We're on the plane now, about to head home. The trip has been amazing. There have been lots of things we didn't manage to do, either through lack of time or if they were closed. We've decided to repeat the trip in 25 years, when Rachel is 50, and take a little longer to do it. We've taken over 1000 photos, so we have some sorting to do! We've decided that everyone should do at least one road trip. All we need now is another destination.

The End remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

1. Everyone is complaining about the rising price of gas, there are even warning adverts on the TV, but we can fill up our tank of a car for $50.

2. Tumbleweeds are real, and make you jump when they hit the side of the car.

3. If you ask for milk with coffee instead of cream, you get a black coffee and a glass of milk!

4. In most restaurants we've been to, they ask 'together or separate?' - do we want one or two bills.

5. All toilet doors have gaps at the edges - very weird.

6. If you order a meal with a salad, the salad comes first, sometimes before the appetisers. In fact, things often arrive when they are ready so you can have the salad, starter and main course on the table all at the same time.

Random observations remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

We made it to Ocean Shores and the pacific ocean. We also caught up with friends we last saw 17 years ago. In Seattle we shopped and did a little sight-seeing.

Old Friends remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

In the morning we found the local library. We were looking for details of a treehouse B&B on the internet. We didn't manage to get through to them, but we did make a reservation at 'Almost Paradise'.

We had about 3.5 hours of driving ahead of us, and we had to stock up on food as it was self catering. Our accommodation was in a lodge, with private hot tub and sauna. We had a comfy sofa, fully kitted out kitchen and wood-paneled bathroom, nestled in the snow at the base of Mount Rainier. It was great to cook our own dinner for the first time in weeks. We also enjoyed a glass of wine or two...

Research pays off remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

This part of the state is like driving through Narnia. The trees are thick and tall, and covered in snow. Magical.

To come back to earth, we stopped in Spokane and went to Sears, TJ Maxx, Michaels and Ross. We now have two new suitcases, one to replace the one that broke, and the other for all the shopping we've done.

In Ellensburg we finally stayed in a Super 8 motel, after passing hundreds of then along the way. It was very comfortable, and the girl at the desk gave us directions to find a good steak. The Palace Cafe was almost deserted when we walked in, and five minutes later we were the only people there. However, the service was friendly, and the steaks fantastic. When our waitress came to check on up at 10.15 we discovered they stopped serving at 9, and we'd only just made it. We didn't stay for desert, and headed back to the motel for coffee.

Washington remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

From Bannack we took the freeway north west. Lunch was drive thru burritos - we had to have at least one drive thru on a road trip.

In Missoula we passed the training centre for smoke jumpers, firemen who parachute into bush fires. The snow was falling, for most of the time it was quite light, but it was a bit like driving into the old flying stars screensaver.

Our last time zone change was at the Montana-Idaho border, so we drove through Lookout Pass to the silver mining town of Wallace. The little town had a very quiet Saturday night. We did meet the sheriff outside the supermarket though - I think he was doing some shopping too. There were some lovely shops that we said we'd explore in the morning, but we'd lost track of the days and as it was Sunday, everything was closed.

It was back on the road, where we crossed Idaho in one hour, and stopped in the border town of Coeur d'Alene. We found a great cafe with good coffee and breakfast burritos. Then we were into our last state of the trip.

Idaho remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

The weather forecast for Friday night and Saturday was for 8-10 inches of snow in the mountains and 4-6 inches in the valleys. To get to Seattle on time we decided we'd better get moving. It meant missing Yellowstone, but there was a good chance that the roads would be closed anyway.

We put some miles on the car, then went south a little to spend the night in Dillon. We drove through some amazing countryside, with ranches lying between two mountain ranges. As the sun was setting it was beautiful.

Just outside Dillon was the old capital of Montana, Bannack. It was the site of the county's first gold rush, first hotel, first jail and first capitol building. Now it's a ghost town, with most of the buildings left just as they were. The visitors centre was closed, and the guide book box was empty, so we just went for a wander. The first few houses had padlocks on the doors, but the hotel didn't. When we tried the door it opened, so we hesitantly went in. All the rooms were empty, and the plaster was falling off the walls, revealing the boards underneath. The stairs creaked, and it was freezing inside. Our initial excitement faded into creepiness, and it was a relief to get out into the sun without any ghostly activity!

The next building along was a saloon, and was also open. The bar was still there, and an old barber's chair. On the wall was a history of the owner - the leader of a notorious gang. Shootings were a regular occurance, and in one gun fight an official was killed. This sparked vigilantes to hunt down and hang the gang members, not just in the town but across the area.

Towards the edge of town the houses got smaller, and darker, and we seemed to be the only people around. We crossed the street, and headed back along the wooden sidewalk. The doctors and shop were locked, but had displays in the windows. The school was unlocked, and the door opened with a scary movie creak. Inside all the desks were lined up, and the rules for teachers written on the board provided some comic relief. After taking our photo, we'd had enough of ghosts and got back on the road.

Change of plans remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Today has been an amazing day. We started by heading to Wall, passing 56 signs on the side of the freeway encouraging us to stop in at Wall Drug. The store started as a small pharmacy that offered free ice water to travellers, and now takes up half of main street. It took us an hour just to walk round the whole thing, and then we tried buffalo burgers in the cafe.

From Wall we headed south-east briefly to drive through the Badlands. It's like a wall of dry, pink, striped rock that marks the end of the plains. We took lots of pictures.

The road took us back to Rapid City and then south again to the Crazy Horse memorial. The Indian Chiefs wanted build a monument and chose one of their chiefs who was killed by the US army. So far his face has been carved out of the mountain, and the rough shape of his arm. When finished the sculpture of Crazy Horse, mounted on his horse, will be 563 feet tall. It's being carved by precision explosives - very impressive.

Just up the road is the most famous mountain in the country, Mount Rushmore. We were a bit worried it would look small after Crazy Horse, but you can get so much closer to it. It was very cool to be there, and now, everytime we see a picture of it, we can annoy people with an "I've been there".

To finish off our ultimate tourist day, we drove to Deadwood. The Historic Franklin Hotel is right in the middle of town, and we decided that we'd just see how much it would cost us to stay the night. 10 minutes later we'd checked into a double for less than $50! For dinner we went to Kevin Costner's Midnight Star casino, where the bar was full of his movie posters and costumes. Back at our hotel we lost $1 in the casino! In the morning we explored further and found Saloon #10 with the chair that Wild Bill Hicock was sitting in when we was shot. We didn't stay long and got back to heading west.

Horses, Faces and Gamblers remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

In the North-west corner of Wyoming is another natural monument. Devils Tower has several Indian legends about its formation, all of them involve someone being chased by a bear which tries to follow them up the rock and carves grooves in the side of it. The geologists say it's the core of a volcano, left behind after the softer rock has eroded away, but it looks a lot like claw grooves to us.

We took the back road to Montana, and to the site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The most surprising thing was the discovery that the Little Bighorn wasn't a hill, but it's actually a river. We saw the site of Custer's last stand and finished the driving tour at 5.59, giving us a minute to spare before they locked the gates.

Devils and Battles remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

In Billings we stayed at the Dude Rancher Lodge, where our carpet had cattle brands and everything was wood panelled. On the recommendation of our guide book we went to Rex's which was supposed to have good steak, but we discovered that it was also expensive steak, so instead we tried a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich which was rather good.

In the morning we started at the visitor information where a slightly odd lady wasn't very helpful but she did give us directions to a ranchers supply shop. Their selection of boots was small and another grumpy lady suggested Al's Bootery. The people there were lovely, and by the time we left, we both had boots as well as directions to a Hot Springs lodge, and the name of a ranch we might be able to stay at.

We really wanted to stay in Billings as the Professional Bull Riders rodeo is this coming weekend, but heavy snow was forecast, so if we stayed, we'd probably get stuck. On the way out of town we passed Rand's Custom Hatters. From there Rachel bought a lovely tightly woven straw cowboy hat. It looks great, but it isn't pink. Luke also took our head measurements in case we want to get a custom made hat it the future (starting at a mere $400).

Boots and Hats remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

The day started with a stop at Buffalo Bill's ranch, before we crossed time zones into mountain time. We had a quick look at Front Street in Ogallala, an old main street with wooden buildings.

Then it was through Oshkosh to Chimney Rock. When the pioneers travelled west in their waggons, the finger-like rock marked the end of the plains. The visitor centre was really interesting, and had an interactive exhibit, for children, where you had to load a waggon with all the supplies you'd need on the journey west without overloading it. We succeeded!

From there it wasn't far to Scottsbluff. We drove to the top of the bluff where we could look down on the flat land below. There was a gap in the bluff that the waggons had to go through, and you can still see some of the tracks they made in the ground.

The next attraction on our list was Carhenge. As you can probably guess, it's a version of Stonehenge made out of old cars which have all been painted grey. It's weird but cool.

Rather than stop at a small town we decided to keep going into South Dakota and found a motel in Rapid City.

Chimneys and Cars remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

We carried on driving along highway 36 across Kansas. For one stretch, I drove for 30 miles without turning the wheel!

We spotted an interesting sign, and detoured to the geographic centre of the 48 contiguous states. We found a flag, a plaque, a motel that had closed down and lots of shotgun cartridges. We took a few quick photos and headed back to the nearest town. At the garage we discovered that a man from Texas had bought the motel to use as his hunting lodge.

Our next stop was Norton to see Station 15, a stagecoach lay over point. We drove past the building three times before we spotted it because it was so small. Inside it was laid out as it used to be, with a sign telling us one of the presidents had stopped there once.

We had another 20 miles with no bends before we took a right turn to head north into Nebraska. We spent the night in North Platte. Everytime time I mentioned the name, Rachel corrected my pronounceation from plate to plait until we reached the information centre, and discovered I was right! Our hotel was right next to Pizza Hut, so after a tour of the town, we had takeaway lounging on our beds. A relaxing night in.

Going straight remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

In St Joseph, we went to the Pony Express museum. In 18-something or other, 3 businessmen wanted to win a contract for 1 million dollars to deliver post to the west coast. The trains travelled as far as St Joseph, and from there it was taken by horse riders through a series of stations set up across the country. It lasted for 18 months until the civil broke out and a telegraph system was installed to allow instant communication. The pony express is still celebrated for being an impressive feat. One of the famous riders was Buffalo Bill, and over the 18 months it was in operation, only one rider was killed, one schedule was late and one letter was lost.

On the other side of the town we also saw the house where Jesse James was shot by Robert Ford. We then followed the Pony Express route across the top of Kansas, stopping in Marysville for the night, which was also a site for a Pony Express home station.

The Pony Express remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

The time had come to pick up the pace north-east, so we joined the 33 that took us through towns called Dieterich, Effingham & Shumway. We pulled over in Shelbyville for sandwiches by a lake, but stayed in the car because it was too cold! After a few more back roads we hit the freeway to cover some extra miles. We crossed the Illinois-Missouri border at a town called Hannibal, and stopped in search of coffee. The visitors centre was just closing but we were given a map and directed towards Main Street. Enjoying our German Chocolate Cake coffee, we discovered the town is famous because Mark Twain and Molly Brown were born there. The latter survived the Titanic and became known as the 'unsinkable Molly Brown'.

There was also a B&B down the road that our guidebook said did great food, so we agreed that we'd stay if it was within our budget. Happily for us it was, and we had a room called 'Angels Delight' at Lulabelles - an upmarket bordello from the 30's to the 50's! We went for a walk around the town, and found a cinema that had a dinner and movie night, but we'd missed the beginning. The town was pretty, somewhere we could live, but it was freezing cold, the car said it was 38F. We headed back to Lulabelles for a dinner of shrimp and Bordello pasta with a lovely bottle of red wine. In the morning we were served a farmers breakfast - fried potatoes with ham, onion, cheese, two eggs and a biscuit on the side. Perfect.

Before leaving we saw Mark Twain's riverboat on the Mississippi, statues of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, Lover's Leap and Molly Brown's house. The lovely man who ran the B&B recommended that we visited St Joseph, on the other side of the state so we set off to follow his advice.

The Bordello remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

We've been travelling through the middle of the country and had no phone signal, or internet access at all. It's been a bit weird being cut off, but quite nice too. We thought we'd rejoined Civillisation in Rapid City, when we got one bar of signal and managed to post the last three blogs that we'd written, but it only lasted for 5 minutes!

At the minute we are west of Billings, Montana, and about to head up and through Idaho. Snow is forecast in the mountains, so we'll be sticking to the freeways for a while.

Hopefully we'll reenter the modern age again in Washington State and can update the blog with our exciting adventures.

The Middle of Nowhere remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Still avoiding the freeways, we picked up the 64 highway because it passed through a small town called English! We drove through the Hoosier National Forest, adding to our collection of pictures of trees. We stopped for the night at the edge of the state, in Vincennes, where we had a choice between the Econo Motel or a more pricey hotel. We decided to save our budget and got lucky with a refurbished room. The other hotel was also full of loud women, as the chippendales were there. The town had a tourist leaflet, so we drove past some of the historical buildings on the way to Denny's so we satisfy our french toast cravings.

Indiana remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

We began the day with a hunt for good coffee. At first we were unsuccessful, so we followed our map to the tourist information and were directed to Arnold's Coffee Cafe. The day's special brew was Snicker-Roo, a hazelnut and cinnamon blend. Delicious.

Our next stop was the lake where we saw Sarah Bush Johnson Lincoln's Memorial Cabin. She is described as the country's most famous stepmother. There was also a one-room schoolhouse from 1892 and two log cabins that have 'a staircase built by Abe's father' - the exact words from the tourist leaflet! As we pulled into the car park, our radio station was interrupted by a public announcement giving details of tornado warnings for the area. They were a little to the south of us, but we explored with one eye on the sky and the other looking out for people running! Although the clouds were low and threatening we never saw any twisters. After another Walmart pit-stop for sandwich supplies, we were back on the 31W north.

Between Elizabethtown and Louisville is the gold depository of Fort Knox. The bomb-proof building has security fences, machine gun turrets, guards, floodlights and twenty ton doors. We drove past to take photos, and got very suspicious looks from the guards with machine guns when we passed the entrance twice. Needless to say - we didn't get very close, no gold for us.

We had a brief stop in Louisville (Loo-ah-vul) which was a very pretty city. We did go to the Louisville Slugger factory and saw an enormous baseball bat, and Tony Gwynn's name on the hall of fame. Getting back on the right freeway, in the right direction, was interesting and involved a short detour through the city. As we crossed the river, we also crossed the state line into Indiana.

Kentucky remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

We crossed another state line, into Kentucky. Just after the border, on every interstate, is a welcome centre where they have tourist leaflets and, more importantly for us, voucher books for cheap hotels/motels. In this one we picked up some information on Mammoth Cave, just off the I-65. There was also an advert that said 'Travelling I-65? Take the roads less travelled' So we abandoned the freeway for the 30W and began to wind our way through small town America.

We passed through Bowling Green, famous for it's Corvettes, to Mammoth Cave National Park. At the visitor centre we booked a tour of the cave, and headed back to the car to change from flip-flops and t-shirts into boots and jumpers before boarding a bus to the New Entrance. In 1921 the man who owned the land wanted to find another entrance to the tunnels so he could give tours and make lots of money. He blasted through the bottom of a sink hole, and found a vertical shaft that he volunteered his nephew to explore. After he was lowered 250 feet, he found connecting passages to the main cave system. The first tours had wooden stairs lit by bulbs strung on copper wire. Today they have replaced them with metal stairs and modern lighting, and we wound our way down the narrow shaft to a spacious cavern at the bottom.

The beginning was fun, then Rachel noticed the hand-sized spiders on the walls! Before we'd started the ranger had warned us about lots of stairs, narrow passages, dark places and a 2 hr trek. Nothing about giant man-eating spiders. I managed to ignore them, Rachel tried to dash through the tight bits, hunched over with her arms covering her head! Luckily no spiders tried to jump her. After we left the damp shaft were the rain water fed the underground river and entered the dry caves, we didn't see anymore. Instead we climbed through passages worn through the limestone rock. At first they were jagged with fallen boulders and later very smooth tunnels. At one stop the ranger turned out the lights, and we really couldn't see our hands in front me our faces. It was also totally silent, although very briefly, as all the babies people were carrying started crying. The final section was through 'Frozen Niagara' - a series of caves with stalactites and stalagmites. They were quite thin formations and lots of them had joined together to form 'drapes', curtains to us, of rock.

We emerged back into daylight at 6pm and got back on the road north. We crossed times zones again, back into Eastern, so we lost an hour when we arrived at our stop for the night, Elizabethtown.

A Detour remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

On our last morning in Nashville we'd booked to go on a tour of the Grand Ole Opry, which also ensured we were up early! Our tour guide was Texas Ruby so, as you can probably imagine, it was very entertaining. We stood on the same stage as Garth Brooks, Britney Spears and the Smashing Pumpkins.

On the same tour as up were two couples, about Rachel's age (25), and we were glad to see other young people there. Then we noticed that they each had two children, and the oldest looked about 4! A little scary.

On the way out of the city, we detoured to see the bits we hadn't made it to, including music row with all the recording studios. As we left the city and headed north, the tornado warnings started. At the time they were to the west of us, but heading in our direction.

Last Day in Nashville remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Just to keep up the routine me a different bed every night, we moved motels. We also wanted to be closer to downtown to save on taxi fares. After checking in, we headed to the Country Music Hall of Fame. The building itself is cool, it's shaped like a treble clef, and the windows are designed so the front of the building looks like piano keys. The museum was full of country memorabilia and nuggets of knowledge. We saw Elvis's diamond coated car and gold plated piano. We even tried fried green tomatoes in their restaurant - different but delicious.

In the evening we went to the Wildhorse Saloon, and joined in with the line dancing lessons. After we worked up an appetite, we ordered appetisers, which actually filled large dinner plates, so we still didn't have room for dessert. The entertainment was a singer called John Cain/Karl, we never managed to decipher the accent! He sang some good songs and the highlight was the live version of 'The Thunder Rolls', Rachel was very happy. It was a touch touristy but great fun.

Nashville - Day 2 remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Our first nights motel was called the Fiddlers Inn, near the Grand Ole Opry and the Opry Mills shopping mall. We started with lunch at the Aquarium Restaurant, eating fish tacos, crab dip and clam chowder next to enormous fish tanks. We couldn't resist a little shopping, and left with two pairs of shoes.

We headed downtown for the evening where we had to choose which bar was playing the best music, and decided on Legends Corner. We were only slightly biased by the burly bouncer in a cowboy hat on the door! We didn't get far on the bar crawl we'd planned as we stayed to listen to Thompson Square. We did cross the road to Rippy's BBQ & Grill for some smoked chicken and chili to soak up the alcohol. It was also the first meal we actually managed to finish. We finished the night in the Second Fiddle with a quite good band me unknown name.

Nashville remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

From Bethany Beach we drove to Norfolk and shopped. Walmart & Target for those in the know - bargain heaven! After another overnight stop (on Saturday night) we finally began heading West, only 3500 miles to go! We drove most of the day, stopping at South Hill and then Durham where we found the new baseball stadium. Sadly the team are in Ohio this week, so we couldn't see a Bulls game. We did find the old stadium featured in the film. It's looking very run down now.

From there we pressed on to a little town called Statesville. Next to our motel was a Lone Star Steakhouse, where we had the loveliest waitress. When we told her about our road trip, her response was "and y'all stopped at Statesville. But it's so small." That might have been true, but the steaks were melt-in-your-mouth amazing and the drinks were big. Our best dinner yet.

On Monday we headed to the Blueridge Parkway, a winding road that stop along the top of the Blueridge mountains. We stopped at the first attraction, the Blowing Rock. Apparently, if something is dropped off the edge of the cliff, it will be blown back up. Unfortunately for up it wasn't windy, so we couldn't try it out. There are also pathways that have been created next to, and below the top of the rocky peak, which make rock look very unimpressive. There was an observation platform that should give views of the mountain range, but the fog had rolled in, so all we could see was white! We did get some atmospheric black and white photos of nearby trees in the mist though. So all in all, not a hugely successful stop, but it made us laugh a lot. We did leave the fog behind by lunchtime, and could see why the the mountains got their name.

We have a lot of photographs of trees, ridge lines and scenic vistas that probably all look the same! The most exciting part of the day was when we were sent on a detour and the road seemed to take the fastest way down the mountains. There were speed checks for trucks, and lots of warning signs that there was only one runaway truck ramp before the bottom. We made it down with our brakes intact, and picked up the freeway to Tennesse and an overnight stop just outside Knoxville.

Virginia & North Carolina remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Our car is wonderful. It is enormous, smooth, quiet and has a computer that will tell us anything we want to know. We could sleep in the boot if we wanted to, but the front seats recline into beds that we may have to try if we can't find a motel. Of course, it's a Chevy - we had to have an American car for our American adventure, and our budget wouldn't stretch to a Corvette!

We made it through the Washington rush hour traffic, with only one near miss when Rachel was learning just how wide the car is. Once outside the city, the sun finally came out. We headed East, through Maryland, towards Delaware and the coast. We crossed the Chesapeake Bay on a bridge that was a couple of miles long. After stocking up on essentials at a Food Lion (including Breakfast Claws!), we made it to the Atlantic Coast. We pulled into parking area and trudged onto the beach, passing a surfer giving up for the day. The sun was setting behind us, and the sky and ocean were all shades of purple. A fabulous view for the end of our first day driving.

Just down the road was Bethany Beach where we found a Holiday Inn for the night, and the Cottage Cafe for dinner. The Seafood Dune Fries, smothered in melted cheese with shrimp, scallops and fish, defeated us, but we enjoyed every mouthful. We collapsed into our queen-sized beds, one apiece, after a fantastic day.

The Car remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Rachel arrived at our B&B, Adam's Inn, after directing the taxi driver from a free tourist's map. We headed straight out for dinner, and found La Rosa, a lively mexican restaurant with guacamole made at our table. By the time we'd eaten our way through the delicious but huge meal, the rain had let up, so we decided to walk to the Washington Monument. It was beautiful and eerie, with floodlights illuminating the rain clouds curling around the top. From there it wasn't far to the WWII Memorial, an oval pool with two fountains surrounded by large columns representing each state. We had fun taking pictures and trying to be arty with the water and lights.

We were going to head to the Lincoln Memorial, but the rain was so heavy that it was dripping off the ends of our noses! Instead we hailed a cab home to dry off before I succumbed to jet lag at half past 10.

Washington DC remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

The B&B is lovely though, and Rachel should be arriving any minute.

I'll update this when we've done something interesting!

Arrival remains copyright of the author liz_seward, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs