Day 1 Bolton, UK to Stroudsburg, Pa.

The morning arrived and to say we were nervous is an understatement. Kate was absolutely petrified. We were crossing the Atlantic for the first time and in just a few short hours I would have to drive from Newark Airport to our first stop in Stroudsburg Pa.

I’d driven quite a lot in continental Europe so I was used to driving on the “wrong” side of the road and whilst the rules of the road in the UK and Europe are very similar, I had no idea what applied in the USA. I’d spent some time on the internet getting to know as much as I could but I was acutely aware that there would be stuff I didn’t know. I’d just have to drive slow and upset everyone until I got used to it.

Take-off time came and I was surprised at how quickly the flight passed. You imagine the Atlantic being very wide. Well it is, but after leaving the west coast of Ireland, it was a mere 4 hours before we started to see icebergs in the sea and not much longer before we started passing islands off the west coast of Labrador, Canada.

Then we crossed into US air space and it was no time at all until we could see the Big Apple out of the window. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. New York – imagine Kate and I flying into one of New York’s airports. It would have been unthinkable a mere few months previously. We landed and taxied in. I thought – it’s no big deal – just like any other airport we’d been to. It reminded us a bit of Madrid. Well we soon found out how different it was.

We queued up at immigration behind the passengers off of a 747 from Tokyo. It seemed to take forever, then suddenly it was our turn. Electronic fingerprints, photograph etc. The homeland security guy was a Texan and when he saw our final destination was Texas he waved us through with a smile. Nice guy.

Our Stratus

By the time we got to the baggage claim, ours were the only bags left on the carousel. We quickly retrieved them, grabbed a luggage trolley and headed in the direction of – er – well we didn’t really know. Luckily there were a few Indian guys with turbans who were there to help and they quickly directed us to the little train to take us to the car rental area. Boy was it hot. We’d left Engand in 50 degrees and it was over 90 in Newark according to the thermometers on the wall.

Just as we got onto the train, a mini catastrophe struck. Kate, hater of all things creepy crawly, sat down and was immediately joined by the biggest Praying Mantis you’ve ever seen. It sat on her knees, arms in the regulation position, huge eyes glaring up at her. Now, the biggest insects we get in England are about the size of bees. We only see Praying Mantises on National Geographic Channel. This thing was as big as a small bird, a nasty taupe colour and Kate went demented and jumped 6 feet in the air. The startled mantis fluttered onto the baggage trolley and sat there scowling at us whilst I calmed Kate down, much to the amusement of the Japanese tourists sitting in the train with us. Not a good start.

We reached the car rental station and the mantis accompanied us on the trolley as we alighted the train, Kate keeping a safe 50 feet behind until we’d done the paperwork and received our car keys.

We ran the trolley to the car – a very nice Dodge Stratus (pictured) with almost no miles on the clock - loaded our cases and left the trolley in the trolley park with our new American friend still sitting there watching us. I swear it waved sadly as we left.

By this time it was becoming dark. Oh good – Friday rush hour traffic coming out of New York headed for the Poconas mountains like us. We drove along the relatively quiet airport exit roads the hit the Interstate. Oh my God! 3 lanes at 65 miles an hour, solid traffic and to make matters worse, it was dusk. I swallowed hard. Kate shut her eyes and I assume she was praying. OK, Keep Calm, You’re British – you don’t let a little thing like 7.4 million cars whizzing past on the wrong side of the road spook you.

OK. Here we go - signal – accelerate into the traffic - loud honk of the air horn from some angry New York trucker and we’re away. Only 70 miles to run and it passed without incident. What type are all these strange cars – never seen one of those before, nor one of those. It looked very much like a European road except for the strange cars. Then we were in Stroudsburg. It was dark but we found the hotel without too much difficulty. Boy was the receptionist friendly, but boy did this town look weird. Best to check it out in the morning – we were tired having been up 20 hours and although it was only 8.00pm in Stroudsburg, It was 1.00am UK and body time. We collapsed into bed and slept like logs. Boy is this bed big……….zzzzzzzz.

Bright and early, we were up and into breakfast and quickly exploring our new town. Strange – all the buildings are made of wood and raised up above the ground. It felt very, very foreign. We felt very, very alone. Even in Southern Europe where they speak foreign languages, we felt more at home. We were a bit worried.

We needn’t have been concerned, the people were wonderful. That first day, everywhere we stopped, people heard our accents and wanted to talk to us. The people were so polite, friendly, supportive. Not a bit like England. We like it here we decided.