Andy and Maya arrived in America (nov.2008).

Still can’t believe it, but we are in the States! Over a week ago we left Britain. Our mate Chris took us in the middle of the night to Heathrow and yes, it was difficult to hug him goodbye. Then we flew from one culture in the other. We didn’t get hit by a culture shock like when we arrived in Buenos Aires, but there is a difference. Everything is BIG here; cars, pizza’s, buildings, people, even the toilets are extra large. We stayed at a campsite near Charleston, South Carolina, and squirrels where dancing all over the place.
The weather is very strange to us, hot during the day and freezing in the night. The inner and outer tent got frozen and the sleeping bags got wet from moisture. One morning I woke up and Andy was throwing his underpants against the inner tent. ‘What are you doing?’…’If my pants stick to it, I have to change my pants’.
In the evening we walked around the camp site and a very enthusiastic couple invited us to sit around the fire. It ended up in drinking beer and laughing a lot. John and Lynn invited us for Thanks Giving and together with Granny Mary we had a traditional Thanks Giving meal with corn, green beans, turkey and corn bread. This tradition comes from the early days when the first settlers arrived and didn’t know how to survive, so the Indians showed them how to grow food. That’s were Thanks Giving comes from and this dinner expressed to us a very kind type of hospitality that we will remember! Lynn also gave us a big shark tooth, a beautiful gift, much appreciated.
After 4 days we could pick the bike up, a real piece of cake. It took us only 4 hours to visit Customs, the Wallanius office and the port and there she was without any damage and nothing missing. I had to follow Andy who was driving a car and it was rush hour, so I ignored red lights and looked cute to other drivers so they let me pass…aahh, but it’s great to have the sidecar back!
And for who is interested, it cost us 690 pounds to ship the sidecar RORO from Southampton to Charleston in South Carolina and 63 dollars handling fees at the USA side. And Wallanius is an easy company to ship with (Thanks Debbie!).
To get into the States you need an address and Dan and Kim from the HU community in South Carolina had helped us out and invited us to their place, a beautiful house surrounded by woods. Without their help the officials wouldn’t have let us in. So here we are and it’s very nice to be with them. Very cozy and warm. They are an adventurous couple and have been travelling a lot, so there is much to talk about. The HU community idea works perfectly here and we hope so that we can spoil them when they come to Scotland. Thanks for being so good to us Dan and Kim, thanks for being so patience with us while visiting various camping shops!
Soon we will go South to Lillian near Pensacola, to visit Andy’s old friends Pete and Norma.
Till now we have been very lucky to met such a nice people, heartwarming that is.
The bike runs well and we are in travel mood.
Will be continued.
And if you want to know more go to our web site address www.adventuresidecar.co.uk
Andy and Maya.