Letter To My Kids - Topsham, ME

Peggy claims that rainy weather follows us wherever we go. Although I think she is exaggerating just a bit, it seems like she might be accurate lately. Although it was pretty nice here when we arrived back home on Sunday, it has rained pretty steadily ever since. I see on the news that March 2010 will turn out to be the wettest on record here in southern Maine. This follows last June and July being the wettest on record for those months. The globe may be warming but Maine certainly isn’t drying out!



In spite of the rain Peggy and I have been busy transitioning a bit to living in the house, getting caught up on laundry, getting hair cuts, and taking care of some fun items like filing our income tax returns, and paying our property tax bill.


With all the rain I haven’t had time yet to start on the Winne, Vue, and House maintenance that needs attending to – but I did get out today to buy the oil and filters I will need once the weather does clear up.


As I write this Stacy and Peggy are off to the mall to do some mother-of-the-bride shopping – or whatever else they might decide to do – so I am left to fend for myself. I think leftovers are high on the list for supper ideas tonight.


An Open Letter To My Children


The remainder of this post is a letter to my children – but I figured the rest of you might as well listen in – who knows, you might agree and want to pass some of it along to your kids as well.


Kids,


I’m afraid my generation has made a real mess of the country that your grandparents left us. My parents left me a country where the American Dream was having an opportunity to fulfill whatever future I was willing to work to achieve. If I wanted to work at a job 60 or more hours a week and make tons of money to raise kids, give to charity, or blow in who knows what ways – I had the opportunity. On the other hand – if I wanted to continue being a “hippy” (as was the term in my youth) and simply let life lead me where it wished – I had that opportunity also.


Unfortunately, I fear those days are gone. Today the only opportunities that folks seem to believe they have are those approved and funded by their government. If you want to be a bum – you still can. But you will have to be a government approved bum. You will be funded to a particular level by your federal, state, and local governments and if you change your mind and want to work yourself out of “bumdom,” you will be punished. For every $$ you make by the fruits of your labor – your government bum subsidy will be reduced – thereby encouraging you to maintain your government approved level of bumdom-ness. Should you decide that you want to work for a living using the skills you learned in high school – you will quickly learn that the government approved skill and knowledge level you so diligently worked to achieve in public school was based on the needs of the fast food and retail sales industry and therefore those are the only jobs for which you qualify. Which isn’t so bad except that the government set minimum wage for these jobs will not cover the cost of having a life – therefore you will soon slide back to bumdom-ness.


For those of you who really don’t want to live life as a bum – you can go to college. Now college is really expensive – but not to worry – the federal government is now the principle money lender to meet this high cost of education. The terms and conditions of these loans will go a long way to help you find jobs and lifestyles approved by the federal government. I hope they meet your hopes and dreams.


Now don’t get me wrong … I still have hope that your generation can return this country back to the land of opportunity given to my generation. I haven’t given up. I still plan on doing my best to encourage a move back to sensibleness.


But I’m running out of time – you better get busy!

Twenty Ten Winter Escape Final Thoughts - Topsham, ME

Well, the 2010 Winter Escape Trip is officially over. Peggy and I finished the last leg earlier today - arriving home here in Topsham around half past noon. We had another nice travel day. The weather was nice and the traffic was light on this Sunday before Easter. We were greeted by Stacy who had stopped by after church to see us. Is was great to see her and hear about all she has been up to the past 10 weeks or so.

Speaking of such things ... we set another Maineiacs In Motion record this trip for continuous nights in the RV - 75 days ... breaking our previous (last fall) record of 63 days. I think it's safe to say that we had a great time! We got to see some new sights in Charleston, SC, St. Augustine, FL, and San Antonio, TX --- and a bunch of places in between. We got to spend some great times with old friends - the Swartzs in Homosassa Springs, the Balls in Naples, and the Pattersons in Summerdale. We got to have fun with a bunch of new friends including the Guilers, the Curps, and the Joneses. And we got to have a couple of visits with the NJ Evringhams. All-In-All - a nice trip.

Now for the trip statistics ....

Total Winne Miles Driven - 5,870 (Total miles are now over 64,000 - just getting broke in!)

Total States Visited - 20 (No new states this time)

Number of Nights On The Road - 75 (A new record for us)

Number of Different RV Parks - 19

Number of Winne Gas Fillups - 22

Average Price of Gas - $2.62 (Cheapest - Columbia, SC (even cheaper than NJ!) Most Expensive - Topsham, ME (no surprise here!))

Average Gas Mileage - 7.2 MPG (This Stat has stayed pretty much the same since we started traveling in the Winne - If you drive her far enough towing a car behind - she will average 7.2 mpg)

Number of Winne Breakdowns/Major Issues - 0

I gotta tell you - that last statistic is one of the most important to me. Although an issue could pop up at anytime - I am really happy with the Winne's performance. She just keeps doing what she's supposed to do.

OK - so now that we're home - time to relax - right!! Nope - time to do a whole bunch of Winne maintenance to keep her running smooth, time to take care of some car/truck maintenance, time to prepare the homestead for another few months of "storage," and time to do all the other preps to get ready for the 2010 Spring/Summer Golden State Redux.

TTFN

Subfreezing Again - Sturbridge, MA

Just another quick entry. We made it to our next-to-last stop on the 2010 Winter Escape Trip - back to Sturbridge, MA. A nice travel day ... and even the NJ/NY/CT traffic cooperated for the most part.

We woke up to 28 degrees this morning - again. It seems that although New England, more specifically Maine had a very mild winter this year - we seemed to carry the cold wherever we went - except maybe for Texas. But I see they are forecasting 80 degree temps in Maine by this weekend!!!!

So we will finish up our trip home this morning - it looks another good travel day.

Back In Jersey - Clarksboro, NJ

Fortunately - we didn't have to drive in the rain all day yesterday. It did rain pretty steady as we headed north on I-81 but it cleared considerably as we started heading east on I-70 in Maryland. The route east on I-70 - and around Baltimore was a good one as far as having a good road with minimal tolls. The tolls start hitting again once you get on I-95 in Delaware. Like I said - the road is good, the tolls are better than crossing the PA Turnpike - but once you get to Baltimore - you get to learn about east coast traffic once again!

We survived all of that and arrived here in NJ around 3 PM. Brian, Nicky, and the girls drove over to meet up with us here at the RV Park around 5 or so and we enjoyed a short visit, including some playing with the ducks/geese/turkeys here at Timberlane Campground. We then drove over to Red Lobster for what has started to be a New Jersey traditional Evringham outing. Our visit with the NJ Evringham's was too short - but alas - we need to finish up the 2010 Winter Escape and move on to other things.

So we'll load up this morning and continue our trip north. We won't make it all the way home today - we'll save a few hundred miles for tomorrow. Oh - by the way - I believe it was below freezing here last night and the forecast for tonight in MA is for the lows to be in the mid 20s. But the good news - we haven't seen even a patch of snow on the ground and the trees are starting to bud. Spring may indeed be coming to New England!

Update - Staunton, VA

This will just be a short update for anybody keeping track of our progreess back home. We left Heiskell, TN somewhat early (for us) and managed to stay in front of the rain most of the day as we traveled northeast up I-81 to Staunton, VA where we spent the night.

The rain caught up with us last night, it is still raining, and I suspect we will be driving in the rain all day. I guess there won't be much sightseeing today. Our plan is to make it to Clarksboro, NJ today and have a short, but needed, visit with our grand daughters - and Brian and Nicky too!

Ought to be an interesting day as I am going to try a new route from here to NJ that goes just north of DC and around the Baltimore beltway - Hang ON!

Change In Plans - Heiskell, TN

Well I guess the cold then warm then cold again weather has finally beat me. I started feeling a little under the weather on Monday, then started feeling a little worse yesterday, and today I am pretty much just feeling yucky with a full blown spring/summer cold. Oh well - whatta ya going to do? take nyquil. take dayquil, get as much rest as possible - and just deal with it.

We arrived here at the Escapee Raccoon Valley RV Park near Knoxville, TN yesterday. The Raccoon Valley park is one of the dozen or so "Rainbow" parks owned and operated by the Escapees organization. Peggy and I have stayed here a few times in the past as we have passed through the area. It seems it is time for the Raccoon Valley park to get some upgrades so they have about half of the park shutdown while they are installing upgraded utilities and they are also in the process of upgrading the clubhouse. The place is kinda operating on a shoestring right now - but the improvements are looking good and the park should be better than ever in only a few short weeks/months.

Here is a picture of the clubhouse from the front when we arrived yesterday.

Here is what it looked like today around 2 PM (from the back). Doesn't take long to get those trusses in place when you're using a crane to help!

Since we needed to do some grocery shopping and since I was feeling kinda poorly - we decided to stay an extra day here in TN but we will be continuing our trek home starting tomorrow.

I have recently received some bad news concerning my mom (Nan) in California. She has been diagnosed with Cancer and will be starting treatments next week. Except for the not-so-good news and dealing with that - Nan is feeling good right now.

So with that news - and the fact that Nan needs to get her treatments in a hospital about 100 miles away from her home, Peggy and I have decided that we need to be in California to help out. So our short term plan is to continue our trip home, take care of some items we need to deal with at home, do some preventive maintenance on the Winny - and point her west.

Sometimes you just gotta do what ya gotta do.

Headin North, Pine Mountain, GA

This will be a quick entry tonight cause I just took some Nyquil and I suspect I will be horizontal and sawing logs very shortly.

After saying our goodbyes to Darrell and Judy this morning we left a cold and blustery Rainbow Plantation and headed north. We had a pretty smooth travel day and arrived here in Pine Mountain, GA around 4:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time.

After a quick setup we joined Mike and Gerri Jones for the nickel tour of the area around Callaway Gardens and Pine Mountain. We don't plan on spending any time sightseeing this trip but this area sure has lots of possibilities for some serious sightseeing on a future visit. After our quick tour we ended up at a nice Mexican Restaurant in Pine Mountain where we enjoyed some pretty good Mexican food and spent some time catching up with Mike and Gerri.

Then it was back to the Pine Mountain RV Park for some ice cream at the Jones' Dutch Star and some more good conversation.

That was about it for Monday - March 22, 2010. Whew - it ended up being a pretty busy day after all.

So now I'm hoping for a really good Nyquil induced rest tonight and we'll hit the road again tomorrow and see where we end up. The only thing I know for sure - it'll be further north.

It's Time, Summerdale, AL

It's time.

After 68 days away from home, a bunch of shrimp, great fun seeing old friends, more fun meeting new friends, and way too much cold weather - it's time to start heading north. So tomorrow we'll say our goodbyes for now to Rainbow Plantation and start making miles north.

If all goes according to plan we'll make it to Pine Mountain, Georgia tomorrow and have a visit with Mike and Gerri Jones at the Pine Mountain Campground. Happy Birthday Gerri!! You'll have to wait for tomorrow to get your birthday hugs - or spankings - do they still do that?

We sure will miss our friends here at the plantation but we hope to see some of them again in Maine in late July at "The Maine Event."

But we miss seeing all our kids and grandkids too ... so ready or not - here we come!

Yup - it's time.

Just Another Day in LA - Summerdale, AL

Another nice day here in lower Alabama. It looks like it may be the last nice day for awhile as tomorrow looks a bit wet but I suppose they can't all be nice.

I started the day by walking over to the clubhouse for the Saturday morning sausage and biscuit breakfast which was followed by an RV maintenance seminar put on by a local RV repair outfit. The breakfast was really good and the seminar was OK. I can't say I really learned anything new - but some of it was a good refresher. Meanwhile - Peggy was back at the motorhome enjoying her time alone - waking up and starting the day at her own pace.

So ... we knew we were going to Big Daddy's for dinner - but Darrell and I had to figure out what to do in the afternoon to entertain ourselves that didn't involve too much effort and didn't cost any money. So we gathered up our girlfriends, drove to Pensacola, found the local RV dealership, and commenced to drool over the new motorhomes and fifth wheels. After finding out that the RV place didn't take out of state checks - we decided that we might as well keep what we had and we moseyed on back to the Plantation for martini hour at the Maineiac Winnebago.

Then it was off to Big Daddy's. We figured we would be smart and get there early to avoid the rush. Didn't work! As we approached BDs we noticed the packed parking lot and it wasn't looking too good for a quick seating. It seems that BDs was celebrating it's 3rd anniversary and the pace was packed, including all the tables out on the deck! But we (Darrell and Judy, Randy and Terry, & Don and Gloria) lucked out and got seated right away at a table for 8. Not much else to say ... more shrimp, more visiting, more fun. 

Even the kids have fun at BDs ...

OK - that's it. I guess I've reached my limit for gulf shrimp for a few months. So tomorrow we'll go to church, do some pre-travel chores, and get ready to drive north. I see where it was right around 70 degrees in Maine today!! I suppose if it's going to be that nice - we might as well go home.

Back In 'Bama - Summerdale, AL

We made it back to the Plantation yesterday afternoon and quickly settled in to Plantation Way Of Life. We had social time with Darrell and Judy before going to the clubhouse for the daily social time with a larger bunch - followed by another great dinner cooked by Larry the Cook and his team - with even more folks, followed by a short additional social time with Darrell and Judy. A busy and fun day.

Today looks to be a really nice day weather-wise as it is supposed to make it into the 70s. Since the motorhome got really filthy driving in the rain the other day - I think I will take advantage of the nice day and give the rig a scrubbing. I really dislike a dirty vehicle of any kind! I think Peggy has a slow day planned as well with some sitting in the sun, taking me for a walk, and probably a bit of laundry thrown in for "fun."

Then to top it all off - we plan on meeting up with Randy and Terry Guiler for dinner at Paul's Restaurant. Peggy and I have not been to Paul's before - so we are looking forward to it!

So it's time to get ready and start the day! I hope everybody has a good day wherever you are!

Do It Now! - Livingston, LA

Two days of heading east and we have arrived here in Livingston, LA - just east of Baton Rouge, LA where we will spend the night before finishing our eastward leg along I-10 & back to Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, AL. Yesterday was a mostly rainy travel day to near Beaumont, TX. Rainy - but an uneventful day with minimal travel hassles. Today - on the other hand was more "interesting."

First - we decided to stop at a nearby Cracker Barrel for breakfast - but arrived just as a double bus load of college band members was finishing up and the waitstaff was still recovering from being slammed. It took awhile to get our food but, all-in-all, not yet a reason to be upset about the hassles of the day. After-all - it was still early.

Then it was back on I-10 for a few miles to fill up at the Orange, TX Flying J. We were just there last week and all went well - no reason to suspect any "issues" - right? Wrong! So we pulled in to the left hand side RV pumps - right behind a Dutch Star motorhome from Illinois. It seems the Dutch Star driver was more interested in walking his little doggies than he was in pumping fuel - so we had to wait for that little chore to get done before he moved on to pumping fuel. Then there was the guy in the right hand lane from Ontario, Canada. He wasn't pumping fuel - just waiting to get his propane tanks filled. Oh BTW - he had pulled up so that he would be closer to the propane tank - and in the meantime he had blocked the Dutch Star from leaving - once he finally got his fuel. So after that 30-40 minute escapade - we pulled up to the pumps - got out and after trying to use the gas pump - found that it pumped about a half gallon and would pump no more. Back in the rig - drive over to the "regular" pumps and finish pumping. Boy - that was easy.

Back on the highway finally! Ought to be pretty smooth from here - right. Wrong again! - What with construction and mega-traffic ... it made for a long day.

But I'm not complaining - Not me!!

Look at the bright side - I'm not in Washington, DC trying to explain why my vote for something is really a vote against something else while approving it at the same time. I'll repeat my earlier suggestion - All you Congressmen/Senators/President need to fire yourselves as soon as possible! Do not wait for us to fire you! Do it now and save all of us time!!

Buckhorn Saloon - San Antonio, TX

I see I had no takers on my pop quiz from yesterday. That tells me that either 1) Ya'll really don't care about my pop quizzes (probable), 2) Ya'll never heard the song (probable for those under 50 - possible for you others), or 3) Charlie Pride was not one of your favorite Country and Western singers (definitely a possibility).

For our last day in the San Antonio area we decided to take the advice of our friends Randy and Terry Guiler, fight the big city traffic, and drive back in to San Antonio to visit the famous Buckhorn Saloon and Museum(s).

The Buckhorn Saloon advertises itself as the oldest saloon in Texas. Who knows if that is true or not but it certainly made for an interesting afternoon. After finding a parking spot in a nearby parking garage we ambled over to the Buckhorn, paid their relatively stiff admission fee, and started our tour of the original museum part which consists of hundreds of stuffed animals of all sorts from all over the world. Deer, antelope, elephant, wildebeest - you name it - they had it! After touring the first museum we took a break and had lunch in the Saloon. It must be spring break for a bunch of schools cause there were zillions of school age kids and their parents crowding the place today. Don't they know this place is a saloon and kids shouldn't be in here? Better yet - don't they know that this is Monday and places like this are reserved for us retired types? Based on the time it took us to get our food - they obviously either didn't know or didn't care!

So after downing a pretty good Texas sized burger and an even better Shiner Bock Beer (brewed just down the road in Shiner, TX) - we continued our tour inside the Buckhorn by going through the Texas Ranger Museum - dedicated to the life and times of the early Texas Rangers.

All-In-All - a bit touristy - but a fun afternoon. I'm glad we went - but I'll probably not pay for the museum again. Now the Saloon itself might be worth a return visit!

So tomorrow we hit the road again and start our return trip. Hopefully the rain we are experiencing tonight will be outa here and we'll have a nice day as we make it back through Houston and further east to near Beaumont, TX on the Louisiana border.

I sure hope they aren't outa shrimp at Big Daddy's.

"Anybody Goin' To San Antone" - Bulverde, TX

Welcome to daylight savings time. Today was a slowdown day. Weather-wise it was another beautiful day but we stayed mostly around the rig except for a little more laundry, a trip to the grocery store to stock up on more Cheetos, and another try at Texas Bar B-Q - this time at Buck and Ozzys - just down the road here in Bulverde. This time I had ribs and brisket, Peggy had the chicken and chopped beef, and we both thought it was really good. But I gotta tell you - so far I haven't found a place yet that beats Little Dan's in Lewiston, Maine. No kidding - if you want really good southern BBQ ya'll gotta come to Maine - Lewiston is in southern Maine you know!

So tomorrow we plan on spending a little more time in San Antonio taking in a museum or two and probably just wander around the riverwalk a bit. We'll make up the details as we go along.

And then it's time to hit the road and start heading back to the Pine Tree State. I hear it's been pretty nice lately and spring is on-the-way. So how do we get there? Well the plan right now is to sorta back track the way we got here. First we think we'll head back east on I-10 and revisit any of our friends that may be left at the Plantation in Alabama. After that I think we'll head up I-85 into Georgia and see if our new friends Mike and Gerri are still hanging out in Pine Mountain. If so - maybe we can stop by and say howdy on our way north. Then I reckon we'll find our way to I-81 and head back into PA and over to NJ for a quick visit with the NJ Evringhams before making the final leg of the journey. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. It is still March ya know.

Pop Quiz : For $2 and a free ride in my '65 Chevelle - Who made the title song of this blog post famous? - NO INTERNET LOOKUPS !!!

Visiting LBJ - Johnson City, TX

Ah - what a difference a good night's sleep can make! That and another beautiful day here in Texas - what more could you ask?

Well - Peggy asked to go for a drive so off we went. This time we headed further north up Highway 281 about 50 miles or so to Johnson City, TX - once the home of Lyndon Baines Johnson our 36th President. Upon arrival in Johnson City we found our way to the LBJ National Historical Park Visitor's Center. The LBJ National Historical Park is split into two parts. LBJ's childhood home is located in Johnson City near the Johnson Family Settlement where LBJ's ancestors raised Texas Longhorns and drove them up the Chisholm Trail to Abilene, KS for sale and transportation back east in the mid 1800s. Why drive them all the way to Kansas? Because cattle sold for $30-$40 a head in Abilene instead of $6 to $7 in Texas! So we walked about the Johnson family settlement for about an hour and then found our way back to the car to continue our adventure.

But not before finding our way to Uncle Kunckle's Bar  B-Q for a bit of lunch. I had the BBQ beef sandwich and Peggy had the roast turkey. Not bad - but we can do better!

We then drove west about 12 miles to the LBJ ranch - the other part of the National Historical Park. The LBJ ranch is located near his birthplace on the Perdanales River near Stonewall, TX. The ranch is in a beautiful setting amongst rolling hills and stately oaks.

We we able to take a ranger guided tour of LBJ's "Western White House" which was part of the donation that the Johnson's made to the National Park System. The house is well preserved as it would have been in the mid 1960s while he served as president - spending about one-quarter of his days as president running the country from here in the middle of the hill country in central Texas. LBJ was the first President to take advantage of the available technology to enable leading the country for extended periods far from Washington, DC. I also enjoyed looking at some of LBJ's cars that were on display including a pair of 1966 and 1967 Lincoln Continental Convertibles, his 1934 Ford "Hunting Car" complete with rifle racks and a wet bar in the back, and his AmphiCar!

We finished our visit to LBJ's and decided to take the long way home so we continued on to Fredericksburg and then turned south, back to Bourne and then back west to Bulverde. A long drive of 140 or so miles but a great way to spend a beautiful day.

Kicking Some Tires - Bourne, TX

It must be time to change over to Daylight Savings Time. I know because my internal body clock gets really messed up this time of year. I woke up around 3 AM this morning - wide awake for no good reason. Then played on my computer for an hour. Then went back to sleep for a few hours. Then woke up but never really felt "with-it" all day.

Peggy and I did take off for a few hours and drove over to Bourne - another small town north of San Antonio, about 25 miles from where we are in Bulverde. Bourne, although smaller than New Braunfels, is another pretty central Texas town with an interesting downtown historic district. Once again you can see the German influence. While driving through Bourne we happened across a RV dealership and decided to go in and kick the tires on some new motorhomes. Not that we're looking to get a new one at the moment - but one needs to keep up-to-date on what's available - don't cha think? So we looked at a few Fleetwood Bounders to see what's new in the Gas fueled rigs and then graduated to looking at a couple of Tiffin Allegro "REDs" (Rear Engine Diesel). The dealership didn't have any of the next level up Tiffins (Phaeton) but did have a nice 43 foot Allegro Bus with pretty much all the goodies that we had to tour as well. So after looking at some new rigs, picking up a few brochures, and thanking the salesman for his time - we left without even asking for a price. After all - the Winne is just getting broke in.

So that was about it for Friday - the 12th of March. Hopefully I'll sleep a bit better tonight and the energy level will improve. Only one more day of Non-Daylight Savings Time.

A Walk In The Park - New Braunfels, TX

We had another nice day here in central Texas. It wasn't quite as warm as yesterday as it probably only made it to about 75* today, but still a nice day with plenty of sunshine. We started off our day with a few chores - me tinkering on the motorhome and Peggy catching up on the laundry. After getting our work done and having a bit of lunch we decided to drive about 25 miles southeast to "check out" the town of New Braunfels.

This part of Texas has a distinct German influence due to a pattern of Germanic immigration in the mid 1800s and many of the towns in this area have names with German origin. The town of New Braunfels, named after the German city of Braunfels, still retains many signs of its German heritage including the architecture of many of its buildings and the names of the businesses and streets. After doing a bit of touring in the downtown area we made our way over to Landa Park - an absolutely beautiful park complete with the spring fed Comal River meandering through,

lots of birds and ducks,

The "Founders Oak" - over 300 years old,

and even a narrow gauge train to make sightseeing even easier.

We didn't take the train but we did enjoy a nice stroll through the park on a nice day.

That was pretty much our day - not much but a walk in the park.

The Missions of San Antonio - San Antonio, TX

Wow - short pants all day long! The day here started out a little foggy again but it all burned off around noon and it turned out to be a really nice day with the high right around 84 degrees.

Peggy and I enjoyed the really nice day by driving down to San Antonio to visit the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. The Park is in 5 different locations and consists of 5 separate missions, each a few miles apart. The northernmost mission is Mission San Antonio de Valero (AKA "The Alamo") and is located right in the heart of the city. Since we visited the Alamo on our last visit here just a few months ago (November) - we skipped that one and visited all the others. These missions were established by Spanish monks in the early to mid 1700s as the Spanish were in the process of 1) trying to keep the French out of territory they claimed as their own and therefore protecting their new found wealth in the form of gold and 2) to convert the local indigenous natives to Catholicism. As it turned out ... the French never really moved far out of their foothold in Louisiana before selling out to the United States so it looks like their 1st goal was met. And there are still decendants of those early Texans attending church in these still active missions - so it looks like goal #2 was somewhat successful as well.

After several hours of touring missions in the warm Texas sun it won't surprise you to hear that Mikee was getting pretty hungry by about 3 PM. Since we were pretty close to the downtown area after visiting our last mission - we made it over to the riverwalk and found a tex-mex restaurant to try out. The food was great (as were the Margaritas) and I left really full after being really hungry walking in.

That pretty much sums up day-one of our stay here in the San Antonio area. I think we may need a day of rest tomorrow.

Deep In The Heart - Bulverde, TX

We made it to just west of Houston yesterday after driving a good deal of the the day in the rain. After a foggy start to the morning today - we drove the rest of the way to our destination - just north of San Antonio. The trip from Abbeville was just like I like 'em - uneventful.

The really good news ... once the fog lifted shortly after we got on the road - it was a beautiful sunny day with the afternoon temp making it to right around 80 degrees! Now that's what we've been waiting for!! After setting up here in a nice spot in the Texas 281 RV Park - we broke out the outdoor chairs and just enjoyed the afternoon.

So tomorrow we'll play tourist a bit and hopefully enjoy another nice day here - 2 Maineiacs deep in the heart of Texas.

Cajun Paradise - Abbeville, LA

Just another day in Cajun Paradise. I understand that Vermillion Parrish touts itself as the "most Cajun place in the world." It seems that many of the Acadians that left Nova Scotia a long time ago to come down here and form the base of the Cajun culture - settled right here in Vermillion Parrish and that the last census had right around 50% of the folks here listing themselves as being of Cajun Ancestry.

Since this was to be our last full day here in Cajun Country - we had to have one more sampling of Cajun cuisine so today we tried the Riverfront - A Louisiana Grill. The Riverfront is a nice - sorta upscale - restaurant right on the Vermillion River here in Abbeville. I tried their seafood gumbo to start. As you may know by now - I really like good gumbo - and the gumbo at the Riverfront is right up there with the best I've ever had. Full of shrimp, crawfish, and crab with a great flavor. No need for any Tabasco here - this stuff was right up there with my Maineiac Gumbo! For entrees Peggy had a seafood enchilada with crab, shrimp, and crawfish which she really enjoyed and I had some fried shrimp and crawfish etouffee. Once again - really good stuff. Whadaya think - have I exceeded my shrimp quota yet?

Tomorrow we will say goodbye for now to Betty and the rest of gang here in Abbeville. Betty's is certainly an RVing icon and a unique place. Certainly more of a B&B than an RV Park.

So we are off to Texas and their famous Tex-Mex food and Texas style barbecue as I continue to eat my way across America.

Oooo-Wee - Abbeville, LA

Oooo-wee did we ever have a busy day yesterday here in Louisiana. After a somewhat leisurely morning we took a drive in the Vue to get our bearings in the local area. We ended up driving about 25 miles out in the country - generally south towards the gulf through mostly farm/ranch country with fields of rice and grazing cows. We ended up on a dead end road near Vermillion Bay amongst some piers for shrimp boats and land based support areas for the offshore drilling companies. Not exactly scenic - but interesting nonetheless.

After cruising back to Abbeville - it was near lunchtime so we decided to try one of several local seafood joints. We settled on Shucks, The Louisiana Seafood House. Many items on Shucks' menu looked good but we started with some seafood gumbo for me (shrimp and whole oysters), some gumbo for Peggy with smoked duck and Andouille sausage. I sampled Peggy's and liked them both but I think I liked Peggy's better. After polishing-off our cups of gumbo I had a shrimp po-boy and Peggy had a shrimp burger. Yum-yum. While eating our fill I noticed a bottle of Tabasco pepper sauce on the table and remembered that the Tabasco factory was somewhere nearby on Avery Island near the town of New Iberia - so we decided to take a drive and find the place - and we did.

Now Avery Island is not really an island as you would normally think. It is more of a hill - caused by the pushing up of a giant underground salt dome. Sometime back after the civil war - ol Edmund McIlhenny (the McIlhenny's happened to own the island and some descendants live there today) planted some capsicum pepper plants and developed his recipe for Tabasco pepper sauce ( actually - I think the recipe is pretty simple ... ground peppers fermented for three years in old Jack Daniels white oak barrels, a little salt, and vinegar). Although the peppers are also grown in south and central America - all the sauce is bottled right here in the Avery Island factory. We took the "Factory Tour" - but since it was Saturday - the factory wasn't factoring - so we got our free samples and saw a bunch of idle machinery. Oh well - I can at least say I've "been there and done that." After our big tour we visited the onsite Tabasco country store where we bought nothing but Peggy did sample the Tabasco ice cream. You'll have to ask her how it tasted - kinda like Tabasco I assume!

After our trip to Avery Island we drove back to Abbeville and then got directions to Calvin Touchet's (pronounced "2 Checks") bar over in Maurice, LA. It seems that every other Saturday Touchet's sponsors a Cajun Jam fest with several local Cajun bands playing their unique music. And this was the right Saturday!

It's hard to describe the scene at Touchet's .. but I'll try. Relatively small county bar in a metal sided building with a stage that could hold a 7 to 8 piece band - a small dance floor that could handle a dozen or so couples - about 30 to 40 folks inside around 4-5 tables and the bar - kitchen in the back where Calvin was brewing up some red beans and rice (free to whoever wanted some) - an older crowd having a ball - several couples two stepping around the dance floor - beer - cigarette smoke - and lots of laughter. What a hoot!

So after an hour or so enjoying the music we left Touchet's a bit richer in Cajun culture and headed back to Betty's. Upon arrival at Betty's we were greeted by a dozen or so folks gathered around the front of our rig enjoying what was left of Happy Hour - so we had to join them.

Like I said - Oooo-Wee did we have a busy day yesterday here in Louisiana!

Betty's - Abbeville, LA

Before I get started - I thought I would post a group photo from our last outing to Big Daddy's back in Alabama - As always, this gang had a good time with lots of shrimp, catfish, and oysters on-the-side.

Well here we are in Cajun Country! We had an uneventful trip on a pretty nice day yesterday traveling through a bit more of Alabama, all of lower Mississippi, into southern Louisiana, around Lake Poncetrain, and further west to Abbeville, LA. Abbeville is a pretty small rural town about 20 miles south of I-10. So why would anyone, who was traveling to TX, drive that far out of their way to stay for 3 days? To visit Betty's RV Park of course!

We pulled in to Betty's around 4 PM yesterday. Now for those of you who have never been to Betty's - I gotta tell you that the description I had heard from others is true - "if you hadn't been told otherwise - you would pass right by Betty's as a bad idea!" So we pulled in anyway, around what I think is Betty's house and into what I think used to be her backyard where there were about 20 rigs set up but it didn't look like there was any room for us. We were quickly met by Betty herself who greeted us and showed us to our parking place - the last one in the place - right behind the house and right along the one road through the park. As long as no one minds our bedroom slide sticking out in the road - we'll be fine!

Once we were setup it was right about 4:30 - which is Happy Hour at Betty's - so I made my traditional post set-up martini and we joined the others for a visit in Betty's "Louisiana Room." We didn't stay too long since I was pretty beat from driving all day - but you could certainly tell that the visitors here at Betty's really enjoy their stay!

The weather situation is looking up! Today is sunny, the birds are chirping, and the high is supposed to be in the high 60s. The forecast for the next week here in LA and into TX looks pretty good as well with temps in the high 70s not far away. So maybe spring is on the way - I sure hope so.

Our plan for today (once we actually get dressed) is to get out and enjoy some of the local culture. I hear there is a cajun music jam session nearby - and I know we can find some cajun food in several spots - perhaps even a "swamp tour!"

Can't get much better than that.

To continue with my Hank Williams Sr. Theme:

"Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and file' gumbo
'Cause tonight I’m gonna see my ma cher amio

Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-o

Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou"

Heading West - Summerdale, AL

Well ... our fun times here in lower Alabama are just about over for now. Peggy and I are heading out in the morning for points west.

In spite of the coldest winter that the deep south has experienced in the memory of most southerners - we have really enjoyed our stay here in LA. How could you possibly not have a great time while surrounded by life loving and all-around fun people?  The cold weather couldn't overcome the warm hearts here at Rainbow Plantation.

Today Peggy and I took care of a few chores like getting some gas in the car. While pumping gas I happened to notice that the right rear tire on the Vue had a nail head sticking out of it! The air pressure was fine but there was no way I was going to take off on a long trip knowing that I had a nail in the tire ... so after I dropped Peggy off at a shopping mall to get in some wedding dress shopping - I found a local tire store to get the nail removed and the tire patched.

Then it was back to the Plantation (without the nail and without a dress) to take care of a few more pre-travel items and then we had Darrell and Judy Patterson over for dinner and more fun conversation.

So tomorrow we're off to Cajun country. We are planning to travel across Mississippi on I-10, bypass New Orleans and head somewhat north through "Red Stick" (Baton Rouge) Louisiana, and then on to Abbeville where we hope to take in some of the local culture (read more seafood here).

Aieeee - Sing it Hank (Williams Sr.)!!!

"Good-bye Joe, me gotta go, me oh my oh
Me gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou
My Yvonne, the sweetest one, me oh my oh
Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou"

Plans - Summerdale, AL

We have been here at the Rainbow Plantation for over three weeks now - a new Maineiacs in Motion record for most consecutive nights in one RV Park. Although the Plantation is one of our favorite spots, it's getting time to move on. So the plan is to leave here on Friday and head west towards Texas. We hope to stop in Abbeville, LA on the way and experience the cajun hospitality at Betty's RV Park. We understand it's an experience not to be missed.

We plan on being in Texas around San Antonio for about a week and then start heading home. Given a somewhat leisurely drive home we ought to be back about the end of March/first of April. Just in time to watch the last of any remaining snow melt and start cleaning up the post winter mess in the yard - good ole mud season in Maine.

After that - who knows? We may have to stay put for awhile and concentrate on Stacy's wedding in July.

The on again - off again weather continues here in southern Alabama. We had a not-too-bad-day on Sunday but we had a big rainstorm/thunderstorm/windstorm last night and today is continuing a bit cool. But warmer temps are forecast as the week goes on so maybe spring is on the way. It sure would be nice to get into short pants for at least a few days!