Catching up and catching breath...

Hi all,

I'm in Dallas, TX now. It's incredibly flat country and sprawls out as much if not more than Sydney or Melbourne.

I've decided to be a total slug this afternoon. I think the last few days in Philadelphia have filled my historical/tourist quota to the brim, plus I only have a very small window of opportunity to give my hubby a phone call and the peace and quiet of a hotel room is the best place.

Philadelphia - beautiful city, in spite of the bad rep it has regarding crime etc. After totally relaxing with my friends from Langhorne I transferred to Ardmore, a lovely leafy suburb somewhere to the south-west-ish (I'd have to look it up on a map to confirm the precise location) of the city.

My friend Grace met me at 30th St Station, which I remembered from 18 years ago when hubby and I were there, phoning our Langhorne friends to let them know we'd missed our train and would be on the next one. I recognised the public phones as I walked from the suburban part of the station to the main part to wait for Grace.

When she picked me up we went on a driving tour of the city for a while and then headed for her lovely house - 60 years old, built of stone and solid as a rock (pun intended). The next day after a leisurely breakfast cooked by her hubby Jeff, we went off to the oldest zoo in America which is celebrating its 150th birthday this year. It has a hot air balloon (tethered) that takes people on short rides, and a great collection of animals, including a mob of typically lazy red kangaroos (well, it was a very hot day), a couple of echidnas and some bearded pigs. Why they were called bearded pigs when the "beard" is on the top of their snout I shall probably never know! The other (reddish) photo is of the Yin/Yang Aardvarks - sound asleep in their glass-roofed den.

Sunday was Moody Blues day - Grace and I spent most of the day looking at movies, photos and just talking Moody Blues.

Yesterday we did the total tourist bit - we drove into the city and went on a Duck ride (the WW2 DUKW type of duck) around the city and along the Delaware River - on the river. We saw a 160-yr old tugboat that is still working, and the oldest residential street in America - a very narrow lane but beautifully restored.

Then we got very historical - the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Such a change from 18 years ago. The bell has been moved into a new pavilion and you can't get close to it - a far cry from the photo taken of us beside it under nothing more than a pergola out in the open. We even had to have our handbags searched before we went into the building. There is a good display of the bell's history before you get to where the bell is now hanging.

Independence Hall was just as I remembered it from before, apart from the security (again!) and being on a guided tour - the guide was brilliant and brought the history of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to vivid life. Turns out, the Declaration of Independence wasn't actually signed on July 4. It was read out to the public on July 8th (and none of the powers-that-be who did sign it were there as they didn't know what the public's reaction would be) and finally completely signed some time in August.

Plenty of references were made to the National Treasure movie, which brought a smile to everyone's face. Also, the guide mentioned that the only State not present at the signing was Rhode Island, and asked if anyone was there in the group from RI - three people put their hands up and the guide's response was "You made it! Finally!" The whole group burst out laughing.

After the tour we went into the Curtis building to see a magnificent mural made entirely of glass. Then it was time to head for home - we were exhausted. We had dinner out and had ourselves some ColdStone icecream - I can't recall who it is that has started doing the same thing in Cairns, but I will be chasing it up because it is a brilliant concept. I liked the cup sizes - Like it, Love it, Gotta Have It. I had french vanilla icecream with Butterfinger chopped and mixed inside and it was incredibly yummy!

This morning it was up with the birds and off to the airport for the last leg home. I very sensibly organised a pickup by shuttle bus to the hotel and return to the airport tomorrow morning - only cost me $38 all up. Some of the transport companies were asking $40 one way!

Time to relax; I seem to have found a tv channel that's showing all my old faves - Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie and I think the next one is The Cosby Show!