We arrived yesterday to this lovely campground near Redding, CA which looks like a great place to explore if it ever stops pouring. It has been raining steadily all day and the forecast is calling for rain over the next several days. All it took for CA to find drought relief was for John and I to spend time here. We’ve seen rain in every place we’ve been to in California with the exception of Palm Springs.
Campground in the hills near northern California’s town/city of Redding.
We aren’t far from the areas that were impacted by the horrible 2018 fires and the heavy rain can create major flooding and/or mudslide issues for those areas. Our particular campsite is up on a bit of a hill so hopefully, we won’t float away.
4/9/19
We have been in this location for five nights and this is the first day that it hasn’t poured. The reservoirs in California have to be doing very well at this point. I can finally see the gorgeous snow covered mountains on the horizon. To summarize what we have done in between the deluges so far, we have visited Shasta Dam, the Sundial Bridge (which is an actual sundial and a glass bottomed pedestrian bridge), and we hiked for about 4 miles on the Sacramento River Trail. Today we visit the Shasta Caverns.
Shasta Dam and reservoir leading to the Sacramento River which irrigates a large swath of central California’s growing region, with a large osprey nesting near the parking lot.
A photo in the Shasta Dam museum/gift shop of a 2018 wildfire at night in the distance behind the dam. Also eerie reflections of ourselves taking photos of photos.
The Sundial Bridge over the Sacramento River – the tower’s shadow creates an operating sundial with the markers around the perimeter. – Baker embarrassingly insists it was 12 oclock, but was far off.
A trail and various other bridges along the Sacramento River downstream from Shasta Dam and the mountain in the distance
Lake Shasta Caverns are incredible. We have seen so many gorgeous places but I really have to consider that the scenery surrounding these caverns might be the most beautiful. The lake is a pristine blue/green, the surrounding mountains are a mystical combination of gray rock spotted with just the right amount of greenery and the sky is a bright clear blue. You see the “Trinity Alps”, a trio of snow capped mountains peaking out on the horizon.
Shasta Lake is one of several created by the dam’s construction. We took a ferry across as well as a tenuous bus ride up the mountainside to the entrance of the caverns.
The tour begins with a boat ride across Lake Shasta followed by a bus ride up the mountain. The road was incredibly winding and narrow and our bus driver looked like a preteen. There were times on the ride where there were sheer cliffs with no barriers. Once we made it up the mountain, our tour of the caverns commenced and it was wonderful. We had to climb hundreds of steps to a variety of “rooms” featuring fascinating rock/crystal formations. It put Howe Caverns to shame. I’m so grateful that we finally had a sunny day because the scenery in this entire area is spectacular in the sunshine.
Shasta Caverns – 200 million years old, but only discovered in 1868, now with an expanded entrance created with explosives and subsequently opened to the public in 1964
4/10/19
Today was a day of completing important business like servicing the truck and getting in our routine Planet Fitness workout. We followed up with a rich, fattening meal at the Lumberjack Restaurant and a short hike with Baker.
Lots of animated type statues in northern CA
4/11/19
On our last day here in Lake Shasta, we took a fabulous hike up to Chamise Peak. It was a five mile hike up and back with spectacular views at the top of Shasta Dam, Lake Shasta and Lassen Mountain. Mount Shasta was shrouded in clouds but there were still incredible 360 degree mountain views. Tomorrow, we head towards Oregon with an overnight stop at a casino near the border of CA and OR.
Some parting shots of Mt Shasta, Shasta Dam & reservoir, the Sacramento River, and a couple of scenes of fire ravaged (from 2018) mountainsides
Valley of the Rogue State Park, Rogue River, OR
4/17/19
We’ve been in Oregon for several days and I love it here. As gorgeous as California is, Oregon feels more like home. It looks like the Hudson Valley on steroids. The drive into Oregon was incredible, going through the cascades of northern California and seeing Mount Shasta in all its glory along the way. Mt. Shasta is always snow capped and it looks like a Swiss Alp right here in the USA.
But back to Oregon- We are in the southern part of the state between Medford and Grants Pass. Our friend from PoTown has been living in Grants Pass for the last year and a half so we stopped here in the Rogue River Valley around 15 minutes from his home. ‘Nick from Nowhere’ (as he was called at the Poughkeepsie Jazz Project sessions) is a fabulous stride piano player and was a regular at John and Ben Basile’s weekly jazz jam at the Derby (now at Mahoneys with Ben).
Our friend and fellow piano player ‘Nick from Nowhere’ now lives in SW Oregon, where the eastern landscape is dominated by Mount Hood
His daughter has lived in Grants Pass for many years and he is living in town in an investment property that she owns. It is a lovely town surrounded by lush green mountains and nicknamed the Climate City for its beautiful temperate weather. This is a place I could live and settle down in. The people are ridiculously friendly and laid back and there are great shops and restaurants along bustling main streets. Yes- there are also the big box stores that we have seen in every town across the country but there are also lovey historic districts with unique, wonderful eating establishments.
Nick’s friend, artist and RV travel blogger! Cate Battles. Some Grant’s Pass road scenery, and a giant redwood tree growing right in someone’s front yard in town
The first two days here were rainy but Nick showed us around a bit. He owns a sporty jaguar so we drove around the area in style. We spent time reminiscing with Nick and listening to some great music. Nick introduced us to one of his friends, Cate Battles. She is a talented young artist and we had the good fortune of visiting her studio and seeing her work. She and her husband also have a travel blog because they travel all over the country in a 1970’s Airstream with their pet dog and pet goat named Frankie. Cate hand painted the exterior of the trailer and it is amazing.
We took a ride into a quaint little town called Jacksonville and did some shopping along another lovely main street. Jacksonville, Oregon reminds me so much of Rhinebeck. Even the drive into the town was reminiscent of my drive from Poughkeepsie through Staatsburg into Rhinebeck.
Tonight we are having dinner at Nick’s daughter’s house. His son-in-law, Chris will be cooking up something wonderful, I’m sure.
4/20/19
The last few days have been such fun with several dinners at Chris and Diane’s gorgeous home and a visit to the amazing Crater Lake National Park. Chris and Diane have lived here for over 40 years and they are the nicest, most hospitable people, hosting us for two dinners including Chris’ famous homemade pizzas. They introduced us to two of their closest friends, Lindy and Buck and it felt like we have all been friends for a long time. Chris is a criminal defense attorney and Lindy is a retired judge so they worked together quite often over the years.
on the left is Nick’s daughter Diane and son-in-law Chris (who cooked us 2! great dinners) , with their friends Lindy and Buck, – plus the beautiful view of the Grant’s Pass and surrounding area taken from their backyard deck.
Diane is a photographer and artist, and she hand painted us a good luck souvenir which now rests on our small display shelf in the RV
Crater Lake National Park was absolutely amazing. John described it perfectly as magical. Despite the fact that it was almost 90 degrees in Grants Pass, Crater Lake had around 10-11′ of snow. It was 60 degrees there and people were wearing shorts with their snowshoes. The lake was formed by the collapse of a volcano following an eruption and it is the snowiest inhabited place in America. They get over 400″ of snow a year. We were lucky to be there on a bright, sunny, temperate day because the mountains and clouds reflect perfectly around the rim of the lake. It truly is mystical. Hopefully, John’s skillful photography will do it justice.
Crater Lake (snowiest inhabited place in the USA) with 10′ of snow while its 85 degrees down the mountain. Its pristine surface perfectly mirrors its surroundings. Nick takes the opportunity to throw some snowballs.
We also visited Ashland, Oregon, a beautiful, mountainous college town south of Medford, OR. The scenery is lush and the town has great stores (including a wonderful yarn store), breweries and restaurants. It is supposedly a hippie haven similar to New Paltz, though we didn’t actually spot too many hippies which is unusual since it is 4/20 (get it?). We had a great meal at a local microbrewery and walked through Lithia Park, a gorgeous and quite large green jewel in the center of town.
The beautiful college town of Ashland, OR and its Lithia Park makes no bones about their social sentiments
4/21/19
Easter Sunday. We had brunch at The Bohemian in Grants Pass with Nick’s friends, Hazel, Peggy, Cate, Chad, Helen and Tad. Nick played piano and it was wonderful. His daughter Diane and son-in-law Chris also stopped by.
‘Nick from Nowhere’ (aka Nick Lusito formerly of Hyde Park NY) is the featured pianist at the Bohemian Cafe in Grants Pass on Easter. Surrounded by new and old friends and family, Nick plays the ‘stride’ piano style favored by many famous players in the past, when live solo piano was ubiquitous. It is rhythmic and full sounding as well as technically demanding, and generally not well mastered by most younger players.
In the evening, Nick treated us to a wonderful farewell dinner at the Taprock brewhouse on the banks of the Rogue River. It has been such a great visit with Nick and his friends and family.
Our last day in Grant’s Pass dining with Nick on the Rogue River and at the RV.
We’ve shared incredible meals and sites together and the beautiful and temperate Grants Pass is right up there as a contender for us in terms of liveability. Tomorrow we head a bit further north in Oregon near Eugene.
Next time in the Pacific Northwest ———– Eugene, Portlandia, Seattle and Tacoma!
2/25/19
Arrived at Sweetwater Summit Regional Park at 6:10pm- 3 hours later than expected due to the infamous California traffic….even worse than the Van Wyck Expressway.
Despite our late arrival, we headed into the gas-lamp district for a wonderful Greek meal with Wayne and Jaimie. Wayne’s son, Paul from Denver happened to be in San Diego and Jaimie’s daughter, Nicole also lives here. They joined us for dinner along with our son, MIchael and Paul’s friend, Matt.
Following the big wedding in Santa Barbara, Susan, me, Jaimie and Wayne all head south to visit San Diego. We have our son Michael there and Jaimie’s daughter Nicole is also there. Amy and Angelo (& their son Mikey) wudda, cudda, shudda been there too except for Angelo’s broken heel extravaganza back in Carpenteria.
Here it’s a family affair enjoying the nightlife in San Diego’s Gaslamp District. Wayne’s son Paul with old friend Matt from LI (both just passing thru by coincidence!) on one side and Michael and Jaimie’s daughter Nicole (SD residents both) on the other (too bad our nephew Sam couldn’t make this one). Youngest to oldest table and oldest to youngest.
2/27/19
We went on a short, but somewhat challenging hike at Annie’s Canyon with Wayne and Jaimie. It was short in distance but required climbing steep inclines and squeezing through tight rock formations.
Nicole has given Jaimie lots of info on places to go – here we’re at Annie’s Canyon near the ocean in San Diego with Jaimie and Wayne. Very soft sandstone you can carve out if so inclined, sometimes looks like another planet. – (The people who live across the bay probably have a lot of money).
In the evening, Michael, Nicole and our nephew, Sam (who also lives here) joined us for a concert in downtown San Diego at the Music Box. The opening band was River Whyless and Darlingside* was the main act. They were both fantastic.
*Postscript: Darlingside’s music was featured on the season finale of This is Us.
Susan and nephew Sammy (my sister Liz’s son) in San Diego’s Little Italy,- and with Jaimie, Wayne, Nicole, Michael, and Sam at the nearby ‘Music Box’ show featuring Americana acts River Whyless and Darlingside – who’s music, as mentioned, has been featured on TV’s ‘This Is Us’
2/28/19
Met Wayne and Jaimie at Balboa Park where we strolled the grounds and toured through the Museum of Man.
Gigantic and central, Balboa Park contains 16! museums, multiple performance venues (including the giant pipe-organ seen here), Japanese and many more gardens, and the world famous San Diego Zoo. SD hosted a Worlds Fair here in 1915 and many of the buildings designed for it were in Spanish Baroque and Spanish Colonial Revival style. The Museum of Man had lots of interesting attractions for adults and kids.
Later in the evening, Nicole and Michael joined us for sushi at this crazy restaurant where you pick your food off a conveyor belt and then deposit your empty plates. You are charged by the plate and you get a little prize after depositing 30 plates. The food and company was great and it was a blast.
the crew visiting Michael’s own RV complete with tropical fish & exotic shrimp
3/1/19
Michael, Nicole, Wayne, Jaimie and John and I hiked up a mountain at Mission Trails Regional Park. It was sunny and hot with a steep incline so it was quite the workout with great rewards at the summit- beautiful vistas.
Mission Trails Park summit has expansive views from the ocean and cityscape to surrounding hills and mountains. For some reason, no pix of people or dogs.
After the hike, we went to dinner at a pub in the North Park district and visited Nicole’s lovely apartment.
our signature rock star picture outside a North Park neighborhood restaurant – near Nicole’s great apartment in the Hillcrest neighborhood – she knows all the spots
Then we drove to La Jolla to see the gorgeous AirBNB that Wayne and Jaimie stayed in.
Wayne and Jaimie’s AirBNB was beautiful in and out, with stunning views from their living room and balcony over the pool to the entire city skyline, plus one of Wayne outside looking in.
3/4/19
We hosted Michael and Sam for dinner at our RV. Nicole and her friend, Laura joined us too for a BBQ at the campsite. We had such a great time, we actually partied past quiet time and had to turn in.
——-What !!?? —- Again I drop the ball with no pix of our big campsite BBQ with Nicole, her friend Laura and dog Ollie, along with Michael and Sam!!!!———–???????
a few pix of San Diego/Coronado Beach special dog park section!, next to the gigantic SD naval base – and a few from the hillsides surrounding our RV park.
3/8/19
Today we pack up and leave beautiful San Diego and head towards Desert Hot Springs. We had a great time visiting friends and family, enjoying several dinners (Michael’s treat), a great romp at Coronado dog beach and just tooling around this lovely city. Now to parts unknown where we don’t have any friends (yet) or family. Time to regroup and plan for the second 6 months of our adventure.
KOA Palm Springs/Joshua Tree, Desert Hot Springs, CA
3/8/19-cont.
Desert Hot Springs is surrounded by Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Cathedral City and several other well known places including Coachella. The drive here was moving along rather smoothly until we were within 20 miles or so of our destination. At that point, the infamous desert winds kicked up and we had to contend with 55 mph gusts. Luckily we made it to this KOA in the middle of the desert but close to lots of fun places.
En route to Palm Springs. The desert between mountain ranges is like a wind tunnel. Here you can just see that there are thousands of wind turbines at work.
3/10/19
We have been here for two nights and have explored the area and hiked a 5.6 moderately strenuous hike through the desert.
The desert temps were not bad in March, hitting the 80’s. They had some rain and wildflowers were pretty common.
Our neighbors are a family of five who have over a million followers on you tube following their “Epic Family Road Trip” which included a stretch in New Zealand. They actually had their Jeep outfitted with a tent and plumbing, shipped to NZ. Go to their you tube channel and follow their wild adventure. I can’t even imagine traveling in such small space with three teenagers.
We have a blog – they have their own You Tube channel with over a million followers, an RV and a jeep modified for tent living among lots of other cool stuff! At this time, we would like to thank our own followers – thanks to the both of you for your support!
Of course it takes all types – this fellow’s sign advertises sale of his book ‘101 Ways to Tell the World to Kiss Your Ass’. We didn’t buy it at this time, but it’s obviously working for him.
3/12/19
There are some exquisite golf courses here in the Palm Springs area, as you might expect. John decided it was time to find out why his wedge shots were not where he liked them to be so he booked an hour long lesson with a golf pro, Craig Freeman at the LaQuinta Resort and Golf Club. I thought I had already seen the most beautiful course back in Arizona but this one sure gives it a run for the money. The golf lesson was also very interesting as the instructor captures every aspect of the swing on camera and shows you what to correct.
Palm Springs is known for golf – (Bob Hope’s Desert Classic), and one course is more beautiful than the next. Of course, we’re not allowed on the really famous, or even slightly famous ones. (We didn’t really want to play them anyway).
After the lesson, we took Baker (for the second time) to a beautiful dog park in Rancho Mirage where he frolicked with his pals. Then we went to the driving range to practice and apply the tips from the lesson, followed by a lovely dinner out. When we returned to the campground, the wind was unbelievable. This campground just sits in a wind tunnel and we had some crazy gusts (probably up to 60mph). Our trailer held up just fine.
3/17/19
We have been enjoying this area so much that we extended our stay several days.
the view from behind our rig, and on the nearby roads – the San Jacinto mountain range.
Over the last several days we have visited a casino, hiked another rather strenuous trail and went golfing (Golfing at the Sands RV Resort and hiking the Kim Nicol 5.6 mile trail and the S. Lykken 6 mile trail).
Views from the Lykken hiking trail just south of Palm Springs
We also visited the Palm Springs Village Fest which is a huge crafts fair that takes place every Thursday night in the winter months. We’ve also spent time just relaxing in our trailer and at the campground. The weather has been glorious so it is just pleasant sitting around the picnic table.
Palm Springs in evening and at night. – Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Cathedral City, and Coachella really make up one continuous resort city in the desert, with their own versions of ‘Rodeo Drive’ and more.
Unfortunately, our new neighbors (people come and go) have several little dogs that bark all day long which has made it a little less appealing. Hopefully they will check out today- we’ll see.
We spent our St. Patty’s Day at Joshua Tree National Park. It’s a huge park with acres and acres of open land sprinkled with those funky looking Joshua trees that had to be the inspiration for some Dr. Seuss illustrations. The park is also covered with interesting rocky, craggy formations that rock climbers take delight in. We took a few short strolls with Baker because dogs are not allowed on the hiking trails and then we just drove for 14 miles or so through the park enjoying the scenery. The park is so huge, we could have kept driving 20 more miles but we called it a day and headed back to see about a traditional St. Patty’s Day dinner at a pub.
Joshua Tree National Park. You can just see some of the tiny rock-climbers – God bless ’em!
Apparently there are not a lot of Irish pubs in Palm Springs. We found one that had recently opened and it looked perfect. When we arrived, they told us that they weren’t serving food due to a power outage. We tried hunting for another pub but had no luck finding one that was “dining friendly” so we just settled for paninis at a regular restaurant. I’m not sure if I could settle in a place with no corned beef and cabbage on St. Patty’s Day.
3/18/19
Today is our final day here in the desert. John went to the driving range and then we went to Planet Fitness again. Tomorrow, we begin our trip north. We don’t have a reservation anywhere until the following day because we want to see how close we can get to our next place in Oakdale, CA outside of Modesto.
Table Mountain Casino, Friant, CA
3/19/19
We left our KOA right on time at 11:00am and began our journey into the heart of darkness….the CALIFORNIA FREEWAY TRAFFIC. Our next reserved campground is around 6.5 hours away so we were trying to get somewhere north of the halfway point (Bakersfield). We made it past Bakersfield in fairly good time and headed towards Fresno. We were actually aiming for a casino northeast of Fresno in Friant. As we approached the Fresno area, our GPS encouraged us to leave the highway and take a detour due to heavy traffic. Since that is risky with an RV, we decided to just grit our teeth and stay on the highway. Well- what a fiasco. We were stuck in the worst traffic for miles and miles. Our 4 hour trip turned into an 8 hour journey but we finally made it to the casino that allows overnight parking for RVs. The lot wasn’t level at all so it felt like we were sleeping on a boat but it was good enough to get through one night. We got to gamble a little and get some rest for tomorrow’s trip.
A cool looking eagle inside TableRock casino – winning blackjack again! (no jinx please) – but Susan can’t seem to crack those slot machines (again)
Woodward Reservoir, Oakdale, CA
3/20/19
We arrived in Oakdale, CA late in the afternoon after missing our turn which was similar to our episode back in Vermont. The entrance to the reservoir is off a road aptly named 26 mile road. It is a 2 lane road surrounded by farmland with no place to turn around a 35′ fifth wheel. Luckily we found a spot around 10 miles down the road and made it to our destination.
The reservoir is very pretty and peaceful. The water level is down right now but it still looks lovely. We are here for fourteen nights and plan to relax for several days and unwind. This is the central valley of Cali right between Yosemite and San Francisco so we will be taking some road trips over the next two weeks for sure.
Pretty serene and peaceful around the reservoir in central CA, complete with a couple of rainbows. In one picture, you can see some of the expanse of agricultural land this area is known for, particularly cherry tree orchards around us (irrigated by these reservoirs), – there can typically be thundershowers one place and sunny & beautiful somewhere else nearby.
Oakdale CA is a nice medium/small town that bills itself as ‘cowboy capital of the world’. We honestly didn’t see that many cowboys, but they do have a cowboy museum and the big time rodeo makes a stop here.
3/22/19
We haven’t done much of anything over the last two days. It’s been very relaxing and quiet. Tomorrow we plan to begin exploring some of the large towns nearby. First stop- Planet Fitness in Modesto.
3/23/19
Modesto means modest in Spanish and that is a perfect description. It looks like a typical, flat, US suburb. Nothing special. Perhaps I am getting spoiled by places with beautiful landscapes and mountain views.
3/24/19
To the east of our campground is Yosemite National Park. What a difference! We spent 4 hours getting to and driving through Yosemite and it was spectacular. You can drive less than a mile and go from snow lined roads to bright, warm blue skies. Despite seeing many photos- even Ansel Adams’ work, nothing prepares you for the splendor of this place. It is a similar feeling you get when you first approach the rim of the Grand Canyon. It takes your breath away. The adventure begins before you even arrive. The road leading in is one of the curviest, scariest ever. I couldn’t believe that the speed limit was 55. You could not possibly go that fast without flying off the side of a cliff….and the scenery along the way is awe inspiring. To get to the park from the west, you have to drive through Stanislaw National Forest which is also beautiful. Again, I will let the photos do the talking.
the road in, and then Yosemite and El Capitan – you could just keep snapping pictures all day.
3/28/19
I drove 2 hours south to Fresno to spend the afternoon with a dear old friend from back in my rehab counseling days at Kings Park Psychiatric Center. Toni and I worked together from 1980-1983 and I hadn’t seen her for many years. She lives in a beautiful home in Fresno with her roommate, James and loads of animals including her guide dog Adora.
Susan’s friend from way back, Toni Eames and guide dog Adora
We had fun reminiscing about old times and catching up on our lives over the last 3 decades.
3/30/19
My 64th birthday. To celebrate my pre-Medicare eligible birthday, we booked a hotel in south San Francisco and tooled around this incredibly picturesque city.
Entering SF from Oakland – the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge is a complex of bridges overlooking the city and Alcatraz Island – and even the Golden Gate bridge far north
We had dinner at a classic North Beach Italian restaurant, then walked up Lombard Street, the crookedest street in America which also shares its name with the street we first lived on in North Babylon. Then we walked over to Fisherman’s Wharf. Again, the photos will tell the story.
Cars (and Susan) going down famous Lombard St in SF. Interestingly, we used to live long ago on the second most famous (I think) Lombard St – in North Babylon, LI, NY
Day into eve in SF – the trolleys, the streets & people and the ‘Backyard Party Kings’ were all happening. We ate at Sodini’s – good old school Italian – their blurb sez “no decaf, no dessert, no reservations” – we were able to get a small table.
The bay, the bridges, Fisherman’s wharf, John the bartender, and other nightlife were all happening on a beautiful (and warm) SF night (Eric Burdon’s Haight-Ashbury on another day).
3/31/19
Today we drove to Santa Cruz to enjoy a more serene day of hiking in a spectacular redwood forest- Henry Cowell State Park,
This fallen giant Redwood sprouted before the birth of Christ and the Chinese invention of paper. I can’t help but editorialize – if there was no private and public action taken at the time (John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt among others, which would lead to the creation of the National Park Service) the Redwoods of California would be a memory – they were already being cut and would otherwise have been logged to extinction over a hundred years ago
Henry Cowell State Park is a walkable redwood extravaganza. They have additional trails that go up the river where some people are even swimming happily.
followed by a tour of the coast and Santa Cruz boardwalk area. We drove to the very spot where the new Jordan Peele movie, “US” was filmed overlooking Seabright beach.
Santa Cruz/Seabright beach works its way into:
the Boardwalk/Amusement Park area.
We hadn’t seen Jordan Peele’s new suspense, horror movie ‘Us’ which is partly based here, but they say one of the pivotal scenes takes place in one of the seaside houses in plain view – maybe one of these?
Back up the beautiful coastline towards SF on Rt 1
California is truly a beautiful state but there are a few negatives including super expensive gas, coupled with horrific traffic jams. On our way to San Francisco and Santa Cruz, we hit some insane traffic and there is no explanation for it- just too many cars and not enough roads. While sitting in traffic, you are burning gas/diesel that costs upwards of $4.00 per gallon. The gas station by our hotel was charging $4.29 for regular unleaded gas.
4/1/19
Last day of our birthday side trip. After checking out of our south San Francisco La Quinta (they allow dogs), we had a bite to eat at a very funky old diner and drove back into the city to Haight Ashbury.
A true potpourri of colors and lifestyles, Haight-Ashbury may be doing better right now celebrating its heritage than at any time since its hippie heyday – street people et al. ‘Pipe Dreams’ and ‘Bound Together – the Anarchist Collective Bookstore’ have stayed in business over 50 years (although sadly we talked to the original bookstore owner who’s getting on and doesn’t see his brainchild’s future so brightly now). Susan even found a yarn store (it was expensive).
From there, we we drove across the Golden Gate bridge to Sausalito.
from Haight-Ashbury through the rain to the north end and Presidio Park across the Golden Gate Bridge to green and hilly and expensive Sausalito.
On the trip back to the campground, we were once again plagued with horrific traffic that came out of nowhere. We were stuck for over an hour traveling a short 2 mile span. The crazy thing is that there are no alternate routes-simply not enough roads. Finally arrived back to our camper in the evening, in the rain. We have one more stop in California. This is a very big state you know. We will take a few days to relax and prepare for our next trip to the Redding area.
Next time—–
Soon to finish California (finally) & up the Oregon coast (with Nick from Nowhere) and onto Washington/Seattle/Tacoma with cousin Matt and nephew/niece-in-law Derek & Olga!
Well, the weather was horrible today with tons of rain, flooded roads and very high winds. It was a bit terrifying at times traveling with this kind of wind but we arrived (finally) at Kern River Campground in Bakersfield and will be dry camping for 7 nights. Let’s see how our new batteries hold up. We have a slightly crazy neighbor who is sleeping in his truck and the smell of marijuana is everywhere, but HEY-it’s California.
2/16/19
Yesterday it continued to pour much of the day which is apparently a blessing because the locals say it helps with the horrible smog they deal with on a daily basis. Apparently, Bakersfield, CA has some of the most polluted air in the country. It is also usually very brown and dirty looking but they’ve had so much rain, it is actually very green and lustrous with beautiful rolling hills and mountain ranges. We were told that those gorgeous hills and mountains are usually encased in smog.
entering Bakersfield CA – known for smog & brown hills was mostly clear and green while we were there – green in several ways – like the rest of the west coast states.
We ate breakfast at a highly rated diner in the Oildale neighborhood of Bakersfield. The short drive there was very interesting as we passed through beautiful park lands and into vast Chevron oil fields with those weird oil drills all over the place that remind me of the creatures from the Alien movies.
Despite the dingy surrounding neighborhood, the breakfast was amazing. I had one of the best breakfast burritos I’ve ever eaten- a chili verde burrito- YUM. The restaurant is an oasis in ugly Oildale where the air smelled like an oil burner puff back.
We spent the remainder of the day shopping for my wedding accessories- shoes, jewelry, etc. for the upcoming wedding in Santa Barbara, CA- next week.
2/17/19
We’ve had an unusual amount of rain as Bakersfield is usually extremely dry. Today the sun is finally shining and everything is intensely green. The scenery around our park is breathtaking with lush green mountains on the near horizon and snow capped beauties lurking behind.
the snowcapped mountains in the far distance mostly stayed under cloud cover
Everything you read about Bakersfield, CA is kind of scary and negative but there are some beautiful areas. There are some really run down areas too and I’ve witnessed some strange goings on. First, a man camping at the park with us needed a jump. He asked numerous campers and they all said, “No, I don’t give jumps”. What”?! Of course, John helped him out.
Despite some social difficulties in town and elsewhere, the campsite was beautiful – Lake Ming was picturesque, people living on the hilltops there have a great view, and we even had a horse hanging out across the river.
Later, John had to run into Lowe’s to purchase something and I, being very sick of Lowe’s, waited in the truck. It was broad daylight but I heard tormented screaming coming from the corner of the lot. A young, disheveled looking man was pacing, screaming and punching at the air violently. I’ve seen my fair share of mentally ill people but this poor soul seemed to be so painfully tormented, it was really upsetting. He was across the large parking lot but then started making his way rapidly towards me. I scooted down in the locked truck and hid. He kept going and disappeared from sight.
Right after that, we drove around the corner to an auto parts store. Again, I waited in the truck and watched another young man climb into the garbage dumpster, picking through the bags. All you have to do is travel around and across the country to see that we are not adequately providing for our people. I don’t have the answers but some of the neighborhoods I’ve seen have certainly raised many questions. It’s not like we haven’t seen poverty, homelessness, substance abuse or mental health issues before. It’s just eye opening how widespread it is. When you travel to places you have never been before, you tend to pay closer attention and the evidence of income inequality is everywhere.
Last night, we hate dinner at a local pizza tavern type place close to our campground called Tony’s Firehouse Grill. There were firefighter related decorations and lots of space for a variety of patrons. One large room catered to family gatherings with video games lining the walls for the kiddies. We ate in the dining area near the bar. We had just received our food when the fire alarms went off and they were blaring. We looked around and absolutely no one was leaving. It was weird. It turned out that someone’s kid pulled the fire alarm. Who does that? We were there for another 40 minutes or so eating our dinner and the fire department still hadn’t arrived to turn off the alarm. We all received 20% off our bills because of the inconvenience. It was particularly ironic since it was a firehouse tavern. Bakersfield just has a weird vibe. It just does.
This morning another camper here asked John for a jump. This woman and her husband/boyfriend/whatever are camping in a very broken down trailer with a tarp covering the roof. It’s a total wreck. She needed a jump for her car and her partner drives a beat up old truck (probably not capable of giving a jump) with a completely shattered front windshield (reminiscent of the opening scene of Ace Ventura Pet Detective) and a piece of cardboard for a back windshield. His muffler is also shot to hell so you can hear him coming from a mile away. The tag on their campsite indicates that they should have left around 6 days ago so I think they may be squatters. I’m telling you- weird vibe here despite the idyllic scenery.
We did get to play 9 holes of golf at the Kern River Golf Course right next to our campground. Our photos will show just how scenic this place is.
more green and blue on the county golf course adjacent to the campground
2/19/19
I had my hair colored and trimmed in a salon on the other end of Bakersfield, around 20 miles away. The salon was very spa like and it reminded me of some of the high end salons on Long Island. My stylist Jeanette did a great job though I will always miss my Poughkeepsie girl, Jenn. This neighborhood in Bakersfield was lovely and seemed more California like. We decided to leave our campground one day early as we’ve had our fill of Bakersfield and it’s time to move on to full hookups. Despite our new batteries, it’s been so cold at night, we’ve run out of juice a few times. When the battery gets low and the alarm starts screaming, we have to shut off the furnace in the middle of the night. This morning our thermometer read 44 degrees inside the trailer. Thank God for the down comforter from Micki Mueller (back in Ocala). Love you Micki.
Lake Casitas Recreation Area, Ventura, CA
2/20/19
Today we drive to Lake Casitas Recreation Area in beautiful Ventura with full “executive” hookups. I am looking forward to that. When I asked them for directions, I could hardly keep from laughing as it sounded like she was reading a line from the SNL skit, “The Californians”. She said, “Take the 5 to the 126 to the 101 to the 33 until it is about to end, etc.”
Wonderful views of mountains and a group of hawks – from a mountain campsite in SoCal.
Going down the mountain had more wonderful views of coastline and steep turns – to the promised land!
2/24/19
The last few days have been a whirlwind of activity in the stunning Ojai-Carpenteria-Santa Barbara area. I will let John’s photos tell the story for the most part. Our campsite is up in the mountains of Ojai/Oakview and it’s gorgeous with spectacular mountain views. We are around 20 minutes from the beaches of Carpenteria and 30 minutes from Santa Barbara. Wherever you go around this area, you can’t avoid incredible vistas. We are here in the area for our dear friends’ Angelo and Amy’s son Eric’s wedding. Eric is marrying a lovely young woman, Nicole, who grew up in Carpenteria. We arrived a couple of days before the wedding so we had the opportunity to walk the bluffs of Carpenteria with the Pacific Ocean on one side and green lush mountains on the other side.
The Carpenteria Bluffs. – “Has wonderful views” becomes an overused description on the Carpenteria/Santa Barbara coast. I can’t remember anywhere else I’ve been with such stunning coastline, mountain ranges and cosmopolitan towns all in such close proximity to each other.
The day before the wedding, the bride and groom hosted a welcome party on the beach in Santa Barbara and the festivities officially began.
a stunning couple in a stunning place, soon to be Mrs. and Mr. Vivelo – Nicole and Eric. And we get to hang out with them until they may just be tired of all of us. – Then they get on a plane and head (with almost all our friends) back to NY.
Besides Nicole and Eric, there were at least 4 other rock stars (that I knew of) there, and me and Russell got to hang out with a couple of them. – Joan, Susan, Joyce, & Amy (Eric’s Mom)
We hung out at a posh Santa Barbara restaurant Friday, outside at sunset with Martin and Joyce, and Joan and Russ.
We were able to see our friends from Long Island (Angelo and Amy, Wayne and Jaimie, Russ and Joan, Martin and Joyce) and had a blast. The wedding was amazing as you will see from the photos. Prior to the ceremony, all the guests were treated to a trolley ride around this beautiful place.
Trolley ride to the wedding site, we were in trolley #4, I think – the grown-ups trolley. Wayne & Jaimie, Russ & Joan behind them & Ang’s brother Carl & Sherry behind them. Ang’s brother James with their mom – Jo (& sister Li behind them with hubby Gary). — Russ laughs while Wayne flips me the bird.
with nothing to do but drink wine and take photos, we took a tour of posh Santa Barbara on a beautiful day
Then the ceremony followed in the sunken garden of the gorgeous Santa Barbara courthouse followed by a rocking reception at El Paseo in SB.
the Santa Barbara Courthouse for the service
All dressed up – Angelo with his crutches (explained later), Susan with Jeff (A&A’s bro-in-law), Martin and Jeff make scary faces, Jaimie & Wayne, and ‘the crew’ for the last 2 centuries (minus Angelo & Amy)
The wedding – Eric with his mom, Mikey (son #2) as escort, Amy helps Angelo, Nicole with Dad, & the beautiful couple
the reception at El Paseo – the gang, Amy gets to dance with Eric, and Da Boyz – a lot of action but my pix started to dwindle as my senses started to get more and more fuzzy. Lots & lots of happy people.
Everything was perfect with only one mishap. Angelo, the father of the groom tripped at the welcome party and suffered a bad injury to his ankle so he had to walk on crutches and could barely do that. Ugh!
Epilogue ——weeks later – Angelo’s specially designed Let’s go Mets cast after complicated broken heel bone surgery. We thought it was a sprained ankle.
Today we will reunite with our pals for a brunch at the bride’s parent’s home in Carpenteria.
on the Carpenteria Bluffs again with sea lions, pelicans, and seagulls – and Baker really does love a beach.
Finally, we have now actually accomplished the biggest concrete scheduling goal of our trip (6 months later) – make it to the church (courthouse) on time.
Lots, lots more yet to come in CA – Michael lives there and It’s a BIG state
We have had glorious weather over the last day or so. It has been sunny and 70 during the day, dropping into the 40’s at night. Yesterday we spent the day in Fort Worth which is a very clean, beautiful city. We went to Sundance Square and there were hardly any people around which was strange for such a glorious, sunny Saturday. Barbara figured out that all of Texas was probably indoors watching the Houston Texans play in the afternoon and the Cowboys play in the evening- Wild Card Weekend.
A clean city – Ft Worth ‘Sundance Square’ with Bank of America bldg. and County Courthouse/Clock Tower (built with pink Texas Granite)
After Sundance Square, we headed over to the famous Stockyard District which is a very happening place. I guess that’s where all the people were hanging out, We enjoyed some drinks at Billy Bob’s and did a little browsing in the “western” shops. I wish I had the courage to ride a mechanical bull- it would have been good fodder for this blog.
Ft Worth (particularly the ‘Stockyard District) is ‘Cowtown’ – with real bull riding inside Billy Bob’s, the “World’s Largest Honky Tonk”. They also like statues.
We have extended our stay here to enjoy some more warm weather and family fun with the Johnson’s, but we also extended our stay out of necessity. John confessed that he had been experiencing pain and tightening in his right shoulder/clavicle area for a second straight day following our most recent visit to Planet Fitness – disturbingly similar to the symptoms he had (which we also at first assumed was a muscular problem) before his stent and subsequent surgery. Barbara is a medical professional and has worked for years at the Glen Rose Hospital. She knows all the staff there and now works for their family clinic here in Granbury. With that in mind, we all drove to the ER in Glen Rose and John had an EKG and lab work. Luckily things looked good enough that he was released and advised to follow up with the cardiologist….so here we are, sticking around at the Pecan Plantation’s RV park, which happens to be a great place to be – spacious, beautiful, and not crowded this time of year. John has an appointment for an echo on 1/10 and a cardiology follow up on 1/11. We are reserved here until 1/13 so we are all set.
1/7/19
Since John was told to take it easy until he sees the doc, he has been going a little stir crazy. We decided to take an overnight trip and head south to Austin, Texas. There is an open mic jazz jam in downtown Austin at the Elephant Room every Monday night so off we go. It is 3 hours away so we are going to stay in a hotel and tour around all day Tuesday as well.
Austin at night is a musically happening place.–‘Austin City Limits!’
We checked into the hotel in the late afternoon, rested a bit and then headed out for a fabulous dinner at the Roaring Fork, followed by the jam session at the underground Elephant Room. It was a terrific jam session. The guy leading it was a great emcee and a very accomplished jazz trumpet player. The musicians were top notch and players came from all over the country including NYC, Minnesota, Illinois and even San Juan, PR. John sat in on two tunes and was amazing. He hasn’t lost his touch.
Sittin in at Austin’s jazz jam at the Elephant Room
1/8/19
We toured all around Austin attempting to see the top rated must see sites according to US News and World Reports. Several of the top attractions are located on the sprawling campus of the University of Texas, Austin. The weather was perfect. even a little too warm in the mid-afternoon. It actually climbed up into the 80’s- not bad for January. We walked many miles across campus to see the LBJ Library and lo and behold, it was closed due to the government shutdown.
University of Texas at Austin, including Susan hobnobbing with LBJ outside his gigantic library (closed for Govt. shutdown), and what I thought might be a sculpture tribute to ‘LBJ’s balls’ outside the clock tower — but was just a regular sculpture. Also the football stadium for the famous ‘Texas Longhorns’, Governor James Hogg (1895), and MLK.
Then we walked even further across campus to the clock tower hoping to get a tour up to the observation deck. We got to the tower lobby and there was a sign indicating that tours are by appointment. I called the number and was told that the tower is closed for winter break. We walked all the way back across and just outside the campus and finally had success seeing the Bullock Texas State History Museum. Of course the 45 minute IMAX film we were hoping to see was only shown in the early afternoon but we did spend a very fascinating couple of hours learning about Texas’ unique history. I imagine this is the only state that can celebrate 2 separate independence days.
The Bullock Texas State History Museum is big and interesting. Texas has a long and complicated history – it was first Native American, then a Spanish territory, then part of Mexico, and then its own country. Finally TX became a US state – just before joining the Confederacy, after which it was a US state again. So far, Texas and New York are tied for the most self-referencing states. The ‘Lone Star’ is ubiquitous – these are particularly large ones.
After the museum, we headed over to the gorgeous state capital building made entirely of pink Texas granite. It is huge, – bigger than the US capital, but everything is bigger in Texas they say. Our final stop was Zilker Park across the river. Unfortunately, it was already dark and there is tons of traffic in Austin during rush hour so we didn’t stay too long. We did get to see the city skyline from the river’s edge in the park and then we headed into the insane traffic to return to Granbury.
More Austin – the TX state capitol bldg (also made from famous pink Texas granite) and its rotunda and dome – with figures from Texas’ drive for independence: Stephen Austin, Sam Houston, and Davy Crockett
trying to get out of Austin through major traffic: Its skyline at night
1/19/19
Well, we are still on our extended stay here in Granbury. John had his echo cardiogram and met with his Texas cardiologist Dr. Patel . He also has a New York Dr. Patel- no joke. The results showed some overall capacity loss and of course, we were concerned until the doctor explained that it was really very close to normal. He also ordered an additional stress test and arterial ultrasound causing an additional extension here in Granbury through this weekend. Happily, everything looks OK and the doctor recommended only that John get a checkup every six months. He gave us the green light to get back on the road and even joked that we could find another Dr. Patel anywhere we go. So we are back on track, and this time his symptoms actually were likely due to a muscle strain.
Leaving Granbury
It’s truly been a blessing to be in the loving care of my sister-in-law and her wonderful adult children, Jessie and Richie, (and dogs everywhere). We’ve shared some great meals together, visited many local sites, and were made to feel at home with family in the middle of the lone star state.
from New Years thru most of January with family in TX
A few more pix of Jessie’s tiny house ( featured on TV on ‘Tiny House Hunters”) and Richie at the archery range near the campground (with plastic targets)
Dog daze – Baker, Duece and Penny
the Acton Nature Center & Dinosaur Valley St Park – Dinosaurs courtesy of 1964 NY Worlds Fair – and actual real preserved & submerged dino tracks
Down the road from the park is the Creation Evidence Museum. I kid you not. John went to see what it was all about and they claimed to have evidence of human life existing with the dinosaurs, as well as other exhibits related to creationism supporting a literal view of the Bible’s book of Genesis.
1/20/19
Spent our last evening in Granbury at Barbara’s house watching football with the family. We ended our wonderful 3 week stay by viewing the Super Blood Wolf Moon in Barbara’s backyard. It was a totally clear night so we had an excellent view of the entire eclipse event. It was gorgeous. Unfortunately, the pictures didn’t reflect what we were actually seeing. We saw a red moon with a red glow as it encased in shadow during the eclipse.
The campground and Lake Granbury at sunset, the Brazos River which surrounds the Pecan Plantation development, and Super Blood Wolf Moon in eclipse. (Native Americans called it Wolf Moon for the hungry & howling wolves at this point in the season. Blood for the hue in eclipse – it was actually much darker and redder in person), and horses take to the field across from us.
Lake Medina RV Resort, Lakehills, Texas
1/21/19
Moved southwest and on to Lake Medina RV Resort in Lakehills, Texas around 45 miles west of San Antonio. This place is truly a hidden gem and I mean hidden. We arrived after dark and the ride up to the campground was quite hairy with a 5th wheel. It is so far off the beaten path but so gorgeous–it’s worth the death defying drive (that really is an exaggeration). The campground is on a large, beautiful lake and the occupants are mostly seasonal residents who come back every year. Everyone has been super nice and it is a very active community with lots of planned activities in the clubhouse. We got the last spot and the only reason we got in is due to a death in the family of the people who usually rent for the winter. The people all seem to know each other but they are not at all intrusive or annoying. The only downside to the campground is the fact that it is so remote. You can’t run out to do much shopping without driving down several “farm to market” Texas roads, all of which have signs warning that the roads can flood. Thank goodness it hasn’t rained.
Lake Medina TX
1/22/19 San Antonio
Spent a lovely day in San Antonio. John had never been there so we had to take a stroll on the Riverwalk, visit the Alamo and then eat dinner and listen to a jazz quartet in the Pearl Brewery District.
At the center of the Pearl district stands the Hotel Emma which began as a brewery founded by Otto Koehler in 1883. The hotel is named after Otto’s wife Emma who ran the brewery after Otto’s untimely death. There is a very interesting backstory about this family. In 1910, Emma was hurt in an accident and Otto hired a nurse to care for her, It just so happened that the nurse’s name was Emma. Emma, the nurse would sometimes invite her friend, Emma #3 (nicknamed Emmi) to the Koehler home. Both Emma’s ended up having an affair with Otto. The story doesn’t end well for poor Otto. Emma #2 ended up shooting and killing him in 1914. She admitted to the murder but was acquitted by an all male jury.
The beautiful San Antonio Riverwalk, with ‘Homeless Jesus’ statue and the Briscoe Western Art Museum (with more dynamic cowboys/horses/cattle rusting statues)
The Alamo – Originally a Spanish Mission in San Antonio turned fort for the original Texians in their drive toward independence. ‘The Shrine of Texas Liberty’ was a complete defeat for the Texians to the Mexican army (15 years after the Mexicans ousted the Spanish from Mexico and its territories). However, ‘Remember the Alamo’ quickly became a rallying cry for, and was soon followed by Texas independence later in 1836. Texas was its own country until 1845 when it joined the union. In 1861 it joined the confederacy but rejoined the union at the end of the Civil War. Like we said it’s complicated.
San Antonio ‘Pearl District’ with Pearl Brewery and Emma Hotel and live jazz that night.
1/23/19
Today we drove a little over an hour to a really nice town in Texas’ hill country called Fredericksburg, Interesting that we have visited 2 different Fredericksburgs (both very nice) and a Frederick. Fredericksburg TX is a historic town with many original buildings from the 1800’s. There is a bustling main street with lots of great shops and restaurants and many storefront wineries. Apparently this is the heart of Texas wine country. The city was settled by Germans and their heritage is definitely evident in the town with the town square called Market Platz.
Fredericksburg TX was founded in 1846 by German pioneers and named after Prince Frederick of Prussia. The Vereins Kirche was built soon after in what became the ‘Market Platz’ and was first public building in the town. It served as a town hall, school, fort, and a church for all denominations. This was also the original site of the Pioneer Museum.
There is an amazing museum at the corner of main street – National Museum of the Pacific War.
The National Museum of the Pacific War has vast walls of plaques dedicated to the men, women, and ships that served in the Pacific during WW II and includes the ‘Plaza of the Presidents’.
Fredericksburg is the birthplace of the Navy’s most famous commander during the war – Fleet Admiral Chester W Nimitz, and the beautiful Admiral Nimitz museum is nearby
In 1976, Japan gifted the museum with ‘the Japanese Garden of Peace’. It was modeled after the private garden of a Japanese Naval Commander from the 30’s that Nimitz had admired.
We took a short hike up Cross Mountain featuring a large cross at the peak. In the mid 1800s, a German immigrant named John Durst was given a plot of land that included this hilltop. He found the remains of the original timber cross, thought to be left by Spanish missionaries in the 1700’s. Another cross was erected on the same hilltop. A hundred years later, the local Catholic Church erected a new cross that still stands today- a steel cross with lights to celebrate the beautiful city of Fredericksburg.
Cross Mountain near Fredericksburg TX
After our short hike, we dined at one of the city’s famous German restaurants. I had chicken jaeger schnitzel which brought back fond memories of the Mountain Brauhaus back home in Gardner/New Paltz.
Fort Stockton RV Park, Fort Stockton, Texas
1/24/19
Today we left the hilly, green, pretty hill country in Texas and headed west on the famous (or infamous) I-10 into West Texas. The topography in this part of the state is totally different. As we were driving down the highway, it occurred to me that we could be in Egypt. Some of the rock shapes looked like pyramids and everything was very brown. The speed limit on the highway in West Texas is 80 mph which is simply too fast for us but we were going 73-75 mph and it caused us to get lousy gas mileage. We used up a full 36 gallon tank of diesel fuel way faster than usual and had to find an exit to get more gas in a very desolate part of the state. Luckily, there was an exit with 2 gas stations so we stopped. It was incredibly weird and desolate. It could have been a scene in a horror movie. The gas was super expensive but we had to get some anyway. We were desperate. The gas station building had bars on every window and there were at least 10-15 cats hanging around the building. As I was heading out of the car to enter the building (to use the restroom), lo and behold, there appeared a wild boar. It was so freaking weird- just hanging out with all the cats. The ladies inside the gas station cautioned me to stay away from it- no problem there. Yikes- where am I? Our apologies for failing to snap a pic of the boar.
The Fort Stockton RV Park was actually very pleasant even though it was basically a large brown parking lot with desert like vegetation and weird wildlife sounds. When we pulled in, we heard owls hooting and coyotes howling. It was a perfect stopover for a 1 night stay and we didn’t even unhitch. They have a very nice little BYOB restaurant right on site and the food was actually excellent.
Last stop in TX – West Texas’ Ft Stockton. Texas is a big state.
Hacienda RV Resort and Rally, Las Cruces, New Mexico
1/25/19
Off again to our next destination in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Very nice campground with well manicured sites and a lovely office and clubhouse. I really like Las Cruces with its southwestern architecture and rocky, craggy mountains on the horizon. The weather is sunny and pleasant, though we will have below freezing temps both nights we are here. There is a very old Mexican village very close by and great trails around.
1/26/19
We hiked up Turtugas Mountain which is a sacred Pueblo site and a very challenging hike. The climb was steep with views of Las Cruces and the neighboring Organ Mountain range.
Hiking Turtugas Mountain in Las Cruces NM
For dinner, we went to the original La Posta which is one of the top ten Mexican restaurants in the US. It is a very interesting adobe building and one of the rooms in the restaurant houses multiple tropical birds.
The once upon a time roaring old west & Mexican town of Mesilla. The church and famous La Posta Restaurant de Mesilla – located where Billy the kid, Pancho Villa and the stagecoach line all met back in the day.
The restaurant has been operating in some capacity since the 1840’s. Back in the day, Billy the Kid was jailed right across the street and Ulysses S. Grant & Kit Carson are examples of two famous folks who stopped in at La Posta. The food was marvelous.
Desert Diamond Casino, Tucson, AZ
1/27/19
Tonight we are parked for free at the Desert Diamond Casino in Tucson. They are very welcoming to RVs and it feels very safe and secure. Of course, we had to do a bit of gambling. Luckily John tends to compensate for my slot machine losses with his blackjack wins.
Desert Diamond Casino in Tuscon AZ. They welcome RV’s to stay and park overnight. – There’s always something to do.
Mission View RV Resort, Tucson, AZ
2/2/19
We have been staying at this over 55 mobile home/RV resort community since 1/28/19 and have been busy exploring this beautiful Tucson area. We both really like it here due to the perfect weather (in these winter months) and gorgeous 360 degree mountain views.
Tucson is beautiful in the Winter and Spring. Mountains are visible from everywhere and sunsets can be gorgeous.
This RV park is literally right around the corner from the casino on the Tohono O’odham Reservation. We have driven all around, particularly interested in the developments around the foothills of the various mountain ranges. You just can’t beat the scenery. This is definitely a possible place for an annual winter stay.
Downtown Tucson with churches and Scottish Masonic Temple
We haven’t taken any long hikes because many of them aren’t dog friendly but we did walk in a very lovely park called Agua Caliente. We also played some golf and relaxed outdoors in beautiful 70 degree weather while the rest of the country was suffering through a polar vortex.
Tucson’s craft district with restaurants and pubs. The statue is a ‘Soldado de Cuera’ – the original Spanish guards when they called the area ‘New Spain’. Their thick leather vests ‘cuera’ could repel arrows. Hummingbirds like this area. Next to El Charro Cafe was a big black and silver metal box with a yellow book beneath it – maybe something from the last century.
3rd Boondocker’s Welcome Site in Surprise, Arizona
2/5/19
We arrived at this lovely home at the foothills of the White Tank Mountains northwest of Phoenix. Our hosts, John and Darla have a 2.5 acre property in a very rural and peaceful location. It is a bit further from downtown Phoenix than I expected but very pleasant. One would expect it to be very warm and dry but we are actually experiencing heavy rain on and off and rather cool conditions. John and I drove away from the mountains into downtown Surprise and Sun City for a quick bite and a game of pool and the weather was much more temperate. When we arrived back to the trailer, it was pouring. Never expected this in a so-called desert.
the desert suburbs become just desert northwest of Phoenix
2/6/19
Drove 50 minutes into downtown Phoenix to meet an old friend, Jill for dinner. Jill and I were co-workers and co-directors of the HR department at Darby Group Companies back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Jill still leads the HR function in what is now Darby Dental and they have a branch office here in Chandler, AZ. It has been around 13-14 years since we last saw each other but it felt like it was just yesterday. We had a great time catching up and reminiscing over a fabulous meal at The Arrogant Butcher.
Phoenix is another clean city that’s beautiful in the winter. We visited Susan’s friend & co-worker Jill, who happened to have business in AZ (shown with family: Graham and kids – Olivia, Owen and Finn) The Talking Stick Arena (and resort) is where the Phoenix Suns basketball team plays.
2/8/19
Since we are “boondocking”, we rely on battery power at night. Well, even though we are in the so called desert, it has gone down into the 30’s at night causing the furnace to kick on frequently, causing the coach battery to discharge, causing the CO2 detector to go off (due to low battery power), causing us to jump out of bed at 4:00am. Well, this just won’t do so we spent a day and a half hunting for better battery power. Our host, John suggested that we switch from hybrid RV/Marine batteries to a true deep cycle battery. We drove all over suburban Phoenix to several stores including one called “Batteries and Bulbs”. We ended up purchasing 2- 6 volt golf cart batteries because they are true deep cycle batteries and can be connected to run in series, providing much more in terms of amp hours. Don’t I sound knowledgeable?
After spending the day shopping for the battery, we had to spend another half day shopping for accessories that will enable John to work his McGyver magic and find a way to vent the batteries since our old 12V vented case won’t work.
Enough of this technical jargon. We spent the second half of our last day in Surprise at the Great Eagle Golf Course on the grounds of the “Happy Trails” community. I kid you not. We were paired with a lovely older couple (yes- older than us), Ruben and Kay from Minnesota. The golf course is a green oasis in the desert and really quite beautiful.
Desert Pueblo RV Park, Bouse, AZ
2/9/19
Moving on to our stopover in western Arizona on the border of California. We are staying 2 nights in a tiny town, Bouse, AZ with a population of just under 900 people, most of whom are from other places staying at various RV parks. This campground is basically a series of long straight dirt roads with roomy spots for large RVs. Our neighbors are from places like Idaho, California, Washington, Minnesota, Alberta Canada and Alaska. John and I drove 30 minutes north to check out a larger town called Parker on the Colorado River separating Arizona from California. We had a delicious lunch at a local cafe called the Crossroads and then spent a little time at the casino on the banks of the Colorado River. John continues his blackjack winning streak and I lost a little less than usual in the slots.
BlueWater Resort and Casino on the Arizona side of the Colorado River (looking across at California)
By the way, our drive to Parker was interesting as we passed several sites that appeared to be dilapidated shrines worshiping Donald Trump. YIKES!
2/10/19
Took a drive to Quartzite AZ, where many RVers tend to spend the winter. There are tons of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) parcels where RVs just pick a spot and legally dry camp usually for up to 14 days at no cost. The scenery is spectacular and the weather is great in the winter months. Now that we have our great 6 volt batteries, we may come back over this way after San Diego and try a week long stay on BLM land. We’ll see.
the desert town of Quartzite AZ is a crossroads for I10 in western AZ. At their very large flea market and other stores, they sell rocks from industrial size down to fine jewelry
Quartzite is an old mining town where they host the largest gem and mineral show in the country and have great swap meets-flea markets. We found some more RV supplies and some other items at the flea market but our best purchase was a beautiful piece of clear quartz for my daughter-in-law. We found this gem at a store with a zillion rocks of all kinds.
Lake Havasu State Park, Lake Havasu, AZ
2/11/19
Lake Havasu is a short trip from Bouse and supposed to be very pretty. Well, it didn’t disappoint. The ride here from Bouse was absolutely spectacular. It is almost as stunning as the Grand Canyon. As we were driving here, we saw the most gorgeous golf course off both sides of the road. The holes were nestled between beautiful red rock canyons and rolling hills. The course is aptly named Emerald Canyon and the greens and fairways were a perfect emerald carpet. Regardless of the cost, we are going to try to get in a round at that course.
on the road approaching Lake Havasu (some pix shot thru the windshield)
When we pulled into our spot at Lake Havasu State Park, we were amazed by the beauty and serenity of the site. Our spot looks out onto the crystal clear, blue/green Lake Havasu with mountains looming in the distance. It’s a shame we are only here for 3 nights.
Lake Havasu RV park – lots of room and a beach
Tonight we are going out to dinner at a highly rated restaurant across the famous London Bridge. Yes the actual London Bridge which was actually falling down so it was purchased by a wealthy oil man named McCulloch who created the Lake Havasu community and reconstructed the London Bridge here as a tourist attraction.
London Bridge (amazingly transplanted to AZ brick by brick). Built in 1830 and moved in 1967 – it was conceived as a great tourist attraction in the middle of nowhere, and it seems to have worked! Lake Havasu City is a fairly bustling community.
2/12/19
In case you are planning to visit Lake Havasu, I recommend Shugrue’s. We had a great meal there and the service was excellent. I don’t think there are too many Italians in Lake Havasu because my chicken marsala was nothing like chicken marsala but it was delicious anyway.
Shugrues’ next to the bridge
Today we drove back south so that we could play 9 holes at Emerald Canyon. The golf course was amazing and we were paired with a very nice man named Bill who happened to be a CEO of several corporations. We had a blast golfing with him and sipping bloody mary’s along the way.
She’s got great form, and can golf too! The aptly named Emerald Canyon Golf Course in the desert.
2/13/19
Today was a bit cloudy and breezy so we just hung out and relaxed until the late afternoon. Then we got in a workout at Planet Fitness and barbecued some ribeyes. Yum. We are getting ready for a long travel day tomorrow into Bakersfield, CA and it is supposed to be a very stormy day which can be quite treacherous in these desert environments.
– On to California, – a wedding and more! (California is a big state)
On the road again to a destination where we can store the RV for a few days while we head north to Indiana. We can’t bring the RV because the campgrounds up north are closed for the season so we will stay in a hotel for a few days. I plan to take a 30 minute hot shower every day. We were originally going to stay at a campground in Mississippi on the Tennessee border but we decided to book one closer to Memphis since we’ve never checked out the famous Beale Street scene.
I looked online and found a campground with excellent reviews (some of the best reviews yet) in West Memphis which is actually in Arkansas. Tom Sawyer’s campground is on the banks of the Mississippi River and everyone raved about it. We arrived in the afternoon on a very gray, rainy day and it looked like the surface of the moon. The management was very pleasant but the campground is definitely not what I expected. It was so muddy, we actually ran over the sewer without knowing it because it was under water in a muddy rut.
the shores of the Mississippi across from Memphis
the river can flood rapidly and lots of stuff is on stilts. The laundry room’s sign shows where the river crested in 2011.
The whole surrounding area is also very odd As soon as you leave the campground and go over the wooded hilltops, you are in a very industrial, flat, brown area covered with gasoline tanks. Apparently Valero has some plant there and the area smells like gas. I’m grateful that we are just parking near there and not really hanging out. We may try to see Beale Street when we return from Indiana but I haven’t been very impressed with the general area. We’ll see.
La Quinta, Kokomo, Indiana
12/15/18
We spent the entire day driving from Arkansas to Indiana via Missouri and Illinois. We arrived in Kokomo at 6:30 pm while our son Sean and our granddaughter Adilene were home in their beautiful newly purchased Victorian house. It was built in 1870 and is in amazing condition.
Sean & Christine’s ‘new’ home in Indiana, built in 1870!
The house is so interesting with so much character and grandeur. Our daughter-in-law, Christine is away but will be coming home tomorrow night and we will celebrate Christmas with her and Sean and grandkids Adilene and Aiden on Monday.
Happy Christmas! & Happy Christmas with Buddha and with Adilene!
Baker had a blast playing with their 3 month old yellow lab puppy, Layla.
Layla and Baker, Adilene and Sean
12/16/18
Christine was due home around 8 pm but her flight was delayed so we took Adilene back to our hotel for a fun evening of swimming and Monopoly.
12/17/18
Sean and Christine picked Adilene up in the early AM for school but we had our family Xmas dinner with Sean, Christine, Adilene and Aiden after school and then opened gifts.
It was a short visit but wonderful.
Everyone holds still for a moment: Aiden, Susan, John, Christine, Sean, Baker, Adilene, & Layla
with the kids & dogs, and one with Christine’s mom Dawn (Grandma Dawn!)
Back to Tom Sawyer’s Campground
12/19/18
Despite the ongoing muddy conditions, we extended our stay one night so we could visit Memphis
.
Still no sunshine in West Memphis, Arkansas but it is a very quick, convenient drive across the river to Memphis proper and the campground does offer a very modern, well-equipped laundry that is totally free. I’ve never seen that before and probably won’t ever see it again. After washing everything I could, we drove to Memphis to see Beale Street and then onto a tour of Graceland.
Beale St and BB King Blvd by day
Elvis’s Graceland –
After Graceland, we went back to the city for a great BBQ dinner at the world famous Rendevouz. We capped off the evening with a night cap at the gorgeous Peabody Hotel.
BBQ at Rendezvous among lots of memorabilia (Eli & Peyton with owner) & Peabody Hotel
Some more Memphis at night –
Lake Catherine State Park, Hot Springs, Arkansas
12/20/18
On our way again. I’m not sorry to leave West Memphis, Arkansas, though Memphis was a lot of fun. On to Hot Springs, Arkansas and beautiful Lake Catherine State Park. This is an entirely different part of Arkansas. There are stately pine trees everywhere and we are in a semi-secluded, yet highly civilized site on the banks of the glistening, clear blue Lake Catherine with views of the the Ouachita (Wa Sha Ta) mountains on the horizon. This is one of my favorite spots on the trip so far. The park is very clean, peaceful and private. I may even consider passing through Arkansas again someday.
Lake Catherine AR. The lake gets 3′ higher in the summer when they open the dam. The power plant across the lake became a lit-up palace at night
12/21/18
We took a ride into the city of Hot Springs this afternoon which is the childhood home of Bill Clinton. It is a great place with a vibrant downtown strip filled with historic bathhouses and bars frequented by famous gangsters and baseball players in the early 1900’s. They would come to Hot Springs to soak in the thermal baths after filling up on whiskey and other delights along historic Central Avenue. The downtown was lit up for Christmas and Hot Spring’s Eastern and Western mountains surround the town.
Historic bathhouses and gin-mills in Hot Springs AR at Christmas
If there were a yarn store in town, this place would be perfect for our annual bed and breakfast weekend with my BFF Debbi.
12/27/18
We were supposed to check out of Lake Catherine State Park on Christmas Eve but we like it so much, we decided to spend Christmas here. Then we were going to check out on 12/26 but there was a high wind advisory for the route we would have been taking so we stayed another extra day. During the extra days in Hot Springs, we managed to fit in a round of golf, take 2 beautiful hikes, visit the local Planet Fitness and see the # 1 attraction in our area- Garvin Woodland Park, an arboretum managed by the landscape design department of the University of Arkansas. During the holiday season, the park opens late in the day for their special “Holiday Lights” extravaganza. The pictures will tell the story. It was amazing.
Garvan Woodland Gardens and U of A (Arkansas) put together a Christmas light show each year that goes on and on
KOA Shreveport-Bossier, Shreveport, Louisiana
12/28/18
We have a short stopover in Shreveport. The KOA campground is very pleasant and well maintained. We only have one full day to explore the area so we settled on three things to do.
#1- Walk along the Louisiana Boardwalk in Bossier City along the Red River. It’s basically an outdoor shopping mall with a walking path that winds along the river that separates Shreveport from Bossier City.
Shreveport LA waterfront boardwalk & mall
#2- Eat lunch at the famous Herby K’s restaurant. Herby K’s is truly a hole in the wall, down and dirty, Louisiana Cajun style restaurant around two miles away from the downtown area of Shreveport. It is a family owned dive with great Southern style cooking that has been operating since 1936. The surrounding neighborhood, however, looks like a bomb hit it. It is reminiscent of the South Bronx in the 1970’s. The restaurant is the only open establishment in the entire neighborhood. I had their famous fried shrimp buster and John had delicious gumbo and a fried catfish sandwich.
What’s more amazing than Herbie K’s since 1936 is ………the neighborhood it’s in:
the First National Bank (Avenue Branch)
#3- Gamble at one of their riverside casinos. We went to Horseshoes Casino in Bossier City and had a great time breaking even in blackjack (John) and losing some money in the slots (Me). It was worth every penny.
Making our contribution to the wall of money (10,000 $100 bills)
Pecan Plantation- Granbury, Texas
12/29/18
Moved on to the Pecan Plantation Campground in my sister-in-law Barbara’s community. We have a great site in this private, small campground with everything we need. Unfortunately the weather forecast is a bit disconcerting because it is forecast to fall below freezing several nights during our stay….not at all what I would have expected from Texas.
Happy New Year in the Pecan Plantation
1/2/19
Despite the cold weather (and some frigid rain/ice), we’ve been having a great visit with Barbara and her adult children, our niece and nephew- Jessie and Richie, respectively. Barbara joined us in the RV for dinner our first night here and then we had dinner at her lovely home the next two nights. We visited Jessie’s tiny home which is such a cool space. On New Year’s Eve, we went to the movies. Barbara and I saw Mary Poppins and John and Richie saw Aquaman.
Jessie’s tiny house and Barbara, Ritchie and Jess from their recent CO outing
The weather is horrible today, but we are going to venture out tonight for dinner. The weather is supposed to finally warm up later in the week so we will likely extend our stay a bit so that we can enjoy the nice weather and visit both Dallas and Fort Worth.
Today was a Planet Fitness day which would be unremarkable and not worth mentioning if it weren’t for the adventure we had on our return trip from Cleburne, Texas where the gym is located. It’s about 20 mile away from Granbury and, apparently there aren’t many major roads around because the Google maps GPS lady took us on a crazy route home on a variety of country roads. It had been freezing and raining steadily all day and one of the roads we were on was completely flooded and I mean FLOODED, There was a raging river surging across the road right in front of us. It was so scary. Luckily, John is a very intelligent person so he didn’t attempt to plow ahead. We backed up our monster truck and turned around as the GPS lady was screaming at us to “PROCEED TO THE ROUTE”. We took another road trying to get to a main route and we approached a small bridge that wasn’t yet flooded but the creek underneath it was right up to the level of the road and running pretty forcefully. We gingerly crossed over and finally made it to a main road. It was quite the adventure. I was so traumatized from that journey, we scrapped our plans for dinner in town but had a terrific meal at the Pecan Plantation clubhouse.
no available photos of rivers overflowing roads and bridges in Cleburne TX ——-1st 2 pix are artist renderings:
———————apologies for any excessive delays in publishing
Granbury & plenty more to be continued if and when adequate wifi/cellular connections ever become available again.
We are off to Hardeeville, SC, camped at Camp Lake Jasper RV Resort on the Georgia border. We have the best spot in the entire campground, nestled in front of Lake Jasper with woods on one side of us. It is an immaculately maintained campground with beautiful clean patios and brand new picnic tables. There is a heated pool and very nicely equipped facilities. I’m so happy to be here for 7 full days. It’s great to just settle in for awhile.
Camp Lake Jasper, Hardeeville SC (no alligators)
11/13/18
It was pouring again and expected to continue raining for the next several days. Rainy season seems to be following us wherever we go. This is a perfect day for Planet Fitness so we drove into Savannah and spent time working out. Then we drove around the city and had a fabulous meal at a very hip, southern restaurant near the river–Treylor Park. Despite the spelling of Treylor, they had pictures of campers all around the place….very appropriate. Savannah is a very beautiful place, despite the torrential rain.
Savannah, GA waterfront with Georgia Queen & Treylor Park (get it?)
11/14/18
We looked up the top three attractions in Hardeeville, SC. # 1 is the Savannah Wildlife Refuge. There is a four mile drive through the refuge where they promise excellent opportunities to see the wildlife including various birds and alligators. Based on the write up, we expected to see at least 20 alligators but alas, we didn’t see any. Perhaps this is a good thing.
Savannah Wildlife Refuge – no alligators
#3 on the list of attractions is Thelma and Louise- a pair of random elephant statues in a parking lot of a fireworks store. That gives you an idea about Hardeeville’s attractions. I never saw so many firework’s stores in one location, yet I never heard any fireworks. If you are curious about #2 on the list of attractions, it is an indoor shooting range. I decided to skip that one.
Hardeeville’s #3 attraction plus Red Dam Church, SC
11/18/18
Had a very nice visit with my sister and her husband, Jules. They live in a rural area about an hour away from our campground on a very large property. We actually could have parked the RV on their property but we had already booked the campsite for the week. So- we packed overnight bags and spent the night in the “cook house” where Jules prepares his meals after hunting. He is a master hunter and the cook house was covered with his various hunting trophies–deer heads, bear skins, antlers, snake skins, turkey, squirrel, wild boar, etc. We had a wonderful time, despite the fact that their political views are at the opposite end of the spectrum. It’s a wonder I didn’t have any nightmares sleeping under the Trump/Pence poster.
Ellen & Jules & a few of many hunting trophies in cook house, Islandton, SC
On Saturday, I accompanied my sister to her job at the vet’s office because she had to geld a donkey. I tried to watch because they did it in the parking lot next to the Dollar General (I kid you not), but just couldn’t bear it. I have to hand it to her. There is no way that I could do what she does everyday.
That evening, Jules cooked up an amazing seafood pasta. On Sunday, Ellen visited our camper for a campfire BBQ.
Jules special seafood pasta & cookout with Ellen at Lake Jasper
Whirlwind Tour of Florida Begins :
Today, we begin our journey to Florida where we anticipate the most hectic visiting schedule of the year. Coming from NY, one expects to have lots of friends and family to see in Southern New York (aka- Florida). We first tried to arrange an extra stop somewhere near Orlando, hoping to connect with John’s cousin Jimmy and his family who were just arriving at Disney World!
Old picture of Cousin Jim, Yvette, Cara, & young Kellianne.– —– we just couldn’t fit in an Orlando detour the day they arrived in Disney World
Unfortunately, we just couldn’t make the logistics work out: securing a campground close enough, shortened daylight & travel time – and trying to make southeast FLA to visit my mother, our son Michael, and John’s brother Michael in time for Thanksgiving. Like Jimmy said ‘Florida is a big state’. – Ain’t it the truth!?
One night stay: NOVA Family Campground, Port Orange, Fl
11/19/18
This campground is very odd. The people who run it are very friendly and accommodating but it is very crowded with trailers of all sizes, shapes, ages and quality. It was fine for a one night stay, but anything longer would become depressing. We didn’t bother unhitching so we took a 2 mile walk (round trip) to a local Mexican restaurant.
In the morning, we packed up and looked forward to moving on—to the tune of a young man talking on his cell phone so loud, you could hear every obnoxious word. At one point, he yelled across to a neighbor in a small camper, asking her about her recent doctor’s visit. She screamed back, “I’m fine. It was only my emphysema.” What? ONLY EPHYSEMA? Yikes. Trailer park life?
John Easterlin Park, Oakland Park, Fl
11/20/18
lakeside campsite Easterlin Park FLA
We arrived at John Easterlin Park in Oakland Park, Florida in the broad daylight without rain. What a difference! It was such a pleasure. This is a beautiful little secluded park that is nestled in a very urban commercial area near Fort Lauderdale. Our site is gorgeous, our neighbors are wonderful and the weather is ideal. Unfortunately, we will be victim to the famous “Easterlin Shuffle”. This park is apparently famous for shuffling campers around. We have this spot for 5 days and then we have to move to a different spot which isn’t quite as nice but still fine.
Thanksgiving at Mr. Chen’s Hunan Palace
11/22/18
Thanksgiving Day. Spent the day visiting my mom who lives in Kings Point in Delray Beach and my aunt in her long term care facility. We planned a BBQ because our actual Thanksgiving dinner will be on Saturday when my brother-in-law Michael flies in from his trip to Seattle visiting our nephew, Derek and his wife Olga along with our niece Elyse. Our son Michael also flies in from San Diego on the morning after Thanksgiving. The weather has been gorgeous (sorry to all my friends in the Northeast) but we had a lot of rain in the late afternoon so we decided to go out for Chinese food and do the BBQ tomorrow night. I’ve always wanted to eat Chinese food on Thanksgiving. It’s like the Christmas Story movie and the food was fabulous.
11/28/18
A lot has happened over the last few days. It has been a whirlwind of activity visiting family and friends. The day after Thanksgiving, my son Michael arrived from San Diego in the wee hours of the morning. John had to wake up at 3:30am and pick him up from Fort Lauderdale airport. Late in the afternoon, I picked my mother up and brought her back to the RV for a BBQ/campfire–our signature event. She is 85 years old and in great shape so she had no difficulty hopping up into the truck and climbing in and out of the RV. My mom and I took an Uber back to her house so the boys could have some time to hang out.
BBQ with Marian & son Michael, then campfire with both Michaels
A Cracker Barrel Thanksgiving
Saturday was our actual Thanksgiving celebration. I picked up a heat and serve Thanksgiving dinner from Cracker Barrel- enough for 12 people. It really was wonderful. Even if you are not a fan of Cracker Barrel, you would love this meal. Kudos to Cracker Barrel. The turkey was super tender and the sides were amazing. They package everything very conveniently and provide excellent, clear heating instructions. So- we had 5 people and enough food for 12. Six days later, we are still enjoying some of the leftovers. On Sunday, Michael and John slept over Uncle Michael’s house in Coral Springs and I spend another night with my mom.
Saturday Thanksgiving at Marian’s home in Delray Beach – Big Michael back from Seattle
Before we went off our separate ways, we had to pack up and move our entire operation to the spot next door (Easterlin Shuffle). It sounds easy but it is still a big move. Again, John did an extraordinary job backing into a difficult spot but as he was doing it, I noticed that one of the trailer tires looked very low. We had our very first tire issue. I checked the pressure and the tire was at 20 PSI instead 80. Not good. I guess this was bound to happen at some point. We do have a spare tire, but we don’t have a hydraulic jack, which we would need in order to change the tire ourselves. Luckily, we have roadside assistance through FMCA and made arrangements to have the tire changed. I hope they actually show up and know what they are doing. It also appears that an iguana pooped all over one of our trailer windows. Shit happens, I guess.
Iguanas in the trees – leapin lizards?
Back to our hectic week. On Monday, I picked up Michael and John and drove back to my mother’s house so that we could all visit Aunt Eunice again. We spent a couple of hours with her and then headed back to the trailer for a BBQ. Uncle Michael came over and joined us.
visiting Aunt Eunice at her new assisted living facility near Delray
On Tuesday, we met up with one of my buddies from high school, Sue Candreva and her husband, Bob. They live in Port St. Lucie but we met for a wonderful lunch at Guanabanna’s in Jupiter. Later that evening, we went back to my mother’s and had dinner at my favorite restaurant in Delray- 3Gs. It’s a great Jewish deli. There is another deli called 2Js but I prefer 3Gs. It has been a Thanksgiving week eating frenzy.
Sue and Bob in Jupiter, FL (he golfs twice a week in Port St Lucie even in winter)
Tomorrow, we move off the east coast and begin our crazy schedule on the west coast. Stay tuned.
11/29/18
There is something about this camp site that seems to be cursed. Time to pack up and batten down the hatches but we had so many complications to deal with. We had to take the spare tire off and put the repaired tire back on-we had to secure the spare tire and then we had a minor catastrophe with water overflowing in the RV when we were flushing the tank. Luckily, it was clean water but we had to use every available towel in the camper to clean up the spill. Although it ate up a lot of time, it was sort of a positive thing as it basically forced me to wash our floors.
flat tires, signal lights and water fiascoes all before setting out for west coast
Finally, one of the final steps on our moving day checklist is checking the lights on the trailer. We always make sure the brake lights and turning signals are working. Well, the right signal wasn’t working. It really was like we were jinxed. Luckily, it started working after we jiggled it a bit.
Off to Koreshan State Park in Estero, Florida – the West (Gulf Coast).
Koreshan State Historic Site, Estero, Florida
11/29/18
John showed off his skills backing into spots and we successfully parked in a narrow, but fairly private site. We arrived just as the sun was going down and we spent the evening getting settled and washing all of our towels. It’s unusual for a state park to have laundry facilities so this was a very nice surprise.
11/30/18
We spent a lovely day today with old friends from NY, Candie and Fred. They live in a beautiful home in Estero and they toured us around the town and Sanibel Island. They also took us out to lunch at a fabulous Greek restaurant.
Fred and Candie Frankel at home in Estero, FL
On Sanibel, we walked along the shoreline of Bowman Beach which was littered with millions of seashells. The water was sparkling clean and a stunning blue-green. The sun was setting and the weather was perfect.
Bowman Beach on Sanibel Island with Candie and Fred
Candie and Fred filled us in on the history behind the Koreshan State Historic Site which used to be the site of a cult in the late 1800’s, established by a man named Cyrus Teed who believed that the earth was actually a hollow sphere with the sun (an electromagnetic battery) revolving in the center. He changed his named to Koresh (which translates to shepherd) and formed this “utopian commune” where the members practiced Koreshanity. They started a self-contained community in Estero that lasted for decades, but declined after Koresh’s death.
Koreshan State Historic Site, Estero FLA
They believed in their founder’s imminent reincarnation so when Cyrus Teed died, his followers kept his body in the bathtub waiting for his reincarnation to occur. After a certain period of time went by, the authorities made them dispose of the body. Crazy stuff. It’s a very nice park but tomorrow we move up the west coast to Bradenton, Florida. Onward and upward.
Horseshoe Cove RV Resort, Bradenton, Florida
12/1/18
Checked in to Horseshoe Cove just north of Sarasota. This is a very large community comprised of mostly permanent mobile homes. It is our first experience with a 55+ resort community. The grounds and facilities are very well maintained and the people have been very friendly. They have a great clubhouse with a large outdoor pool, fitness center and loads of other amenities/activities….all for a remarkably reasonable price. The only negative is the fact that the sites are fairly close together but there are some beautiful and private spots along the grounds including a private island that we can access by foot or bicycle.
Horseshoe Cove island off RV park, Bradenton (Sarasota) FLA
The island is surrounded by the Braden River and there is a lagoon that is supposedly home to several manatees (though we haven’t spotted any yet). Our neighbor is from Massachusetts and told us that it only costs $500 if you stay for a month. This may be a good place to stay for the winter months next year (if we are still on the road).
12/2/18
John worked out in the fitness center and swam a few laps in the pool. We took a bike ride with Baker and walked to a nearby cafe for a delicious and very inexpensive restaurant. A cup of coffee with refills is $.25.
Then we spent the rest of the day with old friends from John’s air traffic control days.
Mike (Maz), Debbie, Arianna, and Anthony near Siesta Key/Sasasota (Bradenton)
Mike was a controller with John in both the Washington and NY Air Traffic Control Centers. He and his wife, Debbie have a place in Siesta Key. They have been babysitting two of their grandchildren, Arianna (5 years old) and Anthony (3 years old). The kids are adorable and we had a great day with them. We visited an enormous, beautiful mall in Sarasota, had some lunch and then a pina colada at a Tiki bar on Siesta Key.
Siesta Key and Famous Siesta Beach
12/5/18
We’ve enjoyed the last few days at Horseshoe Cove especially the little island on the Braden River where we did finally see our manatees. One of them actually seemed to be performing for us. He was very close and kept poking his head up and rolling all around.
a Manatee?
We didn’t have a lot of free time but we did get to see the pearl white sand of Siesta Beach. Unfortunately the red tide put a bit of a damper on it, but you could still experience the beauty. The sand is super soft, always cool and totally white. The water looked gorgeous but there were some dead fish washing up from the red tide and it impacts breathing. I could immediately feel it in my throat so we didn’t stay long.
We were also able to tour St. Petersburg, visit Fort DeSoto Beach, get in a round of Par 3 golf and squeeze in another visit with Mike, Debbie, Arianna and Anthony. Next stop- Ocala and Silver Springs State Park.
St Pete ‘Sunshine Skyway Bridge’, harbor Christmas lights, and the ‘James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art’ – with the sculpture ‘Man Catches Eagle’ outside
Silver Springs State Park, Silver Springs (Ocala), Fl.
12/6/18
This is another oasis in the middle of a busy, commercial section of Ocala. The park is very serene and we have a private large site. This was probably the easiest site to back into yet. You could fit 3 RVs in here. It’s a shame that we only have one day here and what a full day!
We had to wake up very early (5:45 AM) to get to our friend’s, Frank and Micki’s house in a lovely Ocala community around 40 minutes away. Frank was an air traffic controller in NY Center with John and always such a gregarious, fun person. He hasn’t changed a bit and Micki is just as delightful as ever. Micki was hosting us for breakfast and the guys had an 8:30 am tee time on their gorgeous, perfectly manicured golf course.
‘Frankie’ and Micki Mueller home with ‘Ruby’, and Frank’s Ocala buds
Micki and I walked our dogs around the grounds and then took a yoga class and visited a farmer’s market. We met up with John and Frank and had a New Orlean’s style lunch in town. Then back to Frank and Micki’s to hang out and enjoy their company. Micki made us a delicious dinner so we were there from 7:30am until 9:30pm and enjoyed every minute of their company.
downtown Ocala FLA Christmas lights
Big Tree RV Park, Jacksonville, FL
12/7/18
We moved on, yet again, to Jacksonville, Fl to the Big Tree RV Resort which is not quite as lovely or private as our last site but the man who runs the campground is very nice and it’s fine for a short stay. We are visiting another air traffic controller friend, Dale and his wife Michelle from way back in the Washington Center days.
12/8/18
Spent the day with Dale, Michelle and their 21 year old son, Shane. They live in Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island. The area is so lovely with tall, mature trees and stately homes. We had lunch in town at Amelia Tavern and Shane even joined us. It was so refreshing to meet a 21 year old guy who, not only was eager to hang out with old codgers like us, but he was super friendly and engaging. I’m not crazy about Jacksonville, because it is just too crowded and urban for my taste, but I could see myself living on Amelia Island for sure.
Dale and Michelle Peterman and son Shane holding his niece Jaycee ———-sorry no pix of cool downtown Amelia Island fest…………….wuda, cuda, shuda —I forgot
Our time was short with Dale and Michelle because we have to get ready for our move tomorrow to Crestview. The forecast is pouring rain (yet again), so we want to pack everything up tonight.
Eagle’s Landing RV Resort, Holt, Fl
12/10/18
Our whirlwind tour of Florida is almost over. We arrived yesterday to our campground in Holt which is 15 miles away from our mail service in Crestview. I’m actually very excited to pick up my bundle of mail today. Holt and Crestview are in the western portion of the panhandle on the border of Alabama, not far from Mississippi and Louisiana. The campground is Eagle’s Landing RV park right off I-10 and it is very quiet and clean. We’re a very long way from our first long stay in Oakland Park. We’re even in a different time zone. We’ve certainly covered a lot of ground in Florida.
Blackwater River State Park in FLA panhadle, and Destin Beach on the Gulf of Mexico
Today we officially left New York behind and became Florida residents. We went to the Tax Collector’s Office in Crestview , got our Florida drivers licenses, registered our vehicles and registered to vote. It was very easy. We actually had the sweetest young lady in the whole place helping us.
Florida ‘State of the Arts’ among 50 choices of license plate styles
12/11/18
Today we took a breath and slowed down a bit. We had planned to go to the only restaurant in Holt (Susan’s Restaurant) to have a country style breakfast. They opened at 10:30am which was a little suspect but they definitely had breakfast items on their website menu. Well- they only serve breakfast on Saturdays. As NYers, we just expect to find pancakes and eggs available anytime, anywhere. Luckily, there is a Cracker Barrel in Crestview around 10 miles away. As my son Michael would say, “This is a first world problem”.
Patricia Calloway’s house in Mississippi
12/12/18
We mapped out our trip to our friend Patricia’s house (Michael C’s mom & our niece Becky’s mother-in-law) in Mississippi and the route looked a bit ominous for a 35′ RV so John decided to rebel against the GPS lady and go via I-10. It was a bit less direct but easier for RVing. Unfortunately, there were 2 major traffic jams on I-10 in Pensacola Fl due to 2 separate nasty motor vehicle accidents. We tried to go around the accident and found ourselves in some difficult situations adding on an hour or so the drive.
TIP: Do not try to stop for Dunkin Donuts coffee while towing a 35′ fifth wheel. That’s all I’m going to say.
We finally arrived at Patricia’s lovely house in a very rural area of Mississippi after dark and had a minor incident with one of her trees. Battle scar # 2- a tree ripped our awning. Another first world problem.
12/13/18
Patricia has a beautiful A frame house in the woods on a river. It’s gorgeous.
Patricia Calloway’s house in Brooksville MS
We had an incredible dinner last night with Patricia’s famous home baked desserts to die for. This morning, she cooked up (from scratch) some biscuits, sausage and eggs. Then she drove us to Columbus, MS (birthplace of Tennessee Williams) where we had a Southern style lunch. I had southern fried chicken which would knock Colonel Sanders right out of his boots.
Columbus MS sights including lock system on Tom Bigbee river
After lunch, Patricia treated us to a tour of a beautiful Antebellum house called the Waverly Plantation. The tour guide was amazing and the house’s rich history was fascinating.
Waverly Plantation antebellum mansion from 1852 & 250 yr old Magnolia tree
After the tour, we had dinner at Ruben’s known for their fried catfish. Southern cooking at its best. John and I have definitely gained weight on this trip but it was worth every calorie.
Postscript: We are a bit behind so stay tuned for Memphis, TN, Pre-Christmas in Indiana, hot times in Hot Springs, Arkansas and much more to come.
Happy November. We’ve been very busy over the last several days while staying in MD at Little Bennett county park campground – visiting family and friends in Virginia and Maryland and the DC metro area where we used to live. We also were able to add some enhancements to our truck including step up/running boards and a retractable bed cover.
Snazzy new step-ups and truck-bed cover
We stayed overnight at a friend’s house in Fredericksburg, VA. My friend Wendy moved there from Long Island in 2016 with her husband Matt, who recently passed away. She lives in a beautiful new house and we had a wonderful time hiking to the nearby Rappahannock River —————-
Wendy, Susan, and the historic Rappahannock river
and out to happy hour in downtown Fredericksburg——————–
Fredericksburg, VA
Wendy and I have known each other for many years. We started out as colleagues in vocational rehabilitation and became close friends. I also worked for Matt when he was the Director of Phoenix Houses of Long Island.
The next day, we met Claude, a very old friend from our Virginia/DC days. Claude was John’s roommate in Oklahoma City when he was in training to be a Washington Center air traffic controller. We were very good friends with Claude and his wife Noy (from Laos) during the years we lived in Northern Virginia, and of course knew their now adult children – Cressida, Nicholas, and Bobby. Our son Michael was also born during those years (5 weeks premature and 4 1/2 lbs. – now 6’2″ with size 12 shoes) – in DC’s Columbia Hospital for Women. We had seen each other sporadically over the years but it had been a long time since we got together.
with old pal Claude at Claude & Noy’s beautiful home in Northern VA
Today, we moved out of Little Bennett and are headed to our first National Park camping experience. We are driving on the incredible Skyline Drive heading to Big Meadows Campground in the park.
Skyline Drive the next day
11/3/18
The 20 mile drive up Skyline Drive was interesting, to say the least. It started pouring (what else is new?) around 1/2 mile up and never stopped. At times, it was so foggy, you could only see a few feet ahead and the road curves all the time.
I’ve never seen a road curve so much, so often. There are numerous overlooks along the way because the scenery is breathtaking but we didn’t dare stop to look. It poured like nobody’s business all night long. We were soaked through and through by the time we leveled our RV and unhitched.
John had to get the generator running during the downpour, which he managed to do without electrocuting himself. The weather was so awful, we didn’t even go out to the Big Meadows Lodge for dinner, as we had planned. I made a pot of beef stew instead and it was very cozy.
Rain & fog at Big Meadows campground, Shenandoah National Park
Today, the sun is out, there is a very brisk breeze and we should be able to enjoy the beauty of this national park. Interesting factoid about Shenandoah National Park — they have the largest population of black bears in the nation, and they are very diligent about warning campers how to stay safe – particularly concerning the handling of food and cooking. The ranger told us that in the late summer they had to hike the campground’s perimeter blowing fog horns to move them away – we are ready with our bear spray, just in case.
View at Big Meadows Lodge
We learned a very important lesson this morning– don’t turn off the generator before unplugging it from the RV’s AC power cord. Unfortunately RV’ers tend to learn lessons like these the hard way. As soon as the generator was switched off, we lost all power to the RV – AC and DC. Normally, the fully charged RV battery takes over and you can run your refrigerator, furnace, lights, etc. Well – we were dead in the water and couldn’t figure out why. When we turned the generator back on, everything worked, but generator hours were now over and it was to be the coldest night we have experienced thus far. We were perched atop a beautiful mountain where the temperature drops to the freezing point and the winds relentlessly scare the living crap out of you. A Class C RV parked nearby lost their awning in a wind gust. With no furnace, we had to sleep in multiple layers with three blankets til early AM generator hours resumed. It’s a blessing that Baker is a husky mix. We couldn’t feel too sorry for ourselves though, since there were multiple hardy souls staying the night in just tents!
So instead of enjoying the splendor of the park, we spent the next day out in search of a solution to our problem. We had joined FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) and subscribed to emergency roadside assistance. They have mobile tech support and helped diagnose our problem, though we had to drive miles on Skyline Drive just to get cell coverage. He thought it was most likely a certain unique circuit breaker near the battery but behind a screwed panel – and totally hidden from view, of course. For $4.99 and a 45 min drive to a town with an auto parts store (thankfully they had one left) we were back in business.
That day wasn’t a total loss as we drove into Charlottesville, VA and tooled around the town. We toured the pedestrian mall and walked up the street recently named for Heather Heyer – the woman killed during the infamous Charlottesville protests.
Charlottesville’s pedestrian mall
We returned to our campsite after dark, fixed the circuit breaker and extended our stay for one more night.
11/4/18
Everything is working in the RV so today we plan to hike a bit, but first, more shopping. We now know the importance of having a reliable battery back up, so we spent several hours visiting auto parts stores. It took several hours because nothing is really close by. Every trip we make requires a lengthy ride around the mountain. We had breakfast at a little local diner called C&S in a very small rural town, Elkton, VA. The food was great but it sure was different from a NY diner. There were biblical passages throughout the menu and a daily prayer book on the tank of the toilet in the restroom. Interesting mix of food and religion to digest.
Midway Campground Resort, Cool Springs, North Carolina
11/5/18
We drove several hours to Cool Springs, NC – not far from Winston-Salem and Charlotte. We arrived after dark to a lovely spot. Inevitably, it started raining and we had to drive several miles in a fog advisory zone. Thank goodness, John has great eyesight.
Our spot is really lovely, with a view of the pond and our very own concrete patio. If we didn’t have the patio, we’d be encased in mud. It is very private and quiet and we have full hook-ups which is a great luxury after several days of dry camping. The weather is also 30 degrees warmer than our mountain top site.
Our view at Midway near Charlotte NC
11/8/18
We are still in our beautiful spot in NC. We really will be sad to leave because we don’t think we will ever have such a serene and private location with our own concrete patio and pond view. Luckily, the day after we leave, the temperature is dropping down to 29 degrees at night. It should be above freezing in SC where we head next.
Yesterday, we went to the Lazy 5 Ranch which is a drive through safari in the middle of NC. It was a blast. The very first animal that stuck his massive head in John’s window was a huge African cow. It basically rampaged our little feed bucket and was inches from John’s face. I was rolling. There were many different animals, all very used to being fed from random vehicles so not shy at all. I will let the photos speak for themselves.
Lazy 5 Ranch North Carolina
Today we will explore Charlotte and then we are meeting some NY Center air traffic controller buddies who happen to now live 30 minutes away from our campground. It has probably been a decade since I have seen them because John retired a decade ago- but here they are. We will be heading over to their house for dinner tonight.
Freedom Park in Charlotte, NC
Wonderful times with ATC buds Larry and Paula Milillo in Cornelius, NC near Charlotte
Tomorrow, we pack up and move on. We have been at this for 2 months and have been through 13 states so far. We have stayed at county, state and national parks and many different types of campgrounds. Not bad for 2 months.
We headed two hours south to Winnsboro, SC for our second Boondocker’s Welcome experience. Of course our moving day was again hampered by pouring rain. It was supposed to just be occasional showers, but the skies opened up early in the AM and never stopped. We were soaked through and through when we finally got on the road. We even stopped on our way down, at a Cabela’s, to open the camper and change into dry clothes.
We were hoping that the rain wouldn’t follow us down south, but it did. We arrived a little before dark to Brooks Farm to meet our host, Rene. The property consisted of several granite homes with several very long, narrow driveways. At the entrance, there was a beautiful, carefully constructed stone fence hugging the longest driveway. I walked up to find Rene to determine where we should park because it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to back up that driveway towards the 2nd granite house, where she lives.
She toured us around the beautiful property but it became very apparent that she didn’t own it- she rented. The landlord lived in the first granite house. I thought this was a bit strange, but whatever.
Rene showed us the grassy shaded area where the RVs usually park and pointed out some tire tracks left by the last “boondocker” who was driving a 48,000 lb Class A (bus). Since we are less than half that weight, we figured we could park in a similar spot, driving between those tire tracks. I was walking the property with Rene while John was trying to pull around into our spot. When he pulled up onto the grass, he immediately sunk into the muddy lawn. The more he tried to get out, the more he sunk.
Rene handled the situation with amazing calm and grace. She pulled her F250 truck around, grabbed a tow rope and pulled us off the lawn (after several attempts) and onto the driveway. John had to pull forward to straighten out which caused us to go under a low hanging pine tree that could damage our roof or AC units.
We did finally get onto the driveway so that we could get level, unhitch and get out to see my sister-in-law, Cathi who lives 30 minutes away near Columbia. Unfortunately, we left massive, muddy ruts in the lawn and we had no way to turn the RV around so we knew we would have to back down the mile long narrow driveway at some point. To top it all off, Rene pointed out the various piles of fire ants surrounding our camper along the driveway.
Rene was heading out in the morning for a weekend trip, so she wasn’t going to be around. We decided we would have dinner with Cathi and then go right to sleep and leave the next day for a campground. Of course, we had to contend with fog when we ventured out for dinner.
Sesquicentennial State Park, Columbia, SC
11/10/18
This morning, John spent several hours tamping down the ruts in the lawn.
Trying to fix giant ruts in the lawn
He was doing an excellent job when the landlord came over to talk to him and see what was going on. He was pleasant enough, but definitely seemed annoyed with Rene and the whole situation. We just wanted to get the hell out of there, which we managed to do successfully. John backed the RV all the way down and through that beautiful stone gate. It was amazing.
11/10- 11/11/18
We secured a lovely spot at Sesquicentennial State Park which was much better. Cathi came over for a campfire BBQ and spent the night. The site was really uneven so we were kind of high up off the ground. I had to stand on a ladder to cook the bacon for our camping breakfast.
Sesquicentenial Park, lake. and campground near Columbia SC
John’s sister Cathi and cooking bacon on a stepladder
After breakfast, we ventured into Columbia to tool around the city and see the sites.
Columbia from the car
Tomorrow it’s off to the SC/GA border to visit my sister Ellen & husband Jules in the woods of SC, as well as jaunts to the beautiful city of Savannah. Stay tuned.
This is very cool. We are staying on a perfect stranger’s property for the next three nights thanks to this fantastic organization called boondocker’s welcome. For a mere $30 per year, you can search hosts with property large enough to accommodate RVs and willing to do so. It’s like an Airbnb for RVs with one gigantic difference. It’s totally free. This lovely home is in Pelham, MA, right near UMass Amherst on lovely, very wooded Butterhill Road. Apparently, there is a ton of wildlife including moose, bear, bobcats, mountain lions and even wolves. We are parked on a perfect concrete slab next to the property owner’s three car garage/barn and he has even provided electric and water. All for free!
According to his profile, he and his wife recently purchased a 35′ Class A and have started travelling a bit with it when they can get away. They aren’t retired yet so they aren’t able to get away all the time. When they are home, he allows folks to camp on this spot. From what I have heard, this is a very popular option that many folks use especially as you head south and west. Since our next stop in NY is a very pricey KOA (the only place available), these 3 free days will help even out our costs. I really I hope I see a moose while I’m here. At least I think that might be fun.
10/16/18
Lovely day here in Central Massachusetts. It’s brisk with a healthy cool breeze. Perfect day for a round of golf. We explored Amherst and Northampton with a stop at “America’s Yarn Store”- Webs.
We also took a stroll through the Botanical Gardens at Smith College. Then 9 holes of golf at Cherry Hill golf course which was very picturesque.
Botanical and Japanese gardens (with St. Francis of Assisi) at Smith College in Amherst MA
Cherry Hill Golf
When we arrived back to our trailer, our host, Chris and his wife Lyn stopped by for a visit. They are such nice people and we had a great conversation. Chris was in construction for many years and build this house and the structure you see next to our rig. He is currently the building commissioner for his town and a part-time police officer. Lyn works in the Bursar’s Office at UMass. She handles some of the non-traditional students so we had a lot to talk about- a lot in common. They invited us (including Baker) to dinner at their house tomorrow. Their generosity is truly amazing.
Boondockers Welcome hosts Chris and Lyn in our RV
10/17/18
Another beautiful sunny day but it is chilly. Perfect day for a hike. After looking up the numerous possibilities in this area, we chose to hike the Mt. Norwottuck trail to the horse caves and back down from the summit on the Robert Frost trail. It was a total of close to 4 miles with the first half completely uphill. It was the most strenuous hike we have taken thus far and a lot of fun. The horse caves are an outcropping of gigantic rocks forming ledges and caves. When we arrived there, the skies opened up and it poured despite the fact that there was no rain in the forecast. Luckily, we were able to stand under the rock ledges until the rain simmered down a bit. We had packed lunch and had a little picnic up on the mountain before the rain came.
In the evening, we had dinner with our hosts in their gorgeous home. They served us lasagna, caesar salad and garlic bread. We had such a nice time with them. The boondocker’s welcome thing is really the best. Hopefully our future experiences with it will be just as pleasant.
10/18/18
Off to the KOA NYC/Newburgh which is not in NYC, nor is it in Newburgh. It is in Plattekill, not far from the last NY campground we stayed in (which is now closed for the season) We will be there for a week, hopefully finishing up our storage consolidation while also visiting our friends in the area.
KOA- New York City/Newburgh, Plattekill, NY
Back in New York
10/23/18
We’ve been so busy visiting with loved ones, I haven’t had a chance to update. This KOA NYC/Newburgh campsite has certainly offered us a very different perspective of the camping lifestyle. Similar to Jellystone in the resort atmosphere but much more raucous. During the week it’s nice and quiet and even eerily empty. On the weekend, all hell breaks loose and it is transformed into a massive tailgate party. This past “holiday” weekend (note the date 10/20 and 10/21- the milking of Halloween) was insane.
RV decorated for Halloween
There were cars and trucks lined up all over the place in no particular order. There were throngs of children riding go carts, electric cars, bicycles and scooters. At one point, Baker started barking at a 6 foot tall orange kangaroo walking by the campsite (one of many Halloween costumes). The adults gathered together around a massive campfire and played country music while getting increasingly intoxicated. Luckily, it started pouring at around 10:45pm on Saturday night, which quieted the revelers somewhat.
Despite the noise and raucous atmosphere, its been great to be back in NY. John was able to go to Long Island to see his buddies, while my LI buds came to me and got a taste of camping life.
Debbi came on Saturday and we continued our annual tradition of hunting for yarn at the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival.
Debbi braving the top bunk with Baker on guard
Sheep and Wool festival
On Sunday, my dear friend Patty came for an overnight visit and we hiked around Lake Minnewaska, followed by lunch at the Gilded Otter in New Paltz. Of course, both Debbi and Patty enjoyed the camping experience of a nightly campfire and BBQ.
Strolling around Lake Minnewaska and Patty by the campfire
Today I visited my friends at Marist College including the talented young woman who has stepped into my role as assistant dean. You’re going to do a great job, Dede : ). Marist will always be near and dear to my heart.
While all this was going on, John was also working diligently on consolidating our storage units. He did find time to have a get-together jam with his pals ‘Crazy Feet’ Pete, Alan – ‘Alien H’ , and ‘yeah man’ Dave.
This evening, we went to Mahoney’s for the Poughkeepsie Jazz Project’s weekly jazz jam – cofounded over 6 years ago by John, Ben, & Kesai and now an institution – still run by Ben Basile. There were so many wonderful, talented artists there including Audrey and Neil- members with John of the band ‘mondoRAJ’. Our friends (and now ex-neighbors) Anne and Hank were also there and we had a terrific time.
10/24/18
This was a very productive day. We woke up early, went to storage unit #1 and piled a ton of junk into the truck bed for a dump run. John dropped me off at my wonderful hair dresser’s salon (LaTanya Salon in Poughkeepsie- I highly recommend Jenn) Love you Jenn. While John was unloading our stuff a the dump, Jenn was working her magic.
We returned to the storage unit and ridded ourselves of one of our large units. That is a huge milestone. Tomorrow we begin our trip southward. Southward ho.
10/25/18 – Southward Ho
An exhausting day of travel. I don’t do any of the driving, yet I feel completely drained at the conclusion of our “moving day”. We traveled 300 miles today from Plattekill to West Virginia with a lovely stop in New Jersey to have lunch with our cousin Geoffrey.
John, Geoffrey, Susan and Baker – with Walmart looming in the background
We made a second stop in PA at Cabela’s in Hamburg PA where they allow overnight parking for RVs. We considered staying the night but decided to bite the bullet and drive the remaining 2 hours and 6 minutes to Falling Waters, West Virginia.
some of Cabela’s dioramas including a coyote that looks like Baker
Cabela’s is a great stop though. They are very RV friendly. They have designated spots in their ginormous parking lot to accommodate RVs of all sizes. They even have dog kennels and horse corrals to park your animals while you shop and the store is amazing.
Falling Waters, WV
We arrived at the campsite after dark, after hours and had to wait for one of the employees to come and let us in. He briefly described where our spot was located and said that it was a breeze to get into the supposed “pull thru” site. There is absolutely no way anyone could pull through this spot. Luckily our West Virginia neighbors Mark and CJ (and his golden retriever puppy Layla) helped us maneuver into the spot without hitting the trees or falling into the creek. Maybe that’s why it’s called Falling Waters.
Now it’s midnight and there is a horrific screeching noise approaching and finally arriving right outside our door. A class A (bus) RV has just pulled in across from us. The RV has been towing a car on a trailer that is completely missing one tire, with the tow plate scraping along ground – hence the horrific noise. It sounds like Jacob Marley on steroids. Yikes….and to top it all off, I went to brush my teeth- NO WATER. The water spigot isn’t working. Thank goodness we have 1/3 full fresh water tank. Tomorrow is a new day.
10/26/18
Yes, it is a new day, but Falling Waters really doesn’t look too much better in the daylight. It is a little more like living in a dirt parking lot than a campground. There are gigantic, round, hard balls in the trees that occasionally crash down onto the RV scaring the living beejesus (sp?) out of me. On a positive note, we are fairly close to my niece Becky’s lovely home in Keedysville, Maryland.
We had a phenomenal dinner at Becky’s house with the whole family.
Our niece Becky and her husband Michael and their two adorable children- Georgia and Ailish
My sister -in-law Cathi and brother-in-law Joe
Mike’s mom, Patricia (from Mississippi)
Joe’s brother John from Maine
Mike and his mom, Patricia whipped up an amazing spread including a moose roast. I actually ate moose and loved it. They also served homemade dumplings, apple pie and other delights.
We returned to our campground and decided that it was just too depressing to stay there so we reserved a different campground in Clarksburg, MD called Little Bennett which is part of the Montgomery County park system. It poured heavily all night and Falling Waters truly lived up to its name.
Little Bennett Campground, Clarksburg, MD
10/27/18
We moved on to Little Bennett Campground which is beautiful, despite the pouring rain. It is reminiscent of our experience at Moreau Lake State Park only with full hookups. The atmosphere is the complete opposite of Falling Waters.
Once we settled in, we headed over to George Washington’s estate in Mount Vernon, VA for trick or treating with the family. Little Georgia transformed into Uma (from Disney’s Descendents) and little Ailish dressed as an owl- the cutest owl ever. We also toured the Washington home and estate, including the slave’s quarters. Very interesting.
10/28/18
Took a drive over to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia where the Shenandoah intersects with the Potomac River. We walked down to the Lower Historic Village which is part of the National Park. It is set up to look like it did back in the 1800’s when George Washington chose the town to be the site of the national armory.
One hundred and fifty nine years ago, in October 1859, John Brown led a group of abolitionists on a mission to seize the armory and free the slaves. His mission ended with his capture and execution but he brought the injustices of slavery to the forefront, eventually leading to the Civil War.
In addition to the historical significance, it is an exquisite place. Our nephew, Mike noted that Harper’s Ferry is where Lewis and Clark began their journey westward to find the Northwest Passage. It is also the mid point of the Appalachian Trail which runs from Georgia to Northern Maine.
In the evening, we joined our family for dinner at the Canal House Cafe, a new farm to table restaurant in Harper’s Ferry. I promise that I receive no advertising dollars for this— if you visit Harper’s Ferry, please stop in for a meal at this wonderful place. They make you feel like you are having a family dinner at your favorite relative’s house and the food was excellent too.
Thanks for joining me and John and Baker on our journey across the continent.
‘Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter’ — Izaak Walton
And so the adventure begins. Since it has taken me some time to actually decide to write a blog, I am going to have to start with a lengthy prologue to provide the necessary background and get everyone caught up with where we are today.
July 29, 2018 (Still living in our beautiful condo at Hudson Pointe in Poughkeepsie, NY)
The house is in contract, the deposit has been made on the fifth wheel and I am spending the first of several Sundays at Rinaldi’s flea market in Poughkeepsie, NY, selling a variety of treasures at my 20’x20′ spot in a parking lot. I am considering this to be the beginning of the adventure because I am meeting so many interesting people- people I would not ordinarily interact with in my everyday experience.
A very friendly gentleman took an interest in a framed, ripped up, black and white picture of the Marx brothers and proceeded to tell me Groucho jokes. He also told the story about Margaret Dumont, the perfect foil for Groucho and how much she was adored by the Marx brothers. What made him particularly interesting, was the fact that he was wearing women’s leggings, a blouse, a headband, dangling earrings and fake painted yellow and purple nails.
One of the other vendors named Tony visited my “booth” several times to show me pictures of the chotchkas he likes to collect- porcelain planters shaped like various parts of a woman’s body. Another customer bought a a switchplate and then handed me a little booklet about Adam and Eve and Jesus Christ, illustrated by the Dennis the Menace cartoonist (or so he claimed). Another friendly gentleman told me that he buries his money in his front yard.
Everyone has been so pleasant and it’s so encouraging to see all these people from different cultures and different socioeconomic classes enjoying a Sunday afternoon of shopping and interacting with random strangers. I imagine that this is what it will be like when we travel across the country camping alongside people from all walks of life. This type of experience highlighted to me how insular our lives have been.
We ended up netting over $200 today despite the fact that our average sale price was around $2.00. Not bad for a Sunday afternoon.
$1 @ Rinaldi’s Flea Market
The Start
This adventure actually began around two years ago when John suggested the idea of selling the condo and living full time in a RV. His idea was to visit friends and relatives around the country and simultaneously check out potential living locales following my retirement. He expected me to fall down laughing or screaming but I actually embraced the idea. Well, maybe not totally embraced, but I was definitely open to it. We started going to RV shows and local RV dealers and began planning for the future. The plan was to leave Poughkeepsie in around year’s time. Well, several life episodes got in the way – including renovations, family matters and even hospitalizations & open heart surgery. Our journey was delayed until now- the summer/fall of 2018.
August 2018
Well, maybe not so fast- or maybe a bit too fast. We seem to have rapidly run out of time, although we have accomplished an amazing amount of stuff. John flew to Minneapolis to purchase our 35′ fifth wheel. The next weekend, we went out and purchased a big, beautiful, bad ass diesel truck- a Silverado 2500 HD with all the extras that we have no idea how to work.
Big diesel power (& nice truck too)
It took a long time to get the closing date but when we finally did, we had around 10 days to pull off the amazing feat of organizing storage, packing up the house, doing another flea market, organizing bags and boxes for Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity, scheduling a visit with my brother-in-law, Joe, who took our BBQ and bed, and hiring a mover.
Everything was moving right along and then two days before the big move, on the hottest day of an already above average hot summer, our AC crapped out. Our HVAC guy came and showed us the buildup of ice on the unit. He said it would have to melt before he could tinker with it, so we packed and sweated with no AC on a day where the temperature was pushing 100 degrees. Did I mention that we were packing up a 4 story condo?
The next day, the HVAC guy (Tom), tried everything to the tune of $800 and finally said that we needed to replace 2 key components for another $1800. Even worse than that, he said he had to order the parts and hoped to have it installed on Thursday….just one day before the closing. You can’t make this stuff up.
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Okay. It’s Thursday and Tom spent his third full day at our condo, running up and down the stairs, in and out of the front door and the back porch, occasionally cursing or muttering under his breath and sweating buckets. Around 3 hours into the repair job, he asked me for a fan and warned me that he might be setting off the fire alarm because he has to use a torch for awhile. AAGH! What? What about the sprinklers? Thank goodness they didn’t go off but the smoke detectors did, scaring Baker (our dog) half to death. With all this going on, I was also stressed out because I had put in the USPS forwarding order to forward our mail to the RV mail service in Florida, effective today and we hadn’t received our title yet for the RV. We need the title (which was mailed certified last week) to get our plates to bring the RV back from Indiana.
Luckily, we received mail even though it should have been forwarded and there was a slip in the mailbox indicating that we missed delivery of a certified letter. We were rushing to the Post Office, which was about to close, when we saw a mail truck several blocks away. I flagged him down, frantically waving my little brown slip of paper and sure enough, he had our letter. We had our title. We rushed to DMV and registered the RV, not realizing that we had to pay $2800 in NY sales tax on the spot. Whew! This is quite the adventure. So far, it is not what I expected from retirement.
Celebration didn’t last too long though. Returned home from DMV to again find water in the AC room. Broken again or, more accurately, never really fixed. Called Tom from Fox Air yet again and prepared myself for another 6 hour visit. I decided to escape to my neighbor’s house to borrow WiFi and an Ativan for my panic attack over the AC.
We Hit the Road
9/4/18
11 years come and gone
The house is completely cleaned out. The AC is working better than ever. The credit card is maxed out. If the closing gets SNAFU’d, I’m picturing financial ruin. The closing is not finalized but we are on our way to Indiana anyway to pick up the RV & visit family. John is driving the truck and I am following in the CR-V (which we will be giving to our son and daughter-in-law in Indiana). We planned to head out at noon but there was still so much to do, we didn’t hit the NYS Thruway until 3pm. Our dog doesn’t know what’s happening and has stopped eating. When we put his food out, he covers it with a towel. It’s bizarre. He takes his nose and pushes whatever cloth is nearby until it covers his food.
Baker
9/5/18
Grove City, PA
Another 4-5 hour drive ahead of us. Our linens and jackets are in the bed of the truck in several plastic cases but they weren’t 100% sealed. They are covered with a thick layer of morning dew and I am eating a lousy hotel breakfast with Fox News blaring from every TV. I hope this is not an indication of how my new life is going to go.
9/5/18
Shipshewana, IN
Stayed at the Super 8 in Shipshewana which was really not all that super. Since it’s been so hot and sunny out, we never checked the plastic cases containing our linens and other stuff including jackets and bags to cover them with a tarp in the bed of the truck. Of course in the middle of the night the skies opened up and we had a massive storm soak all the rest of our stuff. My Reynolds plastic wrap, for example, was floating in 3 inches of rain water. The TV in the hotel room kept freezing up due to “inclement weather” and all I could think about was whether my new home would be leaking after this storm.
Shipshewana IN and everywhere else we went
KZ Durango 1500- Our new home
9/6/18
Like new (to us) 2017 Durango RV in Shipshewana truck lot
I met the RV for the very first time, dropping off some boxes while it was parked in the storage lot. I really like it, by the way. Today was the first time I stepped foot in it. It looks like it will be impossible to store everything we brought but we’ll see. We drove 30 minutes away to Dually’s Depot to get the hitch installed in our truck. It’s going to take 2 hours so we drove back to the RV to see if we could organize things a bit. We tried turning on the battery power and it was completely dead in the water. Absolutely nothing worked- not even the simplest things like pushing out the slides. John pulled out the manual and it is totally overwhelming – the briefing he got at the dealer two weeks before a hazy memory. I don’t know what the hell we are doing. Now we are searching for someone we can hire to show us how to do everything and work this thing. I really don’t want to go back to the Super 8.
One piece of good news came, though. The closing is finally scheduled for tomorrow at 12:30pm.
Stan
Stan, the man, whose sister married an Amish man. Hooray for Stan from KZ. Luckily the manufacturer of our Durango RV has their corporate headquarters right next door to Starfleet Trucking where our RV is stored (trucked in from the MN dealer where we bought it). John asked if they could find a technician – an expert to assist us for 2 hours at the rate of $50 an hour. They found us Stan- a true gift from God.
We returned to the Starfleet lot to meet Stan and managed to arrive in time to learn enough to get the rig out of there with only 10 minutes left before the lot closed. First, he told us where to buy a new battery so that we could have power & then showed us several of the basics John had been demo’d in MN two weeks before. Then how to hitch up after which he followed us 2 miles down the road to a local campground with an easy “pull-through” spot and all together spent 2 1/2 hours with us, teaching us how to unhitch, connect to electricity and water and many other things. The problem is, there is so much to remember, we will most definitely, inevitably forget some step along the way and damage something or other. John already snapped off the little plastic piece that holds the front door open. I can’t wait until we really know what we are doing, if that day ever comes. Even that 2 mile drive was intense as John had no time to practice in the Starfleet parking lot and he had to avoid Amish people driving their horse and buggies along the road.
We spent our first night at the Shipshewana South campground and met some nice people. It’s interesting to see that most of the folks camping in Northern Indiana are of a certain age (OLD) and a certain ethnicity (WHITE).
Spring Hill Campground, Kokomo, IN
9/7/18
I am writing this from the campground laundry as I try to rectify our issue of soaking wet linens. The most wonderful and amazing thing is this app called PayRange. It allows you to pay for laundry with prepaid funds from a credit card. It’s so convenient- I hope every campground uses this.
Today, we attempt to hitch up by ourselves and then head down towards Kokomo for the next adventure, introducing the rig to the grand kids. We arrived in Kokomo to our second campground, Spring Hill. Sounds lovely, but it’s pretty primitive and very strange. It hasn’t stopped raining since we arrived and it’s incredibly muddy and buggy. We originally had reservations at a much nicer place called White River Campground in Cicero, IN but they called to cancel because the river was overflowing and they were evacuating everyone. One can definitely see the advantages of living in an actual house, although you do get evacuated from them too sometimes.
So, back to Spring Hill. When we checked in at 5 pm, we were greeted by a very pleasant young man with a horrible rash all over his body. He was wearing a large wool slouch, a stretched out T-shirt and funky gym shorts. His name is Corey and he lives here full-time. He directed us to our spot and showed us the building with the toilets and showers. It is a structure that looks like it is completely rotting away and about to collapse. I went to the bathroom and it was a trip. Spider webs everywhere, rusty water in the toilets and paint chipping off every solid structure. Corey was helpful pointing out the white furry caterpillars we should avoid at all costs. They are the culprits that caused his nasty rash. Apparently, they burrow into your skin. Having fun yet?
We went to visit the kids (our son, daughter-in-law and grand kids) in civilization and took them out to dinner.
That was a great break but then we had to head to Walmart to shop for groceries and RV related supplies. We spent an hour and a half in the massive store and I can tell you that there are interesting characters there at that hour of the night- 10pm. I was just so tired, I desperately wanted to get back to my new muddy home.
9/8/18
The first full day in muddy paradise. We still haven’t figured out how to get the hot water heater working so I had to take a shower in that freaky, broken down building. I didn’t realize that there was a timer on the lights because I can’t see without my glasses so it was quite the shock when the lights went out while I was in the middle of my shower. Right before it went dark, I had looked up and there were enormous spider webs and maybe even webs for those nasty monster caterpillars. I had to feel my way out of the shower to get the lights working again. Thank goodness, no one else seems to take showers in this place.
We will be here until Monday and today is Saturday. There’s a flash flood warning in place because the rain is just not stopping. At it’s best, this campground might be OK. There’s usually fishing and hiking and even a little playground but the hiking trails were completely underwater. I pray to God we don’t float away.
Honey Pot
9/10/18
It is now Monday and it finally stopped raining. I learned a new term today: honey pot service. We paid a mere $7.00 for the honey pot service at our campground which means they come and pump out your black and grey water for you. We will normally do that ourselves, but we wanted to see how it’s done.
Overall, this was a fun first real camping trip, even though it poured and was very run down. The kids and grand kids slept over on Saturday night and we watched our first movie in the camper- Ready Player One.
Adilene, Aiden & Sean
Now we are on the road again heading back to NY which will likely take several days because pulling 10,000 lbs is not that relaxing. It’s occasionally very bumpy and a little disconcerting at times.
Trip back to NY
9/13/18
It took 3 days and 3 stops to get back to NY where we are now camped at a lovely place in Gardiner on the Wallkill River. We will finally be able to keep the camper parked here for more than a couple of days.
The last 3 days were interesting. We got a late start pulling out of the Kokomo campground because the hitching process took a bit of time.. What else is new? Everything takes way longer than you expect. We made it to Wauseun, Ohio, which is a 2 hour and 47 minute drive from Kokomo. Because it was so late, we decided to just stay at a hotel for one night. We were able to get a much needed rest and take a nice, long, hot shower. When you have only 6 gallons of hot water, you realize how luxurious that is.
Next morning we had to contend with Fox News in the breakfast area again. John asked the staff to change the channel and they definitely seemed a bit unnerved by that but they complied. I’m sure they switched it back on as soon as we left.
Back on the road, trying to make our way out of Ohio. It seemed to take forever. We had to stop at several rest areas to take care of various things. Some of the rest areas on the Ohio Turnpike really cater to RVs. For $22.00, you can hook up and stay the night. One of the RVers parked in one of the rest stops had around 8-10 falcons or hawks sitting on posts out in the grass. The husband was actually from New Paltz (small world) and they were on their way to a show/demo with the birds.
Birdman from New Paltz @ service area in Ohio
At the second RV rest stop (we seem to require many stops), we sanitized and filled our fresh water tank–learning something new every day. We ended up driving close to 5 hours, stopping at a beautiful wooded campground called Woodland, near Clearfield, PA. It was, by far, the prettiest place we stayed so far.
Matamoras near Punxsutawmey PA
Even though we never bothered to unhitch, we had to do laundry so we got another late start. That seems to be the pattern with us. It was really frustrating me but I am learning to go with the flow. It gets a bit easier each day. We almost made it to NY but just couldn’t quite do it. It was dark and very foggy so we found a RV park right off of I84 on the border between NY and PA. It was another interesting experience. We didn’t bother to unhitch and we were parked right underneath a billboard advertising the Cracker Barrel restaurant in Fishkill. You could hear the tractor trailers whipping by. When I walked Baker in the morning, I discovered that the RV park was actually right on the Delaware River and there were some beautiful spots.
So now we have finally landed at a place we can stay for an extended period and catch our breath —-
Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park, Gardiner, NY
9/15/18
Settled in at our very upscale campground called Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park. There are tons of kids here with lots of planned activities. It is very manicured and clean but John says it’s a bit too National Lampoonish for him. You have to wear a wristband and all guests have to register at the office and get escorted to your site. The staff drives around in golf carts enforcing the rules. I took a yoga class this morning and Yogi Bear showed up. There is a gigantic pool and water park, miniature golf, movies on the lawn, volleyball, basketball and lots more. This is quite a difference from our very rustic campground in Matamoras, PA.
At yoga, I set an intention of gaining flexbility because I am so stiff from not stretching, dancing or doing yoga for 2 straight weeks. I realized that I also need to gain flexibility in terms of this new lifestyle. I have to get comfortable with a slower pace and not try to pack too many things into a day.
Although it seems like this should have been a restful experience, we did have a bit of added stress (in a very good way) of a visit from our oldest son, Michael, who flew into JFK on 9/11 (cheap flights are available on that day) from San Diego. He visited with our relatives on Long Island for a few days and then made his way to Poughkeepsie by train on the 13th. He was in NY for a wedding which was 4 hours northwest in Alexandria Bay (north of Watertown). We originally thought we could drive up and back with Michael and perhaps camp out up there, but we realized that we just couldn’t manage that so we had the added stress of trying to figure out how to get him where he needed to go. Ultimately, it all worked out and he arranged a ride with a friend of a friend. While Michael was visiting, we had some other friends come by and we had our very first BBQ in the camper which was great fun.
9/20/18
Jelllystone (Gardner NY) in the evening
We’ve been here for a full week so we had a chance to just settle in without worrying about packing up or hitching up or any other time consuming things. Michael was safely ensconced back in his Class C RV in San Diego. The weekdays here at Jellystone are very different- a huge contrast from the harried, noisy weekend. We basically have thee whole place to ourselves and the golf cart gestapo crew was nowhere in sight. We are heading out tomorrow to a new destination. We have our sites set on a state park called Moreau Lake State Park near Saratoga. If we get a spot there, it will be our first “dry camping” experience with no electric or water hook-ups. Should be an interesting adventure.
Royal Mountain Campground, Ephratah, NY
9/21/18
Plans are very changeable when you have no real obligations. Instead of heading straight north, we took a detour to the west and landed in the Royal Mountain Campsite in a tiny town at the foothills of the Southwestern Adirondacks. We drove only 150 miles but it took 5 hours because of various stops along the way including a lengthy shopping stop at Camping World. We were aiming for a campground outside of Utica because we have friends to visit in a small town north of Utica called Remsen. We didn’t quite make it that far and landed here near historic Johnstown, NY. The actual town is Ephratah, NY. The campsite is a pull-through surrounded by beautiful, tall evergreens. It’s very lovely and only costs $32 per night- one of the cheaper sites we have booked. Of course it’s pouring again and the cell service is terrible so I can’t even track the weather. I heard thunder a few minutes ago and am wondering how safe it is to be in this tin can during a thunderstorm. Tomorrow we will explore the quaint area and hopefully locate a grocery store within a 40 mile radius.
9/24/18
We like this place so much, we extended our stay for another 2 days. Such a beautiful place and so affordable. Nobody bothers you- basically nobody is around. Yesterday, we finally had a chance to go on a hike ad spend some time outdoors. Since we started this RV trip, we’ve had so much humidity or rain, we haven’t had a chance to enjoy the outdoors. The last 2-3 days have been glorious, typical September days. It is bright and sunny, around 60 degrees for a high and very brisk in the evening.
Southern Adirondacks NY
Since we had to get back in time to watch the NY Giants beat the Houston Texans, we could only tackle a short hike. We drove into Adirondack Park to the Kane Mountain trail in Shaker Mountain Wild Forest. The first trail was 0.6 miles straight up to a fire tower. At the top of the fire tower, the view was spectacular. This is an extraordinarily beautiful part of the country. We took a 1-2 mile trail back to the parking lot and managed to stay on our feet despite some steep, sometimes muddy downhill spots.
Fire Tower Adirondack foothills
After the usual wrangling and wrestling with our primitive technology, we were able to watch the Giants. After the game, we visited one of John’s childhood friends, Craig and his wife, Darlene. They live around an hour away from here in a very rural section of Remsen, NY. They have been building a 16 sided house for the last three years by themselves. It is an amazing structure that looks circular. It is like a gigantic trigonometry problem. They are only able to work on it when the weather permits so their time is very limited. Winter is coming and they get lots of snow up there. In the meantime, they live in another self-constructed structure that is very cozy and pleasant, despite the composting toilet which Darlene describes as a human litter box.
Craig and Darlene’s 16 sided house in progress, Remsen NY
It is incredible to think about the varied lives we all live. Their neighbor down the road has lived there all his life, before the roads were even paved–and they’re barely paved now. He’s not happy with how many lots have been sold. One has to wonder if it will become another suburban development someday as humans bombard nature and encroach on all the wildlife. Many of the people buying these lots are building second homes- I imagine to escape other people. There apparently is no escape. Where people go- others follow.
9/25/18
Another day of pouring rain but I can’t complain because we just had several gorgeous weather days. Yesterday we took a day trip into Cooperstown and it was gorgeous. The Leatherstocking area of Central NY is breathtaking with rolling green pastures littered here and there with cows, goats, horses and sheep. I had been to Cooperstown a few years ago with my closest, nearest and dearest childhood friend, Debbi. We travel to a different B&B location every year for our birthdays- usually around early May. When we were in Cooperstown, we had a wonderful meal at the Otseago Resort Hotel. Adjacent to the hotel is the Leatherstocking Public Golf Course which is one of the most picturesque courses I have seen. I wanted John to see it and thought we could play nine holes. Unfortunately, it was just too expensive and there was a tournament going on anyway. It would have cost over $100 each to golf there. We did get to take some photos of the course and we enjoyed a nice lunch at the teeny weeny Cooperstown diner.
Golf course next to Otesaga Resort Hotel, Cooperstown NY – mucho $$$
On the way back to our campsite, we hit a detour and ended up passing another golf course in the middle of a wide expanse of farmland….the Meadow Links Golf Course in Richfield Springs, NY. We were able to play 9 holes of par 3 golf for only $10.00….our very first golf excursion on our RV adventure.
HOF original inductees
Today is a quiet day of hibernation from the cold rain. It is lovely listening to the rain bounce off our fiberglass castle. Unfortunately, I do have to walk through several mud puddles to collect my laundry and we also have another trip to Walmart scheduled. I am so sick of Walmart though they do have surprisingly delicious potato salad.
Moreau Lake State Park, Gansevoort, NY
9/28/18
We have landed at Moreau Lake State Park. It’s actually not terribly far from our last stop but it still took us several hours to get here yesterday. It’s a lovely wooded area but the spots are really designed for smaller rigs- up to 30′. John is very ambitious and adventurous so he was inclined to just go for it and back into one of the spots, God bless’m. I was ready to throw up my hands and run for the nearest regular campground. As he was attempting to maneuver his very large round peg into a smaller square hole with me helping (UGH), we both lost sight of a skinny little tree off to his right side- BOOM. We have our very first battle scar on our beautiful Silverado truck. Just a couple of scrapes and a minor dent. The tree suffered no damage.
We did finally get the RV in place and unhitched and then discovered that we only had 1/3 full on our fresh water tank. We also had limited juice on our battery and there are no “hook ups” here. It is kind of fun, though- more like a “real” camping experience. We will have to be very careful with our water usage and we have been using lanterns for light. We will be here for 3 days so it should get very interesting.
1st attempt dry camping – state park near Saratoga
9/30/18
Yesterday, we spent the entire day shopping for a generator because it became very apparent that we could not effectively live without one while without shore power. It took all day, lots of research and driving to various stores before we decided on the Predator 3500 from Harbor Freight Tools. We chose it based on its size, quietness and price compared to the Honda (which is the gold standard). There are only a few hours during the day that campers are permitted to run generators: 9am-11am and 5pm-10pm. We arrived home around 6 or so and took the dog on a short hike before setting up the generator. It also took some time to figure out how to get the gas out of the gas can without spilling it all over the place (It had a strange childproof spout).
In the meantime, our fresh water and battery power was running very low and I still had dinner to cook and dishes to wash. It was growing darker and the temperature was dropping rapidly. Time was running out to get everything charged up but we were finally ready to turn on that baby at around 8:30pm or so. — Unfortunately, she just wouldn’t start. We ate our dinner and tried again around 9:00….still wouldn’t start. At the same time, our battery power was cutting out which is easy to notice as the CO 2 detector starts to scream at you every 30 seconds or so. We had to disconnect the battery power completely to stop it.
So, ultimately, we went from roasting in a house with broken AC one short month ago to freezing in a trailer with no power, including no heat. It was 41 degrees up here last night. This is when our RV really begins to feel like a tent with hard sides, as John likes to joke.
There is a happy ending. This morning, in the light of day, during our wonderful 9am to 11am generator period, John got it started and we were back in business. It could run the entire RV on its own. I was even able to make a pot of coffee and siphon some fresh water into the tank. The simple joys in life- lights, heat, running water and coffee.
KOA Quechee/Pine Valley, White River Junction, VT
10/1/18
Every day is a new adventure, especially every “moving day”. Every time we leave a campsite and start out for another trip, it feels equivalent (almost) to moving out of a home. There are so many steps to take- securing everything inside the RV, hitching up to the truck, cleaning the campsite and now, with the addition of a large 100 lb generator, finding a secure place to store it while traveling. John thought we could store it in the bed of the truck next to the hitch (covered with a BBQ grill cover), but we discovered that the fifth wheel could just hit it. It was 1″ too high to clear the RV kingpin in a tight turn. Off the truck it went and into our bathroom. Unfortunately, it rolled a lot on the bathroom floor and leaked some oil, so that wasn’t a good solution either. John had a MacGyver moment (as he often does) and he concocted a contraption. We put the bathroom mat down, then wrapped our stepladder in a folded up heavy duty tarp and placed it on the bath mat. Then we placed the generator (let me remind you that it weighs 100lbs) on top of the tarp so that the wheels were positioned on the side on the ladder like rail tracks. We tied it all up with bow, covered it and placed couch pillows around it. WaLa! It was perfect.
So- check out from Moreau Lake State Park was at 11:00am and we woke up at 8am to be ready in time. We finally pulled out of our spot at 12:30pm. Not bad, considering the generator debacle. On the road to Vermont. We called two campgrounds that looked appealing. Both could accommodate us for 3 days but were fully booked for Columbus Day weekend. We completely forgot that it was a holiday weekend during leaf peeping season and we didn’t make any advance reservations. This is going to be interesting. At least we had options for the next three days.
We decided to try the more expensive KOA campground up near Quechee Gorge because it is such a beautiful area. The route to this campground from Moreau State Park was a bit challenging with numerous country roads winding through lush Vermont farmland and foothills. At one point, we took the wrong fork in the road and realized that there is no way to correct a wrong turn when schlepping a large fifth wheel on your ass. On a two lane winding road surrounded by farmland, there is no place to turn that sucker around, so we kept going. That wrong turn along with several lengthy stops turned our relatively short trip into a 4 hour journey but we made it to the KOA with water and electric hookups. YEAH!
We ventured out to White River Junction, Vermont to grab dinner at Big Fatties BBQ which was outrageous. Pulled pork, slaw and collard greens were just what the doctor ordered. When we pulled back into our site, there were two young Asian women in the site across from us conferring with each other around their fire ring. They approached us to ask (with limited command of English) if we could help them build a fire. John was very happy to help with his brand new hand axe and he went on over to assist. I joined him a little while later and he was clearly having such a wonderful time. These young ladies were somewhere in their 20’s or 30’s and they came from China, rented a mid-sized Class C RV in NYC. They have been traveling around Canada and the northeast for the last 2 weeks. They even drove the Class C into cities like Montreal and parked in the city. I don’t think I would have ever been brave enough to do that, even in my 20’s. I’m barely brave enough to be doing what I’m doing now.
They offered us beer, which John happily accepted and we had a lovely little party. I had just been thinking that it has been a bit weird that we hadn’t really interacted much with other campers since our time in Indiana.
The girl’s names are Rebecca and Betty, though I imagine those are their chosen Americanized names. They spoke English but not very well and they were so lovely and friendly and so excited about the fabulous fire that John build for them. I believe they said they were from Southeast China but I couldn’t make out the name of the city. They have been staying at each campground for only one night with no prior reservations. Oh to be young again.
Baker, John, Susan & 1 of 2 girls from China
10/3/18
One full day of fun in Quechee and Woodstock, VT, in between more rain storms yesterday and predicted showers tomorrow when we move on to our next destination in New Hampshire. We were finally able to find one place with a spot left for us on Columbus Day weekend.
Today we hiked the Faulkner Trail on Mount Tom in Woodstock, Vermont. It was stunning and not too difficult. The last 100 yards or so were a little trickier- steep and rocky but not too bad. Once at the summit, the views were spectacular. You could see the entire village of Woodstock with the beautiful pastures and hills surrounding it. The trail down was a bit more treacherous as we chose the Precipice Trail. It was quite apparent why it was given that name.
Faulkner trail Woodstock VT
The early part of the trail down was quite challenging, especially after the heavy rain from yesterday. We survived the narrow, slippery, rocky, windy hike down and enjoyed lunch at the farmer’s market in the village green.
Precipice trail
We explored the town of Woodstock and drove to Simon Pierce in Quechee to view the incredible scenery and glassblowing. Finally, our day ended at Quechee gorge- the Grand Canyon of Vermont. I can get used to this, for sure.
Quichee Gorge and VT countryside. – not yet full Autumn
Saddleback Campground, Northwood, NH
10/4/18
Moving day is here again and we’re off to New Hampshire to a little town called Northwood and a campground called Saddleback. We arrived in record time for us because it was such an easy trip this time. It was basically all interstate driving. We have a lovely spot that is usually occupied by a Class A for the season but they are away for two weeks. We can use their screened in picnic area with little white xmas lights strategically placed along the seams. It’s so pretty.
The campground is managed by a very sweet guy named Carl and the vibe is very laid back.
Northwood, New Hampshire
Since our policy is to eat dinner out on moving day, we ate at a local tavern called Cooper Hill Pizzeria and Sports Bar. This is New England Patriot’s country and the Patriot’s happen to be playing Thursday night football against the Colts. Despite the fact that the place was loaded with Patriot’s fans, they closed promptly at 9pm and asked everyone to wrap up and finish so that they could shut down. I can’t imagine that ever going well in a New York sports bar.
10/5/18
It’s a gorgeous, sunny, brisk fall day in New Hampshire. Nothing like coffee and french toast with real Vermont maple syrup (purchased at Jake’s Market in Quechee, Vermont). We are just relaxing for the most part though there seems to always be more shopping that needs to be done, especially when there is a Walmart in every town and a Camping World a few towns over.
10/6/18
We had our second golf excursion- a twilight round at Nippo Lake Golf and Country Club in Barrington, NH. It was an absolutely perfect late afternoon for golf and the scenery was what you would expect from New Hampshire in October. The leaves are just about at their peak and the weather is perfect for early autumn.
Golf course in NH
New Hampshire has been a place to just slow down and hang out…just what we needed. It’s time to plan the next leg of our journey but first we need to plan for our 35th wedding anniversary on the 8th.
10/7/18
Our anniversary is actually tomorrow but we are going to have our anniversary dinner out tonight. First a hike. We are going to try to hike at least once in each location we stop at and also play a little golf at each place, if possible. Today we hiked the Woronoco trail at Pawtuckaway State Park. As soon as we arrived at the park, it started raining which cut our hike off a bit but we still managed to enjoy a lovely pine forest hike for around an hour and a half followed by dinner at one of the only restaurants in Northwood, NH- Johnson’s Steak and Seafood.
10/9/18
A little more information about our experience at Saddleback as we begin our next short trip to the Riverside Campground in Wells, Maine. Even though there wasn’t that much happening in this part of New Hampshire, this was still a very enjoyable and interesting experience. When we first arrived here, the first person we met was a woman named Pam walking three dogs. At first, I thought she was a teenager, but when I got closer, I realized that she was probably in her 40’s. She was very friendly and clearly a dog lover. Two of the dogs were hers and the other dog belonged to the owner of the campground, Carl. Pam and Carl were two of the most interesting aspects of the NH experience.
Pam apparently has spent the last 2 summers at Saddleback. She had a grandmorther who lived around the area and she apparently suffered a fatal fall this summer. Pam also originally had three dogs and one passed away at Saddleback on July 4th. Her current dogs are Rubicon and Sierra and they both got along well with Baker, as did Carl’s dog, Copper. Copper is a puggle (pug and beagle mix). The amazing thing about Pam is that she owns a gigantic toy hauler trailer (at least 40′ long) and a big powerful dually truck. She hitches, unhitches and hauls that thing all by herself. It’s amazing to me. She left on Sunday and we were in awe of how she managed everything. She was heading down to Alabama for the rest of the year to live near her boyfriend.
Carl is a super sweet teddy bear of a guy. He and his husband, Skip own a couple of houses and the campground. Carl is very friendly and laid back and a man of many talents. Not only does he run the campground, but he also flies planes and is renovating a home right next door to Saddleback. His husband, Skip is a pharmacist and they have three teenaged children (although he doesn’t look old enough to have kids in that age group). Carl sees his campground tenants as family and makes you feel very welcome. Everything works on the honor system. If you do your laundry, he trusts you to put the money in the box…same with the ice and firewood. All proceeds are then donated to Make-A-Wish.
On to Wells, Maine where we will be staying for 6 whole days. The reviews from this place were not great, so I’m a bit concerned but most of the other campgrounds were already closed for the season.
Riverside Campground, Wells, Maine
10/11/18
Turkeys right near our site in ME
Riverside Campground is actually very nice. It’s in a great location, close to Ogunquit to the south and Kennebunkport to the north. We have a great spot, particularly because it’s off season. I can see that the sites would be too close and lack privacy if it was the height of the season.
We arrived on the 9th and met our neighbors, in a small travel trailer. They are a very friendly couple from Charlton, Mass- Don and Ann. They have a very large, furry 10 year old husky named Cody. We had a lovely time with them by our campfire and learned that they just had an anniversary. It turns out that they were married on the exact same day as us and had their first two children in the same years- 1985 and 1986. We both just celebrated our 35th anniversary in New Hampshire. Then Don mentioned that he is a CIA trained chef who was in the first graduating class in the Hyde Park location. Such a small world.
Back to Wells, Maine. Yesterday, the temperature rose to 87 degrees, the skies were crystal clear and it was a glorious day. We explored Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Ogunquit Beach and Wells Beach.
Ogunquit Village
The beaches were absolutely stunning and we were allowed to bring Baker onto Wells Beach where he had the time of his life chasing the birds. He chased a group of ducks, waddling in a pool of water and didn’t realize how deep it was so he inadvertently went for a swim.
Ogunquit Beach
Today the temperature dropped into the 50’s and it is raining all day. Good day to update this blog and plan the next leg of our adventure. Stay tuned.
10/13/18
Over the last several days, we have seen some spectacular scenery including Rachel Carson’s Wildlife Preserve, Prescott Park in Portsmouth, NH, and York Beach in York, Maine. Rather than blog away on all of that, I am going to simply share some glorious photos because a picture is worth a thousand words.
visit. They are such nice people and we had a great conversation. Chris was in construction for many years and build this house and the structure you see next to our rig. He is currently the building commissioner for his town and a part-time police officer. Lyn works in the Bursar’s Office at UMass. She handles some of the non-traditional students so we had a lot to talk about- a lot in common. They invited us (including Baker) to dinner at their house tomorrow. Their generosity is truly amazing.
Southern Adirondacks NY
On the Road with the Scanlon's blog 