1 June 2009, Monday
Virgina Beach, VA
We decided that instead of being cooped up in the motel room, today, we would take the bus down to Virginia Beach, a touristy strip about 15 miles away from where we were, which is said to be the world's longest pleasure beach.

1.5 hours and 2 buss es later, we arrived at Virginia Beach and had a stroll along the beach to the fishing pier. It was a nice enough place, but did not strike either of us as something exceptional. We walked past many tacky souvenir shops and lots of eateries. For lunch, I had a stack of pancakes - not Dutch pancakes which I am used to, but these were rather nice, too. Mum had a crabby patty, something like what I've seen on Spongebob, and Dad had some fried clams. Mum also bought some fudge from a candy store, and a squishy, squashy green thing for me to play with.

While waiting for the bus back to the motel, we passed an aquarium, which I really enjoyed visiting. There were all sorts of fish in the aquarium, including some sharks, catfish and dogfaced puffer fish. I also saw a hammerhead shark, stingrays and a marlin.
Dad got an email from the Environment Protection Agency, saying that they needed him to sign a document, before they processed the clearance letter for the Customs. At least something was happening there. At the same time, we heard that the Department of Agriculture wanted do a closer examination of the truck and that they had moved the container to another facility. Tomorrow is another day...and we are still in the dark as to when we can collect Tuah. It'll be Dad's birthday, though so may be it'll also be our lucky day, too?

2 June 2009, Tuesday
Norfolk, VA
Happy Birthday, Dad! Not much celebration on Dad's and Mum's minds today, though. It's our 5th day here ae are still waiting for the clearance to remove Tuah from the port. A little good news we received today, is that the EPA letter for customs clearance has been prepared and is now just waiting for the 'person in charge' to put his/her paw print on it. The worry is the Department of Agriculture, as they are not even telling us what the delay is.
To have a little treat, we ordered a Chinese take away for lunch. The last time we had rice to eat was last week, when mum cooked at Hannah's in the UK, and we really enjoyed the meal.

In the afternoon, we received the EPA approval letter, which was good news, and soon after, heard from the shipping agent that Tuah was in a queue of 27 other vehicles, waiting to be inspected by the Department of Agriculture, and it would take approximately 3-4 days before his turn comes around. At least we now have a time frame.

3 June 2009, Wednesday
Norfolk, VA
At least we woke up to some good news. The shipping company agreed to reduce the demurrage fees for Tuah by a whopping US$175 per day, for the period we are waiting for the inspections to be done, till we can get him out of the port area.
Dad was sent a stack of documents from the agent, which he needed to sign and have a notory public stamp (some sort of verification/commissioner of oaths kinda thing). We managed to find a UPS Store not far off the bus route, where Dad could get that done, so he headed off to sort that out. While he was out, Mum and I walked across the road to the Radio Shack, as Mum was trying to find the best deal on a local pay as you go mobile phone. As we headed from the Radio Shack to the Food Lion, a supermarket, we came across someone who was able to provide the notary public stamp Dad had just headed out in search of!

At the Food Lion, Mum bought some fruit, snacks and some cupcakes, as a sort of belated birthday tea for Dad. I was even given a blue balloon by the store manager.

4 June 2009, Thursday
Norfolk, VA (yeah, we're still here)
Another day of waiting, hopefully, another day closer to being able to collect Tuah and drive off. There was a thunderstorm last night, but surprisingly, when we woke up this morning, there wasn't the slightest trace that one had taken place.
I woke up in time to catch my cousins, Kyle and Faith on Skype for a few minutes, which was nice, before we had to rush off for breakfast, before the cut off time of 9am.
After lunch, we walked over to the Radio Shack, where we replaced our Garmin, which was stolen in Cairo. Dad and Mum had decided not to replace it before this, as by getting one from here, it would come pre-loaded with the USA and Canada maps. Something new we learnt today, though - you can get a discount at the Radio Shack...if you ask for it!

5 June 2009, Friday
Norfolk, VA
It's National Doughnut Day today, in the USA. I suppose it's a day dedicated to the doughnut. As a treat, Mum allowed me TWO Krispy Kreme Sugar Glazed donuts today. Them being on discount may have had something to do with it.

Anyway, we heard first thing in the morning from the shipping agent that Tuah was due to be examined this afternoon and that he had forwarded all the customs papers in for clearance, too.
A few minutes later, though, the news came that after the inspection, the truck, in the container will be transported back to the port for customs clearance and then transported to another holding facility, from where we can clear him, so any chance of that all happening before the weekend was slim.
As it has been every time we extended our stay at the Days Inn, we had to change our room (this will be our 3rd room in 8 nights). At least it's a way of getting fresh sheets and hoovered carpets every 3-4 days!
It rained all afternoon, keeping us in the room, and in the evening, there was even a tornado warning for our local area. Didn't notice anything other than strong winds and heavy rain, though, which I suppose was good. The local Chinese Take Away delivered our dinner, as we were unable to leave the room.

6 June 2009, Saturday
Norfolk, VA
Last night's storm blew over by this morning, but it still looked rather dull and grey. After breakfast we went for a short walk towards the Marina, Dad suddenly realised that the Grill and Raw Bar nearby has 50% discount on per dozen fresh oysters between 4-7pm daily.
Mum decided that she's had enough fast food, especially after a month of rich and plentiful nosh in Malaysia, before we arrived here, so she headed out to the Food Lion and got herself some salad and fruit for lunch. She also came back with a cool holder for my favourite Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Biscuits. It looked just like one of those little Goldfish Biscuits! Dad and I warmed up our rice and dishes from the Chinese take away last night, in the room's microwave.

The rest of the day was spent in the room, with Dad and I fighting over control of the TV.

7 June 2009, Sunday
Norfolk, VA
It's a nice sunny day today, which is nice, after the last few days being so glum and gloomy and wet. After breakfast, Dad was hogging the TV, wanting to watch tennis and some people running around in circles on a stadium track, so Mum took me for a walk to the Family Dollar Store, which is a little like the Pound Strecther in the UK, and bought a small and cheap toy for me.

We  went to the Food Lion after that, and bought some crackerbread, butter, cheese, microwavable soup and pasta for lunch. We also saw some funny looking red bananas. I always thought they only came in yellow. I was given another balloon at the check out and we stopped at the kerbside on the way back to the Motel to blow some dandelions.
Dad has been reading some magazines on properties for sale, here in Norfolk. I hope he doesn't think that we're going to be here for so long, that we'll have to buy a home to live in!

8 June 2009, Monday
Norfolk, VA
Dad and Mum were up early, hoping for some good news. However, last Friday's tornado in the area meant that Tuah's examination did not happen, and he was scheduled to be examined today, instead.
The Customs Broker didn't know too much either, but said he handed over Tuah's keys to the Customs today, and if nothing is amiss, he hopes Tuah may be released by tomorrow. We hope so too...seriously.

In the afternoon, we took a walk around the local area, ending up near the Food Lion store. Mum got me this small monster projector thing, from one of those machines you put two coins into and turned the dial. It looks like a tiny torch, but you could see the picture of a small moster in the middle of the light. It was cool. 

9 June 2009, Tuesday
Norfolk, VA
We were all up early today. Must have been the excitement and anticipation of getting Tuah back. We went for breakfast, and for some reason or other Dad and Mum didn't seem to be too suprised to see that there was no bread and juice at breakfast, and hardly any milk left. Did I mention before that this particular Days Inn was the Motel from Hell?
Anyway, we were told at around 10.30am, that Tuah was at the port's off loading yard and that we could go and pick him up. Mum looked up the bus route and we headed out to Portsmouth, from where we took a cab to the yard.

The staff at the yard were great. Cathy, took me around to see some of the trains and machines they had and then to the warehouse, where we saw Tuah. His battery was being charged, and he was being shown some TLC by Jack Jones. It was great to see Tuah again. Tuah must be glad to be out of that dark container, and it's nice to know that the first person who greeted him was JJ! I did a quick stock take of all my stuff and laid all my little Gormitis out to make sure they were all well.

Just as we left the yard, the heavens opened and it bagan to storm, with lots of flashes of lightning. Not much hope for repacking today. We'll see how much we can get done in the morning, and decide then if we need to stay another night to sort things out or if we can hit the road then.

10 June 2009, Wednesday
Norfolk, VA
Mum was up early, trying to get some work done in Tuah. The sun was out today, which was good, but besides sorting out our stuff in the truck, we also needed to go downtown to collect the Carnet and import documents for Tuah, and then to the AAA, for insurance. No, we would not be leaving the Days Inn today. Tomorrow, definitely, but not today.
By mid morning, we headed out to collect the documents for the truck. When we got to the offices, Mum got down and was greeted by a lady, Suzie, who worked for a designer, April Spring. Now, Suzie had looked out her window and seen Tuah, with his Malaysian flag, and came out to see us, as April, had lived in Malaysia before, and was rather passionate about it.

After Mum got all the documents we needed, she had gone to Foxer's offices, where April and Suzie were, and soon after, the three of them came down to meet Dad, Tuah and I. they were happy, warm and such lovely people. Dad and Mum were given some Foxers, which were rather cool. They didn't do sizes for my little bottom, though. In return, Mum gave them some of our Miss Khoo's Asian Deli spices and some Satay Marinade and Peanut Sauce, which we hope will bring back fond memories of times in Malaysia!
We then headed out to the AAA office (Automobile Association) to have our insurance issued, and Mum then went in to check if their UK AA membership or Malaysian AA membership was affiliated. The UK ones were, and with that, we got a loadful of guide books, maps and information on the areas we were driving through.
We met some wonderfully friendly people today, and we saw the nicer parts of Norfolk. It has so much more to offer than we had seen or experienced in the last week and a half! The rest of the day was spent with Dad and Mum trying to sort out the last of the packing. Yes, we are excited - tomorrow is the day, we finally hit the road!

11 June 2009, Thursday
Norfolk, Virginia to Delmar, Maryland
Today is the day…the day we finally start driving again. It’s going to be a little sad to not have a TV to watch, as I did in Kuala Lumpur and the two weeks we were staying at the motel, but we are all looking forward to camping out again.
We shoved all the last loose bits and pieces into a duffer bag, and threw it into Tuah, knowing that we would sort out the arrangement in the back seat next to me over the next few weeks. We also had a stack of guide books, from the AAA, which was taking up quite a bit of space.

We headed for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, which spanned 17 miles across the bay. It was very clever – part bridge and part tunnel, so ships could sail through over the tunnel bit. About 26 miles north of the Bridge Tunnel, was the Great Machipongo Clam Shack, where Dad and Mum had decided we were going to have our lunch.
After lunch we drove on towards Cambridge, which like Norfolk and Portsmouth, I thought were in the UK.  There weren’t any campsites in Cambridge, though, so we ended up driving 30 miles in the opposite direction to Delmar, where the Garmin had a campsite listed.
We found the Woodlawn Camp Ground, a quiet little site set in the woods. We had toasted cheese sandwiches for dinner, cooked on our new Coleman Dual Fuel Stove. It’s just the same as our old one, which we cooked on almost every day for a year. It gave up its spirit somewhere in the South African Karoo.
Tonight, we sleep in our roof tent again.

12 June 2009, Friday
Washington DC
It rained all night, and stopped just as we were waking up. After breakfast, we left the campsite and headed towards Washington DC. We passed many farm and small stalls selling the local produce. As we usually do try to support the local economy, we stopped to buy some fresh fruit and vegetables.

Before reaching the city, we crossed a bridge over Chesepeake Bay, called the Bay Bridge. Not as impressive as yesterday's Bridge Tunnel, but quite a sight. We headed straight for the White House. Mum says that's where that Obama man lives.He was very popular in Kenya, where even his late grandmother's house became a tourist destination!
After going round and round in circles, trying to navigate the one way/no right turn system on the road, with the help of our Garmin, we found the perfect parking spot, in front of the Monument, across the park from the White House.
Mum and I got out of Tuah, and as we were waiting for Dad to be ready, a police car sweeped up on the road just by Tuah, with sirens blaring and lights flashing. Several policemen were in the area very quickly, asking everyone to leave the park and all the cars to vacate the area. Mum asked one of them if we needed to move the car, and the reply was that if we didn't we may not be able to leave for several hours! Apparently, someone had left a 'suspicious looking' truck, where it had no business being, and as a precaution, the area was going to be evacuated. So we left, knowing that the suspicious truck was not Tuah!

There were no campsites anywhere around the area, so we ended up at the Days Inn. A bit more expensive, but  much more friendlier than the one in Norfolk! We walked across the road for dinner at KFC and I had a wonderfully sweet corn on the cob. For being so good today, I was also treated to some ice cream for desert!

13 June 2009, Saturday
Washington DC and Ridley Park, PA
We had a rather early start to the day, as we wanted to get into Constitution Avenue before the tourist crowd got in. When we arrived, there was a convoy of vintage US Army Vehicles about to leave the Ellipse in a convoy. It was quite an amazing sight.

We found a nice spot to park Tuah, and headed off towards the back of the White House. We walked around the Treasury Building to the Lafayette Park. This was where some movie called Forest Gump was filmed, I am told. This park faced the front of the White House. There was quite a crowd around, all maybe hoping to catch a glimpse of that Obama man. I was happy enough to have a Spongebob shaped popsicle!

Around the corner, we walked past the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and The American Red Cross Building and over the road to the World War II Memorial and the Washington Memorial. It was all very impressive, but I was in for a surprise, next. We headed to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. I’ve seen bits and pieces of Night at the Museum on TV, and it was a thrill to meet Rexy, the dinosaur fossil! After the Museum, we drove to Capitol Hill, before heading out of the city towards Philadelphia, where Mum’s cousins, Aunty Sharon and Aunty Joanne lived. Aunty Sharon was away for a few days with my cousin Ciara and her Dad, Uncle David, and we were going to stay in their flat, which was just opposite where Aunty Joanne and her husband, also Uncle David, lived with their lovely dogs.
Aunty Joanne was at work when we arrived, so we met up with Uncle David. We had dinner before moving over to Aunty Sharon’s flat to settle in for the night.

14 June 2009, Sunday
Ridley Park, PA and Philadelphia
I had breakfast before we went next door to Uncle David and Aunty Joanne's. Dad and Mum just had a coffee, as we were going for an early brunch at a nearby diner. Even after breakfast, I managed to help Mum finish off her cheese omelet.

After chatting for a while, with Uncle David and Aunty Joanne, and their lovely dogs, Dante and Gracie, we headed back to Aunty Sharon's flat, for a while, before we made tracks for Chinatown, in Philadelphia, where Mum had arranged to meet an old classmate of hers, who she had not seen for 23 years, but got in touch with only last night on the Facebook thing.
We met Aunty Li Yin and two of her 3 kids, Kate and Ben in Chinatown and had some snacks in the Malaysian Resturant. From there, Aunty Li Yin drove us round to see the sights in town and we ended up at the Art Museum on top of a hill, overlooking the city. People kept running up the stairs to the Art Museum and then putting their arms up, when they got to the top, as it seems that some boxer guy on TV, called Rocky, had done that in some movie. There were even imprints of his feet, on the spot he stood, to mark it!

The day ended with an outing to the Franklin Square, where there was a really cool playpark. By this time I was quite tired out, and had to have a rest every now and then. It certainly had been a nice day out.

15 June 2009, Monday
Ridley Park, PA and Philadelphia
Mum had news last night that an old friend of the family, Uncle Norman DeSouza, had passed away yeterday, in her hometown of Taiping. I must have been rather tired last night, as I woke up quite late this morning. We had breakfast, then took Tuah out to the city to see the Liberty Bell. We found a parking space not too far away, and even better, it had some time left in it!

We walked over past the Statue of the Signer, and the Independance Hall, over to where the Liberty Bell was housed. There were some posters and things to explain about the history of this bell, though I can't see what the big deal was....it was broken, anyway!
After being told to stand in front of the bell for a photograph, we walked back to Tuah, stopping by at the little park, where the Statue of the Signer was, to speak to Art, one of Philly's Story Tellers. Art even let me ring his storytime bell.
We drove about for a while, before heading back to Aunty Sharon's flat, where we are staying, stopping by at the Wal-Mart and Shop Rite on the way for some groceries. Tonight, Mum is cooking some nasi lemak for Aunty Joanne and Uncle David.

It was a nice relaxed evening, and I really enjoyed their company. I didn't want them to leave, eventhough they are just a few doors away. Mum made me go to sleep, though, as soon as they left. It was way past my bedtime anyway, so not much argument from me.

19 June 2009, Friday
New York to Orange via West Point, The Catskills and The Mohawk Trail
We started late again today. Dad and I did not wake up till about 9.30am. It was dry but there were some gloomy clouds hanging around. We set off through Bear Mountains, towards Albany, along the Hudson River, stopping off at West Point Military Museum, on the historical Hudson River.

Before taking off again, we had some sandwiches for lunch In the museum car park, attracting some curious onlookers, wanting to know more about Tuah and our travels. Driving through the Catskill Mountains, we passed through many interesting little towns, with names of other towns I had been to in the UK and around in world, including Hyde Park, Troy, Brunswick, and even Cairo. We didn’t get to go to Bethlehem for Christmas, but we did drive through its namesake here!
After passing Albany, we hit what was known as the Mohawk Trail. There were a few Red Indian rest stops and gift shops, but it was rather late and most of them were closed for the day. We drove until rather late today, as we are hoping to make it into Boston for brunch in the morning, to meet my cousin (Dad’s nephew), Abang Rhiza, who has been at Harvard University for the last couple of weeks on a course. He flies back to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow afternoon.

20 June 2009, Saturday
Harvard University, Boston and Shawme-Crowell State Park, Cape Cod
Mum woke me up super early today. We started off for Harvard’s Law Faculty, in Boston, where we were going to meet Abang Rhiza for brunch before he left for his flight back to Kuala Lumpur. He is the first of our Malaysian residing relatives and friends to meet Tuah.
We arrived at the Inn he has been staying at and watched him finish off his packing before walking around the University grounds with him. Dad popped into a barber for a haircut and Abang Rhiza took Mum and I to Harvard Square, where I took a photo touching the left shoe of the statue of John Harvard. It seems that by doing so, I will one day return to Harvard…who knows?

We had brunch at a bistro before Abang Rhiza had to make his way to the airport, and we drove into Downtown Boston. I fell asleep in my car seat, which meant Dad and Mum could not get down to see the sights. We apparently passed the site of the Boston Tea Party, The Massacre Site, The City Hall and the Boston Common.
Then we headed towards Cape Cod, stopping on the way at a town called Quincy, where Mum took me into the Big K to look for the Gormiti toy I was promised for being good the last couple of days. It was a big store, but there were no Gormitis. I was quite happy to settle for a Lego Bionicle, though. Next stop was Borders Books, next door to pick up a campground guide. Mum picked one out  and we headed out to the campsite at the Shawme-Crowell State Park near Cape Cod. Tonight, we camp in the bush again, with loads of mosquitoes!

24 June 2009, Wednesday
Kacamagus Pass, White Mountain National Forest and Clark’s Trading Post, Lincoln, NH
We met two lovely couples today, Lew and Avis, and Lois and Merle, who were curious about our travels. We chatted for a while, before it started to rain again. We were soon ready to set off for the day, heading back to Mount Washington to try our luck, but when we got there, the Ranger informed us that the visibility was rather poor, so we decided against driving up and headed for the loop around the White Mountain National Park.

We passed many beautiful spots and viewpoints, and some of New Hampshire’s famous Covered Bridges. There were many ski slopes, in the area and many signs warning drivers of moose crossings. We stopped at the town of Lincoln, where there was a family run theme park, called Clark’s Trading Post. We had a steam engine ride on board the White Mountain Central Railway. We kept being chased by some funny guy called the Wolfman. The Clark family train bears, and there was a special show on in the afternoon, where some of their bears put on a performance. Once of them even rode a Segway and a push scooter! There was also a Chinese acrobatic show. There were museums with old cars and fire trucks and even displays of local freak animals, including a two headed calf!
We left Clark’s when they closed at 5pm, and headed back towards Conway, on the Kacamagus Pass, stopping at the village of Lincoln for some groceries, before finding a spot to camp in the White Mountains National Park. It was raining when we arrived, so Mum got some dinner going and we spent the rest of the evening in the car before going up to the tent for the night. The area is bear country, so we had to make sure not to leave anything outside the car.

25 June 2009, Thursday
Mount Washington, NH and Montpelier, VT
Dad and I woke up a little late again, which got Mum grumbling about us having a late start to the day. We woke up to sunshine today, for the first time in a long time, but the ground was still very wet. Mum made some toast in the frying pan for breakfast and we set out to try to drive up Mt Washington for the third time in 3 days. The Rangers recognized us from the past two days and were happy to see us again. We paid the toll to drive up and were given a CD explaining the history of the road and the flora and fauna around. They also gave us a pack with a certificate for Tuah and a special sticker saying that he had climbed up the mountain and a special badge for me.

The views going up the mountain was spectacular, then we went into a cloud and saw hardly anything at all…not even much of the narrow road up. When we got to the top, there was a house that was chained down to the ground. This was where the highest wind ever observed by man was recorded at 231mph!
Up in the observatory, I sent Mama a postcard from the special post office and got myself a squishy penny souvenir. In many places of interest in the USA, they have these squashed penny machines, where you put in 2 quarters and a penny and the penny gets squashed into an oval shape with a commemorative pattern of the place on it. Mum had got me a special album to put my squashed pennies into.
After spending a couple of hours at the summit, we drove down the mountain and then headed towards the Vermont border to Montpelier, where we found a McDonald’s for dinner and a cheap motel for the night...we need a break from the mosquitoes and a good shower!

26 June 2009, Friday
Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory, Waterbury, VT and Cranberry Lake, NY via Champlain Islands, VT
Mum was again up well before Dad and me again. She prepared some breakfast for us and packed up the truck. The sun was shining brightly and we were heading off to the Ben and Jerry’s Ice Ceam Factory in Waterbury, nearby, but before that, Dad and Mum wanted to go on the internet, so I had to wait for them to finish off what they wanted to do in the motel reception area.

At the Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory, we booked in for the next tour, which included a short video on how Ben and Jerry started their backyard business and walked through the production area and eventually were given a sample of the flavour of the day. It was very tasty, but I still like plain old vanilla ice cream best! After the tour, Mum got me a cup of vanilla ice cream and she and Dad shared a banana split. There were some activities in the courtyard, one of them being Spin Art, which was for free. I was quite proud of my piece of art!
Leaving Ben and Jerry’s we headed towards the Champlain Islands, which were connected to one another by bridges. The scenery was beautiful. As we got back to mainland at Rouses Point, which was back in the state of New York, or the Empire State, as some people call it, the skies darkened and it began to first pour down rain, then hailstones! We pulled over for a few minutes till it subsided then carried on towards Cranberry Lake, where we stopped for the night at a NY State Campsite on the lakeside.
Soon after we set up our tent, we were visited by a troop of boy scouts, who were interested in Tuah’s set up and in what we were doing.

27 June 2009, Saturday
Four Mile Creek State Park, Lake Ontario, NY
Dad and Mum were up early, but it was raining heavily, and there was nothing we could do...well, they did have to wait for me to wake up, too, which I eventually did at 9.30am. It is rather nice to curl up and sleep in on a cold, wet morning.

After some eggy bread, or French Toast as some people call it, we left Cranberry Lake heading towards Niagara Falls. The sun played hide and seek with us most of the day, and we drove a good distance to arrive near Niagara Falls, which we will visit tomorrow. We stopped on the way for lunch and Mum made up some soup and crackers, and we found a really nice campsite on Lake Ontario, 15 miles north of the Niagara Falls. As we were not camping in the forest tonight, we were spared from the mosquitoes, and tonight, we were blessed with nice weather, too. The best part of being in a proper campsite is that there are other people in the neighbouring pitches for me to talk to.

28 June 2009, Sunday
Niagara Falls and Buffalo, NY
Mum was up at the crack of dawn to put the load of washing she had done last night into the dryer. Dad and I woke up later, but earlier than we usually do, which was a good thing. Just after the tent was put down and all our stuff packed up, it began to rain. Again. 
We headed off to Niagara Falls. I was quite excited, as Mum said it was something like the Victoria Falls. We got there, in the rather heavy rain and decided to take the Maid of the Mist Boat Ride, which will take us down to the foot of the falls. We had our ponchos on, because of the rain, but would have needed it anyway, to protect us from the spray of the waterfalls. Didn't matter then that it was raining today.
My first sight of the Niagara Falls was what was known as the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls. It was not as impressive as the Victoria Falls and Mum knew I was a bit disappointed, when I asked her if that was it? The main bit of the falls, the Horse Shoe Falls was a bit wider than the Victoria Falls, but not as high. It was nice to see it up close in the boat, though.

After that, we went to the Visitor Centre, where I got a couple more Squashed Pennies for my collection. We then drove into Buffalo, not the animal, but the name of the town. Mum had wanted to go in search of the Original Anchor Bar, where Buffalo Wings were first invented. Dad and Mum had some 'suicidal' Buffalo wings and I had some chicken tenders and chips. Before we left I was given a huge bill...a special $100 bill to remember my visit and Tuah got a bumper sticker, too.
We found a motel just outside Buffalo after lunch, stopping early today, as we had been driving quite a bit the last couple of days, and Dad and Mum wanted to catch up with some work on the Internet.
I was quite happy to have a tv to watch.

29 June 2009, Monday
Washington, PA via Eire NY
It was bright and sunny when we woke up. After breakfast of some toast and juice, we waitied for Dad to finish off some banking on the Internet, before we drove off along Lake Eire. It's a really large lake and eventually, we stopped for lunch at a town called Barcelona. I've been to Barcelona before. Dad and I took our photos in front of the football stadium, but this apparently is a different Barcelona.
We ate our lunch in by the lake, enjoying the view, before we drove some more.

By late afternoon, we decided to stop at a town called Washington, PA, where we found a nice campsite. Mum prepared dinner and we ate up in time, before it started to rain. Over the next few days, we will be heading south, towards Florida.

30 June 2009, Tuesday
Through the Blue Ridge Mountains, West Virginia to Smith Mountain Lake State Park, VA
We woke up early today. Maybe it had to do with the fact that we had gone to bed early last night, because of the rain. We headed out towards the Blue Ridge Mountains, stopping at a rest area with a picnic area for brunch.
We drove on, till we came to a large Wal Mart store. Mum says that they own the Asda stores in the UK, like the one near where we lived on the Isle of Dogs. Mum went in and bought some steak and vegetables, knowing that Dad felt like having some good old South African styled braai.
We headed for a campsite showing on our GPS, and had visions of an early dinner and rest. However, when we arrived at the spot by 6.30pm, there was no campsite there. We tried another listing, some 20 miles away, and found that it was more of a long term trailer park that did not accept overnight campers. We had seen a signboard for another campsite, at a marina on the lake some miles back, but when we got there, found that they also only had trailer and RV spots for monthly rental.
We then had to decide to either go to an Inn, about 20 miles in the one direction, the Catholic Church, some 10 miles in the opposite direction, or a State Park, some 5 miles down the road. We opted to try the State Park, and arrived there around 8.40pm, to find that they had a campground.
We settled in and Mum quickly prepared some dinner for me first, then some steak, salad, mashed potatoes and mushrooms for herself and Dad. What a long day….at least it’s not raining!