Some Henry Ford (Photos)

The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn has more than just cars.





The first Mustang off the assembly line.















For my money the ugliest car in the building.
















The back end is ugly too. I was impressed.














The oddest vehicle.
















A very cool car.















One of the largest steam engines built in the US. It is big.
















The bus in which Rosa Parks made her stand. As it were.
















The chair in which Abraham Lincoln was sitting when he was shot.























A beautiful ornate merry-go-round built in 1913.

Holyoke MA, Syracuse NY. (Photos)

Mt Holyoke College has many classic buildings of this type.

















Mt Holyoke College














A couple of intriguing antique displays at Mt Holyoke College.

The view from Mt Holyoke itself. Historically a well known and desirable spot for the well-to-do to come to paint and write poetry.

Couldn't resist documenting a survey control mark! There were three within a few metres of each other, none beaconed.
















A quiet store just north of Holyoke township that I felt we should stop and go inside to look for ice cream sandwiches.














We found that the proprietor was an ex Indian cricketer who has shaken hands with the Queen! He was quite excited to talk to us Kiwis, being in the USA for some years now.

The following is an amazing art deco building in Syracuse, still in use by an electricity company.

Taking advantage of permanent advertising it is common to see the contractors stamp in footpaths. (All the ones we saw were concrete) The above was the most detailed we saw, most were much smaller with just a name and perhaps a date.

I took this photo upside down so as not to cast a shadow, then rotated it on the computer. As a result there is an optical illusion which can make the lettering look as though it is raised, when in fact it is recessed.

Calgary, Banff, San Francisco

My visit at the Haskayne School of Business went really well. The people were friendly and welcoming, and seemed to like my presentation. It was a good feeling to have all the official business over on Wednesday afternoon.
Mark and I headed up to Banff to admire the Canadian Rockies up close. We took the 1A, which is not a freeway so that we could stop from time to time to take photos. We admired Lake Minnewanka, while keeping an eye out for bears. The booklet they gave us when we paid to enter the park had instructions on what to do in case of bear attack. The rule is pretty much, don't run!
Banff itself is rather like Queenstown, minus the lake, with lots of tourist shops. The highlights for me were the Banff Springs Hotel, where we had a guided tour by a man who started work there in the early 60's and liked to talk about the celebrities he had met. The building is wonderful, and the views, superb. It was a brilliant day for it as well. We also drove around the golf course, and looked for souvenirs - a jacket for William. Then back to have a dessert near the Motel, at Red River, and then packing.
Our flight left Calgary at 6.45am, so we got up at 3am. We didn't feel like breakfast at that point. My liquids bag got checked for explosives, and Mark and I had to wait in a little room while they checked something to do with his passport. They have this great system that you clear US customs and immigration before getting on the plane, which makes life easier when you arrive in San Francisco. The only problem was there was no real food when we got through so we ended eating Tim Horton's donuts for breakfast. I have no objection to TH donuts per se, but not as a breakfast food.
But let us leap forward to San Francisco. We splashed out for our last accommodation and went to the Marriott near the airport. It was lovely, with a superb bed and sheets, and we were very grateful that they allowed us to check in at 9am. After a second breakfast we set off into town via the hotel shuttle to the airport and then the BART to town. We explored the city and had fun riding on the cable car and in the streetcar. We found the original Swensens ice cream shop and discovered their chocolate malts. Mmmhmm. We mooched around Pier 39 and saw the seal colony. It was a pretty hot day, and lots of fun. Then on Saturday we got a reasonably early start, got into town the same way and hired bicycles on which we biked over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito, then caught the 3.00pm ferry back. It was clear on either side of the harbour, but thick fog in the middle. They were excellent bikes, and we really enjoyed the experience. We also found the motel where Mark and his family stayed in December 1966. We're pretty sure it hasn't changed much.
We caught public transport and walked to the Coit tower, the building, back to Swensens and Ghiradelli Square. As we were walking down Hyde St we came across a young woman from Cincinatti who had fallen when running up the hill and wasn't able to get up. Mark called 911 and they arrived very quickly.
And that was about it really. We had a quiet day on Sunday and flew home to New Zealand. The flight seemed much shorter than the one over.It is great to be home, if a little mind-blowing. William had the house looking nice, and Jonathan had stayed home to meet us.
The narrative of our journey is pretty much over, but Mark will continue to add photos, and I may do a bit of commentary - so keep looking!

New York, New York (Photos)

I haven't bothered including a lot of photos of views that everyone has already seen many times.
Rather, I will including shots that were interesting or noteworthy to us at the time. This method may or may not translate well to others looking at this, we shall see...



Barrelling down the New Jersey Turnpike. Sixteen lanes all doing about 110km/h. Quite the adrenalin rush! It was in places like this that the GPS unit was worth every cent.




The only sensible way to get to Manhattan is to drive to the Staten Island Ferry terminal on Staten Island, pay $4 to park the car for the day, pay nothing for the ferry, and be downtown in 40 minutes, brilliant.

The next day we took the car to the west side of Central Park, madness.

Liberty from the ferry

The first close up view of the city from the ferry.













I didn't realise that there would be many pleasant parks (this one is actually a church graveyard) on a personal scale amongst the huge buildings.

On the subway to Brooklyn

A pleasant Brooklyn street.

Downtown Manhattan from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.
(If you click it, you might be able to see it better.)

On Brooklyn Heights Promenade


















On our walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. (Nicola is concerned the kiwi might fly away.)




















Angel of the Waters in Central Park - name the movies it appears in!













Central Park. I had never noticed that there are boulders and rock outcrops all through the park. A very nice place.













Me having a sensory meltdown in Central Park.


















A row of front steps on a street on the west side of Central Park. (This is my favourite photo - Nicola)

Nicola outside Cafe Lalo. This is the cafe used in the movie 'You've Got Mail' with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. We had lunch there.

From the Empire State Building looking south to the Grid Iron building.























Looking North East from the Empire State Building














A very small portion of the Six Flags Adventure Park, New Jersey. This shows part of the allegedly worlds largest wooden trestle roller-coaster. It is definitely insanely fast.

In the background is another roller-coaster that shoots up vertically into the upper atmosphere, curves around the top then roars down. There were 13 coaster rides at this park! We went on five.

Blast from Mark's past

Mark was born in Ottawa and left when he was 7 years old. We travelled from London to Ottawa on Wednesday, wondering if anything would stir in his memory. We stopped at an Ikea and had lunch there, and also at Fort Henry on the way. It was pretty interesting, and we were just going to walk slowly around it when the skies opened and we were drenched in very large drops of rain. We ran for the car, regretting our loss of fitness. (It's much harder to keep up a running routine when you are on the road.) We were also intrigued by swarms of little flies or midges. You had to keep your mouth shut while running if you didn't want to either inhale or eat them.

Our motel was near the airport and bigger and brighter than most, but with no microwave, even in the breakfast area. They all have their plusses and minuses. The breakfast was useless.

On Thursday we explored places from Mark's past - Russell, the town he lived in as a child, the chapel he went to, and his father helped to build, "Petty St", named after his father. There were no great revelations or memories swarming back. I think it was good to "demystify" it though - Russell is a nice little town, where life has carried on. Then on Friday we went to Parliament Hill, and Gatineau Park in Quebec. I managed to buy food in French. It was difficult to understand some of the road signs though.

Then came the moment we had not been looking forward to, when we had to fit all our stuff into four suitcases. We made it though, leaving behind food and a discarded suitcase as we had gained one on the way. Our flight to Calgary was pleasantly uneventful - there was a pleasing amount of legroom on the air Canada plane, and I got to watch "27 dresses". When we had settled in we went for a ride on the light rail to the end of the line in both directions and ate at Chinook Mall.

On Sunday we travelled up to Olds for church. They made us feel very welcome, and Mark was able to find out what happened to people he remembered. We had a very enjoyable visit with Richard, whom Mark had spent time with 28 years ago, and (to his relief) he remembered Mark. He had hurt his foot and couldn't make it to church and his wife had invited us over. He had been worried that he wouldn't remember Mark. We also visited other towns on the way back.

Then south on Monday to Stirling, Raymond, Cardston. We were intrigued by the sound of Head-smashed-in Buffalo Jump, but didn't have time for a detour. We both really enjoyed the feeling of space as you drive through Alberta. It isn't quite flat, but flat enough that you can see for miles and miles in all directions, and there are almost no trees. As a girl raised on the plains, it really appealed to me. It was all rather nostalgic for Mark as well.

Washington D.C. (Photos)

Annapolis, Maryland. A street scene in the old town which has been there since the 1600's. The old town is like Akaroa on a grander scale, pleasant old streets and plenty of shops selling crafts to souvenirs to ice creams.










The LDS Temple, Washington DC. Very large even for a Temple. Set in a perfect location.















There are many grand buildings in central DC. Here are four. I can't remember what this one is.










The Federal Reserve
















Apartments I think.












The US Capitol














Nicola in front of the Capitol Building taking in the view down The Mall.



















The view down The Mall













The Washington monument was something that I have seen many times on movies and TV. Yet it had a somewhat profound effect on me seeing it in the flesh. Its simplicity in combination with its size is quite something to behold.


























































Enjoying the sun's warmth and the monument's aura!





















The Washington Monument up close as you can get.











The Vietnam war memorial. Very moving when walking slowly past the names that go on and on and on. So much trauma for so many families.

A small part of the Arlington National Cemetary. Over 300,000 buried here since the Civil War.