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Driving across the USA

April 2018 - April 2024
An open-ended adventure by Elisa Read more
Currently traveling
  • 84footprints
  • 2countries
  • 2,215days
  • 659photos
  • 10videos
  • 36.5kkilometers
  • 29.0kkilometers
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  • TravelerDriving across the USA
    Day 101

    Back home

    July 13, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    Today we landed back in Australia. We had 5 hour flight to LA, an hour layover and then 14 or so hours to Melbourne.

    The kids were good and both had some sleep. Josh and Elisa both got to watch movies and the flight went with no issues. Qantas flight was smooth and even landed early. The Qantas staff helped us with our 8 pieces of luggage, 2 car seats and 4 carry on bags to get from customs to the airport to be picked up.

    Josh's parents picked us up at the airport with 2 cars to carry all the luggage and the 4 of us.    Read more

  • TravelerDriving across the USA
    Day 97

    Times Square, NYC

    July 9, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    As we drove home last night, on our last drive we were thinking about how we drove over 10,000 miles and we had no accidents and no tickets.

    Elisa went to get the car this morning and was issued a ticket for a no standing zone, as she parked in the dark at 11pm and then to make life even better she got another ticket for parking in a no parking zone when she was unloading. We walked back and forth from the car to the apartment at least a dozen times and never saw the sign.

    Today is almost our last day to be tourist. After unloading the car we ventured into the city. For lunch we took the train into Manhattan and met Maria, Elisa's cousins wife. We then walked into Times Square to see the craziness of NYC.

    We spend the rest of the late afternoon packing and packing the car with anything that is being given to Danielle, like our trusty awesome tent.    Read more

  • TravelerDriving across the USA
    Day 95

    Canalside

    July 7, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Today Jackie joined us and we went to Canal side, a newer area of Buffalo on Erie lake. It was a beautiful sunny humid day and the breeze at canalside was welcomed.

    It was a cute clean area with the largest sandbox we ever saw, kids areas to play and grassy areas to relax. Josh spent most of his time at the sports bar in the area called 716, hoping to watch a tennis match at Wimbledon.

    If we had time and no kids, we could have rented paddle boats or even paddle boards in the canal. That night Vanilla ice was playing.

    That night we had Elisa's 20th year high school reunion which she was one of the three organisers. It was held at the Foundry, on Elmwood ave. There was 74 people for the buffet and then another 10 or so after for the drinks. It was a fun night and Elisa was able to catch up with old friends.

    After that we headed to Geckos on Elm street before we headed back taking an Uber.    Read more

  • TravelerDriving across the USA
    Day 94

    Cave of the winds

    July 6, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Today we went to Niagara Falls and visited the cave of the winds. We got to walk around at the bottom of the falls and get soaking wet. We thought Brandon would love it but the first thing he said was where is my towel?

    After that we went to Adrianne's ice cream and enjoyed delicious ice cream.

    That night Elisa has her first of the reunion gathering and her and Jackie went to Turners bar. There was about 20 people there and stayed for a couple hours.    Read more

  • TravelerDriving across the USA
    Day 93

    Fantasy Island

    July 5, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Today we went to the 5th and last amusement park of the trip. Elisa used to work here when she was in highschool and was a lifeguard at the water park.

    Jackie and Mike have season passes so they joined us at at the park. It was great hanging out with them and the kids had fun.

    Fantasy island is good for the kids but very run down. We watched the talking tree read story time and he read "the giving tree" which is a book Brandon and Elisa read together. We saw the western show, a princess show, went to the water park, and the kids went on almost all the rides.    Read more

  • TravelerDriving across the USA
    Day 92

    4th of July

    July 4, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    We has such a relaxing time in Ohio and the days were low key. Today was a busy busy day.

    It started with going to the Grand Island parade where Elisa grew up. We went with Jackie and met up with her parents, sister and husband, and then her other friend Jackie and her husband Mike and their kids Violet and Gaige who were 6 and 5.

    The parade lasted almost 2 hours and the kids had a lot of fun trying to get lollies that all the different local community groups threw out to the hundreds of people lining the street to watch the parade.

    We spent the entire day with the group, moving from the parade to the VFW to the annual 4th of July celebration, where everyone just drinks and catches up with people from the town. After the VFW we drove over to Jackie' s parents house where we were there for hours, drinking, eating the bbq food, sitting in the kids pool , playing corn hole and having a great time. It was so hot outside, with the day feeling over 100/40 degrees. The kids had a great time playing with the Violet and Gaige, and did everything to playing in the pool, water balloons and watching a movie together.

    We stayed there until 9pm when we joined Jackie, mike and kids at fantasy island carpark to watch the 4th of July fireworks.

    We made our way back to our accommodation about 11pm and the kids were asleep in the car. It was a long day.    Read more

  • TravelerDriving across the USA
    Day 91

    Driving to NY

    July 3, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Today we had our 2nd last long drive before we head back to Melbourne. We left Joe and Carols about 10am and had about a 4 hour drive.

    Joe played with Brandon and Inara while we packed up our stuff. Brandon enjoyed Joe's company and really bonded with him over a few days. He was sad to go.

    We were driving to East Amherst, to stay with Jackie, Elisa's oldest friend from high school. We actually stayed at Jackie 's brothers townhome where he lived with his wife Sara. Jackie 's partner is a homebody and doesn't really like people at the house, so Peter was so kind to offer his house to us. We didn't know that Peter and Sara where going to be there as they were supposed to be on holiday. It was a full house with us 4, plus Jackie and of course Sara and Peter but it was very comfortable and fun.

    We couldn't meet Jackie till 5pm, so we did some shopping in Erie, Pa and had lunch at Panera bread. Melbourne is having it's coldest winter and while we are here with record breaking heat, we looked for jackets at Burlington coat factory. Elisa found a lovely jacket but Josh was not as lucky.

    That night Elisa went out with Jackie, Sara and Peter to NY Beer project, a new brewery not far from the house. Elisa was so excited about the "taste of buffalo" platter as she was able to eat beef on kimmelweck and buffalo wings in one go. Josh stayed home with the kids as Brandon was in no form to go out and sit, so Josh was very happy catching up on Stranger Things on netflix and doing nothing.    Read more

  • TravelerDriving across the USA
    Day 90

    Ohio

    July 2, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Today was a lazy morning which is always nice. Danny and the kids came over to Joe and Carol's house and we drove to where the GoodYear blimp's hanger is, which is all right across from a state park with a playground.

    The kids played for a bit before we went back from lunch. After lunch we went to the local splash pad. It was so hot and was full of kids. It was a very busy day for the lifeguard as there was a kid who got his head smashed with a very deep cut, a little girl almost drowned at the little pond just near by and then lightning was seen so the splash pad had to shut.

    Since Joe and Carol babysit the grandkids twice a week, there were lots of toys and kids stuff around. Inara loved the cute little potty in the bathroom and even had her first pee in the toilet. Very exciting.

    The storm never came that close to us so after dinner we were able to drive down to Akron and we all went to see the Bee Gee' s tribute band at an outdoor area. The rib cook off was also going on just above the lawn/stage area so Joe bought some ribs to try and they melted off the bone into the mouth. We also tried to the local brewery, the Thirsty Dog, which was being sold there.

    The band itself wasn't the best but the night was perfect. The weather was no longer hot and humid and it was a perfect summer night. The kids had a blast running down the hill and playing. We had a great time with Joe, Carol, Danny and his kids for the last 2 days.    Read more

  • TravelerDriving across the USA
    Day 88

    To Ohio

    June 30, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    We had our last night of camping last night. It was a great little tent, 2 room Bushnell pop up tent, taking Elisa minutes to set up. It's been through wind, snow, rain and very hot days and we had no issues.

    After we packed up, we had about a 7 hour drive to Uniontown, Ohio. This was our last new State. (we are back in NY after this).

    We made it to Carol and joe's house where we had our own little guest area of the house and will be here for 3 nights. Joe and Carol are Elisa's godparents and have known her all her life.

    They also babysit their grandkids so there was tons of new toys for the kids to play with. That night Joe and Carol ordered pizza and we had a relaxing night catching up. The kids felt at ease right away with the awesome grandparents.    Read more

  • TravelerDriving across the USA
    Day 87

    Franklin KOA

    June 29, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Today we did nothing but relax at the KOA. It was a cute KOA, with our tent site being right next to a little pond. The KOA was mostly RV's and had permanent campers as well. This KOA was not close to the highway and therefore was quieter than most of the KOA's we stayed at.

    The day consisted of lying in the shade, playing bocce ball, playing mancala, basketball, and anything to keep the kids entertained. Brandon even made friends with the owners and we got to paddle boat in the pond.

    That night the kids watched a movie in the rec room and after that we a fire and Smores and watched the fireflies. This was our last night camping on this trip.    Read more

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