There were plenty of times last season when we heard moaning about half our squad being out on loan, and admittedly it was quite hard to keep track of with John Carew at Stoke, Barry Bannan and Eric Lichaj at Leeds, Andi Weimann at Watford, Brad Guzan at Hull, Nathan Delfouneso at Burnley, Stephen Ireland at Newcastle, Curtis Davies at Leicester, Jonathan Hogg at Portsmouth, Shane Lowry at Sheffield United - did I forget anyone?

From Vermont we headed south to Lenox in the heart of The Berkshires, nestled in amongst the rolling Appalachian Mountains, to the historic 100 year old Cranwell Golf and Spa resort set on 380 acres. At check in I think I might have been mistaken for someone else as I was greeted with "Welcome back Miss Hickey" and it was assumed I knew where Beecher's Cottage, where we were staying, and the Mansion, where breakfast is served, were. I really wouldn't mind being a regular at all, and the only disappointment was that we were only staying one night.

The drive from Conway to Stowe was spectacular. First through the White Mountains, climbing to around 3000ft, and then into the Green Mountains of Vermont. We were only 49 miles from Canada when we had to stop on the Interstate to allow a family of wild turkeys to cross the road.

After grabbing lobster rolls and root beer to go we set off from Kennebunkport towards New Hampshire. The sat nav pronounced we were at our destination but we found ourselves at a Doggy Daycare Centre instead. Driving up and down the "White Mountain Highway" we were starting to get worried. The road had intermittent run-down clapboard buildings and abandoned diners, certainly nowhere we would want to stay.

My trip to New England was more than just a holiday. I had a mission.  My mission, although I had little choice to accept it, was to find Stu a robe and bring it back. Sadly I failed, sorry Stu. Out of nine hotels I only found three robes and one of those was at the hotel where we left the car at Heathrow. I wasn't going to take a robe all the way to the States to bring it back, so I left that one there, and unfortunately due to the baby clothes for my new niece, Red Sox merchandise and a Michael Kors handbag we had to bring back, there was no room in my case to bring the others back either. So I'm afraid Stu you'll have to make do with photographs and my sincerest apologies.

From New York we caught the Amtrak up the East Coast to Boston. It was a long journey but between the huge comfortable seats, masses of leg room and amazing views of the ocean and small New England towns through the windows, four hours passed in no time at all. Boston is an incredible city and soon cemented it's place as one of my favourite cities in the world. We had barely been there half an hour and were enthralled by the people, the shops, the restaurants, the architecture, the history, and this just grew the longer we spent there.

New York was the first stop on our trip to the States. It didn't originally feature in our plans but we decided as we were going to be fairly local we may as well go while we were there. New York is an amazing and fascinating city, and I'm really glad that we went, but it was hot and noisy and busy, and I won't be hurrying back. I would certainly recommend visiting if you get the chance but I think once was enough for me.

Birds aren't easy to photograph; they move too quickly or fly away just as you're about to get the perfect shot, but they are quite fascinating. I took these on my recent trip to New England for @photomoments (who is far better with birds than me so check out http://www.photomoments.me.uk/)