Arizona to Montana

It was a longer drive to the SKP park in Casa Grande, Arizona then I thought. With a few stretch stops it took just over five hours. However, the drive was an easy one with all but a few miles on I-10. My first sight of saguaro cacti brought a big smile to my face. They both look funny to me and bring back nice memories of other times I've been to Arizona. The cg is the oldest in the SKP park system, created in 1981. I was told that the sites were tight with no pull-thrus but I didn't find them to be overly tight. My neighbors, Herb and Ann are from Calgary, Alberta. We sat out and had some conversations on differences between Canada and the United States. The conversation seemed to focus on health care. The Canadian system requires it's citizens to remain in their resident province a certain number of days each year, as well as within Canada or lose coverage. Herb and Ann weren't happy with their costs of about $2,000 a year. The new US system now requires people to pay for coverage they will never use and costs many folks far more than what Herb and Ann are paying. Neither system seems great. For most of my life I never realized or appreciated how great my VA coverage is. I guess the best thing to do regarding health care is to stay healthy! This SKP park seems to use the identical printed agenda for their happy hour as the park outside of Carlsbad. They celebrate birthday's, anniversary's, have new arrivals stand and say a few words, they wish those leaving safe travels, make general announcements, tell a few jokes and maybe a story or two. All in all the 30 or so folks who show up each afternoon chat and enjoy each others company. Of the five SKP/Rainbow parks I've stayed at, Livingston, TX remains the only one that was down right rude and poorly run. While Pecos, TX and Deming, NM seem to cater more to one and two night transients without much else going on, they are friendly and accommodating enough. Lakewood, NM is definitely the most friendly and welcoming with Wauchula, FL and Casa Grande, NM close behind. It seems strange that the park managers supposedly all get the same training yet there is very little consistency among the parks.


The campgrounds in New Mexico and Arizona definitely have way more solar equipped rigs than I've seen anywhere else. I've chatted with several RV'ers who claim to rarely, if ever, require electric hook ups. I'm still not boondocking much and feel I really need to be utilizing my solar setup much more.


I spent a day checking out the town of Casa Grande and the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. The ruins are an interesting place to visit. The National Park Service has protected this prehistoric village that had a population estimated to be over 2,000 and lasted over 1,000 years. The native people created an extensive canal system they used to irrigate their farm lands. They wove beautiful, intricate baskets, made pretty pottery, and built a four story adobe building. The remains of this large house was referred to as the Great House, "Casa Grande" by early Spanish explorers and became  way station on the Butterfield Stagecoach route. The large house has two interesting windows on the top floor. Through one window the sun shines clearly on an inside wall only on the summer solstice while the full moon fully shines through the other window only when it is full. I find it amazing how much ancient people new of astronomy, time, and construction. Another day I spent about 4 hours ATV'ing through the desert with Adventure Tours. We went about 20 miles into the desert, over ridges and through the Box Canyon. The desert really is a beautiful, amazing place.


The drive to Lake Havasue was another easy pretty drive. Most of the ride was beautiful desert scenery with incredible mountains in the distance on both sides of me. Once my ride started heading north, the route went through some gently winding hills, along the Colorado River, the boundary between Arizona and California. I find it amazing how much this area has grown since I was last here. This is a major tourist area! The Lake Havasue State Park was easy to find, get to and setup at. Almost as soon as I began walking around the park I met Joe and Carol. They offered me a pina colada, how could I refuse. We sat out by their rig enjoying the view of the lake and mountains. What a tough life I have ;=) There are lots of tours and adventures here, but it's also real hot this week hitting 97!!! one day. I took a walking tour of the beach area and bridge. Imagine buying 26,000 acres at less than $100 each and selling at almost $600,000 each!!! John McCulloch, the founder of McCulloch chainsaws, bought London Bridge for just under $2.5 million. He sold off some excess granite for about the same amount and has gotten an estimated $7.5 million in free advertising because of his purchase. Absolutely incredible!! I repeated a delightful afternoon I had here almost 35 years ago by sitting in a pub overlooking the bridge enjoying a light lunch and a Corona. This is a tough life. An Indian tribe built a casino on the California side of the lake and has a cruise boat to shuttle the many people looking to "donate" to their cause across the lake. I enjoyed the 1/2 round trip cruise but passed on the smoke filled casino. There was an outdoor kind of festival set up at the park with vendors selling little stuff like fishing poles and gear and big stuff like ATV's and boats. I actually looked semi-seriously at a Polaris 550, camouflaged ATV. I could probably have a platform rigged and welded to the rear bumper of my rig. My truck could handle the extra 1,000 or so of the ATV and welded platform. Oh well, something to think about. I have enjoyed ATV'ing. Maybe after returning from Alaska.


The drive to Las Vegas was pleasant and interesting looking across the vast desert views. It's amazing how much open land there is in this big, beautiful country. Even with the temperature in the mid-90's, with the windows open there was a nice breeze. Las Vegas is clearly seen from a distance, what with the tall building and observation spire. The campground is inside the city but was easy to get. The pull-thru site was easy enough to get into but I'm not sure it's going to be so easy to get out of, what with how tight the sites are. I arrived on my birthday and treated myself to a nice steak dinner out, even included a couple of Corona's which is very unusual for me. On my way back I picked up some beer and wine as my contribution to Pat & Paul's barbecue at their RV park tomorrow. It was great seeing the Recore's, it had been about 1 1/2 years since we met at the Country Music RV park in New York. I very much enjoyed sharing dinner and some relaxing time in their RV parks Jacuzzi. We do lead a tough life. Next day I spent about 4 hours ATV'ing through the desert dunes just north of Nellis Air Force Base. This was my first time driving in actual sand dunes. Our group began with about 10 of us but quickly dropped to eight when two gals weren't able to handle their ATV in the sand. After about a half hour the guides split us into two groups of four when some of us were clearly enjoying zooming around the dunes and the others were barely keeping up. I may have been the oldest but I wasn't the most daring. One guy accidently zoomed over a dune that had a big drop on the other side. I thought sure we would find him buried in the sand but somehow he managed to stay on his ATV. Needless to say the rest of us took a different route. I wanted to see a doo wop show that was playing at the Riviera and stopped by to get tickets on my way back from the ATV'ing. First problem was their indoor parking with a six foot clearance. My truck is about 1 1/2 feet to tall. I was directed to some outdoor parking a little ways away used by construction and service folks. Second problem was as soon as I entered the hotel and could barely get a breath of air. I guess smoking is much more prevalent in Vegas. No way would I be able to survive a couple of hours in there with a show. Although disappointed I spent the next day in the pool and hot tub. It's a tough life I live but someone has to do it ;=)


What a pretty ride to Panguitch, Utah. The ride on I-15 just a little north of Las Vegas goes through magnificent canyons, crossing the Virgin River several times. Once in Utah the drive is on a flat plane with snow capped mountains off in the distance on both sides, beautiful! I was a little worried about a posted 8% down hill grade running for about 7 1/2 miles. I stayed in 3rd gear, kept the rig around 30 mph, and it wasn't bad at all. Lots of fun as I finished setting up. With the water, sewer, and electric all done I went inside to get the slides open. As soon as I opened the rig door there's a cute little gray mouse sitting on my desk. I tried throwing a slipper at him but he easily scooted between the sofa and desk. After setting everything up I ran across the street to a hardware store and picked up three different types of traps. As I finished setting them up with some delicious blue cheese added to each, I turn around and the little guy is on top of the kitchen counter, nibbling the cheese that had dropped in the sink. Unfortunately for him my slipper was real close. Splat and one mouse down!  I thought that was it and walked out to toss the no longer cute little guy. When I walked back in there was another one now caught in the sticky trap and the cheese was gone from one of the spring loaded ones. I tossed the second mouse, put out another sticky trap and added more cheese to the traps. A few minutes later I jumped a few feet into the air when the silence was broken by a loud "snap" and a third mouse was smashed in a spring trap. Tossed this third one and replaced the trap. I didn't sleep much, listening closely for any movement. In the morning I found a fourth mouse stuck in a sticky trap. I left the traps out for a couple more days but word must have gotten out to mouse community and no more came around. Should this happen to any of you I definitely recommend the sticky traps over the spring loaded. Both work but the sticky ones are much easier to clean out (lol). So much for my weeks wildlife experiences!


Pat & Paul drove up from Zion to meet me and do some hiking at Bryce. Their drive was the better part of two hours each way and they had to plan it around the Zion tunnel where they required an escort. I've been to many of our magnificent National Parks from Acadia to Big Bend to Glacier. While all the parks are beautiful in their own way, Bryce is my personal favorite. Pictures don't really do it justice, you have to see the unique spires, called hoo doo's, and all the colors, and vistas. Pat, Paul, and I saw the video at the visitor center and then took the combined hike called Sunset to Sunrise including the Queens Garden. The hike goes about 320 feet deep into the canyon over a total round trip length of about 2.8 miles. It's considered the easiest trail into the canyon. We made it down with no problems and enjoyed the magnificent sights. Climbing out was another story! For a while I thought Pat & Paul would need to get a helicopter for me (lol). I was totally pooped! We also saw one of my favorite sights in Bryce called Fairland. Walt Disney himself couldn't top this creation. The three of us had a great, late lunch at Ruby's, a hysterical, I mean historical landmark. It was getting late and Pat & Paul had to head back to make the last escorted ride through the Zion Tunnel. I took one more short hike called Mossy Cave. This trail was about 8/10 of a mile (round trip), with an additional 2/10 (round trip) on a side trail to see a waterfall. The cave is more of an overhang and the waterfall is not huge. Still, it was a pretty end to a very enjoyable day. The horseback ride into Bryce was fantastic! My horse was a mule named Geraldine. She was very sure footed and very responsive to me and boy was I glad for both. I was able to keep her from the very edge of the narrow trails. For some reason most of the other horses and mules seemed to like walking right at the edge and it caused some nervousness among a few others along on my ride. We rode for about four hours through the very bottom of the canyon and along several narrow paths and passes. On our ride we saw some bristlecone pine, believed to be some of the oldest trees on earth. Some are estimated to be thousands of years old. This is incredible country, very beautiful and very interesting. My ATV ride was shorter than I would have liked. They don't start the longer rides until mid-May. Still, it was also interesting seeing the canyon and forest from yet another perspective. There is a great little museum on the Bryce Canyon road. They have hundreds, perhaps thousands of taxidermy items plus many local Indian relics, thousand of butterflies, and other interesting items the owner collected over about 50 years. A very interesting place well worth a stop.


Instead of the interstate I took Utah 89 up to Salt Lake City. It took a few extra minutes but is a very pretty ride basically through a valley with snow capped mountains on both sides off in the distance. The cg a next to I-15 which didn't look to promising for a quiet night. I asked for a site as far away from the highway as possible and they obliged with a pull through on the last row. I never heard any road noises the whole week. The site had a tree but it didn't seem to bother the sat. service. After setting up I treated myself to a steak dinner and beer at the nearby Texas Roadhouse Steakhouse. Over the week in the area I went to the Morman Family History Library several times. The Church campus is beyond beautiful, it's magnificent. The volunteer church brothers & sisters are very friendly and very helpful and never try to preach in any way. Still, I was a little disappointed. I think my expectations about finding new genealogy records was too high. I did find some new material but not any of the major finds I was hoping for. Oh well, genealogy research is not something you can finish. It's a lifetime hobby and my treasure hunt will continue. I saw two plays while in the area. Man of La Mancha was playing at the Centerpoint Theater which has a fair sized Morman Church endowment. The theater is beautiful, inside and out, definitely rivaling Broadway. The players were good, with the male and female leads having the strong vocals needed for the songs. This is probably my most favorite play and I've seen it on Broadway plus many other times. I think my familiarity with it got in the way of totally enjoying this particular production. I thought they put to much comedy into a show that should have had more serious moments. Still, it was a very enjoyable evening. The second show I saw was at the Off Broadway Theater (OBT) right on Main Street in Salt Lake City. The playhouse was old, small, and definitely in need of some renovations. The play was a comedy called "America Captain" and I had no idea what it would be about. Turns out it was a farce on "Captain America". It was hilarious!! I, plus several others, almost fell out of out seats laughing. All the players were great but the main villain was incredible. He was obviously having as much fun, or more, than the audience. What a great evening!! I also spent several mornings playing pool with Al, Keith, and Kevin. Three great guys who know how to have fun and not take life, or pool games too seriously.


The drive to Shelly, ID was pretty and easy, that is until the GPS said I had arrived. I was in front of a closed church on a two lane farm road with farms and ranches as far as I could see. I tried calling the park on the two phone numbers I had but no one answered either phone. Walking up and down the road I found three people, none of whom knew of any RV park anywhere in the area. The park manager finally answered hos phone, but said that he and his wife were new to the area and didn't know where I was nor were they able to give me any better directions. It was lots of fun turning my rig around on the narrow road (lol). I kept a close look out for the park as I drove the 8 miles back toward I-15 but with no luck. It was only about two hours more to my next stop in Montana and it was still only 2:30pm so off I go. Lots more of the beautiful Idaho and Montana views. The cg owner was very friendly, we chatted awhile before I got set up. The cg is clean, open, and quiet, what else could ya want! It's still below freezing most nights and the cg turns their water off each evening. The cg also has a spotless shower room so really no need to hook up my water or sewer. Went to the ghost town of Bannack, the first territorial capital of Montana. The town began in 1862 when gold was found in the nearby Grasshopper Creek. The gold is said to be the most pure ore ever found at 99.5%. Most gold ore is only around 80%. About a year ago a woman panning at the state park found a nugget valued at almost $150,000! I toured the town of about 60 structures but didn't get to pan for any gold since about 60 seventh graders on a field trip were enjoying the panning area. Looking at the school desks from the 1860's left me nostalgic and feeling old. The little wooden desks with holes for ink wells were identical to the ones I sat at all through grade school (lol). The Beaverhead County museum in Dillon had an interesting and extensive collection of artifacts mostly from 1862 through the 1950's. Several local family's lend their family heirlooms which the museum rotates a few times a year to keep it interesting. It really is amazing to see and read how our parents and grand-parents lived in what at times seems such  a short while ago.


I had the most relaxing day at the Jackson Hot Springs. The almost 50 mile drive is through magnificent scenery, huge cattle ranches stretched across endless, rolling ranges with incredible snow capped mountains off in the distance. The hot springs were originally pointed out to Lewis & Clark by Sacagawea as they crossed the continental divide near here. Lewis & Clark measured how hot these natural springs are by how long it took various meats to cook and how long they could keep their hands in the waters. The geothermal forces heat the water to about 260 degrees when beneath the ground. The water bubbles to the top at around 140 degrees. They use a naturally flowing spring to cool the waters to a very enjoyable 104 degrees. I sat and soaked, chatting with a couple of outdoor enthusiasts for about two hours. After a leisurely drive back and a long hot shower I felt incredible! Over my few days at this park the owners and I had been chatting about everything and nothing. When I went to say thanks and good-by they gave me a card for two free nights whenever I return. Nice folks and a clean, quiet cg.


A magnificent drive to Great Falls through the western Montana mountains. It was hard to focus on the road with the incredible scenery all around. I kept repeating out loud, to myself "wow, wow, and wow" (I won't speculate what talking to myself indicates)!! The cg is next to I-15 but doesn't seem to noisy. Friendly folks at check in. Marge Smith is already here and the cg seemed to have everyone I know is coming for our Alaska trip expected in the next few days. The cg even reserved a group of sites in the same area just for us. As I set up I got to chatting with the retired submariner across from me (he didn't know you Dave). He, his wife and another couple are also headed to Alaska. Over the next few days Marge and I went to the CM Russell Museum, Bert & Ernie's Tavern, the "world famous" Sip n Dip Mermaid Lounge and Tiki Bar, the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center. The CM Russell Museum was an incredible collection of early cowboy and Indian artifacts and Russell's art. You gotta look this guy up! He has been called the authentic cowboy artist. The museum collection of bronze sculptures, paintings, and artifacts is extensive and well worth a trip. The Bert & Ernie Tavern was a local eatery with pleasant live folk music. The Sip n Dip Mermaid Bar was definitely unique. Marge and I sat at the bar with a glass wall behind the bar. Two "mermaids" were swimming around, waving at us and blowing kisses. Behind us was a woman "..as old as the hills" playing an organ and singing (very nicely). The place was a real hoot! A young couple had moved over one bar stool to make room for Marge and I. I pointed to my airborne bracelet and asked if his was real or decorative. His was real also which started some great conversation. Marge had been a nurse and his wife was also a nurse. It was difficult to talk with the noise of the bar but we managed some enjoyable conversation for the better part of two hours. As with so many museums before, I learned more about Lewis & Clark from a few hours at the interpretative center than years of school.


Rodger and Daryl arrived. I hadn't seen them since the Northeast Rally at Lake George last September. A little chit chat during a happy hour and then off to the Celtic Cowboy. By the name I had a vision of the Marlboro Man doing a Celtic dance, maybe in a kilt. The image was hilarious to me. The Irish sports bar was great, it was perfect! On one side was a nice bar with lots of twenty and thirty something year olds. There were a few tables with seniors and lots of family's with young kids. The menu was creative, delicious Irish comfort food. I had a perfect Irish stew with an ice cold Guinness. Daryl had a bison burger, topped with corned beef that was so thick she couldn't get her mouth around it. Rodger had perfect fish and chips, and Marge had a great shepherds pie. The guitarist played fantastic and had a very nice voice. One of the young mothers began dancing with her two little toddlers and about four or five little girls almost immediately joined in. The music was great, the atmosphere was great, the food was great, and the company was great. What a fabulous evening! Sunday morning brought light snow and a quiet down day. Monday was a few errands; changing my Verizon plan to include international calls, finally ordered a sign to put up at the Watson Lake Signpost Forest, got a couple of gas cans and a gas siphon, and a few fill in food stuffs. Karen and Ken pulled in and we sat in Daryl's rig chatting a little. On Tuesday, Tom pulled in and told us that Bobbie was only a few hours behind him. What a great surprise when Bobbie arrived, she was in Linda's rig with Linda at the wheel. We are now up to seven RV's and nine people. Most of us went to the Buffalo Jump just outside of town. The state park ranger was very informative and provided lots of interesting facts. The site is believed to be about 6,000 years old but no one knows for sure since only one archeological dig has been done and it was done over a dozen years ago. The description of how the various local Indian tribes cooperated in the ritual of the buffalo hunt prior to the advent of horses and guns was fascinating. Over the couple of days the nine of us were together in Great Falls we enjoyed a second dinner at Bert & Ernie's, a second viewing of the mermaids, and got lots of little errands done. Tomorrow we head out on our Alaskan Adventure.

West Texas and New Mexico

Wow, what a pleasant change the Triple T campground in Kerrville, TX is after the horrible SKP Livingston mess. Friendly staff and fellow campers, beautiful views of the Texas Hill Country, large pull-thru sites, exercise room, library, sparkling pool, and even a hot tub! The club house is nice from the outside and very pretty inside with stone arches and floors and a 60" TV with a very comfortable lounge area. Way more to do in this area than I originally thought. I extended my stay to 8 days in order to check out the historic and walking areas of Kerrville, Fredericksburg, and Bandera. The Kerrville winery was a nice surprise. I didn't realize Texas wines would be so good. They have live music at the winery on Saturday's and offer us vets free wine sampling (;=)! Admiral Nimitz grew up in the Fredericksburg area which now hosts a huge museum dedicated to him and the Pacific Theater of WWII. It would take several hours to go through the entire museum in detail, but well worth at least some time for anyone interested in WWII. The town is larger than I thought with lots of shops and restaurants. The Fredericksburg Theater presentation of the Little Shop of Horrors was first class as was the Point Theaters, just outside of Kerrville, presentation of the Big Five-O. Bandera is another neat town in the area, billed as the Cowboy Capital of Texas. They were having their annual Madri Gras festival while I was in the area with lots of quaint shops, music, and a parade about a mile long; lots of floats loaded with folks in Madri Gras costumes, ATV's, tractors, horses, a couple of long horn steers, and even a camel, all decked out for the parade. Several other folks from the campground were also at the parade. I was looking for a good Texas steak and they sure "steered (lol)" me to the right place. The Old Spanish Trail restaurant had great Texas fried steak. I got to chatting with the owner while waiting for a seat. A crazy old lady (nice kind of crazy) who the owner knew well was also a single. I should have known it was going to be fun when he asked me, rather than the gal, if I minded sharing a table. She and I ended up sharing the table with two other gals and a guy as well. This ole' gal Mary was a real hoot who kept us laughing all through our meal. We were looking for a place with music and dance and Mary suggested a nearby bar which we all strolled over to. The 11th Street Cowboy Bar is a hoot. They had a costume contest which was definitely a "ya gotta see it to believe it" event. I was pulled out to dance by several gals I'd never met. What a great time!! This turned out to be a great area to visit. At the cg I also met Art and Yolanda from Anchorage. Art hauls along a beautiful classic Harley Sportster which he fully restored. They promised some good fishing when I get up their way in Alaska.


I wanted to go directly from the Bandera area to Carlsbad, NM but at 9 hours it was to far for me to take my rig in a single day. Pecos, TX was on the way and a SKP park. The managers and workcampers were friendly. Unfortunately, the park has taken on a trailer park feel with all the oil workers staying there. I spent the afternoon and early evening sitting out and chatting with my neighbors. Lots of nice folks at the park but with nothing to do at the park, very little in the area, and the crowded trailer park feel I just stayed the one day. It was an easy drive to The Ranch, the SKP park just outside of Carlsbad, NM. This has got to be the friendliest cg around. They ring a bell as RV'ers arrive and folks seem to come from every direction with smiles and hugs. The cg is in a little oasis in the middle of the desert and the middle of a working cattle ranch. It is nicely laid out with large sites, most with concrete pads, and a large clubhouse. They let me use their maintenance shack to work on my fifth wheel hitch. The hitch had been giving me some trouble when hooking up. While at the campground I took the hitch off, scraped and sanded all the exposed areas, cleaned it off, sprayed it with a silicone coating, oiled and greased it and reinstalled it. The hitch is a fairly simple gadget but if it fails it could cause all kinds of problems (lol). I drove up to Roswell to find the aliens (lol). If you're ever in the area and check out the UFO museum in Roswell, you'll either be convinced "they" landed or at least begin to wonder if they did. It's amazing how many notarized affidavits they have from both eye witnesses and military personal who supposedly had first hand knowledge of the incident. The last time I had been to Carlsbad Caverns was about 35 years ago. They say they have been discovering a new cave within the caverns about once a year. There definitely are lots of new areas since the last time I was here. It took a little over an hour to walk to the bottom of the cavern and about two hours to hike out. The same afternoon I went back into the cavern taking their new adventure tour. On this tour we wore helmets with lights, special gripping gloves and descended on ropes and ladders beneath the lowest cave on the normal tour. There was some climbing and scrambling on our bellies but it wasn't very difficult. It was amazing to see areas that are still being explored. Another day I visited the Living Desert State Park & Zoo. I heartily recommend a long afternoon at this park. It's on a ridge line overlooking the Chihuahua Desert where, on a clear day you can literally see to the Earths horizon. The park is almost completely outdoors and has several desert plantings in their natural settings. They also have many animals, reptiles, and even bald and golden eagles. It was a very pleasant and informative afternoon stroll. This was a great RV cg to stay at. I enjoyed their daily fun and enthusiastic happy hours as well as their weekly men's only breakfast. At the MEWS (Men Excluding Women Supervision, lol), about a dozen of us drove to a great breakfast joint in a town that isn't a town. The oil workers have so much work and people that they created an area in the desert with lots of shops to buy and repair equipment. Among the shops are several restaurants, our breakfast joint is one of them.




The Deming SKP park is similar in many ways to the one in Pecos, TX. The managers and workcampers are friendly enough but not much going on. The sites are nice big pull thrus but the park is right off the I-10 with some constant road noise. My fifth wheel hitch is still not working right. In addition, it's time for the regular 5k maintenance on the truck and I need new tires on the truck as well. Lots of stuff to get done. The cg recommended a truck service place that would work on my hitch. They spent over an hour working on it and finally said, yes, it's broken, but no they couldn't fix it. I called the manufacturer, Reese, and they had me send them photos of the top and underside of the hitch. After viewing the photos they said they'd send me a new hitch head! I've used the hitch for about three years but they said it has a lifetime guarantee. It make it even better, since they didn't have in stock a replacement for my 18,000 lb hitch, they would send me a 25,000 lb one at no charge. Wow!! :=) The local Ford dealer took my truck in, changed the oil and filters and did the usual dealer inspection on the overall vehicle. They also included a free wash. Of course within just a few days with the desert winds blowing you'd never know the truck had been washed (lol). In preparation for the upcoming trip to Alaska, and the couple of thousand miles of dirt and gravel roads, I opted for a set of all terrain tires. That set me back a little but will hopefully pay off in the longer run. While in the Deming SKP cg I managed to get all the service "stuff" done and also met my site neighbors, Dick and Bernice who invited me to stay and hook up at their place in the Upper Peninsular of Michigan whenever I next get up that way.


My drive from the Deming SKP park to the Hi-LoW Ranch also in Deming took a loooong time, it was about 5 miles down the road (lol). This is the national headquarters of Loners on Wheels. It was incredible how welcome I felt as soon as I arrived. If you want to be busy doing things, this is the place. You don't have to be a LoW to camp here and they even accept Passport America!! We had a weekly Saturday night dance to 50's and 60's music. Wow, did that bring back memories. From about my 12th birthday to my 16th, we had a Saturday night dance at my friend Jeff's house. Kids don't have dances anymore and that's a shame. They were great at the time and remain fantastic memories. The cg also has a weekly luncheon at the Pink Store in Mexico, another great time. The owner and staff at the Pink Store really cater to the LoW's. The food is great and the live music was also. The first time at the Pink Store one of the LoW gals grabbed me and we danced to the live Mexican music. The second time there about a dozen of us formed a dance chain bopping all around the restaurant inviting all patrons to join in. It was lots of fun. The daily active happy hour, card games most evenings, and of course hanging out enjoying each others company and the beautiful New Mexico evenings really made this a great stop. The night of the first full moon about a dozen of us sat out drinking and howling at the raising moon. It was beautiful as it rose over the mountains. One day a few of us took a hike in the desert to an old spring along what was the Butterfield Stage Coach trail, about a mile from an Apache ambush site. Another day a few of us sampled wine at a local winery and still another day, another hike looking for the three ghost towns of Cooke, Hadley, and Jose. The desert is very pretty though I'd not want to be walking around here in July or August (lol). Of course all of this was in addition to the Fiesta Rally events. The rally was lots of fun. We divided into four teams of about 10 people each and put on skits. My team did a farce take off on Cinderella. I played one of the ugly step sisters, wearing a huge green wig, beaded necklace, and a dress. Yes, I wore a dress over my jeans rolled up to my knees to expose my sexy legs (lol). We had a rally trip to the City of Rocks State Park and even included a side trip to the Faywood Hot Springs. The City of Rocks is a fascinating park made up of these huge boulders, 40 to 50 feet high, that are scattered in one small site in the middle of an otherwise flat desert. They seem to be out of place like someone just dumped them there. The park rangers say a volcano some 30 miles away in distance and hundreds of thousands of years away in time deposited them here. Still, it's strange that they all would have landed in one relatively small area and not be spaced around the surrounding desert. The hot springs was a fantastic way to end this day. The rally group brought lots of wine which we enjoyed while soaking in the natural water from the springs. They actually have to cool the water before running it into the soak area. The natural water flows from the ground at about 139 degrees. This was a great rally and a very friendly park. I'd like to come back here again.

Heading West into Texas

Well, while I'm still in Florida, my westward wandering has officially begun. I'm back in Marianna, FL where I entered the state a couple of months ago. Cousin Bobbie told me about the Florida Caverns State Park where they have tours of the only dry caves in the state. This is a big park. It was about 3 1/2 miles from the entrance to the camp site. Three nice surprises at the site; it's got full hookups not just the electric & water I expected, the electric box is new and has a built in surge protector, and best of all I'm getting a satellite feed even parked among the trees. The forecast is for near or below freezing the next couple of days so I left the water and sewer connections in. The park has several hiking trails among two main ecosystems; the most southern hardwoods and, a typical cypress-bayou-like area. There are canoe & kayak launch areas to explore the river/bayou. The cave tour was interesting and one of the larger caverns I've seen. Although not as extensive as Carlsbad, Howe, or Luray, there are many rooms and lots of pretty sights.


Continuing west along the I-10 my next stop was Biloxi. I haven't been in this area for about 30 years. In some ways the area has changed and in others it's still the same. I remember pretty beach and bay areas, small towns, lots of fishing, and unfortunately lots of poverty. Now I see huge casinos lining the gulf waters. The small towns have lost much of their charm and in place have many Good Will, Salvation Army, and other second hand stores. The casinos were originally only to be along the gulf. They seem to have either changed the law or allowed lots of waivers 'cause now they also line the bay waters. Many of the beach areas are gone as are much of the fishing areas. I guess the casinos provide some employment, but at what cost? At every highway entrance ramp I see homeless people holding signs and begging. It seems the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I guess this is progress but I liked it better 30 years ago. The cg has a trailer park feel yet is considered a local resort of sorts. They have a nice little lake with fishing, a sandy beach area, and paddle boats to rent. The beach is funny when coupled with the signs in the area reminding people to be watchful for poisonous snakes and gators. I think I'll pass on the swimming (lol)!


I stopped at the Louisiana welcome center along the I-10 and picked up a few brochures on "stuff" to see and do around the New Orleans area. The staff were very friendly and I got into a conversation about camp grounds in the area. The staff seemed very against my choice located on Chef Matuer Highway. They all said this was an area of the city that people really don't want to roam let alone camp. The cg reviews had been really bad also so I took the welcome center staff's suggestion and drove to the Pontchartrain Landing RV Resort. As I neared the cg it was far from impressive, driving down a rough road in an industrial area. Upon entering the cg all the roads are hard packed dirt with some gravel mixed in and there is lots of construction. I thought about leaving. The staff are friendly, they offered a Passport rate of $41 rather than the $60 noted on their web site and they also gave me a pull-though with a view of the harbor. It was nice to simply pull in, have all hook ups right where I need them, on a perfectly level open site, that is nicely landscaped. It had been raining for most of my ride to New Orleans. With a break in the rain, I strolled around the cg. They rent interesting house boats that are luxuriously appointed. They also have what they call the presidential RV site which is huge, comes with a thatched roof cabana, full outdoor cooking area with a large stainless steel grill and refrigerator, and even a private hot tub. The cg swimming pool is an affinity pool with a waterfall and Jacuzzi, and a bar & grill next to the pool. The cg even has a shuttle service back and forth to the French Quarter several times a day. The shuttle bus took about 10 minutes and dropped me near the riverfront in the middle of the French Quarter. I had a brochure about a WWII museum and went to check it out. This is an incredible place, it's huge! The movie they show, "Beyond all Boundaries", produced and narrated by Tom Hanks, was amazing. They call it a 4D movie because it; has the usual 3D pictures, adds three dimensional attributes like a real front part of a plane and multiple see-though screens, also snow & smoke which comes into the theater, and even has the chairs rigged to vibrate. It was a very powerful presentation. The museum also had an interactive exhibit recreating the final mission of the USS Tang, the most decorated submarine of WWII (hey, Dave Irons, pay attention to this). This museum was well worth the visit. One afternoon I cruised the Mississippi on the last authentic steam powered paddle wheeler. They had a chef on board, prepared a great shrimp creole buffet, bars on two of the three decks which served delicious Bloody Mary's, had a five piece live jazz band, and played their steam powered calliope between the band breaks. What a great afternoon! On the one cold, wet day I had in New Orleans I went to see an iMax about penguins and walk around the adjacent aquarium.  The movie was soooo popular there were actually three of us in this huge theater (lol). Penguins are fun to see and on the giant 3D iMax they were definitely cute. I asked around for a good place to have a typical New Orleans brunch and had several people suggest The Court of the Two Sisters. This is absolutely the best restaurant I have ever eaten at, hands down! The waiter was perfect, the Bloody Mary couldn't have been better, the three piece jazz band were great. The restaurant offers about 80 items in their brunch buffet and will also prepare additional items at their omelet station at no added charge. If you're ever in the New Orleans area I heartily recommend trying this place. There are a lot of homeless people throughout the French Quarter. Most carry cardboard signs asking for handouts. A few just come up and ask for money. I was sitting by the riverfront enjoying the views and doing some people watching when a homeless guy points to my airborne bracelet and shows me his. He said he served with the 101st Airborne around the same time I was in Vietnam. We sat and chatted, telling stories to each other for over a half hour. He never asked for a hand out and we actually hugged when we parted. A second homeless guy was walking past me while I was waiting for the camp ground shuttle. He was obviously a little tipsy as he pointed to my hiking boots and says ".. I bet I can tell you the city and state where you got those shoes from ". We got to talking a little and he got me to shake hands agreeing to be honest when he guessed. He then said "You got those shoes on your feet in New Orleans, LA"! He got me laughing as I never saw that one coming. I had to give him a few bucks just for giving me a smile. The camp ground had a movie they showed one afternoon called "Hurricane on the Bayou". It gave a lot of information about the disappearing wetlands and how they effect the way storms hit and damage the New Orleans area. It was very informative and enjoyable to see while sitting in the bar enjoying yet another Bloody Mary. I stayed in town late one evening, walking up and down Bourbon Street. This place is a zoo and it wasn't even a Friday or Saturday night and definitely wasn't during Madri Gras. It seems that every store is either a bar or a craft/junk shop. The bars were in competition with each other for who could offer the most beer. Several bars offered two for one, a few offered three for one, and I saw one offering five for one. As expected, there were lots of people staggering along the street. I was reminded of when I lived in Greenwich Village in the mid-1960's. Back then you could find me half walking and half crawling most any Friday or Saturday night. Different times and a whole lot younger (lol).


My original plan was to drive about half way from New Orleans to Livingston and stop for a few days. However, the only cg I could find which was close to half way had horrible reviews so I opted to take my longest drive ever pulling my rig. The night before leaving I closed the rig down so I was ready to leave early. I was on the way at first light about 7 am. With several breaks every hour and a half or so I arrived seven hours later about 2 pm. The ride was longer than I'd normally like but, it wasn't that bad, that is until I arrived at the SKP park in Livingston. I had asked for an open site in order to get the sat. dish working since I was planning to stay for about a month. The first site I was sent to seemed to be the most heavily treed in the park. I left my rig in the site and walked over to ask for a different site. The park manager said they didn't have many open sites but reluctantly gave me a different one. When I got to this second site it was just as heavily treed. This went on for TWO more sites, four in total. After my seven hour drive I was now spending another hour making "U" turns and backing into four different sites while dealing with the park staff that were far from helpful. I considered leaving when they finally pointed to a clear site. I must admit I was extremely disappointed at the rudeness of the park managers. We are all members of the same RV travel club, The Escapees. This is one of the rudest treatments I'd ever experienced. The next day I walked to the other side of the campground where they have a clubhouse and activity center. I met lots of folks, all of whom were very friendly and helpful. Over the next few days I took a tour of the campground given in an old trolley and a tour of the Care Center. I got involved with a three time a week pinochle game, the genealogy club, and the twice a week movie. All the clubs and activities were on the opposite side of the campground where I was parked so I asked to move to one of the many open sites closer to the activities. The park managers said I couldn't since I had already paid for 20 days on this side. I later found out that they were in the process of learning a new computer system and didn't know how to switch the site in the system and didn't bother to ask anyone for help. The park tour included a tour of the mail center. This is an amazing facility. The town of Livingston has about 5,000 residents while the SKP mail center handles mail for close to 15,000 people! The Livingston post office couldn't handle the SKP volume so the post office assigned SKP its own zip code and delivers directly from a distribution point. The SKP facility recently acquired an optical reader that sorts the mail at an incredible speed. This isn't a little place with volunteers manual sorting our mail into little cubby holes. The tour of the care center kind of tugged at my heart. I not only gave a donation but agreed to volunteer when they asked. They seemed to have had some volunteers that changed their mind and needed some extra help for the month of February. It meant extending my stay for a little over two weeks. The care center gave me a site across the street from the center which is much nicer than the regular camp ground sites. The camp ground wouldn't refund any of my prepaid fees. I didn't expect any consideration from them. The day of my moving my rig to the care center area I did the SmartWeigh at the park. I have gotten in the habit of getting my rig weighed about once a year at CAT scales for $9. The SmartWeigh is $55 but very thorough. They weigh each wheel of each axil separately, the truck is weighed both hooked up and by itself, they check the tire ratings, RV load capacities and truck ratings. It was very informative and nice to know that I am under all weights. I wish I was personally under weight as well (lol). Over my time in the park I met lots of nice folks and enjoyed lots of activities. I managed to change my primary health care from the NJ VA to Texas and get my annual physical. The hours and work as a volunteer were fine and personally rewarding. However, the volunteers are treated like "dirt" by the head cook. I bit my tongue the first few times I heard her yell "...these dam volunteers", but eventually tried to remind her that we are volunteers. As soon as I said the word "volunteer" she literally flipped out. That's when I called it quits. I managed to stay for two weeks and really did enjoy helping the residents. However, I would never return to this SKP park as a camper or a volunteer. I've rated each and every camp ground I've ever stayed at on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being worst), hundreds of them, and this is the first one I have ever given a ZERO. It's a shame to have such great potential to help folks and have volunteers treated in such a shabby manner.

Florida 2013

Very easy ride to Jacksonville almost entirely along the I-10. Pecan RV Park is just as I remembered it, rows of clean, full hook up, level concrete pads, and the giant flea market a short walk across the field. Stretched my legs a little walking all three, long rows of the indoor flea market. On my way back I met my neighbors, Buddy, his wife , and home schooled daughter. They're from Waycross, GA where they worked in a Walmart. For some reason they were transferred to the Jacksonville Walmart and, while they still have their house in GA, they bought a small trailer and decided to live in this RV park for about a year hoping to eventually get transferred back near their home.

The musical South Pacific at the Alhambra dinner theater was great. Maria, the single woman at my table, was born in Puerto Rico but grew up in New York City. She now works at Blue Cross here in Jacksonville. Dave & Sharon, are from the area and both recently retired. Dave retired from the Navy and Sharon from Blue Cross. She and Maria didn't immediately recognize each other but over dinner conversation found many mutual co-workers. The topic of health care was discussed. Dave, with his Navy retirement has Tricare and Sharon has coverage through Blue Cross. Maria is covered through her work. I have free VA coverage (I guess two purple hearts are good for something, lol). Sharon and Maria commented on the approximate 300,000 policies that Blue Cross of Florida had to cancel and reissue to be in conformance with the new Obamacare requirements. There are apparently 10 specific requirements, one of them is maternity care for everyone regardless of gender or age. Both Sharon and Maria are over age 60 and yet must have maternity coverage. They told Dave and I a little about the increased premiums that this and the other nine requirements are causing on all policies. I shared with them some of the discussion I had with the hourly workers who had changed my flat and those working in the tire store. All had their hours cut from 40 to 30 per week so their employers could avoid paying for the new health care. These hourly workers now not only are required to pay for health care but have also lost 25% of their pay! I'm sure there are many people who are in desperate need of health care and couldn't afford it or get coverage because of pre existing conditions, but it seems that there are now many others who are being hurt financially as a direct result of this new law. Some sort of compromise needs to be reached. At the moment, it's a sad state of affairs.

Dinner and the show with cousin Bobbie was delightful. Bobbie, you looked great with all your Halloween fixings. The play, Yankee Tavern, was definitely a little difficult to follow at times but overall, most enjoyable and the Amelia Community Theatre is a very nice venue. I would enjoy returning to it.

While at Pecan Park RV cg, I also walked the large flea market adjacent to the cg, saw the movie Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks on one cloudy day, hung out with my RV neighbor Buddy and his home schooled daughter Mandy, and finally got around to a couple of little projects in my rig. All in all, Jacksonville was a pleasant stop. On to Homosassa Springs. I was surprised at how far this ride was, well over three hours. Florida really is a big state. Homosassa is on the Gulf Coast about an hour or so north of Tampa. There are several natural springs which bubble up around here. The RV park has lots of both permanents and seasonals. As a Passport park, there are also several people, like me, just passing through for a few days. Two interesting things at the park are the signs on the ponds throughout the place and the unusual golf putting they have. The ponds are picturesque, with lots of pretty vegetation including many live oaks and water fountains. The signs brought a smirk to my face as I read "... no swimming or wadding as these waters have alligators, poisonous snakes, and other natural wildlife"!! Really, in Florida?? lol! The unusual golf putting had an enthusiastic following of several couples. When I finished setting up my rig and then parking my truck I noticed a hole in the ground with a little red flag sticking out. I assumed the flag was there as a warning to be careful not to get your tires stuck in the hole. Turns out there are 18 of these little holes with flags scattered throughout the park. People need only a golf ball and a putter as they walk around the park knocking the balls down the park roads looking for these little red flag holes. It was definitely different and seemed to provide amusement for several people.

Homosassa Springs State Park is small, but pretty. They have pontoon boat tours of the manatee habitat and three shows which rotate throughout the day; 1) manatees, 2) Hippo & alligator, and 3) reptile encounters. The park is basically a figure "8" boardwalk trail of a little over a mile which winds past the three shows and other habitats including; fox, bobcat, black bear, deer, wolves, and several aviaries with many varieties of birds. It was a pleasant stroll. After over 40 years of coming to Florida I finally made it to Weeki Wachee. What had been a small, private water park was taken over by the State of Florida. Early November is now past their high season for the water park and so there weren't many visitors, especially in the morning. It seemed like a nice place to take small children who would be comfortable at the little water park and mermaid shows. There were two mermaid shows, one an adaptation of the Disney show "The Little Mermaid" and the second one showcasing the mermaids doing their underwater ballet. The theater, while old, was interesting. The park is built around a natural underground spring that receives over 117 million gallons of clear 74 degree water every day. Deep dive exploration has gone as far as 6,700 ft into the underwater caverns, 407 ft down, and still not explored the entire system. Weeki Wachee Springs are currently believed to be the deepest and largest fresh water caverns in the United States. I just enjoyed watching the scantily clad mermaids (lol).

My drive to the LoW Citrus Rally at Sun 'n Fun RV in Sarasota was easy, that is until I arrived! I had called the park at least a half dozen times over the past two months trying to make my reservations and was still not convinced the park even knew who or what the Citrus Rally was!!! I pull up to the park gates and give my info along with the rally info to an initial women. She can't find anything on her first look at some clip board papers. She asks me a second time for the same info. She still doesn't find anything on a second clip board and asks me for the same info a third time, frustration is building :=(.  A second woman appears and asks me for the info a FOURTH time. She rummages around a desk and calls someone on a two-way radio. I'm told to follow a golf cart to a holding area, walk back to get to figured out in the office. Two women at the front desk of the office ask for my info a FIFTH and SIXTH time with still no success. I'm ready to leave and say so when an office supervisor comes over. I'm escorted to a back area of the office and sit with the supervisor while she, after taking my info and the rally info a SEVENTH time goes through her computer. Still not finding anything she is able to give me what she said was a clear site so my sat. dish would work, also saying that all the park sites are full hookup. I'm escorted by the little golf cart to a site directly under a large live oak. I'm again ready to leave the park. The golf cart driver calls the office and they move me to a nearby site that has a tree only partially over it. The golf cart driver, while guiding me backing in raised his voice to me which is when I lost it! I stopped my truck, got out and in his face. Fortunately, he backed off and I regained what was left of my self control. He apologized for not seeing the truck on another site he almost backed me into. My site backed up to a ditch, the water hookup was at an adjacent site, and the sewer hookup was not near my rigs mid point where I needed it. I had to position my rig partially over the ditch in order to make the water and sewer connections. Of course now I didn't have enough leveling blocks to allow my rear stabilizers to touch the ground. I scrounged around and found some cinder blocks which worked. I go to disconnect my truck from the RV and my tail gate won't release. By this time I am totally exhausted. I try releasing the tail gate every which way I can with no success. Finally, I call Good Sam. They in turn contact a local truck repair outfit and someone shows up about 1/2 hour later. They had some heavy blocking and we were able to raise the 5th wheel higher than the tail gate which allowed me to pull out. Once I was out and the truck leveled the tail gate opened. Apparently, the RV was tilted one way on the site and the truck was tilted the opposite way. This caused the truck bed to tork and wouldn't allow the tail gate lock to release. I may finally be set up, even if a little crooked, but I know this isn't going to be easy to hook up again. This is the most expensive RV park I've stayed at in the past few years of full time RV'ing and, by far, the most difficult to deal with and one of the worst sites. Absolutely amazing!!!

The Citrus Rally was great. It was nice to see old friends, not that we're old, just that they're known from prior years (lol). It was also nice to meet new friends. The cg did a nice job with the food. We had three catered dinners of; meatloaf, roast turkey, and lasagna. We also had two nice breakfasts, one with omelets, the other with pancakes, bacon, & sausage. All were great. The music was very nice, the DJ seemed to be enjoying himself as much as we were. With lots of women dancing and very few men I didn't seem to get to sit down hardly at all (lol). I did manage to use the swimming pool, sauna, steam room, and hot tubs every morning and a few afternoons. The cg also had a fully equipped wood shop where I was able to finish cutting the wood I'd bought for the new closet space in my rig. A group of us also went on an afternoon cruise on an absolutely perfect day. I managed to spend at least an hour or two each day at the swimming pool, hot tub, sauna, and steam room. When it was time to leave I actually hooked up with no problems. All in all it was a great rally!

The drive was so long to the Escapee Rally I thought I'd have to have several rest stops. It must have taken me all of 35 minutes to go from Sarasota to Port Charlotte. The sites were clear and so wide they could easily hold three rigs. After setting up I enjoyed the afternoon in the swimming pool and hot tub. It's a tough life but someone has to do it (lol)! About nine of the LoW's from the Citrus Rally arrived the next day. I had just left them and it was already great seeing them again. Before the Escapee Rally began on Thursday afternoon we went to Fisherman's Village, strolled around and had a nice lunch. We also went to a nearby RV show where I really liked the new 5th wheel with a full side slide and I think Cheryl bought a very nice coach. I was surprised at how many of the Escapees I remembered. The few days went quick. The meals were nice and the company was great. The games on Friday evening were strange but those at my table sure were laughing hard at how funny they seemed. I learned a lot from the SkyMed presentation and finally joined. About six of us went to the FleaMasters flea market and spent the better part of the day both there and driving back and forth. I did find two out of print books I'd been looking for and even bought a bicycle bell.

The SKP park at Wauchula was an easy ride, about an hour. I'd been wondering what an SKP park would be like. This is a quiet, peaceful place. Everyone is very pleasant from Theresa, at check in, Ron helping me park, Dan stopping by just to make sure all was well, Gary hanging out by his rig, and of course Dave Irons giving me the tour. Within an hour or so of getting set up I had already gotten a tour, signed up for Thanksgiving dinner, a tour of Solomon's Castle, and a day of bowling. Rose & Dave had me over for a delicious pork chop dinner where we "forced" ourselves to kill about four bottles of wine. It was a great afternoon and evening. Dang, I'm a horrible bowler. I'm about as bad a bowler as I am a golfer (lol). Then again, at least I didn't lose any balls while bowling (lol). It was lots of fun and I'll try to go with this group again next week after Thanksgiving. We had one of those perfect evening; a light breeze, temperature in the upper 70's, and of course Dave playing guitar and singing. Along with about a dozen others from the park I took a tour of Solomon's Castle. This is quite an interesting place. Howard Solomon built this amazing place completely from recycled materials. There really is a castle which includes countless works of art as well as Howard's home. He built a ship in the middle of his property which is near the size of the Santa Maria and houses a restaurant. We stayed for lunch which was delicious. Thanksgiving dinner was very nice. The usual turkey with all the fixings, tons of side dishes, and an entire side table to hold the desserts. There was so much food we got to enjoy left overs on Friday. The park had two long tables set out for us hungry SKP'ers, about a total of 55 to 60 of us. It was two great afternoons. During the week and a half I stayed at the SKP park I enjoyed the pool and almost daily conversations with fellow RV'ers. I did a little better at bowling the second time (not much better), had dinner with Rose & Dave twice more (a beef stew and chicken) Rose is definitely a good cook and Dave is expert at opening wine (lol). This has been a very friendly stay.

The joint Gulf/Dixie/Mid-LoW Christmas get together at Winter Haven was another short ride of about 40 miles. I'd been to the Cypress RV park for this same get together two years ago. This is the only park where I'd ever seen police activity. Last time here I was told it was a drug bust of some sort. The park is a bit old and has a little of a trailer park feel. But the club house is nice and big and decorated for the holidays. Too many trees so no sat. service. Jerry, a cg worker, helped me try to get the cable hooked up. Turned out the park cable box was broken. The park called and a repair tech showed up within the hour, even though it was Sunday so I do have cable access. A 5th wheel across from me has a mid-LoW banner planted out front so I stopped by. Leo is from Birmingham, England. He spends several months RV'ing around the USA. He and I strolled over to to his buddy Dale, one of the LoW's who will be travelling with me to Alaska this Spring. Dale and Leo are avid kayakers planning to do some in the area during the down time of the get together. The rally ended up with about 40 rigs, most of whom I knew from prior get togethers. We had a rally provided chili dinner the first night, pot luck another, and a Christmas dinner Saturday evening. A few of us took a tour of Bok Tower and Gardens. I had done this two years ago but enjoyed it and so did it again. John Hubbard bought an end table that he asked me to help him assemble. It took the two of us over two hours to complete it. If you add our labor, even at minimum wage, I wonder what the total cost would have been (lol). He treated for a pleasant Chinese lunch. Except for my day at Bok Tower I managed to spend at least an hour or two in the pool each day.

All was going well as I cleaned and put things away in preparation for driving to Titusville in the morning. I had a wash load going, the a/c on, and was watching the news as I prepared dinner. I was looking forward to tilapia, rice, and broccoli. The broccoli was in a steamer pouch that you could microwave. As soon as I hit the microwave button all the power in the rig went out. No problem, I put the solar inverter on. I let the a/c continue for a moment but then thought I better cut back on the electric usage and so turned it off. Dinner was great and I figured the camp ground had lost power. Wrong! By morning all electric in my rig was out and the batteries were drained. After breakfast, where I used a percolator in place of the electric coffee pot, I checked the camp ground connection. It seemed fine with power going through the surge protector. I reset the electric box and reset all the circuit breakers. Everything seemed fine but still no power in the rig. I hooked up and headed to a camping world a few miles from my destination. While driving, as I went over what had happened, I figured the inverter had to much current with all that I had working and must have blown something. Camping World was very nice checking out my rig almost immediately even though I popped in with no appointment and their bays were jammed solid. The two mechanics who checked it out were able to bypass the inverter and get shore power to my rig but the solar system was way more than they had ever worked on. They gave me the name and number of a company in Orlando that they refer their inverter work to. I drove to the Manatee Hammock cg in Titusville, which I had prepaid for five days, and set up. Then I called Buck at South East Power Systems. He spent some time on the phone with me trying to diagnose the problem. After a while he agreed that something inside the inverter may have fried. As soon as I gave him the make and size of my inverter he immediately knew the model number. That sure raised my confidence. He said I could bring it in early in the morning. I walked to the cg office to let them know what had happened. Rob offered me a refund, which my reservation clearly stated they do not give. I thanked him and said I would call from the shop. If they were able to fix it immediately I would simply drive back. If not he and I would work something out. The GPS said the ride was an hour. Driving through the Orlando morning traffic it took 1 1/2 hours of very unpleasant towing of my rig. Buck, the manager, was friendly and expecting me. He already had his electrician Mike on standby awaiting my rig. This company, South East Power Systems of Orlando, specialize in electrical, diesel, solar, including inverter work of any kind. Mike gave me a sort of class on electrical in general and my specific system as he took it apart. He fixed the overloaded circuits, tuned and thoroughly checked my system out. Three hours later my rig was better than new. He even corrected a minor flaw in the original installation. I heartily recommend this company to anyone needing any solar, electrical or diesel work. If anyone reading this is thinking of installing a solar system on their house or rig, these are definitely the people to do it!!

The cg was mostly quiet, except during the night when the nearby train whistles gave me a headache. It was pleasant and relaxing to stroll along the shore and chat with the many people fishing. When I drove into Titusville to get a haircut and do some food shopping I happened by the Titusville Playhouse. I smiled remembering the wonderful play Barbara and I saw there last year, Driving Miss Daisy. The actor playing the role of the chauffeur was especially good. That was a very nice day. The first three barber shops I found were permanently closed, along with lots of other shops throughout the area. The down sizing of NASA has really taken a toll on this area. Enchanted Lakes cg in Malabar is my last stop before spending time with my sons over Christmas week. This is a very quiet little cg. Its mostly permanents, very well kept with a nicely heated pool that felt like a warm bath, delicious. Bob & Lorna are very easy going park managers. The owner, Anne and her daughter Gina, are particular about who they let stay here (which doesn't account for why they let me in, lol). I would definitely stay here again. Quiet, friendly, close to the beach, food shopping, a Walmart, and several restaurants.

My sons Alex and Zack are coming down for Christmas week, we'll spend it at a Marriott resort in Orlando. My friends, the Calienes', Madeline, Armando, and their sons Eric & Andrew will be staying with us for a few days as well. They are great people to be around and my sons adore them. Marvin & Marvette let me leave my rig at their place in Port Orange over Christmas week while I'm in Orlando. They, along with Marvette's husband Kevin, are such great people. It was an easy drive up I-95 to Port Orange. On Sunday morning I joined them at church which was a very interesting experience. They go to the drive-in church of Daytona Beach. It's been around for over 50 years. It's a former drive-in movie theater which was converted to a very unique church. As we drove in we were handed a program and an all in one cup of wine with a communion wafer. There were about 500 cars. We turn to a specific radio channel and listen to the pastor and choir. The church encourages people to bring their dogs and actually goes around in golf carts with biscuits for the dogs that attend. When people especially enjoy some portion of the program they all toot their horns. Definitely a different kind of service. Afterward we went to the Port Orange pier for s delicious breakfast.

I arrived a little early for my sons plane and couldn't fit the truck in the parking garage (the truck is 7 1/2 feet high to the top of the light bar and the garage has only a 7 foot clearance). The airport does have a special holding area where vehicles coming to pick up passengers can hang out. While the airport traffic was horrible, it wasn't too difficult picking up my sons.  They were starving having not eaten since early morning and it was now 4pm. We were able to quickly check into the Marriott Gran Vista and then get some late lunch before actually going to our rooms. Over the next few days we spent time in the pool, Jacuzzi, and sauna every day but one. That was the day we spent at Universal. My sons love the roller coasters and seem to enjoy my dizzy I get from the upside down and inside out spinning. It was great having the Calienes' spend some time with us. These are fantastic people! We also enjoyed time in the pool, Jacuzzi, and sauna. We went to the four Disney parks in a single day, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. We arrived late morning and wore out our shoes (and feet) by the time we left at almost 4am!! The light and fireworks show at Epcot was amazing. If you've never been to the Hollywood Studio Park, it's worth a visit especially during the Christmas season when they have over 5 million lights coordinated to holiday music, truly incredible after dark. The week with my sons and friends flew by. We had great weather every day except the last when it turned a little colder and rained. What a great way to spend the holiday.

The drive back to Marvin's was easy. Dave Irons was parked next to me and we chatted a little before I passed out for the night. Our New Years party was fantastic. There were about 38 rigs with between 45 to 50 people, counting our hosts and their friends. Kevin is a great cook. We had barbecue chicken & ribs one night, hamburgers & hot dogs another, and pulled pork on New Year's day. Each meal had all the trimmings and great desserts. A traditional Southern New Year's meal of collard greens, black-eyed peas, and cornbread was enjoyed for lunch before we headed over to the Daytona Speedway for a special tour with Marvin Panch. For those who have never been to the speedway this is one incredible place. To give you an idea of its size the engineers had to consider the curve of the earth when designing the new grandstands. On race day there are an estimated 300,000 people including spectators, drivers, crew, staff, and maintenance. To have a tour with the 1961 Daytona 500 winner and one of the top 50 drivers of all time (Marvin Panch) is a very memorable experience. We danced for over four hours on New Year's Eve and listened to the singing and watched the gyrations of an Elvis impersonator the next evening. It's sad that this is the last year of what has been a great annual event for several decades. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to enjoy New Year's at Marvin's these past three years.

My last stop before drifting west is in Jacksonville to enjoy dinner and a show with my cousin Bobbie. Back again at the Alhambre dinner theater to see Pump Boys & the Dinettes. The show was great, good music, dancing, and high energy. Dinner was nice. What was best was spending some time with my cousin.

Kentucky to Florida 2013

As the saying goes, we should usually avoid the topics of politics and religion. Yet these are the two topics I find most interesting. After my very active stay at River Expeditions in WV (horseback riding, class 5 rafting, & ATV'ing) I was looking forward to my Kentucky stop. Passport America had a participating campground in Ravenna, KY, with full hook ups, for only $12, at just about the right location along my route south. The cg is a Methodist Revival camp and the pastor/director actually has my same last name spelled the same way (Cohn). I was looking forward to some interesting discussion over meals and exploring a mutual family heritage with the pastor. My expectations were heightened when the cg called me back to confirm my reservation and mentioned that the pastor was also looking forward to my arrival. My problems began when the cg directions brought me up to an 11' 2" train trestle (my rig is 12' 8") and I'm not ready to turn my RV into a convertible (lol). Making a "U" turn on a two lane road pulling a fifth wheel, even with the shoulders, doesn't count as one of my most fun experiences! The round about river road I then took was so narrow it required total concentration and didn't allow me to enjoy the mountain foliage. The left turn onto the camp road from the mountain road was a very sharp turn that, while I made it, I doubt I could make the right turn upon leaving. The cg road was about as bumpy and rutted as any I'd previously been on. The actually site has a short, concrete pad which looked good. It looked good until I went to back in. Both sides of the pad were mud pits about 6" to 8" deep. The rig was backing in fine until the trucks rear wheels hit the mud. I was stuck and spinning my tires. I tried rocking back and forth but only got my self deeper in the mud and almost jack knifed the rig. Another camper came over and then got the pastor who had a winch on the front of his F150. It took a little while and three different positioning's of the winch until I was finally able to get my rig situated. It was an auspicious way to meet the pastor and most of the seven other campers.

The other campers turned out to be from a group called NOMADS.  They work for mostly Methodist causes, building and repairing whatever needs to be done all over the country. I set up, chatted a bit with a few of the NOMADS, and walked up to the office to check in. The camp is just that, a camp which hosts kids in the summer and religious retreats the rest of the year. The grounds are within the Daniel Boone National Forest and on land that was once the town of Fitchburg. In the 1880's this was a thriving town of over 2,000. They operated the largest coal burning furnace in the world and one of the top 25 dry stone masonry structure in the world. When better quality coal was found elsewhere, the furnace operations went bankrupt and the town disappeared. There are lots of trails now maintained by the camp and old structures throughout the property and surrounding woods. I strolled around the camp till dinner and then joined the NOMADS and a group of pastors here on a retreat for a pulled pork meal. All the conversation was about RV's and the NOMAD organization. The camp doesn't have any meals on weekends so this was my only meal with them. The NOMADS seemed tired from their weeks work so I walked the camp trails the next few days with very little conversation. While the trails and old structures were interesting, it wasn't why I had chosen to stay here. The pastor never came by and I left early on my departure date, very disappointed.

The Tennessee cg was a very pleasant surprise. This is the former Cordell Hull Army Corp of Engineer location whom Guy & Jean Harden were able to obtain a permanent lease from. Apparently the location had fallen into disrepair and the Harden's proposed to renovate and run it. They had help obtaining the lease from Al Gore (yes, the former VP) who has a house on the lake. While Jean Harden runs the cg, her husband Guy sings and sponsors karaoke on Friday nights. He was a regular on the Ralph Emory TV show and formally toured with Alabama, Jim Reeves, and many others to numerous to list. The site I took had been vacated earlier that day by some regulars you may have heard of, Amy Grant and her husband Vince Gill. The cg is very well kept with a pretty beach & boat launch area. They even have row & paddle boats for rent. Several seasonals were already putting up elaborate Halloween displays. At $13/night (Passport rate) I heartily recommend this little jewel of a park to all you RV'ers.

The morning I left TN I broke camp in a light rain. The drive began pretty easy with nice back roads leading to I-40 towards Nashville and then I-65, south towards Birmingham, AL. The rain cleared and the day turned pretty, thankfully for what happened later. A rest stop magically appeared just about the time I was looking to take a stretch break. I-65 through Birmingham was a rough road with the typical big city congestion. I found some inexpensive gas when I was less than 30 miles from the cg. The fun began only a couple of miles after getting back on I-65. I was felling great, realizing I would arrive a little before 2pm with plenty of time to set up and go out exploring, the day was sunny and in the mid-60's, just beautiful. Suddenly, a loud "BANG" quickly took me out of my day dream. I grabbed the wheel with both hands and gently slowed, trying to figure out what happened. The truck wasn't pulling left or right, didn't feel like a tire went. I stuck my head out the window a little and quickly realized a trailer tire had blown. I was able to move onto a wide shoulder, stop and check. Sure enough, one of the two remaining original trailer tires had blown, but no other damage was apparent. I've heard of trailer tires taking out huge pieces of the RV when they blow. I was standing on the side of I-65 almost feeling lucky. This is a chance to find out just how good my Good Sam roadside assistance plan really is. They answered on the second ring, were very polite and sympathetic, and knew my exact location from the phone GPS. They both gave me the name & phone number of the company who would be responding and texted the info as well. In a little over 30 minutes a truck pulls up and the two young kids merrily jack up the 12,000 lb rig, change my tire, confirm that no damage is visible, and give me the name of a local tire store. From my initial call to Good Sam till I was on the road again was barely an hour, amazing! Good Sam has me for a lifetime customer. I got off the next exit, found the tire store, and had two new, upgraded tires put on the axle with my spare replaced and the blown tire, along with the remaining original tossed. I arrived at the cg two hours later than I originally thought, none the worse for wear.

The cg was old, with tight sites. In fact I couldn't open my slides all the way without hitting a pole, or tree, or electric box. I set up and began to walk the park, immediately meeting a couple from Oklahoma. We walked the park together, along with their two little schnauzers. The park does have a pretty little lake with a nice big deck overlooking it. The owner, William, is an interesting guy. He's in his early 60's, must weigh easily 400 lbs, and at 5' 8" is very round. He has almost shoulder length, pure white hair, but none on the front half of his head, He also has a pure white beard and a very jolly face. It's not a difficult guess how he dresses around Christmas time. He went to college for law, didn't like it, and so got his masters in theology. He didn't like full time ministering and so bought the cg, although he still preaches part time for free at a couple of the poorer local churches. Interesting guy!

Fairly easy ride to Marianna in the Florida Panhandle. The park is a little old but nice enough with a site that was perfectly level and the sat. dish got reception. As I strolled the park, checking the road to head out in a few days I met a couple plated out of Alaska. Joe and Judy live in Wasilla, are new to RV'ing, hanging out here for a month to visit their kids. Both recently retired from hospital work, Judy as a nurse and Joe from managing a lab. Joe served in Viet Nam as a recon sergeant, pretty close to my ranger activities and was there the same year as me, 1968. We hung out all afternoon chatting about Alaska, health care, Viet Nam, and life in general. Next day we also spent sitting around chatting. The time passed very quickly and pleasantly. On to Jacksonville and a couple of months with lots of get togethers.

Heading South Yet Again

The drive to Lake George was a peaceful one. No hurry's, no worries! I had registered very early at the campground, before they worked out the bugs for the Loners on Wheels negotiated rally rates. I knew they had overcharged me but wasn't concerned and figured we would work it out when I got here. They surprised me by having the appropriate credit waiting for me when I arrived. A few of to LoW campers were already here. They had apparently come early for a Good Sam rally and simply stayed on. The site was tight but it was a pull through and pretty level so it was a quick set up. After several hugs and hello's I was asked to drive to a rental place and pick up five 8' folding tables. Mo came with me to pay for the tables from the Yankee LoW funds. The guy at the rental place helped load them. When we got back to the campground there weren't any other men able to help so I unloaded them by myself, dang they were heavy (lol). The rental place let me drop them off on Sunday even though they were closed. Roger Smith came with me, helped unload them and leave them stacked behind the rental building. Over the week of the rally I: walked around town with Barbara Smith once and the SE-LoW's another time (Bobbi Harden, Linda Kendall, Daryl Spoonseller, Roger, and Martin Smith (no relation)). Wow, there were so many Smiths it could have been a family reunion. The Smiths included: Barbara, Carolyn, Marge, Martin, and Roger (I think that's all).  There weren't as many attendees as we originally hoped for but with about 35 it was a nice gtg. I managed to unload lots of stuff by donating them as door prizes and/or for the Chinese auction. I'll bet I lightened the rigs load by quite a bit. Among the stuff I gave away were: an unopened 5 gal jug of anti-freeze, an unopened 5 lb box of fire starters, a set f heavy gauge jumper cables, two boxes of Christmas lights, a full box of Christmas cards, two laundry bags, an unopened set of levels, an unused 1 lb citronella pail, a hand painted glass jar I'd won on a Murder Mystery train ride, and a few more miscellaneous items I hadn't used in almost three years on the road (lol). Other than some electrical problems at the pavilion where the rally set up for our meals I think the gtg went well. The main entertainment was a guy who billed himself as the human  jukebox. He was very good and even seemed to look like some of the singers he mimicked like Tony Bennett and Dean Martin. The second entertainment of line dancing didn't seem to go over as well, possibly because it had gotten a little cold. The "Human Jukebox" and I chatted a bit and before he left he gave me a free CD of his songs, very nice of him. About 20 of us took the two hour cruise on Lake George. Prior to the cruise about six of us walked around a bit and had some lunch. Since we sat at two adjoining tables they agreed to give us two checks but wouldn't give us individual checks. A bunch of us had gone out to lunch earlier in the week and sat at one large, round table. That restaurant wouldn't give anything but a single bill. It reminded me when I had munch with Barbara that third restaurant wouldn't provide separate checks either. Must be a Lake George thing (lol).

A funny thing happened late one evening on my way back to my rig. As I neared my RV a deep, gruff voice yelled at me "hey, you, get over here"! I stopped and yelled back in the dark in an annoyed voice "you talking to me"? As I responded the deep voices wife very politely and meekly said "no, no, he doesn't mean anything, could you please come over here for a minute". As I walked over to their rig I saw an older couple and the husband appeared barely able to walk. He asked if I owned the truck with the various army stickers. Turns out he was in Viet Nam the same time as me and even went through airborne school about the same time I did. He gave me a bracelet made of parachute rig cord and we chatted a while.

I took off early for my longest day's drive of almost 400 miles. It's the end of another year of RV'ing and I took my rig into the dealer in PA. I stayed at the dealer over night and spent the next week in a hotel in Edison, NJ about half way between my two sons Alex and Zack (Hi guys!). Over the week the RV was in for maintenance I: spent an afternoon with each of my sons, they also each stayed over at the hotel with me one night, I also had breakfast with my friend John and with my friend Randy. I managed to pick up my mail and even traded in my phone for a new one and a tablet. The hotel had a full breakfast each morning. They also had a pool and hot tub. It was a restful week and it was great to see and spend some time with Alex and Zack.

The RV didn't have any particular problems and it's good to know the brakes are repacked and bearings greased, the roof is sealed well and all systems checked out fine. I stayed over at the dealer one night which gave me time to reload the refrigerator and double check everything. It was a long but easy ride to western PA. I had a full hook up and was able to catch up with my laundry. While walking around the cg I met Doug & Becky out of OH in a cute little Scamp and Ray & Mary, local seasonals. Doug & Becky seemed to enjoy showing all the details of their little Scamp. I thought living full time in my 30' fifth wheel is being a minimalist but it's not even close to two people in a 13' trailer. Ray and Mary invited me to a local, family style restaurant. We spent almost two hours on the very topics most people avoid, religion and politics. It was a very pleasant evening. The drive to WV was very pretty with the Fall foliage in almost full bloom. It was also interesting with the many hills. There were two very steep hills where vehicles over 5 tons (I weigh in at 9 tons) had to get into an extreme right lane, come to a full stop, go into 1st gear while descending and not exceed 10 mph. There were also a few hills where I barely made 20 mph going up! The expedition cg has got to be the single worst cg I've stayed in so far. A narrow, winding road leading up to the entrance, a sharp turn on a steep hill that I barely made, a steep decent followed by a steep ascent to get to the actual site. The site was so sloped I was not able to level the rig even using all of my blocks plus a couple I found in the cg. All week I felt like I was going to roll out of bed. I was expecting a full hook up and there was no sewer, not even a dump station in the cg. The activities I'd booked were fun. I spent one day horseback riding through the WV hills. Really pretty foliage! Another day was spent going down 25 miles of class 5 rapids in a six person raft. The water was in the mid 50's and the air was about 60 degrees. A few people dumped into the Gauley River, but no one from my raft. I was soaked, but not really cold. It was a great day. A third day was spent ATV'ing along the Hatfield-McCoy trail. I thought I was an "experienced" ATV'er having done it once before with my friends in Maine. Wow, was this ever different! The trails were narrow with lots of steep ascents and descents. I did okay, almost lost it only once, got quite muddy, and had lots of fun. The fall foliage was great and I saw some wildlife including: turkeys, deer, a fox, and even a fair sized bobcat. While in WV I also managed to bring the truck in for its normal 5k service. Life is good. My next stop in Kentucky should be interesting but more on that when I next update this blog.

Leaving New England, heading South

Palmyra, Maine to Hancock, New Hampshire was about my longest single day ride pulling the RV, over 5 hours. I've met lots of RV'ers who regularly drive 5 to 6 hours and think nothing of it. I seem to have fallen in the habit of driving between 2 and three hours at most and then stopping for about a week to explore the new area. When I stay in a single place for over two weeks I get itchy to move on. I wonder how long I'll continue this habit?

Hancock, NH is a little town in the Monadnock Valley of Southern NH. It's a very pretty area with several quaint little towns. Over the next few days nine LoW's arrived. I knew all but two of them from prior get togethers. Marge Smith (full timing a few months longer than me) stays in this camp ground a lot and knows the area. She, I, and Anne (celebrating her 80th birthday) went to Harlows pub and listened to some sort of folk music. It's hard to characterize the town of Peterborough. It's not exactly a college town and not exactly an artsy town. It's sort of a combination of the two with some talented people and a great audience who clapped and hooted for every performer. About six or seven of us went to Sarah's Hat Box in Hancock. They had some incredible boxes in many shapes, sizes, and purposes limited by imagination only. A very colorful place. Four of us went to a play at the Peterborough Players called Laughing Stock. It was a farce on producing a play, kind of funny but way to long. Between morning coffee, happy hour, pot luck dinner, a golf round with Nancy Brown, and a couple of "outings" the days went quick. Marge and I went to a farmers market in Keane, NH, walked around a bit and had a late lunch at a most interesting place called Pickity Place in Mason, NH. They grow their own herbs, vegetables, and eatable flowers. The five course ratatouille meal was delicious including the big yellow flower. I went to another play, "Absurd Person Singular". This was a British comedy which bordered on slapstick. It too was much to long and barely funny. The Peterborough Playhouse is nice and most of the actors were pretty good. Perhaps it was their choice of plays or the direction but I'll probably skip future shows here. I found a lecture on climate change in the nearby town of Jaffrey, NH. Marge expressed interest and joined me for a most interesting evening. The lecture by Dr. James McCarthy a professor of biological oceanography at Harvard was held by the Amos Fortune Forum in the historic Jaffrey Meeting House. We arrived about a half hour early and strolled the cemetery, finding the graves of Amos Fortune and Willa Cather. Amos Fortune was a slave who bought his freedom at age 60, settled in Jaffrey and became a successful tanner. He left much of his estate to support the town and schoolhouse meeting place. Willa Cather was a Pulitzer prize winning author, born in Nebraska, lived and died in New York City, but loved this area and wanted to be buried here. While strolling the cemetery we met a couple doing the same and who were the descendants of the original founder of the church meeting house in the mid-1700's. They showed us the graves of some of their ancestries along with Amos Fortune & Willa Cather. The lecture hall was filled to overflowing with standing room only. It was very interesting and the reception afterward was delightful. My last day at Seven Maples required some choices. There were three events and no way to do all three. There was a string quartet playing in the nearby town of Temple at 3pm, a pulled pork roast at the campground at 5pm, and a music festival celebrating Thoreau just down the road in Peterborough. Marge opted for the quartet and music celebrating Thoreau. The quartet, comprised of two violins, a viola, and a cello was delightful. The program celebrating Thoreau was strange and much to long. Their choice of music was torture! They had a good pianist play a very long, discordant piece by Ives. Looking around the room about half the attendees were twitching in their seats and constantly looking at the time. I think of Thoreau as calm and peaceful, certainly not loud and brash. We should have enjoyed the pulled pork at the camp ground (lol).

My few days in Bernardston, MA were a great diversion before the larger get together in Vermont. With a full hook up I was able to catch up on laundry and rig cleaning. I took a couple of short trips; one around Brattleboro, VT and the other back to Shelbourne Falls, MA. The Bridge of Flowers is still there (lol)! About an hour to Horseshoe Acres in Andover, VT. At first they didn't want to honor the special discount always given to us Loners. The owner said their costs were constantly going up and they don't make anything at $10 per night. I certainly understand but still, the rate was quoted me when I made the reservation. I offered to help out a little and they gave me the rate for my entire three week stay. This is an okay camp ground but it is tough with absolutely no Verizon service in the area. The sat. dish is picking up and the campground has a WiFi but only near the office. I paid all my bills for next month before getting here so I can do without a secure WiFi. Still, I have to drive about 10 miles each way, once or twice a week to make any phone calls.

On Friday of the Labor Day weekend my quiet little site was suddenly surrounded by a group of nine rigs with about 20 kids, all from the same group of friends. About the time I was thinking of either moving or going to a hotel for the long weekend I said "hi" to a few of them. They were the usual friendly RV'ers with well behaved kids. I joined them for several of their "buffet style family" dinners, morning coffee, and afternoon drinks. Chatting around their huge camp fire was most enjoyable. About the time the NASCAR race started the campground power went out. Several of the guys and a couple of the kids came into my rig to watch the race. With the solar inverter on, the a/c blowing, TV on and a few chips and drinks life was good! Went to the Weston Playhouse and saw a great dramatic play, "To Kill a Mockingbird". The 12 year old girl in the lead was fantastic but every time I looked at the lead actor all I saw was Gregory Peck (who had the lead in the movie, lol). Five Loners came on Thursday. It was nice to have some folks I know to chat with. We had our usual coffee in the mornings and happy hour around 4pm. We took our usual trip to the Weston Country Store where we sort of "graze" on the chips & dips (lol). There was an exhibit of life in the 1800's going on at the museums. Very interesting demonstration of the water turbine, tin smithing, basket weaving, and a loom. We went out to dinner one night and before you knew it, they were gone. Marge and Gail stayed one extra day. A pleasant four days. One of my last days at Horseshoe Acres I drove to Bellows Falls for the "Bonnie & Clyde Train". Over the past few years I've taken a few of these themed train rides and they're always fun. As I was boarding I began talking with Cindy & Jim from Long Island, NY. We kidded each other on our New York accents and sat together on the train. Cindy is sort of an ex-biker who rode around the country with her first husband before he passed away. She also loves horses and has a couple back in Long Island. We talked a lot about places we've been on motorcycles. The train took us up to Chester, VT, laid over for about 20 minutes and then returned to Bellows Falls. During the ride a young guy and gal, who claimed to be Bonnie & Clyde, packing plastic guns, yelled at all us passengers to place our valuables in a sack they totted. Most of the passengers laughed and put the beads and play money we had been given into the bag. Cindy, Jim, and I put our beads in but held out on the cash. This caused a lengthy discussion with the robbers and Jim & I telling them they'd never make it as gunmen in NYC. As we chatted with the robbers I recognized Bonnie from a train ride I took last year. Bonnie and her mother did a murder mystery train ride I was on. Jim, Cindy, Bonnie, and Clyde couldn't believe I actually recognized someone from over a year ago who barely strolled past me and in two different costumes. Of course I can't remember what I ate for breakfast this morning (lol). Horseshoe Acres campground is mostly quiet, peaceful, and pretty on the mountain in VT. However, after three weeks with having to drive 15 miles round trip for cell service and only intermittent sat. reception I am very glad to be heading out. I guess I am a bit of a wanderer and get itchy to leave most places after a week or so.