USA & Canada - summary

We have been in the USA and Canada for 10 weeks roughly - 72 days (with over 200 still to go on our trip!!). Arriving in Washington and doing almost a full circle via NY, Toronto, Minneapolis, Calgary, Vancouver, V Island, Seattle, San Fran, LA, Vegas and leaving from Miami to South America. With Ian, Sheena & Megan taking a slight detour to & from Anguilla in the middle for a 10 day holiday whilst the boys were at camp.

We have been on 17 planes (inc. 2 seaplanes & 2 helis), 14 boats, 9 trains/trams, rented 5 cars plus a 35-ft RV and ridden 6 horses! plus ballgame, numerous taxis, campsites and hotels - all-in-all we have had a really good time.

Our top thing as a family was definitely the Wilderness Resort on Vancouver Island - we still remember this fondly. Activities for everyone to do in amazing scenery. A dream of doing something similar again.

We all have our favourites below this - our whole family reunion was right up there at Muskoka Lakes; Camp for the boys was very much enjoyed; The Grand Canyon was amazing and then the best show "O" in Las Vegas.

But we feel we have experienced real America and Canada. Everywhere we met really friendly & helpful people - always taking time to talk and help if needed. The 3 weeks in an RV and visiting many of the major towns in both countries has meant we have met loads & loads of people. We have not met a rude American or Canadian. And the experience with people we have met has really enhanced our trip and taught us much more about how these countries operate and what people think and do.

An amazing change has been the way people talk about Obama - at the beginning he could almost do no wrong - by the end he was being regularly lambasted as a lightweight and unlikely to do more than a 4-yr term!! Quite a change in 10 weeks.

We leave the USA & Canada much better off for the experiences we have had. They are both very diverse countries with so much to experience. Many Americans have said to us, "Well of course Americans don't travel as much as you guys!" There is a reason to that - you have pretty much everything you will ever need in your own country - Wilderness, great towns like Washington, New York, San Francisco & LA, fabulous food, mountains, Canyons, lakes, skiing, theme parks..... Its all here - I have waterskied in 5 different places alone - and could have done much more.

We leave for South America, sad to say goodbye to USA & Canada. We did alot but by no means did we do enough of either country or in depth enough when we were in places. We will need to come back - but we have to move on to our next adventure - South America.