'Ford Mustang OK?'

Well this is it. Months of planning, research, saving hard and now we're off.

It was mixed emotions leaving the house, huge excitement mixed with a tinge of sadness to see our lovely home all empty. We know its in very capable hands though. It was similar emotions at Terminal 5, waving goodbye to loved ones but as soon as we were on the plane tucking into macaroni cheese, it was all forgotten.

We arrived in Chicago and stood 'in line' in immigration for an hour but still managed to catch our connecting flight to Charlotte, the state capital of North Carolina. We'd reserved the smallest hire car and were adamant that we would resist all offers of an upgrade. Noticing that we only had a couple of ruck sacks, the Avis rep muttered the never to be forgotten line, ''Ford Mustang OK?''.

Minutes later, we were sat in a gleaming red Ford Mustang, my ultimate car, open mouthed and wondering what just happened, particularly as it cost nothing extra.

We'd pre-booked a cheap motel near the airport for convenience. The room was typically American, space for about 10 queen sized beds but we'd happily have swapped this for a room that didn't have the stench of an 1980's smoke filled pub.




Tallulah Gorge

It was an early start the next morning as we headed south west in our beautiful car to Tallulah Gorge in Georgia. A small but stunning gorge to explore in the eighty eight degree sunshine. As we continued driving north we had the shock of our lives as we spotted a wild Black Bear right by the side of the road!! We couldn't believe it.

We ended the day checked into a motel in Bryson City, on the outskirts of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park.



Thank you for reading.