---->DALLAS/FORT WORTH--->KNOXVILLE.
LOS ANGELOS to
DALLAS............
DALLAS toKNOXVILLE5 days in Tennessee...
Greyhound bustrip;
Johnson City, TN-->Fort Chiswell?, VA-->Charlotte, NC--->Laurinberg, NC.
4 days in South Carolina/North Carolina.
CHARLOTTE to
CHICAGO
CHARLOTTE-->CHICAGO------->LONDON----------->TOKYO/NARITA------>PERTH.
0.American/Australian Dictionarypage.....map version of this page...
On 25th November 2001 at 2250hrs or thereabouts I boarded a Qantas plane from Perth to Melbourne. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
What followed was an exciting, challenging, and often exhilarating trip, and holiday. My first time overseas. In extreme brief; some of the;
MEMORABLE MOMENTS
1. Bristol Lights Festival at the NASCAR raceway in Tennessee........unfortunately I dont have any photos from this, or some of the Christmas lights in the centre of Bennettsville....
2. Visiting my brother and his baby McKenzie, getting to hold her, meeting McKenzie's mother and her family. Being able to pass on the presents for the baby from Mum, my sister....Watching college basketball games on TV almost every night.Kicking a footy (Australian rules footy of course) with him, hanging out, talking about hopes for the future, things like that, stuff I havent done for many years....special......!!!
This stuff alone was well worth the trip!!!!!!!!!!...PHOTOS....
3. Ascending the summit of "Round Bald" (nearly 6000ft high) with a friend, which was near a place called Rhodendron Gardens, on the North Carolina/Tennessee border. I think its one of the 5 peaks of ROAN Mountain. Got some beaut!!! photos here!!!plus we got there when the moon was coming up and the sun was going down.
Go here for PHOTOS.....(and a link to a map of the roads in the area).
to the top of this part of Roan mountain on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina.
On the first photo below; "Welcome to North Carolina" is written on the sign in the background on the right, but its too difficult to make it out on this scanned version.
Roadswise it is where TN 143 becomes NC 261.
See more photos (and a link to a map)here.
Laurinburg,NC; was the final destination of my greyhound bus trip from Johnson city,TN.
4. The various places around the USA and the World I flew through and the bustrip from TN through VA to NC. For example flying past this massive lake into Chicago. Or the massive airports and endless city lights of Dallas/Fort Worth, London, Los Angelos, Chicago, and Tokyo/Narita. The various cultural differences of the airlines and peoples in USA,England, Japan and Australia.
more PHOTOS here.....
LANDFALL!
5. Just being in the beautiful mountainside country of Tennessee....PHOTOS....
6. Going rollerskating in TN, watching the big football game on TV between the Volunteers and the Gators, and seeing the Vollies win...playing basketball out on the hoop outside. The hunting culture was interesting.
7. Meeting my TN friends' extended family and friends, and visiting her church.
8. Visiting the "blue hole" a deep and cold water spring.
9. Visiting this big lake in the evening, and hearing something we thought was maybe a bear or deer...
10. Some of the resturants and fastfood places (there are so many there!). Going to "Perkins" was one of the best times. "Motos" was ok too...
11. Getting used to driving on the right hand (but wrong *LOL*) side of the road and many other things, especially some of the words and phrases....plus a lot of Spanish everywhere in CA as you'd expect....
12. Santa Monica, California
13. Meeting and spending some time with my best friend of 2001 A.D.
