May 26, 2010

Well, we got home Saturday evening. After three long days of driving we were very glad to get here. Joey ran all around the house and we can tell he is enjoying his freedom in all this (house sized) space. We traveled 6,466 miles in 41 days. We saw everything we set out to see and more, though we don't have many goals at the beginning of these trips. This trip was shorter than we had hoped, but the Aliner was very small, and I was not optimistic that it was going to work out. I really thought we would not get very far, for very long, before giving it up and coming right back home. But it was a cozy little camper, and Charlie really really enjoyed having his mini-van as the tow vehicle. Eventually it did get old having to eat out all the time, and I really really didn't like the porta-potty with no privacy. Well, we learned something, and still had a good time. Charlie is probably going to get some kind of truck to use as a tow vehicle next time. If he does that, we may not stick with this camper, though we both really like it. Almost any truck would have a lot more towing capacity and we could get a larger camper. We will have to see, it is something to figure out and look forward to. I am still limping around, and I have a doctor's appointment today. I hope to get back to walking the shelter dogs soon, but now I am resting as much as I can. I am walking Joey, but not far. He runs around on the end of the retractable leash in the front yard, while I stand in one spot. I have taken him down to the road a couple of times but I have to drive down, and then I can't even walk as far as the cul-de-sac without developing a lot of pain. Hopefully, he is not missing our long walks too much. The house, the pool, and the yard were in great shape when we got home thanks to Becky and Rick. We really appreciate everything they do. They make it possible for us to take our trips, and have been good friends to us over the years.

Here is where we camped and our camping expenses, we belong to Good Sam and Passport America so we got some good discounts:

4/12/10 Jo & Floyd Lecanto, FL
4/13/10 Jo & Floyd Lecanto, FL
4/14/10 Sunset Isle RV Park & Motel Cedar Key, FL $ 30.52
4/15/10 Manatee Springs State Park Chiefland, FL $ 21.80
4/16/10 Ann & David & Becky Tallahassee, FL
4/17/10 Ann & David & Becky Tallahassee, FL
4/18/10 Rustic Sands RV Park Mexico Beach, FL $ 18.87
4/19/10 Big Lagoon State Park Pensacola, FL $ 22.30
4/20/10 Maxey Care RV Park Morganza, LA $ 13.50
4/21/10 Jeanne Karnes City, TX
4/22/10 Jeanne Karnes City, TX
4/23/10 Jeanne Karnes City, TX
4/24/10 Governor's Landing Lake Amistad, TX $ 8.00
4/25/10 Sonora Caverns & RV Park Sonora, TX $ 15.00
4/26/10 Marathon Motel & RV Park Marathon, TX $ 12.50
4/27/10 Rio Grande Camp Big Bend Natl Park $ 30.00
4/28/10 Big Bend Resort & RV Park Big Bend, TX $ 22.00
4/29/10 Big Bend Resort & RV Park Big Bend, TX $ 22.00
4/30/10 Big Bend Resort & RV Park Big Bend, TX $ 22.00
5/01/10 Davis Mountains State Park Fort Davis, TX $ 23.00
5/02/10 Davis Mountains State Park Fort Davis, TX $ 23.00
5/03/10 Balmorhea State Park Balmorhea, TX $ 31.00
5/04/10 Sante Fe KOA Sante Fe, NM $ 35.93
5/05/10 Sante Fe KOA Sante Fe, NM $ 35.93
5/06/10 Sand Dunes Swim Pool RV Park Hooper, CO $ 25.00
5/07/10 Sand Dunes Swim Pool RV Park Hooper, CO $ 25.00
5/08/10 Four Seasons RV Resort Salida, CO $ 28.74
5/09/10 Four Seasons RV Resort Salida, CO $ 28.74
5/10/10 Four Seasons RV Resort Salida, CO $ 28.74
5/11/10 4J+1+1 Ouray, CO $ 29.05
5/12/10 Pagosa Riverside Campground Pagosa Springs, CO $ 32.67
5/13/10 Blanca RV Park Blanca, CO $ 10.88
5/14/10 Sand Dunes Swim Pool RV Park Hooper, CO $ 10.85
5/15/10 Sand Dunes Swim Pool RV Park Hooper, CO $ 27.00
5/16/10 Lathrop State Park Lathrop, CO $ 20.00
5/17/10 Oasis RV Resort Amarillo, TX $ 20.00
5/18/10 Oasis RV Resort Amarillo, TX $ 20.00
5/19/10 Terra Starr RV Park Checotah, OK $ 12.00
5/20/10 Days Inn Brinkley RV Park Brinkley, AR $ 19.01
5/21/10 Pensacola RV Park Pensacola, FL $ 32.11

Total $757.14

Our gas expenses:

4/12/10 $2.759 08.17 Gallons Sanford, FL $ 22.53
4/16/10 $2.939 17.63 Gallons Perry, FL $ 51.80
4/19/10 $2.749 12.45 Gallons Callaway, FL $ 34.24
4/20/10 $2.769 13.78 Gallons Loxley, AL $ 38.16
4/20/10 $2.759 12.62 Gallons Port Allen, LA $ 34.83
4/21/10 $2.699 13.33 Gallons Bridge City, TX $ 36.03
4/21/10 $2.789 05.00 Gallons Nixon, TX $ 14.13
4/23/10 $2.799 15.14 Gallons Karnes City, TX $ 41.77
4/24/10 $2.629 09.53 Gallons Uvalde, TX $ 25.06
4/25/10 $2.629 07.42 Gallons Del Rio, TX $ 19.50
4/26/10 $2.989 10.00 Gallons Comstock, TX $ 29.90
4/26/10 $3.299 16.26 Gallons Marathon, TX $ 53.65
4/27/10 $2.949 01.97 Gallons Alpine, TX $ 5.82
4/29/10 $3.209 09.33 Gallons Terlingua, TX $ 31.84
5/01/10 $3.059 14.49 Gallons Alpine, TX $ 44.32
5/04/10 $2.979 16.66 Gallons Carlsbad, NM $ 49.54
5/07/10 $2.959 10.10 Gallons Vaughn, NM $ 30.00
5/07/10 $2.769 11.57 Gallons Sante Fe, NM $ 32.03
5/08/10 $2.829 10.41 Gallons Alamosa, CO $ 29.46
5/11/10 $2.769 09.90 Gallons Salida, CO $ 27.41
5/11/10 $2.749 10.18 Gallons Montrose, CO $ 27.97
5/12/10 $2.799 13.58 Gallons Pagosa Springs, CO $ 38.01
5/14/10 $2.769 07.79 Gallons Alamosa, CO $ 21.56
5/15/10 $2.767 06.85 Gallons Alamosa, CO $ 18.98
5/16/10 $2.799 01.81 Gallons Alamosa, CO $ 5.05
5/17/10 $2.979 11.50 Gallons Raton, NM $ 34.20
5/17/10 $2.759 16.81 Gallons Bushland, TX $ 46.37
5/19/10 $2.749 05.08 Gallons Amarillo, TX $ 13.95
5/19/10 $2.779 09.12 Gallons Erick, OK $ 25.35
5/19/10 $2.699 09.40 Gallons Hinton, OK $ 25.43
5/20/10 $2.759 16.00 Gallons Checotah, OK $ 44.00
5/20/10 $2.759 09.49 Gallons Van Buren, AR $ 26.18
5/20/10 $2.699 14.47 Gallons Lonoke, AR $ 39.05
5/20/10 $2.639 16.63 Gallons Forrest City, AR $ 17.50
5/21/10 $2.739 15.51 Gallons Belzoni, MS $ 42.48
5/21/10 $2.579 06.76 Gallons Richland, MS $ 17.42
5/21/10 $2.699 09.33 Gallons New Augusta, MS $ 25.17
5/21/10 $2.839 12.49 Gallons Pine Forest, FL $ 35.47
5/21/10 $2.689 12.95 Gallons Marianna, FL $ 24.82
5/22/10 $2.839 13.40 Gallons Live Oak, FL $ 38.05
5/22/10 $2.849 14.45 Gallons Palm Coast, FL $ 41.17

Average $2.744
Total 459.34 Gallons $1,260.20

Not so bad for over a month of travel! That is the end of the story for this trip, I will be back to this blog next trip! BOOM! The Shuttle is home! This is possibly the last flight for Atlantis after 25 years, 32 flights, and millions of miles. p.s. Happy Birthday Mom, we love you!

May 19 to May 21, 2010

Wednesday, May 19, 2010
We headed out this morning east on I-40. Near the campground there is a spot along the road where we noticed that people are parking and walking out to something in the field. We couldn't tell what it was, so Charlie looked it up on Wikipedia, and it is the 'Cadillac Ranch'. There are about 10 cars sticking up, on end, out of the ground. Art. We didn't walk out there, and I forgot my binoculars this trip, so we didn't get a close look. Oh well.... We drove on I-40 all day and into Oklahoma, and there was a steady parade of storm chaser vehicles with all kinds of scientific equipment. It was a very loose convoy from different institutions and universities, including Florida and Texas. There must have been at least a hundred vehicles that passed us. The best part was looking ahead we could see storms and clouds building up in the distance. The biggest cross in the western hemisphere is at exit 112 on I-40 in Oklahoma. I took pictures as we drove by. Charlie took pictures of an old Conoco station as we went through an intersection. People were posing in front of it, so we took a picture too! We will post the pictures soon. We drove about 380 miles today, and ended up in an RV Park by Lake Eufaula, south of Checotah, Oklahoma. When we got near here it started raining, and that was the first significant rain we have encountered on this trip. The rain stopped long enough for us to get set up and settled in the camper, and then it thundered, poured, blew, and lightning hit all around us all night. It was the biggest and longest storm I can ever remember. I was in the pop out so it was very exciting. I love a good storm, but wow! This was really something, and it seemed to keep circling back. There is a long underground storm shelter less than a hundred feet from our camper, and a lady told me that if we hear horns honking in the night we should run to the shelter immediately. Someone told Charlie that the campers had to run for the shelter just a week ago. Luckily we made it through the night in the camper. P.S. Palo Dura Canyon is in Texas, NOT new Mexico (see May 18 notes)!

Thursday, May 20, 2010
We drove all day and covered about 310 miles. We stayed at an RV Park behind the Days Inn in Brinkley, Arkansas. We had absolutely no fun at all! We do enjoy the comfort of our camper, but, Charlie is not liking the amount of wear and tear on the van. Even though the trailer is only 17 feet long and weighs less than 3,000 pounds, it has as much wind resistance as a 30 foot trailer that sits as high as ours does. He has asked quite a few people with full size trucks with big engines and pulling 25 foot or longer trailers what kind of gas mileage they get. Just about everyone has said 9 to 10 miles per gallon, which is pretty close to what we are getting. Charlie thinks it is more wind resistance than the camper's weight that affects the mileage, and the van is just working too hard. It is not made for towing. So he is not satisfied with this combination, and he does not like what it is doing to the van. So, we are heading home. Plus, although my hip does not hurt as much, I still can't walk very far without some pain. So I need to get it looked at, again.

Friday, May 21, 2010
We started out in Brinkley Arkansas this morning and headed south and east over the Mississippi River at a bridge near Clarksdale Mississippi. It rained some, and we stayed off the interstates most of the way. We took route 1 at Forrest City, Arkansas, and then 242 east and route 49 at Helena – West Helena. We took 61 south at Clarksdale and jumped back to 49 by going east on 12 at Hollendale. South of Hattisburg we took 98 towards Mobile and then got on I-10. We stopped for gas five times today, and got pretty low one time. The mileage is averaging about 11 and the van is probably going to need a lot of maintenance when we get back. The air conditioner does not seem to be keeping up now that we are in warmer weather. Plus the Maintenance Required light has been on for almost two weeks, and it won't reset. We drove about 450 miles today and we are in a nice RV park just west of Pensacola tonight. We hope to make it home tomorrow, but it will take about 10 hours.

May 16 to May 18, 2010

Sunday, May 16, 2010
We were just going to swim a little bit this morning during the adult lap swim time, and then move on to our next adventure, but we stayed for most of the day. It was a gorgeous clear day and not much wind. We stayed until early afternoon when the crowds started showing up. Up until then there were very few people. We had a good time, and maybe a little bit too much sun again. Unfortunately, keeping Joey confined to the stroller is history. While we were swimming this morning, he worked his nose through a corner of the screen and was almost out by the time Charlie jumped out of the pool and caught him! Oh well, I am sure we can repair it when we get home. He loves to ride in the stroller, especially when I pile a bunch of towels and bags into it and put him on top without closing him in. When we were leaving the pool yesterday a child said “Look at him, he looks like His Majesty!” And he did too. After the stroller's screen was broken, we pushed a lounge chair back from the pool and tied him to it. It was no problem at all. He just laid there in the sun watching us and everyone else. Good as gold. We got some good pictures at the pool today, I think. Oh yeah, I want to mention that I flew a kite for the first time in my life yesterday. A child's ladybug kite was sliding across the campground and I picked up the string. The kite immediately took off! I have never before been able to get a kite airborne. I admit I never tried that hard, but still. After noon we packed up and headed East on Rt 160, and drove about 100 miles. We are staying in Lathrop State Park, the first state park in Colorado near Walsenburg, about 50 miles from New Mexico. The campsite is way back in the park and it is very quiet and pretty here. The campsites are big and the very few campers are spread out. We have a beautiful view of the Spanish Peaks Mountain to the south. It is a classic mountain, like Mount Fuji or Kilimanjaro. My hip is so bad tonight that Charlie had to help me walk back to the camper from the facilities. I think I may be in trouble here, I just hope it is only from too much swimming for a couple of days in a row. Luckily I have my hiking stick, now I guess it is my cane.

Monday, May 17, 2010
We looked around the park a little bit this morning. Charlie wrote to David: “The park has two recreational lakes, and I think I got some great shots with reflections of the mountain, and of two different families of geese. I climbed up a solid rock cliff to the right of the lake beach and saw some people fishing from tiny rafts. They were sitting in the rafts with their legs in the water, and they were using fins on their feet to propel themselves around. The sides of the raft had pockets to hold all their gear for fishing. It looked like a fun way to fish in calm and deep water, but I wouldn't try it in Florida, I might get more gator bites than fish. Later, on the way to the RV park, we went by the Capulin Volcano National Monument. I unhitched the trailer and left it at the Visitor Center, and I drove the mini-van to the parking area near the top of the crater. We could see down into the ancient crater from there. I hiked the trail that went up and around the top of the crater. The trail is a mile around and rises another 350 feet. It was great exercise and the views were exhilarating. We drove back down the mountain to the visitor center, and I got hitched back up with no problem. The hitch is a lot more work than with the Aliner, but I did it the right way this time, and it was a lot easier. We continued on heading towards Amarillo, and Diane, we did pass the Boys Ranch which must be about 25 miles or so west of Amarillo. The gas gauge was heading down, but I was counting on getting about 12 mpg, the lowest mpg so far. We went through two towns that didn't have a gas station on the main route we were taking. Then went about 45 more miles without going through anymore towns, or seeing any gas stations. We ran out of gas about five and a half miles from the RV park, and about 2 miles from the nearest gas station. We were stuck for about an hour and a half waiting for the AAA guy. I had a hard time getting through to AAA because we were right on the edge of cell phone reception, the phone number was to the Florida office, and I got disconnected twice. I finally got the Texas number and help. I also started to get a lot better cell phone reception, and I could see on my phone that the provider would switch back and forth from T Mobile and roaming. The AAA sent a nice guy, he got us going, and we followed him to the closest gas station and filled up. I discovered my tank holds no more than 19 gallons although it is supposed to hold 20. I will now get gas every time I am near a station, and can add more than 5 gallons. As we head further east I am sure the towns and stations will be much closer together. When we were heading to Big Bend, and had to take a big detour, I am sure we would have run out of gas had we been pulling this trailer, and we would have been stuck in a much more remote area. The worst mpg I got with the Aliner was 14, this trailer is down to 10, and I wasn't running the air conditioner. Last year, with the motor home, the gas mileage went way up in New Mexico and Colorado. Now I think New Mexico has changed their gas by adding ethanol and that brings the mileage down. With this trailer, I have driven around Colorado for over 800 miles, up and down steep mountains, and I thought I knew the fuel range limitations. Obviously I didn't. We were heading down hill a lot and with little to no head wind. I hope I get at least 9 mpg now that we are in warm to hot areas and I will have to run the air conditioner. That was the first time I have ever run out of gas. I may have come closer than I thought several times before. Without pulling the trailer, I usually go about 300 miles and a fill up is about 14 gallons. I guess I was used to these greater ranges. Our two motor homes held 35 and 55 gallons, and they averaged 12 and 8 mpg. It was always a shock to fill up a low tank, especially the 55 gallon tank. Sometimes I had to go to two stations to fill up because there would be a 75 dollar limit on gas purchases. Anyway, the experience of running out of gas was very stressful for me. I was very tired already, and ready for dinner and a good nights sleep. We made it to the Oasis RV park west of Amarillo Tx about 830 pm.” Me again: We drove 280 miles today, south on I 25, then south on 64/87, then 87/385, finally got on route 1061 just past the Boys Ranch. Today we saw pronghorn antelope (not really antelope), cows, horses, mules, deer, a boxer, and three fat little min pins. Every min pin we have ever met, except for Joey, is fat. So we need to watch out for him. I also saw a guy on a motorbike rounding up some quarter horses. When we finally reached the RV Park, we had a quick dinner and went to bed. Charlie was really done in. He did not mention that we came extremely close to hitting a deer just as we were running out of gas. When we were limping down a hill, a deer stepped into the road right in front of us. It didn't know which way to go, and kind of moved back and forth ahead of us. We were already going so slow, and Charlie did not want to put on the brakes, but he finally he had to. We missed that deer's butt by inches. I guess it would not have hurt him much at the rate we were going. Another funny thing was that Charlie did not tell me he was low on gas until he had to. I was dozing and watching the clock because I knew what time we were supposed to get to the RV park. I was hot and the sun was on my side. I just kept getting hotter and hotter. Finally I woke up enough to say: “Is there any reason in particular why the A/C is not on?” Well, after that I stayed awake, still hot, but very much awake!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010
So, here we are in Amarillo, Texas. Did laundry this morning with Charlie's help. My hip is better, but I cannot walk far before it hurts. Charlie did not rest well last night, so we decided to stay at this 'Oasis' one more night. We left the camper, set the GPS for Palo Duro Canyon, and trusted it would lead us there. There have been a few times on this trip when the Garmin steered us wrong, but what the heck, we are not doing anything else today. Palo Duro Canyon is reputed to be the little Grand Canyon of New Mexico. It was nice. Charlie usually will hike the trails, and I will if I can, but neither of us were up to it today. We enjoyed it, took a few pictures, and I got my magnet. We ate at a Mexican restaurant on the way back to the campground. Charlie wanted a nap, but decided to set up the pop out so that I could sleep in it tonight. I am in it now, and it is a lot more comfortable than the foldout sofa. However, the wind is blowing hard and the canvas (vinyl) is flapping like crazy. I really don't think that will bother me, because, well, not much does bother me (except Charlie, of course). We will see. My only worry is that there are a couple of open places where the vinyl is torn. Joey could scoot right out of here. I don't think he will because he prefers his bed on the sofa, and I don't think he likes the noise the vinyl is making. Our plan is to ask a friend (you know who you are) to put some grommets in the vinyl when we get home, so that we can tie it down securely during our next trip. Charlie is napping, and I am waiting for him to wake up so I can get our latest pictures off his camera and get them posted tonight. While I am waiting, I am going to add a few more pictures from the last couple of weeks. I am looking outside at a camper across from us, it is named SEAULAYTER. I just got it. Ha!

May 13 to May 15, 2010

Thursday, May 13, 2010
There was sleet last night, it was nice this morning for awhile, then we got snow and rain and sunshine mixed together. Finally, it brightened up long enough for Joey and I to take another walk around the pond. The pond is fed by the San Juan River which was rushing along right next to it. Charlie took a couple of pictures and posted them. We left Pagosa Springs without visiting the big resort that has hot spring pools at several different temperatures. They say Oprah Winfrey likes to go there. Maybe next time. We drove north on Rt 160 through the San Juan National Forest. We stopped on Treasure Mountain at about 8,100 feet, and hiked up to Treasure Falls, a climb of about 200 feet (seemed like a lot more!) and about one-quarter mile one way. My hip was giving me a fit, but I just have to push through it. I don't want to do all our sightseeing from the car! I took my walking stick that I bought on our trip last year, and I was feeling better on the way back down. The falls were worth the climb. We stood on a bridge and looked up at the falls which made a straight 70 foot drop and then continued down another 20 feet over huge rocks, went under us, and on down to the road in a stream. It snowed on the way up to the falls, but by the time we were half way back to the van, the sun was out. Joey had gotten a little wet and muddy, but he was dry and dirty by the time we got back. Never mind, he really enjoyed it, except when we got to the falls and onto the bridge he shivered from either cold or fear and I had to pick him up. I cannot help but continue to compare Joey to Toby on this trip. It seemed like Toby really settled into our RV routine and I got the feeling he was thinking: 'Okay, this is how we are going to be living from now on, and it is fine with me'. He was shocked when we stopped at the Harrell's on the way home and David poked his head in the motor home. It was so funny! But Joey is anxious whenever I am out of his sight, and he definitely does not want to be left alone in the camper. He jumps out whenever possible, and kind of hunkers down and scrambles around as if he does not want to run away but does not want to be caught and put back inside either. We are keeping him on his routine of feeding and walks, and he has his bed (though it gets moved around a lot), but he is just way more attached to me than he was. Still, he is calm and friendly with everyone we meet (unlike Toby ever was!). We continued on Route 160 and climbed long steep mountains up to about 11,000 feet. There was snow on the trees and they were beautiful, but the road was narrow and dropped off at the edge with no railings. There were waterfalls above the road and tunnels with tight curves. One time we were on a 6 percent grade going down, and we were glad we had our new brakes on the van. The road followed a creek and went through canyons and up and down mountains. All in all it was very beautiful and exciting. Charlie of course got to deal with the road, and did not see as much of the scenery as I did. Still, he prefers to do the driving, so what can I do? We finally got down to 8,000 feet and it seemed to be flat most of the way through cattle country. We saw buffalo and could have gotten some buffalo jerky, but you know what Charlie thought of that! Oh well, I had buffalo once on a trip to Denver for NASA. We were making for Hooper, Colorado to spend a day or two back at the Sand Dunes Swimming Pool, but since it is closed on Thursday we decided to stay at a Passport America campground on the way. It is the Blanca RV Park in Blanca, CO. Not much to speak of, but only $10 for PA members. We traveled 90 miles today, so that was good enough.

Friday, May 14, 2010
We went back on Rt 160 about 4 miles, and then got on the road to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. We visited the park last year and hiked partway out to the dunes. This year we just looked around a little bit and got back on the road. We went west to a road that took us back to Rt 17 to the pool. We only traveled 45 miles today. The pool's RV park is all filled up, but we can dry camp here tonight. We parked in the lot near the pool all day instead of way out in the camping area. We left Joey in the camper, much to his disappointment, because it was too cold to have him outdoors for a long time. We had a good time swimming and sitting in the sun though I was bundled up because of the sun and the cold. Whenever we have been here during the week at least two bus loads of school children have been brought in during the day. Today there were very young ones, and then young teens. I enjoyed watching them play, but they did take over the pool, so we took a break. The clouds rolled in and it rained and thundered and the buses left. I took a nap in the camper and Charlie took his computer into the pool area so he could plug it in and get on the internet for awhile. The weather cleared up, and I brought Joey in after a couple of hours to see what he was up too. Joey got a lot of attention, not many people realize that you can bring dogs there. One young man came over to pet Joey and to show me a picture of his dog that he is missing. Several adults, children, and even a toddler just had to pet him. He licked them all. Charlie bought some fresh tomatoes at their little store and mixed them up with some chicken and pasta on the gas stove. We don't have the microwave tonight since we don't have electricity, except from our house battery. The pool is open until 10pm but we had had enough, plus the older teens took over in the evening! We watched a movie on the computer from Netflix called 'Outsourced'. It is unusual, and I really enjoyed it. Charlie had seen it and it is a favorite of his. I recommend watching it with the subtitles turned on, or it could just be the sound on my computer. Whatever, I need to watch/hear it again.

Saturday, May 15, 2010
The pool opened at 9am just for adults to swim laps for an hour. It was so quiet and peaceful. The morning temperature was probably down in the 40's, but in the sun it felt like the upper 50's. Steam was rising from the pool and it felt wonderful. I swam the whole hour and Charlie swam most of it. We decided to stay tonight when Charlie learned that a campsite with full hook up is available. The day warmed up enough that I got Joey in his stroller and sat with him by the pool for a couple of hours, and I went back in swimming too. I had to stay in Joey's sight while I was in the pool, or the stroller would start rockin' and rollin', and he would start barkin'! At lunchtime I went back to the camper which Charlie had moved to our spot and gotten hooked up. He had been on the phone with David almost the whole time. Our cell phones don't work here so Charlie reactivated his Skype account and he uses it through his computer. Not a good connection, but better than nothing. We had lunch and headed back to the pool until about 3pm when we had all had enough. Joey is sleeping the rest of the day away. So, our nephew David is in China and he says he has been drinking sewage water all day to build up his immune system. Ummmm....we thought we were having an adventure and living dangerously....

May 10 to May 12, 2010

Monday, May 10, 2010
Charlie left the campground early this morning to get the new brakes for the van. Joey and I hung out and did laundry, dishes in the campground's rec room, and then I did a mean thing. I took Joey next door and had his nails trimmed. He gets so upset that he has to be muzzled. The lady didn't want to muzzle him, but he was beside himself. She had this big thing that covered his whole face and he kept shaking it off. It was a real scene, and I had to give her a good tip. Afterward, we went back to the camper and relaxed a bit, and I got on the computer. Then Charlie got back and he was hungry....I am glad he came and got me because all I have been eating all day is yogurt and cookies. We went and got a nice lunch and then went by the RV place to see how our new camper is coming along. The dealership had the camper as a consignment, but they are supposed to check it out thoroughly and add the equalizer thing. Cody was happy to see us and asked us to come back at 4 o'clock and the camper would be ready! That was good news, but it only gave us two hours to get the Aliner ready. Incredibly we got almost everything out of it, and into the van. We left our bikes, some crates, and the porta potty at the campsite. We made it to the dealership in time but we did not get away from there with our new camper until after 6pm. So then we had to go back and load up the new camper and get it organized enough so that we could go to bed. The funny thing about this camper is that the front end pops out into a bed like a pop up camper. The way the dealer had it put together, the mattress in the pop out was intruding on the sofa and dinette (when it was closed) which are the only other two places to sleep. I was sure that could not be right, but I couldn't figure it out. So we had to open the pop out to sleep in. It was after 10:30 before we were able to settle down. Charlie slept in the pop out, the temperature outside kept dropping, and the vinyl pop out was not much protection. The heater was on, but it just made the rest of the camper hot. During the night I got up off the foldout sofa and it slid away from the wall and was kind of crooked. That was the end of sleep for the night. Charlie got up and fixed the sofa, and I figured out how the pop out mattress snaps in so that it does not intrude on the rest of the camper. Now we can keep the pop out closed and have a solid wall, and we can sleep on the dinette and the sofa when it is too cold or too hot outside. Charlie also had to deal with the water which was not ready to go since it had been winterized and the dealership did not finish undoing that. Hopefully we have the kinks worked out now. This camper is so comfortable as far as having a place for everything, and I am so glad we have it in spite of the rough start.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010
We were up half the night and really tired, but continued to get organized and figure things out. Finally, Charlie decided he wanted to get on the road to see how we do. The new hitch that is meant to help balance the weight between the tow vehicle and camper is huge. It is so big and complicated that Charlie is getting frustrated and I am not strong enough to help. I hope he will find it easier as he gets used to it. We got back on Route 50 and headed west. We went through beautiful mountains and along rivers and streams. It is the prettiest drive we have made in a long time. The sky was overcast most of the way though, and it was very cold so we didn't stop anywhere except for the ski lifts on Monarch Mountain, and at the Monarch Crest which is at the Continental Divide at 11,312 feet. It was so windy that we didn't even try to get Joey out of the car. It rained toward the end of the day, and the rain was brown! All day the horizon had been hazy and brown, and now we know why. It was a dust storm with rain. I never heard of such a thing. We had trouble seeing through the muddy rain, and the van and camper have brown streaks all over now. We took Rt 550 to Ouray, CO where we pulled into an RV park that is right in town. The office was closed and a boy told us that the restrooms are not open yet. We traveled about 160 miles today and we were tired, so we settled in anyway. As soon as we did, it started to snow. When I walked Joey later in the snow my jacket got brown spots, and I noticed that the hood of the van is turning brown. Yuck! Joey saw four deer before I did, and got them on the run. Our campsite is next to a rocky mountain that goes almost straight up. It has been snowing all evening and we are happy to be snug and warm in our new camper with a 'camper' cooked hot meal.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010
It is clear this morning and when I got out to walk Joey I noticed that there is a very fast moving creek about 100 feet from the camper...duh! I heard it before I saw it, and wondered how I could of missed it! I guess I was so interested in the mountain on the other side? Oh well. The dust storm yesterday continued during the night and the van is covered with brown mud. Charlie was able to borrow a hose from the owner to clean the van & camper, not usually allowed in RV parks. We then drove south on Rt 550, the Million Dollar Highway, for about 24 miles to Silverton. It was a beautiful drive, along Bear Creek and we saw many waterfalls, and two mountain goats. We drove through ice and snow on the road and there were lots steep switchbacks going up and down the mountains. We stopped at the old Idarado Mine which was founded in 1939, and closed in 1978. The overlook road was covered with ice and snow so Charlie walked up it and took pictures. We arrived in Silverton which is at about 9,300 feet. We parked on a side street and left Joey in the camper while we did lots of shopping and had lunch at the Brown Bear Cafe. As we finished lunch snow really started coming down. Oh no, this is exactly what happened when we were here three years ago. That time it snowed for two days. By the next afternoon there was at least a foot of snow on the ground and lots more was predicted so we took a chance and left. We had a harrowing ride through the mountains in the snow, and I was mad because we didn't get to stop in Ouray. This trip Charlie was determined that we would do that. Anyway, today it was about 2pm and snowing, so we were going to go ahead and stay at the same RV park in town, but they did not have showers there. We both really want and need showers, and we are not ready to try to take them in the camper. Too tight and we have to worry about how much water we are using. So we left Silverton and continued south on Route 550 through the mountains up to 11,000 feet in the snow. We then had to mount another summit, more switchbacks with shear drops on wet and icy roads. For once I stayed awake. We went through Ouray but almost all of the stores are closed, I guess the season has not started yet. So, we need to keep Ouray on our list of places to visit. Ouray has swimming in Hot Springs too. I never knew there were so many hot springs in Colorado. About 50 miles after Silverton we got on Route 160 east. So now we are heading in the direction of home. We went another 60 miles to Pagosa Springs. We stopped at two RV parks but didn't stay. One had no showers, and one Charlie just didn't like. Finally we found a very nice place, still in Pagosa Springs called the Riverside Campground Pond & River. When we were back in Silverton and left Joey in the camper, I had set out a bowl of water for him on the counter next to the sofa. I forgot about it until we were on the road again, and the whole way I am thinking we are going to have a wet sofa (my bed). Incredibly, the bowl was still sitting on the counter when we stopped for the day. This camper must have a very smooth ride. We are camped beside a pretty little pond that we walked all the way around. There is a tiny dock with paddle boats tied to it. Joey was very curious all along the bank of the pond and then he went out on the dock. Several times his leg slipped through the slats in the dock and he fell through up to his chest. I have never seen a dog do that. He does not seem to be as sure footed as other dogs I know. If we had a TV we could be watching it now. Since we got a camper that is big enough to have a TV we miss having one all of a sudden. We have not really seen TV for weeks and only have a vague notion of what is going on in the world. Perhaps that is just as well.

May 6 to May 9, 2010

Thursday, May 6, 2010
We left the Sante Fe KOA at check out time and took I-25 south to get back on Rt 285 north, which took us back through Sante Fe and all the way to Colorado, about 170 miles. It was a pretty drive a lot of the way up here. We went through the Rio Grande National Forrest and it was over 8,500 feet. There were patches of snow on the mountain sides not too far away. It was very open all around and it seemed like we were surrounded by mountains everywhere in the far distance. When we got to Alamosa, CO we stopped for gas. It was so windy that Charlie could hardly get the van door open at the Walmart gas pumps, and then one of those outside ground signs flew by and almost hit him. We got on Rt 17 there, and started watching for motels on the way to Hooper because we were afraid we might need one. There is a sticker on the outside of our camper that says "WARNING DO NOT OPEN IN HIGH WINDS". We arrived at the campground at the Sand Dunes Swimming Pool, and after angling the camper just right, and a little struggle, we got it open. The camper next to us blocked the wind somewhat. Charlie left the camper hitched to the van since the chock blocks might not be enough during the night. Sometimes the wind gusts are so strong and steady, it sounds and feels like someone is driving off with us in the camper, and we are heading down the road at 60 miles an hour. Last year we came to Hooper for swimming for the first time, it was windy then too, but not quite as cold. It is in the low forties at night and in the low sixties during the day. It is a fascinating place and we just had to come back. I am re-posting my description from last year's journal: Hooper is in the San Luis Valley in Southern Colorado. There are sand dunes, naturally hot water, gators, a speedway, and UFO enthusiasts. We skipped the speedway, UFO watchtower, and gators this trip. But I was curious about the gators. It turns out the facility started as a fish farm of Tilapia and African perch. The location was picked because of the warm geothermal water resources in the valley. They purchased 100 baby alligators to dispose of dead fish and the remains of filleted fish. What do you know, the gators grew! So they opened to the public in 1990 as Colorado Gators. Soon people with unwanted gators and other reptiles such as pythons, tortoises, iguanas, and more, started dropping them off, so they have quite a few reptiles now. We camped at the Sand Dunes Swimming Pool and RV Park. We had great views of the mountains from the RV and from the pool. The swimming pool is advertised as a Natural Hot Artesian Oasis. That is just what it is too. Well water enters the pool at 118 degrees. The pool is kept at 98 to 100 degrees. To regulate the temperature, hot and cold water pour into the pool as needed. I love standing under the hot water as it really pounds into the pool. I am not the only one, sometimes I have to wait my turn. What a great massage. Charlie does not care for it though. There is also a therapy pool kept between 105 to 107 degrees, it has jets, and it is big enough for 25 people. Charlie doesn't like that either. I did, but can't stay in for long. A baby pool with a creepy looking fountain named Puffenstuff (a dragon with water flowing from it's nose into the pool) is out of the sun. The elevation is about 7,500 feet so it is cool during the day and cold at night. It is windy almost all the time. The pool is warmer than the air so we get in the water and stay in up to our necks. It is just great. There is no chlorine or any other chemicals; instead, the pools are emptied and refilled every Thursday. Also, water appears to be constantly flowing in and out of the pool. The water flowing out of the pool goes into a pipe and then comes out at the top of a slide below the pool, making a play area for children. The slide empties into a little pond that is also open for swimming. Back to today: We arrived here this afternoon knowing the pool is closed for the Thursday cleaning. Charlie peeked in and sure enough, all of the pools are empty. It seems impossible that the pools will be filled and ready for swimming by tomorrow morning. We stayed in our little camper tonight and watched a movie on the computer, and tried to stay warm. We are pretty much stocked up on supplies but we may head into Alamosa for a meal or two. The snack bar here has a lot of fresh items that are grown in the green houses heated by the artesian well water. We are looking forward to seeing what is on the menu tomorrow and to swimming all day.

Friday, May 7, 2010
We woke up to a cold, but sunny, windy day. It took awhile but we finally got ourselves, and Joey, together and headed over to the pool. Dogs are allowed in the pool area! Possibly in the pool as well, but we were not interested in that. He would be a chili dog when he came out. We took the stroller and used it to keep him out of the wind and sun part of the time. What would we do without the stroller? We have not been able to get into Wal-Marts lately though. Maybe Wal-Mart is onto us and sent out an e-mail across the country??? Oh well, the weather has been such that he can stay in the van without a problem. Still, this is another instance where I wish we had a regular camper he could easily stay in when we need to leave him. One time we did set up the camper on the side of the road because it was just to hot for him to be in the van. Charlie is more than willing to do that, but it is a nuisance. The pool is in such a unusual setting with snow capped mountains all around. It was crowded today with lots of young people. They were playing volleyball in a large grassy area, and basketball in the pool. I stood under the hot waterfall as long as I could stand it, and I wished I could have gotten my hip under it, but the water is up to my shoulders. Charlie took lots of pictures. Not posted yet, but there are pics on this blog from last year. We had a good lunch and too much sun. Joey was the only dog there today and he got lots of attention. It was a good day. We are getting really really tired of not having running water in the camper. Not too mention no fridge when we are on the move. Charlie is looking on the internet again for a camper, any camper, that will meet our needs, and still be small enough to pull with the mini-van. He may have found one nearby to look at tomorrow.....we will see. We tried to pretend we can do this, bought plastic utensils, but eating out all the time and struggling just to brush our teeth everyday is getting to be too much! If we can't make a change, we really need to head home.

Saturday, May 8, 2010
We got up early intending to go back to the pool before leaving here, but then decided not to. Charlie really did get too much sun. He was already tan, but now he has a burn on top of it, his hair and beard seem to be getting whiter, and he needs a haircut and beard trim. Frankly, he looks kind of wild! I like wild. It is a warmer day today, but still windy, and a couple of people are flying kites. We, I should say Charlie, spent the morning talking to our camping neighbors. He always talks to everybody, I have just never had that much to say. I like to write though, you might have noticed, if you are still with me.... Anyway, everywhere we go people are interested in our camper and we don't mind showing it off, but we are not really good promoters since we are not happy with it. We got back on Rt 285 and drove about 70 miles north to Poncha Springs. We bought a camper from a guy named Cody at a dealership. It is a 2007 Bantam 17 (foot), Rocky Mountain edition. It is a real camper with all the storage space we could ever need and we are very happy, and hoping we did the right thing. We got a good price for the Aliner, so we will be leaving it behind, so sad. Our new camper is supposed to be ready on Tuesday so we are hanging out here in the 4 Seasons RV Resort in Salida for a few days. It is right on Route 50, the same Route 50 that goes east all the way to Ocean City Maryland. We had thought it would be fun to head east on there for awhile as we head home, but now I don't know where we are going. Certainly we are hoping to stay out for another month. The van will be worked on tomorrow to add extra brakes or something, and the camper needs to have an equalizer or something so that we can safely tow it. If all goes well we will be back on the road on Tuesday.

Sunday, May 9, 2010
I relaxed this morning and talked awhile with Mom. When I got off the phone Charlie gave me the good news that he finally figured out what that unpleasant odor is in the mini-van. Ever since before we visited Jeanne we have noticed this smell but could not locate it. Kinda musty ya know? There is so much stuff in the van, but we couldn't find anything that would cause any kind of smell. Well, this morning he lifted the third seat out of the well and discovered that one of the coolers has been leaking all this time. The leather seat was saturated and the carpet soaked under about two inches of water. Our 2004 Honda has been in pristine condition all these years. Garage kept, not much mileage. Not after this trip! Anyway we are glad to be taking care of this problem before he takes it to the dealer for the brake system tomorrow. After Charlie got most of the water out, we went to a car wash and used the vac to suck up as much of the water out of the carpet as we could. We had a nice dinner and took a walk in the campground tonight. This area is big on fly fishing and rafting and the camp is right on the river, so it is pretty here.

May 3 to May 5, 2010

Monday, May 3, 2010
It has been over three weeks since we left home, and we have seen a lot. Weather and scenery wise the Davis Mountains in Texas are as nice as anywhere we have been before, and without the real high altitudes. These mountains are from 3,000 to 7,000 feet, mostly below 5,000 feet. The night sky has been spectacular the last two nights. We are really enjoying the cool weather but I do get a little too cold at night sometimes. It is dry, but not extremely so. We saw Javelinas in the campground this morning, and the mule deer again. This afternoon we traveled 35 miles north on Route 17 to the Balmorhea State Park. There is a giant pool fed by artesian springs with temperatures between 74 and 78 degrees. People come here to swim, scuba dive and snorkel. It is 58 degrees here, so we will not be going in the water. Along the deck it looks like a normal pool, only huge. It is rectangular except for a uniform curve on one end. But it is filled with spring water with fish so it looks like a pond or a lake with a rough bottom. Along the inside edge the pool is about 2 feet deep, and in the middle it is up to 25 feet deep, and you cannot see the bottom. The pool was built by the CCC in the thirties and so it also has that old time look. I so wanted to get in, but it is just too cold today. After taking pictures all around the pool we met a young family who were just leaving. They have three very talkative children and they enjoyed petting Joey. They are on a long trip in a big van and pulling a utility trailer. Their stove does not work and a few other things, and they dry camp quite a bit. Apparently they are missionaries and are home schooling. We thought we were roughing it, but now I feel like I should not be complaining about our camper. We have decided that we are limited to staying in cool places because when it gets over 90 degrees, and the camper is out in the open, it is just too hot. Of course we don't want to go where it is too cold either....oh well...Charlie is surfing the net for interesting places to go, and he is looking for dealers that might have ultra light campers that will work better for us. We had a really nice authentic Mexican dinner at La Cueva De Oso (The Bear Den). Afterward we took a walk in our campground and found a kind of stream called San Solomon Cienega that is full of turtles, snakes, and large fish. We watched a snake catch and eat a fish. It was very shallow and clear and Joey was watching them all intently. I held on tight to our little dog.


Tuesday, May 4, 2010
It is about 10:40pm EST, and we just got set up and are settling in at a KOA in Santa Fe. We drove about 390 miles today straight up Rt 285. We stopped in Carlsbad and looked at the R pod campers. They are very nice and are very tightly packed with all the things we want. The camper we were most interested in was brand new for $12,000. The dealership is really more of a service center for RVs, and we couldn't get much help, so we moved on. We considered hanging around until we could fully check it out, but we felt that we didn't really want to waste a few days buying and setting up in a new camper. Plus, they would not take our camper as a trade, but only on consignment. Not a complication we want to deal with. Though we would have liked to learn more, we think that once loaded, the camper would have topped out at 2,900 pounds, which is probably too much for the mini-van on long trips. Since we didn't spend a bunch of money on a new camper, now we feel like we are rich, and will stop fighting our camper's limitations. We are going to continue to eat out a lot, and not worry about it. We only brought two folding chairs on this trip, like always wants to sit in a chair too. So Charlie bought him his own chair today....it is a lot fancier than ours.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010
We went into Santa Fe today and I went through the Georgia Okeefe museum. Charlie waited outside with Joey in a nice courtyard there. We took turns going into the Monitou Gallery, a place I really enjoyed last year. This year they have some of the same artists I remember but different works. Also, some new ones, all in the style of the southwest. I especially like the sculptures. While I was waiting with Joey out front next to a big cat statue, the owner came out and said that dogs are welcome in the gallery, that this is Santa Fe! Maybe we should move here. We walked around a bit more, and I did some shopping pushing Joey in the stroller while Charlie waited in the plaza. Later we drove to the capitol, which we missed last year. Last year we were limited to seeing what was on the bus line since we bused in from our campground. We took a lot of pictures of the plaza and of the churches last year which are still on this blog if you want to go back to see them. It is a really nice capitol with a nice setting. But I had enough of walking so Charlie went inside by himself. Inside is like an art gallery with a nice rotunda in the center. All the government offices are on other floors. We had a nice dinner on the way back to the camper. The restaurant is in front of the one and only mall in the area and behind the mall are rows and rows of small adobe houses that looks like a massive and old Pueblo village. Charlie posted a picture of it. He started a new album when we left Texas, so there are a few new pictures in album 4, and album 5 is started. Don't know where we are going next because it is a little cold in Hooper, Colorado which is supposed to be our next destination....

May 1 to May 2, 2010

Saturday, May 1, 2010
Last night in Terlingua the wind was blowing and pounding so hard bringing in a cold front, that I thought the camper might turn over, but Charlie says that even in a 70 plus mph wind, only a wall might be pushed in. That would be bad enough for me, especially if it were the wall over my head with all my books and other stuff on the shelves! I think tonight I will sleep with my head at the other end, at least there is nothing hanging on that wall. There is a sticker on the outside of the camper that says not to erect or take it down in high winds. We were glad when the winds let up this morning so we could pack up. It has really cooled down in this part of Texas. We went shopping in Alpine and the temperature was 46 degrees there. We drove about 150 miles north from Big Bend on Rt 118 to the Davis Mountains State Park. Here we have views all around, and a very nice campsite with a big tree. Now that we have shade, I want sun! It is very cool here. Right after we setup, there were three mule deer grazing on the bushes about 30 feet from the camper, so we sat inside and watched. It is much greener here than it was just a few miles to the south. We drove up to the top of a nearby mountain within the park. It was cold and windy there, but there were beautiful views. Joey is so funny. He is different from our dog Toby in so many ways. When we traveled with Toby we had to practically drag him into the camper every night. He wanted to lay outside and wallow and dig in the dirt. Joey is all about “Where is my cushion? Where is my blanket?” “Isn't it time to go inside yet?” The last few days he actually laid down on the ground in the sun a couple of times. He does enjoy the heat. So I thought he might be adapting to the camping life. But now that we are in cooler climes....forget it! Now it is “Carry me!” For dinner we ate inside the camper since the temperature was dropping and it was raining a little bit. We had a couple of more crates inside because of the rain, so it was hard to move around, but we managed. The clouds all cleared out and it was a beautiful evening so we drove about 14 miles up to the McDonald Observatory for a Star Gazer Party. The observatory is at 6,500 feet, and is part of the University of Texas at Austin. They have public viewings three times a week, so our timing was good. The 'party' started at 9:30 and we didn't get back to camp until about 11:30. Late night for me! It was really cold up there. In fact they said they had lots of snow this morning. All the outside lights are low to the ground and they are red. We walked a good way through the observation area to a big circular outdoor theater for lessons on the constellations. There were no lights around for miles and the night sky was stunning. The presenter had a kind of lazer pointer that seemed to go all the way to the star he was pointing at. That was really cool. He told us all about the constellations, reminding us of what we learned years ago but had mostly forgotten. After that, we went back to the observation area to look through the telescopes. There were about six telescopes set up, three were inside round buildings open to the sky. We saw Saturn, and a bunch of numbered clusters, and I really don't know what all. It was fun though. There was a video that we could have watched but we both probably would have slept through it. Besides, Joey was waiting for us in the car. We were not far from him, he was warm in his fleece sweater, and out of the wind. We had a fun ride down the mountain in the dark, but it was well marked with reflectors.

Sunday, May 2, 2010
Last night was so cold. We didn't have the heater ready to use. So, without heat we slept in our clothes and used lots of blankets. Joey cuddled up to me and he was under three blankets. I don't know if he was warm enough or not. Charlie got the heater working this morning, so we are hoping it will do the job. We went back to the McDonald Observatory and had lunch there and went to a presentation about the Sun. It included a look at the Sun through a remote telescope. Then we were taken up the highest road in Texas to the Hobby and Eberty telescope. The University of Texas at Austin and some Pennsylvania Astronomers built the telescope with a single 107 inch mirror in the 60s with help from NASA Then we went to the much larger and newer Harlan J. Smith telescope, made with many mirrors and measuring over 300 inches. It didn't really look like a telescope but a huge mirror in a frame. It was all very interesting and if you like to know all the technical details, you will get them if you visit here. Charlie liked it alot. Afterward we drove up to the mountain in the park again, and then went to dinner in the town of Fort Davis. We went to a good BBQ place, and we talked a little bit about how this trip is working out. We are having a good time but the camper is giving us a struggle. We are eating out too much because water and the fridge are hard to deal with. Now we have found that keeping the camper cool or warm in very hot or cold weather may not be possible. Plus my hip has been hurting more all the time, quite a lot today. Don't know how much longer we will stick it out. It is so pretty out here, we don't want to give up. Charlie fell behind posting pictures so he gave them to me and I will try to get caught up. We have wifi here so I am going to get to work.

April 30, 2010

Friday – April 30, 2010
Today we got a late start on the road because it was such a pretty morning at the campsite. We just hung out until the heat of the day started at about 11am. Then we headed south and west on Farm Road 170 (not FM as I had thought) through Big Bend Ranch State Park. Access to the state park is only on Rt 170 along the Rio Grande with overlooks and places for camping and trails. It was a very windy road with a 15 percent grade in a few places. We were glad we left our trailer at the campground. The scenery was spectacular, and we stopped at an old movie set that looks more like a ghost town then the one in Terlingua. Most of the buildings are thrown together with minimal structure, strand board for walls, and a thin layer of plaster instead of stucco. They look like real, ruined, once usable dwellings from a distance. Also, there are 2 or 3 buildings that are fairly solid but there was no way to tell if those were built for the movie(s). Quite a few movies were filmed there, but none we remember. One we will rent is The Streets of Laredo. I read the book, but I don't remember the movie. The fake village is right on the banks of the Rio Grande. I put my finger in the river there, Charlie had put his toe in yesterday, and Joey might have tasted it today. Tomorrow we will head to Alpine for supplies and maybe spend the night at an RV park there. Or we may make it a little further north to Fort Davis State Park. Charlie took a lot of pictures today, so look for them in Album 4. It is very windy tonight so we are staying inside our cozy little camper.

April 29, 2010

Thursday – Aprl 29, 2010
Charlie took some nice pictures today and added them to Album 4. We will keep putting pics in that album til it is full, so keep checking that one. I was going to mostly let the pictures speak for themselves today, but Charlie wrote an e-mail to his sisters describing today's adventures. So here it is, edited slightly for content. Charlie wrote: Today I drove ninety miles without towing the trailer for the first time. The Big Bend Resort and RV Park in Terlingua where we are staying is a very nice location right outside the west side of the park. I hiked while Leigh sat under a big shady tree with Joey. She still got hot but not like I did. It was probably a little over 100 degrees down by the river, very dry with a steady breeze blowing through the canyon. There was practically no shade during my two hour hike. I had a big lunch and drank as much as I could hold and set off. Dogs are never allowed on any back trails in national parks, but Joey would have had to be carried most of the way. I will copy in a description of the trail at the end of this email. I took a lot of pictures and I posted some of them on Picasa which you can see on Leigh's blog in album 4. We stopped at some overlooks on our way back to the trailer. As we climbed back up into the mountain area the temperature dropped by over 30 degrees. But at the low altitude where we are camping it hit a hundred degrees yesterday and today.  When we got back to camp today, I turned on the air and we went to a funky bar and eatery called La Kiva where they actually had a kiva. That's a holy place for native Americans. They are using it for storage though. Check this out, it is an interesting site: http://lakiva.net/. Be sure to have your sound on, and listen to the Tequila ad. Also, look at some of the pictures Leigh took. It seems we stumbled into a famous place. There wasn't any action when we got there which is just as well for me. I think off season for Terlingua must be at least 8 months of the year. Maybe. They made us sit on the patio where we could have Joey with us. The server says the owner really doesn't want to serve food and we had to get our iced tea at the bar separately. Leigh and I both had barbecue on mesquite wood. I had half a chicken and Leigh had pork spare ribs. The meat was great, the cole slaw tasted as weird as the place looked, and the beans had a good flavor but were tough. Bikers are welcome, or more likely preferred. I thought I might fit in since I badly need a haircut, beard trim, and a shower, but alas no. If you show up in a mini-van with your wife and a little dog, that's it. You're the freak. Anyway the meat was good and the flies were bad. There aren't many choices for dinner in Terlingua. Tomorrow we will go to the Big Bend state park south of here and stay another night at the same campsite. Then we will probably stock up in Alpine again and head north to Fort Davis state park.
Here is a description of where I hiked today: Guidebook: Santa Elena Canyon Trail, 1.7 miles roundtrip, This trail begins at the end of the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. Although a short trail, it is one of the grandest spectacles in the park. After crossing Terlingua Creek, the trail climbs several short switchbacks and then gradually descends along the banks of the Rio Grande. Hikers are surrounded by lush riparian vegetation and 1,500-foot towering vertical cliffs of solid limestone. The trail ends where canyon walls meet the river. Take a lunch and enjoy the scene.
Leigh again: Once the sun went down we sat outside and enjoyed the cool down and watched the stars come out. It was the first time on this trip we have done that, something we always enjoy when there aren't any bugs around. More later....

April 27 to April 28, 2010

Oops! I lost the link to the pics for a couple of days. I created a link for each of our albums so you don't have to work so hard to see the pics. Charlie wrote some of the captions and I wrote some....

Tuesday – April 27, 2010, continued
We drove from our campsite in Marathon back 30 miles to Alpine to get groceries. Charlie really liked their small store and bought himself a souvenir, a cloth bag with Porter's Thriftway logo on it. We headed back to Marathon and then south on 385. We drove about 70 miles into Big Bend and took a quick look at the Visitors Center. We were told that there is only one campground in the National Park with hookups, and only seven spots left. So we drove on for twenty miles hoping we would get a space at the Rio Grande camp. We got lucky, but maybe not so lucky. Charlie is unhappy in the extreme. It isn't what we would consider a campground. It is a parking lot with numbered spaces and hookups. There is green space behind each site, but today it happens to be flooded. The picnic tables and grills are in a big swampy puddle. Mostly there are big rigs here and they are managing just fine. But we have all these crates and coolers and really need some outdoor space. So we have to stay on the pavement between the camper and the van, which is also the only shady spot. We ate there and then washed dishes out of a spigot behind the camper, while all the rich people stared at us during their evening walk. At least that is what it seemed like. We don't have a view from where we are, and there are no facilities nearby. We have never paid so much for so little, $30 for the night. We didn't realize how it would be until we had paid and we had come too far too late to do anything else. It is just so unexpected for a national park with such wide open space to have such poor RV campsites. We do have wifi though! We had hoped to leave the trailer here and to drive around tomorrow, but we are going to have to find another place.

Wednesday – April 28, 2010
We headed back to the Visitor's Center this morning and I got a couple of magnets and some other stuff. I cannot seem to only buy one magnet at each place anymore. They are so small and don't cost much.... We went west on FM 170. I have been waiting to travel on an FM road again. Charlie asked, and Jeanne told us, that FM means it is a Farm to Market road. Charlie wanted to know: “What if we wanted to go to market but ended up at the farm instead?” Jeanne supposed you would be back home. I guess you had to be there.....We stopped at a couple of overlooks including Boquillas, and we got pictures of the Rio Grande as we headed west out of the park. It was very shallow, less than 2 feet deep and we saw someone on horseback cross the river from Mexico. It could have been an illegal maneuver. We ate lunch at the Rio Bravo, a tiny restaurant with a big porch. We ate on the porch while Joey laid on his blanket next to us. It was a good meal, mexican, but a little different than we have had before. We drove a little ways west to a ghost town called Terlingua. It isn't llke the stereotypical ghost town you see on tv. It seemed like over half the dwellings that still stood were occupied and should be condemned. Not exactly a ghost town but interesting. There is a nice gift store. We had to take turns going inside because Joey was not allowed and it was very hot. We both bought stuff. I would like to go back when it is not so hot and I can take my time looking around. Now we are camped at the Big Bend Motel and RV Park which is between the national and state Big Bend parks, about 45 miles from where we were yesterday. What a difference. We are in the pop-up section of the park, and we are the only ones here. So we have over an acre of space to ourselves including facilities. But, it costs $2 for 5 minutes in the shower. I take a lot longer than 5 minutes, but that is okay, I have lots of quarters. There is a laundry here too, so I may do that if we stay a day or two. It was very hot when we got here and so we took a siesta. Our little A/C could not really keep up and we could feel the heat radiating through the walls and ceiling. It must have been over 100 degrees here today. Joey seemed perfectly comfortable, so that was good. There is a gas at $3.209 which is better than in the park by 20 cents or so. The gas at Walmart in Del Rio was $2.649, and after that every place was higher. We paid $3.299 in Marathon and the next day in Alpine one station was $2.949. It would have taken 2 more gallons to make it. Charlie feels our safe range is 250 miles pulling the trailer and it has been over 70 miles between stations sometimes. Gasbuddy.com doesn't list the stations in this part of the world, but on their color coded map, it shows the average gas price in the $2.75 range. We are going to leave the trailer here for the day tomorrow while we tour the park.

April 26 to April 27, 2010

Monday – April 26, 2010
I had a relaxing morning and it was nice and cool in the shade. We were the only campers in the tent section so we had a quiet night. Sonora Caverns is in the middle of a working ranch so we saw and heard sheep on the hillside this morning. Earlier Joey spotted some deer. Charlie took the cave tour and he really enjoyed it. The cave is warm unlike others we have visited, 71 degrees and 92 percent humidity! It was a two mile trip with 250 some steps and lots of formations. He took a bunch of pics that he has already posted on Picasa. He was the only guest doing the tour; there was a guide and two new employees. So it was all for him and he liked that! After reading and walking most of the time he was in the cave, I got a head start on packing up the camper so we were ready to go when Charlie got back. I had eaten a yogurt and Charlie had some cereal earlier. Even though it was getting close to lunch time we headed out thinking we would go to a Subway. Big mistake. We headed south, but very soon the road took a turn slightly west and then north. Worse, the road is not on the map. On the Garmin the road was being created as we went along, so we didn't know where we were going and there were no roads to turn onto. About this time I am having fun, and Charlie is thinking about how much gas we have and all sorts of practical matters. We crossed cattle guards, met burros in the road, went into many dips with flood gauges next to them measuring up to 6 feet. All was dry though fortunately. We thought we must be on someone's ranch but then we passed gates to different ranches that were secured. We even passed the 'Happy Trails Ranch'. Perhaps Roy Rogers old place? Eventually, to my disappointment, and to Charlie's relief we went under I-10 and then on-ramped and headed west again. We quickly got to Rt 163 heading south and travelled about 80 miles back to Rt 90. Still all open country. We arrived in Comstock thinking something would be there. And there was: The Seminole Inn Cafe looking dusty and dirty. The Quick Stop (Beer – Ice 24-7 fuel) where we got gas and ice. A big Border Patrol facility. But we were back on Rt 90 at last. So the wreck on the bridge on Rt 90 that closed the road near Del Rio, the closed road to the west due to high water, and the road not on the map going north, all caused us to drive an additional 200 miles on our way to Langtry. But we didn't give up, and we enjoyed our visit to Sonora. Next we crossed the Pecos River over a canyon. When we got to Langtry there was still nowhere to eat, for Charlie at least. They only had hamburgers and BBQ down the street. Plus it was about 90 degrees there and Joey was not allowed inside the visitors center which we had to go through to get to the exhibits. So we opened up the camper on the side of the road and ate some string cheese and fruit cups. It was amazing how much better we felt after that. We put Joey in the camper with the windows and roof vents open and he was very comfortable. We saw Judge Roy Bean's courthouse and saloon. It is the original building in the original location. There is a billiard room attached to it, which is where he died. He also had built a home for himself that he named the Opera house. It is thought that he hoped to entice the famous actress, Lily Langtry, to come there to see the Opera house and the town named after her. She finally did come, but not until after he died. I know the story from the Paul Newman movie, but I should read about it one of these days. Thanks to Glenda for recommending we visit the cactus garden there. We probably would have missed it. Glenda was right, most of the cactus are in bloom now. There were many varieties and all were beautiful. Charlie took lots of pics. He posted a few but I am going to go back and post more of the garden and other things, and add captions, when I get a chance. The visitor center there is part ot the Texas Pecos Trail, as is Rt 90, and they provide lots of local information. As Jeanne suggested, we got the big Texas guidebook. All the info and the exhibits were free. There is a store across the street where I got my magnet and a few other things. Our long detour to get here was well worth the trip. From there we continued on Rt 90 to Marathon to spend the night. It was about a 2 hour drive through more open country. We are staying at the Marathon Motel and RV Park, right next to the railroad track! The track is even closer, but the trains are not so loud for some reason. Getting used to them? We got a few things at the 'French Grocery'. Only store in town, and everything cost three times as much as we are used to. We settled for lunch meat and bread and chips, and ate some other stuff we already had. We have wifi so Charlie got on the computer and stayed on it most of the night I think. I was tired out so went to bed early after watching a beautiful sunset over the hills. The temperature was dropping all evening so we kept the camper buttoned up all night.

Tuesday – April 27, 2010
Happy Birthday little sister! I miss you. We woke up to a cold and windy morning. Didn't turn on the heater, but I got up during the night and put on a sweater and an extra blanket on Joey. I put his fleece sweater on him to take him out. It warmed up later and it is a beautiful clear day. I took a shower and I was so taken with the bathroom I considered taking a picture of it. It is a single bathroom, like in a house. Like a master bath, with mexican tile, brass fixtures, little guest soaps, a heater, and a lock on the door so I had it all to myself. There is nothing like camping for two weeks to make you appreciate the little things in life....like indoor plumbing! Well I am going to post these notes and we will be leaving soon for Big Bend. We will be there at least a couple of days. Since it is mostly state and national parkland, I don't know if we will have wifi or cell phone service again for awhile. Talked to Sarah, and it was good to hear her voice. I miss everyone and the pups and kitties at the SPCA!

April 19 to April 25, 2010

I am not uploading pics for our RV 2010 trip the same way I did in the past. Instead I linked this blog to Charlie's Picasa account where he is uploading our pics. Please double click on the RV 2010 slideshow. Some pics will come up immediately, then double click on the tab for 'Will's Gallery' in order to get to his albums.

Monday – April 19, 2010
We left Rustic Sands RV Park early and drove along the coast most of the day. Very pretty pure white sandy beaches. We went through the Gulf Islands National Seashore and Fort Pickens in Pensacola Beach. At Fort Pickens Joey was not allowed inside (such as it was), and we didn't go inside either. On a previous RV trip we took Toby all through Fort Morgan in Alabama, and this was the same kind of place...just ruins. Oh well, we climbed on part of the fort outside the gate and got a picture. We went to the Panama City Wal-Mart, and Joey was not allowed! The nerve! This is a bad day for dogs. We picked up some supplies including a dirt devil because we have been sleeping in sandy beds and the floor is a mess. Our wisk broom just wasn't doing the job. The first thing Joey does is jump on a bed when we go inside the camper. I also got a new water bowl for him. The metal one we had was rusting....so you know how damp everything has been. His new bowl is white with black tiger stripes. It is really a bowl for a cat, but he does not know that. We camped at the Big Lagoon State Park in Pensacola, a campground where we had stayed before. Again, Joey was not allowed on the boardwalk. He wanted to get an armadillo that was hanging out on the edge of our campsite, but no luck. The armadillo did not run so the torture went on and on. I thought Joey was going to slip his collar he was so freaked out. So he is going to have to wear his harness more often, though he does not like it. Charlie fixed a pasta dinner and we had to go inside early because it was very buggy. Don't remember all this dampness and bugs from last time. We need to get into some dry weather.

Tuesday – April 20, 2010
This morning we woke up to a small mess in our campsite. We had put all our stuff away, but left the dirt devil box with some trash in it on the bench of the picnic table. There was no food in it, but it was torn apart and there were little footprints all over our tablecloth...eeewww! Still buggy, so we bugged out. We wanted to cross Mobile Bay on the ferry but missed it, and didn't want to wait for the next one so we headed out to the interstate. The bicycles and chairs are secure on the back of the trailer, but they were really bouncing around. We got on I-10 at Loxley, Alabama, and all seemed to get steadier. Today we drove out of Florida and across Alabama and Mississippi and into Louisanna. Even though I sleep good at night I have been sleeping alot during the day while riding in the car. I couldn't keep my eyes open when we were going through Pensacola Beach yesterday, and I really didn't want to sleep then. It is a typical coastline with colorful beach houses in the dunes. Pretty. We stopped at another Passport America RV park called 'Maxey Care' in Morganza, LA. It is a new park and I thought it was nice since there was grass and gravel, not sand and stickers. We checked in using a kind of vending machine. They have nice facilities, and I got a shower behind a locked door. I always like that instead of locker room style. Behind the RV park is a big hill with very vocal cows wandering around. In front of the park is a 24 hour car/truck wash. We got a wash there. Across the street is a train track. At least three trains went through while we were there, and two woke us up. The train blasted it's whistle repeatedly, and it seemed like it was right in the campground. I like trains...but Charlie was not too happy. He drove many miles out of our way to get to this park because of the Passport America discount, and I guess he was disappointed. After a train went by, he said...”I sure can pick 'em'. Oh well....Sometimes we have days like that on these trips. But we did have a great dinner just down the road from the RV Park at “It's not your Mama's Cafe'. It was a rough looking place with a giant, stuffed, gape mouthed snapping turtle by the front door. Rustic and old timey, but we had wonderful fried oysters and onion rings. Joey came in with us too. I am supposed to be losing weight on this trip, but I am sure I must be going the other way. Well maybe we will do better soon, and I can still hope to at least break even. Our main problem with fixing meals is we are having to use a cooler in the back of the van. Our fridge is small and does not work unless we are plugged in, so we can't keep food in there. We just store stuff in it. If we don't get a different RV during this trip, we definitely will before we head out again. Charlie is enjoying having his Segway this trip. So far he has ridden it during our visits, and some of our friends and family have given it a try. He also rode it all over Manatee Springs. What we really need is a toy hauler....maybe not.

Wednesday – April 21, 2010
We drove 490 miles today through wide open country to my cousin's ranch near Karnes City, Texas. On the way we stopped in Nixon, TX for a nice meal at El Rodeo Mexican Restaurant. Joey joined us at the table in his stroller. We arrived at Jeanne's an hour later, and parked in our spot under the hangin tree. It is good to see Jeanne and John again and look forward to a relaxing visit. Our timing is good because they have had a lot of rain here and the dirt roads in and out of here were all bogged down last weekend. All is dry now, and the place looks good with wild flowers everywhere. It is such a nice quiet place out here.

Thursday – April 22, 2010
I caught up on our laundry and we have been visiting most of the day. Charlie and I went to the store and left our boy with Jeanne. While we were gone Joey got out the door and kept on running, giving Jeanne a scare. He stopped at her truck and jumped all around it as if he thought we were in it. That is the only thing that saved him. There are a few big critters in the area that could mean the end of him. I enjoy hearing the coyotes at night, but I don't really want any one of us to meet one. We had steaks on the grill and chicken for Charlie. It was all good. Never even got to the ice cream for dessert, we ate so well. Jeanne told us about her photography project that relates to our own family history.

Friday – April 23, 2010
It is overcast here and a little windy but not too hot. I have been walking Joey a lot and doing my notes today. Charlie has been doing some housekeeping on the RV and van. Jeanne and John had to make an unexpected trip into San Antonio so we are hanging out making ourselves at home. Went to dinner at a local mexican restaurant, one of three in a row in tiny Karnes City. Most of the restaurants we see are mexican, and all the ones we have tried are good. We went to this one last year, and Charlie wanted to go again. He likes to stick with what he knows is good. We took Joey too, and Jeanne got a kick out of that. I was a little worried we would all get kicked out and Jeanne would be banned for life, but we got away with it. We had ice cream when we got back and headed back to our RV and to bed early.

Saturday – April 24, 2010
We took a two and one-half mile walk this morning down Jeanne's practically private road. It is an unpaved county road but hardly anyone travels on it. We did not see a vehicle on our walk to a huge live oak tree and back again. Actually Charlie and I took turns on the Segway, so we cheated a little bit. More than half way through Joey wanted to be carried, so I did that for awhile. Very pretty wildflowers, and I think Charlie got some good pics. We saw a long horn whose horns twisted around and around, and seemed to go on forever. Jeanne says that type of long horn had become rare but they are bringing them back. I had never seen one, but I would love to see more of them. I hope Charlie got a good picture, he didn't come too close to us. We saw hog trails and turkey tracks too. We had to say goodbye to Jeanne, and it was hard to do. We took Rt 37 to San Antonio and then west on 90. We hit some kind of bugs that covered the whole windshield. It was one sudden splat, and we never knew what they were. It was a mess driving the rest of the 220 miles to Del Rio though! After some misguidance from the Garmin looking for Three Rivers Campground, we gave up and stayed instead at Governor's Landing on Amistad Lake. It is part of the National Park Service, Amistad National Recreation Area. It was our first night without electricity, but there was potable water. We are very close to the Mexican border. Our campsite overlooked the lake and there was a jetty of flat rocks, wildflowers, and cactus that we explored. After we set up and had dinner, some of the people in the other campsites left because they were only having a cookout. So we moved to another site to get away from some noisy neighbors. Joey and I rode in the trailer while we moved. That was fun... During the night some guys pulled in and went fishing for a couple of hours and then left making a racket. Joey didn't complain much, Charlie did though. It got very cool and windy during the night so we closed the windows on one side of the camper. Otherwise it was a very comfortable night.

Sunday – April 25, 2010
When we got up this morning we could see police car after police car headed across the bridge and then stopping at the other end to the west where we were planning to go. There was a huge accident involving at least one tractor trailer, and a couple of hours later, the road was still not cleared. So we drove north on Rt 277. We went through an imigration checkpoint and got by the border patrol and their dogs. We intended to take Rt 189 west but it was closed due to high water. So we continued north to I-10. We want to go to Langtry to see Judge Roy Bean's place, but we were worried we were not going to be able to get there from here! Finally, Charlie found a road going south, no route number, but we should be able to get there. The road led us to the Sonora Caverns and RV Park. Very cool. So here we are and it is a very quiet place. We are in the tent section since we are small enough, and it is great because of the shade over here. So we really like our little camper tonight. We have electricity, water, and bugs (oh no, not again). There are peacocks here too. A very nice store with gems and other rocks. I like to look at them, but they are not something I would buy. I caught up with some of my reading tonight and Charlie was able to get on the internet by sitting on the porch of the store. I will try to upload these notes in the morning and do some reading, and Charlie will take the cavern tour. I don't think he has any new pics uploaded yet. Will do as soon as he can. More later....

April 12 to April 18, 2010

Monday – April 12, 2010
Our plan to leave this morning was delayed a little bit. Charlie discovered that the Honda Mini-Van and my Avalon had tag stickers that expired in July 2009! We have both been driving for nearly a year on expired tags. Two trips to Maryland in the van, and all the rest and we never knew! Oh well, we actually bought the 2010 tags, they just somehow didn't make it onto the vehicles. So this morning I took a little trip to the tag store and got our 2011 stickers. No one will ever know...except everyone who reads this of course. Becky was at the house this morning and we are so glad that she and Rick are there for us. We don't have to worry about the house at all. We got started at 1pm and headed straight over to Lecanto to visit Floyd and Jo, arriving at about 4:30. They have a nice place and plenty of room for all the stuff they are into. They are very busy but they took time out for us and showed us a wonderful time. In the past they owned a large motor home so they even had an RV pad with hookups that we could use. When we arrived we realized that Charlie would need to back in to the parking spot. Not his forte. So he struggled back and forth and side to side and finally got that trailer straight down the driveway. That is when we noticed that Floyd and Jo's mailbox and paperbox were ripped out of the ground and laying on their lawn. So the first thing we had to do was apologize. Fortunately the poles were not broken or even bent, just pushed over. So Floyd got his post hole digger out and stuck them back in the ground. They were very gracious about it. We had a nice dinner and Joey was as good as he could be. We are a little worried about his not being totally housebroken, so he wore a doggie diaper while he was in their house, though I gave him a break a couple of times and held him in my lap instead. We spent our first night ever in our A-liner camper and it was very comfortable. We are having a little trouble figuring out where to put things and then finding them again. We had this problem at first on our other RV trips, Each rig is different so we have to figure it out all over again. It usually takes a few days. We slept good and Joey seemed right at home since he has his own bed. For a week before we left home his bed was in our bed so he could get used to that. There is no room on the floor for his bed in the RV.

Tuesday – April 13, 2010
We were up early and Jo served us homemade coffee cake and fruit and cereal. Then we took a ride (Joey included) over to Rainbow State Park. Well behaved dogs are allowed. They have springs, waterfalls, a beach, and swimming. Also, lots of azaleas and some very tall trees. Floyd especially liked the variety of trees. I got my first magnets of the trip, and we all had a good time just walking around enjoying the very pretty day. We went back to the house, had lunch, and then headed out again in Floyd's big truck. They have a Lot on Crystal River that they will be building on soon. They already keep their Carolina Skiff on a lift there. So we went out onto the river and collected crabs from their crab pots. Did you know that when you are 65 or older in Florida that you can put out as many crab pots as you want for free? We didn't know that. We got lots of crabs and an up close look at three manatees. Joey was nervous when we were moving fast but he was better by the time we got back. Floyd cooked up the crabs as soon as we got back. He has a neat cooker on his porch. The pot is huge and he made it from an old pool filter, and it sits on a burner on top of a wood frame that he also made. Inside the frame is the propane tank. All very efficient. Delicious crabs cooked right, Maryland style! Jo made some crab cakes, also Maryland style, and we just ate and ate. We relaxed in the evening and watched some videos of their vacation and of their grandchildren. It was a good visit and we really had a good time.

Wednesday – April 14, 2010
We left Jo and Floyd's around 9am and drove to Cedar Key. We stopped at the Sunset RV Park as soon as we got here. They let us check in and set up even though it was way before checkin time. The park is on the river and there are a number of docks that are available for use by all the guests. Nice place with nice facilities. We went into Cedar Key and had lunch at Frog's Landing. I had a soft shell crab sandwich and Charlie had grouper. Yum yum! Then we shopped around a little bit and went to the Cedar Key Museum Park. It is closed today but we could still walk around the grounds and we took a path out to the water. After that we went to the park at the beach and people watched for awhile. Then we found the fishing pier and so Charlie and Joey hung out there while I peeked into some more shops. I went into a little place and tried to order a couple of smoothies to take back to the pier. But the young man only knew how to make two kinds, cause he was new. They were not the kinds I wanted. Then, oops he only had ingredients for one of the kinds. So I ordered one smoothie since I was really thirsty, and don't really mind strawberry banana. Then, oops he only managed to get it three quarters full, so he gave it to me half price. Oh well, it was good. I did buy a magnet that Charlie picked out earlier, but I didn't find anything else to buy today. We got back to the campground early and ate sweet potatoes and a few other things we had. Not a real meal and Charlie was not satisfied. Need to get some food tomorrow. Charlie went to bed when the sun went down. The wifi wasn't working. When I finish my notes I will go to bed too. On our other RV trips we often rose and went to bed with the sun. Getting back to our old routine....

Thursday – April 15, 2010
We left Cedar Key and went to Manatee Springs State Park where we camped. We didn't see any manatee but saw quite a few deer. No dogs are allowed on the boardwalk out to the river, so I got out the stroller for Joey. It was a nice long walk through bald cypress and spanish moss. Charlie went out on the floating pier at the end but Joey and I stayed on the dock. There is a large spring for swimming and it was tempting, but we didn't do it. We had dinner at the camp. We went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things and I decided to try taking Joey into the store in the stroller. I figured the worst that could happen is they would kick us out. Instead we got very little attention from anyone and the checker even asked about him as if it is perfectly normal to bring a dog into the store in a stroller. Maybe it is...I just never knew that.

Friday – April 16, 2010
We arrived at Ann, David, and Becky's home a couple of hours earlier than expected. Charlie went to the store with David, while Ann and I visited on their back porch. Joey was as friendly as ever. Such a good dog, as long as he is wearing his diaper. This weekend, like our last visit, is the Tallahassee Orchid Show and Becky was working hard at the show including preparing for the judging on Saturday. We had a nice dinner and met Raphael again, a friend of Becky's, he is a grower from Sarasota. Becky almost has her greenhouse completed and they have done a lot of landscaping since we were here last year. They put in a large fish pond with flowers, and quite a few new trees.

Saturday – April 17, 2010
Raphael and Becky left early for the show, and we got an early start too. David took us to the Tallahassee Auto Museum. There were a lot of cool cars including batmobiles and antiques. There were mustangs and cameros and thunderbirds and everything else you can think of, all beautifully restored. There was a giant yellow baby duck too, though we are not sure why. I pushed Joey in the stroller all around the museum, and he never made a peep till we got back to the front door. He barked just once at a man coming in. The lady at the admissions desk was surprised, but she did not object. We went to lunch at a seafood place, and we plopped Joey in the stroller and took him in there too. I really am so glad, but I can't get over it either. We parked him next to the table and that was it. From there we went to the orchid show, including Joey. Raphael had the best display, I think. We really enjoyed his company this weekend. After we looked around awhile Becky was ready to go, so we headed home and rested up til we went out to dinner. Raphael went with us, but this time we left Joey in the camper. We had a great dinner at a restaurant we went to last year and so Charlie wanted to go back. Spent the evening visiting and we were all tired out at the end of the day. It was so nice to visit with them all again. I can hardly believe a whole year has gone by since the last time we were here. They showed us a wonderful time and I hope they will come visit us soon. Hint hint!

Sunday – April 18, 2010
We got on the road fairly early and headed to St George Island. Very white sandy beaches but the campground in the state park was full. Also not dog friendly! So, we went to a Passport America RV park in Mexico Beach. As soon as we parked we were greeted by a couple from Michigan who were happy to see another pop up trailer in the park. We had to tell them that ours is not a pop up but an A-liner. So they watched us, mostly Charlie, set up and invited us to visit them. We went over later and they showed us their popup. Boy! They have more than twice as much room. They have places to put stuff! They have 2 refrigerators and both are bigger than our one fridge. Still it is a lot of work to set up one of those. When they set up they like to stay at least 3 nights. That really is not what we want. Still, Charlie is always looking, even now. We might come home with something different than we started with! We went out to dinner, it is just not as convenient cooking in this rig as it was in the motor homes we had before. We ate at Mango Marley's, and both had a good dinner while Joey watched us from his stroller. Now we are settled in for the night and enjoying finally having wifi. We had access to wifi while we were visiting, but wanted to mostly visit instead. Joey is sleeping already. He is not used to being awake all day like he has been for the last week. We watched the sunset over the gulf this evening but had to do it from the car because dogs are not allowed on the beach, and I did not want to leave him. I am getting used to keeping him with us all the time now! More later....