Let the blogging re-commence.

We have made it. After six days of almost non stop travelling we finally arrived in Eugene, Oregon late last night. We actually arrived in the States on Saturday afternoon but then had a mammoth drive from Los Angeles to Eugene over the next couple of days. It certainly wasn’t made any less painful by our 55mph self imposed speed limit (even in the haze of tiredness, the budget bells still ring loud and clear).

Despite being a long car journey we did manage to experienced a few lifetime firsts. We were forced kicking and screaming into an American diner (twice) once for a heart attack sandwich (also known as a burger) the other for breakfast in the form of pancakes and syrup. Both were exceedingly good. Fortunately for both of our waistlines, health and sporting abilities we have now managed to get to a supermarket for ‘proper’ food.

In addition to this, Chris has taken to driving on the right hand side of the road for the first time like a duck to water (!) and I have reached the height of monotony on a run - a 40min run in the dark at a motor way service station using a 65 second loop. Speaking of running records, I also completed my latest ever Sunday run. After arriving in Eugene at 10pm, I headed out for a long run which finished at 00:14am. Though perhaps enough records have been broken for one week so hopefully normal training will resume tomorrow!

It also feels like we‘ve already learnt a good deal about the America:

1. Everything is big. We have hired an economy car and expected a three door small car like those we had in Australia. But, no, an economy car in the US is a five door normal sized family car. However it still turns out that our car hardly comes up to wheel level on almost every other monster truck that is on the road. It’s not just the cars though it’s everything. Road signs, food portions, Wal-mart and don’t get Chris started on the size of some of the people. ‘It’s monstrous’ are my most used words at the moment although I wasn’t complaining when I saw the ‘Monstrous’ sized bottles of wine in the supermarkets…mmmm.

2. Lots of stuff is open 24/7. We rocked up at our first Motel just before midnight and lots of diners are open all night (it could be heaven if you get late night munchies).

3. Drivers don’t indicate when turning off at a junction. Makes running fairly hazardous.

4. At least half of the American’s we have spoken to claim that the English Premier Football league is not popular in the US….and then said they support Arsenal or Man United.

5. Don’t believe a price tag. It only tells half the story.

6. Petrol is cheap but interestingly in Oregon it’s illegal to fill up the car yourself.

7. America is a beautiful country with some amazing scenery, and American‘s can‘t be more helpful. Lots of places to explore in the next three months and hopefully people to be met!

We love the USA!


Our 'economy' car for the next three months


A snapshot of some of the beautiful scenery on the California/Oregon border