The Last Word.

Well folks, the trip is over, the 3,000 odd photos have been heavily edited and placed on DVD and the trip diary has been compiled using these Blog posts as the basis. The task of compiling, editing and inclusion of a sample of photos has been quite a big task. Now completed, it is my intention to upload this 46 page document to a new Blog site for perusal by interested parties.
Over and out...
Kevin H.
Kevin & Gail.
www.alaska-2006.blogspot.com

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Farewell USA.

Following what seemed like months of very hot weather we have now moved into wet and windy conditions. Our last night in Niagara Falls saw severe electrical and thunder storms. On departing the next morning for Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, we encountered light rain, a pleasant change for the first couple of hours, then the skies cleared as we moved south resulting in a very pleasant day for the long drive ahead. Around 6pm arrived in the outer area of Philadelphia and eventually located a motel for the night. More rain overnight, then another pleasant day for sightseeing in the historic area. This is where the American Independance document was signed in 1778. It is also the home of the "Liberty Bell" which is installed in a central building, within the Independance Centre. The very comprehensive Visitors Centre houses a number of static displays, tracing the history of battle for independance and the history and significance of the Liberty Bell. We saw a most interesting m!
ovie in the theatrette which reanacted the uniting of the states and the breakaway from Britian. As we are returning our Avis rental car to the Philadelphia International airport prior to departure for Ireland, we thought it wise to allow plenty of time to (a) find the airport and (b) locate the rental return area, still leaving enough time for check-in procedures which can take up to 3 hours. How fortunate that we allowed this extra time - the heavens opened up as we drove to the airport, so severe that traffic came to a standstill. Not knowing the route we decided to pull over with hazard lights flashing and wait out the torrential downpour. Upon arrival at the huge Avis check-in facility, the skies opened again just as we were about to unload our luggage. Another sit and wait, then we were transferred to the US Airlines International terminal in a bus. Luggage check-in went without a hitch, but we then had a 2 hour wait till boarding. The horrific storm that hit this ar!
ea have apparently been widespread, consequently air traffic has been
thrown into chaos. Our 2 hour wait has now been extended to a 4 hour wait. As I write this we are anticipating our boarding call in 10-15 minutes, the depature rescheduled to 11:30pm. Oh well we should get a good nights sleep. See you soon.

Kevin & Gail.
www.alaska-2006.blogspot.com

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Homeward Bound ?.

A last minute plan to visit Bath and district on Monday turned out to be a great decision. We were able to park right in town beside the Avon River, in an area reserved for coaches - well we are a sort of a coach and bus driving experience certainly helped. This allowed us to have a good walk around the central area, see the Cathedral, the Roman Baths, the Pultney Bridge and a walk along the river. We located a caravan park combined marina on the outskirts of Bath which allowed us a straight run of around 120 miles to Heathrow. As we did not have to return the motorhome until 3pm at Heathrow we initially drove via the more scenic A4 route, but this had us going through a multitude of villages and slowing progress, so we switched to the faster, less scenic M4 motorway. Arrived at the drop off location at 2:30pm, had lunch, changed and caught the shuttle bus to terminal3. As we had anticipated being there 7 hours prior to our scheduled departure brought with it some complicat!
ions. Due to the backlog, departing passengers are not permitted inside the terminal building until 3 1/2 hours before their flight. However they have erected marques outside with a limited number of seats, bottles of water are free, so we have made ourselves as comfortable as possible for the next 2 or so hours. As soon as we are able to enter the terminal building all of our baggage has to be screened and checked in straight away - whatever that is...
So far things here are going ok - we trust that will continue.
So, I will now close this blog and hopefully find a phone somewhere to "post" it.
"We'll Be Home For Christmas".
Kevin & Gail.
www.alaska-2006.blogspot.com

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Coventry in a day.

On Sunday morning the heavens opened and we had solid rain from early morning. This however did not prevent us from rugging up in winter gear and eagerley awaiting the arival of Jim and Joy who had offered to take us out for the day. By 10am the rain had eased as Jim arrived at the Wolvey caravan park and farm to collect us. We were driven through Coventry to Joy's house where we had a cuppa before setting out for the day. After a brief tour of the Coventry CBD we went to the Coventry Cathedral. The original Cathedral built in the 12th century was destroyed along with much of the centre of the city in November 1940 during a sustained bombing raid by the Luftwaffe. Only the tower, with its graceful spire, the crypts and the walls were left standing. The bombing of 1940 inspired a new ministry - a ministry of reconcilliation - reaching around the world, helping to heal the wounds of history and the pains of division. The ruins form an integral part of the new Cathedral complet!
ed in 1956. The contrast between the adjoining old and the new is quite stunning. We were able to walk around in both Cathedrals as the bells chimed in the tower of the ruins of the old Cathedral. They are still played by bell ringers who chimed out their music for about 20 minutes.
Lunch followed in a lovely wine bar and restaurant, then a walk through the modern shopping plaza to see the statue of Lady Godiva. From the modern shopping plaza we emerged onto Spon Street, and stepped back into Mediaeval times amongst the reconstructed shops and public houses lining each side of the cobblestone street. It was then on to the Coventry Transport Museum, the most fascinating and interesting place. On display are hundreds of bicycles, motor cycles, cars and trucks all built in Coventry in years gone by. We were amazed to see that they were over 100 car manufacturers in Coventry in its heyday as a vehicle manufacturing city. This explains why Coventry was a major target for bombing during the second world war, at that time they had turned their attention to the production of vehicles for the war effort. My favourite display however was the BMW 1150 GS motorcycle used by the Scottish actor Ewan MacGregor to complete the gruelling "Long Way Round" motorcycle tour!
through Eastern Europe, Russia, Mongolia, Alaska and the lower US states to New York, with his English mate Charlie Borman. Their story was the subject of a most iteresting mini-series TV documentary and an enthralling three disc DVD. Thanks to Jim and Joy for their great hospitality and for showing us around their special part of the world. Without them we would not have had such a fabulous time in and around Coventry.
Kevin & Gail.
www.alaska-2006.blogspot.com

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