Thursday 11 June Jan dropped me at Heathrow at 07:20 for a 12:20 flight, so lots of hanging around. It wasn't till after I'd spent some hard-earned Jobseekers allowance on a Costa Latte Massimo that I thought to try blagging my way into the British Midland International Executive lounge on the strength of my Silver card, which I qualified for when commuting to Aberdeen and which expires this month. Success - free snacks and drinks!! (I do like a nice large s...

Travel plans have changed a little. I've updated the list here to reflect changes. Overall mileage (forgetting sightseeing diversions) is now around 3300 miles. I researched Tunica, Tennessee, a little, where I had 4 nights booked ina casino hotel, because they were dirt cheap. It turns out that there isn't much at Tunica, and the hotel is way out (12 miles I think) on it's own in the country - so not too much to do there. So I've reduced that stay to 2 nights,...

It's 11 days until I leave for Chicago. I have my route mostly planned, along with stopovers, but part of the appeal of travelling alone is flexibility so whatever plans I may have now may not turn out to be what actually happens! The opportunity to make this trip has come about as I was made redundant. Many of the places I will visit are in some way music related (primarily Blues): while I like the Blues, I've had a desire to visit these parts of America just t...