AMERICAN COUSINS - DC

It was perhaps by luck that the handsome Uncle Paul (See Patrick Swayze) was travelling back from Vermont by way of Montreal and as such had to come past New York.  Even luckier, he offered to come right into Brooklyn to pick us up.

 Paul 'Swayze' Kirwan

After a four hour drive we arrived at the family home of the American Kirwans to a warm welcome. This was to be our base for finding the truck that would take us on our journey.

It's a hard life at the Kirwan's

It was to be a search fraught with dangers and booby traps, that’s what I said, booby twaps.

In our minds we were looking for a Toyota 4 Runner. An SUV we could both sleep in should the need arise and known for reliability… kind of. The search began with some absolute lemons. One thing we did grasp was the vastness of this country. What looks like the next town is often a 50 mile drive. Uncle Paul came with us on the first day, I think to make sure we didn’t do anything stupid. After that we were on our own.

We finally settled on a 98 4 Runner that drove pretty well and had it checked out by a local mechanic. All signs pointed to yes and poor Trisha, the lady that owned the car had called the house. Only after we’d left to take the car to the mechanic did she realize that she hadn’t checked our ID’s… she didn’t even know our names.

Jessie Dog giving her approval

Trisha needn’t have worried, the next day we paid her for the truck and even named it after her in homage. Only two days later the engine light came on. Something about an evap flux capacitator cleaner filtration thing. Nothing Glue, duct tape and a bit of wood couldn’t fix. My most manly moment to date (the engine light has since come on again). Some new Yokohama Geolander tyres, an oil change, a locking gas cap and she’s good to go.

Fi and Trisha

We have also spent many a night trawling malls and mainly Walmart to get gear for our trip, which we decided to buy mostly in America.

(FK) The rest of our time in Washington we got to spend as tourists learning the finer points of US life and the American dream. Highlights included Aunty Pia’s cooking (ribs, mash and beans, surf ‘n’ turf and cookies galore), a night out with the young ‘uns in a cool hipster neighbourhood culminating with Neil ‘hanging like a bat’ on the metro home (always keen to impress with his tricks and brawn), going to uni with Selina and Neil (Rex Kwon Do) teaching the self defense class (it came with the caveat of “I’m more about attack than defense” and a trip to Barack’s crib.

Washington was a really impressive city, they sure know how to build memorials. Having walked the Mall, the WWII and the Vietnam tributes were not only beautiful but very sobering and I had a little tear in my eye. The mood lifted though after me, Neil and Nick had a sit down at the Abraham Lincoln Memorial and looked out over the Reflecting Pool, we reflected and then I did my best ‘Jennie’ impression. Yes, Forrest Gump has featured quite heavily so far in our trip and that along with Neil’s love of porches will no doubt continue as a theme!

WWII Memorial

Barack's Crib

Reflection Pool

The Memorial, at night

As Paddy and Debs thought we would never leave the comfort of Dyson Grove, so too did the American Kirwans perhaps think the same as we settled into life with our own suite complete with cinema room.

But the bright morning came on the 19^th  September, our own Independence Day was upon us. Off we went with our larder of delicious left over dinners to see us through the next couple of days and boy were we pleased we had them!

The Kirwan's waved off

TOUCHDOWN - NYC

We landed in the big apple as our first port of call.  A short taxi ride into Brooklyn and the New York Loft Hostel where we needed to direct the driver had us mildly frustrated. We were fairly knackered after our transatlantic flight and still being on British time, food and the bed was all we wanted.

We wandered around the corner and stumbled on some delis and a little sign by boarded up windows that simply said Robertas. The place looked derelict on the outside but on the inside it was rammed…. and the smell! Something was cooking and we wanted in. The waitress said it was an hour wait but Fiona pouted and expressed disappointment with her best British accent. It was whispered that if we found a seat by the bar we could order food from there.

So we perched on the smallest piece of bar available and got in our orders, elbowing a little space when the pizzas arrived. It was well worth the uncomfortable surroundings to get a taste of these stone baked beauts that the Brooklyn natives seem to covet. Beautiful crispy dough and toppings that made you say ‘I could eat that again.’ But we didn’t. We just went straight to bed for a horrible night’s sleep in a noisy uncomfortable hostel.

Next day we were tired but charged to be in New York City and took a walk over the Williamsburg Bridge, which conveniently landed us on the doorstep of Katz Delicatessen. Famous for their pastrami on rye this place is an institution and our first Man Vs Food eatery. Beef brisket, pastrami, corn beef – it’s a meat lover’s paradise.

The rest of the day was spent wandering the streets and sites of NYC in between some meetings I had, before winding our way back to Williamsburg. We wished we could’ve stayed longer but we’ve done New York many times and there’s a big wide world that we’re yet to see.

Our next stop is Washington DC and home of the American Kirwans. Uncle Paul picked us up from Brooklyn on his way back from Montreal with our cousin Nicholas. Our search for a big bad truck starts next. We’ll need luck on our side as we negotiate the shady world of second hand car sales.