>>And my DH is from England (Oldham). He says to tell you that you need to be prepared for "long drives. Everything is farther away here in the states than back in England."
My husband is from England too ( NW Essex), and he says the same thing but loves the long drives here in the US.
there is an old saying ... "European's think 100 miles is a long way, and American's think 100 years is a long time". So very true.
A Dutch friend of mine wanted to come to the US for a dog show one year. The show was in Atlanta, I live in Chicago. He asked me if he could stay at my house and drive back and forth each day. When I told him how far away Atlanta is from Chicago he said "odd ... it's only 7 mm away on my map". Too funny!!