Streamin with Joe and Buddy

Sarasota, Florida

2012-02-29T17:09:00.000-08:00

2/12 - 2/19/12
39th Florida State Rally, Sarasota

Our first time to this rally and we actually knew some of the people. We have been on several Airstream caravans over the last 10 years and we are always running into people at rallys that we met on caravans. So it was great seeing some of those people. Joe and I usually volunteer at rallys and this was no different. It's fun and you always meet new people and renew old friendships with others. We volunteered as security which entails checking people to make sure they have their rally ribbon on (which means they have paid) for the evening entertainment. I also had volunteered to help serve donuts. I had no idea what I was getting into. Every morning at 0700 our group met and sorted out the Krispy Creme donuts which were delivered at 5 am. This has been a tradition for 39 years and it really ends up being a coffee shop atmosphere where everyone can sit around drinking coffee and eating donuts and discussing maintaining their trailer or what was the latest caravan they had been on. This was free every morning, you had a limit of two donuts every morning. It was fun because I got to meet a lot of nice people.

I guess I did OK because they want me to come back next year.

Sarasota is the home of the Ringling Bros Circus, so we toured the grounds/museum of circus memorabilia.

There was also a dog show at the rally, Buddy got a a First Place and a blue ribbon (along with about 10 other dogs) another 10 dogs got a 2nd place and red ribbon and all the rest received honorable mention. We were a real dog friendly group.

These two dogs sat here for over an hour waiting for their masters to return from dinner

We had a great time in Sarasota and will probably go back next year.

Safe travels to all

Nancy & Joe

Heading North

2012-02-28T11:49:00.000-08:00

2/6 - 2/10/12

Long Key State Park

and

2/10 - 2/12/12

Naples, FL

Florida has many state campgrounds, but you have to make reservations months and sometimes a year ahead of time. We learned through the "Snowbird's Traveling Grapevine" that the state park on Long Key was not taking reservations because they were going to have limited facilities due to construction, however you could pull in there and get a spot on a first come first serve. This was only about 65 miles north of Key West so we headed up there arriving at about 10:30 am and sure enough we got a site, right on the water. This is a little known secrete and they had many empty spots while we were there. We were in no hurry so we stayed four nights. This is what I like about retirement and having a loose schedule you can change your plans at a drop of a hat. We had a wonderful time and struck up a friendship with two other campers which is easy to do in a carefree campground setting.

Somehow this is a little crooked, I can't imagine how that would happen, maybe not enough beer?

Every campsite had a little trail to the water

Two steps out the little trail and you have a beach

Could there be a storm coming? You betcha!

Full moon while at Long Key State Park

After four days of this beautiful beach we continued up the road to Naples, which was not very far, but we were kind of stalling as we couldn't get to the Airstream Rally in Sarasota too early. I really like Naples and I have already written about it on a previous post. We did go back to that nice restaurant, The Dock, and had another fabulous meal. They make great Margaritas at a reasonable price. They were celebrating their 30th year ( or something like that) and everyone was served a glass of champagne and a piece of birthday cake.

Safe travels to all

Nancy & Joe

Key West, Florida

2012-02-20T19:28:00.000-08:00

1/28 - 2/5/12
Trumbo Naval Station, Key West Florida

Well here we are in Key West, Florida finally. This was a major destination, We left Olympia, WA 10/05/11 and it took us 9,023 miles to get here. Not sure why there are so many miles, it just sort of added up.

We dry camped at Trumbo Navy Station for 10 nights. We didn't have a lot of sun for the solar so we had to use the generator a couple of times. I was still able to make waffles on Sunday. Believe it or not but our little waffle iron used less battery power than the microwave.

This stop was busy every day. The first day we were there we were able to go down to Mallory Square in time for dinner and a great sunset. In fact this was the best sunset in the 10 days we were there. I guess most of you already know what a touristy place this is, I was expecting a quieter place but this is a party, eating drinking town. However we took the Conch Train Tour which gave us a history of the area. The Navy is who really got the area going and then eventually the tourist trade came in. What a great place for sunset cruises, party cruises and of course fishing, skin diving and snorkeling, this is the place to do it all. The houses are gorgeous, many older ones have been renovated into cottages and bed and breakfast type of places. The streets a sort of narrow and are filled with many people on bikes, scooters and small little electric cars. We toured the Hemingway House and the Truman White House, the Shipwrecker museum and the Ingram Coast Guard Ship.

There are 42 bridges along all the keys to Key West with the longest being seven miles. I had to take many pictures out the truck window, but this is a typical scene. The black spot on top is something that has just shown up is most of my pictures, sometimes I have cropped it out but I missed this one.

Sunset at Key West

The famous Mallory Square

The sponge man capturing Joe

Of course we had to try the Conch Fritters

A handsome dude Joe caught me with

Chickens and Roosters run loose everwhere. They are left over from the cock-fighting days. In the Keys all animals are protected and cannot be killed (or thinned out)

We had lunch at this Cuban Restaurant which included yellow rice and black beans.

Ship Wreck Museum

A trip to Hemingway's House and his 44 cats

Second story balcony, you can just barely see the top of the light house. The lighthouse was at one time next to the water but the storms demolished it so they brought the lighthouse a good distance incland and on higher ground. Hemingway's house is 18' above sea level, the highest point in Key West. He had a full basement that has never flooded. When there is a good size storm, the Keys will be under water a good three to six feet.

Just one of the 40 - six-toed cats. All cats are very well cared for and production is kept at a constant 40 cats, give or take a couple. They keep the cats with the six-toe gene, cats are neutered and spade at the right time and a vet is there every Wednesday. The cats are so well cared for that they never leave the property.

We also visited the Butterfly Conservatory

We toured the Ingram Coast Guard Ship. She was quite the ship, receiving many honors for the many missions she was on.

There is a park with many bronze statues of important people of Key West, this is just one of

Harry Truman

Truman's Key West White House

One of the local fish eateries, Hogfish, a fun place to go. This is where the locals go.

This lady was outside selling earrings and necklaces. When it got dark she closed up shop and came in to have a drink or two with friends at the bar. She was convinced to sing.......and could she belt out a jazzy/blues song. She was good, everyone seemed to know her and they tried to convince her to sing again but she wouldn't. If she had sang again we would have stayed and had another beer.

We took a short little boat ride over to Sunset Island for lunch

From our lunch table

This little boat was for rent for the day, week or month, included a crew also

This is the most southern point in the U. S. for the general public to see.

Note the line up on the left for people to take pictures.

The tree next to our truck is the real southern most point in the United States.

This is on the Navy Truman Annex which is not open to the public.

That's it for Key West

Safe travels to all

Joe and Nancy

Big Cypress National Park and Everglades National Park

2012-02-18T19:08:00.000-08:00

1/25 - 1/27/12

Stayed at Monument Lake in Big Cypress National Park and visiting the Everglades National Park. These National Parks are great, this one was $6.00/night with The Pass.

Beautiful evening at Monument Lake Campground

The next morning

We visited Everglades City which is actually in the northern part of the Everglades and out on the National Park boat trip. The water is very shallow and it is very important to stay in the markers or you'll end up on a sandbar. Part way out on our boat trip the steering went out, out tour guide, very professionally got out the anchor and then called his boss on the cell phone instead of the marine radio where every one would hear.

Our new boat has arrived, we have been saved

all safe and secure on our new boat

can you tell I'm a tourist?

Osprey nest. The male and female are partners for life, but they take a break from each other when they migrate they go their separate ways but always come back to each other and the same nest

Cute little Blue Heron, has light blue legs

Most people travel with their dog(s) or cat(s) but this lady traveled with her Macaw. He is 18 years old

We also took a small six passenger boat deep into the mangroves. Many different birds, alligators, brown and white pelicans

In the Mangroves at low tide, very hard to take decent pictures because of the thick trees

and sun streams peaking through to the water

White pelican, very large bird

Here is a big one watching us

I thought this was a female Anhinga, but now I'm not sure

We also went to the Shark Valley River of Grass. This is fresh water running through a large portion of the Everglades. This is a birding paradise. I even saw two Roseate Spoonbills, these birds are beautiful, but you'll just have to take my word for it. No pictures. The tram winds around here and there with many stops to observe alligators, many Wood Storks, Anhingas and many others. We were on the first tour of the day so it was cooler and the birds are more active.

Fish in his throat

Very new baby, laying out like that will probably become dinner for someone

Naples, FL

2012-02-14T19:12:00.000-08:00

1/23/12 - 1/25/12

Only two nights so we could have work done on our solar system. Lew, from A & M Solar was at our rig right on time and only took him about 30 min to fix our solar system including another review for the owners on how it works.

While here we went out to dinner at The Dock, well worth the effort to find the place. Like the name says, it is on the dock next to the City dock, good atmosphere, a fun place. There were no windows just open spaces so you can see everything.

The following day we visited the Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens. This is not your average zoo, yes there are exotic animals but you are also surrounded by mature trees started in the early 1900's and exotic plants and tropical gardens. The animals came 50 years after the gardens were started. The gardens and the animals complement each other in their surroundings. All the monkeys were on Islands and a boat tour to see them.

Wild pig with longhair coming off the ear

Anhinga, lots of them in Florida

First time riding a camel

A 5 year old sloth, look at that hair

Sort of hard to see, the lion is having a large yawn

Boat trip out through the monkey islands

Tha'ts it for now, safe travels to all.

Nanc & Joe

Punta Gorda - Paradise Park

2012-02-13T17:20:00.000-08:00

1/21/12 - 1/23/12

Punta Gorda, 18 miles east is Paradise Park an Airstream park. We were fortunate enough that our friends Phil and Joanie have a place here and their next door neighbor was gone so we were able to spend a couple of nights on their lot. Very nice secluded park with their own 9 hole golf course, a lake with their own alligator and a swimming pool. They show movies every Sunday night right after the ice cream social. We were lucky, they were showing "The Help" which we had not seen. A great movie, we highly recommend it to everyone.

While there we visited the Manatee Park, amazing creatures. They are a little shy so not very good pictures, luckily they have to come up now and then for air.

Boy, sometimes they can move really fast, you have to be quick to get their picture

Can you see them, there are three of them having a little disagreement

Here is a better picture of a picture

Nice little park, safe travels to all

Nancy and Joe

Cocoa Beach, FL

2012-02-13T07:36:00.000-08:00

I’ve had a couple of emails to tell me to get busy with the posts.

1/17/12 - 1/21/12
Cocoa Beach, Patrick AFB, just a few miles south of Cape Canaveral. This is one of those places that don’t take reservations, they will always fit you in somewhere dry camping. The rule is first in, first out. Which means you go on a list and you move from dry camp to partial hook ups (water/electric) and then to full hookups. We opted to stay in dry camp, it’s really no big deal, they have potable water and a dump and we have our solar and a generator.

This area is quite the place for tourists, I guess all of Florida is that way. We cruised through town, stopped at the famous “Ron Jon Surf Shop”, the place is enormous I have never seen so many shirts, sandals and string bikinis. Not sure why people would want to surf here they only have a few little dinky waves. It would even be difficult to body surf here but there are surf shops and surf lessons everywhere. Joe ended up with a shirt and I got a new pair of flip-flops.

We spent a day at the Kennedy Space Center and had excellent tours. We also saw a 3D movie of the Hubble. The Hubble 3D movie is in various parts of the country. Go See It, You'll like it.

This machine carries the shuttle out to the launch pad. Notice the cleats, each one is 2,000 lbs. They even have a special road made of special crushed rock. The crushed rock will not spark. I don't remember where this special rock came from, but is it rare. You can see how big it is by looking at the chain link fencs

Part of the special road, the machine straddles the grass. This road goes all the way out to the launch pad, which takes several days to go about 1 mile.

Each of the Space Shuttles have a patch just for that particular one. Our last name is Conrad, for those of you not aware of it. Joe was able to locate the patch for Astronaut Conrad and of course we purchased it. No relation that he know of but you never can tell.

actual control room of Apollo shuttle

The land around the Kennedy Space center is a wildlife preserve

here we say our first alligator

The best part of the Kennedy Space Center is that they had FREE temperature controlled kennels for dogs, our little Buddy, at 81/2 years has never been in a kennel.

The kennels were very clean and because they were not busy Buddy got a double. They also had stainless steel bowls for water and little treats. You are allowed back in the kennel as often you want to check on him and take him out for a walk.

While here there was a launch of a Delta rocket. It was small but still exciting to see.

On to our next stop, Safe travels to all

Nancy & Joe

Jacksonville, FL

2012-02-05T09:03:00.000-08:00

Those of you that know me know that I will eventually catch up on blogging.

1/11 - 1/15 Mayport NAS, Pelican Roost RV Park, right on the ship canal for the Navy and commercial ships that are headed into one of the deep water ports or continuing up the intercoastal water way . This is one of our major stops, our son Tim lives in Jacksonville, just about 10 miles west of our our campsite.

Tim had dinner waiting for us, a delicious home made chicken noodle soup that was out of this world. He has become a very good cook. He roasted the chicken cut it up and made chicken stock. The stock was very good, he also gave us a quart of stock to take with us. Unfortunately I can't locate the pictures I took of him plus several others that I can't find.

While in Mayport, Joe looked his Aunt Helen and cousin Linda and her sister Carolyn. He had only met Linda one time and didn't remember her and has never met Carolyn. That may seem strange but his mother and Aunt Helen were two of about 14 children. I guess when there are that many you have trouble keeping track of them. Plus, Joe joined the Air Force when he was 18 and has only been back to Maryland a few times.

Linda, invited us to her home in St Augustine, about 60 miles south of Mayport. Linda fixed us a delicious buffet of a couple of meats, cheeses potato salad strawberrie,s and delicious home made buns . Everything was scrumptious. We talked and talked for hours, Linda then took us for a quick run through St Augustine. What a beautiful town and so much history. We were making plans go visit on our return north but have since decided to go their next year when we can stay for a whole week.

I always laugh so much when I set the camera up to take our picture

10 seconds, hurry, hurry

We really enjoyed our stay in Mayport. Unfortunately all my pictures except this one are somewhere out in the" Picasa Clouds". If they come back I will share them with you. The fresh fish and shrimp are some of the best I have ever had.

Safe Travels to all

Nancy and Joe

2012-01-10T18:30:00.000-08:00

I meant to post these pictures the the blog I just posted, so bare with me. This morning was a gorgeous sunrise and like all great sun rises or sets they continue to change. So which one do you use? Well one is the new header and I will have to just put the rest of them up. Our space was just 100' from water. This AM was a low tide.

Red Sky in morning, sailor take warning. True saying for today by 4:00 pm we were in a storm with lots of rain and wind.

Another reason to put all these up is to remember this place a year from now. As I had mentioned before this is a very small town four miles to the west of the Ho-Hum RV park. There is one small IGA store in town, two gas stations across the street from each other, they each had a deli in them but didn't check them out. There is one cafe in town and we had lunch there. A very good turkey sandwich which was the Blue Plate Special of the day. A real cute place.

Yes, this still works and was playing tunes from 50's & 60's

I almost forgot to mention, last night we saw a very large black bear go through our campground, just 10 feet from our trailer. On the way here we saw several warning sign for bears. In Florida? Yes, Joe and I both saw him and there were bear tracks on the beach/

Safe travels to all

Nancy & Joe

Part 2

2012-01-10T17:15:00.000-08:00

Next stop was only 125 miles away at the Topsail Hill Preserve State Park for the annual Airstream Canopener. The fees there were $42.00 per night, yes that's right $42.00. We have never spent this much for a "Resort" RV park let alone a state park. Well, this place is like a resort, including a swiming pool, tennis, basketball courts and three small lakes to fish in and they actually catch good size fish. I didn't know what to expect, but was pleasently surprised, the place was fantastic and very clean. They even use a blower to clean the leaves and pine needles from every spot before the next campers come. We had a great time, no planned activities except for a the best dinner and breakfast pot luck I have ever attended. The rangers also put on a "Breakfast with the Rangers" for us, all cooked by volunteers of the park. The Rangers gave a very informative talk about prescribed burns in the forest, including a slide show. Even though I am still recovering from the shock of $42.00 per night, since it was only three nights we will probably attend this event again next year if we are in the area, and I think we will be.

Site # 168 Topsail Hill Preserve State Park

Waiting for the dinner bell to ring

Almost time to start dinner

We didn't get away from the Airstream Canopener until about 11 am Sunday so our next stop in the small town of Carabelle seemed like a long drive even though it was only 130 miles. But along the way we stopped in the cute little town of Apalachicola, had a late lunch, walked around town and actually spent money at a cute place called "The Tin Shed". I usually don't buy souvenirs but they had the cutest pink flamingo I have ever seen. They had a lot of junk too as Joe calls it... "A lot of leaver-rites" (leaver-rite there) Apalachicola is the oyster capitol of the world, they have an annual oyster cook-off in one week. Unfortunately we won't be able to stay for it. Joe had fried oysters for lunch and they were delicious. I had grouper, a mild white fish that was just as good.

The flamingos have only one leg and they wobble back and forth in the wind

Basket of sponges, apparently years ago there was a lot of sponges brought in here and they were processed and then sent around the country.

leaving Apalachicola

10 miles later just one mile from our next campsite

We are at a nice quiet RV Park just four miles east of Carabelle, "Ho-Hum RV Park", full hook-ups and only 29.00 per night right on the Gulf. This place was wiped out during Katrina and has been slowly recovering. This is a really nice place if you just want to relax. Also close by is Tates Hell State Forest and Apalachicola National Forest. There are two state parks that we had to pass up that we will check out next time. One on St. Joseph Island and the other St. George Island.

Safe Travels to all

Nancy & Joe

New Years Eve at Pensacola

2012-01-10T03:42:00.000-08:00

My computer is sometimes very fussy and just turns off after about 15 min and it's been happening more and more. Every time I think of getting a new computer and actually start looking at them my computer starts behaving again and staying on. Well I have a lot to catch up on. We had an absolute fabulous time in Gulf Port and Biloxi, MS. If you like fresh fish and shrimp this is the place to visit.

Our next stop was at Pensacola, FL home of the Blue Angels and a superb Naval Aviation Museum. If you go be sure to go on the inside and outside tours. We stayed at the Oak Grove Fam Camp. We enjoyed a New Year's Eve pot luck and Karaoke. We met some wonderful people including a young family with two girls age 11 and 13 (I think), they were taking a year off and traveling around the country. We will probably run into them again as we are going to some of the same places. The Pensacola Base was a very large gorgeous base, right on the water. There is a state park just west of Pensacola called Big Lagoon State Park. It looks like a great place to stay, maybe next year.

Looking out our door the water is only about 200' away

We had some spectacular sunrises

The bay was being dredged 24/7. When the barge was full of the dredgings they dumped it at this plant on a tiny island. Not sure what they did with it then.

New Year's Eve Karoke

Eleven year old Mattie became the first brave sole to sing

Yep, that's an owl along trail to lighthouse The sun was already down so I was lucky to get this shot

Many places on base and around town are these cute dressed up pelican statues

Pensacola Lighthouse

Naval Aviation Museum - Fantastic

Outside waiting to be refurbished by the volunteers

The famous Cubi Bar in the Philippians was completely dismanteled and brought to the museum, all decorations, bar and furniture

Boardwalks and sand fences (like snow fences) are everywhere, they don't want you to walk on the dunes

sunset at west end of base

That's it for now, safe travels to all

Nancy & Joe

Leaving Texas

2011-12-28T18:20:00.000-08:00

Corpus Christi to our next destination is about 650 miles. Leaving Corpus I was amazed at the enormous oil refineries. We wanted to drive as far as possible the first day which, because we both drive we were able to go about 450 miles. This is not the furthest we have gone in one day but it was enough. We basically found I-10 again and traveled east and staying north of New Orleans. we spent the night at a nice Cracker Barrel in Lafayette, I think at exit 101. Nice level site in the back and across the street from a park, good for walking Buddy

We had a pretty uneventful couple of driving days and finally arrived at the Naval Construction Battalion Center, aka CBC Gulfport, Mississippi. Gulfport is absolutely beautiful with white sand beaches and a beautiful sunset. This area was also hit hard by Katrina and there is evidence everywhere. Homes and businesses are just gone. Some have rebuilt but there are many empty lots completely bare except for some foundations, driveways or steps that go nowhere.

This is the place to eat shrimp, crab and oysters, all fixed at least nine different ways. There are many large, no, make that enormous casinos. I'm afraid this area may become another Las Vegas.

Unfortunately all of a sudden I cannot download my pictures. My last blog had pictures but was unable to load a few pictures and the very end. So this is going to be a short blog until I can figure out what is going on.

Travel safe and smart

Nancy & Joe

Corpus Christi TX, 3 of 3

2011-12-27T20:23:00.000-08:00

We were getting close to the last day of Corpus Christi so off we went for more exploring on Padre Island. It was turning out to be a great day so we headed to Padre Island National Seashore.

These little white spots were from pocket gophers, they were everywhere

We saw many of these gorgeous white tail deer

They all looked very healthy with these cute little white tail with dark stripe down the middle

Camping at the beach on the west side of the island aka Laguna Madre.

Still on the west side of the island, no wave action here. There is a red tide alert all over Corpus Christi, but not on the west side of the island

However on the Gulf Side the Red Tide is very noticeable with dead fish everywhere. These spots on the beach are dead Man Of War. Dogs are not allowed on the beach during the red tide as it is very toxic to them and could kill them in a few days.

The Gulf side of island

We ended our stay with a Christmas dinner and Gift exchange at the Bay Club on base. This was put on by the campground, they supplied very good sliced turkey and ham and the rest of us supplied all the rest in potluck style, and was it good.

Well I am suddenly having trouble uploading pictures to Picasa so this is it for tonight.

Safe travels to all

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-25T12:01:00.000-08:00

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas

Drive safely and smart

Nancy, Joe and Buddy

The King Ranch

2011-12-23T12:07:00.000-08:00

Part 2 of 3

As most of you know I have not been east of the Arizona/New Mexico state line so everything is new and interesting to us. Corpus Christi is a major is deep-water port, I thought it was just a beach. Well the beaches are beautiful with white sand. The Harbor Bridge on US 181 arches 235 feet above the water. Also on the waterfront close to the aquarium is the permanent home of the USS Lexington Museum now a National Historic Landmark. The Lexington was famous during World War II, it had many attacks but never sank, in fact Tokyo Rose called is “The Blue Ghost.

Here at the RV park there are many seashore birds, white and brown pelicans and once while at the end of the pier I saw a couple of dolphins and plenty of jack rabbits that Buddy has chased. He can’t even get close, with those long legs and their keen sense of hearing they take off before Buddy takes a second leap.

white pelicans

This guy was a little shy and kept running off

We are very close to The King Ranch so of course we had to visit. The history of the King Ranch is very interesting. Click here to go to their site. My son just showed me how to do this Click here stuff so I hope it works for you.

The ranch was founded by Capt. Richard King in 1853 and has continued in operation by his descendants who have developed the Santa Gertrudis breed of cattle and produced the first registered American Quarter Horse. Currently they have about 33,000 head of cattle, 220 horses.

All these pictures are taken through the bus window. These are the beautiful dark mahogany-red Santa Gertrudis breed of cattle that was developed and is the newest breed of cattle in the U S

Roger, our tour guide, note the contraption he has that is holding the mike. It's a coat hanger, and kind of looks like those harmonica holders. It's holding the mike and he has a piece of duct tape around the mike to hold the button down. It worked like a charm.

Bridge across Gertrudis Creek, back when Capt. King started the ranch it was deep and flowing but over the years the creek has dwindled down to a small stream.

Sign at the entrance to the weaving shop

The weaving shop where all the horse blankets were made

The Running W was on all four corners of all horse blankets

This is Alberto V Trecintio AKA LoLo. He is 81 and the 5th generation of his family to work on the ranch all their lives. He is holding a picture of "Assult" the Triple Crown Winner in 1946 that was bred on the ranch. LoLo was responsible for him and was the first person on his back. A very charming man with many, many stories.

This W that is being pointed out is the original brand that was registered. The have since straightened it out.

One of the homes that the foremen live in

The original barn, Mrs King liked the architect of The Alamo

The King family house is used for family members only. This was the third house that Mrs King lived in, the first was made of adobe mud, the second was about half this size and burned.

The commissary for the ranch.

All the ranch hands and their families lived on the ranch and there are still decedents of the original people still working the ranch. Mrs. King was a teacher so she had a school built, also a church, the commissary which stored everything that was needed.

Corpus Christi TX

2011-12-23T06:18:00.000-08:00

Part 1 of 3

We have had a wonderful visit so far in Corpus Christi. There are two RV Parks here at Corpus Christi NAS, Shields RV Park and Paradise Cove. We are in Paradise Cove, both parks are on the water. Both places have free laundry but Shields has only one washer that works. The area is very flat and it's easy to see that any type of hurricane will flood the area. We will be spending Christmas here and then leaving on the 26th probably staying at Wally's in Port Arthur or the next town. We will need to drive about 350 miles for two days in a row.

While in San Antonio we noticed that the rear curbside tire was wearing kind of funny, looking at it more we noticed the tire was different than the others. Remember in Yuma we had tire issues and ended up replacing all four tires at Discount Tire. We found a Discount Tire right on our way to Corpus, after inspection they said the wrong tire was installed and was not rated for a heavy load. Short story, the tire was replaced at no charge. Notice the yellow ramp that is holding up the trailer. This is a heavy plastic ramp that you pull the trailer up on and it holds the trailer up just high enough so that the rear tire is off the ground and easy to change. This is the second time we have used it so it was a good investment to carry around.

I just love these small towns, we get off the interstate whenever possible. These boxes on the upper right photo are deer blinds. Not only are there blinds they also have huge deer feeders that get filled with corn. I saw these bags of corn at the stores, even grocery stores, they are huge about 75 pounds. The hunters feed in the same spot every year. Deer hunting is a really big thing here and with all the devices used the poor deer don't stand a chance. They are after the cute little white tail deer.

Bottom right is downtown Alice. (Never saw Alice's Restaurant) Ya know that you are in south Texas when cuisine is BBQ, Mexican Food, AND........ FRIED CATFISH.

While in Corpus Christi we visited the State Aquarium. A delightfully little aquarium, I only say little when comparing it to Monteray Bay Aquarium in California which takes two days to see it all. It appeared that many families purchase the yearly pass (about $50.00 for the family) so they can visit often.

They had quite the display of these cute little "sea horses"

Look at the Flat head on this fish

I didn't realize that A & M Texas University was so big, every where we go we see another campus

A&M Corpus Cristi right on the water, a beautiful spot.

Claire you should check this one out.

More to come tomorrow

Safe travels to all

Nancy & Joe

On the Road Again to Corpus Christi NAS

2011-12-16T18:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, 12/15/11 we just kind of hung out. Made peanut butter cookies, trimmed Buddy's long locks, mostly around his face and feet, which seems to take way too long but he does look better. Worked on my Christmas Letter, took a few pictures, one of which is the new header.

Lackland AFB Fam Camp is nice but when it is going to be rainy every day it's best to park in the gravel spots with water & electric only. The water seems to run off those areas and just sits in our area which means mud. Luckily we have a cork flooring so just wipe up the dirt and/or sweep it out.

Today, Friday, 12/16/11, after listening to the weather forecasters and www.wunderground.com we made a thoroughlyconfusing well informed, (maybe, maybe not) decision to go to Corpus Christi Naval Air Station right on the water across from Padre Island. Our drive here, 160 miles, was pretty nice, a slight tail wind, high dark clouds, but no rain . Most of the rain is coming tonight and tomorrow, so tomorrow just might be a good day for sewing and walking around the beach here during the breaks in the rain. There is a big mall close by and I might brave the crowds to look for a certain type of slippers that can be worn outside.

This is the little Christmas Tree made on a loom for $5.95.

It's very flimsy and would not travel well until next year so it will be donated

Looks like my Christmas Cactus will open right on time

This is probably take number 19

every time I would set the timer and then run over to my spot Buddy would slowly turn and look at me with those big brown eyes, saying "You have got to be kidding, get this scarf off of me"

Merry Christmas and Safe Travels to all

Nancy & Joe

2011-12-14T20:33:00.000-08:00

San Antonio, Lackland AFB Fam Camp, with free washer/dryer.

We have been in San Antonio for two days now. The first whole day we were here was serious fog and rain so we did the laundry and shopped a little at the commissary. Day two no fog but rainy on and off and 75 degrees. We had wanted to go to the Riverwalk and the boat ride but too rainy. I had to have a blood test so we found the right lab (LabCorp of America) and into San Antonio, only about 5 miles away and went to the IMAX which had a really good movie of the last 13 days of the Alamo. What a bloody horrible battle. There were several women and children that survived. After the movie we walked over to the Alamo and toured through it. I was glad we saw the movie first, it put events into perspective. It was still a light rain so we drove to the Market Place. Walked around, the place is just like going to the touristy border towns except the shop owners were not trying to drag you into shop. I bought a small Christmas Tree made of yarns probably on a loom. It was only $6.00 but kinda of cute. A sticker on the tree said made in Guatemala. Picture of it tomorrow,

The weather forecast is for more rain and fog for the next several days. So, we are going to pack up and head to either Mission or Mustang Island State Park, next to Corpus Christi.

Safe travels to all

Nancy & Joe

Still at Big Bend

2011-12-13T18:34:00.000-08:00

Part 2 of 2
Big Bend National Park, TX

Still at Rio Grand Village Campground we decided to go to the Hot Springs Historic District. The Hot Springs are probably millions of years old. However in 1909 J. O. Langford purchased the property, including the spring, sight unseen. He was the first modern developer of the Hot Springs. Eventually he developed a post office/store and a motor court that was built in 1927.

The Motor-Court had one rooms and double rooms

Hiking on our to the Hot Springs

Finally the Hot Springs, The Rio Grand and Mexico on the other side

The road in and out of the Hot Springs

We moved to Cottonwood Campground, still a dry camp and generators not allowed. This is considered a quiet area.

Finally I got a decent picture of a frequent visitor

We drove over to the famous St Elena Canyon. There are usually rafters and/or canoes floating down the river however, due to the water being so low that is impossible. I did hike up the rock wall and then up the canyon to the end of the trail. Spectacular viewes:

Looking up St Elena Canyon on the Rio Grand River

Starting the trek up the mountain

The switch back trail going up and up

What was I thinking

Looking up the canyon from one of the switchbacks

Pressing up and up along the trail

Looking down river

the spit of gravel in the middle is where I was taking the first picture of the canyon

Looking upstream again

Finally at the top looking down, the left is down stream

and, looking upstream

Notice the trail along the edge of the mountain

Up and over the rock and then down the other side, looking up river

The end of the trail is at the white rocks behind me

Looking down river from the end of the trail

Now the trek back out

There are many hikes around that include remains of houses made of rocks, here is just one:

These stone houses were extremely well built

After Big Bend we moved onto Del Rio

Safe travels to all

Nancy & Joe

Big, very BIG Bend National Park

2011-12-12T15:46:00.000-08:00

Part 1 of 2

Originally we were going to White Sands, Alamogordo, Carsbad Caverns, Guadalupe Mtn National Park, Davis Mountain State Park but because of the weather (snow) we will have to visit these places next time we are in the area.

So we left El Paso and Headed to Big Bend National Park. On the way there we went through several typical small West Texas Towns. I am so glad there was no freeway going around them. In Texas there are many small counties so there are lots of county court houses in some small town. Marfa was a cute typical small Texal Town

County Court House in Marfa, TX

Plaque for following picture

Beautiful hotel has been kept in excellent condition

Again, a plaque for the following picture.

This plaque was very high and behind glass, hope everyone can read it

The opera house

Interesting geology in West Texas on the way to Big Bend

This was a very long drive, the last 90 miles going through the park the speed limit is 45 mph, we chose the Rio Grand Village Camp Ground which is a dry camp with some drinking water faucets here and there. A wonderful quiet camp ground with 100 sites, and only $7.00 with the Golden Age card. There is also a full hook up campground for $32.00 per night and no discount. We stayed two nights, this gave us a chance to go on a nice hike to the river the next day. Along the way we crossed over a small bay off the Rio Grand.

We are not "Birders" but we enjoy seeing different birds,

we left our bird book at home and I don't want to buy another one

Have no idea what this guy is

Tall Bamboo Grass

After going to the river where everything is then sand, when we turned around to go back we were glad to see these rocks were there to find the trail

Several places along the way people from the other side of the river have left items, not for sale but for a donation. There are many signs warning you not to purchase, as these items are then considered contraband.

The above picture is a horse across the Rio Grand River that is tied up, it is used to cross the river and place more trinkets and collect money and then make a mad dash back across the river.

The river is only about 10 - 15 inches deep, very low even for this time of year

They are in a real drought with no significant rain for 18 months.

While we were in Big Bend we had no cell phone service and no internet. I use a Verizon Card which is usually pretty good but down here there is no AT&T, no Verizon or anything else. They do have a pay phone for emergencies.

More tomorrow

Safe travels to all

Nancy & Joe

Sunshine, Snow, Birding, and Hiking

2011-12-07T21:13:00.000-08:00

Well this is another one of those long blogs again, mostly pictures though.

Today we drove over to Franklin Mountains State Park. This involved going an 8% grade on the Trans-Mountain Rd which goes from Hwy 54, sort of the North Side of Fort Bliss, up and over the mountain which then connects to I-10 which is still El Paso. The park must have hundreds of miles of trails. We spent most of the day here and it was beautiful. The more I'm in the desert the more I enjoy it. All the trails that we went on today were at approximately 5,200 to 5,500 ft. When we had the snow storm a couple of days ago this area was closed.

The start of Cottonwood and The Quarry Trails

The snow in the desert is beautiful, saw lots of what looked like rabbit tracks

That nose is buddy trying to get in the picture

I'ts hard to see but I am hiking up the hill in and out of snow. I started off with several layers, a hoodie and gloves, by the time I got to here everything was unzipped, hat off, gloves off. Words cannot describe how clear and crisp it was up here in the mountains.

This little bridge is going across a wash to a bird area, complete with water, various types of food and a great blind to sit in and just watch.

The outside of the blind. Inside is a bird book, a couple of albums with pictures of the different birds the people have seen and a journal for you to write in. This area is set up for schools to come and enjoy, including picnic table, and benches for the classroom.

Joe inside the blind looking out at the birds

This is part of what Joe was looking at. There were hundreds of birds, many morning dove,

and finches of every color

This is really hard to see, one bird on the left has his feathers all fluffed out.

It probably wasn't much over 35 degrees

Not sure what kind of cactus this is, they are pretty small, the large one is about eight inches high

Joe walking up through the wash

Down in the larger wash was this water tank that was rigged up to feed water up to two areas for the birds, it's run by solar power

This is kind of hard to see but if you look real close in the middle lower part of the picture you can see a bunch of rocks and water is dripping out of it, this is one of the pools of water that is set up for the birds

I only have a point and shoot camera so I can't seem to get any good pictures of the birds. This is a place that needs a good photographer, any one know who would get perfect pictures? (Maybe someone from Bayfield)

This is a beautiful state park and I would highly recommend it for a day visit or there is also dry camping. If we have time next year I would like to come here for about a week so I could hike around some of the other trails.

That's all for El Paso, it's time to move on tomorrow and go somewhere it's warmer.

Safe travels to all

Nancy and Joe

The birds view of the blind

Brrrr It's Cold Here

2011-12-06T19:31:00.000-08:00

12/5/11
30 degrees F

It's supper cold in Benson, lows mid 20's highs mid 30's and windy. It was just plain cold. While in Benson we met up with Jerry & Suzy of "Our Life on Wheels". We spent a couple of hours visiting and drinking coffee. Jerry is now one of the directors of the SKP Saguaro Co-op which has about 300 lease holder members. Wow, 300! He is one busy man. And I am sure that Suzy keeps him pointed in right direction. Very delightful people, I hope more of you get to meet them.

After spending a couple of extra days in Benson and carefully studying Weather Underground (www.wunderground) we decided to make a run for it to El Paso TX. We pulled out of the SKP park at 0800 sharp. The clouds were looking pretty dark, and by the time we reached the New Mexico border on
I-10 we saw snow flurries, by Lordsburg they were sticking in the fields

Heading east I-10

It's starting to get serious

We kept on going, through Deming, and through Las Cruces and finally to Fort Bliss (El Paso). It's a good thing we had cheese and crackers and some dates in the truck. I continued to check www.wunderground on the phone and was watching the storm on the radar. We were moving faster than the storm so we were able to drive out of it right as we got to Las Cruces but then I-10 turns south to El Paso. By the time we got to Fort Bliss AFB FamCamp the storm had caught up to us. Shortly after we got settled in I saw on the news that they closed I-10 from Lordsburg to Las Cruces. So glad we decided to keep driving and not stop or we would have been caught somewhere along I-10.

We went to bed early and woke up to a beautiful layer of snow and 18 degrees. I didn't go out to take the picture until about 0900 and a good amount of snow had already slid off the truck and trailer. Nice and warm inside though, we had to run the Olympian Wave 6 Catalytic heater and the little electric cube heater all night. Of course we always have cross ventilation when using the catalytic heater. It finally warmed up to about 33 degrees during the day but as soon as the sun went behind the mountains the temperature started dropping fast.

The rest of the day was uneventful except for touring the area looking for the main gate so we could go to the commissary. We eventually got there. The commissary and PX is the largest we have ever been in they are both only about one year old. It was like we were at the mall. Not sure how many men and women are stationed here but probably several thousand. They definitely deserve a new complex like this one.

The FamCamp which is off base is also new with 133 spaces, a beautiful large pet area and a large playground, a large family room with several chairs and sofas and a wide screen TV and DVD player book exchange, and a kitchen. Across the street diesel is $3.68 gal. This is a beautiful place and we will probably stay here for a week. The weather is going to warm up towards the end of the week.

Safe Travels to All

Joe and Nancy

2011-12-06T03:40:00.000-08:00

SKP Saguaro Co-op
Benson, AZ
12/1 - 12/5

Left Yuma at a cool 34' and a slight wind. It was COLD but not as cold as Benson where we encountered 40' and a steady 10 mile an hour wind from the north. At night it dipped into the mid 20's. But we had a nice stay in Benson.

We were here about 10 years ago, and were not able to see Keatchner Caves so we went there. These are newly discovered caves in the mid 1970's and opened to the public about 15 years ago. No pictures are allowed inside so you will have to take my word for it: It was awesome every step of the way.

The entrance to the visitor center

view across the valley looking east to the Dragoon Mountains hiding in the clouds

there is a storm brewing and snow in the forecast

It was mostly cloudy and rain on and off but Saturday we headed over to Cochise Stronghold. What a beautiful area.

We are on the east side of the Dragoon Mountains, hiking up a ways into the canyon. They have a beautiful campground here, dry camp only but the dirt/gravel road was a little rough at times. Luckily the five creek beds that we crossed were dry.

Views across the canyon as we were hiking. I think the dome on the left is Rockefeller Dome where it has been said that Cochise is buried there.

It was mostly cloudy but very bright so the pictures are not very good. Remember I only have a point and shoot camera.

After our little hike we drove over to Wilcox, home of the Rex Allen Museum. While we were there Rex Allen Jr. came in so we bought one of his CDs and he autographed it. We had a picture with him but the person taking the picture moved and it came out blurry. A reason you should always have the other person take two pictures. The museum was very good. They also have a Cowboy Hall of Fame. Every year two people in the county are inducted into the Hall of Fame on their yearly Rex Allen Days.

He was considered the best dressed western singing cowboy

The silver on this saddle was not just a thin strip, it was very thick and beautifully engraved

Across the street was the town park and a statue of Rex Allen, a very small old western town complete with the railroad right through town.

It was cold and getting colder as there are three low pressures heading right toward us threatening temps to go down to the teens and snow, in fact we did see snow in the mountains. The elevation in this whole area is right around 4,000 ft to 4,500 ft. A lot higher than I realized.

Safe travels to all

Joe and Nancy

Turkey, Ham, Wine, Beer and Family, Oh My

2011-12-04T16:01:00.000-08:00

Dec 4, 2011
Benson, Arizona

This blog is a recap of Thanksgiving week with family so it might be boring to others, just warning the rest of you.

Back to Thanksgiving. We had a most enjoyable time at Tom and Brenda's for a fun family reunion (except for our son Tim in Florida) Thanksgiving we have had in a long time. They are both very gracious and accommadating hosts you could ever have. We were able to fit the Airstream along side of their house on a level cement pad and even get the gate closed. The weather was picture perfect the entire time we were there.

You can barely see us snuggled in behind the gate

For one week we ate, drank wine, shopped, got caught up on life happenings and started all over again, ate, drank.........

My sister Debbie and husband Gary from Auburn Ca arrived on Monday and then my other sister Elaine, husband Jim, and daughter Claire from Snoqualmie, WA arrived Tuesday after a long day of visiting several colleges for Claire.

Along with Tom's sisters, brother and niece we ended up with about 20 people for a sit down Thanksgiving feast.

Brenda: I've never seen brussel sprouts like this!

They were BBQ'd and very delicious. Even the people that said "no thanks, I don't like brussel sprouts" tried them and they were converted and are now enthusiastic about brussel sprouts.

Brenda had a very good recipe.

This plate was piled high with BBQ'd sprouts

Did I mention eating and DRINKING

The turkey was deep fried, note the turkey hat

The deep fryer in the background

Tom at the BBQ checking on the sprouts

Brenda and best friend Amy serving up cubed acorn squash

The feast shall begin!

The day after T'day, relaxing in the sun. The pool is not heated but Claire tried it out anyway.

We all had a great time playing croquet

Since Claire was interested in visiting colleges Tom took us on a tour of his favorite place away from home San Diego State University, home of the Aztecs.

Tom graduated from San Diego State University, The Aztecs and Brenda graduated from University of Washington, The Husky's, guess who is playing................The Aztec's and the Husky's. The Husky's tried, but could never catch up to those Aztec's.

Tom has season tickets to the basket ball games right on center court and he let Claire and Elaine sit there while the rest of us were in the stands.

We told everyone we were leaving early Sunday and everyone got up early to see us off

Tom at left, Gary in the middle and Joe on the right

Well, almost everyone got up early

Elaine and Jim

(never saw Claire)

We all had a fun week. Now it's back to normal, what ever that is.

Safe travels to all

Joe and Nancy

Algodones here we come again

2011-11-19T22:22:00.000-08:00

Thursday, November 17, 2011. Another beautiful day, cool at night and warm and sunny during the day with a few high clouds for a perfect sunset. We are so blessed.

At our campground it is about 4,200 ft. We traveled back south to I-10 to Indio then south again to El Centro which is at Sea Level and at places a little below Sea Level, much warmer here. Here we picked up I-8 and head east to the "Q" Casino. ( I don't remember how to spell the real name) and down to the parking lot at the boarder crossing, towing our trailer still as we were in a hurry. Everything here is on Arizona Time, even if you are in California or Mexico. Luckily the dentist is a short 15 min. walk from the parking lot but you still have to go past all those vendors trying to sell you something. Joe got his adjustment and it was immediate relief.

This time we headed back to the boarder a little different route and there was a young man giving out samples of nuts with a hard sugary glaze, and they were delicious. We bought some and had a few more samples, and as we were walking away I felt like I had a rough piece of nut stuck between two of my back teeth but I couldn't get it out. I had broken a part of a filling off.

Back to the truck and then to the RV parking at The Q to spend the night. First this in the morning I called Joe's dentist, remembering they were on AZ time. And lucky me, they now have three dentists in their group and Dr Paulo Scense could see me at 11:00. A long story short, I had a feeling I would need a crown, I was also informed and shown that the tooth next to it was also cracked, so I ended up having two crowns made and will go back and pick them up the Monday after thanksgiving. I'm sure glad I was here and not in Florida when this happened. Total bill for two porcelain crowns was $520.00.

After that ordeal we headed to El Centro to the Navy Air Field Fam Camp for a couple of nights and then we will be heading to La Mesa, for a week of Thanksgiving with daughter Brenda and Tom. El Centro is much larger than what I remembered from being here 10 years ago. We were running low on supplies so we hit the commissary, Costco and a brand new large Wal-Mart Super Center.

The FamCamp on base has about 70 sites all with E/W/S, about 80% full and a very nice campground host. This is a small base with lots of fast fighter jets flying around all day long. This is the training facility for the Blue Angels for the month of March, wouldn't that be a site to see. I'll bet the campground is full during that month.

Safe travels to all

Nancy