The long journey home

I finally got to see a little fall colour on the drive from Toronto to Detroit. Not a lot but enough to satisfy.


It is time now to say farewell to North America, at least for the time being. I am at Detroit airport awaiting the first of 4 connections that will hopefully land me in Brisbane 3 days from now.



Over the past 225 days I have visited 5 countries; 28 states, 4 provinces and 9 islands.


The big questions that will be asked are what was the best...



Best town : Savannah, Georgia for its southern belle charm, live oaks and spanish moss.



Best national park : Very tough to call as there is so much to dazzle and amaze but Zion in Utah is way up there.



Best natural phenomenon : The Colorado River carving the immense canyons through the Utah and Arizona deserts . WOW!!!



Best Man-made phenomena : Biltmore, Asheville, NC. The holiday house and garden of the Vanderbilts - oh to be that rich.


Best moment : Standing alone, but for a silhouetted deer and a lazy looking bison, in the grasslands on South Dakota at dusk.



Worst moment : Killer mosquitos both in Canada and Tobago.



Best meal : 3 courses in New Orleans - gumbo, jumbalaya and bread and butter pudding. Oh so good for the tastebuds, oh so bad for the waistline.



Greatest annoyance : TIPPING. Aaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhh!


Thankyou to all the people who have looked after me over the past few months and to the great many wonderful people I have met and shared experiences with. Especially Chris and George and your three hospitable sons on the east coast, Paula, Don and Bella on the west, Marie, Lutz, Ingela and Mats in the islands, Bron in NYC, Andrea in Portland, Dovi in San Diego and the awesome crowd from the Canada trek. You've all helped to make this such an amazing adventure.

My love to you all... always.

Oh Canada

I have been a city gal for the past few days. 3 in Montreal mostly enjoying the quaint residential steets but also visiting the main tourist sights like the Mont Real that overlooks the downtown area and the olympic park and botanic gardens. Also enjoyed the farmers market and have since been doing the same in Ottawa - farmers market and the beautiful government buildings that look like fairytale castles. I'm quite taken with the locks on the canal here which is adding to my desire to learn to sail a boat. Last night I went to a sound and light show at the parliament building which was very much a "look at me - I'm Canadian and we're the best" display but had some trippy effects like the windows of the building seeming to pop out in 3D and change colour then turn into wild animals and stuff like that.

Lake Country

I'm back in Canada and pretending that I can understand French. Have just arrived in Montreal and first impressions are good. Very European, very friendly, very happening. I'll be here for 3 days so plenty of time to explore and enjoy.

The past couple of days driving through upstate New York have been wet and windy. It's not the spectacular scenery I have been experiencing over the last couple of months in the west coast mountain ranges but none-the-less it is pleasant and it could be described as pretty. The lakes seem like oceans - especially with this wind, there have been waves big enough to surf. Ontario's coast is dotted with thousands of tiny islands which would be awesome to explore if only one had a boat. Thes rocky outcrops also mean lots of cute lighthouses. The landscape is very rural with farmhouses and barns beside fields of hay and corn. I passed quite a few pumpkin patches with the biggest orange pumpkins imaginable. Here comes Halloween. Every now and again an Amish buggy trots by and once in a while the fields change to forests which are all the possible shades of green with hints of the first yellows and reds of fall.

I had an iffy moment crossing the border as I said I was visiting as a tourist and had come from Detroit. The official didn't believe that anyone could be a tourist and choose to go to Detroit. Poor Detroit - surely it can't be that bad!

The weather has taken a sudden turn towards winter here. The temperature has dropped 20 degrees in the last 2 days and finally, after having perfect sunny days for so long, I have been inundated with rain. In a way it didn't matter because I went the Niagara Falls and the spray there is drenching anyway.

For a mind-boggling statistic, the falls flow at an average of 1833 cubic metres per second. There are 2 main falls, American and Horseshoe, with a little baby, Bridal Veil, in between. On one side is the USA and the other Canada. As all my readers are all highly educated persons, I'm sure you all know this already.

So onwards and upwards, now I am following the shore of Lake Ontario into the abyss of Canada.

Cuyahoga NP

This morning I visited the local farmers market for some fresh supplies at cheap prices then took a scenic drive through Cuyahoga National Park. This is a pretty little forest reserve in northern Ohio with some pretty autumn trees, friendly wildlife and babbling streams. Unfortunately for me, on mt little wander through the forest, it started to rain, then to pour so I got an extra shower for the day.

I continued north, back to the shores of Lake Erie and onward and upward through Pennsylvania and into New York.

The bad news of the day is that my rental car had a moment with a low concrete post and now needs some cosmetic surgery on the passenger side.

Ohio

After a brief stop in Chicago I landed last night in Detroit and immediately left heading south towards Ohio. My plan is to go around the southern side of Lake Erie, then up to Niagra and Canada before completing the loop on the northern side of Erie.

Once in Ohio I took a little detour to the Amish country through the cornfields. Lots and lots of cornfields! The photo below is not actually mine. The fall colours are not at this stage yet although some trees are just starting to turn golden. My camera has stopped focusing so I'm onto pics with the phone and I can't upload these till I get back to Australia. So y'all will have to wait.

San Francisco

My last 3 days were spent in and around San Francisco. As I have been here before I have already done most of the big tourist things like the Golden Gate, Alcatraz, etc. So this visit I headed north to Sonoma County for a day of wine tasting which was delicious although the wines are pretty expensive compared to Aussie ones. We also stopped of at Muir Woods - a Redwood forest. Redwoods are the coastal brothers of the Sequoias and while not as big in girth are taller and very fairylandish with lots of ferns and babbling streams in the understory. These trees are where the Ewok scenes from Star Wars are filmed although the Ewoks seemed to be in hiding during my visit.

Just to stick with the fairyland theme I went to a theatre production of Peter Pan which was very cleverly done. It was a round theatre with the stage in the centre and many of the lighting, sound and visual effects above and around the audience so it felt like really being in Neverland!

As on my previous jaunt in Frisco - I found it a charming city although this time there were many more homeless in the streets - I guess that's because it's warmer now so they're out and about. I had 3 days of great weather with only one evening of fog on the bay.

It is September now so fall is almost upon us and I have only a fortnight left of my trip. The bag is getting heavier and heavier which is telling me that's it's time to take it home! My fianl adventures are to be had in and around the Great Lakes so across the country I go again!