Thrilled at being alive and surviving bear country in the Smokies (and the hillbillies), we thought we'd take on a second bear infested mountain to really show them how us city slickers can handle roughing it. Enter Shenandoah National Park.

Bear warning signs at every bend of the beautiful Skyline drive and claw marks on every tree on every trail: not a bear in sight! They must've smelt our Dior perfume and John Frieda hair spray a mile off (one would've thought the stench of not showering for 3 days would have had the opposite effect on bears?) We were advised to buy bear bells to alert these vicious creatures to our presence, however Boo's Fox 40 proved a perfect replacement. The most dangerous thing we encountered the entire stay was the squirrels gnawing at our tent and gale force winds bending our poor tent into origami shapes it's surely not designed for!

After a few gorgeous hikes, we hot footed it out of the mountains on a rainy morning and drove straight to Washington DC for our fix of vicious city animals: drivers here are far worse than any taxi driver in Joburg and Hayley managed to get into a road rage incident pretty quickly upon entering the capital. Suffice to say the other guy came off second best. Obviously. Crossing the Potomac River and driving along Constitution Ave past the White House, The Lincoln Memorial and the Smithsonian museums was an awe-inspiring moment.

The only campsite we could find was an expensive, commercialized holiday park: complete with games rooms, restaurant and shop situated next to the motorway. The complete opposite of the serenity we'd just come from. But, DC was easily accessible on the metro and we had a fabulous time exploring the many sights. A beautiful city, a lot like London with historical buildings and open green spaces. Piece de resistance: finding Hooters in Chinatown, complete with Chinese name translation on the door.

Sadly we didn't catch a glimpse of Barack or Michelle, hopefully okes were in a meeting talking about how to give the moffies equal rights in this, the land of the "free" and the home of the brave… A more likely scenario would be them in a meeting instructing the IMF to transfer funds into Booley's account.

Washington DC done. Love it! Next stop Maryland, Delaware, NYC baby!!