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Day 264: Donde est Andorra?

Day 264: Donde est Andorra?

Barcelona to St Remy

High Point: The drive through the gorgeous Pyrenees Mountains on route to Andora

Low Point : The meat in my salad has yet be confirmed as chicken, beef or pork…. oh dear L

Crew Point: Congratulations must go to Matt Haynes who has also impressed the crew with some incredible FTFE firsts…

  1. Turning up on his first crew day in one of the worst Hawaiian shirts ever made.
  2. Declaring himself an afternoon driver only.
  3. Deciding the daily truck checks were “not his speciality” and watching from the cab.
  4. Asking the crew after 5 minutes of his first day in Martha “Is this it? What do you do now?” None of us knew how to answer it …
  5. Setting a world record opening hour tally in “no swear Friday”
  6. Needing the offer of beer to finish his first blog.

Disclaimer

It should also be noted he has organised some cracking press in both Spain and France and his enormous generosity to the charity!

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Day 259 : A Whole New World

Day 259 : A Whole New World

Ceuta (Spain) to Fes (Morocco)

A Whole New World!

High Point: Entering Morocco and taking Martha into her 5th continent!

Low Point: Narrow bumpy roads and speeding trucks made me feel like I was back in Russia.

No Point: Moroccan guy “Hi are you from England?”  …. James (Master of languages) Morrow replies “Ci” … Nice.

After 8 and a half months we had finally reached the African continent. Yet something wasn`t quite right as we awoke in the Spanish city of Ceuta on the very tip of Northern Africa. Ceuta has been a Spanish territory since the 1600s and in 1995 was recognised as an autonomous Spanish region in order to help control illegal immigration into mainland Spain. Moroccans don’t recognise the city easily and I got the feeling the crew didn’t quite feel they were on the African continent properly until we had crossed over into Morocco.

 

 

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Day 235 : Its the little things in life that matter

Day 235 : Its the little things in life that matter

High Point: Beating Steve in a “MAN OFF” while seeing who handled a saw better!!

Low Point: Being Freezing cold and losing the feeling in every extremity of my body waiting outside at the port in the Bitter New Jersey wind.

No Point : I now carry a pen around with me just in case someone else asks for my signature… Nice!

 

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Day 228 : A Great Day in the Great Smoky Mountains!

Day 228 : A Great Day in the Great Smoky Mountains!

Bryson City (NC) to Boone (NC)

High Point : The great views along the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Smoky Mountains National Park… amazing stuff!

Low Point : 4 crew in the back and sitting next to Steve for 2 hours makes for not much space!

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Day 223 : The Mystery of the $180 Pickles

Day 223 : The Mystery of the $180 Pickles

Bandera (TX) to Katy (TX)

High Points :

1) Early morning horse riding at the Running R Ranch with Dianna and David… Steve and I are now level 4 riders!

2) The night we spent at the Elk Lodge in Katy, a bit of true Americana!

Low Point : I love Beavers ….. and I love Nuggets… However I do not love Beaver Nuggets!

No Point : American Bingo doesn’t even use the catchphrases that make Bingo so amazing in every village hall at home…. 2 Fat ladies anyone!??

Health Point : The girls have introduced fruit and vegetables to my diet…. O.M.G

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Day 218 : New Crew, New Mexico

Day 218 : New Crew, New Mexico

Location : Shumway to Santa Fe

High Point: Our traditional southwestern breakfast cooked by The Caskey family…. Who`d have thought that eggs and chilly could go together so well!

Low Point: Dinner is early in rural America… restaurants here are closed by 8pm which resulted in one very hungry and unhappy crew searching to find some food at 9pm.

No Point: Why are the boys having more showers than the girls? And what is a ‘strip wash’?

Burger Point: With the crew now weighted firmly towards the healthy-eating girls, the burger count has been officially closed with yours truly striding out in front with a massive 20 burgers consumed in 15 days. We need a new count now….? Read more →

Day 213 : Los Angeles to Las Vegas (baby!)

Day 213 : Los Angeles to Las Vegas (baby!)

Viva LAS VEGAS!!

High Point: Seeing the bright lights of Las Vegas appear out of nowhere in the Mojave Desert then saying hello to “Sin City” properly by rolling Martha right down the middle of Las Vegas Boulevard!

Low Point: Getting out of L.A. during rush hour (which is basically all day). L.A is a massive sprawling concrete jungle of a city dominated by cars. The traffic was frustratingly heavy while the highways themselves are probably the worst Martha has seen since Russia and Poland! Sort it out Arnie!

No Point: Driving around downtown L.A for two hours trying to see the enormous “HOLLYWOOD” sign and eventually realizing you can’t get close to it at all….. OH… MY… GOD!

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Day 208 : “You might find this interesting…..”

Day 208 : “You might find this interesting…..”

Gaberville (Ca) to San Francisco (Ca)

High Point : Driving over the Golden Gate bridge at 5.43pm and witnessing the most perfect sunset over San Francisco.

Low Point : The travel sickness felt by all in the back of the “Rig”  after 3 hours of gunning down the wonderfully winding Highway 1. Of course it could of also been the 2 foot club sandwich we ate at lunch.

Rename of the day : Martha is currently holding her own when dwarfed by U.S Fire Engines twice her size but to help her sound more Macho and fitting with her surroundings we have currently renamed her from an engine to a “Rig”. Also she now can be referred to as a “Ride” as in “That’s a sweet ride you’ve got yourself there!”

Statement of the day (And potentially my life) : X-Pod (or Rob if you don’t know his self given nick name) … “ Riding this road is like taking a drug…  and I’m Addicted to it……. But sometime in life you have to give up drugs….” Enlightening stuff Rob.

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Day 202 : Culture Shock

Day 202 : Culture Shock

Culture shock; Adj; Is the difficulty people have adjusting to a new culture that differs markedly from their own……

After leaving FTFE and Martha in Beijing in September and traveling across the African and South American continents, culture shock was the last thing I was expecting to be feeling as I walked the streets of downtown Seattle, yet undeniably I definitely felt it. Arriving in America has been like receiving a large frying pan right to the face carried by an extremely loud man who insists on shouting every time he hits you! It was certainly the wake up call I needed after taking 48 hours to travel up from Peru.

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From the Archives. Stage 2. Moscow to Beijing.

From the Archives. Stage 2. Moscow to Beijing.

It all began on the 31st July with the passing of the baton (in our case truck keys) in Moscow’s Red square as the new stage 2 crew of Dave Orders, Ben Haselett and myself surprised the stage 1 crew after their mammoth over night drive from the Latvian border!

It’s been almost 4 months since stage 2 finished yet my memories of it are still as fresh as ever. Of all the countries I have visited in the past 6 months Mongolia has been my favourite. With Russia definitely being the most surprising! In order to sum up stage 2 quickly I thought I would list my highs and lows from each country

Russia

The highs;

1. Being waved on and saluted by most Police patrols, and when we were actually stopped we were sent on our way with a smile and a good luck message!!

2. The friendliness and help we received from normal Russians without whom we would never have found our way out of some towns or found a bed to sleep in.

3. Sleeping in a dormitory with 50 Russian girls after sitting in a traffic jam for 4 hours in Nishny Novgorod.

4. The official photographs of a Russian wedding being taken on Martha.

5. The sheer beauty of Russian Siberia with its stunning Mountains, Forests and Glacial Rivers! Read more →

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