2002-2005 (c) GetJealous.com, All rights reserved. http://www.getjealous.com/danieltoursamerica/rss.xml Having lived here for 2.3 years, I have seen very little. It's now time to pack-in the job and see the rest of the country. Well, the good bits at least. http://www.getjealous.com/danieltoursamerica http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=511794&go=danieltoursamerica I've been off the road now for around a week and it still hasn't really sunk in. I feel like I am in limbo, with the joy of my travels on one side and the precipice of real life before me.My journey took me through 44 states/districts, including 36 brand new ones that I'd not seen. They were: Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Californi... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=511794&go=danieltoursamerica Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=509619&go=danieltoursamerica Rising at 05:30 and on the road by 06:30, I hoped to reach St Louis by 9am, but I hadn't realised how large Missouri is. It took four hours to cross the state, arriving in the bustling city while it was still cool.I went to the world-famous Arch, officially title the Jefferson Westward Expansion Memorial, which is a beautiful 1960s steel arch on the banks of the Mississippi. Perhaps in the 60s, ... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=509619&go=danieltoursamerica Wed, 6 Aug 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=509603&go=danieltoursamerica My standard speech, which I had given many many times to new friends, details how I am visiting the outer states and ignoring "the crap ones in the middle." In Washington Erin scolded me for such a description and at that point I decided to extend me trip to cover four of the five central states that I was omitting: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri.From the Oklahoma/Arkansas bor... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=509603&go=danieltoursamerica Tue, 5 Aug 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=508862&go=danieltoursamerica Today was incredibly busy, involving a national historic landmark, a factory tour, a presidential library and a national park; spanning three states.My first stop of the day was Graceland, Elvis Presley's Memphis home. I'm not really a fan of Elvis but I could not get the Paul Simon tune out of my head so I decided to visit. Luckily I had the foresight to go early, 9am, but even by then it was ... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=508862&go=danieltoursamerica Mon, 4 Aug 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=508854&go=danieltoursamerica How nice to spend a Sunday doing little. For the first time I spent the entire day with a surfer just hanging out - and that is all we did, from 1pm til midnight we just boozed and chatted.We returned to the downtown area, Beale St again, to catch more music without the crowds. In a public bandstand was playing a blues band who, as we arrived, were in the process of inviting youths up to join th... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=508854&go=danieltoursamerica Sun, 3 Aug 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=508847&go=danieltoursamerica A late night at the house party and an uncomfortable sofa meant I tried to sleep in as late as possible. When I finally hit the road it was gone noon. I drove to the far corner of Tennessee to its largest city, Memphis. I was staying with a very nice cat lady. I describe her thus as she had no fewer than eight cats (and a fish) in her one-bedroom house, all of whom had amusing sci-fi/fantasy n... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=508847&go=danieltoursamerica Sat, 2 Aug 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=508167&go=danieltoursamerica Ahhhh, the humidity! I'm certainly back in the South. I thought DC was bad, but back in the real South it's as humid as I remember it, the only difference is that now I am spending my days trekking around and not sitting in an air-conditioned cubicle.I started my day's tourism in Capitol Bicentennial Park, before climbing Capitol Hill to enter the city. Nashville, the state capital, is not too ... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=508167&go=danieltoursamerica Fri, 1 Aug 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=507764&go=danieltoursamerica Feeling fresh from the best night's sleep in about a month I headed off from Beckley to Charleston, WV. The town was nothing special but the scenery was great. Rolling hills and large deciduous forests. For once I actually felt I was getting good value from a toll road, as it was evident that a lot of blasting had to have been done to carve the cuttings deep into mountainsides.I went to the Cap... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=507764&go=danieltoursamerica Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=507556&go=danieltoursamerica Today was simply a drive through Virginia to Charleston, WV.I drove through Shenandoah National Park, a long thin park atop the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was quite a hazy day and so the views, and even more so the photos, were imperfect. The park was just a detour actually, I saw it on the map and decided to take the Skyline Drive over the ridge of the range. It was 100+ miles long and took only... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=507556&go=danieltoursamerica Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=507550&go=danieltoursamerica I rescheduled my departure plans to allow myself an extra day in this awesome city. I'd left my laptop in the car, parked outside the dinner party hosts' house a few blocks away (hence the late blogging), so I went to the local library to plan some surfing. I dodged the bums snoozing among the books and nearly screamed at the guys snoozing while logged on to the computers that I was queuing to us... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=507550&go=danieltoursamerica Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT