Watch Out for Alligators and the Bald Eagle

Tallahassee - Day 3

Our last day in Tallahassee began with breakfast cooked by some of the local Big Bend unit. They made us a huge batch of oatmeal topped by vanilla ice cream - and fresh fruit platters. It was especially welcome since the temperature was still very very cold.

After we ate our delicious breakfasts, we took off with Bob and Elaine for the Waksulla Spring State Park and Lodge. The lodge was beautiful and we had a delicious lunch of navy bean soup and grilled chicken sandwiches before heading out on the boat ride to see the birds and critters.

We didn't mind the cold too much since there was so much wildlife to view. We saw many varieties of birds, alligators, a raccoon, and manatees.

After the ride was over, we headed for St. Mark's National Wildlife Refuge where we saw a lighthouse and bald eagle.

A trip to Costco ended the afternoon, as well as a trip to Winn-Dixie. Tomorrow we drive to Alachua.

Day 2 Florida State Capitol

Florida Fantasy

The caravan has begun. This afternoon we had our first meeting as a group and were joined by Winston and Carol Montague and Jay and Elna Thompson, who live in Tallahassee. They will be our caravan leaders for the SouthWest Adventure Caravan right after we finish this one.

This morning Larry and I took off for Starbucks, Ace Hardware, Dollar Store, Bradley's Country Store (where we bought Moon Pies and some Pecan Syrup). We then headed for Havana, which was pretty much closed for the first two days of the week. Maybe we'll go back tomorrow.

Tonight's opening dinner was very nice - at the Golden Eagle Country Club. We were joined by the previously mentioned couples plus John Thompson and Jim and Sheila Skipper. They gave us a great overview of the area after dinner and plan to serve us breakfast on Thursday.

Florida Fantasy

We made it into Tallahassee yesterday afternoon after traveling in sunshine the entire way from Pensacola. Since we are now in the Eastern time zone, the Super Bowl was on TV at 6:30. Larry had invited Bob Vasser to join us - and he did, but an hour late!

Back in Pensacola we toured the Naval Air Museum - and ran into Sherry and Jack White while eating our lunches in the cafe!

Larry went to Mobile, AL, with John and Elain White to tour the battleship, while I went shopping with Jane Malone on Saturday. Then it was off to Crackerbarrel to help Elain celebrate her birthday.

The weather is the big news everywhere. We are finally thawing out a bit, although today is rain, rain, rain. The folks back home like to point out that they are having warm and sunny weather. That's supposed to be us!

Tomorrow the caravan begins - and Airstreams are continuing to arrive.

Big Daddy and Starla - Larry at the Space Center

2010-2011 Updates

I had no idea it had been so long since my last posting. I'll quickly recap and then get on with the current updates.

After returning home from the cruise in early October, we took some time to regroup. Not too much time, though. The Nor Cal Airstream club had a carrally in Columbia, just south of us a couple of hours. We had a great time and I won first place in the scavenger hunt. Thank goodness Larry had his rivet gun along.

The first week in November was our annual trek to Windsor and the Wine Road Event. George and Juliaanne, the Madison Warren cousins, flew out to join us. We had a great time as always with them and the weather cooperated. I will have to add pictures when I get home because they're on the other computer.

The girls (and Bruce) came home for Thanksgiving weekend. Roxy decided to take a break from housesitting and put herself (and her family) first this year.

Plymouth (just 10 miles south of us) was the Nor Cal's December rally headquarters, so we chose to commute. We visited Fiddletown, shopped in Sutter Creek, took a tango lesson, ate, attended a memorial service for our dear friend, Teressa ten Berge, and visited with many longtime friends. They complain that we don't attend a lot of rallies - but we have become "caravan people" since our retirements. We're always gone!

The girls (and Bruce) came home again for Christmas. We were also joined by Shelby's best friend, Kristin Rothwell, the first night of their visit. Kristin's mom, Gail, had a houseful of relatives, or she probably would have joined us as well. The next day Shelby and Kristin took off for Placerville to have lunch and shop and visit. Roxy took Bruce on a rock hunting trek through the back roads in our area. His geiger counter went along and he did manage to find some unique specimens, as always.

Our Sunday School class came up for a post-holiday party on January 2, which forced me to get the house cleaned both before and after.

The following week it was off to Indio and the WorldMark resort, where we met Carol and Mike and Rosemary and Carlos for a reunion and new adventure without our trailers. Rosemary and Carlos had just come from the Rose Parade Rally and Carol and Mike had most recently come from Minneapolis, where her sons had relocated from Montana. I can't imagine why they'd want to leave Indiana and the northern states in January!

To recap the week, we visited the date farm, took the tram up the mountain, drove up to Idyllwild, ate out, ate in, golfed, soaked in the hot tub on our deck, visited, met two separate couples for dinner that Rosemary and Carlos knew, visited with Cam and Marcia during one of those dinners before they left earlier than we did for the Florida Fantasy caravan, shopped at the College of the Desert "flea market" (which is anything but), went to the Palm Springs Street Fair, etc. etc. We were determined to have them experience almost everything that we'd experienced on our previous trips there - combined! We did pretty well. Oh yeah, I almost forgot Joshua Tree National Park! Carol took so many pictures, it wasn't necessary for us to take any as well. I don't think she'd mind your viewing them, so let me know if you'd like to view some awesome desert photos. She really does a great job; they're amazing!

And, now we are in Louisiana! We left on the 21 of January, with the goal of catching up to our Nor Cal friends who'd left two days previously as soon as possible. Day 2 (from Bakersfield) didn't take us very far. Just at the end of our drive on the cutoff from 58 to I-10, we lost power in the truck. Thank goodness (the Lord was watching over us) we were off the major part of the two-lane highway where they would not have been ANY place to pull off to the side. As it was, we were just coming into a town and were on a 4-lane portion of the road. On Star could not make a diagnosis, so called Good Sam to deal with our towing issue, as Good Sam has our trailer-towing insurance policy. We were picked up about 1 1/2 hours later and towed to Hesperia for repairs. It was determined we had a fuel filter failure and it was soon repaired and we were on our way. Desert Hot Springs was reached after dark, but we were guided to a spot and spent the night.

Day three took us to Casa Granda, south of Phoenix. Finally we met up with our group! We're not alone anymore. Day 4 was Las Cruces, NM, for the night. Day 5 took us to Ft. Davis and the McDonald Observatory for the Star Party. It was a clear and VERY cold night. Since it's January, there weren't nearly as many people there as when we attended it two years ago in October.

Days 6, 7, and 8 were spent at Ed and Susan Booker's new home near Junction, TX. The Hill Country remains our favorite part of Texas, even though this year it's very dry. We visited Fredericksburg and Kerrville while staying at the Booker's. They will be joining us next week for the Florida Fantasy Caravan also.

Saturday we left Ed and Susan's and headed for San Antonio. We had already seen the Alamo and done the River Walk boat ride, so opted to stay at the RV park and do laundry instead.

Mike and Jane Malone and Bob Vasser had already left us behind so they could visit relatives in the Houston area. They were already at the League City to greet us when we arrived about 12:30 on Sunday. After a quick bite to eat, we took off for the Johnson Space Center where we spent the rest of the afternoon. A quick visit to Fry's Electronics - and then dinner at the Cracker Barrel Restaurant right next to the campground. Starla was our exceptional waitress and send home bags of biscuits and corn muffins for all of us. Bob Vasser earned a new nickname also: Big Daddy!

Today we drove to New Iberia - in time to tour the Tabasco Sauce factory on Avery Island. It was interesting and cute, but the prices seemed extremely high for souvenirs. We passed.

Tomorrow it's off to the New Orleans area. Storms all across the country threaten, but hopefully we'll avoid them.