We planned to leave Burlington slightly earlier yesterday so that we could give ourselves enough time to find a nicer place for accommodation for the next 2 nights. We were concerned that given today is 4 July (Independence Day) we may struggle to find accommodation. We headed to NE Vermont which is described as the 'Northeast Kingdom' (named by Governor George Aiken in 1940s because he just loved the area and its people and he was...

The quote of the day yesterday went to C. When she walked in for breakfast at the motel she said "Do we order the breakfast" after looking around. The breakfast was actually laid out but it was so sparse she really didn't notice. Basically you could have a bagel, bread (or toast), yogurt and either oats (in a packet) or bran flakes. That was it. And everything was disposable - plastic knives, spoons, plates & bowls,...

No we have not flown back to the UK - we are now in Manchester, Vermont. Yesterday morning we had to pick up our van from Budget Car Rental. Every time I said to people we are picking up a car in central NY they looked at me as if I was crazy to attempt driving in central Manhattan but it actually wasn't that difficult. S came with me to collect the car and then helped...

We had breakfast on route to attending Church yesterday at another coffee shop recommended by my nephew. We (excluding heathens S & K) headed for one of the Redeemer Church sites (they have 4 around the city). Redeemer was planted by Tim Keller and a few years ago they split the Church into 4 smaller churches spread across Manhattan. We decided to attended Redeemer Lincoln Park because it suited us both in terms of location and...

It seems everyone had a decent night sleep and the jetlag woes are gone for all of us. Yesterday we all walked a lot again and so I doubt anyone wouldn't have slept well again last night. We had our first decent coffee since arriving in the US yesterday morning at breakfast. My nephew recommended a place (Gotan) which we also had breakfast at before heading out. M & O decided to stay near the hotel...

We left yesterday at 9:48am from Nashville to New York. That was the precise time on our boarding pass and that was the precise time we departed. Incredible for a US flight that we left exactly on time especially since the incoming flight arrived over an hour late. The flight was uneventful and we landed in NY just before 1pm, collected our luggage and went to find a taxi to take us to our hotel. LaGuardia...

We are flying to New York from Nashville so we had to head back to Nashville yesterday. We left at the check out time (10am) and decided to not take the interstate but rather to take the back routes to get back. It was obviously a lot slower (took over 4 hours) but it was much more scenic and pleasant drive. We stopped on route back for lunch at Cracker Barrel which is a Southern chain...

Jet lag remains a problem for some of us though we are all seemingly improving. I was awake at 3:30am again this morning but managed to get back to sleep until 5am. Helen woke just before 6am. At least one person was awake upstairs again because I could hear the floors creaking but no one has made an appearance yet. I had a teleconference call today at 6am so I needed to be up early anyway....

It seems the boys don't suffer from jetlag. They slept until about 8am and S had to actually wake M up otherwise he might still be sleeping. We went to breakfast at Union 417 which supports Military vets (and employs them in the running of the restaurant). You do know you're in the South when they have fried chicken as a breakfast option! Pancakes though were the definite order of preference except H & I who...

Monday morning was spent cleaning the flat and washing the linen for 7 people - not an easy task to do in a few hours. We had a car pick up at 11am to take us to Heathrow and we arrived at the check in about an hour later. The check in process took quite awhile as we are booked on 4 separate bookings and they had to check visas for everyone, check the luggage in...