Reflections from both of us

Stella
What an epic trip!  Something I would never do again but it was a difficult remit - to see USA and Canada with the minimum of flying so hence all in one go.  Would I do it again? - No.

Would I do it differently?  Yes - knowing what I know now, I would have flown from Niagara to New York.  Even the time to get back to Toronto Airport (and transport cost) and getting to the hotel from New York surely would not have taken 9 hours!  Also the cabin on the trans-Canada train was really just too small and we are used to tight space in a motorhome!  Having said that, it was convenient to get to the midtown hotel from the station we arrived at in New York.  I would probably do the train again from NY to Washington as, although boring, it would probably be no shorter by the time you took a taxi or other transport to and from the airports.

Was there one particular highlight?  No, there were several - the National Parks for both USA and Canada, the canyons, the scenery, the wildlife, the buzz of New York, the quaintness of Key West, the delight of the Rocky Mountaineer - all combined to make this certainly one of my greatest experiences of a lifetime.

Were there any disappointments?  I would have to say probably Washington as apart from monuments I found it fairly boring, and the drive to Key West which was either built up towns or concrete causeways.

Any advice to travellers contemplating this sort of trip?  Bags on wheels or backpacks - trying to carry an enormous, heavy bag nearly did for Les!   You need layers, including light thermals for northern Canada, and unless you are able to do washing frequently, unfortunately you do need quite a few clothes but nothing too smart as although there were irons in the hotel rooms, who wants to iron on holiday!

What did you like or dislike about the experience?  I was actually surprised at how friendly everyone was (with possibly just one exception) and how polite (no swearing heard at all except from a couple of probably college/uni people at Key West who had obviously partaken of a bit too much drink).  I was also impressed with the facilities provided at sightseeing spots - toilets (restrooms) and water fountains plus the usual bins.  I was overawed by the size of the countries, the size of vehicles, the size of the sights (both natural wonders to objects such as the display screens in Time Square!

I was not impressed by the general level of poor coffee (apart from a well-known international chain which was consistently very good), by the lack of waste recycling in most places (although we haven't stayed in hotels in the UK so perhaps they are just as bad).  I was rather shocked by the amount of lighting in the cities - everything is lit.  I was expecting Las Vegas but as we were flying into Miami, the city seemed golden due to the number of streetlights.

Les
Everyone we met who asked about our trip was amazed at how much we were packing in. It was most certainly a fantastic experience, but quite tiring! It's very hard to pick out favourites, but here is my attempt:

• Yosemite National Park. Best view was from Glacier Point, 3200 feet above the valley floor, and a vertical drop.
• The Grand Canyon North Rim. The paths looked perilous, but that added to the drama.
• Autumn colours, especially in Utah and Ontario.
• The Rocky Mountaineer. A long-held ambition to take this trip, despite the high cost.  We were very well looked after, and it was so great to have our bags delivered to our hotel room and back to the train after the overnight stop.
• Niagara Falls. But not the town which is utterly horrible.
• Times Square, New York.
• The Everglades airboat.

There were of course a few disappointments:

• The tatty motorhome. Cruise America is well worth avoiding. And 15 mpg for a 3-berth motorhome was disgraceful.
• The trans-Canada train. The train itself is OK, but arriving at the appalling Toronto station 9 hours late and in torrential rain was just too much! If VIA Rail can't get this service to run more or less on time it will certainly fold.
• Holiday Inns. They have gone down-market in recent years. The Days Inn was seedy but the room was better equipped and breakfast was included.
• British Airways food. Some serious cost-cutting going on here.

....and some constant irritations:

• Not knowing how much things will cost because varying amounts of tax will be added to the labelled price.
• Some automated card payment systems demanding a US zip code for verification instead of a PIN. Another example of American chauvinism.
• Dreadful television content.
• .....and this Google blog editor!

We could not of course expect such a long and complex trip to be devoid of problems, and on balance it was wonderful. We can now watch US TV programmes with a good chance of being able to say "We've been there"!

The Final Curtain

Our final day dawned in the usual lovely sunny weather, and this morning we had the bonus of the complimentary breakfast which actually turned out to be quite good with a choice of cereals, pastries, fruit, toast etc.  The only let down was the "juice" which didn't actually say juice but "drink" which implied watered down juice drink - which it turned out to be!

We were soon on our way to the Oleto River State Park in North Miami which was the only bit of green space that we could find to spend our last day away from the crowds and perhaps do some walking.  We entered the street into Garmin and ended up at a residential street which didn't look right somehow. We asked some locals where this place was but they only spoke Spanish!  We had an electronic copy of the brochure so checked the street number which didn't turn up on Garmin so we aimed for the nearest one and eventually found our way to the park. The park website made no mention of a charge but $6 was cheap for all day parking with facilities. The area for parking cars was absolutely huge with numerous picnic huts with BBQs.  We had hoped to find somewhere for a coffee but we could find nothing apart from a kayak hire place. We wandered around for a while until lunchtime - a most pleasant oasis of calm. We then selected one of the picnic places and enjoyed lunch by the water hoping to catch sight of a manatee but no such luck. There were several mountain bike trails leading from a large track which we walked along for a while in the shade, beside mangroves.

We had to throw away the remainder of the lunch and what would have been breakfast items - where are the homeless when you need them?  We then walked around the cycle tracks for a bit until we could delay no longer to get changed. It seemed odd to be back in long sleeved tops, jeans and shoes/socks!  We piled into the car, turned on the aircon and drove to the airport.  There is a separate building for hire car return as it is such a huge operation and very slick with staff checking in cars in just a few seconds!  We then staggered some way for the railcar to the actual airport building and then to check in, where we were horrified to find that the flight had been delayed until after 23:00 (from 20:25)!!!  We were each given a $9 `light refreshments' voucher - so generous!  This meant that we had to sit around for hours and hours and to cap it all there was no wi-fi. Les recalled that it was a very naff airport 30 years ago, and it still is.

We spent a couple of hours downing beers and having a "light" snack - we had to leave most of it as it was largely carbs - it was classed as a Cuban sandwich but was just an ordinary toasted filled roll with.....chips - very nice but we could really have done with a salad knowing we will be fed again when we board. Why does nearly everything come with fries here?

We grabbed a coffee, typed the blog and were generally bored.  Most of the airport had closed by then - shops, cafes etc and we had to get through security by 9:30 pm otherwise they go home too!!!  We wandered through security (as usual no signs as to what to take off so you get sent back to do it again!) and sat with the other disgruntled passengers waiting for the plane to arrive and then get cleaned. Profuse apologies from BA again, a letter confirming the delay (might be useful for travel insurance?) and the offer of soda, ie fizzy drinks, as everywhere had now closed.  Eventually boarded and were on our way after 11pm and were lucky enough to have a spare seat beside us. We think this belonged to someone paged a number of times and then told their bag would be offloaded.

We did not feel like eating at midnight and the meal itself wasn't very appetising - dry roll, vege ravioli (the cabin staff thought it was lasagne!) and very sweet lemon cake.  We then tried to get some sleep with frequent shaking from the plane and the usual cacophony of noises from those around.  Somehow the time passed and breakfast arrived - again not very inspiring and all on the sweet side - a dry croissant, cereal bar and small packet of cranberries. Preparation for landing seemed to take ages as we circled around southern England and although the pilot advised it would be a bit bumpy, nothing prepared us for the shaking, up/down motion and at times dropping through the air!!!  The worst final approach we have experienced, through the tail end of a major storm apparently. Safely on the ground we had a minor wait whilst a parking space was made available for the aircraft, and our taxi driver was waiting for us, having monitored the arrival time for our flight. A quick trip home - at last!!!

Back to Miami

Again our sleep was disrupted by the shrieking and cackling girls next door. This time they returned to their room at 04:20, and it took two calls to reception before they began to quieten down. So it was nearly 05:00 before we could get back to sleep. Otherwise the hotel was excellent, but one lesson learned is to reject a room with a connecting door unless that's what you booked. It won't dampen the noise of unruly neighbours.

Weather forecasting for south Florida must be a boring job, as it always seems to be warm and sunny - it's called The Sunshine State. So we loaded the bags into the car and set off back along the Overseas Highway with the air conditioning working hard. The return journey was no more notable than before, but pleasant enough. We stopped for lunch at the same little beach in Islamorada - a very convenient place. This time, we set the sat-nav to accept toll roads, so we whizzed up the turnpike instead of stopping at about a hundred sets of traffic lights. The system bills you by reading the licence plate, so we expect a few dollars to appear on our hire car account tomorrow, judging by the tolls posted on each section. Some were as low as 25 cents.

We arrived at the Holiday Inn just before 3 pm, parking the car next door for the overnight charge of $20 as before. We did get a small concession from the hotel manager, vouchers for continental breakfast. We were hoping for a cooked brekkie. The room is on a lower floor and up to Holiday Inn standard, ie mediocre. Exactly the same size as the one before. We were expecting a view, and got a dirty flat roof with air conditioning outlets. Well we do have an ice bucket without having to ask twice.

With some time in hand, we did a recce for dinner by walking around the marina area. It was packed with revellers, even at 4 pm, with various musicians, and food being wolfed down everywhere. We were quoted $12 for a mojito, but found another bar where they are $8. Still a bit steep but we could not get below $9 in Key West.

So we aimed for the $8 cocktails and had a pina colada and a margarita, both excellent. Then we were off to Bubba Gump's, which milks the film Forrest Gump for all it's worth. It's basically shrimp (prawns to you and me) with everything. We had crab stuffed mushrooms to start, and shrimp skewers and mahi mahi (with shrimps) for mains. Not cheap but nothing is here. We shared a cup of ice cream and wandered around the port for a bit, then returned to the hotel room. Yippee, the wi-fi actually works in the room! So we checked in online for tomorrow's flight.

The Key to Holiday Fun

Some issues during the night when the party next door came back at 01:00 and started screeching with laughter etc with no regard to anyone else.  It continued so long that Les was forced to hammer on the door to get them to pipe down!  Great to have a lie in but getting seriously fed up with muffins for breakfast. With this hotel you can advise when you would like your room serviced (within reason) and as we planned to return to the room for lunch, we selected a suitable time in the morning and left for a walk to the beach.

This proved to be just too hot, and not terribly interesting, and we turned back to the hotel, caught the bus into town and spent an hour or so exploring on the shady side of the streets.  The bus driver was a right character and was chatting so much he forgot to drop a couple off at the beach so we had to go round the block but nobody is in a hurry around here!  It really is a charming and characterful place.  There are numerous activities such as fishing charters, sunset cruises with or without a meal, glass bottom boat tours, ski boat etc.  The water is ideal being flat calm.  The shops are numerous and quaint - some of the usual tack but mostly good quality jewellery etc.  We also discovered that the Keys are known for their sandals - we know them as jandals or flip flops.  These seem to be mostly leather made and held in high regard.

While checking out restaurants for dinner tonight, we were appalled to see several menus offering dolphin. We eventually learned that this is the American name for a fish, also known as mahi mahi in Hawaii. Sighs of relief all round.

The sight of four apparent miscreants sitting handcuffed on the kerb was intriguing, as they dripped in the searing sunshine, while the police waited for another car to cart them away. We heard that a lot of shady characters come down here from Miami, with various substances they should not have.

We treated ourselves to a couple of cheap beers to take back to the hotel room, plus a piece of allegedly authentic key lime pie which was far better than the version we tried yesterday.  Stella also found a great channel on the TV which seemed to show cute kittens so had to be dragged away to the shop again to buy some items for the next two days' lunches.  Never has a shopping trip taken so long for so little!  We ended up buying a whole loaf which would be cheaper than the prepared rolls (saving some $18 on that purchase alone!).

We spent an hour or so at the pool - lovely area to sit out, towels provided and the water was very warm.  We then changed and caught the bus into town to take more photos, find a place with Happy Hour and decide where we would go for dinner.  We found a place offering cut price beers - 2 for $5.50!!  Then we hurried to the Sunset Pier area where Stella took many photos and a budding photographer also took one of us together which we can email him for.  He was trying out his kit I think.  We then decided on a place to eat serving grilled lobster and enjoyed a few oysters to start (although not as good as those recently sampled from West Mersea!).  The bread served with it was delicious - very dark and slightly fruity, honey and whole wheat.  We asked for a salad with the lobster which was huge and very fresh.  Satisfied we caught the bus back to the hotel - luckily they were anticipating the crowd who were waiting and had 2 buses available.

Going West

Our departure from the Holiday Inn Miami was notable for a terse conversation with the front desk supervisor, regarding the issues that arose yesterday. He would not commit to any remedial action, preferring to interrogate us as to our other hotel stays, and to try to sell their loyalty programme. The best we could get was to ask for him when we check in again on 19th, on our way back home.

In the now customary hot weather (about 36 degrees C), we loaded the bags into the hire car and set off towards Key West. The lunch ingredients were put into plastic bags with ice cubes. Having set the sat-nav to avoid tolls, we were taken down US1, with a rather odd glitch at the beginning. First of all the unit gave a voice command from yesterday's route, then seemed to remember that a new route had been set up. At a tricky junction the route disappeared from the screen and we of course went the wrong way. Eventually the system sorted itself out and we were on the right route. However it was very slow, with traffic lights every mile or so and long waits.

The one road down through the Keys is actually quite tedious. The islands are heavily built up, linked by bridges, one being the famous Seven Mile Bridge. Traffic was still quite heavy. We got to a village called Islamorada, which like all the others is long and narrow. After asking at the visitor centre we found a very nice place for lunch, next to a small beach looking across to mangroves. The ice in the lunch pack did its job superbly, much of it still solid.

We arrived at the Doubletree by Hilton at around 4:30 pm. It's vastly better than the tacky Holiday Inn - very nice room, with fridge and ample coffee sachets, and car parking is free on the deal the travel agent got. There is a very good shuttle bus to the town. Wi-fi in the room is excellent, and we managed a very good FaceTime call to Alex, before catching the shuttle into town. We alighted at the port area, and strolled along the waterfront as the sun set. We notice a stall selling conch fritters, so decided to try a few. While the batter was nice, the bits of conch were tasteless and excessively chewy. If you are ever tempted, don't bother.

There were various street artists of course. An escapologist in a strait jacket took so long over the preamble that we gave up and moved on. The musicians were not very good, and the Christian preacher of course we didn't even stop to assess.

Thoughts then turned to proper food, and we fetched up in a very noisy bar/restaurant called The Hog's Breath. As we sat down, recorded music was playing, kicking off with Pinball Wizard followed by Street Fighting Man. This augured well. Now that we are wise to American portion sizes, we ordered one dish to share, comprising three slow cooked pork shanks with rice, fried plantain, and black bean sauce. This was excellent, but the Key lime pie to follow wasn't - too sweet and not enough lime. By now the live band was playing, and they were very good, starting with a swing number and turning a bit jazzy, via an old Rolling Stones song. Although it was only 7:30 by the end of our meal, the bar was besieged by very loud girls, egged on by young men of course. The place certainly could not be accused of lacking atmosphere.

After dinner we walked down Duval Street, said to be historic. Some of the buildings are quite interesting, mostly of timber construction, but some in quite ornate brick. About halfway down there seems to be the kinky section, with unconvincing drag artists posing in the bar doorways. The town is packed with people having fun, rather like a Mediterranean resort. Every sort of water-based entertainment is available, at a price of course.

'Gators

Reasonably quiet here, except that when someone wants ice from the machine which is just next door it makes a thunderous racket.  Perhaps it is mostly Stella getting this as the water from the tap is not very cold! After breakfast (the croissant bought last night had suffered somewhat) we picked up the car - only a short distance from the hotel - and then headed for a supermarket for supplies for lunch and other breakfasts.  Also had the cheapest coffee to date - 89c!  We had to pay for parking though as it is city centre.  Armed with Garmin, we set off for the Everglades.  Our airboat trip wasn't until the afternoon but by the time we had actually reached the right road (which went on for about 60 miles, almost dead straight), we thought we would just head for a visitor centre and find somewhere (shady) for lunch.

We duly did this and enjoyed our lunch watching butterflies and large insects which turned out to be dragonflies but quite different from ours.  Whilst Les finished his lunch, Stella wandered around the boardwalk and found a couple of alligators plus herons and other fish-loving birds as there seemed to be a plentiful supply.  We also refilled our water bottle as it was very hot (about 36 degrees C).

A few miles down the road we took a short walk on another boardwalk through a swampy forest. It was very beautiful but eerie. Tall cypresses rose from the water, supported on buttress roots, around which catfish lazed. Some strange creature, possibly a bird high in the treetop, made a long screeching call which sounded like a tiny chainsaw. It was all very atmospheric.

We still arrived early for our airboat trip but were able to sit outside in the shade whilst we waited, and they also put our food in their fridge instead of our having to leave it fermenting in the car.  When we boarded we were provided with headsets which relayed the captain's narration, while dampening the noise of the unsilenced V8 just behind our heads. The ride itself was just fabulous - mostly gently buzzing along and then opening up the throttle to fly through the mangrove channels.  It reminded us of a ride some took on the 3D simulators at Futurascope, but not so stomach churning!  We also saw a crocodile and an alligator before a friendly raccoon put on a great show interacting with the driver/guide who was getting too confident so she bit him!  Nothing serious but just to warn everyone they are not tame!

It was a long, straight and busy drive back so Stella was dropped off at the hotel whilst Les found an overnight car park a bit cheaper than that offered by the hotel (every little helps!).  We quickly showered and did yesterday's blog down in the lobby before scooting downstairs for dinner with our 20% off voucher!

Update after dinner:
What a disappointment. The soup was `clam chowder', which consisted of bits of potato in a tasteless white goo. No hint of seafood. The main course was `chicken marsala'. Stella's chicken was tepid and went back for a blast in the microwave. Vegetables were overdone and not very hot, sauce was a nondescript gravy with no hint of any kind of booze let alone marsala. It might as well have been `Chicken Bisto'. We complained bitterly and were not charged for the meal, just the drinks. There followed a comprehensive moan to the reception clerk about the unreliable wi-fi, poor housekeeping service, and the mediocre food. He promised to phone us after speaking to his manager, about 20 minutes. That was 1.5 hours ago and nothing has been heard. Oh dear, we have another night in this hotel on our way back from Key West, before we fly home.

More Tedious Travel (15th October)

The day was to be devoted to our journey from Washington to Miami, so we were not expecting much in the way of scenic views. Breakfast was rather a scrum, with far too few tables and chairs for the guests, plus of course the same unruly toddlers as yesterday. We checked out of the hotel as late as possible, 11:00, as the airport shuttle bus was to pick us up at 11:10. The trip took us through some quite nice residential areas, with prettily painted terraced houses, collecting more passengers on the way.

Check-in at the airport was reasonably civilised, and then we had the long wait for our 17:25 flight. Fortunately it's quite a nice terminal, and we had a reasonable lunch, and bought a few items for a light snack during the flight (no food included on American Airlines domestic flights, you have to pay for it). We tried a video call with Alex during the afternoon, but the airport wi-fi wasn't quite up to it and we only got a few minutes.

The flight was fairly uneventful, with slight turbulence at times, plus a more severe bout just before landing. On emerging from the air conditioned terminal the heat and especially the humidity hit us like a hammer. The taxi ride to the Holiday Inn on Biscayne Boulevard was quite long, but we arrived at about 9 pm. There was time for a quick walk around the Bayside shopping and dining area nearby, where we managed to buy pastries for tomorrow's breakfast just before all the shops closed.

The hotel looks very posh in the reception area, but the room again isn't very big and is not very well equipped. No ice bucket, and minimal coffee for the machine. The wi-fi won't work in the room and we have to go down to reception.