Rode Jimmy Neutron

[Daniel Ramsey]

In the US things are bigger, faster and further I suppose than in Europe, myself I have never been overseas but have been across our states many many times, its a big land with many interstate highways.
Please mention this advice to DH, trucker do not like cars close behind them, we worry so much about a small car getting between us and when we turn. Also is debris that can hit your car and damage the windshield, I tell my wife to NEVER drive closer than 300' behind a concrete mixer as there is always pieces of small gravel that falls off the back of the truck. I noticed too that Fla. drivers appear polite but the big thing I saw was that 95% of the cars on the road were new, either silver or white. In Alaska its common to see cars and trucks with little or no body remaining because of the winter salts applied on the roads, plus our roads are so broken and uneven because of the extreme cold and buckling a new vehicle is quickly transformed into a well worn cracked windshield, rusted and loose suspension means of transportation.

[maggie]

The first time we went to Florida, we went for 3 weeks. We drove from Orlando for Fort Lauderdale and it was a very relaxing ride. ( I hate driving in UK as I find some drivers quite arogant. We went to Bush Gardens and the heavens opened to say the least. Even with the fast wipers on you could not see a thing. It didn't give us much warning. One minute there were a few drops of rain the next you could not see a thing in front of you. It was very scary. I didn't even know where the side of the road was. We struggled at a snails pace hoping no one would come up the back of us until we could make out a sign for a garage and pulled in there with a sigh of relief. There we stayed untill it passed over. I have never seen rain like that. Now every time it rains in Florida I am very wary encase we are in for another torrential downpour.Maggie

[Daniel Ramsey]

I remember living in Houston, Texas and almost everyday in the summer about rush hour time in the evening there would be literally walls of tropical downbursts, you could drive several blocks and the sun would be out, mostly it was the built up heat in the late afternoon from all the skys****er buildings that would trigger the tropical downpours. And when it rained the water could not drain off fast enough and often there would be 3' of water on the roads.
Also is hurricanes...... I was in Houston when it was hit by one in 1983 I think,hurricane Alicia it was called, massive flooding, lots and lots of trees toppled, power lines down, no power for two weeks.

Awesome thunderstorms in the southwest thats for sure, In Alaska we rarely see much more than just windy days though last month we had 100 mph plus winds, did about $5 million damage.

[Kissyme]

every time we have landed in Orlando there has been a storm massive fork lightening and huge blobs of rain my boys actually look forward to it, its as if weve actually "arrived" compared to UK storms the lightening is really impressive. We also found it strange how polite other road users are when trying to turnout of our hotel on what seemed to be a very busy duel carriageway we got to the junction the cars slowed and we were let out !!! if only this would happen when I`m trying to get the boys to school at 8:40 ha ha

[Daniel Ramsey]

Being an American I'll let you in on a little secret, we can spot foreigners a mile away, we all have these camcorders and we wait to find a chance to film something stupid or outrageous that we get money for on TV like "Americas most Dangerous Drivers"

Believe it or not....

[Kissyme]

If you really want to get strange looks from locals try walking to a restuarant !