For Douglas

This post is for my South African nephew, Douglas. I'm desperately jealous of him at the moment, as he and his family are going to a Johnny Clegg concert this weekend. How I wish I was there with you! I'll have a listen to Johnny on my iPod and think of you fondly instead, how's that?

Now for a bit of U.S. geography for you, Douglas. Celia, Mary Grace and I are travelling across the U.S. back to Texas. Uncle James is still there and we miss him lots. It's our summer time, the days have been long and sunny and a bit warm. Have a look at a map, and I'll tell you about our journey.

We started in Massachusetts, where the Pilgrims from England settled back in the 1600s, around the same time as the settlers were coming to South Africa from Holland. The first Thanksgiving was held in Massachusetts. We drove south through Rhode Island, our smallest state. Then we followed the Atlantic coastline through Connecticut and went through New York City. We've never been there, it was amazing. We didn't dare stop, as we might have gotten lost, just went right through. The big buildings of Manhattan we didn't get to see until we were across the river into New Jersey. We drove right past an airport as planes were landing and taking off, which surprised Celia quite a bit.

New Jersey was boring - one long turnpike without much to see. It was getting dark by then, so we played with the radio a lot. After paying the toll, we were over a bridge and into Delaware, which was the first state to form when the colonists won the war against King George III in 1776. We stayed just over the state line in Maryland last night. How many states in one day's drive? Crazy, huh?

So many states in just a few hours drive, really made me laugh. Texas is so big that it takes all day to get out of just that one state. I'm not used to driving through so many states all in one day. But there is lots of history and interesting things. New Jersey is called "the garden state", perhaps because it is so green and lush. Maryland has the Chesapeake Bay, and they are famous for their crabs and other seafood.

Today we drove through three states - Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia. It was a very long day, but very pretty. We were driving through the middle of the Appalachian Mountains, rolling green scenery. Much different to the fierce majesty of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, which we've visited years ago. We saw lots of cattle and horses, a few sheep, and I caught sight of one big rabbit in the fresh mown grass in between the highways.

Tomorrow we'll be driving through Tennessee - home to Nashville and all things country music, as well as Memphis which is home to the blues (which your Uncle James is crazy about) and yummy bbq ribs (it's not chops on the braai, but it makes Americans very happy). People talk different here in the south of the U.S. - we've heard people saying "y'all" again and there are honeysuckle vines, Sonic Drive-Ins and Krispy Kreme Donuts... well at least those are the things your cousins are excited about!

I'll try to add a slide show of our pictures once we get to Houston so you can see some of our journey. Much love to everyone in South Africa and enjoy the concert!