Postscript

We were gone 230 days from Aug 4^th 2010 to March 22, 2011.  We travelled 17,751 miles.  We visited (or at least drove through) 32 states and 6 Canadian provinces.  We used up 1,573 gallons of gas, at an average cost of $3.50 a gallon.  Our  average mileage per gallon was 11.39 miles.  Our cost per mile $0.29.

We stayed in 75 RV parks, paid an average of $37.69 per night. 

Comparing gas costs to RV park costs we spent 42% on gas and 58% RV park rent.

We also broke up the trip by staying in rented houses in Ogunquit Me, Jacksonville Fla, and San Diego.  We also stayed with friends, Dot and Ben in Jacksonville, MaryAnne and Greg in Traverse City, Bobbie in Scotts Valley and Jackie in Herald Ca (during our December hiatus)

Truck and Trailer

We only had one serious issue with the trailer, when one of the fittings that hold the wheels to the trailer separated from the frame.  Luckily nothing bad happened and we were able to get the fitting welded back to the frame in Washington DC.  One of the stabilizing jacks, jacks which keep the trailer from bouncing while parked, separated on the last day of our trip, but I spotted it and unbolted it from the trailer before it fell off.  It could have done some major damage to the tires had it been run over.  Some minor plastic pieces broke from old age but nothing functionally important.

The Toyota Tundra did fine.  I backed into a stanchion guarding a fire hydrant in Washington DC and had to replace the rear bumper in Jacksonville.  I had the truck serviced by Toyota 3 times during the trip.  My only concern was that the truck was near its limit in towing capacity, which meant that we could not go very fast up hill.  Sometimes we were only able to go 35mph on a 70 mph freeway up steep hills.  Most RVs are pulled with ¾ ton trucks or larger,  and can maintain highway speeds.  On the flat we could usually travel at 55 to 60, unless we had a head wind.  

I’m not sure when or if ever there will be another big RV trip in our future, but we did see a lot of country and visited some very interesting places along the way.  I don’t think it could have been done any other way.

March 17-21 San Diego and then Home!

On the beach

We rented a cottage near La Jolla two blocks from the beach.  Liz, Stephanie and Noah flew in from Denver for a weekend at the beach.  We cottage was kind of funky, fronting on an ally, but very comfortable and in a convenient location.  The weather was a bit cool, but nice enough for walks on the beach and to sightsee a bit of La Jolla and downtown San Diego.  I tried to get takers for the zoo, but Noah is only 8 months old, and the zoo would not impress him that much.  He was very satisfied sitting in the sand and bouncing in the 2 inch surf with his toes.  Some day he might be a surfer, he really seemed to like the ocean.

Sandy feet

We visited the Children’s Pool in La Jolla.  This has been, and still is, a place of controversy in La Jolla.  The Children’s Pool is not really a pool at all, but a small protected lagoon and beach formed by a man made sea wall. The sea wall was built in 1931 by the Scripps family and donated to the City of San Diego for the enjoyment of children, swimmers, and divers.  In the ensuing years sand has accumulated and a beach has formed in much of the remaining basin.  Also the harbor seal population has grown and for the last 10 years or so, the seals have taken over much of the beach and are now birthing their pups on the beach from December through March.  This has created a controversy between people who feel they should be able to use the beach and those who want to relinquish the beach and pool for the exclusive use of the seals.  There is also a third group who think that the beach can be shared.  Many law suits have been filed and rulings made and rescinded.  Local, state, and federal law over land use, and animal protection are contradictory and the struggle continues, the outcome not clear.  The seals remain on the beach, the people come in throngs to take pictures and talk to the various factions who have set up tables with posters explaining their positions.   In the meantime, there are miles and miles of pristine beach both north and south where one can sit in the sand and swim in the sea.

Seals in the "Children's Pool"

Beach sharing with Seals

We had a great visit with Liz, Stef and Noah getting our grandma and grandpa time in.  Tad Reynales stopped by, he and I used to work together at UCSC, and he is now at UCSD.  We had a good time catching up.

Surf's Up

On Monday the 21^st we hooked up the trailer for the last leg of our trip,  home.  I feared that driving through Los Angeles would be a very difficult affair with heavy traffic, difficult lane changes, and bumper to bumper stretches along the way.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn’t so bad after all.  We took a toll road through most of Orange County that was almost empty.  The best $9.50 toll value I have ever spent.  The rest of the trip up I-405 was congested but not too bad.  By the time we got to 101 I was tired but not harried.  We continued up the coast through Santa Barbara, to Buellton where we found a very nice RV “Resort”. Next door was Anderson’s Restaurant that features the “World’s Best Split Pea Soup.”  Who knew? 

  

We really lucked out on the weather.  It has been storming in California for the last week, but on Monday and Tuesday there was a lull in the storm and we only got in a few occasional showers.  The clouds around us looked ominous, but the highway seemed to take a turn away from the weather as we approached what looked to be very nasty weather.

On Tues we left Buellton with 234 miles to go.  Thankfully we made it home without incident.  Once home we were kind of out of it, slowly coming to grips that we are finally back after 8 months away.  The house was pristine inside, as we had had it professionally cleaned, but all our stuff was in boxes in the garage where we had stored it.  So the dilemma was do we start by unpacking the trailer or unpacking the house or both?  Bobbie saved the day by bringing in Chinese so we didn’t have to think about dinner.  We began to find things we forgot we had, and start up our infrastructure that we suspended while we were gone. i.e.  putting clothes back in closets,  unpacking dishes, moving furniture and starting cable TV newspapers etc. All this is going to take a few days.  In the meantime, the rain has started again and is coming down in buckets.  So glad I’m not to be living in a trailer!

Desert Towns March 12-16

We left the Grand Canyon for the warmer climes. It was below freezing every night and only in the 60s during the day, so we decided to get into the desert and to lower elevations.

London Bridge??

We went about 150 miles to Lake Havasu, elevation 500 ft, temps in the 80s. Lake Havasu was developed along the Colorado River behind Parker Dam which formed Lake Havasu. It was built by Robert McCulloch (the chainsaw guy) in 1963 and now is a city of 52,000 souls. It is mostly home to retirees, but it is a spring break destination that attracts many thousand teenagers ready to party. They were just beginning to arrive while we were there. One of the main attractions is the London Bridge. Yes it is the original London Bridge that used to span the Thames. It was imported to Lake Havasu in 1968, stone by stone and reconstructed to span a manmade channel to a manmade island on the shores of Lake Havasu, all courtesy of Mr R. McCulloch. It is the second most visited attraction in Arizona behind the Grand Canyon. There is no way that 52,000 thousand people should be living on this God forsaken. waterless, moonscape, but for the wonder of marketing and the creation of an artificial environment. I should not get too excited about this as Lake Havasu City is only the 3rd largest community along this stretch of the Colorado, behind Laughlin and BullHead City, both gambling towns. Further down the Colorado on this stretch between Arizona and California, is trailer park after trailer park on the banks of the Colorado River. The land here is hilly and the river is not too wide, with a swift current. Not advisable to swim in I’d hazard.

We turned west into California at Parker into the Joshua Tree Desert and drove for 90 miles west on a two lane road into the emptiest country we had seen. No farms, no fences, no cows, no nothing. Miles and miles of desert, bare mountains in the distance. We finally joined up on I-10 and met up with civilization again, semi trucks, and heavy traffic. Soon we were in Palm Springs.

Palm Springs is a lovely community made famous by Hollywood stars of the 40s,50s and 60s who used to live here from time to time. It is still a retirement community, with many a golf course, and a vibrant art and cultural scene. It is famous for its architecture called “Modernist” It is a blend of southwestern architecture using modern materials like light structural steel, exposed aggregates, terrazzo and other masonry to create open structures, with lots of windows, shaded by cantilevered roofs specifically for the desert environment. The style looks very 50s and 60s by today’s standards, but still has a crisp, clean and striking appearance.

Palm Springs sit right up next to the San Jacinto mountains. There is a tramway that will take you up to 8500 ft on the mountain. It was near 80 degrees at the base of the tram and only 40 some degrees at the top. There were piles of snow on the ground and air was pine scented in this alpine environment. Looking out at the valley below was definitely a hot desert. A real mind bender, how can these two environments exist so close together?

The desert below

Just outside of Palm Springs is the largest wind farm I have ever seen. There must be hundreds of wind generators. To look through them as the blades are turning is like looking through a kaleidoscope. It must work as we have only been here for two days, but the wind is really blowing and the blades are a turnin.

Blowin in the wind

The Grand Canyon March 8- 12

This is the second time we have been the Grand Canyon and it is still GRAND. You stand on the overlooks, and the canyon is just too big to comprehend what is before you. The statistics of how old, deep, wide, long really just don’t compute: the brain is overwhelmed. It is enough just to look out and stare.

Snow Camping

It snowed the day and night before we got to the park, so there was about 4 inches of snow on the ground. The roads were clear but our trailer site was pretty much a mud puddle. I’d forgotten about “mud season”. It was frozen at night and early in the morning, but pretty goopy during the day.

I decided that I wanted to take a day hike into the canyon, and initially planned to walk down to the 3 mile rest shelter on the Bright Angel Trail. I arrived at the trailhead at about 9:30 in the morning and started down. What I had not counted on is that the top of the trail is pretty much in the shade most of the day so the trail was covered with snow and ice. The snow was still soft and walkable, but the ice was slick. I figured that if I was careful about where I stepped I would be ok and that was the case, but I spent most of my time looking where to step than on the scenery around me.

Icy Trails

The snow lasted about 2 miles into the hike, and from then on it was muddy with patches of rock and solid ground. There are a lot of steps on this trail made from logs holding back the soil or forming mud puddles. Walking through the mud was no worse than walking through the snow. I was glad to have hiking boots and not sneakers which many of my fellow hikers were wearing.

Rest Shelter #3

When I got to my original destination the 3 mile rest shelter, there was not much there, no water and just a small bench to sit on. Just below was Indian Garden, where there is a ranger station, camp grounds, a corral and the place where hikers and campers stop to get water and rest. It was only a mile and a half further and looked so close and not that much further down the canyon.

By the time I arrived at Indian Garden I had been hiking two and one half hours and was feeling a bit spent. My legs were beginning to get sore, but I felt that that it was because of all the downhill walking and that I would be using a different set of muscles going up. I ate my lunch and drank all my water, hoping to be totally refreshed. I refilled my water bottle and started back up the Bright Angel Trail at 12:30. Looking back the way I came all I could see were three huge tiers of cliff that I would have to climb through to reach the rim of the canyon. (over 3,000 ft) and walk back 4 and half miles.

The way back

Since the total distance and altitude change was just too overwhelming to contemplate without breaking down into tears, I decided to break the hike down into three segments a mile and a half each, as that is where the rest shelter were, and from where you could call 911. Along the way I counted the switchbacks as I completed them 12 to the 3 mile rest shelter. I rested drank half my water and took stock of my situation, my legs were sore, and my heart was beating pretty hard. I decided that if I was to make it that I needed to slow way down so as not to have a heart attack. I had kind of planned to finish the hike by around 3:30, but I couldn’t keep up the pace for that. On the next rest shelter the 1.5 mile shelter, (14 switchbacks) I went a lot slower, but with fewer rest stops. While I was constantly being passed by other hikers, I eventually caught up with many as they were stopping more often. By the time I got to the 1.5 mile shelter I was pretty spent, but I could see all the progress I had made below me, and the rim was looking ever so tantalizingly closer.

The last leg was steeper and icier and I was tireder (17 switchbacks) I was getting still slower but eventually I came to final switchback and could see the tourists looking out from the overlooks, the hotels, and the gift shops, and knew that I would not have to hire the helicopter to get my tired ass out of the canyon. I arrived at the rim at 4:06pm.

As I finally reached the parking lot and arrived at the bus stop, I silently rejoiced when the bus driver announced that one of the stops was the trailer park, because I knew then that I only had maybe a hundred steps left in these tired old legs.

March 7 White Knuckle Driving

We left Holbrook, Arizona expecting an easy 90 drive to Flagstaff.  The morning was clear and cool with not much wind.  About 40 miles out, near Winslow, the wind picked up and we could see this solid wall of cloud on the ground about 20 miles away.  We were in open prairie, flat no ground cover save grass and tumble weeds.  We were in a crosswind and it was all I could do to keep the truck and trailer on the road.  When the semi’s would pass the turbulence would dance us around, but also briefly shield us from the crosswind.  I slowed to 35-40 mph to keep as best control as I could.  There was nowhere to pull off that would not be fully exposed to the wind so we plugged along hoping for the best.  We kept saying “Well it looks a bit better up ahead” as the tumbleweeds flew across the road in front of us.  As we neared the foothills the wind began to abate somewhat and it started to snow; we had reached the cloudbank.  By the time we got to Flagstaff there was a flashing sign ‘Caution HIGH WINDS’  No kidding!

March 6 El Morro and the Painted Desert

El Morro

Today we are at Grants, New Mexico about 240 miles from Flagstaff which we didn’t want to arrive at before the 7th. We have decided to make this a side trip day, after the last 3 days of driving 300+ miles a day. As luck would have it, we were able to detour off Highway 40 and take a scenic loop called the Trail of the Ancients. The main feature on this route is El Morro, or Inscription Rock. El Morro is a tall sandstone outcropping that has a natural pool at its base. It is the only water to be found in a 30 mile radius. Because El Morro can be seen far across the prairie it has been a landmark and oasis in the desert for thousands of years. People who stopped over have been carving inscriptions in the rock until the forest service put a stop to it. The first inscriptions were made by the early Indians, petroglyphs of bear claws, deer, and lizards can still be seen. The Spanish Conquistadors came this way and added their marks beginning in 1604. Later the American Army (including the Camel Corps) wrote their inscriptions in the 1840s. Emigrants to California made their way to El Morro in the 1850s. In 1881, the transcontinental railway was engineered and built some 25 miles north of El Morro and it no longer became a necessary stop for travelers. It is an interesting place to visit today to see the pond and to see the inscriptions on the rock. Many are clearly readable and the penmanship is quite impressive.

Spanish Inscription circa 1709

On this same loop is the Indian village of Zuni, which we hoped would be like the Taos pueblo, but unfortunately was not. It looked like many of the other communities we have passed, very run down and not much going on.

We continued to head west back on Highway 40 and stopped at the Painted Desert National Park and took the tour. It is quite impressive. There is a “mini grand canyon” in red and blue hues which is quite pleasing to gaze upon. There are many fossilized remains in these “badlands” and so the area is popular with archeologists. The other interesting attraction are the petrified forests. There are many here, with the stone logs laying on the ground in great number. The ‘logs” are generally 2 to 4ft in diameter, look like they have been cut up into lengths suitable for the fireplace. The rangers claim that the petrified trees just naturally fragment that way, despite the way they look like the loggers had been through. Anyway it was a fun, if not an educational diversion, along Highway 40 and the old Route 66

Petrified wood all cut up

March 2-7 Westward HO!

Not much to report but we are on Highway 40 headed west, burning up about 350 miles a day. Spent the night in Fort Smith Ark, Shamrock, Tex and Santa Rosa New Mexico so far. Most of the small towns that used to be on Route 66 are dead or dying. The travelling tourist that used to sustain them is speeding by at 75 mph.

First time divers going deep

One interesting spot I visited in Santa Rosa NM is the Blue Hole. It is a natural spring about 60 ft in diameter, but 81 ft deep. It is located in the city park and looks like a clear blue pond, but you can’t see the bottom. It is one of the few places where SCUBA divers in the Midwest go to get their open water certification which requires a deep dive over 60 ft. There were about a dozen divers there, most were getting certified. I talked to one and he said there were a few fish and quite a few crawdads. People also leave mementos at the bottom to celebrate the dive.

The Abyss

March 2 Little Rock. The William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library

We stopped to visit the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock. From the outside the building does not seem to be especially visually appealing, but it features a lot of green construction innovations and inside it is quite beautiful. It has full size replicas of the oval office and the cabinet room plus the millions of documents from his presidency.


The most moving area was a review of the accomplishments and events of the Clinton presidency on a year by year basis. What is evident is that we were so much better off during those years, of strong economy, balanced budgets, world standing and social equity than we are today. While Clinton definitely had his shortcomings all in all his presidency was extraordinary in its accomplishments. We left the library feeling depressed, feeling at a loss, where our country is now so divided that it seems we will never regain the stature that we enjoyed in the late 90s.



The Clinton was hosting Dr Seuss



Graceland, Memphis Tennessee February 28-March 1

Oh Elvis, what have we done? Graceland itself may have a modicum of grace, but there is little grace surrounding it. Graceland is in the south suburbs of Memphis and when Elvis bought the mansion in 1962 it must have been horse estate country. The main house is set back from the road, (Elvis Presley Blvd) and is a genteel southern style home with stone façade, white columns on about 5 acres of land surrounded by a brick wall. In addition to the main house, there are a number of out buildings, which housed his business office, a racket ball court, and horse barn. Most of these buildings now contain exhibits of his hundreds of gold records, music awards, and exhibits of his military service, movies, costumes, and history of his career. At the end of his tour is his grave and that of his parents. (Right next to the swimming pool)

Elvis' Living Room

The interiors of the house are a collection of 1970’s chic. The living room was large and had like a seventeen foot long couch among the other furnishings and an impressive stained glass room devider. It looked nice, but not opulent. The dining room was very formal, huge crystal chandelier fancy table etc. The kitchen while spacious, looked pretty normal, no fancy appliances, Formica counter tops, wooden cabinets. The family room (Jungle Room) had a flagstone wall that was an indoor waterfall, African looking wood furniture, Polynesian wood furniture and looked like a room to have fun in.

In the basement, there was a TV room with 3 TVs side by side as Elvis had heard that LBJ watched three TVs at a time. There was a billiards room with pleated fabric walls and ceiling which was very dark. It also had a quadraphonic stereo system. Elvis and his friends would jam there when not playing pool.

Pool Room with cloth walls

Overall the house is not opulent, it was a place to be lived in, to have fun and to party. It was just one of 3 houses Elvis lived in, he had a place in Hollywood and in Palm Springs as well.

Today Graceland is a tourist attraction. Memphis has pushed its boundaries out way beyond Graceland, and it is now surrounded by used car lots, second tier strip malls, paycheck lending places, and fast food joints. Elvis Presley Blvd is a 4 lane, 45 mph, busy street. The Graceland ticket office, museums, hotel and parking lot are all directly across the street from Graceland. Included are the Elvis car collection, his two airplanes(the Lisa Marie is a converted four jet engine airliner) a movie museum, a kids store, restaurants, the Heartbreak Hotel and RV park, an Elvis fashion museum, and a museum covering his 1968 “comeback”. It is all covered by a PA system that plays all Elvis all the time. At each venue, there was the requisite gift shop.

There are many businesses in the area not part of the Elvis empire that sell their wares in his name. We went to a barbeque restaurant where they picked us up at the RV park in a pink limousine, sat us in the Elvis room, and played Elvis songs all night. We found out later that there is a radio station that plays all Elvis all the time without ads. You would think it would drive people crazy who work there, but apparently not. Elvis has been dead 33 years now, but his legend lives on here in Graceland never to be forgotten.

It’s so Easy in the Big Easy Feb 26-27

Arrived in New Orleans after a pretty short drive from Biloxi. The RV park we stayed in was 2 blocks from the French Quarter, we just parked and did have to use the truck until we left. The first thing we did was take a minibus tour of the French Quarter, the Garden District and the 9th Ward where most of the worst flooding happened after Katrina hit. The first impressions I have is that there are great disparities of wealth and culture in this city. Most of what we saw of the city looked pretty run down, very much like west Oakland. On the other hand, the downtown business district looks new and prosperous, the garden district has some very nice restored homes with million dollar price tags, and then there is the French Quarter which is a Disneyland for adults with questionable tastes.


The 9th Ward is still a ghetto but with one tenth the population it had pre Katrina. There are still vacant buildings waiting to be torn down or reconstructed, many vacant lots where the houses have been bulldozed away, and a smattering of new construction where people are rebuilding. Some of the new building, sponsored by Brad Pitt and Angelina Joliet are quite innovative, using green construction materials, efficient design to reduce heating and cooling costs, and all are elevated at least six to eight feet above ground level. Many are striking in their appearance with interesting roof lines, roof gardens, and sliding shutters to protect the windows. There are probably 30 of these homes. Harry Conick Jr has sponsored a neighborhood for musicians with Habitat for Humanity which is more traditional. Unfortunately they used the Chinese drywall which has high levels of sulfur in it so many of these home have to be rebuilt. After 5 years some progress has been made, but it will take many years for the neighborhood to come back. In addition the public buildings, schools, fire houses and the like are still empty and waiting to be torn down.

Even with all this depressing environmental backdrop, these people like to party. It is a week before Mari Gras, and the party is in full swing. The tourists haven’t arrived in full force yet, but the locals are celebrating. Many houses are decorated in purple, green, and gold.(purple for justice, green is for faith, and gold is for power) Everyday there are parades put on by various social organizations called Krewes. These krewes meet all year to plan for their activities during Marti Gras. They build floats for the parades, make elaborate costumes and provide the funds for the gifts thrown to the crowds watching. (traditionally beads, but we got some condoms thrown to us as well, (still packaged)) Some krewes are very traditional, with long histories, and others are more whimsical. We attended (with Dede) the Celebration of Barkus, a masquerade party and parade for dogs and their owners. All manner of dogs and their owners were dressed in costume. There was a really hot band, food and drink stands, and other vendors selling pet products. Hundreds of people and dogs attended and parade watchers lined the streets waiting for the parade to begin.

The French Quarter is what draws most tourists to New Orleans; its unique architecture, antiquated ambience, jazz, food, and the general festive nature of the place is most compelling. There is a mix of residential, commercial, historic and night club districts within the quarter. The street scene changes from block to block. Some areas can be very crowded with music blaring out the doors and windows, revelers carrying their booze in plastic cups, and one block over it can be very staid lined with high end antique stores or a quiet residential area of 100 year old row houses. While some complain about the excesses of Bourbon St, there are the other neighborhoods that probably look like they did 200 hundred years ago.

One of the draws to the quarter is the food. We feasted on char grilled oysters, beignets, cafe au lait, shrimps, and some of the traditional dishes of gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice. While this fare can be had almost everywhere, it just seems tastier in New Orleans.

Feb 24-25 Biloxi Mississippi

Jefferson   Davis' House

Been leisurely making our way toward New Orleans where we have reservations for the weekend. Spent one night in Gulf Shores, Alabama in a small park right on Mobile Bay. Most of the folks are there for the winter and from Michigan or Wisconsin. They all get together for a campfire and cocktails most evenings and they invited us to join them. It was pleasant to socialize and swap stories. We got our lead for a good place to stay in Biloxi from one of the folks.

Our tax dollars at work

We are staying in Cajuns RV park here in Biloxi, right next to the Gulf of Mexico. It was foggy when we first got here so we couldn’t see much, but today it is clear and we can see the gulf and all the vacant lots along the shore line. It’s been 5 years after Katrina, and while there are few signs of broken buildings or uprooted trees, there are a lot of vacant lots and building foundations (mostly slabs) along Beach Boulevard. It looks like the devastation went in about two city blocks inland from the beach. Some of the tree stumps left by Katrina have been made into sculpture by local artists. The roads have been restored and new palms planted and a number of historic homes have been restored, including Jefferson Davis’ home.



Beauvoir, the Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library, is maintained and operated by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a group that must be pretty long in the tooth by now. I had to promise Patsy, that given that I am a white, liberal smart ass from Berkeley, I would keep my mouth shut and keep my opinions to myself while on the premises.

The actual tour of the house was totally non controversial, Davis moved into the house well after the civil war in 1877. The house had been built in 1852 by James Brown, a plantation owner, and had fallen on hard times after the civil war. Two or three owners later had fixed it up and allowed Davis to purchase it for a nominal amount as he was not wealthy after spending a few years in a federal penitentiary. He obviously had benefactors who supported his lifestyle on this 87 acre spread. After Davis died, his wife, Verina kept the property until 1903, when she sold it to the Sons of the Confederate Soldiers who turned the property into a confederate old soldiers home. It operated as such until 1956. Those had to be some very, very old soldiers by that time! The house and grounds were then converted to a museum and presidential library. Through the years and many hurricanes, only the house and a couple of out buildings remain. Katrina did major damage to the house, it took over three years to restore the house to its original condition. The restoration work included putting on a new roof and restoring the fresco wall coverings which resemble kind of a painted rococo architectural style. Somehow most of the original furnishings survived or were able to be restored.

President Davis

The only controversial part of the tour (from my point of view) was a little movie they showed about Davis and his devotion to the Confederacy. The part about the negro servants who loved their masters so much that they fought for the Confederacy and felt so sad after the war was lost, was too much for me!

It’s on to the Big Easy tomorrow.

Feb 19-22 Beginning the Home Stretch

Sunset over the 'Glades

Friday February 19th was the first day of the trip back home. Our goal now is to arrive in Ben Lomond no later th an the first of April. Of course we want to see some sights along the way: New Orleans around Marti Gras, Graceland, the Clinton Presidential Library, the Grand Canyon come immediately to mind, and I’m sure there will be others as we come across the country. We are talking with Liz and Stef about meeting up with them in San Diego sometime in March. My main concern is to avoid any serious weather. It is still winter in most of this country even though we hardly realize it here in Florida. It been mostly shorts and T-shirt weather for us since the first of the year. Those cold days in Jacksonville around Christmas are a distant memory


After being in one place for so long it is kind of hard to get our heads around travelling most days. We left the Keys two days early to give ourselves plenty of time to get to New Orleans by the 26th of Feb. We don’t have a lot of plans traveling up the west coast of Florida other than stopping to eat some Apalachicola oysters and spend some time on the “sugar” white sand beaches in the “Red Neck” Riviera.

Our first nights stop was at the Chokoloskee Island Park at the northwest end of the Everglades. On the map it looked to be interesting being almost right in the park, it turned out to be a very busy place. Fishermen, fisherwomen, boaters, and kayakers were coming and going in a constant stream. Our narrow site was right across from the boat ramp so we were in the thick of it. Boats were being launched and retrieved all afternoon with trucks and trailers lined up awaiting their turns. I was lucky enough to back the trailer into our site during a lull in the traffic. So much for the quiet, peaceful gaze across the mangroves. It turn out to be a popular spot for snowbirds from upstate New York who were into fishing of course. There was also some kind of kayak event going on so I’m sure that added to the festivities as well.



The next day we drove up through Naples, Fort Myers and stopped in Venice. Not a long drive, but we did have another GPS adventure, not a major miss direction but we did get a tour of some Venice neighborhoods. Many of these RV parks claim to be in cities or towns that are popular destinations, but in fact are not really in the city limits. So when you type in an address, but with the wrong city the GPS cannot find it. So we had a unexpected tour of a few miles until we confirmed the exact location with the park staff.



The next day we left the “retirement towns” and headed into the more hardscrabble regions, miles and miles of swamp land giving way to pine forests. We stayed at the KOA in Perry Florida, an inland mill town. In the KOA literature it mentioned that if you should smell something that might make you think of rotten garbage or sewage, not to worry, it’s not coming from your trailer, but it is the “smell of money” coming from the paper pulp mill which is the main employer for the people of Perry. Needless to say, we moved on the next morning.

White "sugar" sand

We drove west to the coast and stopped for lunch at Apalachicola, famous for its oysters. A historic old town not unlike a lot of the towns on the Oregon coast, a place that has seen better days but is hanging on by catering to the tourist dollar. We had a a great oyster lunch at the local bar and grill. We ended up the day in Mexico Beach, a town 3 miles long, started by developers in the 50s to take advantage of its beautiful beach coastline. They developed the town to allow no big high rise building and chain stores or restaurants. It is all pretty much down home here, and mostly caters to a southern crowd. The southern drawls here are thick. Lots beach houses, a few condos, a nice little fishing harbor and pier for those without a boat. A half a dozen eateries, one grocery and a few T-shirt shops and that’s about it. Just west of here is Tyndall Airforce Base and you can see and most definitely hear the jet fighters scream across the sky.

Snowbirds on the beach

Key West and Fort Jefferson Feb 14-17

Key West 

We moved further down the keys to mile marker 20, Sugarloaf Key, to be closer to Key West, where we wanted to explore and be able to take the day trip to Fort Jefferson.  We are staying at Lazy Lakes RV park, which pretty much describes the place.  It has two manmade lakes, probably the result of quarrying for limestone, and most of the trailers here are permanent indicating to me that the folks live here year round.  It is not close to anything, the nearest stores being in Key West 20 miles away, but there is a funky old restaurant, Mangrove Mary’s, across the highway. (great seafood)

We spent a day in Key West, where I got to visit Mel Fisher’s museum.  Mel was the treasure hunter who found the Nuestra Senora de Atocha, a Spanish galleon, in 1985 with millions in treasure off Key West.  The  State of Florida sued him for possession of the entire treasure locking up the booty for seven years in the county jail, while Fisher sued for his right of possession all the way to the Supreme Court.  (He won)   His family is still recovering sunken treasure from this and other wrecks off of Key West.  His favorite quote “Today’s the Day”  It took him 16 years to find the Atocha.

Harry relaxing in Key West

My other Key West visit was to Truman’s Little White House.  Until  1974 the Navy operated a submarine base right in downtown Key West.  On that base was the commandant’s quarters, which President Truman visited at the invitation of Admiral Nimitz.  The base was between commanders and the house was empty.  Truman loved the place so much for its peace and tranquility, that he visited the place many times during his presidency.

 The building is now a Florida state park, and the base itself was sold to an Indian (India indian) real estate developer from Boston.  At any rate the house has been restored to the condition it was in with all the furnishings it had when Truman stayed there.  It is a tribute to a courageous president who made some very tough calls during difficult times.  The “Little White House” was also used briefly by JFK during the Cuban Missile crisis and other presidents for R &R.  Even though it is a state park now, and not a federal facility, if you are a former president, you can make a reservation.

Our primary reason to stay close to Key West was to be able to take the day trip to Fort Jefferson.  The trip starts at 7:00am at the dock, and ends later the same day at 5:30pm.  Fort Jefferson is located 70 miles west of Key West and you get there by a high speed ferry or by seaplane.  We opted for the ferry, which takes two and one half hours to get there.  The ferry is two hulled catamaran and goes along at 26 knots.  While the trip was somewhat bumpy, no one got seasick as the seas were pretty smooth.

Fort Jefferson is pretty much in the middle of nowhere on a spit of sand not much larger than the fort itself.  It was started in 1846 on the site of a light house that was built in 1825.  While it is located in an area of treacherous reefs and sand bars, but it also has a couple of areas where ships could anchor and be protected from perilous seas.  The fort was built so no other nation could use the location as a staging area for a naval assault against gulf shipping or attack on land.  It is the largest brick structure in the western hemisphere.   It has over 16 million bricks,  so heavy that it began to sink into the ocean even in its early stages of construction.  They built on it for 30 years and never finished it.  There are gaping holes in the walls that were never bricked up, the walls being 8ft thick,  it takes a lot of bricks to fill in the gaps.  It was intended to house 410 cannons, with a range of 3miles to discourage a naval attack.  In actuality, the fort has never been attacked and was declared obsolete as a military facility in the 1880s.

 

Its primary use became that of a military prison.  Soldiers, tried as deserters, were imprisoned here to be used as laborers to build the fort.  The most notable prisoners were the Lincoln conspirators including Dr Samuel Mudd, the doctor who set John Wilkes Booth’s leg after Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln.  He and the other conspirators were pardoned in 1869 by Andrew Jackson.

Today Fort Jefferson is a national park and a wildlife sanctuary.  The park is 48 square miles, 99% underwater.  What little land there is (other than the fort) is dedicated to the birds and the turtles that lay their eggs in the sand.  The fish are protected as well as there is no fishing permitted in the park which is marked with boundary buoys and patrolled by heavily armed park rangers.  (Why do park rangers carry side arms, tassers, mace and billy clubs, to manage a bunch of senior citizen tourists on a day trip to a wildlife sanctuary?)

We took the guided tour of the fort walking over the three storied fort exposing ourselves to some very nasty, most definitely fatal falls should you lose your footing near the edge of the building.  This place most resembles a deteriorating building site with no OSHA oversight.   They are not kidding when they warn about “crumbling bricks.”  We were going swim in the lagoon as it was advertized as a great place to snorkel and see lots of fish, but the reports of those who did snorkel there wasn’t much to see.  There are no facilities for tourists on the island like water, rest rooms and the like, (those things are provided on the ferry)  it seemed too much of a hassle to get wet for the sake of a swim, to have to sit around in wet bathing suits and have sticky, salty skin for the 2 hour ride back to Key West.

All in all we were glad we went.  It is a colossal building in the middle of nowhere with some interesting history. We saw lots of birds in their nesting area and few fish.  The boat ride while a bit long, was smooth enough so we didn’t get seasick.  It is truly at the “end of the road,” where not all that many get a chance (or have the desire) to visit.   

Unfinished section of wall

Wild Life in the Keys February 2-8

Our first Manatee sighting

There is a lot of wildlife on the Keys both above and below the waterline.  We had our first manatee visit a few days ago.  We were beginning to think that they went the way of the flamingo.  The manatee swam slowly by and stopped for a spray of fresh water from our hose on the dock. I’m told that you’re not supposed to water the manatees, but it is clear that they like to drink it.  It hung around long enough for all us trailer park folks to take its picture and then moved on up the bay.

I have been diving in the Penenkamp underwater reserve, an underwater sanctuary that has forbidden fishing for over fifty years in the reef areas.  I have never seen so many fish that are so very tame that you can swim right up to them and swim through the schools of fish without having them run away.  The majority of the fish are somewhat small as this area is a “nursery” for many species, but there were some big guys as well: 4ft moray eels, 5ft barracuda, 6ft nurse sharks, and some big manta rays and turtles.  The diversity of fish here is amazing, lots of tropical colored fish, “lobsters”, eels, rays, turtles, and dolphins.

On land, we have crocodiles, alligators, iguanas, snakes, deer, birds, dogs, cats and people.  While it is very rare for people to be injured by the crocs and alligators, it does give one pause to run into one of these critters when walking in the woods.

 Great white Heron

The birds here are quite impressive.  One of the most prevalent are the pelicans whose graceful glides along the shore are pleasing to watch.  There are a number of water birds, here that swim underwater, only their heads popping up occasionally to the surface for a breath of air. After their swim, some sit in the trees with their wings spread out to dry in the sun. Anhinga’s have no oil in their feathers and have to dry their wings out before they can fly very far.  Ibis walk on the beach poking in the sea grass with long beaks looking for minnows to eat.  Giant herons and egrets stand stock still in shallow water or on the banks waiting for the next unawares fish to swim by.  Most of these birds seem to be unafraid of people and only grudgingly move off if you come too close.  The pelicans might even give you a nip if you don’t watch out. 

Three Birds Spoted  in the Gumbo Limbo forest

There is a bird sanctuary here on Key Largo which is privately run and funded by donations.  It is a funky establishment, the cages for the birds are spacious, but built out of donated bits of 2x4s, plywood, and chicken wire.  The help is mostly volunteer and they seem to be very attentive to the birds.   Many of the cages look to be on the verge of collapse.  They house the injured birds that are here to recuperate.  They have a few owls and hawks, but seabirds by the dozen.  There must be a couple of hundred pelicans  that are not patients but just hang out here for the free food.  The sanctuary is in a mangrove swamp next to the bay so it is a natural habitat for all these birds to hang out at. 

Lunch at the Big Chill

Speaking of wild life, Bobbie and Jackie came to visit us for a week.  We had a great time visiting the Everglades, airboat rides, and hanging out in the local establishments.  The weather turned warm and we all enjoyed some tropical days.  Pats took them to Key West for a couple of days, where they told me that they spent all their time in “museums”.   With all the fun and games over on Duval St. I don’t think they spent all their time in stuffy museums.  Anyway, we all had a great time, and sent them home today back to the cold stark reality of a northern California winter