1st September - Today is Labor Day in America so the one major way in/one major way out Cape Cod was snided with traffic and people (just like a bank holiday in England), but we wanted to go on a whale-watching boat ride at the tip of the cape, in a place called Provincetown. This town is just as pretty as the rest of the cape but is more commercial and gay friendly, cue many gay businesses and rainbow flags - which gives it a friendly and colourful vibe. We stopped at a local state park visitor centre only a mile or so away from the centre of the town to use their observation deck, which is only about 30 feet up but gives nice views of the dunes and coastline, before driving to the harbour. We got there just in time (we had to virtually run for the boat after finding trouble getting a parking space on this very busy day) to get the boat and we set of around the tip of Cape Cod to look for humpbacks. The day, like yesterday, was gorgeous and hot, with not a cloud in the sky, but the sea was rather choppy and we bounced happily along like weebles. Within an hour we had seen our first humpback whales breathing through their blow-holes and rising majestically from the waves; and many more appeared along with their calves. It really was quite a sight as neither of us had seen whales in the wild before. In total we must have seen more than a dozen adult whales swimming around and the boat drifted so close to some that we were occasionally worried that we might crash into and hurt them - luckily, we didn't; but seeing those tails flip up in the air was beautiful (though difficult to photograph!). We were told by the onboard marine biologist that whales have to consciously think about breathing so, when they sleep, one half of their brain remains awake to facilitate this and they just float on the surface - we got to see this too. A harbour seal swam over to the drifting boat at one point to see what we were all up to and this stole the limelight from the whales for a few minutes as the cute little cub stuck his head out of the water time and time again all around the boat for a look around. The biologist said she'd never seen a harbour seal so curious or close before. As we half expected to see nothing at all on the trip, we considered this a great success and only hope the photos do it justice. Back on dry land, we returned to the car to find a ticket on the window - our first violation of this leg of the trip - they don't have free parking on public holidays as we had thought, it seems! After depositing $25 at the local police station, we went to the Pilgrim Monument which is visible everywhere within a dozen miles of Provincetown because it's a 252 feet tall granite tower that looms over everything there. It doesn't have a lift and so you have to climb to the top via a system of steps and ramps, but the views over the beaches and harbour are incredible - we could just make out Boston about 40 miles away across the Atlantic. Making our way back along the cape to the mainland we stopped for our last New England sea-fare at a restaurant called Moby Dick's (which strangely enough was filled with young English girls as staff) and then drove the 100 miles or so back to Providence, Rhode Island (now Labor Day is over we can now visit the State Capitol Building).We didn't arrive there until after 11 p.m. and were glad to have a bed to rest our heads on.

2nd - We woke and drove from our hotel in to the capitol of Rhode Island, Providence, to take a free tour of the capitol building.Rhode Island is one of the most beautiful state capitol buildings we have seen, and certainly ranks with our other favourite, Texas, as in the running for the award of the best.In particular the state room, complete with balcony overlooking the city of Providence where the chairman of the senate gets sworn in to a nine gun salute, and the library, complete with over 50,000 books and open to the public, were simply stunning and well worth the trip.At the end of the hour tour we got in the car for what was supposed to be a 5 hour journey to Philadelphia in Pennsylvania.That would have been fine apart from the 2.5 hour traffic jam we got into trying to get through The Bronx and other parts of New York City, although it was interesting to see the chaos it caused as tons of lorries and cars overheated and broke down and as a result one lane after another came to a standstill as vehicles were abandoned.When we finally arrived at our hotel at about 7 p.m. we just had enough time to take a quick dip in the outdoor hot tub (where we got to speak to a lovely guy from North Carolina who was retired after working 34 years for the Park Service…no, we still haven't managed to convince anyone to sponsor us for a visa to stay out here yet!) before heading out for our evening meal.We were meant to start our exploration of Philadelphia tomorrow but the hotel is so nice (its much better than we would ever go for but because Labor Day has been and gone it was offering a special deal of two nights for the price of one) that Ralph has said he wants to spend the day relaxing at the hotel tomorrow, so looks as if we will be having a quiet day of sunbathing!!

3rd - Ralph got some really bad bites on his leg, we think from sand flies on Long Island, earlier in the week and they have now caused him to become infected on down his right hand side.His leg and the right side of his body are sore and painful and he is doing well to put up with the discomfort he is in as all we have managed to obtain is some cream to alleviate the itch from the nearest pharmacy.This infection could be one reason why he didn't wake up until 12.30 p.m. today!This doesn't however explain why I only woke up about 10 minutes before!After getting up we headed out to get some bottles of water and fruit for my lunch and dinner (I am still trying to lose the weight I managed to gain so well in New York City and so far the diet is working and I can once again fit into my shorts without them looking like a second skin!) and then headed to the gym (yes, I know, I think the heat has gone to our head!).Ralph was feeling really uncomfortable with his bites and his infection and so had to stick to the weights.We then managed to make time to sunbath in the hotel's lovely garden/pool area and took time to swim and go in the hot tub (how difficult our life can be!).Ralph popped out for KFC for his tea and we spent the night relaxing, catching up on e-mails and watching politics in relation to the upcoming election.

4th - We got up and headed into Philadelphia for our first day of exploration.It was incredibly hot all day, 93 degrees already by 10.30 a.m.We struggled to find parking and so had to bite the bullet and pay $17.00 to park for the day in an underground city car park.We headed straight to the visitor centre which is a sight in itself!It's a huge modern interactive centre with wonderful staff that seem to know everything about the area and we soon had tickets for the tour of Independence Hall.After getting through security for the Hall, which just consisted of a bag check, we were shown around Independence Hall by a fantastic National Park Service guide who really knew its stuff, so much so it was like being at a university lecture again as opposed to a free tour of a historic building.Too in depth for the children on the tour I am sure but absolutely perfect and totally absorbing for us.Independence Hall is classed as the birthplace of American government, where delegates, including George Washington and John Adams, from the 13 colonies met to write, amend and finally sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776.Its interesting to see the place where this important American document was put together, as well as Independence Square directly in front of it, where the document was first read in public.We then headed straight next door to Congress Hall for a brief tour, which was the meeting place for US Congress when Philadelphia was the Nation's capital (for about 10 years before Washington D.C.).Pleased to be getting to see so many historic sights we then saw Old City Hall which was finished in 1791 and was home to the US Supreme Court until 1800 and then on to Carpenters Hall which is the site of the First Continental Congress in 1774, the delegates meeting in secret so that they could discuss the subjects of conflict before later writing the Declaration of Independence.We then moved on to the Franklin Court complex, which is a small row of restored townhouses made to seem like they were from Benjamin Franklin's time, paying tribute to his life in politics, as well as his life as postmaster general.They have a post office here called the B Free Franklin Post Office where you can post mail which is stamped with a special postmark of Franklin's signature, so my sisters and nannan and Ralph's mum and dad can look forward to receiving one of those!Within the Court complex is an underground museum dedicated to Franklin and his inventions, including a musical instrument called a glass armonica and a tribute to his most important discovery, the lightening rod (people used to think that lightening was God's punishment, a way of telling you He wasn't happy with you, but with this invention Franklin was able to prove that lightening and electricity was one and the same, and therefore nothing to do with God and the heavens, a major shift in the minds of the people of the world).A great thing about America is that all historic monuments and buildings and the tours around them are free, and so all the activities and tours we had been on so far today were totally free - fantastic.Leaving there we visited the National Constitution Center which is an interactive exhibit meant to make the United States Constitution interesting and understandable, explaining all parts of it in simple terms and with great exhibits showing how the Constitution is used in practise.This means you can listen to how major cases that would have affected the US Constitution were heard in the Supreme Court, the decision that was made and how this decision was decided.You can also stand and be filmed being sworn in as president (of course I had to give that a go!), go into a voting booth and have the experience of voting for one of the past presidents (George Washington is currently topping the list for the favourite president ever), have an experience of what it is like if you are asked to do jury duty (they try to tell you how important it is and how important you are for doing it but my friend Hazel in LA starts jury duty next week and I am not convinced any of these arguments would have convinced her that she is going to enjoy the experience!), visit Signer's Hall, which has lifelike bronze statues of the signers of the Constitution in action and sign the US Constitution to get a certificate e-mailed to you confirming you have done so.As we left we got the opportunity to vote for a candidate in the upcoming election and, as this was a world wide vote to gauge opinion, for once we were included and could happily stick our blue bubble gum balls (very scientific!) in to the Obama tube.The American running that part of the exhibition had studied in Bath, England in 2004 and so we found our second American in a matter of days who knew somewhere in London other than London!Finally, after an unbearably hot day (we know its cheeky to complain about the endless sunshine and good weather but today has been a step too far even for us) we slightly out of the centre of beautiful Philadelphia (you could tell that as it was instantly more run down and covered in litter) to sample Philadelphia's most famous food, the cheesesteak, at one of its most popular and legendary sellers, Pat's King of Steaks.The two places competing for title of best Philadelphia cheesesteak are Pat's and Geno's, and they face each other across the road, making choosing the one to go for difficult.We chose Pat's as its been in business longer (since 1930) and we can highly recommend them (I had a Philly mushroomsteak as I don't eat cheese and it was equally as lovely) - the question is whether we will find time to try Geno's to give our version of the ultimate winner!Heading back to the hotel we found time to go in the swimming pool and hot tub before retiring for the night.

5th - We headed into Philadelphia again and straight to City Hall.Unfortunately we only had two hours parking (parking is a real problem in Philly, its either really expensive or for a really short period of time) and so we could not take the tour of City Hall as this takes 2 hours, not giving us enough time to get back from the car.We therefore decided to go to the top of the tower which sits atop City Hall for a view over the city and the Deleware River.We then made our way to the US Mint where US coins are made.We ended up getting pretty annoyed that not only can you not take cameras in there (understandable) but they have no where to check them in (I mean honestly, how many visitors to Philadelphia are going to turn up without a camera?), so we had to rely on the kindness of the National Constitution Center that we visited yesterday which is located just across the road from the Mint, to check our cameras in their facility for us.We finally got in and the Mint is not the most interesting of places, but it does explain the process of how they make US coins and you get to watch the process through glass from above the factory floor (the largest coin factory in the world) as quarters and cents (actually called pennys) fall into the waiting containers.It means it's a place that sounds like someone always winning on a Las Vegas slot machine/one armed bandit!They also make medals of honor, which are given to military servicemen, and the presidential coin, which is presented to the president ever time a new one is elected.We then drove south to see the Italian Market which is said to be the world's largest outdoor market, but we arrived just as most of it was closing up and so we can't confirm, but there was a surprisingly large Italian area, complete with restaurants, cafes, bakeries etc. which was nice to see and is where much of the Rocky film was filmed.Leaving there we headed back to the hotel for our last day of sunshine around the pool (we are getting ready for Hurricane Gustav hitting sometime tomorrow) and after Ralph had left me at the pool and gone back to the room I saw a creature come out of the woods and get closer and closer to my lounger.After a couple of minutes I decided that it was a beaver and was pretty excited at seeing one so close, but then one of the hotel staff (who thought that the fact I thought it was a beaver was hilarious) told me it was actually a groundhog.Apparently they are really common in this area and look similar to beavers apart from the fact that they have a smaller tail.It came about an arms length away from my lounger and sat up, eating something between its paws, and then slowly wandered round the rest of the pool having a little look around, before squeezing through the railings and back into the woods.I just wish I had had the camera with me!! That got Ralph thinking that we should go and see the Groundhog festival, where they stand around on a specific day to watch a groundhog come out of its hidey-hole to see if it looks at a shadow, and that determines whether it's going to be a good summer or winter - he can't remember which (go with him on this…). But, looking on Google (Ralph's Personal God and font of all knowledge) it seems that the event is held on 2nd February each year in a small town in Pennsylvania; so we might have to call in there next year!

6th - We woke up early enough for breakfast after three days of trying (breakfast is served until 11am as well!) but only because the renovations, on the beautiful hotel we got on the cheap, came at a price - pneumatic drills at 8am and diggers outside (honestly, it was like a scene from Carry On Abroad without the racism and easy-press nylon). We complained in a way only Brits abroad can and clawed back a couple of hour of sleep until 10, then went for a gorgeous breakfast before a 150 mile drive to Gettysburg. We came here last time but that was to see the battlefields and the Civil War Museum. This time we discovered that Ike Eisenhower's house is here and run by the National Park Service (and they give fantastic tours and exhibitions of former presidents' homes and historic national buildings). We needed some petrol before we stumbled into the site for the last tour of the day but… we found the most Anglophile (and psychotic) Pakistani/American gas station owner in the world. After half an hour of being told his life story; his recent brushes with xenophobia in Pennsylvania; expressions of admiration for the English; gift of coffee for me and crisps/chips for Kirsty (for being English or unprejudiced - I'm not sure which); a demand that we stay at his house for a week next time we're in the area so we can drink scotch together (but don't tell his wife); and exchanges of contact details (edited enough to be unobtainable on our part); we were permitted to leave. Seriously though, this guy sounds and seemed sweet; but he was a nutter. He even walked me out to the car at the pump to tell Kirsty that I was a lovely man, insist again that we visit him, to guess at the Wilkins genealogy and professional history, and kiss Kirsty's head as he held it tightly in his hands, telling her it was a blessing. We drove off pretty fast as soon as Kirsty could wind the window up, we had been there nearly 40 minutes! We hadn't been able to leave because although he took our money off us he seemed to refuse to authorise the pump to give us any petrol until all this had happened (in America you have to pay for petrol (gas) before you fill up your tank, meaning your always trying to guess at the amount needed to fill it and don't want to guess as too much in case the car won't be able to take it).At Eisenhower's home the tours had finished for the day so we fumed all the way to Pittsburgh that the nutter had made us miss our entire purpose for the day, and went to Pizza Hut which awaited Ralph with open beers. On the way we encountered some torrential rain as we made our way away from the remnants of Hurricane Hannah. Hurricane Ike is poised to hit The Keys and possibly New Orleans in a few days. We really feel for the Floridians and Louisianans at the moment.

7th - Just a couple of things of interest in Pittsburgh today. We had intended to take the funicular ride to the top of Mount Washington, where the head of an Indian tribe and George Washington met to try and resolve a dispute in the 1750s (the dispute wasn't quite resolved and indirectly led to the French attacking the Indians, the English attacking the French and then the French attacking the English… Seven Years War… colonists don't want to pay tax to cover the costs… War of Independence… go home Johnny England… blah de blah de blah). The GPS, however, took us straight to the top of Mount Washington and saved us the expense. Mount Washington is not really a mountain, but rather a steep hill that overlooks Pittsburgh, which, despite the industrial and steel reputation, is quite a pretty place with Newcastle-esque bridges over the converging Ohio, Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, a huge modern stadium for the Pittsburgh Steelers, downtown skyscrapers and a few parks and fountains. The nest stop was a building that's part of the University of Pittsburgh (or U Pitt as its called here) that is called the Cathedral of Learning - and very well named. It's a 42 story gothic building built between 1926 and 1937 and looks like a cathedral inside and out - but with students tapping away on their laptops amongst the buttresses and arches. It also has embarked upon a programme of converting its 1st and 3rd floor seminar rooms into a sort of world showcase, where each room is themed by different countries of the world; India, Japan, England, Armenia etc. All beautiful and attentive to detail - except Wales, which was dull and not a good advert for our Cymru cousins. Having said that; how do you advertise Wales?! Next came a long drive to Erie, in the north-west corner of Pennsylvania, to see Lake Erie which is only one of two of the Great Lakes we'll get to see on this trip (the other being Lake Michigan that cuts off Chicago's expansion to the East). The sheer size of Lake Erie is astounding. Its length is similar to the distance between New York and Washington DC and has its own tides that people were happily getting dashed about in despite the gloomy weather. That Lake Erie is the second smallest of the five Great Lakes really made us wonder why this great body of water, which disappears well over the horizon, is a Lake and not a sea; it has beaches and waves, and the Caspian and Black Seas are land-locked. Perhaps it's freshwater or something like that. The point is it's massive. After a few minutes of wave watching we decided to head on to our next major stop - Cleveland, Ohio.