Last Day in Biloxi- Saturday, July 7, 2012

Today was our last day in Biloxi as we will be going to Red Bay, Alabama tomorrow. After breakfast we again went down to the beach for the morning. The day started out to be very cloudy but it wasn't until we decided to leave the beach thyat we felt a couple of sprinkles of rain. Being a Saturday the beach had a few more people on it but still not crowded.

Returning to the motorhome and getting showered we took off for lunch. We returned to McElroy's on the Bayou but we had an unattentive waitress that did not make our experience this trip as pleasurable as the first time we ate here. The food was good inspite of the waitress. After lunch we went on a scavenger hunt, of sorts. When we had stopped at the Visitor's Center crossing from Alabama into Mississippi as we came to Biloxi we were given a post card that we were to get 6 footprint stamps at various locations along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. There were 3 distinct areas and we had to get 2 stamps from each area. The first area we went was Ocean Springs, east of Biloxi. Ocean Springs has a lot of art stores and museums and it was from 2 museums that were on the list that we got those 2 stamps. The next area was the Biloxi area. We had gone to the Visitor's Centere there several days ago and had gotten a stamp from there so we only needed to get another which we did at another art museum. The last area was 30 plus miles to the west in the Kiln area. This time we stopped at a county park, McLeod Park, and then at the Lazy Magnolia brewery. We had filled up our card so now all we need to do is send it in and wait to see if it gets drwan for a new Jeep Wrangler- not holding our breath for that! It turned out to be fun and interesting but we probably should have done this earlier in our visit here. When talking with the folks in these establisnments we learned new things about the areas but we'll have to keep those things in mind if we visit here another time.

Our stay here in Biloxi has been enjoyable. For an area along the Gulf it has never felt over run with traffic. The campground that we are in, Cajun RV Park, has never been entirely filled and I believe that to be the case with other campgrounds. The beach areas have never been crowded- of course, there are 26 miles of beach here so people are able to spread out.

Enjoying the Biloxi Area

The past few days we have just been spending leisure days in the Biloxi area. Wednesday, July 4th, Independence Day, we spent in the campground except for lunch at the "Hog Heaven" restaurant, a barbeque and blues spot. In the evening we went to the front of the campground to watch the fireworks. And fireworks there were--everywhere along the beach fireworks were going off. There was a designated area for the city of Biloxi to be setting off fireworks but indiviuals who apparently had money to burn were also setting off the fireworks. The popping and banging started before dark and continued until at least midnight.

Thursday we checked out a souvenir store and found the usual stuff- nothing to get excited about. We stopped into the Hard Rock and Margaritaville Casinos just briefly without doing any gambling. And then went to Wal-Mart for a few groceries. In the evening we took a nice walk along the beach and saw all the trash left from the 4th's fireworks. I guess one day there will be a ban on fireworks here and these folks that trashed up the beach will wonder why.

Today, Friday, we spent the morning on the beach. The water temperature is really warm and we were able to walk quite a ways from the shore before the water reached our bathing suits. The gulf waters were very calm when we first were on the beach but then the wind kicked up and the wave action became a little stronger but nothing like the ocean waves. The water continues to be a little murky. After a couple hours on the beach we returned to the motorhome and showered. We then went to a seafood restaurant, McElroy's, located along the beach. We had eaten last week at McElroy's on the Bayou- these restaurants are owned by the same people, the menu and food much the same at both places but we liked the Bayou location better. The views out across the bayou just seems more interesting than out across the gulf.

The weather continues to be hot as it is across the country. Temperatures are in the mid to upper 90's each day. Had some threats of rain and a few showers at night a couple of times.

Exploring the Coast Along Mobile Bay

Yesterday, July 2, 2012, we hopped into the Jeep and drove east to the Mobile, Alabama area. We stopped at a Visitor Center and got some information about this area. Bellingrath Gardens and House was our first stop as we traveled down the western shore of Mobile Bay. Walter, a Coca-Cola bottler, and Bessie Bellingrath were the owners and establishers of this beautiful piece of property. It is located along the Fowl River, a brackish water tributary of Mobile Bay. The Bellingrath's did not have any children so prior to Mr. Bellingrath's death in 1955 a foundation was set up to oversee the gardens and house as a permanent memorial to his wife who had died in 1943. Walking about the gardens is a self guided tour but the house is a scheduled guided tour. The gardens are planted 4 times throughout the year. The gardens as we saw them had plantings of coleus, impatients, hydranges and other bright summer flowers.

The rose garden was in full bloom.

Huge Live Oak trees and Magnolia trees are growing throughout the property as well as flowering Crepe Myrtles.

The 15 room house that was completed in 1935 still houses Mrs. Bellingrath's collections of furniture, silver, porcelain and crystal.

Picture taking is not allowed in the house. Some additions to the property since the death of the owners are the Asian-American Garden and the Exxon Mobil Bayou Boardwalk. Despite the very hot, upper 90's, temperature and high humidity it was worth the several hours that we spent on this beautiful property. We decided at this point to eat a late lunch/early dinner and return to Biloxi. We ate at a restaurant, Pelican Reef- Tom had a grouper dinner and I had a filet of Trigger fish stuffed with crab stuffing with a shrimp sauce over it. Both of us enjoyed this food. Today, the 3rd of July, we started out at the farmers market in Biloxi. Lots of produce but expensive. Watermelons were $5-$6 and bananas $.60/pound. (Walmart has watermelons for $3.45 and bananas for $.55/pound). I did buy some fresh figs something I have never eaten. After the market we then took off for the eastern shore area of Mobile. This area was much heavier with traffic than the traffic on the western shore since this is the route most use to get down to the beaches of the Gulf Shores. There are many towns along the way. We stopped in Fairhope, a town known for its art and antique shops. We continued southward with stop and go traffic through the town of Foley and onto the Gulf Shores where we turned toward the east across a narrow strip of land that separates Mobile Bay from the Gulf. A ferry had to be taken to Dauphin Island and then we could travel up the western shore to Biloxi.

We ate a early dinner on Dauphin Island at Barnacle Bill's. Their special which we both had was "Royal Reds", a large, red shrimp that are in the deeper parts of the bay only at certain times during the season. The shrimp are boiled and served with drawn butter, boiled potatoes, corn on the cob and cole slaw.

These shrimp had a sweet taste very similar to lobster. Returning to the motorhome we had a thunderstorm followed by popping of firecrackers.

Biloxi, Ms.- July 1, 2012

It's a lazy, hot Sunday morning in Biloxi. The campground has thinned out somewhat but I guess many will stay the week since the 4th is on Wednesday. We are planning to be here until next Saturday. We have spent the past 2 days looking around Biloxi. Tom spent a week down here after Hurricane Katrina with a group from our church rehabbing homes. We drove by the house that Tom had been working on. It was, and we can only guess speculate still is, owned by a Vietnamese family. Many home sites are still vacant except for the concrete slabs that the homes were built on. And there continues to be construction going on. We stopped by a pier where local shrimp boaters were selling shrimp off the boats.

We may return later in the week to get some shrimp to take home. We went to the Katrina Memorial, a structure that is the height of the storm surge from that storm.

There is a listing of those Gulf Coast individuals that died in the storm engraved on the wall. Crepe Myrtles are in bloom everywhere along this coastline. We saw a poultry and seafood market and stopped to check it out. Lots of seafood- shrimp, all kinds of fresh fish, scallops and assorted crabs- and the only poultry was frozen. We bought some shrimp and scallops and then made seafood pasta back at the motorhome. Yummy!!

The beaches are of white sand. We learned that the beaches are not natural but were constructed to make this area desirable for tourism. Walking along the beach the water continues to look dirty we can only guess that is the effect of Hurricane Debby churning up the Gulf waters. We'll see if in a few days the water becomes clearer.

Moving South to Biloxi, Mississippi

On Wednesday, June 27th, we left Cave City continuing down I-65 into Alabama. Most of this highway traverses through rolling wooded hills. We did travel through Nashville, Huntsville and Birmingham on I-65 with little problem. We stopped for the night at a campground south of Birmingham, Birmingham South Campground. A nice campground but a little pricey- it was $44.12 for one night ( the previous campground in Cave City, Ky. cost us $32.00 for 2 nights with a Passport America discount and both had full hook-ups with 50 amps electric). We had a pull through site that we did not have to unhook the Jeep for the night so we decided after seeing an ad in the campground information paper of a Johnny Ray's barbecue joint that would deliver to order dinner from there. Well- Tom called and asked for delivery, they had to check if there was someone there to make the delivery, then he tried to order catfish dinner for me and was told "we don't have catfish" which was on their website menu. At this point Tom told them to forget it and I cooked dinner. We had planned to go to the Mobile, Alabama area to hang out for about a week but it seemed that was not to be. Hurricane Debby was spinning around Florida and we were hesitant to make any reservations for fear that if Debby continued west the Gulf coast could be in jeopardy. So when we tried to find a campground inb Mobile after the threat of Debby had passed there was no room. We then started going into Mississippi Gulf coast area and we found sites in Biloxi, Ms. Thursday morning, the 28th, we continued further south on I-65 to Montgomery and the southwest to Mobile. I-65 ends in the Mobile, Al. area and at that point we connected with I-10 west into Mississippi and the Biloxi area. We had reserved a site at the Cajun RV Park that is located across the Gulf Highway from the beach area. It is an older park but well maintained and does have some trees around- but like a lot of campgrounds there is an active train track close by and Kessler Air Force Base has planes flying overhead. Oh, well,these things never seem to bother us too much. In the evening we drove around looking for a seafood restaurant for dinner and found McElroy's on the Bayou. We had really nice dinners of broiled shrimp and scallops while looking out across the bayou- good food and a nice location.

Bowling Green, Ky. and More Caves- June 26, 2012

Today we drove south about 30 miles in the Jeep to Bowling Green.  The Corvette plant is located here and we were going to tour that facility.  We had taken the tour several years ago but as with everything things change.  There are now just certain times in the day that the tours are scheduled- we were about an hour and half too early for the next scheduled tour.  And there is now a $7.00 per person charge- I guess this is helping GM in their financial recovery effort. So we opted to do something else.

We drove around the city of Bowling Green and when we saw a Sam's Club we stopped to pick up a few items and then a stop at Walgreen's.  We decided to go to the Lost River Cave but thought we had better get lunch before doing so.  Not surprising we found a Mexican restaurant and had our lunch and then to the Lost River Cave.  The Lost River Cave is a privately owned cave unlike the Mammoth Cave run by the National Park services.  The tour is more expensive, less informative and shorter than the tour at Mammoth.  But it was a different experience as we were on boats that went a short distance into the cave.  This cave is also a wet cave that has the beginnings of stalactites.  Jesse James and his gang used the cave as a hide out.  Outside of the cave there are several blue holes, pools of water that is blue due to the the rock sediment.  A trail to a Butterfly Garden took us to an enclosed flower garden with hundreds butterflies flitting around on the pretty flowers.

The weather today was just perfect, bright blue skies, low humidity and temperatures in the low 80's.  Tomorrow it is forecasted to change to higher humidity and temperatures reaching into the 100's by week's end. After returning to the campground we walked about the grounds in the evening.  This is a nice campground that honors Passport America membership which is half the usual price and we would certainly return if in the area.  The owners are very friendly and helpful.  Tomorrow we will be moving on, not sure where but a little further south toward Mobile, Alabama.

"The Rally" to Cave City

"The Rally" kept us busy from Thursday(6/21) evening until Sunday(6/24) evening. Thursday evening we were entertained by the Gatlin Brothers. Friday evening Burt Bacharach entertained us with his beautiful music as he played the piano along with other musicians while 2 young ladies and a young man sang many of the songs. The entertainment Saturday evening was Cheryl Crowe and her very loud ensemble. And the last evening a professional Elvis impersonator entertained along with several rally attendees that also did an Elvis impersonation- the professional was the best but a couple of the amateurs didn't sound bad. During the day we were attending seminars pertaining to RV's and history of the area and, of course, checking out the vendors' wares. It was a nice rally and the Louisville Exposition Center made it pleasurable as everything was indoors in air conditioning. It was hot everyday with outside temperatures in the 90's. We had electric that allowed us to run one air conditioner, not the best but better than only being allowed to run the generator from 7am to 11pm. Sunday afternoon we took a break from the rally and went out on the Ohio River on the Belle of Louisville, a steam powered paddle boat. We had made reservations earlier in the week along with a group of Maryland Good Sammers and our friend from Tennessee, Lois Howard. The 2 hour excursion on the river included a buffet lunch which included fried chicken, roast beef and ham along with salads and other side dishes and pie for dessert. This morning, Monday, we left the rally grounds at 7:30am. The electric was being turned off at 7am so we decided to leave early and get to a campground about 85 miles south and then eat our breakfast. We had made reservations at a campground in Cave City, Ky, Singing Hills Campground. When we arrived, about 9am (actually it was 8am as we had entered Central Time Zone), our site was still occupied so we were directed to park next to an old barn and I then fixed breakfast. Shortly after eating breakfast and washing dishes, our site emptied out and we got settled. It was time to get some laundry done. Between loads of laundry we both fell asleep- rallying can be a little exhausting. By noon time we were ready to get out and see the area. We went to Mammouth Cave National Park and took the Historic Ranger Led Tour. This 2-hour tour of 2 miles included 440 stairs. Unlike most other caves Mammouth is a dry cave and does not have pretty formations but it is huge with 392 miles of passageways, the longest known cave in the world. We are now back in the motorhome recouperating from our Mammouth Cave workout.

“The Rally” at Louisville- June 20, 2012

We got an early start this morning and pulled out of our camping site at 7:45am.  We had to stop at the dump before leaving the campground since we did not have sewer hook-up and we needed empty black and gray tanks before going into the rally.  We then stopped for fuel, had a tight squeeze getting out of the gas station necessitating us to disconnect the Jeep and then reconnecting once out of the station.  These things occasional happen- thankfully we have not had many of these occurrences.  We only had a 61 mile trip and we were on the Louisville Exposition Center grounds before 10 am and parked about 20 minutes later.  We were parked in the electric section but our energy management system would not allow the electric to come into the coach due to too high voltage.  So an electrician was summoned, responded to correct the problem with the area generator and we then were able to receive the electric.  We had to catch a tram to go to the area for registration.  After registering we saw some folks from Maryland- Esthermay Brooks and Woody Woodruff with his dog, Penny- Woody is a Traveling American member also.

Returning back to the motorhome and feeling hungry we jumped into the Jeep and went in search of a barbeque restaurant.  We found a place called Mark’s Feed Store and had a nice lunch.  The waitress suggested fried pickles, an appetizer, so we gave them a try.  Not bad but don’t know that I would get them very often.  I had a cup of burgoo, a local stew full of meat and vegetables, and a pork sandwich.  Tom had a pork dinner- lots of pork, cole slaw and fries.  We both had more than we could eat so brought part of a pork sandwich and pork back to the motorhome to have later.

As we were returning to the motorhome from lunch, we saw Woody and his wife, Linda, out walking dogs so we stopped by and visited with them.  Their dog, Penny, is a sweet dog that I have spoiled a little with treats so she knows me and I just happened to have treats available to give her some.  They were also dog sitting another dog.   Later in the afternoon we got a call from Lois Howard saying she had gotten onto the grounds and would stop by after she had gotten registered.  We had visited Lois in Tennessee  earlier this year and had talked about coming to this rally.  She did stop by and visited for a short while and then had to get back to her 2 little dogs.  Tomorrow the rally will officially begin and we will be busy going to seminars, going through displays and checking out the vendors wares.

Back on the Road- Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Monday, June 18th, we left home once again with the destination on Wednesday of Louisville, Kentucky for The Rally, a Good Sam rally.  The morning was cool and drizzling rain as we left Taneytown.  Our route of travel took us out through western Maryland and then south through West Virginia on I-79 to I-64.  The coolness continued most of the day in fact we even had some heat on in the motorhome as we traveled.  Showers of rain, at times with thunder and lightning, followed us most of the day until late afternoon.  Once we were in sunshine the temperature went up considerably and we eventually had air conditioning on.  Our travels went through mountainous terrain and sparsely populated areas.  We like to keep our travels to about 300 miles a day but sometimes the availability of campgrounds dictate.  Our stop for the night was at Jim’s Camping in Milton, W. Va. . about 18 miles from Kentucky and more than 360 miles from home.  Jim’s Camping was a small campground but had full hook-ups including 50 amp electric for $25.00.   After setting up we went out to eat at Shonet’s Café, a local eatery.  We ate from the soup and salad bar which had good homemade soups and good salads.

This morning, Tuesday, we continued westward on I-64.  The weather was sunny and very warm, temperature reached close to 90 degrees.  We are scheduled to go into the rally on Wednesday morning so Tom had made reservations at a campground, Elkhorn Campground, in Frankfort, Ky.  We had less than 170 miles to travel today and then about 80 on Wednesday to Louisville.  We arrived in the campground about noon today so we had the afternoon to explore the area.  We ate lunch at the La Fiesta Grande restaurant- Mexican, of course-  first.  Daniel Boone’s grave is in the Frankfort cemetery, at least, the Kentuckians believe his body was relocated here from a cemetery in Missouri.  The Missourians say that the body of Boone’s slave was sent instead and Boone remains in Missouri.  Anyway, we went to the cemetery and saw the grave stone for Daniel and his wife, Rebecca.

 

From the cemetery we could see the capitol building across the Kentucky river so we drove over to that area.  There were beautiful flower gardens on the grounds and a large floral clock.

 

 

  Our last stop this afternoon was at Buffalo Trace Bourbon Distillery, a distillery on the Bourbon Trail across Kentucky and into Tennessee.

 

We went on a tour led by “Freddie”, a gentleman that grew up at the distillery.  The name Buffalo Trace comes from a time when buffalo lived in this part of the country and the site of the distillery, located along the Kentucky River, was the path that the buffalo traveled to cross the river as they moved west.   The warehouse has 10 stories that store the barrels of bourbon for aging and the quality of the bourbon differs from the various levels, the best quality bourbon is on the lowest story, the more inferior quality on the upper stories.  The temperature variance from top to bottom affects the quality.

 

The grounds around the distillery are well groomed and there are numerous flower planters and gardens.

The tour ended with a sampling of  the bourbon.  It was a very interesting tour with a wonderful guide.

Our Busy Schedule Continues

Picking up from the last entry the part that was needed to repair the DEF sensor arrived at the Harrisburg, Pa Cummins repair facility and thanks to a cancellation the repair was made on Wednesday, May 30th. Thursday morning we loaded up the Jeep and went to Harrisburg to get the motorhome and then headed down the road to "Take It Easy Campground" in Callaway, Maryland- southern Maryland. This was a Traveling Americans weekend campout and we had decided that instead of going home for one night we would just go down a day early. Friday Tom and I drove to Point Lookout State Park. The lighthouse is being renovated by a group of private citizens and on this particular day had opened the house for self guided tours. Point Lookout was used during the civil war as a Confederate prison. Prisons were walked from Gettysburg, Pa. down to this prison, a trek of more than 200 miles. Over 3000 prisoners died here. Outside of the state park there is a POW cemetery- the federal government maintains this cemetery but refuses to allow the confederate flag to be flown there so directly behind off government land a confederate flag is flown. Adjacent to the cemetery a memorial to the confederate states was erected flying the various flags of the confederate states. Saturday after breakfast with the group we again struck out. We were drove through the town of Solomons, a beautiful small town on the Chesapeake Bay. We saw the Calvert Marine Museum and decided to take that in. This Cavert County museum was very interesting with stories and displays about life on the water- fishing, crabbing and oystering- as well as the history of slave marketing and tobacco growing in this area. We spent a couple of hours here. The admission allowed us to leave for lunch and then return to finish going through the exhibits. We enjoyed a nice outside lunch at the Captain's Table, a short distance from the museum and located by the water. Saturday evening at the campground the club gathered together for dinner and a campfire afterward. Sunday morning we had a potluck breakfast and then Tom and I quickly left for home. Once we were at home we got the yard mowed and then we went to Virginia to spend the week- Monday to Monday- with our grandchildren while Todd and Beth went to Mexico. Anthony, 12 years old, was with us from Monday until Friday morning, then he went with his grandparents for the weekend until Sunday evening when he returned back to us. Maddy, also 12 years old, was with us from Friday evening until Sunday mornig. Parker, 2 years and 10 months old, and Gabi, 7 months old, were with us the entire time. We spent a part of most every day at a county park where Parker was able to play on playground equipment and Gabi was pushed around in a stroller on nice pathways. Needless to say when Todd and Beth arrived home on Monday night Tom and I were ready to come home. In addition to the kids, there are also dogs, cats, ferrets, frogs and fish to tend to so we were kept quite busy. We are now home and this week is the Firemen's Carnival in town. Tom being a fireman helps out with this fund raiser. Years past I have also helped out but there seems good help this year that I have been staying home preparing for our next trip.

It Has Been Quite Awhile

It seems that we are always busy whether we are traveling or at home. Being at home means that we are going out with our Traveling American Camping Group for weekends just not going out for weeks at a time. The first weekend of each month from April through November a campout is scheduled and when we are home we generally go with the group. The first weekend in May the group camped in Delaware at G & R Campground. We have camped at this campground several times before and enjoy going back to the area. Norm, the owner and manager of the campground, always extends his hospitality to us and accomodates our needs. Tom and I along with Larry and Joanne hosted the Western Theme weekend. For dinner on Saturday evening we had made chili (I made a regular chili and Joanne made a white chili)and the others filled in with salads, rolls and desserts- and some of us donned cowboy hats, boots and clothing for the evening. We had been able to eat breakfast on Saturday outside but then the weather turned chilly and Norm opened up a clubhouse for our use the remainder of the weekend. After that weekend we spent time with doctor/dentist appointments. I believe we are finally caught up for a little while at least. The weekend of Memorial Day we attended the Maryland Good Sam Samboree in Frederick, Md. along with 5 other couples from the Traveling Americans. On Thursday when we started out we realized that there was a problem with the motorhome when a light on the dashboard displayed a yellow warning. Tom called Tiffin and was told that a fuse had blown. So a trip to auto supply store and a new fuse was installed- the first fuse installed blew immediately and the second fuse blew when we got within the city of Frederick. We did get onto the Fairgrounds okay but another call to Tiffin was made and it was deduced that the sensor for the DEF (Diesal Exhaust Fluid)needed to be replaced. Initially, we were told that a tech from a Cummins repair facility would come to us as it felt the problem was too critical for us to travel to a repair facility but later that was changed that we would be able to travel to Harrisburg, Pa. on Monday after the Samboree. So Monday we left Frederick and drove about 80 miles to Harrisburg without any further problems. Since it was a holiday the facility was closed but Tom had been told that we could hook-up to electric which we did. We spent the night there comfortably since we had 50-amp electric to combat the90 plus degrees of outside heat. Tiffin was sending a part to this facility. So Tuesday morning (today) Tom talked to the service manager and found out that the part had not arrived yet but about 10 or 11 am it could arrive. About 10:30 the service manager informed us that it did not arrive so we emptied the refrigerator and gathered up our meds and other necessities along with laundry and loaded these things in the Jeep and headed home. Hopefully, the part will arrive tomorrow as we have plans to camp with the Traveling Americans this coming weekend. The Samboree was a nice time of being with our club members along with other clubs from Maryland and other states. This Samboree seems to getting smaller every year, unfortunately. It is a problem that is occurring in many of these camping groups. Some of the men, Tom included, went golfing on Friday. We went out for dinner each evening with a group of folks and then attended the evening entertainment. During the day there are a few seminars and activities or just time to sit around socializing. It was a very warm weekend and on Sunday evening a storm with gusty winds blew through.

What a Busy Time!!!

After arriving home on Good Friday of Easter weekend we found ourselves to be in a whirlwind. The yard had to be mowed, the house needed a little tiding up and we were expecting Todd, Beth, Parker and Gabby for dinner on Sunday. As with plans sometimes there needs to be an adjustment. Todd and Beth had had Beth's parents and brother at their house for a couple of days and found that they were behind in somethings that they had to get done so they did not come up on Sunday as planned. So after attending church services Sunday morning we went out to dinner at the Dobbin House in Gettysburg.
Monday Todd called and arranged for us to go down to their house on Tuesday to pick up Maddy (12 years old) and then over to the babysitter's to get Parker(2 years old). Maddy (on Spring break from school) and Parker were going to spend a couple of days with us. Parker had never spent a night away from home before so we didn't know what we were headed for. But other than being busy entertaining and going for doctor's appointments (Tom had an eye appointment with a procedure done to his eye and I had a regular appointment with the family doc) for the next couple of days all went well. Maddy was a big help with Parker and we had an enjoyable time. On Thursday, Todd came to the house with Gabby (5months old) and Anthony (12 years old) to visit and pick up Maddy and Parker. Anthony had been in New York with Beth's parents and Todd had just met them in Pa. to get Anthony before stopping at our house. Little Gabby had really grown since we last saw her at Christmas time so we had to fuss over her like grandparents do.
Friday morning we packed up the motorhome and took off once again but just for the weekend. This was our first campout with the Traveling Americans for this year. We camped at Old Mill Stream campground in Lancaster, Pa. Seven units were in attendence. Barb and Ed Perry and Tom and I hosted. It was a nice weekend- cool on Friday and then a little rain Saturday morning and then warmer temperatures. The only downside was that I apparently caught a bug somewhere and was not feeling very well and today Monday am still not feeling well.

Arriving Home

Friday morning we awoke to bright sunshine and chilly temperatures. We continued our travels north on I-81 through the mountains of Virginia. This is a wonderful drive for the scenery although it is also a heavy truck route. Usually we see the redbud and dogwood most of the way home but with the warmer temperatures this winter in the east these flowering trees were further advanced this year. On Thursday when we got to Knoxville, Tn. we saw the first of the redbud and then a little further north we began seeing the dogwood also. Flowering trees continued all the way home. Our flowering crabapple trees and Japanese cherry tree were a real welcoming sight when we pulled into our driveway.
After being gone for sometime we worry a little about what we may find at home. Usually everything is in order but this time we found that our heat pumps and furnace was not working. So we had to call our service provider to deal with that problem. The house was a cool 55 degrees but that is the temperature we set it on in the winter. After the service call we had warmth once again. The other issue we had to deal with was the lawn needing to be mowed which will be done Saturday. The warmer weather has been effective in getting the vegetation awoken up and greening up and growing.

A Visit in Cookeville, Tn.

Wednesday morning, April 4th, we left the banks of the Mississippi and continued heading east on I-40. Lois Howard, one of our RVing friends from our Newmar days, had tried to meet up with us this winter in Az. but we just couldn't seem to get together out there. When we knew that we would traveling through Tennessee Tom had contacted Lois and we made plans to drive to her house in Cookeville. Lois had built a beautiful home in this area designing it to accommodate her motorhome and adding electric and water hook-ups for when friends stop by. After getting the motorhome set up, we all sat out on the porch with a view of the mountains sharing a bottle of wine and conversation. Buddy and Baby, Lois' cute little Yorkies and long ago playmates of Travis', also joined us. We had planned to take Lois out for dinner but she had already started preparing a nice dinner for us which we enjoyed. It was a very nice relaxing evening catching up with one another.
This morning, Thursday, we said good by to Lois and Buddy (Baby was sleeping in)and continued traveling on I-40 until the Knoxville area where we then picked up I-81 which would take us north. The day started out with some sun but the clouds thickened as the day went on and eventually we were hitting showers of rain and the temperature dropped. We are camped at the Dixie Caverns and Campground in Salem, Va. (south of Roanoke). This is not the best maintained campground but it is convenient to I-81 and does have full hook-ups. At 7pm it is cloudy and 51 degrees and the heat is on. Tomorrow we plan to travel the last 275 miles to get us home.

Eastward to the Land of Tom Sawyer

Monday, April 2nd, we continued our eastward trip on I-30 from Caddo Mills, Texas into the state of Arkansas. Interstate driving is supposedly faster but at the same time has more traffic and not as scenic as other roads. We noticed in Texas that whenever we crossed into another county the road surface changed. Is it that counties are responsible for the maintaining of all roads? When we entered into Arkansas the road became almost like the roads in Alaska with frost heaves making the motorhome bounce up and down. When we reached Little Rock I-30 ended and we connected with I-40. East of Little Rock we were in very slow stop and go traffic due to a 10 mile stretch of road construction. Initially we had planned to stop for the night about 30 miles east of Little Rock but we then decided to continue to Memphis, about 80 miles further. We had plans to stop at Cookville, Tn. our next night to visit a friend and thought this would put us in a better position for that trip, even though it made for a longer trip on this day- 400 plus miles. Our preference is to do about 300 miles a day. We stopped for the night at Tom Sawyer's Mississippi River Park in West Memphis, Arkansas. We had been told about this park by some friends that had stayed here. What a wonderful location right along the Mississippi River where we are able to watch the river traffic.

Barges (we saw as many as 35 barges being pushed by a tug boat) pushed by towboats travel up and down this river day and night. We were told that last year this park was flooded most of the summer. Enjoying this campground and the river we decided to stay a second night here.
Today, Tuesday, we went on a shopping trip. Since we would not be getting home until Friday, hopefully, and we were planning on Todd, Beth and the 2 little kids being at our house on Sunday for Easter we needed to get to a store and do some shopping for Easter. Following the GPS we went to the closest mall in Memphis but then thought for what we wanted we would be better off going to a WalMart. So again the GPS guided us to the closest WalMart. Waiting in line to get checked out, the man ahead of us had placed bags of chicken on the conyeyor belt, some juices from the chicken leaked out onto the belt and the cashier did not bother to clean the belt. So we moved to another line. As we were waiting a man was restocking a Hershey candy display and Tom thinking he was a WalMart employee mentioned that the conveyor belt on the previous check-out line was in need of being cleaned. The man said that he was an employee of Hershey not Walmart and then asked us if we were from out of town. He told us that we were in a very bad neighborhood of high crime and that we should be careful. (GPS does not give this type of information). Tom then asked about places for good barbeque and he gave a couple recommendations. After returning our purchases to the motorhome we went out in search of barbeque. We located Rendevous in Memphis but that restaurant opens at 4:30pm for meals although we could have gotten ribs at this time so we passed. The Cozy Corner restaurant was another recommendation so following the GPS we found that restaurant. As the man at Walmart had said it was somewhat shabby looking but the food was really good. We had smoked sausage, baked beans and cole slaw. My only complaint was with the cutlery- cheap plasticware that made it very difficult to cut through the sausage. We also shared a banana pudding that this restaurant is known for and we agreed it was also very good.
The hot, dry weather has continued with our travels into Texas. In eastern Texas we began to feel the increased humidity. It was in the upper 80's yesterday when we got to this Memphis area and the humidity was felt. Today it is cloudy, had a few brief showers and the temperature is a cool 70 degrees.

Traveling Through Texas

Today, Sunday (Palm Sunday), we traveled 356 miles eastward in Texas from Lamesa to Caddo Mills just east of Dallas. We traveled on state route 180 from Lamesa to just west of Fort Worth,then after a short stint on I-20 continued to Caddo Mills on I-30. The 180 route parallels I-20 but has less traffic and more scenery. Towns along the route are 30 miles or more apart and small with few, if any, traffic lights. Several of the towns we passed through were county seats and had stately old county government buildings.

Not long after starting out we began seeing greener vegetation. We were in the hill country of Texas with mesquite trees in abundance and some areas had charred remains of forest fires. Flowers along the roadsides were just beautiful. The Texas Blue Bonnets, which I believe are the Texas state flower, were in bloom and large areas appeared as blue carpeting.

There were other flowers in purple and orange along the way. As we got further east we saw streams and rivers with water flowing not the dried beds that are in Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas. Herds of cattle were in the pastures and often cows would be standing in the small ponds or streams. One pasture had a herd of little horses. We stopped in Mineral Wells and had lunch at a Chili's before entering the metropoltan area of Fort Worth/Dallas. We wanted to be east of Dallas tonight to avoid Monday morning traffic through that 70 plus miles of Fort Worth/Dallas tomorrow. Todays traffic through that area was moderately heavy but moved well. On the eastern end we did get slowed up due to an accident. We are camped tonight at a KOA- Dallas NE/Caddo Mills KOA- quiet campground and for KOA not too costly- $33.74.

Las Cruces, N. M. and Lamesa, Tx.

Friday morning we went to the patio area of  the Lazydays campground for the breakfast buffet which was also part of our free night’s stay.  Nice breakfast of scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage, oatmeal, fresh fruit and pastries along with juices and coffee.  We then left Tucson and headed homeward.  Our 274 mile trip took us from Tucson to Las Cruces, New Mexico on I-10.   Crossing into New Mexico we lost an hour of time as we crossed from Arizona time ( Arizona does not change to daylight savings time so even though it is a mountain time state at this time it’s time corresponds to Pacific daylight savings time) to Mountain daylight savings.  We stopped in Las Cruces because Tom was interested in the town of Hatch, N.M. which is about 40 miles north of Las Cruces.  After getting situated in Coachlight RV and Motel park we hopped into the Jeep and drove to Hatch.  Hatch is well known for chiles.  We saw several little stores that appeared to be an extension of a home that had red chilis hanging outside.  We did stop at one store and purchased some red and green chili powder.   The town was small and had little else- Tom was hoping to find a nice restaurant that had dishes with red and green chili but that wasn’t to be.  So we returned to Las Cruces where we found a Mexican restaurant and had dinner- again we were a little disappointed that it was not the New Mexican style of food that we had become familiar and really liked in the Albuquerque/ Santa Fe area.  Returning to the campground we talked with our camping neighbors about their 1977 Barth motorhome and 1970 Volkswagon beetle that they were traveling in.  It is nice to see vintage campers still being used.

Today, Saturday,  we continued on our journey homeward as we traveled from Las Cruces to Lamesa, Texas.   From Las Cruces we took state route 70 to Alamogordo then route 82 to Artesia and the a jog down to route 180 at Hobbs into Texas stopping at Lamesa.  This 338 mile journey took us through many changes of environment.  The desert at Las Cruces, the white sand at Alamogordo, then up through mountains to a peak of over 9000 feet at Cloudcroft.  In the ski resort of Cloudcroft patches of snow were still on the pine treed mountainsides and streams were flowing with bank high water.  After descending down the mountain the land leveled out.  We had a bit of excitement when a deer from out of nowhere, it seemed, darted across the road directly in front of us.  Tom’s quick reflexes saved the deer and our motorhome  As we drove on toward Artesia fields were being prepared for planting, cotton is one of the main crops in this area.  Just east of Artesia for about 30 miles, we saw more oil wells than any other place that we have encountered- on both sides of the road wells were about 100 yards apart and were seen as far as you could see.  After passing through Hobbs, N.M. we were soon in Texas and Central daylight savings time, another hour lost and we began looking for someplace to get off the road for the night.  We passed through the little town of Seminole and then on to Lamesa where we spied a campground as we entered town.  La Verda R.V. Park (translation is an RV park off the beaten path)  has full hookups, looks well cared for, and is reasonably priced at $25.00 per night.  Since we had not eaten any lunch as we had hoped to find something in our travels and weren’t successful,  Tom plug the electric in so we could get the A.C. running  (it was 95 degrees outside) and we took the Jeep to a local restaurant for dinner.  After dinner we finished the setting up for the night and relaxed.   Lamesa (not LaMesa) is known as the “home of the Chicken Fried Steak”, most every restaurant in town has chicken fried steak on their menu  and the last weekend of April there is a chicken fried steak festival.

Organ Stop Pizza and Tucson

Wednesday we made a trip into “Old Scottsdale” to do a little shopping and browsing.  We enjoy walking about these quaint shops in this old town.  Unfortunately, there was a baseball game being played nearby so parking was hard to find and the lots were charging $20.00.  Eventually, we found a free 3 hour spot to park along the street.  Since it was lunchtime we found a Mexican restaurant, Los Olivios, to have lunch and then we walked the streets and shopped.  On the way back to the motorhome we stopped at Albertson’s grocery store to pick up some items for our trip east.  At “The Rally” we had told Esthermay Brooks about the Organ Stop Pizza restaurant and then she sent a message suggesting that we meet for dinner there one evening, so it was planned for this night.  Esthermay and her husband, Bill, were at the restaurant when we arrived about 6pm.  We ate salads and pizza,  listened to the organist playing the organ and joined in the singing of many songs- and we got conversation in there,too.  The evening was topped off with ice cream and at 9pm we left as the restaurant was closing.  It was a fun night being with friends and enjoying music.

Today, Thursday, we left Mesa and drove the motorhome to Tucson, about 120 miles.  We checked into Lazydays campground for our free night of camping that we got at “The Rally”.   I had sent my cousin, Patty, a note a few days ago that we would be stopping here and had made plans that Patty and Braxton, her husband, would come by for a visit.  I called Patty to let her know that we had arrived and they should stop by.  About a half hour later Patty and Braxton were here.  We had a light lunch and visited for a couple of hours.  It was real nice to see Patty and Braxton another time before going home.  This evening we had a free dinner at the restaurant here at Lazydays.  The dining room was very nice with white tablecloths and the food was good.  Tom had Chicken Pot Pie made with a puffed pastry  and I had Chicken Marsala with julienne vegetables and rice.  Tomorrow we start pushing eastward at a faster pace than going from Avondale to Mesa to Tucson.

Breakfast and Apache Trail

Today, Tuesday, we left the motorhome before breakfast and went to Queen's Creek Olive Mill. Last year we had gone to this olive mill for our first time and learned that there was a restaurant on the premises that were serving delicious looking breakfast. So we decided that we wanted to have breakfast there and we were not disappointed. By luck, we found out when we got there that on Tuesdays a 2 for 1 price is offered. We both got a dish that was an eggs bendict style- bread, then egg fritata (not poached), balsamic bacon, chopped tomatoes, avocado and onions,and hollandaise sauce and on the side was a smashed potato and fresh fruit- cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple and strawberry. It was nice eating on an outdoor patio listening to the birds chirping in the trees.
Leaving the olive mill and working our way around detours we finally got on the Apache Trail. This trail was a route for stagecoaches from Mesa to Globe. Superstition Mountains through which the trail goes is the mountains that Jacob Waltz's Lost Dutchman's mine is supposedly hidden in a canyon. The first several miles has commercial establishments- a museum, a mining camp and Goldfield Ghost Town. We stopped at the museum but didn't go through the museum and then at the Ghost Town. The ghost town had souvenir shops and restaurants and a train ride was also available. We walked about the town and then moved on. As we continued on the trail we passed by Canyon Lake and came to Tortilla Flats, a stagecoach stop. Since it was well passed 12 noon we decided to eat lunch here. We had about a 30 minute wait ( it is spring break and families with kids were in all the commercial areas)and then had a enjoyable lunch of a burger for Tom and a chicken sandwich for me. Shortly after leaving Tortilla Flats, we were on an unpaved road for the next 22 miles. The road was rough but the views were just spectacular. The colorful rocky mountains bordered deep canyons that were covered with huge saquaro cacti and then there were lakes- Apache Lake and Roosevelt Lake - of a beautiful shade of blue. We stopped to take pictures often. The road had many curves, ascents and descents but was wide enough for two cars to pass one another. Traffic on the unpaved was light. When we finally came to the Roosevelt Dam the road was paved from that point as we traveled through Globe and Miami, 2 copper/gold mining towns, and on to Mesa. We got back to the motorhome about 7pm- a long day but worth it. Our days travel was in excess of 100 miles.

"The Rally"

Wednesday, March 21st, we left North Ranch in Congress after having our propane tanks filled, and dumping our gray and black tanks and filling up our fresh water tank. We traveled 68 miles to Avondale, near Phoenix, where "The Rally" was being held at the Phoenix International Raceway. We had to pick up our rally packet from the "will call" and then were directed to a line where we waited about 45 minutes until we were finally parked. Then we went to the registration area get additional information and schedules. Esthermay Brooks, a Maryland Good Sam, was working in this area so we talked briefly with her and asked her about places to eat as we had not had lunch and it was near 2pm. She recommended "Black Bear Restaurant" and gave us directions. We easily found the restaurant, remembered that we had eaten at this restaurant in Lake Havesu City several years ago.
Thursday we went to some seminars during the day. The evening entertainment for this evening was "Bowzer's Rock and Roll Party" which starred Bowzer from the group Sha Na Na. It was a lively and entertaining show. As we were leaving the entertainment area we met up with Rita and Bill Fordham, friends and part of the Traveling Americans camping group that we belong to. We talked together briefly and said we would all try to get together out for a meal.

Friday we went to more seminars and through the vendor and dealer displays. The evening entertainment was Bill Cosby who for an hour told stories that had everyone laughing.

Saturday was much the same routine as Friday. We are life members of the Good Sam club so we had a cocktail party to attend that evening. The entertainment on this evening was Martina McBride, another enjoyable evening.

This rally kept us busy and we still had not been able to get together with Bill and Rita so we made plans to go out for breakfast Sunday morning. The four of us went to the Black Bear Restaurant and had good breakfasts. Returning to the rally, a special tribute was held for veterans. Veterans,and that included Tom, assembled and paraded to the stage area and then were seated in front of the stage for a short program honoring these veterans. After this tribute we walked through the vendor area one last time and then returned to the motorhome. Mid afternoon we went out to a Mexican restaurant for early dinner. The evening entertainment for Sunday evening was a group "Ticket to Ride" that impersonated the Beatles. They were also good but we left before the end of the show since the seats seemed to be extremely hard on this particular night. All day long folks were leaving the rally and heading for wherever. Rita sent us a text message that they had left in the evening after others in their area had pulled out giving room for them to maneuver their motorhome out- they had company coming to Casa Grande to spend time with them.

We enjoyed the rally. The area that we were camped in was some distance from the infield of the racetrack where the all the activities were held. Even though trams were circling through the camping area often the trams were filled when they reached our stop so we did alot of walking. The entertainment was wonderful even sitting on hard metal stadium seats. There were 3370 RV's camped at the rally and each day there were several hundred people that came in for the day so it was somewhat crowded at times especially in the vendors tent. There were give aways during the rally of some extremely nice prizes unfortunately we did not win anything. We did take advantage of the offer given to those attending this rally of attending the Louisville, Kentucky rally in June at no cost except for electric hook-ups.

Today, Monday, we got underway about 8:15am and headed for Mesa about 45 miles to the east. Coupons were given out at the rally for 3 free nights of camping at several campgrounds in the Mesa area so we decided to take advantage of this offer. Another coupon for 1 night of free camping was offered in the Tucson area so after our 3 nights in Mesa we plan to stay in Tucson for a night before heading to New Mexico and then on further east.