Where shall we stay & How shall we get there?

Ok, so the itinerary is planned, mileages are worked out, now just to put it all together with accommodation. Oh and I suppose we need a car to get us from all the different points. Scary thought, as A) I've never really driven far in the US and B) I've never driven an automatic car. I would be doing most of the driving as I am a TERRIBLE passenger and prefer to drive, although I don't really like driving. So whats 2500 miles for someone who doesnt like driving. Eeek.

Accommodation (more details will follow when we're on the trip)



Firstly we can go to the space center but lets stay on the Gulf coast in Galveston. It's not far. Quite a bit of history (albeit not old old history like ours). We decided we didn't really want to stay in big high rise hotels if we could help it and B&B's were the way to go, but here we didn't find much choice.

Conroe - Lets go and stay in a shared house near our friends, so we can get to know the locals.

Fredericksburg - Well Linda talked about the peaches in Fredericksburg so we found a little b&b on a peach orchard. Looks fantastic. Linda is joining us too!



Palestine - Staying with our friends Jimmy and Sherry



Burleson/Fort Worth - Of course it will be with Marilyn and Linda/Gaye in their homes. Wouldn't stay anywhere else.



Arkansas - Hot springs it is, in a little B & B.

Courtesy of FlyingLure.com

Memphis - Nice B & B in a manor house



Nashville - B & B outside of town.





Little Rock - Little house all to ourselves.





Plano - With our good friend Chrinda.

Oh and of course we had to get a car to travel in. Lots of miles, two drivers, insurance. Not cheap but we did get one from a local well known car hire agency, which was over £100 cheaper than other quotes, but was fully inclusive and yes I checked all the fine print.

We can sit back and rest a bit now until after Christmas

OK Texas it is, but what route shall we take?

Ok we had settle on Texas but where were we going to go?

• Dave wanted to see the Space Centre near Houston, so that was one condition.
• It was wild flower season and our dear friend Linda from Texas had shared with us her trip to Fredericksburg and Luckenbach, and written about it on my book blog. So that had to be another part of our journey, to visit the Hill country.
• Conroe in the Woodlands area; we have friends Stacie and Don there and it was on our way up north, so that was another consideration.
• Palestine to see our dear friends Jimmy and Sherry who live in the Piney Woods. Had to go there (if they'd have us) as we never really get much time to spend with them.
• Then it would be onto Burleson and Fort Worth as that's where our dear friends Marilyn, Linda and Gaye would be found, and you can't go to Texas and not spend time with them. They are like family.

Ok so that was Texas, but now we had to plan how to get to Nashville! Looking at the map we had to travel through Arkansas to get to Tennessee so that was going to be interesting. Lets get the map book out!

Well everyone seems to stop off at Texarkana to take photos in front of the sign outside the post office so you have one foot in Texas and one in Arkansas. Trip Advisor was not recommending we stay there though! Ok, Trip Advisor is to be worshipped so that was fine. Next question though was where to stay on route to Nashville as it's a long drive. Maybe not for the Americans but for us Brits where nowhere is really very far it was miles and miles!

Guess what I spotted on route to Nashville though? We had to go through MEMPHIS! Elvis country! Guess who loves Elvis? Yes me! Daaaavvvve..... Can we stop in Memphis. Who was he to refuse eh? Well it's still a long way for us little Brits so where could we stop in between. Quick e-mail sent to the Arkansas Tourist Board, who replied almost immediately! One place they recommended was Hot Springs. Quick look on Trip Advisor, and the decision was made. Ok so next stop Memphis, and then onto Nashville.

Now, the next thought was, ok, where do we stay on our way back from Nashville to Texas? It's a long way. The only place I had ever heard of in Arkansas was Little Rock, home of Bill Clinton, so lets take a look at that. River festival, nice looking little city. Yes that would be it.

Lastly, what were we going to do when we got back to Texas? Just a few days to spare, so thought we'd contact our friend Chrinda Jones, Author of Angels sings to rest, and Mother to a talented young man who plays guitar in the Zane Williams Band. Would she like to put us up for a couple of days? Yes she said, she would. So Plano, Texas would be our last stop on our journey.

Now we better start booking accommodation!

Welcome; Wilkommen; Bienvenue - First blog post - Where shall we go?

Welcome to my new blog, purely dedicated to travel. Ok there may be the odd book or two thrown in too.

My blog is in it's early stages of design as my friend Erin, is currently designing the background for me, so please bear with us.


2015 was the year of my 50th Birthday, so I chose for my Birthday Vacation, to continue a trip to Alaska we postponed the previous year due to my Dad's passing. If only I'd set up a blog about that trip as it was amazing!

Well this year is Dave's 50th Birthday, so when we returned from Alaska in June, the discussions started taking place. Where shall we go? New Zealand? Dave has family there.... Hawaii? Somewhere we've always wanted to go. Ok I've always wanted to go. The Far East?  The world is our oyster, so where shall we go?

Lets go to Texas Dave says. Texas? Haven't we been there a few times? I obviously don't mind going there as it's a home away from home and people I love live there. "Yes, Texas" Dave says, as there's a lot there he wants to see. "Oh and why don't we go to Nashville too?". Does he realise how big Texas alone is? Oh well, I'm always up for a challenge and I love planning trips. One thing I miss about leaving the travel industry.

Ok, so first thing to do was speak to my old friend Laraine, who I started with in travel industry in 1983. We're still in touch. She's still travelling the world, and has a successful travel business and she is amazing at what she does!

Contact her by clicking the link -  Travel Counsellors

Should we fly into southern Texas and leave from Nashville? Or should we fly back from Dallas and have more time with friends and family? Laraine was set the challenge and she came back with the goods. We were to fly into Houston with Virgin/Delta and fly back from Dallas with Delta. There it was. Main part of the trip booked. Texas here we come (and wherever else our trip takes us!)