we had a driver when Flavio was unable to lend us his car. Celia finally got her ‘tan colored full length ‘ UGG boots which we had been searching for, umm... approximately a month now, no shops having the tan in her size. She was pretty thrilled when Michael and I got back from Palisades mall and wore them around the house the whole evening deciding then that actually she would prefer the chocolate colored ones in a smaller size. Can anyone else feel my pain?

Cape Cod touring

Ray took us on his best Cape Cod tour through the gusting wind and fine drizzle, and had I known we were going to be walking for an entire day, I would have dressed a bit warmer than the long sleeve t-shirt I was wearing. Ray was in fine form, posing at will for the most ridiculous photos taken in Massachusetts that day.

It was a pretty amazing tour though and Cape Cod has immense beauty ranging from the Cedar and Maple bogs to the endless beaches. Let's not forget the harbor at P-town and a bonus cherry on the top were the eight whales we saw at Race Point. I could hardly believe it, but from the beach we saw Humpback and Right whales feeding on plankton just a couple hundred meters off the beach. They had apparently been there for the entire weekend and were predicted to be there for a few more, so Celia and I decided there and then that we were going whale watching the next day.

Well things don't always work out as planned and that evening when we got back from touring Mike recommended we go snowboarding in New Hampshire the next day. It was a tough choice, boarding or whale watching. So 4AM the next day we were up and dressed to go whale watching, naaaat. We were going snowboarding and were kitted out thanks to Jane and Mike who had enough ski clothing and equipment to sort out the Jamaican bobsled team and their cheerleaders.

What a day we had up on Mount Sunapee, being up on the mountain is always ...umm well... invigorating in search of a better word. My boarding improved loads as Mike pushed me to increase my speed and to not be such a girl. Celia also loved the day and every time I saw her she was full of smiles and Ray was teaching her some new tricks on the skis in between racing Jane and me. Being on a snowboard I was always a bit slower, but by the end of the day I was right up there and Jane will admit I absolutely showed her a lesson in downhill racing, German style.

Had to remember Laurie who couldn't join us as she had to visit her dad down in Florida who sadly was terribly ill (would have taken her in a race too though).

Still can't believe how lucky we were to have a great day on the mountain in early spring with new friends (and old ones - Ray). Feeling excited just writing this now!!

On our way back home we had a short stop in Boston for an early dinner and an alternative to sitting in the traffic. After a days boarding i was thirstier than a baby in a topless bar so at the first sight of a Sam Adams, it was emptied, and my thirst was quenched.

We grabbed some seafood to go along with the beer. The Swordfush kebab grabbing my attention and Celia couldn't be stopped ordering the Maine lobster which, at the time of ordering did not register in her mind that they cook them on the spot. So when the chef took the unlucky fellow out the bucket and straight into the pot, the expression on her face was pretty priceless, worthy of a Mastercard advert.

Tuesday came and it was time to head back to the Big Apple. With some regret, we said goodbye to Little Ray, Big Ray, Kory, Jane and Mike, let's not forget Hudson. In true Dieter style I lead with my emotions, so goodbyes are as short as possible. I'm always so grateful for times like these spent with great people sharing fantastic moments and giving time out of their life. Jeesh… what was that, let's move on before I delete it.

Cape Cod

We left New York well rested and a few hours late after trying to sort out the car hire issue, but now we were on our way headed straight for Cape Cod, well as straight as Google Maps will allow us anyway. In hindsight we should have taken Flavio's GPS, but that would make me less of a man now wouldn't it.

Our drive took about an hour longer than we had wished for, but still arrived at Ray's house with some sunlight to spare and with a fantastic welcome. Ray's sister and his dog were there with a bottle of red to wash away the long drive. Laurie had also put together some fantastic quiche and cranberry bread so we were not to go hungry.

The wheels for that weekend were tonight set in motion as we went from bar to bar in Cape Cod. Not a remarkably big area, there is always a ‘happening' place a few miles away and a couple back road's home.

I somehow managed to plant a seed in Mike's head that we should go snowboarding in New Hampshire, he seemed pretty keen, and so we'll see how that pans out.

Ray couldn't possibly have let us stay at his house for free (????) so he had us working on the cranberry farm in the morning. He has built a greenhouse there to grow seedlings of various types of pretty flowers in the off season, when the cranberries don't require much work. So on this biting Cape Cod Saturday morning, Celia, Jane, Ray and Dieter (don't you hate it when people talk about themselves in the third person) got busy planting. It was definitely a case of many hands make light work as those few hundred seedlings were planted in no time, it wasn't even late enough to crack open the first cold one. We killed time by watching Ray's amazing greenhouse plumbing in action, which instead of watering the plants, just leaked a big puddle in the corner, nice!

The afternoon showers arrived, and that called for us to pack up, but not before I had negotiated the pathways through all the cranberry bogs on Ray's golf cart. Let me rephrase that, on Ray's working golf cart. He has behind his house a golf cart graveyard, ranging from the standard club car type to the more outrageous Harley Davidson golf cart. He keeps them there as he says he might need some spare parts sometime.

We had some great seafood that afternoon in a little village (don't ask me which – Hyannis maybe) and I got to try more of the local brew. So far I have been very loyal and stuck to my Sam Adams, but the Harpoon IPA I had that afternoon is not all that bad either. Celia ordered some ‘New England Steamers' or something to that effect which are these massive clams which have the texture of an Oyster and are not really my thing as the one I had went down with hooks and almost came straight back up. It seemed to have the same effect on Celia as she politely said she was not that hungry.

We had a fantastic BBQ at Mike and Jane's house that night with some of the tastiest sirloin I have ever eaten. Interestingly the topic came up as to why we have seen very few (I mean tens of) sheep in the US. It turns out that the cattle farmers completely took over and drove out all the sheep farmers. They don't know what they are missing.

The evening involved a trip to the Claddagh where Richard and Monika met, so really the visit was mandatory. They were currently experiencing some licensing issues so were not open, but they did manage to turn the kettle on and pour us a famous Claddagh coffee, which according to my taste buds, contains less than 10% coffee and the rest, according to Cathy, Frangelico, Kahlua and Whisky. A couple of those, and I needed the back roads. Fortunately Ray was driving and took us out to Sundancers where this U2 tribute band was playing and everyone was in fine form on the dance floor, so I joined them and managed to get a bite without even casting a line. I am a married man now so I just shook the hook loose and carried on dancing. It seems however, that I've still got it.

Philadelphia

Our drive through to Philadelphia was a long one, with narrow roads and many a wrong turn taken, we arrived quite a few hours after we wanted to so our tour was a whistle-stop one, we never even got out of the car! There was no time, so we drove right through taking in the sights, including the university, the skyline, and the very famous library. I never got the opportunity to run up the steps to the sound of the 'eye of the tiger' like the great Sly Stallone in the Rocky movies. Maybe it's better that we never stopped as I can only imagine how many sad tourists have pulled that stunt. I never wanted to be one of those statistics.

That only left us with the drive to Flavio's house to complete. It was pretty exciting as he never knew we were coming this week, we were meant to drive straight through to Massachusetts, but gave him a nice surprise as he was doing his gardening. We naturally had to go through to the diner down the road that evening with the entire family, overeating once again as is only possible in America.

It was fantastic to catch up, but our visit was a short one, as we had a drive to Cape Cod to look forward to in the morning.