Driving thoughts - Gratitudes at the end of the Baby Tour

Have I told you how I find myself immersed in gratitude as I drive? It’s too often for it not to be worth mentioning again and again.

I am immensely proud of my children and the adults they have become and the lives they have made and continue to make. Driving gives me time to think about this stuff and relish my joy.

I am over the top over my grandkids. WOW!!! I don’t feel old at all, but I see this expanding legacy and I just feel pride. Driving gives me the time to feel proud.

I have a great group of friends who surround me with love and appreciation for me. I have extended family that embrace me. Cousins who make me feel like I still have siblings despite my brother’s untimely death. Aunts and Uncles who love me like parents. I knew my great grandparents until I was 12 and relished how they loved seeing me. I was blessed that at least two of my grandparents lived to see my boys so they also got to know how a great grandparent loves their family. My parents love has always been right there, and I was blessed to have lots of time with my dad before he died and to still have my mom here to share life. Driving gives me time to feel loved.

Despite putting my family through a lot of pain and turmoil, my coming out has been OK. Everyone survived and seems to be thriving. I am happier than I ever thought I might be allowed to be. Long, long ago, when I thought about who I am, who I really am, I recoiled. When I was in my teens and thought about my options, I imagined being banished… hated and alone. Any subsequent thoughts through the years only intensified those fears. I had an amazing life with a wonderful woman and beautiful kids. Life was perfect, except that it wasn’t. I can’t regret any choices I made… and I don’t. But here I am now, a proud and out gay man. I feel so lucky that I have a family and a group of friends that was ultimately accepting rather than rejecting. Driving gives me time to feel lucky.

I have been lucky in business too. Nothing was ever easy, but I always made it work. I worked super hard and was lucky to have associates who recognized and appreciated it. I only had four real jobs in my adulthood and did well in each (some better than others, but hey…). I have worked with people who I really enjoyed. I have learned from people I worked for and who worked for me. To tell you the truth, I never imagined that I would be able to afford the life I wanted but I was determined to do everything I could to get there. I am sure other paths might have been more successful or maybe even more fun… but let me tell you I had a lot of fun doing what I did. Sometimes it was really scary… but ask the folks I work with and they will tell you that I enjoyed what I did. Driving gives me time to feel grateful for that joy and for the success that accompanied it.

So after Camp Buckwood it was time to head home. I’ve been heading that way for a while now… since leaving Albuquerque. The beginning of his trip was driving south down with stops in Georgia, Charlotte and Savanna. Then it was onto Florida and over New Orleans, Texas etc.

The drive from Pennsylvania to Florida is a familiar one and the changes in landscape were familiar - very familiar, so nothing really noteworthy. The drive west, with transitions from lush green deciduous trees to pinetrees, cactuses (cactai?) and sage brush did feel unique. Of course I was aware of the changes, and I may have even written about some of them, but it all felt, well, “right.” I was enjoying those transitions and enjoying the landscapes. For the most part, the weather had been quite lovely. Super hot in the most southern regions, and pleasantly hot as I moved north and west toward Albuquerque. The Ozarks were warm and super breezy but still lovely.

So it felt particularly noteworthy when I was driving north and east, that all of a sudden it felt damp and dreary. I think this was part of why I skipped St. Louis also… the weather just didn’t feel like touristy, see-the-sights weather. For some reason, in my head, it felt like the trip South, and then West and Northwest, was all bright and sunshiny and now I was heading home and it was anything but. The good news is that this made me realize how much I was enjoying being on the road and seeing new sights and experiencing the people I’ve met along the way. The bad news is I really didn’t want to go home… even though I was super excited and anxious to see my family and friends.

Hmmmm… Just interesting thoughts as I put the miles beneath me and moved east word again.

Pause for an update in real time...

Just to be sure you all know... I am trying to catch up on my last trip but I am still a bit behind.  I am working on the last few stops.  I got home in time to go to synagogue for Yom Kippur and make my mom happy, which makes me happy... and I spent a month working on the house some more, visiting and catching up with family and friends, and working on really moving into the RV.  I was also home for a family Bar Mitzvah... and a super shout out to Sam for doing an amazing job... to Susan for planning a beautiful perfect weekend, and to Jackson and Rebecca for putting up with Sam doing his thing and to Sean for putting up with Susan doing hers!  I do so love my family!  AND I loved visiting my friends.  I love all the friends I make on the road, and I have made many (my daily texts are voluminous to show all the new people I am keeping in touch with), but I do miss my friends at home.  It’s funny since I didn’t see everyone all the time when I am there... I guess it’s knowing that I can.

So on moving into the RV, I am pretty much there.  I have moved most of what I think I will ever need in and, most importantly, I have moved much of my art collection so that it really feels like home.  More to come on that as I will make a post of Art in the RV. 

With the Beast loaded and the Baby Beast all hooked up... I left on October 22nd. Off to the next adventure.  Goals were pretty easy... Aim for Albuquerque for Thanksgiving (all the kids are coming in, with families and significant others in tow... and mothers and mothers in laws and all of Meredith’s family as well... big gathering), and then aim for Florida at Sawmill (again) for Christmas and New Years.  After that, it is just avoiding the snow and enjoying life until March or April. 

You will see from my itinerary that I have already visited Richmond, Asheville, Nashville, Memphis, Little Rock.  I am currently in Oklahoma City again on my way to Palo Duro, again.  I move so fast that I can’t keep up the blogging... but I will I promise! 

SO here’s the details on this trip (note that if it says zero days, that’s the location and the next entry will be the place I am staying),  Main details are in BOLD... 

WInter trek 2018-9
30 stops | 5,072 Miles

Stop #1 - Mon, 10/22/18

Home
Arrival: Mon, 10/22/18

Nights: 0

Departure: Mon, 10/22/18

Stop #2 - Mon, 10/22/18

Richmond, VA, USA Richmond, VA, USA

Arrival: Mon, 10/22/18

Stop #3 - Mon, 10/22/18

Americamps RV Resort 11322 Air Park Rd, Ashland, VA, 23005

Arrival: Mon, 10/22/18

Nights: 2

Departure: Wed, 10/24/18

Stop #4 - Wed, 10/24/18

Asheville, NC, USA Asheville, NC, USA

Arrival: Wed, 10/24/18

Nights: 0

Departure: Wed, 10/24/18

Stop #5 - Wed, 10/24/18

Rutledge Lake RV Park 125 Jillian Trail, Fletcher, NC, 28732

Arrival: Wed, 10/24/18

Nights: 2

Departure: Fri, 10/26/18

Stop #6 - Fri, 10/26/18

Solace Farm 281 Solace Farm Rd, Coalmont, TN 37313, USA

Arrival: Fri, 10/26/18

Nights: 1

Departure: Sat, 10/27/18

Stop #7 - Sat, 10/27/18

Nashville, TN, USA Nashville, TN, USA

Arrival: Sat, 10/27/18

Nights: 0

Departure: Sat, 10/27/18

Stop #8 - Sat, 10/27/18
Grand Ole RV Resort708 N Main St, Goodlettsville, TN, 37072

Arrival: Sat, 10/27/18

Nights: 2

Departure: Mon, 10/29/18

Stop #9 - Mon, 10/29/18

Memphis, TN, USA Memphis, TN, USA

Arrival: Mon, 10/29/18

Nights: 0

Departure: Mon, 10/29/18

Stop #10 - Mon, 10/29/18
Graceland RV Park & Campground3691 Elvis Presley Blvd, Memphis, TN, 38116

Arrival:Mon, 10/29/18

Nights: 2

Departure: Wed, 10/31/18

Stop #11 - Wed, 10/31/18

Maumelle COE 9009 Pinnacle Valley Rd, Little Rock, AR, 72223

Arrival:
Wed, 10/31/18

Nights: 1

Departure:
Thu, 11/1/18

Stop #12 - Thu, 11/1/18

Oklahoma City, OK, USA Oklahoma City, OK, USA

Arrival:
Thu, 11/1/18

Nights: 3

Departure: Sun, 11/4/18

Stop #13 - Sun, 11/4/18
Palo duro Palo Duro Canyon State Park, 11450 State Hwy Park Rd 5, Canyon, TX 79015, USA

Arrival: Sun, 11/4/18

Nights: 4

Departure: Thu, 11/8/18

Stop #14 - Thu, 11/8/18
Justin and Meredith for Thanksgiving
Arrival: Thu, 11/8/18

Nights: 0

Departure: Thu, 11/8/18

Stop #15 - Thu, 11/8/18
Enchanted Trails RV Park & Trading Post14305 Central Ave NW, Albuquerque, NM, 87121

Arrival: Thu, 11/8/18

Nights: 30

Departure: Sat, 12/8/18

Stop #16 - Sat, 12/8/18
Bar Z Winery
Bar Z Winery  19290 Farm to market 1541, Canyon, TX 79015, USA

Arrival: Sat, 12/8/18

Nights: 1

Departure: Sun, 12/9/18

Stop #17 - Sun, 12/9/18
Austin, TX, USAAustin, TX, USA

Arrival: Sun, 12/9/18

Nights: 0

Departure: Sun, 12/9/18

Stop #18 - Sun, 12/9/18
Austin Lone Star RV Resort 7009 S. I-35, Austin, TX, 78744

Arrival: Sun, 12/9/18

Nights: 4

Departure: Thu, 12/13/18

Stop #19 - Thu, 12/13/18
Galveston, TX, USAGalveston, TX, USA

Arrival: Thu, 12/13/18

Nights: 0

Departure: Thu, 12/13/18

Stop #20 - Thu, 12/13/18
Galveston Island RV Resort 23700 San Luis Pass Rd, Galveston, TX, 77554

Arrival: Thu, 12/13/18

Nights: 2

Departure: Sat, 12/15/18

Stop #21 - Sat, 12/15/18
new orleans New Orleans, LA, USA

Arrival: Sat, 12/15/18

Nights: 0

Departure: Sat, 12/15/18

Stop #22 - Sat, 12/15/18
Jude Travel Park7400 Chef Menteur Hwy, New Orleans, LA, 70126

Arrival: Sat, 12/15/18

Nights: 3

Departure: Tue, 12/18/18

Stop #23 - Tue, 12/18/18
Stops along the way… Walmart!!!
Arrival: Tue, 12/18/18

Nights: 2

Departure: Thu, 12/20/18

Stop #24 - Thu, 12/20/18
Sawmill Resort 21710 US-98, Dade City, FL 33523, USA

Arrival: Thu, 12/20/18

Nights: 29

Departure: Fri, 1/18/19

Stop #25 - Fri, 1/18/19
Tampa, FL, USA Tampa, FL, USA

Arrival: Fri, 1/18/19

Nights: 2

Departure: Sun, 1/20/19

Stop #26 - Sun, 1/20/19
21710 US-98, Dade City, FL 33523, USA21710 US-98, Dade City, FL 33523, USA

Arrival: Sun, 1/20/19

Nights: 0

Reservation Number: place holder in case I need to come pick up the RV

Stop #27 - Sun, 1/20/19
Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando, FL 32830, USAWalt Disney World Resort, Orlando, FL 32830, USA

Arrival: Sun, 1/20/19

Nights: 3

Departure: Wed, 1/23/19

Stop #28 - Sun, 1/20/19
2110 Thousand Trails Blvd, Clermont, FL 34714, USA 2110 Thousand Trails Blvd, Clermont, FL 34714, USA

Arrival: Sun, 1/20/19

Nights: 0

Departure: Sun, 1/20/19


Stop #29 - Wed, 1/23/19
Fort Lauderdale, FL, USAFort Lauderdale, FL, USA

Arrival: Sat, 2/2/19

Nights: 0

Departure: Sat, 2/2/19

Stop #30 - Sat, 2/2/19
Yacht Haven Park & Marina Fort Lauderdale, FL

Arrival: Wed, 1/23/19

Nights: 10

Departure:
Sat, 2/2/19

Oklahoma City is not possible in a half a day!!

I only planned one day in Oklahoma City, and it really was a passing thought because I’d be passing through and needed a place to stay for one night.I knew about the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum and had heard that it was amazing, but that was really all I knew about the city.I wanted to see the museum and figured one day was more than enough time.

I am learning that I need to move a bit slower as I travel.  One night somewhere really means way less than one day there.  I have whatever travel to get to the destination, and I typically eat breakfast and leave on the last day in a locale.  The ride to OKC took a little longer than I expected, so I felt a bit rushed.  None the less, I stopped at a rest stop to go to the Oklahoma City Welcome Center.  I figured that was a good way to figure out what was what.  I was overwhelmed by the amount of brochures they had... racks and racks of things to do in the area.  Agggghhhh!  I only had one day.  I went to the woman at the desk and must have had a dazed look because she laughed and said they were all organized by area... what was I looking for.  I told her and she directed me to the right area.  I picked up some pamphlets about all the things that I wouldn’t have time to see in Oklahoma City… The art museum… The botanical gardens… And Bricktown.  She asked me what my plans were and I told her I had to find a Walmart to park my RV and then I wanted to see the Memorial Museum.  She had a better idea... she said to park in the Bass Pro Shops lot, right in the heart of Bricktown.  They not only allowed it, but encouraged it and had a huge extra section just for overflow parking, including RV’s.  NICE!  I called ahead to confirm and she was absolutely right.  So, directions and pamphlets in hand, off I went into the city...

When I first came into the city, I had a great first impression.  Stopped at a traffic light, I looked up and saw a billboard saying:

When push comes to shove, don’t.    Civility is in you.   Pass it on.com

I just thought that was a wonderful message to see and never would think of it being billboard material. But it was and it made me smile.

Knowing that they were limited hours to the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum, I wanted to get right to it.  With only a couple of wrong turns (come on folks, this is me... some things don’t change!), I got to Bass Pro Shops and sure enough, the parking lot was HUGE and easily accessible.  I parked and unhitched the car and hightailed it to the museum.  Parking was easy as there was a public garage right across the street.  I was practically running and felt rushed, but the site was quite beautiful on the outside and I was moved to look around,  but again, I was rushing so I ran right inside. There are two floors the museum, and despite all the running, I wound up I only had time to see one but... wow!

I remember the Oklahoma City bombing as if it were yesterday. Feelings of disbelief and horror that something like this could happen in a  US city, in the middle of nowhere, for no reason.  Who knew it was the first of many incidents that would shake the fabric of our country and take away a basic level of safety most Americans felt when on “home soil.”

The museum was incredibly well done and unbelievably moving. I don’t tend to like museums that are just reading.  I like to see things- artifacts, mementos, pictures, exhibits, etc. This museum was a lot reading (and reading takes time!) but it did have some of the other things as well.  One room was dedicated to showing how the steel in the building was mangled; another room contains personal items from the people who were thrown in the blast...a watch, a brief case, a single shoe, a child’s toy. There were recorded stories and short films, and even a small reenactment that gave you a little taste of how it felt when that explosion went off.  I particularly enjoyed an exhibit that had a series of televisions broadcasting the news reports of the events all over the world.  It was staged so you were seeing them all, but one was louder than the others so you could hear that particular version.  The bombing truly reverberated all over the world.  I stood there remembering, shaking again, reliving the disbelief that turned to horror and sorrow.  Of course, I could not help but also remember feeling that even more in 2001 when the towers were hit in New York. But that hindsight made this all the more moving... and to say that this museum is moving would be putting it mildly.  I think it was moving in and of itself, but again, just knowing that we had no idea that this was but one example of what terrorism would do to the world had me reeling.

The stories of the people in the bombing was moving; the stories about how word got out was moving.  But what really got me was how the entire city galvanized and jumped into action. People from all over the city were lining up to give blood. Food was sent in from everywhere to help the rescue workers. People came from miles around just to help console people who had either been in the bombing or were affected by the blast. I walked through his museum mesmerized and in a daze… And I couldn’t stop crying.  One of my favorite stories was about a man who walked into a donation center.  Word had gone out that people needed shoes because their shoes had melted.  The man walked in carrying a pair of slightly worn work boots and handed them in at the desk.  He was crying and told them he hoped it would help someone.  As he was walking out, the man at the desk saw that he was just wearing his socks...

Because I was so moved, and because I was feeling the time crunch, I didn’t take any pictures inside the museum, and I’m sorry for that. I will be going back because I never got to see the second floor of the museum which I believe told the story of Timothy McVeigh and how he was captured and tried.

Walking outside to the grounds was a separate wrenching experience. The building where the blast occurred had been raised and in its place was a memorial garden and a water feature. At one side of the water feature it said 901 at the other side of the water feature it said 903. I didn’t quite get it at first and then understood that the blast occurred at 9:02am  and between those two times the world changed. I thought it was interesting that they chose to put a calm, serene water feature between those two walls when in fact 902 was nothing but turbulence.

Next to the water feature was a sculpture garden. The sculpture garden consisted of empty chairs, large for the adults and small for the children, representing those who were killed in the blast.  Yet another thing here that was so well done... it was solemn and moving. On the far side of the sculpture garden there was a wall that was one of the walls of the original building and on it was a granite plaque listing names. When I saw it walking up I assumed it was a list of all the people who have been killed in the blast but instead it was a list of the survivors. As I thought about it I realized this was even more hard hitting because the survivors actually had the harder journey.

At another section of the outdoors there were walls of ceramic plaques that of been made by children all over the country and sent to Oklahoma City. The artwork done by all the children was beautiful and poignant. Just outside of the grounds there was a chain-link fence originally constructed to keep people out of the danger zone. But it became a repository for people to leave memorials - objects like stuffed animals, words and comments on cards and pictures drawn by children. It was originally meant to be taken down, but wound up being the first piece of the city rebuilding through remembrance. I thought it was particularly moving that people continue to put messages and momentos on that fence, and that periodically they are removed but they are saved. Evidently there is a warehouse full and it’s all catalogued and cared for. It’s amazing how reverently the city handles the emotional well-being of the people remembering those lost in the bombing. I spent a long time just wandering those grounds and thinking about how precarious life can be and how you never know what might happen.

I walked around town a little bit and I drove back to my RV. Looking at a map I realized that, like the lady said,  I was right near Bricktown... like, the edge of the parking lot was the edge of Bricktown close.  I was talking to someone online and we agreed to meet for coffee, which led to a two hour walking tour of Bricktown. While his current occupation was as a real estate agent, he was finishing up his Masters in political science, so the tour and the discussions were robust and fascinating.

Besides having a wonderfully bipartisan view of national politics, I got a full explanation of the politics of how Bricktown was built. Originally this was a derelict and dilapidated manufacturing neighborhood in the city. The name Bricktown comes from the fact that all of the factories were made of brick. Through much political wrangling and maneuvering they were able to approve the construction of a canal through this derelict neighborhood.  The credo was - If you build it they will come… And the amazing thing is, they did. Every building has been renovated and now houses apartments, offices, retail spaces and restaurants. It was late when we were there, and the place was bustling. Wall-to-wall people all having fun. The tour continued to include explaining how the energy companies in the area competed to add the most beauty to the canal area through tile works and such. There were even the obligatory tacky horse drawn carriage rides.  Not that horse drawn carriage rides are tacky.  If you remember, I took so of them, yes two, in Savannah.  BUT, when they look like Cinderella’s carriage to go to the ball, that’s tacky.  Sorry... just my opinion.  

The tour ended at the Indian monument. Evidently, as an Oklahoma City native, in school you learn all about the five tribes of Indians that were originally in Oklahoma City. They weren’t indigenous to the area, but rather had fled there after being thrown out of North and South Carolina, only to have the same fate befall them in Oklahoma City.  However they maintain a strong presence and are intricately wrapped up in the fabric of the city.

That brought us back to the Bass Pro parking lot.  It was late, and I was exhausted, but I went to bed knowing I had to come back. 

A side note - Later, long after I was there, I was telling someone all about this experience and it wound up he was from Oklahoma City.  He (proudly) said that they voted to increase their taxes to pay for that canal!  His emphasis on participating in that vote and his obvious pride in “owning” a piece of Bricktown’s and by default Oklahoma City’s success underscored all that I was told when I was there.  I thought that was pretty cool too.

Do you remember the bombings?  What do you remember?  I’d love to hear...

Camp Buckwood - Rain, People, Mud...Oy!!

As you read about my travels, and my foibles, you need to really keep in mind that I am severely geographically challenged. Turn me around twice and I can’t get back where I started. Seriously! I have been lucky that I have had people in my life who excel geographically speaking (and other ways of course) and they have made up for my geographic shortcomings. Well, I am now traveling alone and it’s all on me... so I have three, yes THREE different GPS’s that I use. Most times I only use one, sometimes all three. It depends on how I confident I am and how much we are going off the beaten path.

SO... Following the GPS on my way to Camp Buckwood in Indiana and, once again, here I am turning onto a small road. But this time I had watched a video talking about this camp so I knew this was coming. I knew it was passable by the 45 foot RV in the video so it would be possible for me to do so as well. But still, the road was once again small and twisty and, of course, unpaved at the end of the road... fun! But at least it was dry.

When I pulled into the campgrounds it was overcast but warm enough to be comfortable outside. I was greeted by the nicest man working the front desk, and I felt very welcomed into this latest campground. He helped me pick a spot on the grass right near the pool. He even helped me hook up all my utilities. That was a great reception and helped me get to the pool that much quicker. Most of the people at the pool were visiting like me, with only a couple of the regular residents, the “perms”, showing their faces. I was told they’re spoiled and only come out when the weather is really nice. But I got to know the bunch of guys who were there and enjoyed their company.

I woke up the next morning it was a dark and rainy day. I decided I was not going to let it get to me. I took out my crocheting and continued to watch episodes of “The Wire,” the DVD Justin gave me (insisting that I watch all five seasons.). I sat there for three hours actually quite content. Then all the sudden I decided I did not want to be inside. I got my towel and marched over the covered pavilion hoping somebody would be around for company despite the constant drizzle and occasional downpour. Turns out there were five guys in the hot tub. The hot tub was a giant affair that was in-ground next to a covered pavilion. The air was damp and cold but the hot tub was warm and toasty in the company was quite wonderful. It turned out most of the group knew each other and they were all there for a cigar weekend. The campgrounds all have themed weekends, but I had not heard of Cigars being the theme before. Well, they were enjoying their cigars with gusto, but they were gracious about understanding that the smoke would send me into an asthma attack so they kept it all away from me. What a great group of men… I learned about their lives, mostly in Chicago, and it made the rest of the day goes quickly. Two guys who were not from the group came back with me to my RV and I made us a wonderful dinner. They were appreciative of a full course meal, complete with wine... but they didn’t realize how much pleasure it brought me to be entertaining in my “home.“ I loved the company, and we got to know each other well enough that we still keep in touch with each other by text. One of the guys may even join me at a different campground in Florida. YAY! It’s wonderful making friends all over the country.

The non-stop rains of the day before passed, and the next morning it was bright but cool. Well, it was cool, and it was VERY muddy. I walked around a bit and said my goodbyes. I felt that despite the weather I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Indiana. Meeting the guys from Chicago and getting to know the owner as well made for a wonderful stay. But like all good things this had to come to an end and I was packed up and ready to go.

I was nervous about the mud and rightfully so. I pulled out of my parking spot with no problems but there was the slightest of hills going up to the road leading out and as I was pulling up to the road I could feel myself slogging down in the mud. I tried to keep going, but next thing you know, I was stuck. So close. So close to the road and I just couldn’t get onto it. My next thought was, if I can back up and use the gravity of the hill to get me onto the road I can be on my way. Ha! I turned but couldn’t make the turn tight enough and instead of being on the road, I wound up parallel to the road and deeper in the mud. Going forward was futile, and backwards was now blocked by bushes. OK...This is not good.

The owner of the camp came out and said he would get the tractor to try to pull me out. He then comes out with a tractor. Not that the tractor was small at all, but next to my RV, it was quite small. They attached some chains and try to pull, but to no avail. Luckily I have Good Sam! Good Sam is like AAA but it’s for RVs.

Good Sam said they would dispatch someone to help me and quite quickly I got a phone call asking specific details of my RV. After hearing how big I was she said it was going to take a couple hours for someone to get to my remote location. I sat and talked to people to pass the time until this incredibly huge winch truck came down the narrow lane of the campground. The truck was almost as big as my RV. Somehow he managed to maneuver himself so he was facing the opposite direction; now facing up the road coming in. He was far up the road to give him the leverage to pull me out. It took him a while to set up the winch truck for this particular task and to figure out where to attach the chains. He pointed out that where the tractor had attached was not really the main part of the frame and he wound up attaching to the axle. I guess maybe it was lucky the tractor couldn’t pull... we may have wound up with the front of my RV out of the mud but the rest of it still stuck!!! See, it can always get worse... haha!!!

He told me to get in the RV and leave it in neutral and he would pull me out. It was quite the ordeal. The moving was very slow but steady, and sure enough he ultimately got me out.

I hadn’t noticed when he first arrived, but I really had to laugh at the name of his truck as it sat in the middle of this gay campground - The Big Stick! You know, you just can’t make these things up! Ha ha!

It was funny… I was not happy. I was very anxious and concerned, but I knew I would get out and it would be ok. The owner of the camp even commented on how calm I was and that he couldn’t believe I was joking about stuff (“BIG STICK”? Come on, who wouldn’t joke?). Evidently this has happened many times before and the RV owners always seemed to get bent out of shape. To me, I was amazed that he wasn’t bent out of shape. Look at the mess I made of his grounds! But he was calm. I was calm. It was all ok.

Here are some pics of the aftermath.

The Ozarks - a vacation day or two...

S0, retirement is supposed to be a perpetual vacation. Or so they say.  Or so I thought.

But that’s not reality.  For some reason there are days where you feel like you have to accomplish something and then there are days where you feel like you don’t. I’ve been calling those days where I don’t, my “house days.” Those are the days where I just either sit home doing some thing like working on my blog, or crocheting, or reading, or doing laundry, or cleaning the RV… Or when I go out and do some shopping for food or other supplies. You know, just living life. Then there are days where I want to go see the sights, drive around and see the town, or just go sit in the park somewhere not in the RV and chill.

But… there are also “vacation days.” A vacation day is when you get to sit out in the sun, or you get to sit by the river, or you get to go sit in the hot tub all day. Stopping in the Ozarks was a definite vacation day thing to do.  I had heard about the campgrounds created by the Army Corps of Engineers. From what I read in general and what I saw in Palo Duro Canyon, these are the best campgrounds from a quality of your site standpoint. So when I was trying to find a place for a couple nights that would be relaxing in the middle of the trip, I found a Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds called Aux Arc Park. I have to tell you it didn’t even dawn on me that if you pronounce it the proper French way it’s Ozark.  I am pretty sure that people there pronounced it “Awks Ark.”. But I don’t remember for sure.  I just felt dumb when I realized my faux pas (that’s “foe pa” not “fawks pahss.”  Just sayin...). But anyway I put the information in my RV GPS and off I went.

Following the GPS I got to where I was a mile or 2 away from the campground so, once again, I didn’t question turning down that small little street. I turned down that small little street then I turned down another little street. Driving through a small residential neighborhood in my big ol’ RV, I thought this park must really be secluded.

I kept going down that little street and stopped at a stop sign.  My GPS told me to keep going straight.  But there is a slight problem since there was no street ahead of me! Yes siree - GPS has done did it to me again!

But this time was a little better... I looked at the map and saw that I could twist and turn my way out of the neighborhood through more little streets and back to the main street. I was sweating bullets doing so because these were really little streets and a parked car anywhere along the way could hamper my passage. However, unlike previous escapades, there was no way for me to turn around anyway.  I really had no choice so ahead I went.

All worked out OK - I was back at the main street quickly enough. By the way when I say “main street” I mean this street that was bigger than all the other little streets.  I tried my other two GPS’s and both tried to send me back the same way I had just come.  Yeah, sorry, not doing that. 

At that point I called the campground. He laughed because he knew exactly what I has had done. Evidently everyone else has done the same thing. Yippee… I’m in good company at least!  So anyway... I follow his directions and wind up at the park.  And yes, I really was incredibly close when I turned off that first time.   It really didn’t look like a park when I first got there because you can pull in and you just see the big dam that’s there.  It felt more like I was driving up to the parking lot for the dam.  Do dams have parking lots?  I guess so.  But I did know that I was in the right place because I’d seen the dam in pictures. I then pulled in further to see the most perfectly manicured RV park I have seen yet. Every site was nicely slanted, making parking pretty easy, and because of the angle,  a river view was guaranteed.  Sweet!  Of course, somehow my reservation was messed up, but at that point I didn’t care. I paid for the stay and off I went to my site.  I detached the car and backed into my spot with no problems.  I am getting a little better about backing up.  Getting into all those jams does have a bright side.

The setting was almost idyllic with bright sunshine and a constant cool breeze. I took out my zero gravity chair and a glass of wine and sat looking at the river flowing by. Ahhhh... this is nice.  I closed my eyes and enjoyed the gentle breeze.  All of a sudden I hear a train and I looked across the river and there was a long freight train driving by.  All I could think of was how much my dad would’ve absolutely flipped over seeing that. Trains and trolleys were his thing and he would’ve thought that it added perfectly to the idyllic setting. Some others may have thought of it as intrusive, but for me, here I was,  sitting by a gorgeous river on my vacation days with my dad by my side... smiling and enjoying the train. It was perfect.

Emily‘s boyfriend Victor had asked me to read his masters thesis and I decided this was a perfect opportunity. So I added my iPad to the zero gravity chair and glass of wine equation and read his thesis.  Wow was it complex and intense!  But it was also interesting and it was cool reading it in this setting and so the time passed quickly. I enjoyed my little vacation stop and in the morning...off I went.

Now you may say I had my vacation day so I should be all ready to jump back into busy days of touring. But I have to tell you the truth -  I was tired.  Not sleep tired, just beat.  I felt like I had had enough touring for a bit. I was already formulating the notion that I needed to stay in areas for a longer period of time and that going from place to place as a tourist, as opposed to place to place and living there,  was exhausting. With that thought in mind I decided that the day I had planned to stay in St. Louis was perfectly OK to bag.  I also rememberred that the last time I had gone through St. Louis, when we were coming home with the new RV, the traffic has been horrendous, so I felt like it was a smart decision in every way.

As I drove and drove and was figuring out where I was going to stay that night, I realized I had one problem… DUH, I was supposed to be in St. Louis for two days! So voila -  I had an extra day on my hands and no plans and nowhere really to go. So I decided to stop driving and not push into the night as I would usually do on a Walmart day.  I stayed in a Walmart and the next day I drove until I was close to my next destination, a gay campground in Indiana, and just stopped in another Walmart parking lot.  I hung around the RV for a bit, and then I walked to a little diner for dinner, which I never do, and had a amazingly good dinner.  I had a great conversation with the waitress and the hostess who came to visit me and stayed a while to talk. Remember part of this trip called retirement is about experiencing people and I thoroughly enjoyed their company. And I must say I also enjoyed my extra days.  They felt like I was just living...they were house days! The next day, I was refreshed and happy not to have to drive too far... It was off to the campgrounds and another adventure (oh, and more vacations days... woo hoo).

Do you have days that feel like house days vs. vacation days?  I know I used to struggle with trying to balance those attributes on my non-working days.   You want to just hang around the house but you have errands to run.  Or you want to read a book, but you have to do laundry. Some things don’t change in retirement, but you do have much more flexibility to do what you want.  Not always, but most of the time.  And that feels great!

Love hearing from you… tell me about your idea of vacation days that aren’t really vacation per se but they do the trick. Click like… subscribe… say hello!

Palo Duro Canyon - the nicest backyard of my life!

Palo Duro Canyon is in Texas and not many people have heard of it. They should hear! It is the second largest canyon in the country, second only to the Grand Canyon (duh!) but it is a completely different experience than the Grand Canyon. At the Grand Canyon you feel exhilaration at the depth and the breadth of ever changing layers of rocks and formations. At Palo Duro Canyon you feel a soothing calm from the gentle slopes and swoops that seem to envelop you while, at the same time, feeling expansive and free. At the Grand Canyon your brain can not process everything quite perfectly so it almost feels two dimensional; like a painting of the Grand Canyon rather than the real thing. Don’t get me wrong, the Grand Canyon was a magnificent work of endless time and overwhelming beauty. Palo Duro is similarly magnificent, but in an approachable manner.

First, some details… Palo Duro Canyon is about 120 miles long, as wide as 20 miles in some spots and is about 800 feet in depth. In contrast, the Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, 18 miles at its widest and is about 6000 feet deep. The Grand Canyon’s formation began 5-6 million years ago; at only 1 million years old, Palo Duro Canyon is a relative baby. Palo Duro means hard wood and is named for the mesquite and juniper trees that used to grow in abundance here. There is evidence of habitation going back 10-15,000 years, but the first European settlers came about 1541. US military mapped the canyon in 1852, but it stayed in private hands until the state of Texas bought the 15,000 acres in 1933 and members of three crews of the Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal Program under Roosevelt. The crews were World War 1 Vets, white and African American, and a crew of Youth Members. They worked incredibly hard and constructed the main road into the canyon as well as cabins, bridges, culverts and hiking and bridle trails… and the park, though not complete, was open to the public in 1934, just one year after it was acquired. Currently the Palo Duro Canyon State Park is over 25,000 acres strong. I have to share these stats only to show because everything feels “new” compared to other natural wonders… at least those I have seen. I find it fascinating.

But of course, all that fascination pales in comparison to being there. I have never experienced anything like it. The landscape was a familiar one and I have certainly experienced many a mountain in my day, but something about this place was magical to me. Walking back to the RV at one point, I was struck by the fact that this was the nicest backyard I had ever had!

My visit began with the descent into the canyon. I have described some pretty wild roads. I have been on twisty turny roads (and spell check still hates the word turny but tough!). I have been on some steep roads. This one beats them all… hands down… Well actually, hands gripping the wheel very very tightly! It is an 8% grade and the switch backs are intense. You can see from the pictures and the video how the road unfolds ahead of you. Believe it or not, it was even more treacherous feeling in just the car. I could not get it to stay slow even when I put it down to second gear. Finally, I switched it to sport mode and that seems to create enough engine breaking that I felt in control. WOW!

In a slightly different format today, I am going to share a couple of highlights, then tell the rest of the story through the pictures and comments on the pics. Let me know how that format plays for you on whatever you use to read this…

My campsite was gorgeous. As I said, the “backyard” was perfect, but the campsite itself was pretty wonderful. It was level and had a nice permanent canopy over a picnic table. It was very modern in design, yet totally southwest in feel. Well done Palo Duro Canyon!

The weather was a wee bit extreme at basically 100 degrees during the day. At 7:52pm when I went for my first drive, it was still 94 degrees outside. There was basically zero humidity and it really did make a difference. Still, went I went for a hike, I wore sun screen, sun glasses and a hat, and I brought two big bottles of water with me just in case. I only wound up drinking one of them, but I was proud that I actually listened and carried more. My walk was great. I was aiming to get to the rock formation known as the light house. It’s beautiful in all the pictures and is like a signature of the canyon. The walk was six miles so I was unsure of whether I could make it. Turns out I couldn’t. After two and a quarter miles I realized that I was already tired and aching. This fat boy is not in the best shape after all. So I decided to be prudent and turn around. I really struggled since I only had to go another 3/4 of a mile to make it… but I knew that means another 1.5 miles added to an already long walk. So Adult Steven guided Kid Steven back. I took a picture of the lighthouse from afar… and have a stock photo to show you what I missed! However, I have to say that I was really happy taking a 4.5 mile walk in 100 degree weather. That is nothing to be ashamed of, for sure.

So here are the pics…

when you first start your descent, you are treated to an incredible site… the vastness of it is staggering. The road doesn’t seem too bad…

It starts getting steeper and steeper…

And you are never sure of what will be after the next curve… what lies ahead?

Ummmm… wait… is that the same road I am on?

I am not sure that you can tell from the pics, but this is one very very steep twisty road. 8% is quite the grade. When you are at the rangers station they tell you not to brake constantly. Downshift and let the engine do the work. Evidently they know from experience that brakes can burn out really quickly at 8 %. The next video shows me pulling into the camping area. You can see how beautiful it is. The campsites are wide and at an angle so they are easy to navigate. And like I keep saying… check out the back yard.

This series is from my first drive through the park the night I got there. The lower views are cool because they don’t overwhelm you. You get introduced to the canyon in small doses so you can fully soak in the beauty.

Then it starts to open up. Check out the crazy sky as the sun is setting. It looks like when you drop oil colors on water and watch them swirl.

Yup… I was really there. The next gallery is of the walk I took. Anyone else see a whale along the way? Someone else saw a turtle. I can see it, but I see the whale more. What do you see? OH… those rock formations where it looks like a rock is balanced on a pedestal… that is called a hoodoo… who knew?

OK… stock photo of the lighthouse rock formation. Never made it so…

The next gallery is of my campsite and the area around it.

Some shots from my last day there.. it is gorgeous.

I think this was the most expansive view… taken from the main building housing the gift shop, etc.

Saying good bye as I begin the steep ascent…

Road to Palo Duro... is lined with... Cadillacs?

This is going to be a relatively fast post. The drive to Palo Duro Canyon was lovely like most of the rides. I knew I was in Texas when I started seeing the acres of wind mills. I think they are the newest crop. Of course there were other signs as well… like the smell of the cattle that roamed beneath the windmills or the occasional oil rig. But windmills are what stick in my mind as being quintessential Texas road fare (of the non-food variety). You drive the country and you see many billboards hawking the ultimate tourist destinations - The biggest crater (ok, maybe) or the biggest chair (big deal, who cares). I have to draw the line at the biggest golf tee or the biggest ball of yarn.

These are not real attractions in my book. Obviously, I am becoming way too jaded already. These are some things that are supposedly “must see” tourist spots and you get there and they are decidedly not. But Cadillac Ranch shows up in all the guide books. It felt like it was real. A guy did an art installation to highlight the fins on successive years of Cadillac cars. He was highlighting the fins so he buried the cars face down in the ground. It was a hit. Who knows exactly why, but it was a hit. So much so that it was unearthed and moved to be closer to the main road. Yup, it was that much of a hit. I suspect that if this were my first stop, I would have been impressed. after all, here is an art installation taken over by the masses… who over the years have spray painted the Caddys so much that they are inches thick with paint. Graffiti raised to an art form.

WAIT… doesn’t that sound familiar? Yup, same concept as the Hope Outdoor Gallery in Austin Texas. Remember how I gushed over that? It’s still a trip highlight, and this paled in comparison in so many ways.

First, it is truly in the middle of nowhere. You pull off the main road where there is nothing for miles in any direction. You hardly even know you are there but for the few cars stopped along the road. So I pulled the RV off the road as best I could and walked up. There was a guy there selling artifacts made from the paint chips that fall off the exhibit over time (I suspect they help them fall off). They were embedded in lucite or laminated to metal and made into jewelry, key chains and notebook covers. You get the picture. The exhibit was moved, but then they sure put it far away from the entrance. It looked kind of cool in the distance… Kind of like a row of ostriches burying their head in the sand. It was an easy walk, but not particularly pleasant because what should have been a beautiful desert landscape, was riddled with litter. Mostly spray paint cans, but also soda bottles and things of that nature. It made me appreciate the care and upkeep that makes Hope Outdoor Gallery so special. You are not terribly aware of the cleanliness. I am not sure I would have found it particularly noteworthy had it not been pointed out, but the difference here was striking.

Then there is the exhibit itself. Yes it is ever changing like Hope Gallery. But Hope Gallery feels like it is executed by artists. Most of the graffiti was ART - it was stunning, it was great. Here there were some “artsy” aspects but much of it is of the sort where people wrote their names… “Joe was here.” Or they professed their relationships… “Joe loves Doris.” To me, this was not ART; it was barely art. But again, I am jaded.

I am posting a bunch of pictures so you can see. Tell me your reactions. I am curious.

Albuquerque - Part 2 - while I was at it...

SO the main reason for me being in Albuquerque was to be there for the birth of Caroline and to help Justin and Meredith with the baby. That was first and foremost. However, I also happen to love Albuquerque. I have been there enough times to feel fairly comfortable and this trip was my test run at how it feels to “live” near the kids rather than “visit” the kids.

First of all, cutting to the chase… it was wonderful. Of course, I loved spending time with family. I always love that and that’s one of the main reasons I chose RV’ing for my retirement. But I also loved having my own house to go home to. At this point in the trip, it was truly feeling like home. I am really comfortable in the RV. I have my own space. I have my own clothes, not just a suitcase of selected favorites (though I have done a significant amount of weeding with a ton of help from my dear friend Mark). I have my cupboards full of my foods, condiments, kooky extras, and such. I have my kitchen gadgets and my favorite pots and pans, and I even had a few of my really good knives (side note… I have now purchased a terrific in-the-drawer knife rack so I will have almost ALL my good knives on the next trip. I am learning). When I went to visit Adam in California for three weeks, I flew in and lived with them. As such, I was living in their house, which was fine, but it wasn’t mine. This was mine. I like how that felt.

I also liked having my own car. I was not dependent on anyone else to not need their car, and I could come and go as I pleased. Running to the store to pick up something was easy. When I was at the RV park, having my own car made that an easy transition. AND, when I wanted to go out and meet people, I could do that as well. That was another interesting aspect of this part of the trip. Since I know that I will be back to Albuquerque often, I wanted to meet people and try to establish some friendships there. The social apps make it pretty easy to meet people, and I was lucky to make some new friends. Having the car with me meant that I could go out for breakfast with David and got to meet a friend of his in the process… I could meet Aaron for a late night drink and later even offer to pick him up at the airport. A picnic was planned with Ryan but the weather put the kibosh on that. I am looking forward to my next trip when I can explore some more activities in the social arena… like gay square dancing and going to see the community band. I like that. I like feeling like I can become part of the community in some small way. Again, I feel like the RV and the car allow me that luxury. Living, not just visiting.

Back to the car for one second… When I was looking at car choices, I quickly zoomed in on the Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk because it needs the least preparation before any trip to be ready for towing. It’s kind of the gold standard, by my reading, despite some issues I read about and later experienced. Now, it’s called the Trailhawk for a reason. It is an off-road ready vehicle and for that, it is truly first in its class. I had a Jeep Wrangler for 13 years and never, ever took it off road. Snow was my challenge and that’s about as challenging as it ever got. Wait, I am wrong. One time something was blocking my driveway and I drove over the lawn.. WOO HOO I did go off-roading!!

So, again, I was here for Justin and Meredith, but here I am with this new car just made for off-road fun… and in Albuquerque, which has tons of acreage in Albuquerque and surrounding areas that was supposed to be developed but was never quite completed. So there are mapped out roads. They look “normal.” But, in fact, they are just plowed desert. Check out the map in the picture below, then slide over and see the satellite image to see the difference. And, what you can’t see is that they have become rutted and gutted, flooded and mudded. Sounds like off-road heaven, right? RIGHT!

So most people don’t know this, but Justin and I have been known to put ourselves in some, shall we say, risky situations. You know the kind. Seems like an ok idea at the time, but you look back and say, wow, did we really do that?!? Since Justin’s mother (and my mother) read this, we won’t go into details, but suffice it to say we have a history. Of course, Justin is a new Dad so he doesn’t want to go too crazy, but the operative word there is “too.” So one afternoon, when the baby was kind of snoozing, and Meredith’s Mom was there to cover all the bases, and with reluctant permission from Meredith (she knows the history), Justin and I took off for an off-road adventure.

Now, I just remembered that I have driven somewhat off road before. When Peter and I came to visit Albuquerque a few years ago, we were driving Justin and Meredith’s Pathfinder, which I consider an off-road vehicle. Justin now says not really, but it was to us at that time. We went exploring outside of Albuquerque. We went to the Acoma Reservation and we went to Chaco Canyon. The sites were amazing, but so were the drives. The landscape, with its mesas and buttes and plateaus is spectacular. The changing rock colors and sand colors and the varying amounts of green vs brown is a wonder to behold. We went out one day and then went back another just to explore some more of the mountain regions and to find some natural hot springs. We found one where we had to drive five miles up the side of a mountain, then hike another half mile to get to the spring. It was worth it. But to me, the ride up was half the fun. It was the bumpiest and most potholed road I had ever driven, but with the Pathfinder, it felt easy and fun. So to me, that was “off-roading.”

Terrible picture of Justin, but you can see the landscape… check out the ups on one side and the downs on the other!

We went just outside of Albuquerque proper to an area called Rio Rancho. This was very different. This was desert. This was big hills. This was bumpy. Some of the roads were pitted with potholes. Some looked like a clam shell edge… One side smooth and the other bump after bump after bump. At one point we came to an area where the road had collapsed and a car fell in. Yikes!! It was long ago and few of the remains remained, but it got the adrenaline pumping. Justin and I were giggling at points...

Now you look at that and say, who would be stupid enough to go through that!? Unhuh…

…And holding our breath at others! Going up a ridge and realizing it didn’t lead anywhere safe… not good… back up, try another route. Going through a puddle, only to find it was deep enough that we could see the water lapping up at the doors…”just keep going Dad, do not stop for any reason…” We got through it and proved that the 20” water clearance of the car was appropriate, and needed. The car slogged through incredibly thick mud in the arroyos that had obviously been recently flooded (you can see them in the photos above)… again, just keep going and do not stop! Justin could see where we were at all times becuase the “streets” are all showing on Google maps as if they were real streets. Trust me, none of these were anywhere near a real street, but it did tell us where we would hit dead ends and it helped keep us from coming out of the area too soon. It was all incredibly exciting.

BOOM… we made it to the other side. More like WHEW! And, let’s not go that way again, thank you!

Justin was hesitant to drive thinking if we really got in a pickle he would much rather be able to blame me, but I convinced him that he had to give it a try. He did and he said he could not get over how much better the Jeep pulled and pushed us through everything put in its path. Much better than the Pathfinder, which he now decided is indeed a four wheel drive vehicle, but not one really meant to take off road.

All I can say is it was a BLAST. And, it was well worth the $30 that it cost me to have the car washed afterwards. It took them over 30 minutes to power wash the mud off the car. It was so thick, and so caked on, and so thoroughly dried from the Albuquerque sun, even though I took it to the car wash the same day! But it was all worth it. The adventure was fun in and of itself. It was fun to have an adventure with Justin that somehow felt safer looking back than it did at the time (how novel vs the opposite). It was fun to have a unique Albuquerque experience. I look forward to doing it again, though I am not sure I would do it with anyone but Justin navigating! We shall see.

Have you had any fun off-roading adventures? Share with me in the comments; I would love to hear.

Sorry for so long between posts. I will keep catching up so you are up to date by the time I leave on my next excursion. Plans are underway!

Leave comments… subscribe… stay tuned for more.

Albuquerque - What it's ALL about... Part 1

Many events “conspired” to bring on vast changes in my life. On December 31, 2016 I had made some New Years Resolutions about things that I needed to do to bring joy back into my life. Mostly they centered around family, personal relationships, work and home. At that time, I identified things that were not bringing me joy and I was determined to make positive changes in my life to get back to being joyous. One resolution was that eventually I would be on the road full-time but, like all my plans, it was a long-range plan. Little did I know at that time, that in a few months I would not be in a relationship, not be working, and not be expecting to be in my house for much longer and that the smaller RV that I bought with my partner would be up for sale and I would be in the 40 foot Beast! Mygoals were simple and were ranked in order of importance - 1) See more of my kids (one in Northern California, one in Southern California and one in Albuquerque, New Mexico); 2) See the country; and 3) Meet new people and accumulate experiences rather than “stuff.” This trip was about all of the above as my middle son, Justin, and his wife, Meredith were expecting their first baby on August 16th. SO, point the compass that direction and away I go.

I was aiming to get to Albuquerque a week early to help with getting the house ready, the fridge stocked and to spend some time before the craziness hit. Meredith’s parents were there at the same time - something I was looking forward to as I enjoy spending time with them. As I got closer to Albuquerque, the baby (with a consult from the doctors) decided that she was quite big enough and, rather than cause her mom more and more distress, with some assistance from the doctors, Caroline Gabrielle was born on August 11th. Meredith was in the hospital from the 9th, so I was happy I was there!

Driving to Albuquerque from White Sands National Monument was relatively uneventful. While driving though, with the pure white sands of WSNM on my mind, I came upon vast fields of black rock. It was obviously not like anything else I had encountered, though after White Sands and some of the other sights I have seen, I have come to expect that “other worldly feel.” Finally, I pulled over and took a picture. Justin later told me that they are lava fields and that they are fairly common. Who knew?

Anyway, the plan for Albuquerque was that I would ultimately be staying on an RV pad at one of Justin’s neighbors. They are an RV family - they have a HUGE RV garage for their own RV, and because family comes to visit in RV’s, they also have a pad site next to their house with full hook-ups - water, sewer and electric. Best of all worlds for me since I get to live in my RV, be close to the kids but not living with the kids AND I have full hookups so living is easy. Alas, the neighbor had family coming for the first few days, so I went to an RV park near by. Enchanted Trails RV Park looked great in the pictures and proved to be equally as great in person. It was just a 25 minute drive from the kids’ house, and had the added benefit of being closer to the hospital. SO, it was perfect timing. I would be closer to the hospital when Meredith was there, then closer to home when she came home.

I pulled into the RV park and it was a strange feeling… like stepping back in time. The building was a typical midwest adobe structure, but the colors were very 50’s. As you pulled in, you could see that they not only had vintage trailers available for rent, but they also had vintage cars poised next to the trailers looking like the Cleavers had come on vacation and parked next to their RV. Both the trailers and the RVs were beautifully restored. I was in heaven and kept thinking about how much my dad would have flipped over the old cars.. the trailers not so much. The other interesting thing about the park is that it is located on an access road to I-40 that is actually considered to be part of historic Route 66. How fitting!!

The park is in the middle of an area that is way less developed that other parts of Albuquerque so it feels like you are really in the middle of the desert. When some storms came through, you REALLY felt like you were just plopped in the middle of nowhere with the wind howling and whipping across the flat lands. I took a video just so you could see how severe it was. I haven’t talked much about weather, but the weather in the south- and mid- west is very different from the northeast. In the NE you get bad weather and 99% of the time it’s a bad weather day. You go driving IN a storm. Emphasis on IN because it’s in distinct contrast to these desert-y climates where the storms are fast and they are pretty isolated. Combine that with the flat lands and you can see the storms around you, sometimes even when it’s clear where you are currently. You see clouds that seem to touch the ground and realize that’s the rain pouring down in that area. When I was driving, I got used to sudden deluges of rain but I also got used to driving into the deluge and just as quickly driving out of it. So it seems that you get to drive THROUGH a storm. And on the other side, it’s dry and sunny. Very different. I remember it from when Peter and I were in Albuquerque, but I did not think of it as a vast regional difference. I realized it even more when I first drove North again and saw the contrast. Amazing the things you learn while driving the country.

After a few days I moved from the park to the neighbors. Getting into their spot was harrowing. Luckily Clint, the neighbor, drives a big RV (and a firetruck during his non-fun times… aka work). He got me into the spot, but it was scary how close we were to the VERY solid cinder-block wall on one side. You can’t see it in the pics, but trust me, it’s there and it will not move if you accidentally bump into it. Later when I had to move the RV to take it in for some service, Clint was not around. Justin and I managed to get it out of that spot, but it was with a ton of backs and forths and with a lot of, shall we say, loud discussions about what to do next. It was so harrowing that for the last few days, after the service was done, I went back to Enchanted Trails and was quite happy in my roomy spot there.

So… what’s it all about? It’s all about family and being there was wonderful. I loved being about to see Justin and Meredith plunge into their new roles as parents. Babies are not easy and newborns even less so. I was happy to be there and equally as happy to have Meredith’s parents there so we could all share the load. I remember when Adam was born thinking how amazing it was that a newborn can be such a full time experience. Of course, it gets better, and we told the kids that… but no sleep is not easy no matter how much help you have, especially when another feeding is just around the corner when you try to catch a nap. We can change diapers. We can cook. We can clean. We can keep you company. But we can’t feed that baby. All that falls on Meredith… but she handled it with a smile (mostly) and always seemed happy we were all there to help. When Harriet (my ex) came and Meredith’s mother left (her dad left a bit earlier), the family fun continued.

I have to admit that grandchildren are pretty darned incredible. every so often I just marvel at my kids. They are poised and confident and out there tackling life. It’s weird because sometimes I still feel that young. What age do you feel when you are not looking in the mirror? For me, it’s 36. That was the age when I remember feeling young and powerful (hey I was not even 40 yet and anything was possible) but adult (I was in the middle of a road show to take a company public… that’s pretty adult). I remember feeling like the yin and yang were matched.

Of course, in reality, at 36 I was working like a dog for 100 hours a week; I was stressed; I couldn’t give my family the time they needed and I wished I had; money was less abundant and expenses were more so; we had a 10 year old, and 8 year old and a 1 year old… I had little patience for anything but working and keeping life in control. But time changes our perceptions and so at 58, I feel like I am 36 and it feels good. But my kids are catching up to that and they are having babies. They are young and powerful; they are adults. How is this all possible at the same time? The answer is it’s not… but that doesn’t change how it feels. And you know what… I think it is pretty cool to feel like I am still 36, (despite the aches and pains that weren’t there so much at 36). AND, I am happier... way happier. I am less stressed than I have ever been. I love seeing my family prosper and grow. I love seeing them battling the battles we already won. Looking back, if I didn’t win them, I turned the losses into wins because that’s who I am. And I love seeing my kids do that too.

The thing I haven’t shared in all these experiences is that I have a ton of time to think while driving. My overwhelming emotion is one of happy gratitude. That’s a good place to be. That’s what it’s all about. For sure.

Stay tuned for Part 2 - more fun in Albuquerque.

To end… here’s a happy Albuquerque picture. Not too bad to see when you leave your street in the morning.

We Interupt This Travel Blog for Some Important News

Sorry for not having posted in a bit.  I am having some connection problems and can’t get pics to upload fast enough.  I get to do about one a day! 

BUT, the good news is that I am in Albuquerque visiting my son Justin and my daughter-in-law Meredith and they had their baby!  Caroline Gabrielle was born on August 11, 2018 at 8:49 and weighed in at a whopping 8lbs 12 oz; she was 22 inches long.  Everyone is doing well.  Today is Monday and they came home today.  This is my third grandchild, but my first granddaughter and she is beautiful (if I do say so myself!).  YAY!!! 

White Sands National Monument - Winter in Summer Part Two

Last we met I was traveling down the road in White Sands National Monument and I was not particularly impressed.  I think the issue was that while the color of the sand had changed, the vegetation was pretty much the same.  Slowly that changed.  Less, and less vegetation; whiter and whiter sands.  The sun was not quite setting yet, but it was low in the sky and the clouds were moving at a brisk enough pace to be noticeable. I was traveling on a paved road, but sand was washing across it.  Then there was a sign that said the paved road was ending.  Here were instructions for driving on sand.  Hmmm... OK.   I did just get this car that is super duper off road rated, right?  Made for driving in not normal conditions, right?  Hey, there is even a “sand” setting, right.  So as I approach the unsaved part I am figuring I better switch the car into the sand mode.  I get on the sand and switch the car.  I start to go and       the    car    is    t r u d g i n g    f o r w a r d.   Yeah, no.  This was not the right setting for this.  I set the car back to normal and started forward.  I was so intent on worrying about the car setting that I didn’t realize that there was no vegetation... and the dunes all around me were ALL white.  And the cloud cover had moved in... and the clouds were all white.  The road was packed with white sand... and the road was all white.  The sun was starting to set for real now and out towards the horizon was some low blue sky and a setting sun.  Where was I?  I felt like I had suddenly be transported to the North Pole.  As I kept driving all I could see was white.  Visibility got harder as the sands blew but I could see a few other headlights.  The park was pretty much empty.

At a huge dune, there were a couple cars parked and I parked at the end away from the rest.  I got out and I expected it to be freezing cold.  My body was telling me that I was in the middle of a snow storm and it had to be cold.  But it was 90 degrees outside!   I put my foot down where I was parked and it was packed hard as rock.  No wonder I didn’t need a special mode to drive on it.  I took off my flip flop and put my foot down in the sand.   It was soft and fine like a freshly fallen snow, but it was warm.  Interestingly, it wasn’t warm warm.  It was decidedly cooler than you would expect.  All my senses were knocked for a loop. Where am I?

I climbed the dune, which was not easy.  It was steep and it was super fine snow... I mean sand.  But I did it.  At the top, the feeling was magnified because now I had a wider view.  For as far as I could see, it was white and those could hovering magnified the effect; and the sun setting cast a strange color over everything.  There was no way this could be any more wonderful than right now.  I felt like everything came together to make this perfect.  I just stared around me.  I even said a little prayer expressing my gratitude for getting to see this incredible sight.  I hope the pictures do it justice and let you feel the intensity that I felt.  Some are driving out when it was even darker and the effect was magnified.  I found myself driving really slowly; I think I was afraid of skidding! Haha!

Skipping around in time a bit... I came back the next day.  I was talking to two guys online and it wound up they were going to White Sands too.  When I pulled into the parking lot I got a message from them that they were there.  I went on down the road and caught up to the cars ahead and there was a camper ahead of the car in front of me and it had bikes on the back... it was them for sure.  Not wanting to text, I just followed them.  We chatted for a bit and climbed up the dunes.  It was amazing and wonderful, though nothing like the day before.  This felt like when you had a snow day at school and got to go to the big hill and go sledding.  And guess what... the guy at the campground had lent me just that... a sled!  That was certainly an experience.  I actually loved my line (unrehearsed, I swear)... you have to keep moving forward until gravity outweighs friction.  What the handsome TWO men did not realize was that I problably weighed more than both of them, so friction was having a heyday... but I got mine! Having others there meant I could get a good video without trying to set up my tripod... YAY!!!  That was just amazing!  Well there is not much more to say about White Sand National Monument... the pictures will speak volumes.  But go!  Go!  GO! 

This is virtually the same shot as the night before. The sunset really did an amazing job of changing this gorgeous landscape into a mind-blowing one.

Back to the plumbing and such... I bought all the supplies, but then I hightailed it out to the White Sands.  So the next morning, I went to the office to see if my friend was still there but was told that he was off on vacation for a few weeks.  OK Steven... you are on your own.  Well folks, I did it.  I sawed off the existing pipe in two places.  I welded together the pieces to make up the elbow and I had a sleeve patch to weld that to the existing pipe.  I figured out how to cut the existing pipe.  I figured out how to smooth the cut edges when I had no proper tool to do so (concrete tables are really good ABS pipe filers).  I figured out what order to assemble everything so I needed a minimum of movement from the last welded pieces. And it worked!!  I did an amazingly neat job on the part under the room slide.  The part under the sink required me to remove three drawers to access the area and I had to kind of reach in sideways and work blind.  I was careful and I test fit everything before I applied the chemical weld, and it worked!  But I do have to admit that it was a really slopping looking patch... but it worked!

The steps never started working.  I went to Harbor Freight (told you there were a ton of Big Box stores).  I picked up a stool that at least made the drop not so bad.  It was helpful for all but the first and last times since I didn’t want to attach a rope to pull up the stool when I was moving on... haha! That would have been kind of funny... like when you have a tree house and pull up the ladder. 

I did have a good adventure at the local food store.  I was tired and decided not to go back to White Sands for the Ranger’s sunset walk.  I was toured out.  I was tired.  I needed to feel normal for just a bit.  So I did one of my favorite normal activities - I walked the supermarket aisle by aisle.  It was a really nice market too.  I never heard of Lowe’s Supermarkets but it was beautiful. The wine and liquor section was huge and looked like an old English library.... Noteworthy indeed in the middle of Alamagordo and the Big Box stores.  I went outside and it was POURING rain.  So I had made a good decision every which way you looked at it.  I went back and chilled, ready to move on to Albuquerque the next day.

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White Sands National Monument - Winter in Summer Part One

Arriving in Alamogordo was like a breath of different air... not fresh, because it was just a little town with a bunch of big box stores on the Main Street, but different.  I had been in the forests and the deserts and in little strange towns that were throw backs to way back; cities that are cool and hip, and cities that are not so cool and not so hip (sorry Houston).  Alamogordo felt like going back just to when I was a kid and this was what a small town was like.   

I found the campground and got situated.  I didn’t tell you about some of the RV related fun I was having on this leg of the trip.  When I got stuck on that street, my steps didn’t come down.  Trust me, at that point, jumping down from the high perch of the RV was the last of my worries.  I just wanted to get out of that cul-de-sac.  

The night before, I walked around the RV from the left instead of the right, not my normal, but for some reason the choice of the moment, and there on the ground was a chunk of black PVC type pipe (I now know it’s called ABS pipe).  Hmmmm... a chunk of my kitchen sink drain broke off in two places!  OY!!   

Are you keeping a list of all these little problems that keep cropping up?  I am.  And the list is not exactly short.  Luckily I am scheduled at the RV place in Albuquerque and should be able to get stuff fixed.  But living without steps?  Living with no kitchen sink?  Really? 

Anyway, so I pull into the KOA (Kampgrounds of America) campground and the manager was the nicest guy ever.  When he asked me how things were going and I told him of my foibles, he promptly offered to come and check things out.  He spent an hour with me pouring over everything.  He went under the coach to see if he could see a loose wire on the steps, and we devised how to get the pipe fixed properly.  I have worked with PVC pipe before and know those solvents, but this was different.  If I could get the ABS, cool.  If not, I had to get a special agent to bond the two different types of pipe together.  Hmmmmmm.  No one ever trusted my plumbing skills before (ok, admittedly there may have been just a tiny bit of good reason for that, but we are not here to bring up foibles from 25 years ago, let’s just stick to todays foibles, which are quite sufficient, thank you!), but I really didn’t want to be without a kitchen sink!  It’s not fun washing dishes in the bathroom, believe me! I tried.  It’s not pretty.   We will come back to the plumbing situation... I had to consider my options, so you have to wait to hear what happened!

SO, after much much time playing with the issues, I got the lowdown on the area from the manager.  When I remarked at how magnificent the mountains were, the response was that the warm weather and the mountains were just about all Alamogordo had going for it.  Haha!  Poor Alamagordo!  Anyway, I learned that basically White Sands was all there was to do unless I wanted to visit the pistachio farms.  Evidently, Alamagordo is a HUGE producer of pistachios.  Who’da thunk? 

The best recommendation was to go to White Sands at night.  There was a sunset ranger walk that was highly recommended, but just being there at night was special.  

It was mid afternoon still so I ran over to Home Depot and went to the plumbing section.  After pouring over the various options of supplies and such, a HD employee came over and listened to my story and confirmed how I had to do things.  He also helped me figure out how to (semi) neatly cut the existing pipe to patch in a new section.  Is your heart pounding at the thought?  Mine was.  But I bought all the supplies and headed back.   

Now it was getting late... so I headed out to the White Sands National Monument.  It was a 30 minute drive past the big box stores and out a super straight, super high speed limit road that literally flew by.  I went to the visitors center only to find that “sunset” was 6:45, eventhough the sun was still high in the sky!  Well, it was 7:15, so I blew that.  But I went into the park anyway.  Did I tell you that I bought a National Park Pass in Carlsbad Caverns? I did.  $80 for an annual pass... avoided the $12 fee at the caverns, so $68 left to amortize.  The pass should have saved me on this visit, but since it was late, the Park Ranger just said to go on in.  (Note - I am still counting it.  $10.  $58 left to go.)   She told me that I didn’t miss anything and I was in for a treat.  It was just the right time.  Cool!

In I went and started the 8 mile drive into the park.  It was like all the rest of these desert areas - brown, sage green, a cactus here and there, lots of yucca type plants.  OK, where’s the white?  I kept driving and sure enough the brown sand started getting lighter and lighter.  Around one bend it was all the sudden white sand.  But with all the same plants and the same, here-a-tumbleweed, there-a-tumbleweed.  I just wasn’t impressed.  I felt like I was in for a let down.  This just wasn’t going to be something special.  OK, it’s still pretty.  Keep going, Steven.  See what’s what.  

I am going to stop here.  SO much to write about, I don’t want to overwhelm you.  

Open items:

Does the piping get fixed? 

Do the steps extend or retract ever again? 

Does Steven break his leg jumping down from over four feet repeatedly? (Hint... no) 

Does White Sands get any better? 

Does Alamagordo get any better?

Stay tuned for more... 

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The Drives to Carlsbad Caverns from Marfa and Marfa to White Sands National Monument

Some of the time a drive is just a drive.  Some times it is terrible - the roads are bumpy; the lanes are constantly narrowed (harrowed) by construction; traffic comes to a stop, or worse a crawl (crawling in a diesel RV is not easy... the engine does not enjoy it and so neither do I); the scenery is boring, or you wind up in places that you are just not meant to be.  I think the drive into Marfa fit pretty much every single definition of a terrible drive.  I was not a happy puppy at all.  But the drive out of Marfa was pretty darned incredible.  It was a constant changing landscape, unfolding as I came around turn after turn (after turn after turn).  I felt a bit like I was driving on a video game - steering to the left, then immediately to the right, side to side.  I had to keep my eyes peeled on the road, but the landscape was breathtaking at each turn.  I really enjoyed it.  I have my phone on a charging cradle sitting up so it is pretty much a prime position for snapping shots or filming.  The only issue is that I have it fully extended so it reacts pretty strongly to the vibrations of the road.  SO, we have a bumpy video and for that I apologize.  However, watch them twice... once with your eyes on the road and come along with me for a fun ride; and the second time watch the scenery.  It is spectacular.

The drive from Carlsbad to White Sands National Monument was equally amazing!

So the drives were so amazing and I was happily blissfully enjoying them.  It was beautiful every step of the way.  It got particularly beautiful as I entered Lincoln National Forest.  As I have said before, I think the landscapes get prettier when you get into preserved lands.  I am sure it's why they are preserved as opposed to because they are, but they are all beautiful.

So I keep driving in perfect contentment and I come to the strangest little town in the middle of the National Forest.  It looked like something out of a movie set and in some ways it did remind me of a town center in Monteverde, Costa Rica, which also looked like a movie set. Cloudcroft even has a name that sounds like it was made for a movie.  I took some pictures as my GPS was leading me into town.

I have to admit my Spidey Sense was twitching as I entered the town.  I was quite unsure of why the GPS took me here.  But it was the RV GPS, the one built into the RV, and it was supposedly programmed to only take you on "RV Safe" roads.  Usually I have another RV GPS running as well, but for some reason I had not done that for this ride.  Anyway, if you look closely at the middle picture on the gallery you can see a street.  It didn't look huge, but it looked ok and that's where I was being told to go.  Onward soldiers... I made the right and the left and the street was a bit narrow and a bit uphill, but it looked kind of ok...

Until I got to the top of the hill and realized I was on a tiny almost dead end street.  There were teeny tiny side streets, but nothing I could navigate.  I could not really see the bottom, but it did not look good but I had no choice but to move forward.  I can not back up with the car in tow unless I unhook it.  well, you can see from the pics where this led.  I was stuck in a small cul-de-sac!  SO, i pull into the cul-de-sac as far as I can and I open the door so I can unhook the car.  GREAT, the stairs don't come down.  I turned off the RV and turned it back on... still no stairs.  That's just perfect!!  Jump down from the door (about a four foot jump) and go unhook the car.  I am so happy that I got to be quick and proficient in doing so.  At least that wasn't too much of a hassle!

I left the RV in the circle and drove to scout out how I should do all this.  The street was a major hill and I prefer not hooking the car back up on a hill, but every street was too small and once I was off this street I was already in the town.  I guess I could have parked outside of town, but that would mean leaving the car, walking all the way back to the RV, then driving the RV back to the car.  I was just not in the mood.  At this point, I wasn't in the mood for much, though I have to admit, I was kind of laughing at myself for getting into this predicament.  And I did note that it's not life threatening, so... at worst, it's a pain; at best, it's a great story!  See, my dear readers, I am always thinking of you!

Well, remember I talked earlier about not being good about backing the RV up into a parking spot.  I am not.  BUT, I am really good at doing 80 point turns to get my self out of a jam, and that is just what I did!  I got out of the cul-de-sac, I hooked the car up on the steep incline, I drove out of the little narrow street from hell and onward once again.  The stupid GPS did not want me out of that town.  When I turned it on again, it was guiding me to those little side streets - worse than the one I was on - so I used the other one.  It took me right out of that town and back on the very same road that I came in on.  It was more turns, more very tight turns, and major hills with major grades (you know you are in for big hills when they keep telling you where the runaway ramps are for trucks).  None of it seemed to matter after the cul-de-sac incident.  So, the morning was glorious and the afternoon was not so much!  It was just more of one of those days!!

Enjoy the pics.  Go ahead and laugh at me.  But while you are laughing, please subscribe, comment, ask questions... I love the interaction.

Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad Caverns was a fascinating stop.  It was kind of like going to a museum except that no one took the beautiful pieces and moved them.  I got to the caverns later in the day and missed the time slot for doing the full walk down to the main cavern.  Well, let me tell you, I am not sorry that I was six minutes late because the caverns themselves were a huge amount of walking and I think the extra mile and a half walk would possibly have killed me! Haha, of course, that's an exageration (who me?) but walking the cavern was quite the workout itself.  It was well over a mile of walking and much of it was uphill.  OK, so the literature says that it is relatively flat, but I am here to report that the literature lies!!!  But of course,  the beauty made up for it.

There is not too much that I can write other than to show you pictures and wonder what it must have been like less than 100 years ago to have discovered this natural phenomenon.  The caverns are, well, cavernous.  Huge heights, huge depths, formations hanging like chandeliers from the ceiling, growing like sculptures out of the ground, and trickles becoming curtains hanging from walls without windows (those side formations are actually called Draperies). 

If you want to have fun, see if you can spot some of the faces in the formations.  Or, can you tell which little section was called the Dolls House? How about the Indian Chief? I am quite sure you will recognize the formation called the Lion's Tale. I walked up to one of the smaller sections and immediately laughed and said it looked like Asian figures.  I pictured the scenes from the movie The King and I where they did the mini play of Uncle Tom's Cabin.  Guess what that section was called...The Chinese Theatre.  My favorite was the one that looks like a Walrus to me.  They had some other fancy name, but to me, it's a Walrus.   I pulled that was out separately from the others because it makes me giggle! Can you see him? I also see the pre-historic beginnings of tribal tattoos... do you?

Interesting note on all these pics... for the most part, they are all taken without a flash.  I have found that the iphone's flash is a strange color, but the non-flash pictures come out so much truer to what I am seeing.  I hope the pictures are not too dark when you are seeing them.  Let me know...

After walking the cavern and taking the almost 1000 foot elevator ride back up, I was tired.  I walked around the museum and read everything there... fascinating tidbits about the area and the native inhabitants as well as tons of information on the geological forces that formed the caverns between 4 and 6 million years ago, when water rich in hydrogen sulfide began to seep through cracks in the limestone that was formed hundreds of millions of years earlier by a vast sea that once covered New Mexico (that's a quote from Google).   They say the caverns are now mostly "dry," which means there is no more water carving and forming new or expanding old formations.  I was in one section though, with no one else there and very very little light and I was actually mesmerized  by the sound of water dripping. In my mind, that drip drip drip was continuing the millions of years of work... so I have a very active mind, what can I say?  I hadn't read the "dry" part at that point.

So after the caverns and the history lessons, I got dinner at the little café run by the Park Service.  Would you believe I had a terrific meal?  It was New Mexico Mexican and was delicious.  I was biding my time, waiting for the lecture on the bats at Carlsbad, which precedes the bats leaving the caves.  The lecture was good, but when the bats started coming out, that was pretty amazing.  They just started in little groups, flying counter clockwise in a swarm as we had been told (though no one knows quite why they do that).  Then as time passed more and more... and more and more... and more(!) bats came out of the caves.  They were flying so tightly that it really did look like a tornado of bats.  Off into the distance they flew, most flying to the left, but some to the right... seeking sources of water and food. The ranger said that 100,000 bats can eat up to 1,000 pounds of insects each night... that is a whole lot of insects, and they catch them in flight.  They don't land to feed.  WOW!

So enjoy the pictures.  I have finally figured out how to get the galleries and faster posting of pictures working so hopefully that makes things easier.  I am not sure that I will be able to do it on my iPad (I'm still at Justin's in Albuquerque) but it's good for now.  You can also go back to the last post about the travels and travails and you will see that I have posted the better quality pictures.  If you are going to laugh at me stuck in a tiny street, you should at least be able to see the humiliation in full resolution! HAHA!!  I have a confession to make about that one... I conflated the trip from Marfa to Carlsbad and from Carlsbad to White Sands National Monument.  Both trips were beautiful, had twisty turny roads and captured the beautiful aesthetic of this region.  Getting stuck on the little teeny street in Cloudcroft was actually on the roads out of Carlsbad not in.  I just changed the post to reflect that it covered TWO rides... and to you, my dear readers, I apologize for the mix up.

Next up is White Sands National Monument... you are in for quite the treat as that is a super special place! 

One more technical note... on dates... I was changing dates to reflect when I was actually in a place rather than when I wrote the write up.  When I did that, subscribers were not getting notified that I had posted since the time had passed as far as the systems were concerned.  So now I am leaving the posting date for a couple days then changing it to reflect the visit date.  Just so you know!

Let me know what you see when you look at the various pictures.... Leave comments, ask questions, and don't forget to subscribe!

Marfa - Part Texas. Part Brooklyn. Part Mars.

I wish I could take credit for the great title, but I can’t. It was a line out of the BBC write up on Marfa that I read on the Internet. Another thing they said was, “Marfa is a quirky collision of saloons and espresso bars, 10-gallon hats and berets and feed stores and vegan restaurants.”  Very fitting and I agree. Some have said that this is a hipster town, but having been to Beacon, New York I have to disagree. This is an almost hipster town that has a lot going for it in its own right. There are a lot of great restaurants and some funky ones, like the late-night grilled cheese shop that I read about.  Unfortunately that was an outdated posting and the grilled cheese is no more.  Sad since I was drooling over that concept.  However as I drove around looking for the restaurants and saw basically none, I realized that all of the restaurants and all the little shops are tucked away inside houses,  down alleys and generally tough to see or notice until you know they are there. The restaurant I went up eating in one night was tough to find even though it was right there on the street. More about that later

So even though technically I was in Marfa for two nights, it really was only one and a half days since I got there late on the first day and I was leaving early on the third... and that the main day was Sunday made it even more complicated.  So the night I got there I decided to make sure that I ran out to do the “main event “in Marfa (cue the drumroll please)… The Marfa Lights. The Marfa lights were first seen in the 1880s.  There were various explanations back then, including being Apache Indian fires, and the speculation continues through today.  Some say it’s just lights of civilization, others say it’s electromagnetic fields, others say it’s extra terrestrial (hence the Mars comment in the title).  Well I figured if they were seen way back in the 1880’s it probably wasn’t the buildings and car lights of civilization.  So there HAS to be something to it.  

So out I go to the spot that’s considered the prime viewing area. It’s been developed by the city of Marfa.  There’s a viewing platform in an attractive building with bathrooms. Everything I read said to expect big crowds but there was virtually no one there when I got there. Some people filtered in including some locals. One local woman told me that she has been coming to see the lights since she was a kid and that she has seen the lights come right up to the fence, but “you have to be real quiet so you don’t scare them.“  OK then...

I think people say things like that to entice you but instead it makes you more wary. But, she was determined that the lights were there and that sometimes they danced up-and-down and sometimes you saw them running across the field in the near distance.  Most the time you just saw them in the mountains way off. As it got darker we saw a red flashing light. The crowd was getting bigger, but nowhere near huge… but everybody gasped when we first saw the red light. Then suddenly there were two to the right of it... and then another, and they took turns blinking on and off and at one point seemed to go to blue or maybe even orange. We all got pretty excited - me included. Even the locals were saying, “there are they are.”  I did manage to get some pictures of what we saw, despite the fact that everything I read said capturing the lights on camera was really difficult. I stayed for a little bit more, but no more lights seem to appear, so off I went contented that I had seen the real deal; I saw the Marfa lights.

Back to my RV… Worked on my blog and ate a little something.  I haven’t been eating too much.  I don’t love going out alone and it’s been really hot so the idea of actually making a meal is not too appealing, but I have not wasted away to nothing just yet, so obviously I am eating enough.

The next day when I woke up, I had to decide what I wanted to do. As you know, shopping really wasn’t going to make it on the list, and from what I saw, there wasn’t too much to be had anyway. So the big choice -  Do I go to the art exhibits at the Chinati foundation, a very modern or post modern indoor and outdoor art exhibit founded by Donald Judd with help from the Dia Foundation in New York  (Guess what, Dia has a gallery in Beacon... six degrees of hipster separation)?  The foundation and it’s indoor and outdoor galleries is something Martha is known for.  Or,  do I go for the drive that was recommended to Justin and Meredith by a bartender when they went into the (very, almost too) Western-themed bar they visited when they were here?  They were told if you want to see what the area has to offer in nature and quaint towns, do this drive... Go from Marfa to Alpine, Alpine to Terlingua through Big Ben Ranch State Park, to Presidio, and back to Marfa.

I googled the drive, and it was about 4 1/2 hours. Well, it was only 11 o’clock in the morning so that would still get me back at a decent time in the afternoon. Probably enough time to get the art exhibit. So I packed some drinks got my car and started to drive. Of course it didn’t dawn on me that all I do in the RV is drive and I’ve been doing a ton of driving -  and here I go doing a 4 plus hour drive in the car. But there I was. As I was driving to Alpine I realized that this was the longest ride I was taking so far in the car. I had already gone well over 3000 miles on this trip, and the car was rolling along behind me, but I wasn’t driving it, and I wasn’t putting miles on it, so doesn’t really count.

I drove back to Alpine (I had come through on my way in) and that was nothing exciting but driving from Alpine to Terlingua was gorgeous. I haven’t talk to much about these desert drives so maybe now‘s a good time.

First of all depending on your elevation, the desert has many different faces.  There are varying shades of green and brown - light brown,  light green, blue green,  brown green,  some lush and rich, some washed out and faded.  As the plants get bigger and more mature, they get a deeper shade of green looking more like what we were traditionally think of when we think of a pine tree.   Every once in a while you might see a standing cactus. Nothing like in Arizona; no saguaros.  These are more like yuccas and such where the changing sands have caused them to tower high. I read that they grow fast because the roots can be covered in sand drifts so the plant needs to push above quickly in order to survive, then the winds blows away the sand at the bottom and you are left with a standing yucca that looks almost like two plants stuck together - the bottoms leaves are drooping downward and the tops leaves are raised up toward the sun.    Other than that, you are mostly sage brush and pines, with more yuccas in some areas and less in others. For the most part, there were no signs of civilization. You see wires telling you people have been here and obviously there was a road, but most of the time there was little else. Sometimes you drove through flatlands flat as far as the eye could see, and then boom, you’d start climbing.  First there was little to no vegetation.  What’s there are the pale combinations of those sage greens and pale blues.  Then,  as your elevation changes those plants it get denser. Then they start to get darker. Then taller.  Similarly, flat roads (and when I say flat, I mean really flat and poker straight) become gently rolling hills.   Then,  all the sudden, you find yourself in a steep mountain pass. The road all the sudden turns and takes you by surprise... Climbing. Twisting.  Turning.  Then you repeat the same process in reverse on the way down. I think this desert is where old RVs and campers go to die. I really laughed at one point when I saw a camper like the one in Breaking Bad. I wondered what they were cooking up in that RV (if you haven’t seen the show, never mind).

At one point, as I was driving,  I saw a kick  up of wind and sand . I think it’s called a sand devil, or a dirt devil (wait, that’s a vacuum), something having to do with the devil.  DUST DEVIL (I cheated and looked it up. Thank you Google.)   But I saw this kick up of sand on the side of the road and it started to swirl and rise and grow much bigger.   This was really just seconds.  As I was driving, it moved onto the road and I had to drive right through it.  It was blinding and the wind was powerful! Later, when I told somebody about this, first of all they told me the name (which I obviously forgot), and second, they said it’s rare that it happens so close to the road. So I guess I should feel honored. It was pretty cool.

After Terlingua I found myself in Big Bend Ranch State Park. It’s really interesting... I’ve come to notice that as soon as you enter a state park things looks prettier. I don’t think anybody is taking care of the plants, they’re certainly not watering them, but they look better, prettier, lusher.  And, as there was more beauty to see, the road became much more to manage. I thought the roads through the mountains were twisty and turny before. This was the twistiest and turniest (is that a word?) road of the entire trip so far. There were completely blind curves. I swear, the roads in Big Bend Ranch State Park are like riding a roller coaster -  all of a sudden the road rises straight up in front of you and it feels like it’s literally going straight up. You can see the top but you can’t see where it’s going other than just seeing a crest.  When you reach the top, you still can’t see anything until you’re on the other side of the crest... and then all the sudden it’s straight down, and there’s a curve at the bottom of that hill.   You can’t see where the curve takes you but you can see the road emerging somewhere down later but you have no idea what the route’s  going to be to get you there. It’s a strange sensation.  It was work folks...  I realized I was clenching the wheel.  I was in high alert and still trying to take in the magnificence of the surroundings which really were exquisite.

Just when I thought the view couldn’t get any better, I saw water.  It looked like a small creek, but that’s because I didn’t realize how high up I was.  It was the Rio Grande I was seeing. Further down the road, yes with more twists and turns thank you very much, I would come to be following the Rio Grande more closely and I could really see how beautiful it was. At one point I went to a “scenic turn off“ a rocky, incredibly steep access road took me to a high bluff overlooking stacked rocks and those were natural formations. At another point I pulled over and was looking at the river and thinking what a perfect place it was for a big giant wall since that was Mexico right on the other side of the river.  Later, I did see a sign warning of the penalties for illegally crossing the border in these locations. But I digress...

I came out of the park and drove to Presidio, which is a small little typical western town -  a couple of small buildings housing some commercial establishments,  a couple of bigger buildings housing bigger commercial establishments.  After that it’s ton of either prefab homes or small little concrete houses. Interestingly, every single one of these little towns that I’ve encountered has also had, at some point, a small cluster of really, really nice homes. They seem so out of place and yet it seems to be a constant. I’m not totally sure what to make of that.

I stopped for gas in Presidio.  The gas station also housed what seemed to be the only restaurant in town.  About halfway in the park I realized I was down to a quarter of a tank of gas and I really had no desire to be stuck in the middle of the desert, with no gas, and no phone service.

The drive from Presidio back to Marfa was surprisingly less interesting and less diverse than the parallel ride from Alpine to Terlingua. I forgot to say that on that other ride there was a border patrol checkpoint along that first beautiful road. It was not for my direction but I stopped to make sure that I wasn’t going to have any issues coming back. The officer, almost imperceptibly, chuckled, And said, “you’re United States citizen right?” When I said yes, she laughed openly and said I wouldn’t have any issue.  So now I’m on the ride back from Presidio and I encountered the similar border patrol checkpoint on the parallel road. Interestingly it was about 40 miles from the actual border that I had been following along the Rio Grande. I’m not sure about how that works. Anyway, when I got there the officer did ask me a lot of questions about where I was going where I’ve been.  She looked a little puzzled when she asked where I was coming from and I said, “Marfa,” and then she asked where I’m going and I said, “Marfa.” But then I explained the ride and she was bouyant about how beautiful that ride is and asked me if I enjoyed the experience. She looked at my license, and waved me on. I can’t help but feel that everybody didn’t get similar treatment.

I got to Marfa and went to the Chinati Foundation. The only problem was that I got there too late as they were just getting ready to close. I didn’t realize they closed at five, and my ride had taken longer than I expected. But she said their permanent exhibition of the works of John Chamberlain has its own building and I could go look at that. I asked her what that exhibition was like, she pointed to a heap of  mashed together car parts. It actually looked kind of interesting, so I figured at least I would get to see that. At least I was seeing some art while I was in Marfa. It was only a five minute drive.  I walked up to the building and it looked empty. A young guy, probably in his early 20s, came up and asked me if I wanted to see what was what. He said it was so hot inside that he was sitting outside in his car.

So, the exhibit was interesting if you like mashed car parts. Actually I liked seeing a couple of them  and found them intriguing (ironically, especially the very first one), but seeing about 30 of them really didn’t do too much for me. The best part of the exhibit was that the young guy had who was working there could not say enough about how much he disliked the work and the artist. He really didn’t think it was art.  He really couldn’t see that there was a ton of “sexual expression” as stated by the artist (Just for the record, neither could I, and if it were there I would see it). So he walked me around to every piece of art and basically told me what in particular he didn’t like about that particular piece versus the others. It was really funny. I asked him why he was working there and he looked at me and said, “This is Marfa.  There is nothing to do in Marfa and nothing to do translates into no jobs.” So this was a job, so he took it.  He said it was a pretty good job in that they were flexible with his school timing, but he just didn’t like the art or artist.  He did not seem to see a problem with that.

On the recommendation of Justin and Meredith from their trip, I had made a reservation the day before to go to Cochineal.  I drove up and down the street and all around trying to find it.  The GPS was telling me it was on the main road but set back.  I could not see it.  Of course once I did find it it was it, it wasn’t really “hiding,“ but it was hard to find.

 Once there, I had the most amazing meal.  I started with a Flaming Jack Rabbit cocktail.  It was a wonderful mix of habanero-infused whiskey, carrot juice, and ginger juice. Elegant in its simplicity.  Don’t knock it till you try it, because it was fantastic. My order of homemade bread came with my choices of spreads – I chose anchovy butter and roasted garlic. The roasted garlic was not roasted to a spreading consistency so I just missed mixed it in with the anchovy butter and it was heaven in every bite. Rich and salty, redolent of umami, served with  chewy and crunchy (yes,m at the same time) bread - this was near perfection. Next I had tuna tartare with anchovy remoulade (anchovies must be a favorite here).  The tartare was fresh, bright and delicious, the remoulade was a wee bit salty and fishy, in sharp contrast to the perfect anchovy butter I had just moments before.

My main course was a vegetable paella served in a small cast-iron pan. Zucchini and yellow squash, mini peppers and onions were grilled perfectly and served in al dente rice that still had a creamy exterior. The only thing I was missing was that crispy crust that a real authentic paella will usually have.  Probably due to not having any rich animal fats to crisp it up.   But trust me, I wasn’t missing it too much.  By the end, and I could not believe I ate everything, I was full beyond belief and well sated. The waitress had been extraordinary and the one of the women who owns the restaurant had come over quite a few times to discuss my thoughts of what I was eating. She was particularly intrigued with putting the garlic in the anchovy butter and said they may have to do that as an option. They can call it Steven butter.  Haha... probably not.  No room for dessert so I paid the (unbelievably expensive) bill and off I went.

I should mention that Marfa, aside from the Lights and such, seems to thrive on what I am going to call retro-kitch.  There are signs of it all over.  The office in the RV park was a tiny little trailer from the 50’s.  If you want to stay in an RV park and feel like it felt back in the 50’s and the 60’s, there is an RV park where you can rent a vintage travel trailer and live the dream.  At one of the local restaurants, the “parking lot” is all vintage cars.  Of course, we can’t park our cars there, but it was sure fun to see those old cars, especially since what they are calling vintage cars were just plain old cars back in the day.  It’s bad when I remember the vintage being the current.  I have to admit that I never really cared for the AMC  very much... but there it was!  It was much more fun to look at now than it was then.   

I went back to see the Marfa lights again and this time there was a woman there who was really intrigued by the whole thing and had read several books about the lights. She quickly told me that, in fact, the red flashing light was a beacon on a tower, and anything to the right of that was civilization. Bubble. Burst.  She said the real Marfa lights show up either to the left of the red light or closer in the field, and they tend to move up and down as well as side to side. The civilization lights only move side to side. Oh well it was a fun thought for the day that I had actually seen them. And I suspect I had you going for a while too…

I stayed pretty late talking to those bubble-bursting fellow tourists and after all the rest of the crowd had gone we really enjoyed looking up at the dark dark sky.  It wasn’t as dark as in some of the national parks that I am anxious to get to see (called dark sky preserves, I believe), but it was darker than I am used to and it was a particularly clear night.  I have an app on my phone called Night Sky that you can hold up to the sky and it will tell you all the stars and planets you are seeing as well as the constellations that the stars form (or supposedly form... some of them I just don’t get).  The sky’s view made up for the bubble-bursting, so we parted as friends. 

The next day I packed up and left and hit the road for Carlsbad Caverns. The ride out of Marfa was yet again,  magnificent... after I got through a couple of rough patches in small really  towns. I’ll have to do a post of that ride because I have videos. They’re a little shaky because my phone was on its holster, but you can see the beauty of the terrain and the changes I was talking about as you go up and down. Of course this time the twisty turny routes were being taken in a 40 foot RV towing a car behind it. It was bad enough just in the jeep!  It was pretty wild in the RV.  But the landscape was so lush and so gorgeous it was worth it.

Don’t forget to subscribe and please leave comments.. and feel free to ask questions too. I figured out how I can reply to comments so I can actually answer you.

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Here are some more random shots from the various desert drives.  I thought you might enjoy seeing them. 

Ok.  This is not from driving in the desert, but this is my site in the desert.

Austin, Texas - A Friend in Training

​Have you ever met someone, and you feel like you could really, really like them if you got to know them better. That’s how I felt about Austin. I liked everything I saw, and I enjoyed everything I did, but I didn’t feel like I got to see or do enough to totally fall in love with Austin.  But I definitely got to see enough that I want to go back and spend some more time. I know I keep saying that, and it is truly the indication that my travels need to slow down to spend longer time periods in each area to get to know it better.  I am learning.  I could see Austin being one of those places where I could rent a spot for three weeks and live there and get to know the city better.

I arrived late the afternoon, and set up the beast.  It was really nice campground, a little crowded, but beautiful. You could tell it was well-maintained... plus all the RVs were nice there so you knew it was a pretty upscale park. I was parked between a huge fifth wheel, the kind that attaches to a big pick up truck, and a 45 foot class A bus that was simply gorgeous.

Someone I knew from one of the social apps agreed to act as my tour guide for the evening so out I went to pick him up. We drove around the city a little just looking at the architecture, which seem to almost all be brand new. Where to start?  How about the first Whole Foods market?  I HAVE to see that. So onward we went to the original Whole Foods Market. I’m not gonna say much about this because frankly all the new Whole  Foods Markets look just like this one. It was cool knowing this was the first, but that’s about as far as my being impressed went. I will say once again that their pastries looked amazing and that we did wind up buying a few supplies for everyday use. (note here, if you buy flavored seltzer’s and leave them in the back of your car to store them, when it’s close to 100 outside... those explosions that scare the sh&$ out if you later... that would be the seltzers telling you that they are not happy and they want out of their cans NOW).

Justin had told me about a place called hope outdoor garden that I should visit, but for some reason it said it was closed when I checked on-line. So instead we decided to go to something I read about online that was a graffiti art exhibit on a failed condominium project. Well, it turns out that what I read about and his recommendation are one in the same. Hope Outdoor Gallery began life as a condominium project one about 3/4 of a block of land going up at least three stories high. Something went wrong with the zoning and the project was abandoned. Well, I have to say, that was the condiminium livers loss.  This is one of the most exciting urban places to visit. First of all the vibrancy of the art was awesome. Second of all it was late afternoon and there were tons of people around climbing all over the structures - some painting, some admiring, some just climbing for the fun of it. There was just a great vibe going on; it was palpable.  I watched as people spray-painted their own art over the masterpiece that was painted yesterday by someone else.  I watched as people just stared in amazement.  I watched as people clicked dozens of pictures.  I watched for a while.

I wound up talking to a woman who was a local resident. She told me the history and told me that she comes every day, because every day the entire thing changes. Something gorgeous today is covered tomorrow. The art is both permanent and ephemeral at the same time. She told me that this was quintessential Austin - great art,  great artists,  but little permanence.  Hmmmmm, lots of stuff embodied in that statement, huh? The other interesting thing that she told me, and I could observe myself, is that the place is virtually spotless. Local kids and even the homeless people work hard to keep it clean. The artists off and throw their spray paint cans down in the grassAnd people come and pick them up and toss them in the cans. Oh, the trash cans are all spray painted, the rocks are spray painted, the weeds are spray-painted. Everything is a canvas. And I could not get enough of it. But like all good things, this too must come to an end. The city of Austin is considering “re-erecting” this in a local city park. I don’t know if the owners of this property have decided that enough is enough, or the city of Austin, in its infinite wisdom, has decided that this would be better off in a public place, or what.  But somehow it feels that something great will be lost if this isn’t the organic and evolutionary project that it’s become.  I have posted a few pictures here.  I am posted a whole bunch more at the end of this post.  I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did.  When you are looking at them, check out the people too.  They are an integral part of the art!

Well, we finally decided it was time to go. Since it was getting close to dusk, I wanted to get to the bridge where the bats fly so I could see them. Every day during the summer months hundreds of thousands of bats come out from the roost under the bridge on Congress Street to go feed on local corn fungus. Their food source makes their flight smell like corn tacos… Ha ha!  But the beauty is in their patterns of flight. It starts off with one bat, then two, then they come out in a swarm and fly counterclockwise up into the sky.  That’s what I read, and I was anxious to see it in person.  So we get to the Congress Street bridge and there are hundreds of people standing on the bridge. Now we just have to find parking and get out there. Easier said than done, but we found the spot a couple blocks away, race to get to the bridge... only to find everyone gone. One guy was standing there and said they came early. Damn, we missed them!  Well I got a picture of the statute commemorating their consistency.  Yay (he says faint heartedly!).

We were already parked so off we went walking. North Congress St. was pretty much a city street like any other, lined with high-end hotels, some with very upscale outdoor cafés. It was starting to get dark, and we headed towards Sixth Street. This is where the real Austin shows it’s colors. There were throngs of people on the street (probably hungry from watching the bats and smelling corn tacos) -  walking with a mission, strolling without,  going into restaurants,  and just standing around chatting. Every store front was either a restaurant, a bar, a game arcade, or a set of stairs leading upstairs where the strip clubs seem to be. Barkers stood at almost every entrance trying to entice you - three dollar drinks! Beer! Shots! You name it, they barked it. One barker, a well-built, well tattooed man, stopped me and said I should come upstairs for a fun time. I looked at him and told him that was not MY idea of a fun time. I guess from the way I said it he knew exactly what I meant, because he looked at me and said “not mine either” and he winked.  It was pretty funny.

What really made things special was that practically every restaurant or bar had live music playing and the windows and doors were open so you could stand there and listen.  Of course, you had to try and drown out the cacophony of all the other music establishments vying for your attention.   It was wonderful walking down the street listening to different music -  rock, jazz, country, folk... something for every taste. We walked up and down the entire strip listening to music, watching people, reading menus, and finally settled on a Mexican restaurant. Of course it was the only restaurant that did not have live music, but the semi-quiet was appealing at that point and the food was wonderful

This is definitely not a sign you see on most city streets. 

The next day I drove around to get more of a feel of the area. I read that South Congress St. was the place to go, so I figured I would drive through the area.  North Congress St. is the high-end-hotel crowd;  South Congress St. is the funky Austin crowd.   It was much more hip; much more wacky. There was a hat store, there was a costume shop, there was a secondhand store that looked like a hipster heaven.  Not a chain or box store in sight.  Good!

Death by bread and butter... .what a way to go. 

Another recommendation was to go to central market, another supermarket. I was so sure about doing yet another supermarket after having not been particularly impressed with Whole Foods, but I decided to go. Wow, this place was amazing.  I have to say I was literally overwhelmed by the beauty of all the food and the beauty of the people - this was Hipster Heaven. Samples were in abundance including a bag in front of each of the dozens of varieties of fresh bread’s and to make matters even better, there were big vats of fresh butter strategically placed to make the bread samples even more yummy. I tasted cheeses I tasted various vegetable chips, I tasted a couple different gourmet popcorn, and they really were different and delicious, and I tasted a couple different drinks. What a nice lunch I had. They definitely should mark this as a major tourist attraction.

Sorry for all the super market pics, but it really was too awesome not to share! 

Back in the car I was driving all around the city and saw the Iron Bear Bar, which I’d been told was a fun place, including theme nights like karaoke. It was only 4 o’clock, but I was tired and in the mood to sit for a bit. In the bar, nicely air-conditioned by the way especially in this heat, there were a bunch of regulars. I said down and was immediately drawn into their conversations. My phone buzzed with a text on one of the social apps.  It wound up one of the guys I was talking to online was in the bar.  So we continued our online conversations in person. What a small world. And what a nice way to spend an afternoon.

The next day I drove to Barton Springs, stopping for lunch at a place that was recommended by the office folks in the RV park where I was staying. The menu looks promising and I was thrilled when I got to Texas size glass of water because, let me tell you it was hot. I ordered a house made veggie burger with green hatch chili sauce instead of just lettuce and tomato since hatch chili is a specialty this time of year (evidently). It took for ever for my order to come out, but I was enjoying my Texas sized water and people watch. The server brought out my food and looked down and asked me why I got a veggie burger. I told him I was a vegetarian and he told me to hatch green chili sauce had beef in it… Yuck! Why would they do that. Anyway it was a veggie sandwich for me and let me tell you the grilled veggies were good but they were nowhere near as good as that original sandwich looked.

I drove up the hill to Barton Springs.  As you rose higher on the road, it felt more rural.  I was entering the park but was not aware.  Then there was a sign for Zilker Park and the vistas just opened up.  Classic park in some ways, but different because it was in the middle of the city.  We have Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, and this was very much akin to that, especially the open areas on Belmont Avenue in Philly.

Barton Springs is a natural spring fed river that was damaged in the 1920s and made into the pool that it is today it covers 3 acres not including the level down where people play in the river with their kids and their dogs. The spring threat fed water is a constant 69 to 70° that was quite refreshing when the temperature outside was in the high 90s. The water was crystal clear although it had a lot of floating debris from the trees surrounding area. Still lovely and refreshing. I laid down on the grass and took a nap for a bit and that was nice, but it was hard to sleep with the sounds of all the kids playing and having fun. It was an interesting mix of feeling like you were out in nature and.  at the same time just at the local swim club. But remember too, this is in the middle of an urban city!  Parking was tough, but I enjoyed the long walk through the Zilker Metropolitan Park where Barton Springs is located.

This was the lower part of the river, after the dam for Barton Springs Pool.

I almost forgot to include pics from a local neighborhood park (there are many in Austin).  What was particularly special here was that they had a mountain bike area.  It was pretty cool watching someone doing the whole course.  I was impressed with the course and with the rider!  So, this pic set goes out to Adam and Gabe...

More pics from the Hope Outdoor Gallery.  I Hope you enjoy them!

Yay for the Bears.  I could use this for my logo.

Buc-ees-a Texas must see? Yeah. Ok. It is.

Evidently Buc-ees is a must see tourist attraction but it is masquerading as a store.  Everybody who told me where to go in Texas said you HAVE to go to Buc-ees.  So much so that it was actually an item on my location itinerary.  I have to admit it was fun.  I have to admit it was worth a stop if for nothing other than the fact that they sold diesel gas for about a buck less than anywhere else and I needed about 60 gallons so that is a real incentive.  This is not a truck stop however.  They don’t even allow trucks to fill-up or visit.  They do allow RV’s and I wasn’t about to miss out on that price.  The nozzle for the diesel was not a truck nozzle like they have in the truck stops.  Those are about twice as thick so you can fill up twice as fast.  I have walked up to pumps where the pump reads that the last person to fill up got over 200 gallons of gas for well over $600!  When you are getting that much gas, you don’t want to wait forever.  Filling up at Buc-ees felt like it was just that... forever.  The pumps were S. L. O. W.  Then I had to maneuver the Beast and BabyBeast around the lot to the outer edge where I took up a whole lot of space!

Walking up felt like walking up to a mini Walmart but they were definitely trying to appeal to the kids as well.  The Buc-ees squirrel was there to greet me and I had to take a selfie with him.  Inside it was HUGE.  They had a whole clothing section, including mostly western clothing (this is Texas after all) and some Buc-ees themed duds as well.  Of course, since Justin and Meredith were so enthusiastic about this place I had to get some stuff for the new baby... shhhhhhh, don’t tell them, it’s a surprise.  There was an entire cold case dedicated to every kind of beef jerky you can imagine and another filled with kolaches.  Kolaches look like mini Strombolis and they did come highly recommended as well.  However on this particular day they had none without meat.  Not one.  And there were about 20 to choose from.  WOW...  But considering the entire middle section of the place is dedicated to barbecue, it kind of makes sense.  They are not going after the vegetarian crowd.  O

There were walls of fountain soda selections and walls and walls of candy, popcorn and more beef jerky than I have ever seen.  Everything you could buy, you could buy in 100 different flavors.  They do do it big in Texas!  Of course, not eating sugar made it easy to just browse quickly.  That is until I came to the sugar free section and, yup, there was a wall of that as well.  Their sugar free chocolate covered almonds were pretty darned good.  So were their peanut crunch candies that I remembered (in the sugared version) from when I was a kid.  So were the gummy bears.  Yeah, this boy did not do a very good job restraining himself at all!  But it was fun.  And I only ate a little bit of each... well, except the almonds ‘cause they were REALLY good. 

Last thing about Texas sized, Buc-ees style things.  I went into the bathroom and I have to say I have never seen such a big bathroom in my life.  Casinos have smaller bathrooms.  I couldn’t resist, I had to take pictures.  To the extent I captures some folks, um, busy, I apologize, but I couldn’t stand there waiting for too long.  

SO, Buc-ees was a fun diversion.  It’s worth going because it is just stupid fun.  Let’s remember that we all can use some stupid fun now and again!!  What’s your idea of stupid fun?

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​Driving days - Two (I am sure there will be more of these posts)

So my last day at Sawmill I knew I was leaving and the plan was to meet a friend in Gainesville, Florida...  90 minutes from Sawmill. Not being sure of his timing, I figured I would spend my morning being productive. I did my first load of laundry – washed and dried  - and it came out really well. That was exciting! I cleaned the bathrooms and straightened and vacuumed. That was exciting too! (Not really, but it sounds good, doesn’t it?)

My Gainesville friend wound up bailing, so I was later than I would usually start for a driving day, but I was on the road at around 3 o’clock with no destination in mind. I knew that I had to be in Houston by Tuesday but nothing nothing was definite other than that. This really is a lesson in what life is like living in your RV.  As my friend David Bott from Outside Our Bubble (outsideourbubble.com) says - Plans are made in Jell-O… He is 100% correct.  Nothing is definite.  There’s always an unknown, but every unknown presents a new opportunity for adventure. So I started driving.  I had some wonderful phone conversations with friends and caught up on life back home (remind me... more on “home” another time).  I didn’t stop until about 10 o’clock.

I landed at Walmart in Pensacola.  Right next door was a Sonic so I walked there to get a diet cherry limeade (yummmm!) and then went back to the Beast and made myself a delicious piece of fish on a ciabotta roll with half a fresh red pepper,  lots of Romain lettuce and some cheese… My idea of a heavenly “Dagwood” sandwich.  I have to tell you it feels good when I do something like that, because when I make real food, and even doing the dishes afterwards, I feel like I am really living my life. I’m taking care of myself and treating myself well. All good stuff. I caught up on my emails, talked to some locals, and fell into a deep sleep about midnight. I woke up at 6:30am and I made myself some yogurt with fresh cherries. Who said I didn’t need to have a cherry pitter with me. It came in very handy. Anyway, off to Walmart to do some quick shopping for some more supplies and I was back on the road around 9 o’clock.

Somewhere along the line I passed the change in time zone and I didn’t even realize it. But now it was an hour behind East Coast time. Who hoo! I had made it so far the night before that that freed up some time on the road and I am actually dictating this post as I drive on my way to an unplanned stop in New Orleans. It’s noon and I should be there before 1 o’clock. I figure that gives me about five hours to do a quick visit to New Orleans and then I’ll hit the road again for a few hours so I get to Houston in a decent hour tomorrow. This is how planning goes. It’s loose. It’s fluid.

All that was good.  Spontaneity is a wonderful gift and I thoroughly enjoyed my stop in New Orleans.  I will post about that later, B.U.T.

Yes, my friends, that was a really big BUT.

But, as I am driving after New Orleans I got stuck in a ton of traffic and my check engine light came on.  Hmmm.... So, I stopped at a truck stop to see if some time off might help.  Nope, it was still lit.  I went on Facebook to my fellow Ventana owners page and asked what it could be.  A bunch of possibilities, but most figured it was from the traffic and had to do with how the newer Diesel engines keep themselves clean.  It’s a process called regeneration and it can only happen above 55 miles per hour.  And it’s automatic.  And it has to happen.  And it is even more important when you are in a lot of traffic gumming up your engine, which is specifically when you can not go over 55 mph.  SO, best I can tell you is that the emission requirements have made it very difficult if you get stuck in traffic for an extended period of time and all the other stars are mis-aligned (like mine evidently were).  The next day involved 10 hours at a different Freightliner shop in Beaumont, Texas and an intervention by a Cummins engine specialist out of Boise, Idaho (a referral from a Facebook friend) to push the Freightliner people to get me out of that shop! Calm Steven... Breathe Steven.

I had unhitched my car and so I did drive around.  I had left that truck stop at around 6:45am and by 5pm I was starving and dehydrated from the Texas heat.  I found a little Mexican restaurant on Yelp.  Five stars and one dollar sign; my idea of perfection.  I went there and there was nothing for this kosher vegetarian to eat, but they made me the absolute best cheese enchiladas I ever had.  Instead of a red sauce, it had a mushroom white sauce on top and it was served with a double portion of the best, most wonderfully seasoned rice.  I was happy.  My belly was full and off I went to pick up the Beast.

Reattached the car and off I went.  I drove well into the night so that I could get to Katy Texas.  Driving at night meant that I would serendipitously miss all the famous Houston traffic.  I was supposed to be there the night before and spend some time with my daughter-in-law Meredith’s,  parents.  Of course that had been canceled, but I was determined to get to spend some time with them alone.  Meredith is due in a week or so and we will all be seeing each other soon, but it is different getting to spend some real quality time just chatting without all the family around.  I was determined that at least we could do breakfast the next day, which we did... which was truly wonderful.  Sitting with them was actually a great reward for all the stress of the day before.  I was really glad I could get there and they were available.  And, thanks for brunch Ann and Bill!

Note - Lots more headaches were involved in that wonderful day.  I have spared you all the gory details... and the attendant expletives that were in abundance.  Suffice it to say that I was not very happy and felt like I was drowning in jello!

New Orleans

So my plans that fell through, and driving super long and late one night allowed me to have time to make a stop in New Orleans. I only got to spend three hours there, and it was the middle of the afternoon so it was a very different experience than the last time I was there when I only got to spend one night (I was speaking at a conference and flew in the afternoon before). I loved seeing the architecture.  I think it’s called Antebellum, but I am not sure.  That was the term I was looking for in Savannah too.  I love all the ornate ironwork and the balconies.  I was especially excited when I first drove into the French Quarter and saw the shotgun houses.  But, every building, residential or commercial, seemed to be all dressed up and pretty.

Sorry for the car pics. I do try not to do that, but I saw these houses, got al excited and snapped while I was driving into the French Quarter. 

The Voodoo Shop was pretty kitschy, but it was fun to wander.  No pics allowed inside.  I guess there are too many tourists who are overwhelmed by the mass of “stuff” inside and want to share.  Of course I was one of them! 

I found a parking spot pretty easily.  I guess that’s because it was the middle of the day.  Since this was a completely spontaneous visit, I had not done any planning at all.  I had no idea of where to go.  So, being me I stopped a nice young guy on the street who looked like he knew what was what.  He laughed and said he was trying to figure out the same thing!  What to do in the middle of the day.  He did point me to some historic bars, but that was about it.  Onward... I went towards the bar area he recommended and just started talking to people.  I have to say, everyone was friendly; I loved all the people I was meeting. I stopped often to ask questions of people who look like they were open to answering… And I had some lovely, lovely conversations with perfect strangers. I even got a proposal from one guy. He told me I was just what he was looking for… I told him he didn’t even know me.  He didn’t seem to care. It was pretty funny.

The bars were all open, with a hawker here and there to entice you in.  Not many were taking advantage of that.  But there were a few people in each bar so I guess it was worth them staying open.  Like Savannah, it was so different to see people walking around with drinks.  Here, the drink of choice was the hurricane.  In a “souvenir” glass.  Tag, you’re a tourist!  haha! 

​I did go into a ton of art galleries.  That was lovely.  The art was bold and colorful, reflecting the style of New Orleans.  Lots of references to the music and to the architecture. Mostly in some sort of modern style.  Few landscapes or overly “pretty” takes on the New Orleans scene.  I appreciated that.  I loved the boldness of one artist in particular.  His name was Hector and he captured the mystique of NOLA in my eyes.  I loved his bold use of the palette knife rather than a timid brush.  I loved how he “bent” his scenes to add to the excitement.  Most of his paintings were at night, since that’s when New Orleans is at its best.  Well, after seeing his art in a few galleries, I saw one painting that really captured it all for me... so it is now proudly hanging in the Beast, waiting for a frame, but happy none the less.

Walking around, I felt like I was at the show before showtime. The set was already; all the props were in place and the stars were milling about looking a wee bit bored.  The extras were standing on the sidelines incredibly excited to be there, but there was no action. It seems that the tourist families were having a great time and everybody else was just waiting for the night time.  But that said, I got to enjoy just a little taste of New Orleans and I know that I want to go back.

Sorry, more crepe myrtles, but see, it is a tree here in the south.  I just love them.  But I promise, no more.

Even some of the plainer buildings still have a bit of ornamentation.

The famous Cafe Du Monde.  Eat your heart out Starbucks... they did it first.

The Main Street reminded me of parts of Philadelphia.  This particular part reminded me of the old Lit Bros. Building.  It was considered a landmark for it’s cast iron facade.  I am not sure if this is the same material.  Almost the whole street was this style. 

Except this building... Art Deco meets Antibellum?

I love all the curves and the curlicues.  

Sawmill Campground in Dade City Florida

So I got to Sawmill Campground pretty late at night on Thursday night... after having to stop to have the Freightliner service done on the RV. You may remember I wrote about having to have the Freightliner service done on the problem that disappeared as soon as I pulled into the Freightliner facility. That fun afternoon, combined with some really bad traffic put me way later than I wanted to be.  But I digress so, I went to I got to Sawmill at about 9:30pm. I called first to make sure that it would be OK to come so late. They have a gate and it’s always manned so they say it was fine. I pulled up to the gate and there is a Southern woman manning the gate. I think I’m falling in love with these southern women. They all seem to have the same routine down pat; it goes like this:

“Hi baby, how are you doing Sugar? Do you know how to get to your site Darling? Let me show you on the map Honey. It’s pretty easy Sweetie you’ll be fine.“

I don’t think I’ve been called so many endearing names as I have on this trip. And I swear they all follow the same script with the same list of endearments. Good thing is I find it endearing. Getting there so late and it being dark, despite a full moon, meant that I had to back into my space in the dark and on my own. Just for the record, I have not done this before.  Even in the daytime with someone directing you, it can be hairy backing up such a long RV.  So I detached the Baby Beast and pointed the headlights toward where I had to back in. It took me a whole lot of forwards and backwards and forwards and backwards and forward and backwards to get myself in, including one backwards where I saw the headlights menacingly in my rear view mirror,  meaning if I kept going I was going to hit the Baby Beast… That would not be good.  That could ruin an already not so wonderful day.

The good news is I did it;  the bad news is that I wound up I parked in spot 156 instead of 157. It was hard to know which spot was which... did the number go to the concrete patio pad or to the pole with the utilities.  Well, guess what?  I wasn’t moving it. And nobody ever said anything the whole weekend so I guess it was not a major problem.  I purposely asked to be in the back by the river.  It’s less busy, less crowded (meaning easier parking in my book), and I had enjoyed being back there last time I was there.  It was nestled in the woods, back behind some of the cabins.  The river was incredibly high because of so much rain lately.  The guy next to me said we were swamp neighbors!  HAHA... no alligators though so all was good.  

Here you can see the Beast nestled in the trees as I walked back from the pool through the cabin area. 

I got up the next day,  made myself a delicious breakfast and out I went to the pool around 10 o’clock.  It was already pretty crowded. I put on some suntan lotion and gave it enough time to dry, then I went in the pool... and they pretty much stay there for six hours until the clouds got to ominous and thunder threatened. I got out of the pool and learned a lesson about Florida weather. There are dark clouds, then a drizzle, then a rumble... no lightning... then all the sudden torrential rains come down for about half an hour to 45 minutes, then the rains stop and are followed by bright blue skies, sunshine,  and everything being completely and utterly dry. You can hardly tell that it had rained.

Well I have to say that was basically my day on Friday and it was my day on Saturday as well... and it was absolutely delightful and delicious. Spending all that time in the water, spending all that time in the sun, meeting so many wonderful people - it was good. I met so many great people... I had a long conversation on Friday with Curtis about our kids and the joys of seeing them out in the world and our shared belief in some sort of higher power. Curtis had a cross around his neck so it’s pretty obvious that we had some big differences, but we delighted in our similarities, and how they affected us, our lives, and our views on so many things. Move on to Bill, who I met when I was walking around at night. We became fast friends and talked about everything and anything.  It’s amazing how much ground you can cover in a short while.   I met JD and Dave in the pool and our conversations were about people and relationships and things that work and things that don’t work and things that we have no idea about... but I enjoyed the two of them thoroughly. Hearing about their views of life and why they moved to Florida and why they were coming back to get a gay campground after having stopped going to gay campgrounds for a while.  New views, New perspectives. It’s nice.  Read my post on gay campgrounds and you’ll see much of my views on this topic. It was interesting to talk about that with a couple of people who had really thought it through as well. Again I really enjoyed getting to meet them at Jed already commented on one of my posts here. Yay!

Entertainment is interesting at Sawmill.  Often, there is a theme to the weekend so the entertainment centers around that. On weekends like this when there is no theme, they have some standards for the permanent residents and the visitors.  So Friday night was Bingo.  Now I have heard of Gay Bingo before but I never went in Philly.  It’s not called gay bingo here... it’s just bingo.  I guess the gay part is too obvious.  The hostess for the evening is the resident drag queen.  She was dressed to the hilt, but, as she said, it was way too hot to shave her legs or put on heels.... HAHA!  She had a mouth on her!  Anything anyone said was fodder for her quick and sharp wit.  All the humor had a sharp edge to it, but you knew to take it for what it was.  Being new, I was the butt of a good chunk of humor and I loved every minute of it.  I was amazed at how quick she was... a wee bit jealous of that!

Saturday night was a show.  It was not a drag show per se.  It was hosted by the same drag queen as the night before, but there were three others, lip syncing to songs and touring the audiences for tips.  There was also a male belly dancer... yup, that was different! And a “magician.”  He had been there when Peter and I were there before so I knew him, but his super low-keyed humor and approach were fun.  His closing skit was to have the MC put her back to him.  He handed her a book and told her to make sure he could not see it.  “Open the page and tell me where you are and let me see if I can read your mind.”  She did.  Page 146... “I see something about enchantment.”  RIGHT!!! PARAGRAPH 5 begins with “enchantment.”  Move to another page... and he kept telling her more and more and she was more and more amazed that he could remember SO much from wherever she was going.  Of course, we in the audience knew that he had he own copy of the book in his hand.  In ensuring that he could not see her book, she could not see his.  He kept telling the audience to shhhh.... His timing was perfect and her amazement so utterly real that it was really really funny!!!  

After the show, I danced for two hours and had a blast!!  Perfect last night.

So sawmill was beautiful, the people were beautiful the entertainment was fun and lively and I thoroughly enjoyed my stay. If you’re so inclined, I recommend going. If not I hope you enjoyed sharing the visit with me. Don’t forget to leave comments and subscribe!