hi all

i have just spent about an hour trying to upload the next lot of photos and it just isnt working!!

the next lot when we get them up are of our last days in miami - we went to key west for the day, whilst there we went to the southern most point in continental usa - 90 miles from cuba! we also found a beach which we had to ourselves, it was a cute little beach not what we had expected, was still paradise with white sand and clear blue sea but man made so perhaps not quite so cool! we also shopped around for a bit, went to mile 0 point when the interstate 1 highway starts and goes all the way to NYC! oh, we tried traditional key lime pie too, very much like lemon merigne pie but with lime - very sweet and yummy - one piece between us was ample though!!

the next 2 days were spent on trains going to chicago - 41/44 hours spent on trains!! wasnt too bad met loads of nice people who told us lots of things to do in all the places we had yet to go to and made the journey go by quicker! gav even read my girlie book and i think he enjoyed it he read it so fast! ok, 1 min left gotta go! love ya all! s and g x

Miami, Miami, Miami!!! God this place was paradise!! it was a bit gangster too but it was everything we imagined Miami to be, the beaches were pure white sand with palm trees everywhere, the sea was blue, not as clear as we expected but still gorgeous - and it was swelteringly hot, walking around with sweat dripping down our backs all day - very attractive to see and smell!!! even in the evenings it was really warm - no need for cardi!!

the pic of us on the beach kinda sums up that life - we didn't get burnt but did catch some rays -although i think theyve disappeared now! we spent a few afternoons on the beach it was the only place to be in the day time in the heat!! The one of the hand is the holocaust memorial for the 6million jews killed by the nazis in WWII, we didnt really know much about it but god the story line of events almost brought us both to tears in horror, the pictures were horrendous to look at and the monument was hard to take in. after that we went to the botanical gardens, nice and small a little paradise land of greenery with water, plants and quaint cute little hideaways! oh yes, i think it was our second night, we met a load of people in our hostel and went out to a pub - had full intentions of going all out to clubs etc but ended up staying in the same bar all night - it didn't matter we were all having a laugh, the booze was cheap - gav and a guy steve (i think) in the black shirt started playing pool for money, they won $10 then gav retired when the bets got hire but steve went on to win $100+ i think!! we finally went back to the hostel a little after 4am rather tipsy and very merry!! one of my biggest memories of that night was the cold air con, i was wearing a braless top and the guys took the mickey out of me all night long - all good fun!!hehe!

oh, yes, the evaglades! we took a trip out the the evaglades national park - hundreds of acres stretching from orlando to key west i think, basically lots of swampy grassland with lots of alligators swimming around - its all fresh water and the main florida drinking water supply so our guide of the glades had great pleasure in telling us the water we drank had had alligators swimming around in it as well as everything else animals do!!! tasty!! after out speed boat tour of the glades we had an alligator show - nothing like steve irwin would do far pussier - but good all the same and we got to hold an alligator at the end so here we are! was very leathery and heavy! how many of you can say you've held an alligator!!!! we have!!!

this is the last few of us in orlando! the first is us enjoying a donut like thing with strawberries and ice cream, can't for the life of us remember what its called but it was very nice!!!

the others are of enjoying the life at our hotel which was luxury, gav next to the pool at sunset and me enj0ying the sun!! oh those days where it was hot!!! and the hotel room was so big!!! and unshared!!! pure luxury!