Just got home from 2 months in the USA
 

I had promised to take the two grand kids, (9 & 11) to Disneyland. This holiday was supposed to be 7 days, but it ended up being 7 weeks.

We left Sydney on 10 Dec on a Qantas A380, great airplane, and arrived in LA the same morning, even though we left Sydney the same afternoon.

Two great days at Disneyland and California Adventure and then flew across to New York for 4 days. There we visited all the attractions, 9/11 Memorial, Empire State Building, Manhattan Cruise, Carriage ride and Ice Skating in Central Park, FAO Swartz Toy Store. The two highlights of N.Y. were the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City featuring the 'Rockettes' and walking around N.Y. on 'Santa Saturday night' where all the college kids get dressed up as Santa and pub crawl the City. Thousands of pissed Santa's everywhere having a great time.

We then flew to Orlando and had 5 days at Universal Studios, Sea World and Kennedy Space Centre.

After that hectic 5 days we slipped over from Orlando to Port Canaveral and boarded the new Disney Fantasy for a fabulous 7 night cruise over Christmas of the Bahama's, Grand Cayman, Costa Maya and Cozumel in Mexico.

We then went back to Orlando and as there was my family of 7, we rented 2 x 30 foot motor homes with V10 Ford motors which returned and average of 8.5 mpg.

We then travelled to The Everglades where we had a great time flying around the swamps in an air boat. Next day we were in Miami Beach then Key Largo.

Then we had New Year's Eve in St.Petersburg, next day onto Panama City.

As we left Tallahassee, we were pulled over by the Mid City Highway Patrol and issued with 2 x written caution for 'Not moving left from Lane 1 whilst doing 70 mph and passing an stationary emergency vehicle' which in this case was the cop who pulled us up. Apparently this is law in Florida and California. If you can't pull left from lane 1 because of traffic, you have to knock 20 mph off your speed and remain in lane 1. Neither my son nor I knew anything about this law.

We travelled across Mississippi, Georgia and into Louisiana where we visited the 'Oak Alley Mansion'. The giant American Queen Paddle Steamer had just pulled up on the Mississippi River to visit 'Oak Alley'. The majority of it's elderly male passengers were dressed as soldiers from the Civil War, both Union and Confederate and there wives dressed according to the period with their hooped skirts and bonnets. It really made the visit to this historic place quite special and unique. We spent the next 2 days in New Orleans.

Then we headed north up through the guts of Alabama to its capital Montgomery where we chased up the history of Martin Luther King Jr., and the civil rights riots that occurred here in 1963.

We then travelled north through the Great Smokey Mountains of Tennessee to Nashville, then onto the Vanderbilt's Mansion 'Biltmore' in Asheville, North Carolina. It is the largest family home in the USA with around 250 bedrooms, 50 bathrooms, bowling alley etc., etc., and sits on 8,000 acres.

After that, we drove down through South Carolina to St.Augustine in Florida where we were invited by the First Coast Cobra Club to the home of it's principal member Tom Wells. We enjoyed a great home cooked lunch and three Cobra Club members turned up in their Everatt Morrison and Backdraft Cobras. These were mostly 351 ci Ford's bored and stroked out to 427. Tom's Everatt Morrison was a little different. It had a 460 Ford bored and stroked out to 8.5 litres. I thought this was pretty cool until I saw his Mercury Zephyr Station Sedan in the garage which he is restoring. It has the same motor as his Cobra, but taken out to a ridiculous 9.1 litres. I am probably the only Aussie with complimentary membership of the First Coast Cobra Car Club. Their club sticker is proudly displayed on my wind wing.

That night we drove back into Orlando and dropped the R.V's off next morning. That was 13 nights and we had done 5,000 klms in the R.V.'s.

We then flew back to L.A. and rented another 2 x 30 foot R.V's and drove to Phoenix, Oak Creek, Sedona, Grand Canyon, Flagstaff ( snow and minus 20 ), Hoover Dam, Las Vegas (Shelby Museum, Las Vegas Speedway and Nascar experience, Exotic Cars Driving Experience where I had a track drive of a 2012 SLS AMG Black Gull Wing Merc Coupe - 6.2 litres twin cam V8, 402 mm ceramic front brakes with 6 piston calipers. What an awesome machine.)
Also enjoyed watching the F18's taking off and dog fighting over the Nevada desert around the speedway area.

That night we ate at Maggiano's Italian Restaurant on the 'Strip'. We also tried out Battista's Italian Restaurant on the recommendation of Leroy17 from the Gold Coast. Thanks Leigh. It was great. After a couple of days in Vegas, we travelled across the Mojave Desert, stopping at Peggy Sue's Diner near Route 66 for lunch then onto Visalia, Placerville, San Francisco, Monterey, 17 mile Drive, Pebble Beach Golf Course, Hearst Castle tour then LA.

Another 5,000 klms. Total R/V drive = 10,000 klms in 26 days. We managed to visit 14 States during our travels.

Now home for a rest. Haven't driven the Cobra yet, but its high on my bucket list after I get the house back in order. Didn't see many Cobras or such during our massive trip. Only saw one going across Florida along a crappy road in The Everglades plus the 3 that turned up at Tom Wells home in St.Augustine. Other than that, saw three Vipers, one flattened raccoon, three flattened skunks and a few unflattened live deer.

We flew out of LA on the 25th January and arrived in Sydney last Sunday on the on the 27th, totally missing Australia Day.

Hope I haven't bored you, :CRY:


Baz

Unfortunately there are HUGE :eek: big signs everywhere on the Highways warning you of this Law,so they enforce it militantly!!:)

Sounds like a damn fun trip!!..sure the kids had a ball!!..as did you by the sound of it!!! :)

Yeh Oz. Saw them and understood their meaning, but we couldn't move left because of traffic on the left. Didn't know anything about the 'Knock off 20mph proviso" though. That part isn't mentioned on the highway signs.

On the bright side, I have an official written 'Warning' to frame along with the officers photo and his black and white. The grand kids thought the traffic stop with lights and sirens was awesome.

I think its a great law and one that should be adopted here. Another is allowing right turns on red except when its prohibited by signs and allowing u turns at intersections controlled by traffic lights,

One law that they should really change to reduce their crash rate/ road toll is to reduce the speed limit from 65 mph to 45 mph on city freeways where the traffic travels regularly at 75 to 80 mph on narrow 10 lane freeways in wet and dry weather with cars, trucks and R/V's sitting 6 feet off the rear bumper of the vehicle in front. It's no surprise that they experience 30 to 50 car prangs on a regular basis.

Baz

Great story Baz, thanks for sharing. The US is on my "to do" list, hopefully while the AUD stays at parity.

Thanks Sambo.

That's my 5th visit to the States and I just love it and the people so much. We have probably seen more of the USA than 80% of the population. When they found out that we were Aussies, they treated us like royalty.

Everyone we spoke to were in awe of where we had been and what we had seen. Some have never been out of their neighborhood, let alone into another State. One nice red necked Tennessean hill billy asked me why I talked funny? Also where I came from? and what part of America is Sydney Australia in?**)

Baz,

Maximum envy for the trip! Here's our writeup - hope you don't mind me including your thank-you note:

First Coast Cobra Club • View topic - Cobra guy from Australia visiting Jan 10, 2013

Come back any time!

Tom & Kay

PS: Pictures from the trip? Picture of the FCCC sticker in place?

Baz -
What a great write up. You are one lucky guy to be able to load your family up and go on such an extended vacation. Thanks for sharing the fun with us here on Club Cobra.

Baz, wonderful message. I was in New York at the same time, saw three broadway plays, but I think my favorite was the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes Christmas Spectacular -- wonderful eye candy. We have lots of sights here, but I am not sure we have anything that quiet matches a walking tour to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge or the beauty of the Sydney Opera House. Thank you for sharing.

Heck Baz, I wasn't bored reading about your trip - I was exhausted (no pun intended) by the end! You got a lifetime of travel wrapped-up in the time you were here! What a hectic but fun schedule it must have been. We were down to Universal Studios in Dec. - my daughters bugged the heck out of Mom & I for 2 years to go to the World of Harry Potter. It was fun - I'll admit.

I believe lots of us US folks would love to do an Aussie tour like this!!!

I think you will find that it is a law thru most of the US.
Glad you had a great time.

Sounds like a great trip Baz. I just got back from a week in Seattle where the warmest day was 3C. Not great Cobra weather but we enjoyed ourselves none the less. Got some great golf bargains...

Great story Baz,

btw, I clicked on the first coast cobra club link you posted and got this message:


You have been permanently banned from this board.
Please contact the Board Administrator for more information.
A ban has been issued on your IP address.

What the !! ....a least I could have done something cool to deserve it. Anyway, I really enjoyed your story. I hope there's some photos coming.
Mike

Yeah me too...I'm banned for life ! BAZ that was a great write up. It could be used as a trip planner for a future visit ! Thanks.

Guys,

I guess you must have done something egregious sometime :eek:

Actually, you got caught by my old efforts to ban spammers. Sorry!

The web site now has other ways of doing that, so this morning I've un-banned all the Australian ip address ranges (I hope!)

Try it again and let me know.

My apologies,

Tom

Great trip Baz.

We were in St Augustine last July, loved the place. Didn't see any Cobra's though nor did we see any ghosts on the ghost tour that I was dragged along to by my wife and daughter.

Friendly people who obviously like Australians.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...44_Medium_.JPG

Cheers

Baz

Whoaa what a great trip. Glad you enjoyed it.

Krait I also saw the Australian pie shop.

Not to mention the Australian restaurant chain there.

I spent some time there explaining what the Harbour bridge linked and why Melbourne trams where so popular!!...:eek:

What a great trip BAZ! Great lifetime memories for everyone as well..

I can only imagine that you had the credit card companies spinning trying to keep up with you:eek: , playing "Where's BAZ now??"

Thanks Mike,
I have 4,000 of them, which ones would you like? I too received the same message from 'First Coast Cobra Club.' I contacted the Administrator, Tom Wells and every things cool now. Try to log in again.

I'll post a few relevant photos of our meeting with the members of the 'First Coast Cobra Club' St.Augustine, Florida.


Baz

Photos - First Coast Cobra Club luncheon St.Augustine Florida
 

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...tMotorhome.jpg
Mike, wife Martha, me, daughter Louise, grand kids Alex and
Olivia, daughter in law Paula, son Martin, our host Tom Wells
and our 30 foot R/V's outside Tom's home in St.Augustine, Florida.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...rlsCarAt46.jpg
Carl's new, dark blue Backdraft-351 bored and stroked to 427.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...CobrasAt46.jpg
Charlie's blue Backdraft-351 stroked to 408, Tom's red Everat Morrison -
460 bored and stroked to 8.5 litres, Mikes black Everat Morrison -
350 Chev and Carl's new dark blue Backdraft - 351 bored and stroked
to 427.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...CobraGuys1.jpg
Mike, Carl, Tom, me and Charlie.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...mokinDsBBQ.jpg
Enjoying the great lunch put on by Tom and his lovely wife Kay.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...tion_Sedan.JPG
This is Tom's secret weapon. It's a Mercury Zephyr powered by a
460 ci Ford, bored and stroked out to 9.1 litres.



http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/data/500/557_c_i.JPG
This is the only external give-away visible on the vehicle.
Other than that, it looks stock standard.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...1_litre_V8.JPG
The 9.1 litre monster.

Las Vegas Speedway Complex
 

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...0/p1090410.jpg

Here's the best way that I've ever spent 3/4 of a grand. Firstly 8 laps around the Las Vegas Speedway in a 600hp Dodge Nascar at 150 mph. Then went across the complex to the Exotic Racing School for 5 laps in a Super Car. Will tell you which one I picked a little later. What an awesome experience. Another highlight was the Shelby Museum and also the F18's taking off from the nearby Air Force Base and dog fighting over the Nevada Desert.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...0/p1090434.jpg

A beautiful polished 427 Cobra in Shelby's Museum.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...0/p1090435.jpg

An original 427.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...0/p1090441.jpg

An original 289 Cobra.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...0/p1090442.jpg

One of the surviving 5 original Daytona's. Priceless.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...0/p1090443.jpg


http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...0/p1090450.jpg

When I first saw this vehicle, I thought it was an early Dodge Viper. I later discovered that it is one of the original Shelby Series 1 of which only 249 were produced. What a great looking machine.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...0/p1090451.jpg

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...0/p1090446.jpg

This is the V8 that was fitted to the Series 1 Shelby. It is a 600 hp, turbo charged twin overhead cam 4 litre L47 Oldsmobile Aurora engine.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...0/p1090447.jpg

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...0/p1090432.jpg

These are some of the cars from the Exotic Racing School. This is an Aston Martin Vantage S. You could also select any of the following:- McLaren MP4 12C, Nissan GTR, Lamborghini Gallardo LP550 or Aventador LP700, Audi R8 V10, Ferrari 430 Scuderia or a 458 Italia, a Porsche Cayman R or a 997 Turbo S.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...0/p1090430.jpg

Lamborghini Superleggera LP570.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...0/p1090427.jpg

Ferrari F430 F1.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...0/p1090426.jpg

This was my choice. A beautiful SLS AMG Gull Wing Mercedes. What a beautiful machine. I don't think I will ever drive a vehicle with better brakes. 402 x 39 ceramic front rotors with 6 piston calipers and 360 x 32 ceramic rear rotors with 4 pistons. Oh Boy....

Baz