Day 41 - Falls Church, Virginia - Home

Day 41 (5 August). We had orginally planned to travel from Columbia to Asheville North Carolina to visit the Smoky Mountains and the Biltmore Estate. Must admit that we were feeling a tad tired and just wanted to head home to Falls Church Virginia - so that is exactly what we did.

The eight hour drive was uneventful until we reached the greater DC area and were quickly reminded of what we had forgotten - drivers in the Greater DC area are the worst. When we left nearly six weeks ago we were stopped on the road for a long period of time, however this time for no apparent reason and the rest of the drive was like being an accordion. To cap it off there was an enormous thunderstorm as we were drove the very busy (and forever road-worked) circular Washington Beltway (the 495). The darks clouds poured rain and cars drove slowly with their hazard lights flashing. What a welcome!

We got home safely about 4.00pm and unloaded the trusty steed. The suspension sighed with relief as the weight of our long camping travels returned to the garage floor. The interior picked up when the vacuum found all those things the kids thought they'd lost along the way like, "has anyone seen my stylus for my Nintendo" - I just did - next to the trash I asked you to clear out in Albuquerque! The Febreeze spray really lifted the spirits of the car.

What a journey - it has been brilliant. It was everything we expected and more. I don't actually think that we will really appreciate it for another few months or even a year.

In the end - we traveled 7,729 miles (12,439 kms) through 26 states in 41 days. We saw a great many things and people.

We trust that you have enjoyed the blog and thanks for following along.

That's all folks!

Day 40 - Columbia, South Carolina

Day 40 (4 August). We left the fun and excitement of the Orlando theme parks behind and headed north for the eight hour drive to Columbia, South Carolina. After a bit of mucking around, we finally got onto Fort Jackson and stopped the evening with a Staff College mate, John Calahan, who is a Battalion Commander on the post. He cooked up a lovely dinner, we drank some nice red wine and chatted away. The kids really enjoyed walking and playing with his dog, Buster, and its not hard to guess what family addition we are getting when we return to Australia.

Day 38 & 39 - Orlando, Florida (Wizarding World of Harry Potter)

Day 38 & 39 (2-3 August). We drove about 20 minutes away from Walt Disney World to Universal Studios with the intention of spending one day at each of the two parks - Islands of Adventure and then Universal Studios. We passed through the entry gates at the advertised opening times and made our way to the The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. To be at the front of the line you have to arrive a few hours earlier than we did - and it would seem quite a few did. I was gobsmacked when we got to the entry to Hogsmeade (the village in Harry Potter) and were shown that the entry line-up went another way and wound its way about four hundred metres down through the paths to Jurassic Park. It was amazing walking back that far just to get into the park. Universal staff were on hand to shepherd people along, but also to give out standby tickets you passed to the gate-keepers when you finally reached the front - this was a pretty good means to deter queue jumpers who were subsequently found out and sent to the back of the line.

We tossed up whether to come back later, but decided to hang in and see what happened. Just short of hour later we were inside the very impressive Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It was just like being on the set of the movie - the scale, sense of location, attention to detail, character involvement and the shops were perfect. We went straight to Olivander's Wand Store and stood in line for another 30-40 minutes for the kids to get their wands. Now, you can get wands from other places in the park, but we (like many others) wanted one from THE store. To accommodate the enormous numbers of people, rather than every individual being 'sized' for a wand (like in the first movie), they select just one person to represent the group (from the approximate 30 that fit inside the store). Just like the movie the person is measured up and tests different wands with shaky results inside the store until the wand selects them. Well, Matthew was 'the chosen one' for our group. It was terrific to see him go through the process just like Harry Potter - a lot of fun. That was a real treat.

We had Butterbeer, bought large chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's every flavour beans (yes, the vomit tasting one is awful) and rode the park's three rides - Dragon Challenge (a few times); Flight of the Hippogriff; and, The Forbidden Journey (twice). The main ride is The Forbidden Journey and the wait time for the two rides was 60 minutes and 90 minutes - and it was well worth that wait! It is simply outstanding. You line up outside Hogwarts and finally enter and progress through the inside of the school - it's the only way to see the inside - and all the characters are involved. There are talking paintings; the Sorting Hat; Dumbledore's Office; and the use of special effects where you are briefed by Ron, Harry and Herminone on getting to the Quiditch Game (with some magical help) - which, of course getting there and being involved in the the game, is the ride. Fabulous use of 4D style effects - you feel like you are flying along behind Harry and then dropping in and out of different parts of the various movies.

We finally left Harry's World early afternoon of that first day for a look at the rest of Islands of Adventure. There were both some good and lame rides in the rest of the park. We cooled down by getting soaked on a raft ride and then headed back for more Harry. We decided to forego Universal Studios the second day and come back for more Harry. Well, we'd come to Universal specifically for Harry Potter and we couldn't get enough - so the second day saw more of the same. It is that good!

After a fabulous time in Orlando, it's time to hit the road and head north. The next stop is Columbia South Carolina.

Day 36 & 37 - Orlando, Florida

Day 36 (31 July). We revisited Magic Kingdom today and it was great to ride the headline attractions again, but also to better poke around the areas that we had not seen before. We were now familiar with the layout of the park and able to maximize the use of the Fast Pass system. All attractions display the approximate wait time for the ride/show, but the really popular ones also have a Fast Pass system which allows you to get a ride ticket that you use in a future pre-determined time-frame. For instance, if it's 12.30pm and you go to Splash Mountain the normal 'standy-by' wait for a ride might be 60 minutes, but you could get a Fast Pass for between 3.55-4.55pm. You can elect to either stand-in line for an hour or get the Fast Pass, go off and do other things and then come back anytime between that pre-determined period and then go straight to the front of the line. It's up to you. You can't go and collect a range of Fast Passes for every big ride as there are time limits applied to how often you use the system, but it still works pretty well.

We rode Big Thunder Mountain Roller Coaster a few times (the family park favorite); Chloe overcame her fear of Splash Mountain (which was now considered tame after the Tower of Terror yesterday) and also looked at a whole bunch of minor attractions. It was another brilliant day and better than the first day we visited as we knew more.

Day 37 (1 August). We took the same second day approach to Disney Hollywood Studios which we really, really enjoyed. This is such an excellent park and it was great to get an understanding of movie-making and to enjoy their attractions. The movie sets and tours were really informative and the Lights, Motors and Action Extreme Car Stunt Show was great. The backlot tour was informative and we literally found ourselves in the middle of a canyon with an exploding oil tanker that was swamped by hundreds of thousands of litres of water - fabulous! The attention to detail to the small things was really noticeable and appreciated.

Last time we visited the Tower of Terror was the talking point, well this time the Rock'n'Roller Roller Coaster featuring Aerosmith took the cake - in a big way. Having been introduced to the 'ride background' by the rock band Aerosmith who invited 'us' to their concert on the other side of town we were soon strapped into the 'limo' which rocketed from 0-60 mph (100 kph) in about two seconds and the next 88 seconds were spent doing high speed loops, turns and twists with Aerosmith music pounding as we criss-crossed town to the concert venue. It was sensational - the best ride yet by far. Unbelievable.

So ends four days at Disney World and next stop is two days at Universal Studios with a focus on Harry Potter World. A large thunderstorm came through Orlando tonight and we hope it will keep crowds away tomorrow. The heat and humidity of the last few days has been a bit torturous, but we are pushing through.