FIVE FOLLIES OF FLYING

Five Follies of Flying

1.    Standing in line -  Whether at check-in, security or boarding, is it necessary? There has to be some other way to move people more efficiently?  I haven’t counted how much time is used up standing in line and the only redeeming feature I have found is having an interesting conversation with someone while standing there.

2.    The two guys in the row ahead (or behind) who think they have to talk over the noise of the engines and annoy everyone within eight feet in every direction. -  Do they like the sound of their own voices or are they hearing impaired?   Give your fellow passengers cooped up in the steel cocoon a break and tone it down, please.

3.    Choppy air, least that’s what the captain calls it – It shakes you up and down, back and forth and it often requires the seat belt sign and return to your seat message just after you have gotten into the lavatory. 

4.    The disappearance of most amenities on domestic flights – They are often crowded, uncomfortable and the food (?) is lousy if it even exists.  I know it’s about keeping the flights as full as possible for the sake of revenue and some airlines have actually provided more space but at a higher price of course.  Snack boxes?  Are you serious?

5.    Narrow seats and fellow flyers who take up more than their fair share of space – They drape over the arm rest to the point of being selfish space hogs and this is unlikely to change as it would be an insult to have bigger seats for which these extra big people would have to pay more.

You can add your own to this list that I compiled recently while being stuck in 14C.  At least it was an aisle seat that I had because I paid extra to board early.  Ah, the joy of being on the road in our own space, at our own pace and, not up in the air!

ARRIVED KEY WEST 12/1

We left Oklahoma in "Big Blue" day after Thanksgiving and because of late departure, only made it to Denton, TX to a place called Destiny RV Resort, adequate, but construction made it difficult to find having missed the exit and ending up in a housing development.  GPS did not know, and did not care but after a couple of calls to the park, we made it, albeit in the dark.  Seems like we started and ended several days without the benefit of daytime hours.  Drove the next day via I-20, I-49 and I-10 to Biloxi, Mississippi and liked Mazalea RV Park.  Maybe it stands for Mississippi Azaleas but we weren't there long enough to find out. Just a good pull through parking spot, in and out.  The Newell performed brilliantly.

Traffic was horrendous on both Sat and Sun, the worst days of the year to be on the highways but we had a date with warmer temps and reservations in Key West.  Drove the next day from Biloxi, a lot of congestion, construction and accidents to slow travel time but made it to north of Orlando via the FL turnpike.   Stayed north in Orange Blossom KOA, very nice and pleasant, helpful owners. Monday we left early, hit the turnpike and headed south toward Miami and Homestead and not much traffic until around Miami and all moving along well.  Started down the Keys where it all slows down again as there is a lot of two lane roadway over bridges and islands.  There is a Newell approved tech in Marathon and we stopped in, met them as we have an awning sensor issue for the automatic wind retraction.   Seem like good folks and knowledgeable.  Chuck Clark will send a part down and we'll see if that will fix the issue.

It is now Tuesday morning, December 2,  9 AM Eastern Time and the temp reads 75 with a light breeze coming from I don't know which direction.  Regardless, we're glad to be parked here for the month of December, probably migrate north about 10 miles on January 1 for at least a couple more weeks, or more.  Couldn't get reservations for Boyds, where we are now, as we were here in March of last year and that was too late.  Have to make them a year ahead, at least.  We just reserved next year for three months, Jan-Feb-Mar.  Good to have plans even if they don't materialize for some reason yet unknown. 

Had a flat tire on the toad, also a wiring issue for the tail lights and connection to the coach.  And ran the battery down.   AAA took care of changing tire and a trickle charge overnight had the battery up and charged by morning.  Found diesel at 3.28 in a couple of places en route and that was a plus when compared to most others at 3.53.    If y'all are down this way, do let us know.  In the meantime, safe travels, happy holidays and follow my guru's saying:  "Tell the truth, be kind and remember to say thank you."

Santa Fe to Miami, OK to Key West

So hard to believe how quickly time passes, especially when busy making changes and trying to get so much done in a few weeks, or months.  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving so I want to start with that and pausing for a moment to count all the blessings of this past year, so much for which to be truly grateful and so many people for whom we give thanks.  I try to take time out at the beginning of every day to meditate on the vicissitudes of our lives and often get help from a variety of sources other than social media.  The Daily Good is one subscription that I enjoy, usually positive and uplifting stories of those people who are trying to be the change they want to see.  It's a good way to start my day and often leads to other thoughts and experiences some of which get recorded, many that do not.

After our return to Santa Fe, we decided that was "home" (which is has been for 20 years) and so designed and purchased a mobile home/manufactured house, what we used to call a long time ago, a house trailer.  It's a Karsten, about 1000 square feet, two bedrooms, two baths, living, dining and kitchen and 12x16 covered deck.  It sits on a small lot behind Trailer Ranch where we keep our motor home when not on the road.  It's a 55+ community of some 60 homes.   Inside is very comfortable and reminds us of a very large RV but for the time being immobile.  Great neighbors in the park who all look after each other and it's a great place to be.   It's easy to lock the door and leave which is exactly what we did last Friday and headed for the Newell factory and service center in Miami, OK. 

Just spent two days here, great service with tweaks and twerks here and there, nothing big or serious, things like awnings not working, (new card and dip switch settings) new teddy heater, (old one leaking and frozen) new serpentine belt, (old one frayed and too narrow) some welding to secure the hitch/receiver for the toad, and a new latch on the refrigerator.  When heading out of Santa Fe, we turned left onto I-25 and the refrigerator door flew open and four bottles of beer broke on the kitchen floor.  Place smelled like a stale bar for several days.  Had to stop and clean it up about 10 miles out of town.  Have just over 10,000 miles on the coach since purchase so did not opt for the annual service. Will wait for another 5K miles and then try to minimize the expense.  While they were working on the coach, we made our third trip to Cyrstal Bridges as we had seen a story on CBS Sunday morning about a special new exhibit there on newly discovered American artists, well worth the trip.  Look it up on their web site!

Tomorrow we celebrate Turkey Day in OKC with family and then on Friday head east and south with
Key West being our destination and location for the next couple of months.   Then we'll have to see about February but I don't think we will be ready to head back to cold winter in northern New Mexico.  We will make a flying trip to Vermont for Christmas, put Dude in a kennel and leave him behind in a kennel in KW, and spend several days up north in Stowe with family there.  Nice to have kids all over the country, east, midwest and west as there are always places to go, people to see, things to do.  I am still working part-time, keeping more busy than I would like to be at times and Susie will be taking a writing class while we are in Key West.  We will also go back to the Truman Summer White House for another Living Room series, this one honoring Eisenhower, a Republican no less.  Stay tuned and we will report an update on Key West later.

Back in the U.S.A.

Crossing the border at Calais, Maine (St. Stephens, NB) was a breeze.  Lovely lady came aboard, asked a couple of questions and said, "Enjoy your trip!"  Took all of five minutes.  We drove across Maine, abandoning our previously planned trip to the coast (avoiding summer crowds) and headed straight for Stowe, Vermont.  Spent one night in Gorham, New Hampshire, a Good Sam campground about a mile east of town and it was fine.  Then on to Goldbrook, just south of Stowe.  Adjacent to open fields that were getting ready for a BIG antique, classic car show.  The guy who runs the campground has a reputation that precedes him of being a grouchy, grumpy grinch.  He lived up to it.  Regardless, we will stay there again for numerous reasons including a good site plus friends and family nearby.  Great beer in Waterbury!

Then the long haul began last Friday.  From Stowe we traveled south on I-89, then I-91 to the Mass Pike which is actually I-90 and west to I-81 and thence south to Unadilla, New York for the night, only 363 miles.  The next day, Saturday, we pushed on to just north of Columbus, Ohio, 662 miles.  And the next day, Sunday, to Eureka, MO to a KOA just west of St. Louis near Six Flags on I-44, 526 miles.   Monday, 473 miles to Oklahoma City, across MO and a good part of OK where we put down at Twin Fountains our usual stopping place as we have family in OKC and if we're going to Camp Newell, which we skipped this time, it's convenient.   Left there yesterday afternoon and overnighted in Amarillo and decided against our usual stopover at Overnite and opted for the KOA.  Hmmm.
Today we will cap off about 300 more miles to Albuquerque for a couple of days and then "home" to Santa Fe for a few months.  If anyone wants more info or details let us know.  The past five days are  a blur of interstates, mostly good roads with several exceptions that fortunately didn't last long.

So this latter part of our summer travels from Nova Scotia back to Santa Fe has covered some 3100 miles and if you add the first part, from Santa Fe to Nova Scotia via Montreal and Quebec, you can add another 3000+ miles since we left Santa Fe back in June and stopped at the Guru Rally in the Ozarks and spent a couple of days at Camp Newell.  That's a lot of miles and mucho fuel and many campgrounds.  And "Big Blue" has performed admirably.  Highlights have to be the rally, the Maritime Provinces, as well as Montreal and Quebec and yes, the Clydesdales plus our meeting Wayne Martin in New Brunswick.  Many stories to share later, down the road when we see you.

Nova Scotia and New Brunswick

(The new hitch seems to work just fine and it is definitely a heavier duty Blue Ox than the Alpha.  If anyone is looking for a new 10,000 lb hitch, the Aventa LX seems like a good choice.  I would also recommend an "immobilizer" that reduces, or eliminates, any play in the receiver.)

Truro, NS was indeed a good camping spot, not easy to find via GPS as it is in Hinden, just outside of Truro on another Route 2.  Depending on which way you're traveling you can take either exit 15 or exit 12 from the 104 and my suggestion is to call Scotia Pine campground for specific directions.  Tall pine trees border each campsite and we got in fairly easily, a shaded spot and did not even need the awnings.  From Truro, you can venture forth according to your preferences whether to Cape Breton, Halifax or Digby on the north shore of the Bay of Fundy.   Our choices were to Lunenberg on the south shore and Digby, each on different days and an overnight to Digby leaving the big rig in Truro.

Side trips for the scenic routes worked well and those would have been tough with the coach so we left it parked and just took the truck on the back country and bay and ocean routes.  The tides and the tidal bore on the Bay of Fundy are among the world's highest tides, as much as 25 feet or more.  The small villages have a lot of charm and character as do many of the people who live there.  We did not do P.E.I. or Cape Breton this trip but those are both highly recommended and some people camp at the entrance to the Cabot Trail.

We went whale watching from Brier Island at the far end of Digby neck and Digby is one of those picturesque fishing villages so typical of the Nova Scotia coastline.  In Digby's case the main feature is scallops.  Lobstering season was over in July in most places but still available on the menus. 

From Nova Scotia, we traveled back to New Brunswick, rain all day Thursday, July 24, to St. Andrews, NB, off the new Highway 1, south on Route 127.  The campground is Kiwanis Ocean Front Campground on Water Street fronting on the bay. Delightful place, great weather and terrific view as we are parked pulled in head first, looking across the street to the bay.  It's the middle of the summer and not crowded in a great place. 

Cleveland, Montreal, Quebec, New Brunswick

The past couple of weeks have rolled right along.  Had a great visit to the Rock n Roll museum and hall of fame in Cleveland.  Worth a stop if you get near. Then moved on east.  Stayed at KOA's respectively south of Montreal and then Quebec city for a few days  so we could visit the cities by simply crossing a bridge over the St. Lawrence River in each place and not have to drive through the city traffic.  Much to see and do in both of those areas, the usual tourist stuff and ate our way through both places.  Missed a great little place in St. Romuald as it was closed one night and the next night they were holding a private party.  Did have a great dinner at Intimiste in Levis, not far from the ferry.
Our French is poor, Susie's better than mine which is mostly non-existent but more and more Quebecois are speaking English.

On south from Quebec into New Brunswick and in looking for a campground, following a new GPS which I don't like much at all (Magellan 5120 LXT), we ended up on a small country road going nowhere.   I saw a couple of guys looking at us like we were crazy and when I pulled over by a bridge to make a U-Turn, one of them came up to the window and said, you must be lost.  Yep, I said, we are.  He said he had a farm there but lived about 6 miles away and we could camp in his driveway where he had a 30 amp plug in.  We thanked him and said we had reservations at a campground and he insisted on taking us there so we wouldn't get lost or try to go under too low clearance.  So, we took him and his wife out to dinner in Woodstock, NB, and he took us home to show us their new house, two of his three restored tractors (very big International Harvesters) and stories of the past winter and results of the "hurricane" Arthur that flooded his farm and cows.  You just never know where you might end up if you don't know where you're going.

We are currently just outside of Moncton and headed for Nova Scotia this week, will be staying at Scotia Pine RV Park near Truro, probably leave the rig parked there to explore Cape Breton and other parts of Nova Scotia including Halifax and other points of interest.  Will be close to the tidal bore in the Bay of Fundy and report on all of this and more later.

PS - The U-Turn was too sharp and bent a shaft on the tow bar which necessitated a replacement. Went with a heavier duty version of Blue Ox, Aventa LX.  The swivel ball looks cool!

MIAMI, OK and EASTWARD

This is the first leg one of a longer trip as we are headed for Nova Scotia and the Maritime Provinces but allow me to digress a bit for those interested.  We left Camp Newell last Wednesday, before the long 4th of July weekend, got out before Newell shut down on Thursday, a day ahead of Friday the 4th.  We headed for St. Louis as it was an easy drive across Missouri on I-44 and we put down north of St. Louis in Illinois at at KOA near Granite City.  Not the best place we ever stayed but convenient and OK for us.  Here are a few highlights, highly recommended for your consideration.

1 - Grant's Farm and the Budweiser Clydesdales.  I won't go into all the details but we definitely found it worth the time.  Those beautiful horses are so spoiled but they earn it, either by pulling the wagons or being in commercials or just being there for us tourists.  There are three "hitches" in different parts of the United States to take care of different regions of the country.  One is housed in St. Louis at the brewery, one in Merrimack, New Hampshire where the training facility is and one is in Ft. Collins, CO.  The breeding farm is in Boone, Missouri, west of St. Louis by a hundred miles.
Learned a lot about these gentle giants and Budweiser's investment in them.  Also got four small, complimentary bottles of beer!

2- Springfield, Illinois for Abraham Lincoln's home, museum and library and the Dana-Thomas house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  For either you history buffs or friends of architecture and design, including furniture for one of Wright's early prairie houses (1902-04), don't miss a trip to Springfield if it's within your reach.

3- Dayton, Ohio.  This is close to my hometown so we stopped here for some more 4th of July celebrations including fireworks and family time.  And today, we're off to the Air Force museum at Wright-Patterson near Dayton.  Then we're headed to Cleveland and the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.  Good stuff and I will catch you up on these two and more later.  Want to keep these posts within a reasonable length.

Note:  Miss I-70 through Indiana if you can.  The road was so bad that we bounced loose several things including a few drawers and the plug to our front TV and can't find were to put it back in!

FULL TIME HERE and THERE

This story began on January 4 when we became "homeless" except for our then RV, a 2006 Allegro Bus with 2 slides, a 400 Cummins and a toad, a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and Dude, our loyal and loving Labradoodle.  The travels began and the last post here was at the beginning of May.  Since it's been awhile, here's an update with more to come.  We traded the Allegro Bus for the Newell, # 729, in February in Miami at the factory and set off toward warmer weather in the Southeast.  At the beginning of May we were back "home" in Santa Fe where we plunked down at Trailer Ranch for the following six weeks.  Since we had lived in Santa Fe and Abiquiu for almost 20 years we still considered it our home base and so it is.  It's where we get our mail and where our legal residence is and will remain.

We departed Santa Fe on June 16 and headed for Oklahoma City where we have kids and grandkids and have been "camped" at Twin Fountains this week.  Michael Day was here earlier but we missed connecting although will find him next week at Table Rock Lake along with some other Newell gurus.  Met Jody Reese from Lawton this morning and saw his gorgeous '95 red and white Newell with Oklahoma Select on the rear.  It's a group of 7th grade girls who play basketball at a fairly high level and travel widely to do so.  His daughter is on that team and they travel to games in their Newell and are here for a couple of days of games in OKC at Douglas High School.

Looking forward to the Newell guru rally next week and from there we will launch farther east and north and northeast until we can't go any farther and end up in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.  Seems like a good place to spend a number of weeks this summer lollygagging around, seeing the sights and taking it all in.  May go through northern Michigan on the way, parts of Canada and will then stop in Maine and Vermont before heading back to Santa Fe at the end of summer.

If anyone has a don't miss this on your list of travels in those directions, let us know.  In the meantime, happy and safe travels to all and to all you happy campers out there, we may see you down the road along the way.   Stay tuned for the next update a few weeks from now.

Savannah to Townsend, TN to Eureka Springs to Newell

From Cape Canaveral we headed to Savannah because I had some work on St. Simon’s Island, about an hour south.  Found a fairly good KOA about 30 miles south of Savannah, spent a couple of interesting days there.  Would recommend a walking tour with Savannah Dan. There are also trolley tours and a good riverfront walk.  Wonderful, historic, most southern city!

From there we headed to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the timing was ideal for dogwood and red bud.  Found another KOA in Townsend TN, as they are quite predictable and accommodating although I had an argument with a tree limb and lost.  Caused a small amount of damage to the PS awning cover,  Sawed off the limb, about 5 inches in diameter and parked successfully although dragged a little gravel going in and out of the space.  Took the loop tour in the national park, very worthwhile and spent another day in and around Gatlnburg.  Be sure to visit Elvira’s Restaurant if you get near Townsend.  It’s on the Wears Valley Road.   AND, if you are going to Townsend, it’s better to come in from the north off of I-40 at Knoxville through Marysville.

Then it was off to Eureka Springs, Arkansas for a few days and we would recommend a visit to The Stone House for a real wine/beer treat and a nice big cheese plate.  Rather European in feel and taste and great service by the owners, Rob and Amanda.  We also made visit # 2 to Bentonville from the KOA campground just outside of Eureka Springs and re-visited Crystal Bridges, Alice Walton’s fabulous museum of American Art.  William Paley’s collection was on loan from MOMA and it was such a treat to see the Monets, Picassos, Gaugins, and others.  Alice is getting ready to move a Frank Lloyd Wright house from New Jersey to the musem grounds this summer, saving it from the floods in NJ.  Kudos to her!

Headed to Oklahoma City for a few days to visit with some kids and grandkids, parked at Twin Fountains, bad inclines in and out of a level spot above the office.  Avoid that if you go there.
I did raise the rear end going out and that helped a lot, thanks for the suggestions.  Also found out later that we were about an inch and half too low in the rear and a little high in the front and that was adjusted at Newell along with our list of 23 other items, mostly small annoying stuff although they did replace a Mach 5 water pump that kept throwing an error message.  Had some issues with air in the lines that is corrected fairly easily by just letting some faucets run open for awhile.

Our appointment at Newell was for April 28, thus we pulled into Camp Newell Sunday afternoon 4/27 and the place was full up.  So we parked up front with the pre-owned coaches and there seem to be a quite a few there at the moment.  There were also some newer ones in for service and perhaps of interest to some a classic '89 owned by Dick and Maura Quirk.  It’s in great shape and they have lived in it full-time for the past ten years.  We are real newbies, both to Newell and to full-timing but enjoying it all, at least for now.  We began this trip at Newell in mid-February and here it is May already. We are in a very funky RV park outside of Guymon, OK having left Miami, OK this morning around 8:30.  Going "home" to Santa Fe for a month and then off to the west coast.  More later.

KW to Sarasota to Cape Canaveral

After a month in Key West at Boyds it was time to move on and wanting to see The Ringling in Sarasota we motored off the Keys and across I-75 to Naples and north to Sarasota.  We plopped down at Sun ‘n Fun on Fruitville Pike, just east of I-75 and about 8 miles from Sarasota but easy travel in any direction.   This is a huge resort, lots of park models and big areas for RV's including big rigs. Plenty of activities and resources including pool, fitness center, etc.  Some people actually spend the entire winter there.   The Ringling museums = circus, art and mansion – are all well worth the time and price.  There is also a classic car museum across the street from The Ringling worth a visit too.

Tuesday, April 8, the rain came down, hard, all day, so it was stay put and it blew over in time to leave Wednesday morning and drive across to Cape Canaveral.  North on I-75 to Tampa, pick up I-4 and go east, past Orlando and Dizzyworld again (ugh!) but after some congestion around the not so magic kingdom, it thinned out and easy sailing on to Port Canaveral and Jetty Park which is part of the Port.  Easy in and parking, nice spot, reasonable and good facilities.  Not a lot of amenities but clean and friendly.

Susie had looked ahead and found out that there was a launch scheduled for Thursday and weather permitting, the countdown had begun.  We spent the entire day at the Kennedy Space Center and the peak was watching the Atlas rocket put a pay load up toward the space station, some kind of spy equipment.  The I-Max movie about building and maintaining the space station was also a highlight.   Recommend that if you haven’t visited and you are ever close by, KSC is really worth the trip and the time.  Be sure to take the tour bus to Saturn V and have enough time for both sites, the visitors’ center and Saturn V.   Tomorrow we leave for Savannah.

Key West

Key West is literally the end of the road south, especially on US 1.  And for those of you who have driven down recently, you noticed that there are constant improvements under way, repaving, widening and reinforcing.  Never mind the laying of a huge pipeline.  Hopefully by next winter, all of that will be completed and depending on the volume of traffic, which can be heavy at times, the trip will be easier, faster and smoother.

We arrived at Boyds Campground on Stock Island a week ago and will be here until April 5.  The campground is well situated, on the water, about 5 miles from Duval Street where there is much tourist activity.  Lots of people bring boats.  The parking spaces are tight and parking a big rig is quite possible but there are fewer spaces available.  Good swimming pool, many campground activities and very friendly and helpful staff.  Lots of folks from up north especially PA, OH and MI.

We attended a special event at the Truman Little White House one evening, a spectacular review of the USO with two entertainers of very high quality.  That historic, presidential retreat offers a lot as does Key West in general in terms of opportunities for artists, and writers, galleries, lectures and outdoor sports and water activities - boating, fishing, snorkeling, diving, etc.

One of our favorites has become the happy hour at Half Shell Raw Bar, on the dock near where the Ft. Myers express ties up. That's a large catamaran hydroplane that makes the trip in 3 hours if any of you are up that way and want to visit Key West without driving down.  We are looking at the possibility of four months down here next winter.  Seems we have become real snowbirds.

Disney, Ft. Wilderness and Miami, FL

To all of you who want to go to Dizzyworld, Ft. Wilderness is a most adequate campground.  Just be sure to get a big enough space and Loops 1400 and 600 seem OK.  Our spot was 621, convenient to bus stop, dog park and plenty big enough.  If you keep closer to the edge on the driver's side backing in, you have a bit of extra pavement on the patio side and the slide-outs still work just fine.  There is no WiFi which is amazing in this day and age but you can get a cable connection via ethernet.  I was there to attend a national conference, need the internet for work so it was a bit frustrating at first, especially since the cable guys had to come out and fix the connections.  I will not comment much on Disney except to say that at lot of their systems seem antiquated, paper records and the like, many employees seem retired and incompetent and the whole place is way too contrived, corporate and controlled for my personal tastes.

We pulled out Sunday morning, zipped on down to Miami via Sun Pass and are currently at Miami Everglades Park on a grassy parking spot in the middle of some very attractive farmland.  There are a number of people who spend the winter here and there are 37 super sites that probably have concrete pads and at least their WiFi works fine. There is a paved hiking, biking, walking trail around the perimeter of the park, and it's quite long, just short of one mile.  The park is 34 acres, 300 parking spots, a very nice swimming pool, etc.   Of course, the weather right now is superb in the 70's and 80's, clear skies and a day of catching up and some shopping lies ahead.  Stay tuned for the next installment from Key West.

MIAMI, OK via AR and TN to ORLANDO, FL

A previous blog got us as far as West Memphis, TN and we traveled from there to Nashville, stopped at a Camping World to get a light wire to the toad corrected.  Called ahead to make sure they could work us into their busy schedule which they did and we then spent the night at the KOA next door.
It was an OK KOA, narrow driveways, but very good restaurant next door between Camping World and the campground, called Cock of the Walk.  Good catfish and other vittles as well.

The next morning we set out, stopping to fuel up at a place in the general direction (south) that we were headed, and the GPS took as right there to a Z-Mart where diesel was $3.53, about the best price we've seen thus far.  Here in Orlando it's right around $4.00! Traveled on south stopping for the night in Forsyth, GA at yet another KOA.  Big Prevost pulled in next to us and they left early the next morning and we followed them out, plopped back onto I-75 and ran into a lot of rain and heavy traffic.  Saw one terrible accident where a car had tried to drive under a tractor-trailer.  The car was a twisted mess and my hunch is that a wet highway was a contributor but big factor was probably driver error on the part of one or the other. 

Arrived Sunday afternoon at Ft. Wilderness in Dizzyworld and entered by a very remote, bad GPS direction through the back lots of Disney.  Took a wrong turn and had to make a U-Turn in a field courtesy of a very helpful and polite security guard.  Checked in, and we are in Loop 600 for this week while I attend a national conference and we get a little more organized.  Good to be in warmer temperatures, nice parking spot and while a little tight, was able to back in with one turn.  Have sat reception for Direct TV and all the other amenities one would expect from a class operation.  Even the Dude is happy.

Stay tuned, enjoy your travels, be safe and be well.

Sunrise over the Mississippi

2/21/14  6:43 AM.  Brilliant, blinding sunrise 108 degrees East from our parking spot in Tom Sawyer's Mississippi River RV Park, at the end of 8th street in West Memphis, Arkansas.  After heavy winds including a tornado warning yesterday, a river being churned up to whitecaps, all is calm this morning.  Tugs and barges continued to ply the river upstream and down yesterday, last night and again today, just a few feet from the west bank in front of us.  If you want a precise location as some seem to enjoy, we are 35.7.50 N and 90.9.41 W for coordinates.

The big plus of this park is the location, proximate to both I-55 snd I-40 as well as about 14 miles from downtown Memphis.  The minus is that if you depend on park amenities, there aren't many but there is a very good WiFi connection on which we depend for good connectivity.  The level concrete pads have good 50 amp electricity, water and sewer hookups.  All in all, a good 3-day stop for us as I had some work about 30 miles north in Wilson, Arkansas where plans are afoot for an RV park there. The town is undergoing a restoration and is especially interesting from a historical perspective as well as a fascinating farm economy and outdoor environment in the Delta.  Here is a recent article to give you some insight:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/20/us/arkansas-towns-new-owner-has-visions-of-its-renaissance.html

Nice to have a leisurely start to a new day, another gift as we prepare to launch toward Orlando where we are due on Monday for a national conference next week.  Mapquest says that it's about 800 miles so it's easy to break that up into two or even three days and we will have to see what there might be to see along the way.  One option would be to drop down into the Florida panhandle earlier and enjoy some scenery along the Gulf.  If anyone has other suggestions or recommendations, please send them along.

MIAMI, OK to WEST MEMPHIS, AR

After a week at Camp Newell, taking delivery on our "new" 2005 Newell which we have dubbed "Big Blue" we set out on Monday, 2/17, around 1:30 PM.  We had originally planned to leave earlier but were having issues (and are still having them) with our Direct TV.  We will either figure it out as to whether it's our newly installed Winegard satellite receiver or Direct TV and maybe just cancel Direct TV which is often a pain in the ass anyway.  We have called Direct TV four times trying to change a physical address and they seem totally incompetent and unable to do it.

The final glitch was as we were hooking up the toad, we discovered that the receptacle for the plug-in wiring for lights from the Newell to our Jeep did not match our cord which we had used on our previous coach.  Ah well, small exchange and as soon as the lunch horn signaled the end of that period, Andrew fixed it and we departed.  As an aside, we drove over to Bentonville on Sunday and visited Crystal Bridges, Alice Walton's museum of American art.  Spectacular!  Both the building and the collection are unparalleled.  Go see it when you have the opportunity.

Monday night we stopped in Mountain Grove, Missouri.  You can skip that one.  The electricity in the Missouri RV Park is unreliable but we met an interesting family who work in construction.  She is a heavy equipment operator (Skylift cranes) and he is a welder, rigger, driller.  They travel full time with two trucks,  a fifth wheel toy hauler and a trailer with equipment.  They made the toy room their daughter's bedroom.  One of their jobs was erecting wind turbines in various places.  Fascinating!

Yesterday we motored on down to West Memphis, Arkansas and after a lousy detour in the adjacent neighborhood due to construction blocking the route, we found Tom Sawyer's Mississippi River RV Park.  We parked immediately in front of the river with a view both up and downstream, just across the river from Memphis, TN.  The immense river barges pass within 50-60 yards of our parking spot. This is a very good place to stop and camp if you are traveling on either I-55 or I-40.  Tuesday night we drove into Memphis for BBQ ribs at Cozy Corner.  Might be a little lacking in atmosphere but terrific menu and very good ribs from friendly folks. The restaurant in Memphis not to miss is The Elegant Farmer.  5 stars for menu, quality and service and not over the top expensive.

I will be working up the road for the next couple of days with a former colleague and good friend in Wilson, AR, and then we head for Orlando for a national meeting. If you're really interested in what's happening in Wilson, including plans for an RV park, have a look at this NY Times article published last month.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/20/us/arkansas-towns-new-owner-has-visions-of-its-renaissance.html  

 

SOUTHWEST to SOUTHEAST Feb 9,2014

We are getting ready to launch tomorrow morning from Santa Fe, New Mexico, our home base, on yet another road trip to a few destinations and parts unknown.  I had the opportunity early this morning to read a terrific article by David Abram that appeared originally in the September/October issue of Orion magazine. It was entitled “The Air Aware - Mind and Mood on a Breathing Planet.”  Because of my continuing connections with the cycles and seasons, this kind of rumination stirs something in my own soul.  My first response was this is one more reason I appreciate being able to travel to other places and absorb the changes in the climate and culture.

Our itinerary for this next travel adventure will take us east, through the panhandle of Texas, interesting for the big change as we leave the mountains and desert of the great Southwest.  We have stopped a couple of times at Palo Duro Canyon and if you get bored sometime on Interstate 40 near Amarillo, go there.  It’s worth it.  It’s the second largest canyon in the United States, has some great mountain biking and hiking trails, and you can even rent horses.  The canyon itself is 120 miles long and as wide as 20 miles with a maximum depth of 800 feet.   It’s a camper’s paradise but you can make it a day trip too.

At the end of the first day, the way be clear and no diversions, we should make Oklahoma City and then the next day on to the very northeast corner of Oklahoma where we lived for a few years on Grand Lake.  Our purpose in going there is not to re-visit the lake but to exchange our motor home for another, somewhat larger one since we are living full time in this house on wheels.  That will take a couple of days and a shakedown cruise before we leave the factory where this particular brand is constructed. 

We like the mobility, freedom and independence that comes with this life-style and have enjoyed it off and on for the past 15 years.  We have been all over the United States, parts of Canada and Mexico and were almost three months in Mexico last winter.  Our original plan this year was to be in Mexico again for January and February but because of issues with some extended family members, that trip did not materialize.  And we sold our house in early January and became “homeless” as far as real estate is concerned.

After Oklahoma, it’s a stop in Arkansas for some work there and on to Orlando, Florida, for a national conference meeting at the end of the month.  March will find us in Key West and as we motor our way from Southwest to Southeast one thing is certain.  We will welcome warmer temperatures, tropical winds, the salt air and ocean.  By April or May we will be ready to go back to the high desert and lower humidity of the Southwest but in the meantime we shall absorb a variety of climates and cultures that add to the rich tapestry of our travel experiences.