70 Days and 8,000 miles Later

Yes our first winter adventure has ended. We arrived home March 26th to a warm afternoon in PA. Since then it has turned cold and damp, Les wanted to go south again! But we are sure that the Spring we experienced in LA and MS will arrive here soon. Living in it for a few days sure was nice. The picture below is Robi in the canoe we rented at Chicot Lake SP in Villa Platte, LA. What a nice park. Unfortunately, we were unaware that Easter was a big camping weekend for folks in this part of the country. It makes sense, since the weather is spring there. But we, from the north, were unprepared for that and did not make reservations. The park had a spot for us Wed. but not anymore for the rest of the holiday weekend. So we enjoyed the lake and moved on.


Here you see some of the wildlife we observed while on the lake. An alligator here or there did not bother me, but when we started seeing more of them swimming around not far from the canoe, I became nervous. Probably silly, but ……



This picture if of the campsite we found for the Easter weekend. It was 47A. Can you see how they set up the A and B? A bit close? Well, it turned out great because our “pad partners”, Tom and Cindy, were a very friendly couple who were with a group of very friendly Mississippians. We had the privilege to get to know them the 3 days we were there. They invited us to share their campfire each evening and gave us tips on things to do in the area. We were in Natchez SP outside Natchez, MS. We toured some of their antebellum homes, and a Muscatine winery. And we had some of the best BBQ of our trip in the Pig Out Inn. Oh, and some great peach cobbler one evening at our campfire compliments of Grammi and Papaw. Yum!


We took the Natchez Trace NP roadway that runs from the Mississippi river to Nashville, TN. A very nice route. A two lane 440 mile road with not one stop sign, 50mph. Beautiful territory and tons of historic stops available along the way. There are also 3 campgrounds available on a first come basis that are free. No hookups of course. We jumped off that and caught I40 east stopping at Edgar Evins SP, TN. The picture below shows the interesting campsites at that park. Remember this is TN. This park had a big lake and marina but absolutely NO flat ground. All the camping was on “floating” pads. At least that is what they looked like to us. Can you see the pads in the woods? You would literally camp in the trees there. We could not imagine putting big campers on them.

Well, this blog has kept you up to date with our first winter trip. It was great to see all the different areas of the south. But we know we just scratched the surface of what this beautiful country offers. And we truly appreciate the great blessing it is to be able to travel like we did. If you are interested we are heading off to Alaska this summer, leaving around July 10th. We will do this blog again for any who are interested. God Bless!

Update

This is a pic of our campsite for Carlsbad, NM. Brantly Lake SP. It was nice but the smell when they burned off the natural gas from the area oil wells made it not pleasant all the time. The wind was very strong there, gusts 30-40 mph. We moved from there approx. 350miles to Colorado City Lake SP, TX. Again, nice place, pretty lake but winds were rocking the A too much! The wind straps ease my mind on the roof holding together, but the vibration that the wind caused on the straps really reverberates in the camper. We are tying towels to the strap to keep it off the aluminum and that helps. But it sure isn't fun if you forget and at 1 AM you are out fighting a dust storm to tie on the towels!! ;-) Yesterday we drove 400 miles to Rusk, TX. Wow! We are really comfortable here. East of Dallas the terraine changed, we are in green grassy area with large pines! The redbuds are blooming also. The park we are in, Rusk Railroad State park, is alot like Caledonia SP at home. The birds are similar to home also. We feel like we are home camping in the spring! Temps are high 70's and very humid. It is rainy today, laundry day, and that system is to bring cooler temps. ;-( We can't complain, the weather for the most part of this trip has been wonderful.


Another pic from Carlsbad Caverns. Les and I were really impressed with this stop.


We are planning to head to another TX state park on the LA boarder tomorrow then in to LA where I hope to find some good Creole Music. I had a recommendation from a fellow camper to go to Eunice, LA where they have a cultural center and good music in the area. We are definitely working our way home. Should be on schedule to be back in PA by the beginning of April.

A Rather Large Hiccup

We experienced a negative on our trip a few days ago. I (Robi) was careless with my pocketbook and it was stolen. :-( What a bad day that was. But we made the necessary calls and should be OK. We are determined not to let this be a downer to our trip. Along with my wallet they got our cell phone. So the only way to contact us is by email now. We have had some wonderful times and are confident we will have many more before we reach PA. We are on the trail east. Stopped at Carlsbad Caverns. Wow, what a massive place! Anyone who is in the area really should stop and see that. We are not big cave people but this is amazing. You can walk 3 miles of the 300 in the large cave. There are over 100 caves in the park. If you are more adventurous, you can get guided tours through some of the undeveloped caves. We saw a group going out with helmets, lights and knee pads. Hope they had fun.




We were out of communication for awhile. The banks say that we should be fine since I reported the stolen cards within a few hours. All will be fine. But I do miss the cell phone.

We are on Rt 20 heading east. We stayed last evening at Colorado City Lake SP close to Sweetwater, TX. We are continuing to head east hoping to get away from these winds! Last night the Aliner was "rocking and rolling" with 30 to 40 mph wind gusts. I'm using internet connection that TX has in some of it's rest areas.

We found Summer!

We are so blessed to be in the desert region at this time of year. To see the wildflowers covering the desert floor is amazing. And while hiking we are treated to splashes of color that is wonderful. Below is a pic of the South entrance to Joshua Tree NP. The variety of flowers surprises me. The news out here says that the blooms this year are the best since 1994. Lucky us. We have been hold up here in Tucson by two factors: Kate and Harps wonderful hospitality and the summerlike weather this week. Temps have been in the 70's and 80's. Les is in 7th heaven.


Here is picture of a Joshua tree in bloom. They were very interesting, a relative of the yucca plant, and we were again blessed to see them in bloom.


Here is a picture of my Aunt Kate and Uncle Harp with my cousin Jeff. He was participating in a Civil War reenactment at Picaho Peak near Tucson. Jeff is an avid history buff and has been doing reenactments for a long time. Les and I enjoyed the battles, first time for us to be a this type of event.


My cousin Richard was kind enough to take us to the Pima Air Museum, the 3rd largest air museum in the country. It was very nice and I learned alot. Nice to know that I'm still learning. :-)


Friday we will head east to Carlsbad Caverns in NM. Continuing our journey home. Just hope the weather cooperates.

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

California Speedway, Fontana, CA. Les gets to take advantage of his Christmas present. After being preped by taking a ride around the track with the staff to see where they were to place the car and having a class where the particulars of driving were explained. Les was assigned car #11. And the fun began!!!

Pam and Joe came out to visit us and witness the racecar experience. Here is Pam giving Les some advise, "Don't hit the wall." Sage advise!

Strapped in the car and ready to go! Les said that once you were in the car and ready to go out, he had no room to move. He really has an appreciation of a driver's experience, a little anyway.

On the track and manuvering the path. The driving experience was really great for Les. He said that while on the track he had no chance to look anywhere but the track! Took a lot of concentration to keep the car in the right grove when moving at those speeds. They didn't clock them but said they could go up to 130mph. This track was D shaped and a 2 mile track. That meant 2 different types of turns which made the drive more challenging. Les mentioned that he didn't use the brake even once while on the track.


Here is Les after exiting the car, notice the big grin. That stayed for quite a long time. I'm so glad it was a good experience.

Can you tell it was a good day for both of us?


Thank you Pam and Joe for the visit in CA and the wonderful days of exploring. We are in Tucson now, staying with my Aunt Kate and Uncle Harp. It is nice to stay in a dwelling that doesn't move! When we left the Riverside County park, Rancho Jurupa, we stopped at Joshua Tree National park for 2 days. We were treated to the desert in full bloom of wildflowers. I will try to update the slideshow in a few days with some pics of them and the flowers here in the desert in Tucson. We plan to stay here 4 or 5 more days then continue to work our way home.