Elizabeth - a bit off topic this, but the end of your post made me laugh! It shows what a small country in terms of physical size this is compared to the USA!

Your dad's neighbour grew up in Newcastle, and they were doing the whole "my daughter's in London, small world!!!" thing?? For most Brits, the 250-or-so-mile trip between London and Newcastle is like one end of the country to the other!!!! Going from one end of America to the other must take a good few weeks by car!!!!!

Just shows the differences in what people from different countries think a "short trip" is!!!!