Out on the open road.

We slept surprisingly well considering we were slap bang in the middle of a car park.


The local police cruised round twice but left us alone - fortunately. I didn't want to explain we'd picked up an American RV from a French couple who had borrowed it from a couple of New Zealanders (who were actually the absent owners) and who were letting us use it while they weren't here. I think that would have left too many unticked boxes.

After a shower we sat down to breakfast and decided where we wanted to go today. Having watched a programme on the Amish just before we left the UK I fancied a look for myself. Diane was very happy to go along, which saved an argument. I wanted to get used to the size of our RV and the way she handled, so I picked a random campsite in Pennsylvania and decide to go for it. The ever amazing sat nav (how do they get all that information in such a small box?) told me it was about four hours driving which seemed perfect.

The Susquchanna River.

Now big though Annie is, (yes she has a name) she seems to shrink once she gets onto the wide US roads - and she's dwarfed by the thundering trucks that try to blow her off course as she poodles along. The first impression of America is scale and size, in land, produce and population.

Armchair travelling.

We stopped off at a diner for lunch, and rather worryingly seemed to have chosen the Special Golden Years event. It was full of oldies wrinklier than us. Obviously the Thursday lunch special was the main attraction, but we were curious to see that the clientele were nearly all rather large single older ladies. We wondered where their other halves were. There were two white haired men sat chatting to each other at the far end of the classic styled diner - and they seemed very cheerful. All the women with the exception of our lively grandma waitress (she had the badge to prove it), munched their meals morosely.

Living in a land of milk and honey isn't necessarily good for the health...

After a bowl of soup, a large tuna wrap, coffee and fries, I had no room the ice cream dessert (with added cream) as I was already stuffed. All for less than 12 dollars. For both of us! I don't reckon food will be a problem over the next three months.

The weather's a bit hot though. Today the record was 43 degrees as we trundled onwards to Lewistown. The campsite turned out to be on the edge of one of the many Pennsylvanian Canals, which at one time made up over 1200 miles of waterways here. It seemed rather apt somehow.

And once hooked up to 110v power - ah the air conditioning, oh the air conditioning, ooh the air conditioning... 

One of our neighbors.