Having Spent our first year full timing touring around europe we decided to ship our motorhome to the States. Mike read an article written by another couple who had done this and thought 'they did it, why can't we?' The best way to achieve this was to have a temporary import bond for the vehicle. Although we thought we had researched this extensively we learnt a lot as we went along about all aspects of the trip and we had to jump bureaucratic hurdles that we weren't expecting.
We left the van in Southampton and flew to Florida at the beginning of November 2003. While we waited for the van we hired a car and explored the coastlines of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, staying in motels. We met Joann and Mitch Sherman while having a meal at a restaurant in Charleston, South Carolina. This meeting resulted in an invite to Thanksgiving in Georgetown, South Carolina with Joann's family in November. After Thanksgiving we headed to New Orleans via Florida and Alabama. In New Orleans we were shown around by Ivan and Mark. Ivan is Mitch's brother in law. Although we hadn't met them before we felt that we had always known them, they made us feel so welcome. From New Orleans we went to Long Island, New York for a family Christmas with my cousin Sidonie. During the New Year we explored some of New England until the weather became too cold and headed back south to Texas. During February we took the Copper Canyon train journey in Mexico as well as spending time in Texas. The weather warmed up during March as we took the motorhome to Mexico's Baja Penninsula, watching grey wales a highlight. During April we headed north again and spent time in California. It was brilliant to share holidays with friends and family during April and May, spending time in California, Nevada and Arizona. It was becoming a bit too hot in the desert without air conditioning in the van so in June we headed north to South Dakota, Montana and finished up in Seattle. We took a cruise to Alaska in July and on our return we explored the Vancouver area. In August we drove across Canada via the Rocky mountains and returned into the USA in September near Niagara Falls. The final newsletter for 2004 was sent in November and describes our journey from Maine to South Carolina. We dropped the van off in Baltimore to ship back to the UK and as we were homeless and had the time we took three cruises, staying on the same ship. This ended up in Galveston, Texas and we flew back to the UK.
We left the van in Southampton and flew to Florida at the beginning of November 2003. While we waited for the van we hired a car and explored the coastlines of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, staying in motels. We met Joann and Mitch Sherman while having a meal at a restaurant in Charleston, South Carolina. This meeting resulted in an invite to Thanksgiving in Georgetown, South Carolina with Joann's family in November. After Thanksgiving we headed to New Orleans via Florida and Alabama. In New Orleans we were shown around by Ivan and Mark. Ivan is Mitch's brother in law. Although we hadn't met them before we felt that we had always known them, they made us feel so welcome. From New Orleans we went to Long Island, New York for a family Christmas with my cousin Sidonie. During the New Year we explored some of New England until the weather became too cold and headed back south to Texas. During February we took the Copper Canyon train journey in Mexico as well as spending time in Texas. The weather warmed up during March as we took the motorhome to Mexico's Baja Penninsula, watching grey wales a highlight. During April we headed north again and spent time in California. It was brilliant to share holidays with friends and family during April and May, spending time in California, Nevada and Arizona. It was becoming a bit too hot in the desert without air conditioning in the van so in June we headed north to South Dakota, Montana and finished up in Seattle. We took a cruise to Alaska in July and on our return we explored the Vancouver area. In August we drove across Canada via the Rocky mountains and returned into the USA in September near Niagara Falls. The final newsletter for 2004 was sent in November and describes our journey from Maine to South Carolina. We dropped the van off in Baltimore to ship back to the UK and as we were homeless and had the time we took three cruises, staying on the same ship. This ended up in Galveston, Texas and we flew back to the UK.
