Sunday 4th - Spent the day chilling out in our hotel, catching up on e-mails, researching the next places we are going to visit and updating the blog, which had been suffering since we went to Niagara Falls!For that reason the entry was ridiculously long!Sorry everyone!

Monday 5th - Travelled to our new hotel and spent the day in Philadelphia on the way. We really liked Philadelphia.It has a small town feel and everyone seemed to know everyone there.People were stopping constantly on the streets to speak to people they knew, which is the first time we have noticed that since we have been in America.The place was also exceptionally clean and had a slight European feel.We went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art so that Ralph could do the Rocky Balboa thing and run up the steps, which to be honest he did with surprising ease.Not sure if anyone actually goes in that Museum as everyone there seemed to be doing the same thing and then walking off!We then went to see the Liberty Bell, which has not been rang since George Washington was inaugurated and it cracked.

I then got immensely excited as I saw somewhere selling fruit salad!The difficulty of buy fruit and vegetables over here is immense.I ordered a small fruit salad and it was huge!Rather than fill half the container and then put the lid on, they filled both halves, strapped them together with an elastic band and threw in a full banana for good measure.It's sad when you get this excited over fruit, but I was!!It was another gloriously hot and sunny day and we both realised how lucky we have been with the weather over here.

Tuesday 6th and Wednesday 7th - The main reason we came to Pennsylvania was to visit Gettysburg and learn a bit about its history (Ralph figured that the US has had only two major events in its history - Independence and the Civil War - and we had learned a lot about the Revolutionary War in Boston). We also noticed that there are whole communities of those funny Amish people nearby who live their lives like they did in the 19th century, so we thought we'd have a look at them as well.

We went to see the Amish first and there are dozens of museums and attractions showing people how the Amish live their lives, and shops selling furniture and wooden goods made by them. The whole area felt a bit strange and backward - but that's what the Amish are striving for - resisting change. They all dress the same everyday, speak a mixture of Dutch and German, study the bible for 4 hours every other Sunday and spend their whole lives without electricity or any modern comforts, so it really does feel as though you are stepping back 200 years. All in all, the highlight for Kirsty was seeing the animals that they kept and I just found the whole thing weird. Although it was a rather dull day (especially given that two days ago we were in New York!) I am still glad that we went as we really want to get a full flavour of America and all its people. It was very good though to return to a world with hotel swimming pools, the internet and air conditioning!

Wednesday 7th - We drove to Gettysberg to find out more about the American Civil War and went to the American Civil War Museum to get a quick lesson. Neither of us knew anything really about the war, but given that it plays such a big part in the lives of so many Americans still (especially in the South, where we are heading towards), we went to the place that is pivotal in the war (Gettysburg). The museum was pretty good - well cheap. It didn't have the teary-eyed sentimentalism of a lot of American history-telling, and gave us a good crash-course. We then headed for the battlefield which has the biggest cemetery I've ever seen - all the graves of the Civil War dead are surrounded by the graves of soldiers who fought in WWI, WWII and Korea. The battlefields themselves are huge and littered with monuments from various US battalions and the whole town has deliberately retained its 1860s feel.

Thursday 8th - En route to Washington DC we decided to call in at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center which is just outside Washington. This is because of my child-like obsession with Space. Poor Kirsty, still has the Smithsonian Museum, Kennedy Space Centre, Johnson Space Centre and numerous others long the way to go to!

One question we keep getting asked is about the time difference.We are currently 5 hours behind the UK time.This will obviously change as we travel West and the hours difference will be increased.I know it has come as a great surprise to people we have spoken to, but the US put there clocks forward and back an hour in spring and autumn (or Fall!) just as we do.Over 170 countries all over the world also join in with this changing of the time - its not just done for the British farmers!!