Late 2017 – Erika was in the hospital again after several heart attacks. Shortly before, when I was just 64, I was caught too. Suspected heart attack – luckily false alarm.
Erika said – what are waiting for, next month we are flying to America.
Now we know that such a plan does not do justice to our spontaneity. There are many things to consider. Neither of us had a valid passport. We both have a driver’s license, but does it apply in the USA and what are the regulations in Canada? We had no idea.
We first had to realize that entry into the USA, even as a tourist, cannot be so spontaneous.
Result of our considerations – we make a plan!
Where do we want to go, what do we want to see ???
– the whistle of the train can be heard in every American film – so we want to take the train
– of course, every immigrant saw the Statue of Liberty first – so New York is an absolute MUST
– My great childhood dream of traveling to Canada shouldn’t be missing
– San Francisco and Los Angeles – hippies and summer beach, flower power and free love – we want to feel the “Spirit of ’69” from the cable car atmosphere
– Grand Canyon – this natural event
– Mississippi, the river with so much blues and swing – New Orleans would be a nice place
– Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, the many stars of the country scene, but also Elvis Presley – where else than in Nashville can you get so close to them
– Georgia – one would like to see the country that is so soulfully sung about
– Florida – ok, you could do it later
– Yogi Bear and Hucky – you shouldn’t take Yellowstone National Park with you too
– Maine – the original home of Erika’s cats
– Whale watching on the St. Lawrence River in Canada – Erika’s wish
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Result of the first thoughts: we need several months.
There came the big prank that got both of us arguing.
Internet research and first rational approaches resulted in a plan, which we then discussed with a specialized travel agency.
It looked like this:
1. Flight to Montreal
2. Rental car to Chicago
3. Train to San Francisco
4. Rental car to Los Angeles
5. Flight to New Orleans
6. Train to New York
The travel agency manager made it clear to us that this would be feasible in the planned 3 weeks, but that it doesn’t bring us much besides a lot of stress.
We agreed with her and went with Plan B.
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