Our Ride

People have been asking me to post a picture of our RV - so here it is. It is 19 feet long and sleeps three, it has a double over the cab and the table converts into a single where Isla sleeps. We have a toilet, shower, fridge, cooker, sink, microwave, air conditioning, water heater - but we do need to be connected at a campsite to use it all. Our home for the next 2 months!

Huntington Beach State Park

Took an early morning nature walk on the salt marshes in the state park – saw lots of birds and even more alligators. Charlie took some great pictures perched precariously on wobbly rocks. Packed up and had a swim on the sea before setting off on the longest drive yet – to Raleigh to stay with Evan and his girlfriend Tracey. It is bike week so tons of people riding in convoy on Harley Davidsons.

The Last Few Days.....

Over the last three days we have:

~ Driven to Savannah South KOA campsite. Hung out at the pool and borrowed a dvd about the history of Savannah. Charlie hated it as John Cusack was in it and I fell asleep during it. Not sleeping too well at the moment. Worrying about Isla falling out of that bed.

~ Savannah for the day, beautiful buildings. Stayed in Hilton Head Island RV Resort, one of the poshest places to RV in The USA, lots of golf courses etc. We preferred the state park.

Fried Green Tomatoes with Blue Crab in Savannah

Paula Deen's, Savannah

Savannah

~ Charlie played golf at one of the famous Hilton Head courses. Isla and I hung out at the smallest outlet mall ever. We were at the Tanger 1 Mall. At the Tanger 2 Mall, less than 1 mile away down the highway with no pavement, there were loads more shops and the Guinness book of world record attempt for pie eating going on. It would have been a better story if we had been at the right mall and taken part. Spent the late afternoon driving towards Charleston so we could have a full day the next day.

~ Took a horse and cart tour of Charleston, ate at Hyman's Seafood restaurant, and wandered through the market - "Southern Living" must do activities.

Charleston

Charleston

Charleston

Horse and Cart tour, Charlston

On the road, South Carolina

On the road, South Carolina

On the road, South Carolina

PS - Isla is now sleeping in her tent on top of her bed and I am sleeping much better!

State Lines

Well, we picked up the RV in Florida on Monday. It is a bit smaller than we thought - not so much storage so Charlie and I are sharing our bed with the golf clubs. Very cute and it will be better on gas and easier to drive than one of those big monsters.

We spent the first night in Ferdinanda Beach in Northern Florida - a beautiful state park called Port Clinch. All white sand dunes and bleached wood board walks, quite beautiful. Total rank amateurs at this RV-ing thing, there was water dripping down the side of the vehicle and we had no idea why. A nice German man came and helped and between them he and Charlie found that our pump head seems to be leaking - nothing too serious we are just economising on the pump use for now.

Did a tour of the historic fort and walked on the beach collecting shells - Isla loved it.

She Loves It.

Hello America!

We made it! We arrived in the Florida late on Friday night, we are here in an Orlando resort hotel for a few days. We were totally disorganised, booking the flight Wednesday night, the RV Thursday afternoon and the hotel just before bed on Thursday night. As soon as it was done we were EXCITED! We have a very loose plan, places we both want the see and which direction we will be travelling in. It is a trip both Charlie and I have wanted to take together for a while, we pick up the RV tomorrow morning at 10am, we have an intensive lesson on how to operate it and then off we go - approximately 6000 miles in the next two months.

We have our first campsite booked for tomorrow night, a national park in Florida, beach front and in the middle of nowhere. There are a couple of major cities we would like to visit but mainly we want to stay rural - trying to get to the opposite end of the spectrum after London for 10 years then Tokyo for a year.

Wooohooooo!

Happy Mothers Day!

Get Ready!

Arghhhhhh!

She already fits in!

Goodbye Japan!

It has been a while since I posted as things have been crazy. I can’t quite believe that our year in Tokyo has come to an end, and in a way I never imagined.

On Friday 11^th March I was home with Isla when the earthquake hit; it was scary – doors banging, things falling out of cupboards, like the ground was rolling. Charlie was at work on the 8^th floor and saw other high rise buildings swaying towards his. He walked home from work and we had a relatively normal weekend, despite the aftershocks. On Monday Charlie went to work and at home with Isla I fielded one call after another from friends leaving Tokyo, some just going south and others back to their home country. A big aftershock at 11am and I called Charlie, we were worried about the nuclear situation so decided Charlie should take some holiday – we booked a flight, threw some things in a bag and headed to the airport for an impromptu holiday in Canada. We were so lucky we had the option to do that, all those poor people who have lost loved ones and their homes are still stuck in Japan.

We were due to leave, me at the end of March and Charlie a couple of weeks later. After a week in Vancouver Charlie headed back to pack up the flat and Isla and I flew to the UK. Charlie is due back here tomorrow – we are very excited to see him.

A sad end to what was a wonderful year – we loved experiencing Japan, and visiting other great places like Vietnam, The Philippines and Australia from there. We met wonderful people and made friends we will keep in contact with and hopefully see again somewhere. I really wish we had the chance to say goodbye to them properly.

We are excited about the next adventure – a month in the UK catching up with friends, onto the US to spend a couple of months exploring in an RV, then Vancouver to find jobs and settle down for a while.

All change again!

PS - This is the link if you want to donate to help the relief effort in Japan:

www.redcross.org.uk/JapanTsunami