Countdown - less than two weeks to go

It just wouldn’t seem right to live in the USA for two years and not do something BIG! America is a big country in almost every possible way. It has a big history, big economy, big military, big industries and big ideals. “Only in America” three words that encapsulate the good and bad about this country – winners and losers; the extreme and the mainstream; and its beauty and ugliness. Travel is a great educator and to get a true sense and understanding of the place you really should see and feel it. BIG TRIP USA 2010 – Kings on Tour grew from a desire to see this unique and diverse country - from the small and forgotten, the boring and absurd, through to the grand and renowned.

With an adventurous spirit, and a hopefully reliable car, we are driving around 7,500 miles through 24 States in 43 days. Using a combination of friend’s homes, camping grounds, military temporary lodging and comfortable hotels we should see some of the good, bad and ugly of the good ol’ USA.

Travelling counter-clockwise we will drive west through the Appalachian Mountains. We will cross the agricultural expanses of the central and mid-West plains and track west-north-west over the great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to some hard headed Presidents, their neighbouring bears and blow-holes. Keeping the Great Basin of Nevada on our right we will head south to a bright-light city that set Elvis’ soul on fire. We will take a look at a great big crack in the ground and see where Bugs Bunny “shoulda toined left” before travelling under a Lone Star and stopping where three astronauts famously reported a problem. A dash east skirting around a hopefully not too oily, and hurricane-free, Gulf of Mexico will be followed by eight nights with Mickey Mouse and his mates. We will then head north with a slight easterly diversion to an Estate in the Smoky Mountains before getting home.

This blog is designed for family and friends to follow our journey. Some will be excited, some will probably say - what the hell were you thinking? Well we are thinking - why not! When we told our American neighbours and friends they inevitably cast their memories back a few decades and said that is how they used to travel on holidays - though not quite so far. They usually seemed content and melancholy - happy. Our Australian friends and work-mates are supportive and encouraging, but even the scale makes then go 'wow'. So how far into this will we ask - what were we thinking? We don't know, but we'II let you know.

What we do know is that this journey will be about Patience, Endurance and Teamwork - PET is now the theme of the trip. When we need to dip into the bag of patience, would like a hand or just some encouragement to keep going - we're sure to say "come here pet!" Hopefully it will, at least, generate a laugh.