My Secret Plan™

Top SecretSo, by now one or two of you might have heard me mention my SECRET PLAN on Facebook. In fact, a few of you have already weaseled the details out of me! Let’s face it – I’m crap at keeping secrets, and I can’t keep this one any longer.

So here it is:

I’m coming to America!

In June.

This year.

To write a book.

But that’s not it. Not really. You see, from time to time, I get emails from my readers, saying nice things about my books. Well, some of them. I also get the occasional death-threat, but that’s been happening since way before I was an author, so I try not to take them too seriously.

The idea grew from my last visit to the US – which the hardened readers amongst you might remember from ‘Don’t need The Whole Dog!’ It was a pretty successful trip for me; I met the love of my life there (not that either of us knew it at the time), and I even managed to avoid falling into the Grand Canyon.

But I was flat broke back then, and this ten-day holiday was paid for by my Mum, as a reward for coming home from Ecuador with all my limbs still attached. I always felt that I’d missed out on seeing the real America; rumour has it that it’s quite a big place, and I’d been there – but only just.

Flash forward to the present day, and not a lot has changed. Well, I’m married now, and I write books for a living, and I found a frikkin’ GREY HAIR yesterday, for gawd’s sake – okay, so quite a few things have changed.

But I’m basically still broke.

However! As I said, I’ve been getting emails from readers. Loads of emails. I get like, one, maybe two, practically every other week! Well, what did you expect? I’m not exactly Stephen king, am I?

Now, amongst those emails, people often say things like, “If you’re ever in Ponca City, Oklahoma, you’re welcome to come and stay with me!” They say these things because they feel safe in the knowledge that I am never actually going to be in Ponca City, Oklahoma…

Until now. Because my Secret Plan is threefold;

1)   I AM coming to America;

2)   I AM going to write a book about it, and

3)   I AM coming to visit you all!

Blame Roo. It was her idea, after all. Honestly, I think she was just bored of sitting on the sofa, watching me type.

“We should do you a book tour, like the real authors do,” she said. “We could go to New York and LA.”

“I’d love to, but we can’t afford to travel in first-world countries. Not for long.”

“Why don’t we stay with some of your readers? They’re always asking… that’d make it cheaper. And that way we’d get to see the ‘real’ America.”

Hm… Not a bad idea, I thought. “The only problem is, I don’t think any of those people actually wanted me to come and stay with them. I think they were just being nice.”

“Well,” she said, “hard luck.”

And that was that!

So, anyone who has a place for us to stay – be it outhouse, tree-house, dog-house or bouncy-castle – and anyone who thinks they have a genuine cultural experience* to offer us (or who just wants to try something crazy) – let me know! You might not think it, but I’m always up for an adventure.

Walking on beach

Right then, here’s the nitty gritty:

  1. I can’t come to visit everyone. I wish I could, but the Powers That Be will only let Roo and I into the country for three months. We’ll get as far as we can, but that’s a big-assed country you’ve got there. Ain’t no way we’re going to see it all in one trip. Sorry!
  2. We’ll need a place to stay, but we’re not fussy – having lived for months in a tent, and slept on floors, benches, beaches and the world’s most uncomfortable van, we’re not expecting luxury! But we will need somewhere to sleep while we visit you, as the motels part of our budget will be spent on the nights in-between visiting people.
  3. Food is good! We’d appreciate it if you could feed us at least a little bit while we’re there. This is the perfect time to break out Grandma’s famous recipe for meatloaf, and we’re happy to help with the cooking – well, Roo is. I’d probably burn down your kitchen. And probably your neighbour’s kitchen too. But I’m a mean washer-up J
  4. SHOW ME AMERICA! I’m keen to do as much crazy, fun stuff as is humanly possibly on this trip. If there’s anything cool you can show me (or weird, unusual, exciting, traditional, different etc.) – please let me know! I can’t give you an example, as I’ve no idea what’s out there, but I’m less inclined to go to expensive, well-known touristy things like Disneyland, and more inclined to find interesting stuff to write about – secret places, experiences that not everyone gets to have… anything we can have fun doing, without breaking the bank!
  5. Media Is Also Very Good! Mostly this trip is about me meeting all my awesome readers, but the cold-hearted money-making machine inside of me hates to miss an opportunity. We might not be able to afford to eat by the end of this trip, unless I manage to get some books sold, and the best way to do that is to attract a bit of media attention. I know not everyone has a girlfriend/uncle/friend from yoga class who runs a multinational publishing empire, but if you’ve got a tiny local rag, and it’s a sufficiently slow news week, the story of one of your favourite authors** coming out to meet you might be worth a mention. I’d really appreciate it if you could do a bit of leg work and find out if there’s any interest before I visit, as it’s notoriously difficult to set these things up after I’ve gone 😉
  6. Books are GREAT! I love books. And I love book shops. I also love libraries, and book groups, and all those kinds of places. I’m happy to do talks (or just have tea!) at any of these places if they’re interested. Again, if you think there’s a local place or group that might like to hear me waffle about the topic of their choice, I’d love to include that in my itinerary. I’ve got to get a bit of practice at that kind of stuff before I end up on Oprah! (Hang on – didn’t she get fired?)

Having said all that, please don’t be put off! I really DO want to see you all, and I’m flexible (you should see me do the splits! It’ll bring tears to your eyes.) I just had to put this stuff here to save me writing the same bunch of questions in every email. I won’t automatically choose not to visit you just because you can’t afford to feed me! There’s always room to wiggle. And I LOVE a good wiggle.

And that’s it. As of now, I’m accepting suggestions! If you’d like me to come and visit, please drop me a line, by Facebook, email, or a comment on here. (I was going to allow carrier pigeons too, but that always ends badly.)

Please let me know if you have any ideas for things to do near you, and whether or not you’ll be able to help us out with them.

I do have a Wish List of stuff Roo and I would dearly love to do while we’re over there, which I’ll be posting at some point, but for now I’m open to every suggestion under the sun. And even ones that aren’t.

So! Thank-you to those of you who’ve made it this far. Sorry for the gigantic blog post, and rest assured that service will return to normal after this. Which means nothing for a whole year short, witty blog posts, and lots of Roo’s pretty pictures. I promise!

Meanwhile… stay happy! I’ll look forward to hearing from you J

Tony@TonyJamesSlater.com

 

* Watching Star Wars totally counts as a cultural experience.

** And while you’re waiting for one of your favourite authors to come and meet you, you could have a visit from me!

53 thoughts on “My Secret Plan™

  1. Hey, you know you are welcome here anytime!
    What we offer at Chez Ruthemeyer:
    1. A real room, with an authentic, hand-carved cowboy bed (circa late 1800’s) That is guite short. Cowboys were shorter than you might think back then. Also, a bathroom adjacent.
    2. High speed wi-fi
    3. Great eats and libations
    4. We are equidistant to downtown Seattle – home of the Freemont Troll, the Space Needle, a giant ferris wheel and the Kangaroo and Kiwi Pub.. a combo Aussie/NZ pub, in case you’re homesick. And the beautiful San Juan Islands.. which can only be reached by ferry.. nice ferries that are NOT run by Mad Max. And the equally gorgeous Cascades.. with glacial lakes, and waterfalls .. the whole ‘American Alps’ experience. All within an hour in each direction from home base.
    6. ME!!!

    We don’t have a decent book store, but I believe a fellow reader lives near Portland (4 hours south) and Powells books is AMAZING!

    Come, stay…. tile my bathtub enclosure! [did I say that out loud…?]

    🙂

    Email me and let me know if you’re coming this way. The West Coast is the Best Coast!

    Laura

      1. Hahaha.. I was trying not to give it away that I already knew.. and yes, the creepy underground .. complete with the old Seattle brothels still exists! We’ll definitely do that! 🙂

  2. Come visit me and my husband! Granted our house is small and I only have 4-star floor space to offer you, but you’re welcome here and we love to cook. Louisville is the 16th largest city in the States. We have the Kentucky Derby museum and a huge music scene, especially in the summer. We’re within driving distance of Nashville, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis, as well as Mammoth Cave (largest cave system in the world) so we could day trip if you’d like. I’m constantly doing book events of my own, so if you were here for a particular weekend where I had an event, I’d totally share my booth space. 🙂

  3. Oh…you should come to NC. I live in Raleigh and you are welcome to the guest bed in our bonus room (the room over the garage that isn’t really a bedroom and not really anything else. Don’t worry…it is attached to the house and has access to a real bathroom and everything). There are all sorts of crazy interesting things to do here. If nothing else, southern food should be experienced first hand. BBQ, Grits, Black Eyed Peas, Chitterlings, Collards, Sweet Tea etc. etc. We are close to the coast and the outer banks too so lots of options there (and you really should go to the outer banks). I am reasonably certain that I could convince my parents (who live on the coast) to host you for a night or two also. I told them to read your books and I know they bought at least the first one (although, to be honest, I am not sure they actually read it). Not sure about the media opportunities but I used to work in advertising and still have lots of contacts there (in media) so it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that I could work something out there too. Anyway…let me know if you guys are coming down this way and are interested. I would love to hear about your time in Nova Scotia…we are thinking about a trip there summer of 2016.

    1. Sounds awesome, Leslie, cheers!
      It’s looking like we’ll be headed down that way (amazing amount of people seem to be living on/near the East Coast). Could I get you to send me a quick email to tony@tonyjamesslater.com? I’m not very good at planning this sort of thing (surprise!), and now I’m struggling to remember who’s where on email, Facebook and here! Next plan: get the messages all in the same place. After that: get new plan. Or maybe hire someone who knows what they’re doing better than me. I think my 2 year old niece is available…

  4. Middle of the Virginia Historic Triangle 🙂 birthplace of the Country Jamestown, End of the Revolution Yorktown, Capital of the state during the war Williamsburg. Sadly the floor space isn’t as big or the yard not as big 🙁 depends on when you are coming through. I will buy you a pint or 3 if you come this way.

  5. Hi Tony! You and Roo are very welcome to visit me here in beautiful Misery…ah, I mean Missouri.
    There’s plenty of room for you, and although I don’t do much cooking since my family has grown up and flown away I think I can still manage a few pretty good meals. If not, we do have Hardee’s, and Pizza Hut (I remember how much you and your sister enjoyed pizza during the house remodel)!
    As for the cultural aspects of northeast Mo., seeing everything “Mark Twain” in this area is a definite MUST. His birthplace, a lake named for him, and a shopping center, among other things.
    The whole stay shouldn’t take much more than a day and a half at most. So, whenever you get tired of all those big, noisy cities with all the touristy stuff, come and stay with me for a bit of midwest slow-down.
    I’d love to have you and Roo! 🙂

    1. Sue, you had me at Pizza Hut 🙂
      Any chance I can get you to email me with the details? I’ve made a bit of a balls-up (nothing new there!) and I can’t keep up with all the different messages that are coming in! I reckon if I get them all in my email account, I’ll have them all in one place so I can figure out what to do next. Which is still a mystery at this point… I really should have planned this a bit better!
      THANK-YOU!!!
      🙂
      Oh yeah, email is: Tony@TonyJamesSlater.com

  6. Live in the UK but reading this whilst on holiday in Florida – won’t embarrass myself by admitting where, but it begins with “D”. Just about to start reading Can I kiss her and Mrs C about to finish a strange book about Kangaroos.

    Keep up the good and hope you come up with something good.

    By the way the place beginning with “D” ain’t that bad

    1. Ha! It’s only ’cause I’m jealous – the price of two tickets to ‘D’ would probably sink this entire expedition right there! But it’s hard to be bitter when I get to spend months at a time sitting on my ass in front of a window, writing… no, hang on a minute. That sounds like crap! I wanna be in Disneyland. WAAAA!

  7. hi, Tony. I’m one of the mods on WLM. My roommate and I offer y’all a (new) queen sized bed, great food, Williamsburg, VA, or if you like, beach stuff, or we can take you over and let y’all hike The Appalichain Trail for a bit…we have a camper. We’re considerably older than y’all in years, but not in spirit. East coast really rules…even Seattle knows that.

    1. that’s two of us in the williamsburg area. I’m going to talk to a friend today and see if we might be able to score passes for Colonial Williamsburg when they come through. 🙂 I let him know i’ll buy him some food and beer, but we didn’t have a bed.

    2. Awesome! Looks like it’s all shaping up… I’ve sent you a friend request on Facebook, don’t suppose I could get you to send me a Private Message through there, could I? Much easier to deal with it that way! THANK-YOU!!! I love beach stuff – and have a group of friends hiking the Appalachian Trail right now, end to end. The poor buggers…
      🙂

  8. If you make it all the way to South Georgia – as in on the way to Florida – then we have a place for you. Vidalia, Georgia (as in VIDALIA SWEET ONION) is located between Macon and Savannah and is still full of Old South charm. Think “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” without the murdering. Pool, the other Master Bedroom and a “Man Cave” at your disposal. Hey, you could do worst…

    1. Cheers Bob! Looking like we’ll be down that way, heading all the way through South Georgia onto Florida. I’ve sent you a message on Facebook, but it’ll end up in your ‘Other’ folder, that shadowy, hard-to-spot one next to your proper FB inbox! That’s because we’re not ‘connected’ on Facebook apparently, and I can’t seem to send you a friend request…
      If you don’t get the message, you could always email me at: Tony@TonyJamesSlater.com so I can stay in touch.
      Cheers mate!
      😉

  9. Hi Tony and Roo!
    I have read all your books and now my hubby is reading them. Although we are both in our 50’s, we enjoyed them soooooo much!! You have made me laugh throughout all the books so much. I’m constantly telling people to read them. We live in Tallahassee, Florida, the state capital. We live in a house about 16 miles out of town, on a lake. We have a guestroom and a boat and plenty of things to do, since 2 large Universities are in town. My husband is a teacher at the local community college and I am a nurse, which may come in handy if you decide to stay!! You are both welcome here. We feel like we know you as I follow you on FB and read your blogs. Let us know if you want to stay!! Good luck on your plans. Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help!!
    Kim and Dan Gelabert

    1. Hi guys! That sounds great! Looks like Florida could be on the cards!
      Could I get you to email me at: Tony@TonyJamesSlater.com – that way it’ll be easier to stay in touch, and update you as plans start to emerge from the dripping grey soup of possibilities… or something like that 🙂
      Cheers!

  10. Tony & Roo, If you can make it to Southern California my husband and I would love to host you! Unfortunately I gave Kelly our guestroom to use as a music studio, but I have an office with a comfy futon. I know it’s comfy because I sometimes sleep there when Kel snores too loudly. We also have 2 very friendly mutts who may or may not try to share the bed with you. 10 minutes from the beach (20 minutes from the better beach), a little over an hour north from LA, and 30 minutes south of Santa Barbara. Wine tastings, amusement parks, nature, cities and quaint towns are all available. A world class National Park, water sports, breweries, etc. We have some absolutely crazy friends who I am sure you would love as much as we do and don’t need an excuse for a BBQ. Let us know…

      1. Awesome! Can’t wait to meet you two in real life. And we do have some real cool dudes in SoCal, but we’re kind of nerdy…it’s more fun.

  11. Well, everyone wants to visit Cumberland, Marylannd! What do I have to offer you….a house of screaming kids, a floor or fenced in yard, I’ll throw some food in there too 🙂 actually, Cumberland is a nice mountain town….the C and O Canal runs through here, there’s 2 cute bookstores nearby, and plan it right, June 6th is all you can drink wine festival for charity….You can promote your book, I’ll get roo a free ticket (it helps I’m in charge of the event) and if you show up a day early, you can help set up….I totally see you penciling this in 🙂 anyway, you are welcome here….I also can give you guys a pep talk on children and why you should yank your own uterus out 🙂

    1. Ha ha! Looking forward to that pep-talk… could get messy though. I mean, think of all that blood on the kitchen floor!
      Could I get you to send me an email at: Tony@TonyJamesSlater.com – that way I’ll be able to keep track of everything, and let you know what the plans are as they develop. They’re currently… embryonic 🙂
      THANK-YOU MISTY!!!

  12. hi Tony and Roo! I would love to have you and Roo come and stay with us. We live in a little town in Ohio on a small lake. There really is not a lot around us(we kind of love in farm country). But we do have a pontoon boat, 2 kayaks, a paddle boat and lots of fishing rods. It would be the perfect place to have some down time from all of the hectic traveling! There is a small library in town and I’m sure they would love to have you come to talk! I love to cook and would be very happy to feed you!

    1. Hi Melodie! Sounds idylic! I’ve only used a fishing rod once in my life, and the fishing rod didn’t survive the experience, so it might be safer if we stick to the boats 🙂
      Could I get you to send me an email to Tony@TonyJamesSlater.com so that we can stay in touch? That would make it much easier to plan when my 10-foot-square Map of the USA arrives! 🙂
      Thank-you!!

  13. Always welcome to “Kika’s Refuge” in Alton, Illinois. I offer bed and board in 120 year old house overlooking Mississippi River and 25 minutes from St Louis (Gateway to the West); 10 minutes away is start off camp of Lewis and Clark Expedition; meeting of three rivers – Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois within 15 minutes; birthplace and home of “Gentle Giant Robert Wadlow” (world’s tallest man), birthplace of jazz great Miles Davis, and visited by Abraham Lincoln during one of the presidential debates.
    It is also said that Alton is one of the most haunted cities in the nation.
    The experience would showcase the true spirit of “America”, my being a Naturalized Citizen of French/Italian/Austrian parentage, born in Africa, brought up in the Middle East and widowed after 41 years of marriage to an American. I have siblings in London and Austria and family home on the Costa Del Sol in Spain. I am also the proud owner of faithful companion 6 year old Layla, an American Bulldog.
    Let me know if you are interested!

    1. Hi Kika! Thanks so much for the offer! I bet you’ve got some fascinating stories to tell. That’s just the kind of experience I’m hoping to get on this adventure, meeting people that can help me understand what America is all about. And a few ghosts never go amiss either 🙂
      Could I get you to send me an email to Tony@TonyJamesSlater.com – that’ll make it easier to keep in touch, and discuss plans as they develop. I’m getting all excited now!

  14. My wife and I would love for you guys to visit! We live in a smallish PA town called Chambersburg. We are about 45 minutes away from Historic Gettysburg, which admittedly is kind of boring (lots of fields, statues, and tombstones) BUT the midnight ghost tours are a lot of fun! I’ve been on a few (although I’ve never seen anything….yet) and always had a good time. It was the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil so there are some good stories. Also, we live on the cusp of Amish country and I know where you can “have an authentic Amish experience.” Do you like churning your own butter and seeing a horse and buggy drive down the road? Lastly, we have 3 state universities and 2 community colleges all within 45 minutes from us. I know that college is out in June but maybe we could still book some time for you (celebrities are rare around these parts!)
    If you can stand an air mattress for a night or two and be able to put up with two very active and slightly crazy (but adorable as hell) little boys, we’d love to have you!

    1. Woah, that sounds fantastic! An Amish experience is high on my list of things I’d love to do in the States! I can’t say anything for sure right now, as I’m still trying to put everything together (and I really am terible at stuff like this!) – but fingers crossed we could come to you and go visit the Amish! Thanks so much Jeremiah. I’ll be in touch! 🙂

      1. Just to let you know, we’d have to drive to the wonderful towns of Intercourse and Bird-in-hand PA!

  15. What a pity this is only in America! Just over the HIlls from where you live in Perth, we have seriously friendly animals, spare house, spare room, and tall tales aplenty! Bugger, we’re not USA!!

  16. Hi Tony & Roo!

    So Oklahoma City may not exactly be a tourism mecca but the people here are super friendly and it might be a good stopping place, whether you are heading east to west or north to south. Several years ago, my husband & I bought a small home and converted it to office space for me. You are welcome to stay there (there’s a sleeper sofa in my office). I am willing to work from home whenever possible so you two could have a little privacy. Plus, the set up could be conducive to writing.

    1. Cheers Cindy! I’ll put a pin in the map (when it arrives!) and get back to you! Wow, this really is shaping up to be an epic trip. Hell, just planning it is shaping up to be pretty epic… Roo is even considering investing in a packet of highlighters… 🙂

  17. So my husband said I under sold Door County Wisconsin. Wisconsin has more bars per per person than any other state. We are located between Green Bay and Lake Michigan. You could take the ferry through Death’s Door to Washington Island. There is kayaking (just be careful for the currents), dive to the many shipwrecks, hiking, sand dunes,lots of book stores, home of the Green Bay Packers a short jaunt, and you could (or maybe just Roo) drive one of his classic cars. We are kind of out of the way but would love to have you if you make it up this way.
    Dorothea

    1. Cheers Dorothea! Does that mean there are lots of bars, or hardly any people?! Sounds epic, either way! Roo can drive and I can drink 🙂
      I’ll put you on the list… I’m slowly starting to get a handle on this. It’s looking like a busy three months… FUN!

  18. Tony & Roo,

    How cool is it that you are coming our way! You are most welcome in our humble abode. Nothing fancy but you’d have a room with a view, great food and drink, and all the touristy (and non touristy) stuff we could arrange for you while here in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. We are in the northwestern corner of the state with Tennessee and Virginia minutes (well, under an hour) away. We are at 4000′ on Grandfather Mountain’s backside (as I like to say).

    Beautiful country, great views, and nice and cool in the summer (You’re going to be here June, July, and August?) Famous for local southern foods (can you say Bar-B-Que) and fried everything ( we had fried pickles and fried green beans at the local ski slope where I work in the winter as Ski Patrol)

    You’d have to put up with a 10 y/o girl who acts 15 and loves to chat, an aging Golden Retriever, and a younger
    golden/lab/husky mix that will beg you for attention and loving as long as you are breathing.

    We’d love to put you up for as long as you can stay and explore our area. We have hiking, mountaintops, cavernes, waterfalls, quaint old appalachia towns, lots to see, lots to do.

    I would love to write a “Meet visiting world travelling author who is coming to town” and review of your books with the local papers and even try working in some TV press (can’t hurt if it is a slow news day, nudge, nudge, wink, wink…). They can be pretty desperate for news item down here in south. They’ll film it snowing…like thats a unusual phenomenon for the mountains in winter. Local papers and bookstores love visiting Author’s here.

    So, look at your map, look at your itinerary (you even think you’d have one of those?), look at your stars, and if you would like to visit us up here in the High Country of North Carolina, we’d love to have you both. Warning Roo, I’d bet my daughter would latch onto like a rain forest leech. How cool is a world traveller from Down Under.

    Oh, by the way, did I mention the local brewery’s,,,,

    You come this way and we will provide you a chapter for your newest.

    Now, back to “Can I kiss her yet?” your latest brilliant work of literature that I just found out about and purchased from Amazon, which delivered in nanoseconds -nice plug, huh?.

    Cheers,

    Mark, and Melinda, and Amy.

  19. I enjoyed your book, great style and adventure spirit you have there and looking forward to reading more! I’m in southwest Virginia, in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Would love to have you and Roo visit if it works into your schedule. Regardless, I heartily recommend that ya’ll explore this part of the US. The Blue Ridge Parkway runs down the Shenandoah Valley, through my neck of the woods and down into NC. It’s a gorgeous drive and the Valley offers many compelling reasons to stop and explore. Lots of caves, interesting natural oddities and many hiking opportunities. I live near Martinsville, in the heart of NASCAR country, so if you like fast cars and loud noise for brief periods, we can hook you up. Pilot Mountain and Hanging Rock state park are a little south of me and offer fabulous climbing opportunities.

    I have no claim to riches and fame but I do have a house with an empty bedroom on Philpott Lake and a pontoon boat. I know someone who works at both the local newspaper as well as Pilot Mountain’s paper and would be happy to have a go at working up some buzz. No promises except that I will put effort into it if you decide to visit.

    I have a canoe and a kakak as well and we are fond of tubing the Smith River, upper and lower and I can offer camping on the river bank if you aren’t too particular about amenities. I am guessing that my husband and I are probably old enough to be your parents and we have an assortment of children in and out of the house, from mid 30s down to the brand new grandbaby. I think the best thing I can offer, though, is the opportunity to talk with my mother. She lives next door and at 70+ sports pink and purple streaks in her snow white hair, has her own chainsaw and does stuff like jump out of airplanes for milestone birthdays. I’m just happy she finally quit hiking the AT for weeks on end.

    1. Your Mom sounds cool! Roo aspires to be like that – ‘eccentric’ I think is what the polite folk would say 🙂
      I’ll put you on the list, which is rapidly become a book, and as soon I figure out where to start I’ll let you know.
      And THANK-YOU!!!

    2. Hi Cindy! Tony here! I don’t know if this will reach you or not, but I’m putting together an updated version of the America Trip (which got cancelled last year due to personal reasons), and I wondered if you’re still interested in us visiting you?? It’s perfectly okay if not – I figure there’s a good chance you’ve come to your senses!
      Anyhoo, if you ARE interested, could I get you to drop me an email at: Tony@TonyJamesSlater.com
      Just stick your address (or just town/suburb if you want), and contact details in there, so that I can get in touch when I’ve done stringing all the dots together! I don’t have an email address for you and I can’t find you on Facebook, so I really hope you get this!

      Best wishes,

      Tony

  20. If you’re heading from somewhere north towards one of those people in Virginia or North Carolina and need a place to sleep for a night we have an excellent floor. We would be happy to feed you and share some drinks with you on your journey. There, of course, is a bunch of stuff to do in and around Baltimore (which is about 10 miles from us) but most of it is touristy crap. Although there are some great hiking trails if you know where to look and what kind of trail you’re looking for.

    1. That’s awesome, thanks Sharon! I’m just (finally!) starting to put some shape on this trip, and I’ve spent most of the day on Google Maps! I’ll sick you o the list and let you know how we go. I should have some sort of rough plan hashed out in the next couple of days. Exciting! Thanks so much for your kind offer! 🙂

  21. Looks like I am a day late and a dollar short, but for what it is worth you are welcome to stay with me while you Climb MT. Shasta (14,161′) in the far northern reaches of Calif. Yes opposite end of the state from LA!

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