TRAVEL GALLERY · NORTH AMERICA

United States of America

The land of the free; my first visit in LA coincided with the LA riots!

Visits

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3 - 7 May and 16 - 25 May 1991

1st & 2nd Visits

The flight from Manila, Philippines dropped us into Hawaii, gave us a roller coaster ride in storms over the Pacific, crossed over the international date line and finally landed Braz & I into Los Angeles. We had no Visa and Braz was interviewed as a potential illegal immigrant! They let me in with no problem. After a wild time in L.A.; being befriended by some bizarre characters, we headed for Mexico. Braz stayed on in Mexico whilst I returned to the States. A Greyhound bus took me from El Paso, New Mexico to LA, California via Tuscon & Phoenix, Arizona. Took the unique Green Tortoise service to Seattle; the coach is carpeted with mattresses to hang-out for journey. Most of the passengers would be classed as 'hippies'. Enroute we travelled along the beautiful pacific coast, breakfasted at a commune in a Redwood park & spent day in San Francisco. Claire met me in Seattle and on my birthday we headed for her home; Canada.

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26 May - 2 June 2001

3rd Visit

A jolly courtesy of Rolls-Royce; the 3 day PDM conference in Orlando coincided with the long Whitsun bank holiday. I flew into Miami and picked up a hire car; I just survived learning to drive an automatic whilst navigating out of Miami. Spent 2 days exploring the Everglades national park; a wonderful place full of wildlife. The mosquitos were too common and voracious. Drove upto Orlando via the west coast. Stayed in the enormous World Centre hotel. The UGS conference went well with great entertainment including a night at Univeral Studios; the 3D cinema was absolutely stunning.

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29 September - 11 October 2005

4th Visit

Another jolly. The reason for the visit was to escort Mark Bass and Mal Gahan, Royal Australian Navy, who were to brief the US Navy on how wonderful their PLM capability was. Before they arrived I spent a few days exploring Washington D.C. The weather was perfect and I was so pleased to see this great capital. Most of my time was spent in the 2 Smithsonian Air & Space museums. UGS hosted us and one night a limousine gave us a midnight tour of the Mall. To have the Lincoln memorial to our selves was something special. We then flew to Fort Worth, Texas to visit Lockheed Martin. Mal & I spent a night in the Stockyards chatting to cowboys and cowgirls.

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5 - 14 November 2014

5th Visit

A jolly courtesy of Cochlear. I was presenting at a conference in Orlando and also visting Cochlear's Offices in Denver. Over the weekend I drove the 10 hours, over the Colarado mountains, to visit Monument Valley and the Arches National Park in Utah. Both were well worth the drive. Whilst in Orlando a conference treat was a night at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter; the 3D roller coaster ride was magic!

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