Class nothin but class. We were trying to get Eddie a hook up with Pebbles and Bam Bam


It is just too bloody big to take a good photo, especially with Eddie at my feet wanting to crawl to mummy

The grand canyon was a long drive from Mikes place and photos never do the place justice.It is the sort of place you just sit there and say "What the?" Be nice if you didn't share it with thousands of others. Best to go at the end of winter and the north rim is much quieter. Eddie loved playing in the dirt.

Speaking of which, JB donated 148 bucks to the Arizona highway patrol for a trumped up charge of following too close to another veh- hi- kewell.

After taking some serious hits at the factory outlets we cruised into Montreal. Stayed in the old town and checked out the old places. Pretty much a tourist trap but the old buildings have been well preserved and you feel like you are wandering down a street in the provinces in France. Of course we had to see the local version of Notre Dame which according to one local was where Celine Dion was married. We miss all the big gigs! It's amazing how all the places in the world have the same crappy stores with the same stuff, just with a different city name on the snow cone

Times square
The Apple store line was 3 to 4 hours long just to get in and buy an I phone

Eddie chiiling in Central Park

Chrysler building and NYC skyline

Sometimes we do stupid things and trying to see New York City in two days in definitely over optimistic. We hooked up with Johnny Cronin who we met in Manila and he generously let us stay at his place. A great spot right near Central Park and we walked all over in the heat checking out as much as we could in the short time we had. Tara got her fix of galleries checking out , The Metropolitan, MoMa, The Guggenheim. Eddie had fun on the grass in Central Park playing with his favourite cars.We also took in The Empire State Building and had to wait an hour and a half, Eddie entertained the lines with his new mastery of waving. Far too little time but there is always another time to catch up in such an amazing place

Now in Lambertville New Jersey which is apparently The Antique Capital of New Jersey. Tara had to an Understanding By Design curriculum course so JB was Mr Mom for the week. Cool town with plenty of history. Went down to the coast, and of course the swell from the hurricane had just passed. Probably just as well because you are not allowed to to surf between 9am and 5pm. Makes you realise how good we have it good at home

Not exactly surf city up this neck of the woods

Always beer thirty when Big Al and Donna are around. Their drink of Gin and Mike's hard lemonade certainly helped the two legends sleep well at night!

Real fair dinkum Aussie photos mate. Stone the flamin' crows digger . Is this really what seppos think of us, c'mon Mick Dundee took his knife to New York decades ago.

Big Al and Donna head back home in their home away from home
Pretty cool way to take the kids out for a stroll
Where ever you go there will be boys who wanna show off their lack of driving skill. This guy got bogged down the axles twice, trashed his transmission and only got out of the rising high tide from a helpful 4 WD who towed the clown out

After the road trip upto Victoria we caught up with Al' s folks on what is the described as the longest beach in the world. We did not have the heart to tell the seppo's that we have The Ninety Mile Beach not far from us at home. It is a step back in time with the stores and tourists come up from Seattle for some coast time. Saw an Aussie couple dressed up as Mick Dundee fleecing the yanks of their money with very ordinairy photos of a crocodile where you could place your kid in its mouth for 10 bucks. Even had a pet wallaby that they were calling Matilda the kangaroo. Don't know how they got around the export laws as last time I checked it was illegal. We were embarrassed to be Aussies as this couple started singing "Give me a home amongst the gum trees" as we wadered off shaking our heads.

Middle of July but way to chilly to have a splash. Eddie flew his first kite. Thanks to Big Al and Donna for looking after us like we were their own kids.

After a long drive with the assistance of google maps we got out of New York up to New Hampshire and caught up with Kristen and Dave Feron from Manila. They have a beautiful place in the woods and they showed us the sights. Great coastline and of course missed the swell of the summer by two days. Eddie had a cool time with his girlfriend Hannah and was sad to see her go.

Pity you can't get this stuff in market at Seattle home through Customs
Eddie remarking how he likes the view in Seattle
Mt Rainer is a big unit in a stunning part of the world

Wiley waiting for the cheeky squirrell Wiley returning from a missionto see what logging is doing for the beauty of the region
Al testing out JB's lack of photography skill
Al with the new invention that starts fires, obviously we can't name it for patent reasons
Camping at Mt Rainer in an amzingly beautiful camp ground. Eddie's forst experience was a little brrrr. Thanks to TD for the Hawthorn beanie his noggin was nice and toasty Leaving Mt Rainer with a Mt Rainer Beeeeeeeer

We are now in Portland Oregon and starting our road trip with good friends Al and Courtney Carver. This will be our third trip since our epic to Chamonix then Morocco with them. This time they have an ankle biter called Wiley so I sure he will be showing a few tips to Eddie on how to get maximum mischief.At least this time Al found JB and he didn't have to spend the night in the airport. Stayed the night at Cort's sisters and Greg and Whitney proved to be fantastic hosts looking after us like we were family, starting off with delicious rasberries from their garden and great Portland beer. Would love to return the favour if they ever get to Manila or Oz.

Hope Obama wins it for you Greg and baby comes out well Whitney!

The trip took us up to Seattle via Mount St Helens (could not see due to rain) and we camped at Mount Rainer national park, one of the nicest camp spots in the world. Bloody cold for us as we were used to the heat of Arizona. Still lots of snow around and Eddie loved it.

We took off towards Victoria and everyone was seasick on the ferry, but this could have been due to JB eating a fresh prawn roll and the smell wafting through the door. The Captain had his eye on JB as apparantley you are not allowed to enjoy yourself anymore.

Wow Who needs to go to Paris?

Ah Vegas...... the bright lights, people happily enjoying themselves on the one cent slots, the lack of laughter, the delicious food ...... Yeh well the lights are bright and what do you expect staying in a place for 40 bucks a night? Sam's gambling place is off the strip and is a good place to stay just for the night as we head to Portland tomorrow, it even has it's own water fall and of course the light show comes on every two hours and tourists take there snaps at the closest thing to a natural scene they will probably ever see. We found the first rule of travel here in the US. Don't try and cut in at the buffet line even if it is only just in the futile attempt of trying to find the one tasty item that has not been deep friend or coated in cheese. You may find yourselves on the end of some unwarrented comments from Chuck and Delores as they gorge themselves for the 5th time. Did I mention the free soda....... Ah well to each their own

Some big pricks in the desert
Sedona lunch stop Eddie testing out someones hammock
His first Harley
We kept our doors closed in some parts

Mike and Eddie out the back of his place

Mike's place Sonora desert

Airforce base scrap yard (where we get all our parts for our F1 11s)

Roadrunner
Sonora desert

Thanks to Mike for putting us up in his house. He and Caroline live in a fantastic spot right on the edge of a national park that makes you feel like you are miles from anywhere. The drink of choice was Negro Modello and Eddie had a good time recovering from his cold up in the mountains. He saw his first roadrunner but unfortunately Wil.E Coyote was after the poor little guy so you have to look hard to see his picture. We then took off north and JB got pulled over for travelling too close to the car in front. A lecture from the state trooper was followed by a donation to the Arizona justice system of 144 bucks...

Sedona beckoned and we both think the colours are the same as central Australia, bloody hot too. A must drive if you are in this part of the world before the tourist madness of the Grand Canyon. As usual Eddie made lots of friends along the way as we stopped off at a few galleries.

Hola amigo's.

We are back in the good ol US of A. Just a little south of the border with Mike Schuetze our boss from Kuwait days. He has been a star and taken us to all the out of the way places and been a legend. Off to the big ditch aka Grand Canyon today