Springhill Suites By Marriott Charlotte/Concord Mills-Speedway

The journey home began at 6AM Venice time and even with only a one hour layover in Munich we arrived in Charlotte at 6PM est time (midnight Venice time!) a very long day. We had a trendous trip and Aunt Sue and Guido were the perfect hosts and tour guides. I almost feel like going right back but that will have to wait for now probably June 2011. The weather was cold and at times rainy so some of the things you would routinely do were just not possible.

Excited and ready to leave. The forecast does not seem very promising but it will be great to see Sue &amp; Guido again. We leave Charlotte at 5:30 PM and should be in Venice at Noon (Italian time) Wednesday. I will try to send photo's as we take them as well as update this blog. I loved this when Chris and Liana used it . <br>

... never heard of," and now I know why.<br><br>Our first performance was less than a success. It was a private performance, which means that unlike all of our other shows, where we perform in a nice big proper theatre and schools come to us, we performed in a school. And the theatre teacher, who is the ONLY person who knows anything about the electrical system in their theatre CALLED IN!!!! Which means, we were only able to use about 1/4 of our usual lights ...

I thought that I would post this picture of me and La Poderosa just before I left for the west coast a couple month's ago. She had to be sold in LA:( What an amazing bike for 700 bucks. She got me through one of the most amazing adventures that I've had to date. As soon as I can get my computer that has all the pics on it online I will have a boat load of stuff to post from this trip.<br><br>

... the eastern boarder of Iraq while I am there. Future travels with continue to take me across I believe. I am bringing the tent and sleeping bag for my days on the road so that I can stay cheap while i'm in transit. Though I have hostel reservations for the beginning and end of my trip in Istanbul.

... spots is very puzzling to my mind. You think "I KNOW you! I really KNOW you. And here you are. And here we are... and we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto!"<br><br>We have about a 2 hour wait before our evening flight across the pond. So, let's have a beer!

... but given the amount of rain, clouds and fog we couldn't see a thing. So we took a few pictures and pretty much drove straight through the park :(<br><br>We reached our destination fairly early tonight and decided with this storm passing over us maybe a cabin would be a little better than staying inside our "tight quarters." The cabin is pretty roomy double size bed, eating area, 1/2 bath, heater and ...

WW and I drove across western NC. Got to a town called Statesville and went into J&amp;R Cigars, billed as the World's largest cigar store. They ain't lying. BIg ol' CHurchills for $3 (or less).<br><br>We camped at Lake Norman, land donated to the State of NC by the Duke Power company as long as the state let them leave their nuke there. No pics. Suprisingly nice campground.

... of work the wind started to pick up and the clouds set in. The day started out at 78 degrees and by the time the rain had passed, it was 62 degrees. I was in my shorts and a Columbia Fishing shirt that was too big for me. Out shirts and jackets were being sent in the mail, but would not arrive until Friday, 2 days away. It was a VERY chilly day. We would sit in the trucks a lot to keep warm. All and all it was a good ...

... another epic adventure. galen (some of you know him as "clockwork orange") and luke (aka "scared of the dark") - friends i met on the AT - both bought into the idea of making NZ a reality. they too had longed for a trip down under and just needed a little nudge to commit. i fly out to California jan 5 to hang out with jesse and keely who just moved to Oceanside, CA. jan 9 i head to NZ! kia ora, much peace - brandon