New York. My first stop! Spent 3 days here before heading to Rockville, chez Don and Marjorie. Was eased very gently into the travelling thing by non-stop pampering...tea in bed every morning, a mad cat to play with and lots and lots of food. Oh and those Thrashers fries Don! Marjorie, you are lucky. I have lost weight on my travels otherwise I was going to sue you for over feeding me!! Took a trip up to Niagara. Mixed blessings. Niagara Falls hostel (US side) like Bates motel. Walking there from the town centre was scary! Mean looking black kides hanging out on street corners. Then I met a big, fat, mad, psycho black momma who took 2 days to lose. Fortunately, despite the tack, the falls were spectacular. Then D & M kindly trusted their Lexus to me to drive 8 hours down to North Carolina. I managed to scratch the bumper (but not quite a fender bender!). Sorry Don:) More pampering by the lovely Denny and Rachel. Great food and great company. Denny took his time to catch a deer though. Don and Marjorie dropped me off at Dulles airport in the middle of the night. Got big hugs and I even detected tears in Marjorie's eyes as I set out on my own to Mexico.......