USA 2003 Holiday

USA 2003 Holiday - Page 1

After having agreed to buy a car that was advertised on www.ebay.com, this holiday was to collect the car from Gilmer (East Texas) and drive it to Miami (Florida), for shipment to Bremerhaven (Germany). There are further details of this car on its web site here.

March 15^th 2003 to March 19^th 2003 - Home to Alexandria, Louisiana
March 20^th 2003 - Alexandria to Sulphur
March 21^st 2003 - Sulphur to Lafayette
March 22^nd 2003 - Lafayette to Morgan City
March 23^rd 2003 - Morgan City to New Orleans
March 24^th 2003 - New Orleans
March 24^th 2003 - New Orleans Balconies
March 25^th & March 26^th2003 - New Orleans to Gulf Port
March 27^th 2003 - Gulf Port to Mobile
March 28^th 2003 - Mobile to Fort Walton
March 29^th 2003 - Fort Walton to Tallahassee
March 30^th 2003 - Tallahassee to Ocala
March 31^st 2003 to April 1^st 2003 - Ocala to Miami
April 2^nd to April 4^th 2003 - Miami
Fuel Log, Summary

March 15^th 2003

- taxi from home to Siegburg railway station (06:20 - 06:45, Euro 25,00).

ICE train at Frankfurt Airport

- ICE express train from Siegburg to Frankfurt Airport (07:11 - 07:49, Euro 30,00).

waiting at Frankfurt Airport

Whilst I caught up on some lost sleep whilst waiting to board the plane ....

teddy bears at Frankfurt Airport

.... Andrea took this photo of a window display in Terminal 2.

Frankfurt Airport

This was our first view of the Airbus (US Airways 893) that was to take us from Frankfurt to Philadelphia (11:00 - 20:15 CET).

view from aircraft

Although the food on US Airways was not as plentiful as on our previous flights to the USA, and no GPS information was available (so we don't know where we were when we took this photo out of the window), there was a superb Rockwell entertainment system - each passenger had their own LCD screen and could select their individual choice of films, comedy programmes or music to be played out from the server. This ensured that the flight passed very quickly indeed!

view from aircraft

The coastline on our approach into Philadelphia.

aircraft at Philadelphia Airport

Despite leaving Frankfurt almost 45 minutes late, the aircraft landed on time in Philadelphia. We had to wait over six hours before our ongoing flight (US Airways 1109) to Miami (02:55 - 06:30 CET).

- Free Shuttle Bus from Miami Airport to Sleep Inn Hotel (07:00 CET, 00:00 local, Euro 66,00).

March 16^th 2003 - overcast, warm, humid

- Free Shuttle Bus from Sleep Inn Hotel back to Miami Airport (09:30 - 10:00).

Collected Hertz Ford Focus rental car, drove from Miami to Executive Inn, Marianna, Florida (567 miles, 10:30 - 22:00, US$ 32,85 / Euro 30,83).

March 17^th 2003 - sunny, warm

- Drove from Marianna to AAA offices at Shreveport, Louisiana to arrange car insurance cover for 1998 Ford SVT Cobra Mustang Convertible - not possible, since we are not Louisiana residents !!

- Drove on to Microtel Inn, Longview, Texas (688 miles, 07:30 - 20:45, US$ 45,15 / Euro 43,09).

March 18^th 2003 - overcast in morning, tornados in afternoon & evening

- Drove from Longview to Gilmer, test drove 1998 Ford SVT Cobra Mustang, then back in to Longview. Paid for car, collected title and notarized Export Power of Attorney Form from credit union.

- Tornado hit Longview whilst we were inside the credit union. Arranged motor insurance through ABC, Longview (temporary 30 day Basic Full Comprehensive cover with US$ 500 excess cost a staggering US$ 387,50, only payable via Money Order - returned to credit union to convert cash into money order).

- Drove from Longview (in Ford SVT Cobra and Focus convoy) east along the Interstate 20 to Shreveport Airport, returned rental Focus to Hertz, then continued in SVT Cobra (through two further tornados - despite blinding lightning displays, tremendous winds and torrential rain, the rag-top of the SVT Cobra sealed perfectly, but the 275/40ZR17 tyres frequently failed to cut through the surface water and aquaplaned badly) along the I20 across Louisiana to Travel Inn, Vicksburg, Mississippi (287 miles, 14:30 - 21:30, US$ 41,80 / Euro 39,88)

March 19^th 2003 - sunny, warm

Ford SVT Cobra Mustang Convertible with Delta Queen

The next morning we were greeted with clear blue skies and sunshine, so took this photo of the SVT Cobra in front of the Delta Queen paddle steamer on the Mississippi River at Vicksburg.

A close-up of the paddles on the Delta Queen.

Vicksburg wall painting

The Vicksburg Riverfront Mural.

Vicksburg rail and road bridges

The rail and road bridges across the Mississippi River at Vicksburg.

Vicksburg rail and road bridges

Another view of the rail and road bridges, with just part of a huge freight barge passing underneath.

Paddle Steamer Casino

This paddle steamer had been converted into a Casino.

From Vicksburg we continued east along the Interstate 20 to Clinton, then down a part of the Natchez Trace Parkway.

A road sign at the old Sunken Trace trail in the Natchez State Park.

Natchez Under The Hill

Another paddle steamer, this one at Natchez-Under-The-Hill.

Natchez Bridge

We crossed back onto the west side of the Mississippi River from Natchez (Mississippi) ....

.... to Vidalia (Louisiana), where we saw this road sign.

The 'gators don't only drive cars in Louisiana - this looks like a lovely garden pond, but the owner informed us that his wife is concerned that their resident alligator will eat her terrier dogs.

oil drill

Perhaps he should start drilling for oil ?

- Drove on to the Ramada Inn, Alexandria (242 miles, 08:30 - 19:30, US$ 42).

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Page created on: March 22, 2003

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