Here is the whole story, from start to finish. If you want to look up any earlier blog, just click on the relevant line.
THE PREPARATION
Friday 13 August - What have we forgotten?
Monday 16 August – The Plan
Monday 16 August – 3,464 miles in 4 weeks
Wednesday 18 August – Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Friday 20 August – Who is guarding the base camp?
Saturday 21 August – The Right Hand side of the U.S.A (The East)
SAN FRANCISCO AND THE DRIVING PART
Tuesday 24 August – We have arrived
Tuesday 24 August – We have a U.S. Mobile Phone
Thursday 26 August – Cycling over the Golden Gate BridgeFriday 27 August - Now we are motoring
Tuesday 31 August – Our Beast of Burden
Thursday 2 September – Newport, then driving to Yellowstone
Saturday 4 September - Bison takes drunk driving testTuesday 7 September – We have left Yellowstone Park
Friday 10 September – Strange Motoring CustomsSaturday 11 September - Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon
Tuesday 14 September – Grand Canyon
Friday 17 September – What have the Hawkers been eating?
Saturday 18 September – From Grand Canyon to the Rocky Mountains
Monday 20 September - Hiking in the Rocky MountainsWednesday 22 September – Custer Park, Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore
THE DRIVING IS OVER
Friday 24 September – The Driving is over – “Hard Rain is gonna fall”
Sunday 26 September – American Football
Tuesday 28 September - Minneapolis
Saturday 2 October - Lake Superior (Gitchee Gummi)
Tuesday 5 October - Minneapolis Revisited
Friday 8 October - Baseball
Sunday 10 October - Sailing in Minneapolis
ON TO THE EAST COAST
Tuesday 12 October - Tips for Travellers
Thursday 14 October - Rain does not Stop Play
Monday 18 October - Last Days in Washington
Wednesday 20 October - Planning for the Homecoming
Saturday 23 October - Boston and Unpaid Taxes
Tuesday 26 October - English Burn Down Towns
Wednesday 27 October - Lost in the Big Apple - Geography Lesson
Friday 29 October - We are at Kennedy Airport
Monday 1 November - Epilogue (some Statistics)
Monday, November 22, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
Some Statistics (Epilogue)
We are now back in Zurich, and it is all over. Phew. We are going to need at least a week to recover. We also have to readapt to the fact that Americanish is not the spoken language in Zurich, that the temperature is measured is Centigrade, not Fahrenheit, distance is in Kilometres and that the 24 hour clock is used to tell the time.
But most important, it is time for some statistics about this epic journey. After all, as an Operations Manager and a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, I need facts and data. If you do not know what a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt is, don’t worry. It is nothing to do with physical violence. Just be impressed. Here goes:
- We have been away for 67 days
- Had 3 days without alcohol
- Have driven over 6,000 miles
- Flew internally twice, nearly 1,500 miles
- Had only five days when it rained
- Stayed in sixteen hotels / motels
- Stayed with seven sets of old and new friends
- Had only two full cooked breakfasts
- Had one haircut each
- Visited 20 States. Charlie Dwyer says that I can include Rhode Island, where I intended to step out of the train on to the platform for 5 seconds, but bottled out in case the train left without me (and anyway, it was raining). Charlie said that we could not include Illinois, as we only touched down in Chicago, and stayed in the plane. I have cheated to get to 20.
- Can name the Capital Cities of each of these 20 States, or at least I could do this 3 days ago.
- Used $150 worth of value out of our National Park Service card, which cost $80 (Highly recommended)
- Had one text incoming message replicated 31 times (Fault was at the U.S. end, in case the person in question is worried)
- Learned large amounts about U.S. History and the Constitution, most of which I will have forgotten in six months, if not before
- Took 2,700 pictures
- Had tomato juice poured over me once (for which Swiss (Airline) did not give me a free upgrade to Business Class as compensation or answer my counter-proposal for compensation).
- Returned with 57 kg (125 lbs / 9 stone) of checked-in baggage.
- Put on 5lbs (2 kg) weight during the trip, depending on which set of scales are used. (Definite measurement problem here, as we Black Belts say)
- Never supported the winning side on either occasion when we watched them. (We are Ipswich Town Football Club supporters, so what do you expect)
- Wrote 38 entries on the Hawker U.S. trip blog, including this one.
- Spent not many Swiss Francs on the whole trip, and returned with $27.80 in cash.
But most important, it is time for some statistics about this epic journey. After all, as an Operations Manager and a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, I need facts and data. If you do not know what a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt is, don’t worry. It is nothing to do with physical violence. Just be impressed. Here goes:
- We have been away for 67 days
- Had 3 days without alcohol
- Have driven over 6,000 miles
- Flew internally twice, nearly 1,500 miles
- Had only five days when it rained
- Stayed in sixteen hotels / motels
- Stayed with seven sets of old and new friends
- Had only two full cooked breakfasts
- Had one haircut each
- Visited 20 States. Charlie Dwyer says that I can include Rhode Island, where I intended to step out of the train on to the platform for 5 seconds, but bottled out in case the train left without me (and anyway, it was raining). Charlie said that we could not include Illinois, as we only touched down in Chicago, and stayed in the plane. I have cheated to get to 20.
- Can name the Capital Cities of each of these 20 States, or at least I could do this 3 days ago.
- Used $150 worth of value out of our National Park Service card, which cost $80 (Highly recommended)
- Had one text incoming message replicated 31 times (Fault was at the U.S. end, in case the person in question is worried)
- Learned large amounts about U.S. History and the Constitution, most of which I will have forgotten in six months, if not before
- Took 2,700 pictures
- Had tomato juice poured over me once (for which Swiss (Airline) did not give me a free upgrade to Business Class as compensation or answer my counter-proposal for compensation).
- Returned with 57 kg (125 lbs / 9 stone) of checked-in baggage.
- Put on 5lbs (2 kg) weight during the trip, depending on which set of scales are used. (Definite measurement problem here, as we Black Belts say)
- Never supported the winning side on either occasion when we watched them. (We are Ipswich Town Football Club supporters, so what do you expect)
- Wrote 38 entries on the Hawker U.S. trip blog, including this one.
- Spent not many Swiss Francs on the whole trip, and returned with $27.80 in cash.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)