Carole in the USA

After another weekend sailing I packed my bags - well, what I could fit in them - and headed home. The trip was really good. Somehow I got an "ecomony plus" seat which had plenty of leg room, so I had a comfortable trip.

So that was the grand old USA. Very pretty at this time of the year, particularly as in most areas houses are not fenced, which makes it all look like a giant park. People plant lots of annuals when the snow goes away, which makes it even prettier.

Yes, very pretty, nice people, but I wouldn't want to live there. It's very much a "me first" society, and Americans admit to that.
There is very little consideration for people born into unfortunate circumstances and little is done to give the children much hope of improvement. People object to paying higher taxes which may be used to help those in need. This is in a country where almost everyone I met was a churchgoer.

Schools and police forces are locally financed, which means a poor community cannot afford to hire good teachers or policemen. Some towns do not have a police force at all and are supervised by State Police.

Many employers provide health insurance as part of the pay package, but this is not the case for 45 million Americans, who have to fund their own insurance at something like $1300 month, which of course they can't afford. They are covered by a Medicare type arrangement, which has a stigma attached to it.

It seems to be a common opinion that these people should have gone to College (Uni)then they wouldn't be in their poor situation. The fact that they didn't have the brains to do it, or that their parents couldn't afford it doesn't seem to be relevant - the parents should have gone to college, too!

All cars have to have comprehensive insurance - at least 4 times the price of ours.

They also have to pay insurance for their old age care if they want to have any hope of getting into a nursing home.

Well, they do have one really good law - in West Virginia - it is now legal to eat roadkill. There never was a law saying that it was illegal!

Yesterday (Friday) Ev and I went to the city. We drove part way then caught a bus in. Ev had to go to an appointment so I went to the Museum to catch up on American Indian stuff because I hadn't seen any anywhere.

I had to get a cab there and then back to meet Ev at the Turkish restaurant where we had dinner before going to a show. (Ev made me do it) On the way to the museum we got stuck in a traffic jam which was quite exciting (and noisy)! On the way back, the driver took me through Central Park which was very pretty and I didn't get murdered.

Went to see "Golda's Balcony", a very heavy, one person show about Golda Meir.

The Falls were just as impressive as you would expect, and the river gorge quite spectacular. The Falls had been eating their way backwards at an alarming rate so the amount of water which is allowed to go over has been reduced by 50% to preserve them. At night when there are no tourists around, the flow is reduced even more and redirected for production of hydroelectricity.

We also visited some locks on the canal, a butterfly garden, a winery and of course took a ride on the Maid of the Mist which was only a little bit terrifying.

Because school groups visit the area there are lots of fun things for kids - House of Horrors, Ripleys Believe it or Not, Wax museum of famous criminals - anything scary or bloodthirsty.

In our free time a small group uf us went to the IMAX theatre to see Myths and Legends of the Falls. I bought the DVD (that is the share experience) The kids will love it too, if it doesn't scare them to death. We also visited a glass blowing factory and had dinner in a revolving restaurant high above the falls.

Last Saturday we went to the Commissioning of new officers at the yacht club. Ev is the new Marine Chairman. A very patriotic ceremony, held at sundown, with the raising of the flag, national anthem, bagpipes and cannon firing.

We slept overnight on the boat, which was wonderfully therapeutic. I felt like a baby being rocked to sleep!

We had breakfast in a diner on City Island with other boaties, then went out sailing for the day. There was not much breeze so we had to be power assisted. I got really sunburnt - my face felt like it was on fire!

Today we are going to explore boat gear shops and antique shops on City Island, going for dinner at the Club again (beautiful food), sleeping on the boat again and sailing tomorrow.

This is a long weekend for Memorial Day on Monday (like ANZAC day) and we will picnic with others somewhere on Long Island Sound.

Most Americans I have spoken to think the Harlem Yacht Club is a joke. I'll have to go to Edithvale Yacht club wearing my T-shirt.

I don't know what I can say about Washington without writing a book.

Lots of very grand buildings and monuments mostly in white or pale stone. If you went looking for the "White House" you'd never find it.

Lots of stairways leading up to buildings with gigantic columns, housing huge statues and sculptures of presidents and other famous figures. All the government office buildings are impressive, too. Everything is spotlessly clean and set in beautifully kept park like settings with lots of water features.

The white of the buildings contrasts nicely with all the homeless black people sleeping around them. Well, I did see some, but no more than you would see in Melbourne.

When we first entered the outer suburbs, we drove for miles through streets lined with 2 or 3 story terrace houses, only one room wide, all well maintained or in the process of being renovated. I saw one white person - and she was Japanese.

There is so much construction, maintenance and renovation going on in the city that it is hard to get a photo without a bit of machinery in it.

We left by another route where the picture was a bit different, a poorer area, but not too bad really and as the streets are all tree lined, still quite pretty.

We stayed at a hotel in McLean, Virginia, which I had never heard of. Again very clean, handsome buldings and excellent roads to cope with the most unbelievable traffic that any of us had ever seen (including Americans).

There was US resident French woman and her visiting French friend with us. I had to scratch up all my high school French as she kept on talking to me after I had made the mistake of introducing myself in French. At one stage I was alone with her for about 45 minutes, and though it was fun I was glad when she linked up with her friend again. Then I went off to the souvenir shop and spoke to the woman behind the counter in French!! I didn't even realise I was doing it.

The tour guide had asked me what part of England I was from.

The two of them had wine with their meal each night, but the US/French woman said she could wait to get home to crack a can!

I won't bore you now with details of all the places I visited - I'll do that when I get back with the photos - that is if the security x-rays before entering every building did not melt the insides of my camera. Remind me to tell you about the guide at the Ford theatre - it would take too long to write.

Back to the Yacht Club yesterday for Ev's party (and mine and Jess) It was really good to see all the boys and their women at the same time.

Managed to go for a quick sail in the morning. The club is just across the water from the Empire State building, but you would think you were somewhere way out in the country, except for the constant stream of jets coming and going from La Guardia airport.It's amazing that there are no accidents.

Ev's mum came today to take me out for lunch and a bit of a drive about. She was upset that I was spending so much time here. She had to drive a hour each way, plus the rest of the time looking around. She is 86 years old and permanently bent into sitting position and can not walk very much at all, so it was a really big effort on her part and I really appreciated it.

We went to a place called Lafayette which actually turned out to be a fake old village as mentioned in Lonely Planet. I wouldn't have guessed if Rex hadn't told me the real village is a bit further up the road.

Tonight the fireflies came out for the first time which was a big surprise - I thought I was seeing things!

I cooked Tuna Mornay for dinner tonight - I didn't realise it is an Aussie recipe. Toby actually liked it!

Jess and Trina will be home tonight and Ben and Jen tomorrow, ready for Ev's party at the Yacht Club.

I forgot to tell you about the pumpkin house at Kenova. It is actually Ben's father-in-law's house. Each year at Halloween he buys 2ooo or more pumpkins which are carved by volunteers and low risk prisoners, to decorate his house.

The innards of the pumpkins and the remaining shells are eventually taken away by local pig farmers for feed.

It, as well as his drugstore/soda fountain, is becoming a major tourist attraction.

If you enter - Pumpkin House Kenova - on Google you will find one or two of the results with photos. I didn't find one with the pumpkins all lit up, but I have a postcard of it.

We didn't get to NY/Broadway yesterday because Ev was not well. I hope we can fit that in, but time is running out.

A few more bits-

Not as many black people as I expected. Blacks generally well accepted and respected in the community.

That little red flag you see on mail boxes is to signify to the postie that there is mail for him to collect for delivery.

Residents buy their own garbage bins - the same size as ours but lighter. Just as well, because garbage collection is still done the old way. Workers have to pick the bins up and throw contents into the truck. Then they fling the bins on to the side of the road, or on the road, and are constantly damaging them.

The little ol' yellow school buses are not actually old - they are still produced to the old tried and true design. They are really cute (and distinctive). The buses drop each child right at their gateway even if they are only a few metres apart, and traffic behind has to stop each time, too.

The weather has been quite hot every day - high 20's to low 30's. Last night we had a bewdy thunderstorm with lots of spectacular lightning.

Just back from a 4 day trip to West Virginia - a 600 mile trip each way!

We went to attend Ben's graduation from the West Virginia Police Academy. Ben has grown into a really impressive young man and will do well. He will follow his basic training with further studies which will take him as far as he wants to go. He has already seen an amazing amount of action, having been thrown in at the deep end right from the start. As a police officer, he is also a fireman and has been commended for bravery in risking his life to save 4 people from a burning building.

He also got me out of jail! (Well, he did put me in there).

His father-in-law is an amazing, eccentric pharmacist who runs a drug store/soda fountain which has been in the family for over 100 years. He has restored the shop to its original condition and added other memorabilia of the town's history.

We stayed at Huntington and went to Kenova where Ben lives and works. He took us for a drive around both areas and out into the back blocks.

Very pretty scenery, beautiful farm land and houses contrasting with the most horrific areas of housing that I've seen here yet.The trailer parks are not caravan parks as we know them, but huge areas crammed with aluminium boxes, surrounded by very few, if any trees. Trailers can also be seen beside the most luxurious houses out in the hills or in the township.

I don't have any photos because Ben said that if we stopped to take shots, we could very well expect a bit of return fire.

I have to take back what I said about the condition of the roads. They are bad in close to NY city and a lot of that damage is caused by ice. The freeways are great and the system of numbering roads and exits is good.

However the freeways were cut through the country side long after settlement, taking the easiest route, so there is not much to be seen unless you take an exit. There are no stops on the freeways for food or fuel - exit signs show if they are available. Three or four times we took an exit only to find ourselves in a town that was splattered all over the place, with no indication of where the gas station was. At one place we gave up and went on to the next exit.

Railway crossings, as I said do not always have "wig-wags" or boom gates. We came across one that had both, boom down and lights flashing and not a train in sight. Ben just backed off and went to another crossing! Not far from there I saw another one - lights flashing, boom not down - obviously another one out of order.

Our tour with Ben also took us over into Kentucky, where you can almost immediately see the increase in the wealth of the people and a much higher standard of living and community pride.

I bought 4 cartons of cigarettes there for $90!