Day 195 to 200: Road tripping and a Michigan marriage

With Andrew and Angie's car boot stuffed to the limit and their fun friend Michelle on board, we started the long trek to Michigan for Matt and Bethany's wedding. Their wedding was the main reason we came the States at this time. Matt is a good friend from NZ, and we were looking forward to finally meeting Bethany - she's from Michigan, and we were always in the UK when she visited Matt in NZ.

Our road trip made good progress on our first evening; we crossed the New York state border around midnight, after driving through a fantastic thunderstorm. We overnighted in a motel in Syracuse and rose early the next day to make it to Niagara Falls (on the Canadian side) around lunchtime. We had a good spray-soaked walk to view the falls in impressive action, followed by a rather less inspiring lunch at a mostly empty Tony Roma's restaurant. The drive from this point was fairly unexciting - flat, mostly identical scenery, a traffic jam, border crossing back into the USA - coffee and a snack break helped, but we were all pleased to arrive at Angie's parents house just in time for dinner.

Matt and Bethany's wedding weekend was a fun time of getting to know more of their family, hanging out with the newly married couple, and enjoying a really warm welcome at Angie's parents place. The day after the wedding we had a little unexpected excitement when the tornado warning siren sounded while guests and family were hanging out at Bethany's parents' house. All the Kiwi guys stood out on the front lawn watching the clouds swirl above us, and the sky turn grey-green, until they decided to heed Angie's advice to come indoors. We didn't see an actual twister form and later heard that it hit about 50 miles away. Not much damage was caused, but it was enough to seriously delay our train to Chicago the next evening. Angie's parents kindly saved us from having to arrive in Chicago at ~4am - they came and collected us from the station and dropped us back at the station the next day to catch our rescheduled train - an extra 2 hours of driving for them. It was a huge help for us, and they even sent us off with packed lunches - these came in very handy when the rescheduled train still had to go slowly for tornado damage and took a couple of hours longer than normal.

Day 192 to 195: Peaceful times in Boston

We arrived in Boston in good time for a tasty dinner at Legal Seafood, with the great company of our NZ friend Andrew and his awesome wife Angie, a Michigan girl. We took a post-dinner stroll around Harvard, where we saw all the seats arranged for graduation ceremonies. Everything was set up outdoors, because apparently it never rains for Harvard graduation! Over the next couple of days Angie led us on an excellent walking tour of Boston, including delicious fresh canoli in Little Italy, a laid-back afternoon in waterfront Rockport, and plenty of history along the way.

Day 187 to 192: New England meanderings

From New York, a bus and a rental car journey brought us to Newport, Rhode Island, where we spent a day strolling around the opulent mansions of the Gilded Age. I thought the impressive B&B we stayed at was large enough to be a mansion, with seven bedrooms and an apartment, but the Vanderbilts and their wealthy set built their houses to ridiculous proportions. Newport's coastal setting was perfect for finishing the day with clam chowder, lobster roll, and an enormous dessert at a lively pub.

The next morning we headed up country to New Hampshire. En-route we drove through Providence's pretty 'Mile of History' and wandered around the fascinating Canterbury Shaker Village, where Shakers (an offset of the Quakers) once lived simple lives and produced goods of impeccable quality. As we approached Bethlehem, New Hampshire, we came over a rise to a peaceful lake and thunderous sky. We were treated with a brilliant rainbow and the rare sight of a beaver diligently swimming toward his dam. Moments later a downpour started, and we felt lucky to have come upon the scene at the right moment.

Arriving at our B&B in Bethlehem, the owner Mary came out to our car in the pouring rain with a massive umbrella to help us inside, and we knew we'd come to a good place! We'd booked the smallest (and cheapest) room and she upgraded us to a larger once. Fresh baking and awesome breakfasts went down a treat, and Mary even did all our washing for us; a great help after a couple of weeks on the road! We spent our time leisurely exploring the picturesque New Hampshire landscape, visiting the impressive Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods (where the IMF and the World Bank were created), and headed into neighbouring Vermont, where we drove through the Green Mountain National Park. Sparkling clear mountain streams, quaint villages, covered bridges, and barns that looked just like the typical red toy barn made for a delightful roadtrip. We completed our road tour by taking America's original scenic route, The Mohawk Trail, toward Boston.

Day 172 to 186: Our bite of the Big Apple

What we did with a week in NYC:

• Clocked up a marathon and a half - we explored New York largely on foot and loved wandering in the different neighbourhoods
• Became regulars at Johny's Luncheonette - a bustling countertop eatery serving up cheap and delicious breakfasts...mmm, fresh blueberry pancakes!
• Immersed ourselves in Picasso, Van Gogh and arty design at the Museum of Modern Art, made even more enjoyable by having the $20 entrance fee waived on Friday night
• Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and the entire length of Central Park, including swinging by Strawberry Fields (at my request)
• Savoured southern soul food in Harlem, the best bagels from a Jewish joint and more awesome American BBQ, thanks to excellent recommendations from friends
• Learnt about life as a poor immigrant in the Lower East Side Tenement Museum - an old tenement house that closed in the Depression years and provides a fascinating snapshot of immigrants' lives
• Went up the Empire State Building for fantastic views of....the misty cloud enclosing the viewing platform that day! With bad weather for our last few days in New York, we thought we'd picked a good moment to go up as we could finally see the top of the building from ground level. Alas, it wasn't quite as clear as it appeared! Still, after patiently waiting in the mist, there were moments where the cloud swept away to let us appreciate slivers of New York views.

Day 168 to 171: The Mike and Sara tour of DC

We received a locals' introduction to Washington DC, with Mike and Sara Kruger showing us the best of their city. We'd first met the Krugers in our early days in London and really enjoyed catching up with them five years later on their home turf.

Our DC tour included plenty of interesting history, a visit to local markets, the Peep Show - where fluffy marshmallow bunnies and chickens featured in all sorts of creative scenes, strolling in red-brick Williamstown, mouthwatering BBQ at Hill Country, and the best Red Velvet cupcake we've ever eaten.

When Monday sent Mike and Sara back to work, Michael and I explored the more typical DC sights - the Jefferson Library, the Capitol Building, the National Archives, the Monument Walk along the Mall and the collection of famous planes, rockets and satellites at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Early summer weather encouraged us to walk everywhere and we were left with a favourable impression of DC.

Day 162 to 167: Home and away

Being welcomed back to London after nearly six months away was so friendly and social it felt like one of our visits to New Zealand. We stayed with Caz and Mottie, who put on an impromptu 'welcome back' party for us, with Caz cooking up all sorts of deliciousness in the kitchen.

Beyond being social, our London stopover was a busy time of catching up on life admin and organising our trip to the States. We quickly discovered New York's exorbitant accommodation prices, which was a shock after cheap rooms and plenty of availability in Turkey. Friday morning bright and early we headed to the airport and flew to Washington DC via Charlotte, to start our Stateside trip.