The finishing point

Here I am in Clearwater, Florida at last. It's been a long but satisfying journey. I stood in the dust of Monument Valley in Arizona, and later the same day I stood in snow at 10,000 feet above sea level in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Such are the contrasts that one can experience on a long trip through a large country like the U.S.

I took about 110 photographs every day. Sometimes I wanted to take more, but I only had two memory sticks for my digital camera. I really needed three memory sticks.

Clearwater is a perfect place to finish this kind of journey. With a beach facing west across the Gulf of Mexico, and a bay behind, there is water aplenty for whatever kind of aquatic pursuits you fancy. There are lots of tourist attractions, and yet there is also a laid back relaxing atmosphere. There's a large and well stocked health food supermarket with organically grown fruit and vegetables, and there are lots of Thai restaurants, several Chinese restaurants, and a couple of Japanese sushi bars. I think I can chill out nicely here for a little while before I sell the car and fly back home from the nearby Tampa international airport.

This is my last entry for this section of my web site. My sincere heartfelt thanks to all of you who emailed me with messages of encouragement and kind feedback about the photographs. Your messages kept me company on what was otherwise a lonely trip.

I can recommend everyone to do a road trip like this. But bring a friend with you. The natural beauty of America is too much for one person to absorb all alone.