Miles and Mis-haps - Perry, Florida

We've been on the road for three days...one more to go and we'll be back in Tampa for a few weeks.

We left Austin Wednesday morning, which turned out to be fortuitous, events would prove. Had we left on Monday or Tuesday, as we originally planned, we would have gotten mixed up in the freak snow and ice events that hit the south this past week. Snow and ice in the south isn't the same as up north - they have no plows or salt reserves or even drivers who are experienced in driving with winter conditions. So, as anyone who was watching the news this week knows, chaos ensues. Fortunately, we had stayed in Austin just long enough that the warm up had begun by the time we caught up with the affected areas. Good thing too, because we had our share of mis-adventures on this particular road trip. Luckily, all minor and now resolved so we're ready to laugh about them. First, the one that will henceforth be known as the Cow Pasture Incident:

Once clear of the Austin city traffic the miles rolled by uneventfully, until it came time to stop for the night. That's when the fun began. We were headed for Quiet Oaks RV Park in Kinder, LA and the trouble started when we inadvertantly overshot the park's driveway. Continuing down the road we made the decision to let the GPS call the shots...not the best choice, as things turned out. The GPS tries hard, but sometimes it doesn't realize that we're in a 42 foot motorhome towing a car, or it just might make a different choice. In this case, it appeared to be a simple left turn down the next street, two rights and viola, back on the road. Oh, if only. We made the recommended turn and immediately saw that the street we were on was very narrow, with deep ditches on both sides. Coming to the first right turn, we knew there was no way we could make the tight turn onto another road, just as narrow with the same deep ditches on each side. It just wasn't going to happen. So we continued on, looking for a more viable option, until the road we were on came to a dead end in front of a farm. 

So there we are, like a beached whale in front of a farm in the middle of nowhere and wondering how the hell we were going to get out of this mess. The only option appeared to be detaching the car so that the motorhome could back up and then make a three point (or four, five, six point, whatever) turn. It is not possible to back up with a tow vehicle, so detaching it looked to be our only choice. Casting an uneasy eye at the farmhouse, we hoped no territorial farmer was going to come out with a shotgun as Bill got out the gear box and prepared to unhitch the Honda.

But very luckily for us, the farmer did come out - no shotgun. He was a very nice young man who had already sized up the situation and was very kindly offering to help. In fact, he cheerfully said that we were not the first to end up in front of his property in this fix. Well, that helped us feel just a tad less dumb.

He opened up the wide gate to his cow pasture for us and then jumped onto an ATV and motioned for us to follow him, With the car still hitched behind us, we followed him onto the pasture. Several energetic cows started running alongside us (are you getting a visual here???) and we had to dodge one or two of them. Can you see the insurance report, had we hit a cow? But fortunately no cows were injured in the making of this fiasco and making a wide circle through the pasture we were able to get back out through the gate and onto the road. After profusely thanking the farmer, we were back on the road that would take us to the campground. Whew! That was - um, fun. One of those times when you just have to sit back and say "Well. Let's not do that again."

Thursday was a good driving day, with the only glitch being our stop in the worst rest area ever. We were passing through the Atchafalaya Wildlife Refuge just west of Baton Rouge, where the road turns into an 18 mile long bridge over a swamp. At one point, there was a marked highway rest area, so pulled in (driver needs potty breaks!) and found that the ramp spiraled into a pot-holed gravel road. Once into the rest area, we weren't sure how we were going to get out because the provided turn around was really tight. We should have noticed that there were no semis there - apparently the truck drivers know better and stay out of this one. But we did manage to get turned around and out of there. So no harm, no foul. We spent Thursday night at Azalea Acres RV Park in Robertsdale, AL.

Friday morning's issue was that the Honda wouldn't start. Even though it's being towed, we have to start the car up before setting out each morning and let it run for about 15 minutes, going through each gear to warm everything up before putting it into neutral and turning it off for towing. Unfortunately, the night before we had accidently left it in the accessory mode (this is towing mode, so that the wheels will turn) all night - we normally turn it completely off and take the keys out. We could have called our roadside assistance, but we were not in a populated area and it would most likely have meant a two hour or more wait. Luckily, a very nice fellow camper came over and offered us a jump. The jump resolved the problem quickly and we were able to get on our way.

Friday's drive brought no further problems, but we did see our very first snow of the winter - just a small residual amount in the ditches and along the sides of the highway here and there that was left over from the event earlier in the week. We also encounted some pretty severe fog in the morning, but while it slowed us down a bit we were able to continue on down the road. We are spending tonight at a KOA in Perry, Florida and will get into Tampa tomorrow by early afternoon. We'll be staying for several weeks at Bay Bayou, the same park where we were in November. Hopefully, no more mis-adventures for a while!

Sometimes, you just gotta laugh at yourself...

Taste of Texas Country - Austin, TX

We arrived in Austin around noon last Wednesday, January 22 and checked into Pecan Grove RV Park. The park is older and we had reserved the only site that would accomodate our size. It was a little disappointing to have no real outdoor area (not even a picnic table) but the location made it worthwhile. We are pretty much right in the center of town with numerous great restaurants and bars as well as beautiful Zilker Park within easy walking distance.

We settled in quickly and our good friends Teresa and Tom popped over to pick us up. They had lived in Austin for many years before moving to Chicago and they came out to meet up with us and give us an insider's perspective on the area. They turned out to be awesome tour guides/city hosts and we would not have had the same experience without their expertise.



After lunch at Shady Grove where we tried the iconic chili cheese fries and prounced them excellent, we headed up to Mt Bonnell. There is a parking area at the base and about 100+ rock steps leading up to the summit. Once up there the view is spectacular, overlooking the Colorado River far below, the Austin skyline and some mighty high end houses along the river. 
I wish I had better pictures but it was really difficult to get any perspective at all on such a huge panorama. After spending some time at the top of Mt Bonnell we headed back down and after a scenic tour of some of the area highlights we went to the Oasis for drinks and the famous sunset views over Lake Travis.

According to my local expert, the Oasis had been an Austin institution - a funky little place with tiered wood decks built onto a cliff. A number of years ago, the place burned down and what rose from the ashes unfortunately bears little resemblance to the original. The new structure is sort of a gaudy, pseudo-European ode to excess. It is huge and sprawling and absolutely none of the original "funkiness" survives. Obviously very sad for someone who fondly remembers it the way it was. 

Luckily, the famous sunset view survives and it did not disappoint.



We passed a pleasant afternoon in the beautiful weather and later headed to Rudy's BBQ and gas station for dinner. Yep, gas station. Luckily much of the "weirdness" that Austin residents are proud of lives on in places like Rudy's.

On Thursday we started out with lunch at Chuy's, another great little place a short walk from our RV park. We later drove through the downtown area where our friends pointed out many of the Austin landmarks, including the beautiful Capitol dome, the view of which from a couple of streets out appears perfectly framed by surrounding structures.











We later stopped for happy hour at the Hula Hut - if there is a tiki bar, you know this group will find it!

Unfortunately, our perfect weather was not going to last and the dire predictions of a "wintery mix" for Thursday evening into Friday morning were quickly becoming a reality. In the interest of safety, we called it a night early so that everyone could get back home before things got really hairy.

The next morning brought all-out weather Armageddon to Austin with black ice encrusted roads with numerous collisions and spin outs, but luckily none of us needing to be on the road. We were happy to wait things out and by the afternoon the roads had improved to the point where we were able to get back on track with our plan, which was to head for Luckenback.

Luckenback! What an amazing experience. It was truly like a step back in time, but this one is reality and not any kind of re-creation of history. We pulled into "town" which is no more than a handful of old wooden structures and this history geek was pretty much blown away.

Hmmm...does it look like Bill misses the Post Office? In any case, this was like no post office anywhere that I've ever seen. Upon stepping through the door, you find that it is also the general store. Continuing through the store into the bar room in the back we could hear old time Texas guitar picking. There is a large iron stove in the center of the approximately 12x12 room with a rough wooden bench and a couple of bar stools. We took seats on the bench and spent the next couple of hours soaking it all in.

The musician that was playing when we got there (wish I'd noted his name) continued on for about another hour and then was replaced by the legendary Chris Wall, who we had actually come to see. For me, I felt that Chris's songs were the last piece that I needed to put me totally into that old time Texas mode. He was an amazing entertainer as well, joking and story-telling between every song. We all chatted and got to know him better during the break and after the show and he is definitely someone we hope to see again. Can't wait to listen to my autographed CD.

For me, Luckenbach was an enchanted place. The stories those old wooden boards could tell...

Saturday morning I joined Teresa and Tom at their old dog training club and got to see a few of the obediance trials. Very interesting to see the different levels of training and so many beautiful dogs. The focus is mostly on German Shepherds but there was a tiny little chocolate lab puppy just along for the ride that stole my heart. Bill had stayed home to attend to a few home chores (and kill some computer zombies!) and we all got together later for dinner before heading to the Saxon Pub to see Del Castillo, Tom's favorite Austin band. They are a Latin rhythm and rock band and they really rocked the place. Lots of high energy and amazing guitar playing with a very different sound from typical bar bands.

After the show we stopped by the Broken Spoke, another Austin must-see. It was very crowded so we didn't stay long but at least we got to see it. We then continued on to 6th Street and walked up and down for a while, just to get the pulse of that area. We were pretty much the only ones over 25 there - this is a college town - so we didn't even stop anywhere but we had to experience it. We did pop into the Driskill Hotel, built in 1885 and reputedly haunted. The hotel is beautiful and we wandered around for awhile, into an open ballroom and then out onto a balcony.

Sunday morning we set off bright and early for Gruene, TX, the site of the famous Gruene Hall. Gruene Hall is the oldest dance hall in Texas and like Luckenback, so packed with history.

Many musical greats have played on the stage at Gruene Hall, names like Willie Nelson, Merle Haggerd, George Strait and many, many more. It's just exactly like it always was - no tourist traps here. There aren't even hotels in town, just a bed and breakfast for anyone wanting to stay right in the tiny town. Otherwise, accomodations can be found in neighboring New Braunfels.

There were two different bands playing on Sunday, beginning with Slim Bawb. This was a trio that played their own music, Louisiana Cajun zydeco as well as Texas country blues. The second band was the South Austin Moonlighters, who played a few covers as well as a lot of their original stuff. Both were really good and we all enjoyed the Gruene Hall experience. What a fun place.

During a break, I took the opportunity to get outside in the warm sunshine (Armageddon had given way to much better weather) and walk around the town a bit. The single intersection of the two main streets consists of a number of old buildings, well preserved but still all original. No fake living history here, just the real thing. I could have spent hours just hanging out in Gruene, soaking up the feel of the stories it could tell.

We later went to dinner just down the street at the Grist Mill Restaurant, a lovely old structure that overlooks the Guadalupe River.






We had a great dinner and then headed home. That was our last night with Tom and Teresa so we bid a fond farewell at the end of the evening. It had been a great few days hanging out with them.

Monday we reconnected with a couple of other old friends. Bill's childhood friend Marty and his wife Deb live in Round Rock, near Austin, and last night they joined us for dinner. It was so nice to reconnect with old friends after being out of touch for years. We had a very enjoyable evening reminiscing and catching up on what's going on with each of our families - happily, all good stuff!

Our plan was to head out this morning, but the weather decided otherwise as there was another ice storm overnight. Tomorrow is looking much more promising, so we'll be eastbound first thing in the morning as we begin the trek back to Tampa.

Remember the Alamo (and more unforgetable stuff) - San Antonio TX

We rolled into San Antonio yesterday afternoon, but first to finish up our South Padre stay - we had a great last weekend at Isla Blanca. We spent Saturday night at Laguna Bob's where the Chrome Wheels band (www.thechromewheels) was playing.

This is a husband/wife duo and they were a super fun bar band - lots of great classic country as well as pop stuff. We hung out with some people from Minnesota, fleeing the cold just like us. I got to dance, so I came home happy. Laguna Bob's was our favorite bar in South Padre.

Sunday we ended up having a football playoffs party at our site, with new friends and neighbors Gary and Susie and Beverly and Bob all joining us. The Patriots lost (sorry Greg and NH friends...) but the Seahawks won (yay, Seattle and PHOPS friends!), so the split decision worked out for us. Having an outside TV is a pretty good draw so it wasn't hard to put a party together, even though we still miss all our Sunday football homies.

Monday morning, amid a flurry of goodbyes we set off for San Antonio. We arrived to a sunny 78 degrees so we were pretty happy to sit outside with cocktails soaking it in for the rest of the day. But this morning we drove into town early since this was going to be our one day in San Antonio. We started out at the Alamo.

Believe it or not, we had a little trouble finding it. It's tucked right smack in the middle of downtown, among all the other buildings and we actually drove along the side of it without realizing it. But we got there eventually. My first impression was that it was so much smaller than I expected. It looms so large as a historical site - we all learned about it back in grade school - but it's really not a large structure. It is very well preserved and you definitely feel the age as you walk around it. Well worth a visit.

After that we hopped on a trolley for an hour long city tour. The tour was informative as there is so much history in this city, but it was all pre-recorded so not very personal. After that we went down to the Riverwalk, and wow, that did not disappoint. Everything about it is absolutely jaw-dropping. We have seen riverwalks in many places but nothing that can compare to this. We did a boat ride so we were able to see most of it, which would have meant hours and hours of walking had we tried the whole thing on foot.

The boat tour (www.riosanantonio.com) is an amazing value at $8.00 per person, and we felt it was much better than the land trolley tour.

We picked up drinks at a little place right next to the dock before boarding, and quickly made friends with Sidney and Becky from New Mexico who were sitting next to us. I wish I had better photography skills, because my little phone pictures in no way do justice to how beautiful the Riverwalk is. It felt like we were traveling through a foreign country, with the old stone buildings, the trees and landscaping, the bridges, the wrought iron balconies and the ornate structures that it meanders along. Restaurants, bars and shops line both sides, but there are no McDonalds or chains marring it. The restaurants are mostly little sidewalk cafe types and everything just fits together beautifully.

After the boat ride ended we walked with our new friends over to Marie Mia for happy hour and "first of the day". We had a fabulous afternoon.

Kodak moment with the band:

In short, we absolutely loved San Antonio and will surely come here again. But tomorrow we're heading north to Austin to meet up with good friends - Teresa and Tom, hope you're ready!

Beaches and dancing and dentists, oh my! - South Padre Island, TX

We are still in South Padre Island until next Monday. We've been having a great time here. Some of the things I LOVE about South Padre:

The location – right on the gulf. It's absolutely beautiful. We are on an elbow of land where the bay is behind us and the beach is just around the corner. We can hear the waves crashing day and night – and they pretty much crash all the time.

We've seen dolphins from the bridge and there are pelicans everywhere, along with several kinds of birds that I can't identify. This gentleman appeared to be some kind of heron, but bigger than any heron I've ever seen.

The park – Isla Blanca is a great RV destination. I've been doing workout classes every morning. I can't decide if I like the Zumba or the line dancing better, but I love both. We've been bike riding most days and beach walking as well, so we're burning up a calorie or two. There is entertainment on Saturday nights with live music. We went out elsewhere last Saturday but this weekend I think we're going to check it out. We've met lots of friendly people, and met up with some of my line dancing buddies at a bar in Port Isabel the other night. Our non-dancing boys were happy to sit and chat over drinks while us girls worked on our steps. Port Isabel is just over the bridge on the mainland.

The weather – The first couple of days were a bit disappointing as it was rainy and cool, but that soon ended. It has been sunny and warm (60s and 70s) most days, so no complaints except for the gale force wind that never seems to stop.

If I had to pick the one think I don't like, it would have to be the wind. It slows down sometimes, but then kicks right back up again. One night it actually kept us awake, thinking we were going to lose our slide-top awnings or satellite dish. Our big patio awning has never even been out.

As to day to day life, I have a story which I will call Adventures in Dentistry. When you're on the road, medical and dental issues can still surface and they have to be attended to as best they can. One morning this past week, Bill found he had what appeared to be a cracked tooth. So we went to our insurance provider's website and found 3 dental practices in Brownsville, which is the nearest real town. So 3 of them...eeny, meeny, miney, mo right? He picked one and he called to make an appointment for later that same day. We drove into Brownsville, about 30 miles away and while it's a nice town with all the amenities you might expect, the GPS was taking us into what looked like a sketchy part of town. We finally ended up alongside a small airport in an area well outside the town about a half mile from the Mexican border. We could see a faded wooden sign almost buried between the trees that read “Dental Clinic” with an arrow pointing up a dirt driveway. Now, at this point I'm totally ready to bail. But Bill said “We're here, let's check it out.” So up the dirt drive we continued. It opened onto a yard where we saw this:

If I was ready to bail before, I was now ready to run for the hills. I said “If it were my tooth, we'd be peeling out of here. There are other dentists in this town!” I also ominously reminded him that no one knew where we were.

But Bill insisted he had a good feeling about it so he got out and headed for the door, with me following reluctantly. We walked into the ramshackle little building and I gotta tell you, things did not look any better. There were no other patients, just a receptionist behind a counter who greeted us and said the doc would be right back. “Maybe you saw him outside?” she asked. “An old guy.” Oh, good. An old guy. Remember, I'm still poised and ready to split but no, Bill is going to see this through. So a few minutes later the dentist walks in and he is indeed an old guy. About a hundred years old. He told us that he had retired down here years ago (Years? Decades maybe? Who's counting?) But he got bored with retirement so he went back to being a dentist. So cutting to the chase, he took Bill into a treatment room and it turns out that it was only a filling that was cracked, and he was able to fix it in short order.

So no one died, nothing bad happened, the tooth got fixed and I should probably not be freaked out by so much by appearances. Ok, lesson learned. But I still would have bailed if it had been just me. And so ended that particular adventure.

Today we drove down Padre Boulevard, which is the main drag through town, all the way to the north end of the island. The commercial area goes on for a couple of miles, then you see a group of condos and houses that go on for another mile or so and then...total desolation. Like the Florida keys, the island tapers to a very thin strip of land with water visible on both sides over some brush and sand dunes. We stopped along the road and walked down to the beach where some folks were fishing but there was no commercial development at all. That famous South Padre wind was really howling and when we continued down the road we started seeing sand drifts across the road.

At one point the only part of the road that was driveable was the shoulder of one of the lanes – the rest was drifted over with sand. 

We made it all the way to where the road ended but then turned back since the drifts were growing and we were a bit worried about getting stuck. We got safely back to town and are now settled back in after doing some grocery shopping.

We will be here through the weekend and will be heading to San Antonio on Monday.

Back to the Beach - South Padre Island TX

Finally, warm weather and sun – feels like we've found the promised land!

After 4 days on the road through Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, we arrived on South Padre this past Tuesday, January 7.

We took the road trip slow and easy, not driving more than 250 miles most days. After leaving Amite LA, we overnighted in Beaumont TX and then Victoria TX. The day we arrived in Beaumont was an especially short day, as we called it quits and pulled into the park before 1PM. Since the day was chilly and overcast we thought we would use the time to do some laundry and catch up on a few chores, but no sooner were we settled in than a knock came on the door. It was one of neighbors, who informed us that “all the wacky people” were gathering at the clubhouse. Well, who are we to turn down an invitation like that? I don't know how we find each other, but it seems to work. We gathered up some beverages and hightailed it over where we spent the next few hours playing increasingly spirited games of WII bowling and exchanging tales of the road with fellow travelers. So the chores didn't get done, but we had a great time. And chores, schmores, right? There's always tomorrow to get stuff done. That's one of the great things about retirement.

So, South Padre – it is absolutely beautiful here. The town is small, with one main drag where all the shops and little bars and restaurants are, and it dead ends right at our RV park. We're at Isla Blanca Park, which is one of two rv parks run by the county. It is right on the Gulf of Mexico. Our kitchen window looks out on the bay and a short walk around the corner takes us right to the beach.

The park is well appointed, with large sites and a full schedule of activities. I've jumped into line dancing classes two mornings a week and a sort of jazzercize-salsa dancing mix exercise class the other mornings. There are also bike and walking paths everywhere, so getting out and burning up some calories is not a problem. It was overcast and rainy the first couple of days we were here, but this afternoon the sun came out in a glorious way – 73 degrees! But killer winds. 

 I finally got my toes in the water...

We hung out at the beach and spent some time watching the kite surfers.

Earlier in the week, we had watched a deep water drill platform being moved out to sea.

Since we're always on the prowl for little places that have live music, we found Padreritagrill the other night. We went there for dinner with friends Gary and Terry, who we had met back in Red Bay and met up with again here at Isla Blanca. There were some interesting characters around.

The owner of the place, J. Michael Lafferty, plays on the weekend and we're told that he is a trop-rocker – hey, another one of ours! We are planning to see him tonight and then check out a couple of other places that we've heard about. So more to follow on the musical front. In the meantime, it's nice to be settled for a couple of weeks.

We've met lots of full time rvers these last few months, and everyone seems to do it a little differently. We are slowly finding our own style and we find that we like to stay put for a while after a few days on the road. This allows us to really get to know a place and meet a lot of people, which is always a draw for us. South Padre is going to definitely keep us interested for the two weeks we plan to be here. It's a great winter destination and many of the people we've talked to are here for the whole winter. I kind of feel that we're trying destinations out this first winter – if we like it we'll come back, and I think we'll definitely come back here again.

Back on the Road - Amite, LA

I'll start with the good news: we finally finished up with all our business in Red Bay, AL and blew out of there at 0700 this morning. We drove about 350 miles today – more than we usually cover in a day, but we wanted to get far south enough to get out of the cold. It's sunny and pleasant here in Amite, LA, and feels warmer than the actual 60 that it is. We are enroute to South Padre Island, TX and this is our first overnight stop. But back to catching up:

We left the moho in Red Bay at the Tiffin Service facility on December 18, when we drove out to Conyers GA, just east of Atlanta to spend a couple of days with my brother and nephew. From there, we flew to Seattle and headed down to Olympia where our son and one daughter both live, to spend Christmas with the family. We had a lovely week, and as far as wonderful news goes, our daughter Bethany got engaged over the holiday and is planning an August wedding. We are delighted to welcome Matt and little Kylee to our family – gee Matt, I hope you know how brave you are to take us all on! It was a great week and we miss them all already.

We flew back to Atlanta and got back to Red Bay on the 30^th to find it was still really cold there. Everyone kept telling us that it never gets that cold (30s, even 20s overnight) but of course, we must have brought the weather with us. Most of the work on the moho was done but we still had to stay till the end of the week, since our cap rails needed to be replaced under a recall. This is a 2 day project and with the plant being closed for New Year's it put us having the work done on Thursday and Friday. Luckily, most of what we were having done was warranty work so that the big bill we were expecting never materialized. The even better part was all the great people we met, from all over the U.S and Canada. The customer lounge at the service center is an interesting place, where people gather with their dogs and cats while their rigs are being serviced, and there is never a dull moment. A shout out goes to our new friends Kris and Bill, who we hope to see again on the road, or maybe when we get back to Tampa. Then there was the couple traveling with 7 dogs – that's right, 7 dogs. And not little purse dogs - they had 4 whippets and 3 terriers. In a motorhome! Yikes. There is much to be learned from talking to other rvers, especially since we all have similar rigs. Many of the people we met have been rving for years and had much wisdom and information to share. We also caught up with old friends Paul and Mary, who at one time were our neighbors back at Pearl Lake. They have been full time rvers for several years and happened to be staying in Hunstville so we met up at a restaurant about halfway in between. But good parts aside, it was a long stay between the time before and after Christmas and we were really anxious to get out of the cold and head south.

On another interesting note, Red Bay is in a “dry” county. This phenomenon is apparently common throughout parts of Alabama and Mississippi. Not only can you not buy a bottle of wine or a 6 pack of beer anywhere, but no restaurant serves alcohol and there are no bars. We had dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant one night, but couldn't have a margarita. Another night we went to a steak and seafood place but couldn't have a glass of wine. Are you getting my drift here? We were told that the Baptist churches control everything down there and apparently they think Prohibition was a great idea. We would make the trip to a neighboring county every few days where we could pick up whatever we wanted, but that was at least 50 miles each way. Geez...didn't make our stay any more palatable.

In any case, I was able to put our coats away today and this is going to get better as we continue on toward South Padre. This brutal winter is affecting all parts of the country to some extent and we don't expect 80s down there, but the 10 day outlook is showing mid 60s, day and night. We are planning to arrive there on Tuesday so more on that to follow. Hope everyone had a happy new year!