Fall Trip to Texas

We started our trip on Oct. 17th, 2010.  We took I-81 through Virginia – a very scenic route.  This is a photo of the Blue Ridge Mountains along our route.

This “camper” is from California.  It was in a Virginia rest stop and we got a chuckle seeing it.

We met George and Joanne Dunn in Alamo Palms a couple of years ago.  They are “full timers” and we visited them in their home state of Alabama. 

This is Lakeside Landing – our campsite while visiting our Alabama friends.  George & Joanne drove us all around – we saw the Honda plant where Don’s Accord was made; we had a great catfish lunch & shopped at the Pink Store – that’s even better than the Dollar Store, which George calls the “Alabama Macy’s”. 

Jim & Sara Prickett put on a dinner for 14 people – all folks that we had met in Texas.  This is Sara’s big country kitchen.  She made spaghetti and homemade sour dough bread, plus peach cobbler.  We learned about real Southern Hospitality!

Jim Prickett - and

Sara Prickett.  Our Hosts!  Their 50th wedding anniversary is very soon and they will renew their vows. 

The Pricketts have 45 acres and a lake. After dinner,  I picked up pecans while Don went fishing.

Don’s fish!

Joe  Talton and

his wife Mary Patt .  She’s wearing her Alabama dirt shirt and I’m laughing at the big breakfast.  We’ll be seeing them in Alamo Palms this winter.

Our farewell breakfast.  L to R- George, Joanne, Don.  We sure had a wonderful time in Alabama.

Knoxville, TN – We stayed at the Escapees’ Raccoon Valley RV Park in Heiskell.  From there we toured Oak Ridge where Atomic Energy was developed – along with the atomic bomb that ended WWII.

Outside the Energy Museum is this tower sculpture made from pieces of the World Trade Center tragedy on 9/11.

from a brochure on the museum.

While in Shreveport, LA, we couldn’t resist the great lunch buffet at Sam’s Town Casino.  We also lost a few bucks – very quickly  - playing the slots.

We saw some REALLY BIG, beautiful churches in Shreveport.

These huge crosses are sure to catch your attention as you drive through the south.

This is KUDZU – the plant that ate the south.  It’s invasive and is all over- literally. 

 

In Livingston, TX, we stayed at the Headquarters of the Escapees – Rainbow’s End.  Thousands of “full timers” use this as their home base and mailing address.

Welcome to Houston, TX!  We stayed at Elks Lodge 121 – full hookups, huge concrete pad – and easy access to the freeways - (Don’s nightmare).

I have always wanted to visit Bayou Bend, former home of Texas Governor Hogg and his philanthropist daughter, Miss Ima Hogg.  We were not able to tour inside the home because of a private tour, but we enjoyed the beautiful gardens with an audio self-guided headset.

Even the iron gate is a work of art.

These formal gardens are on the south side of the house.  There were 9 separate garden areas to explore – a very pleasant afternoon.

Don braved Huston’s freeways again on Friday to take me to the International Quilt Show.  This photo of downtown was taken outside the Convention Center.

We had never been is such a huge convention center before.  The quilt show took up the entire building with half dedicated to quilt display and the other half to vendors. 

Eleanor Burns of “Quilt in a Day” fame,  gave a funny, half hour presentation.  I caught up with her at her booth and Don took our photo.  Great fun!  Below are some of the quilts that we photographed. 

View Full Album

After the quilt show, we had lunch at Gringo’s Mexican Kitchen – one of our favorite restaurants.

I love this photo of Don eating his ice cream cone.  Adios, Houston!

Minute to Win It Family Party at Maureen’s

Daughter Maureen had a super all-family party at her house last Sunday afternoon.  All of my family was there except for Dan and his family.  They were in NYC for the weekend celebrating Darby’s 8th birthday and going to the Bronx Zoo.

I was the photographer of the many “Minute to Win It” games that Maureen prepared.  A really fun time!

Photos: Luke & steady girl friend Erin; Molly & her boyfriend; Mark; Patti Gibson.

  L to R: keeping the balloons in the air;  Nicole-  the toilet paper roll; Ronnie- the banana & 2 oranges challange; Erin & Kayla stacking the cups; Luke aiming his rubber band; Trevor

Tom & the pong balls; Trevor & Luke, puzzle kings; Tom,the building king; Maureen & Rob- nails on a string

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Molly wins the soda can stacking; Trevor & Tom in the cup stacking competition; Maureen’s children- Jack, Luke, Molly Mark.   We sure had a fun time!

Trip to Goshen, Indiana – Escapade Rally

This photo was taken just west of home – as we drove along the Mohawk. Upstate New York is so beautiful- I just love it and am always inspired to take “another photo”.  Here’s Don – he’s driven well over 100,000 safe miles in our motorhome. 

In Shipshewana, Indiana, we saw this farmer working the field with his team of horses. In town, there were lots of buggies along the main road. 

We’ve belonged to the Escapees RV Club since 1993, but this was our first Escapade, which is a National Rally.   There were nearly 1,000 RV’s in attendance at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds.     

      Here’s Jim & Chris Guld – Geeks on Tour – and teachers extraordinaire.

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Sunday, August 22, 2010 – Cape Breton

This morning was clear & sunny. I made blueberry pancakes for breakfast and we hit the road by 9am. The main highway to Cape Breton was well paved and a pleasant drive. We are finally seeing some nice water views – I’ve seen enough pine trees.

We arrived in Baddeck at noon and are camped at Baddeck-Cabot Trail Campground. The sites are gravel, level and full service- $36.00 per night. We took a ride into quaint Baddeck town, which is situated right on the water with lots of shops. We got maps and our questions answered at the Information Center in town. The liquor/wine/beer store is run by the Province and the prices are quite high.

I’m boiling up our new potatoes in the rice cooker. It’s amazing all the things you can do with this little used appliance. You can brown meat, onions, etc. then add to it for soup or spaghetti sauce. When electric is included in our camping fee, I like to use electric appliances and save the propane.

Monday, August 23, 2010 – Baddeck, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

This morning I made blueberry French Toast Bites for breakfast from my homemade bread. We took the car and went into Baddeck where we toured the Alexander-Graham-Bell National Historical Site. It was a very modern museum with actual artifacts donated by his daughters. The theater had a slide show with a live narrator to tell us about Mr. Bell. He, of course, invented the telephone, but was most proud of his teaching and work with the deaf. His inventions also included: flight, hydroplane, gramophone and many more. He built his home in Baddeck because it reminded him of his native Edinburg, Scotland.

This whole area has beautiful flowers – these are at the Bell Museum.

 

We perused the Co-op Food Market and then went to lunch at the Mello Cello where we had a (not so great) Greek Salad. Next stop was out at the Gaelic College, where Maureen went to study with her friend Catherine back in the 1970’s. I had always wanted to see where she had learned Gaelic, bag piping and Highland Dancing! There was a bag piper to greet us and to set the mood as we pulled into the parking lot. In the gift shop a woman was sewing a kilt by hand! All those pleats – what a task. I was able to send my last blog from there, as getting a good wi-fi connection is otherwise, very difficult.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010 – Cabot Trail  

Clouds & sun – no rain – 75 degrees. Today was our big day for doing the 180 mile Cabot Trail loop. We didn’t know what to expect but were told NOT to do it in our motor home, which was excellent advice. Our Honda CRV was great for the tour. We started at 8:30am and arrived home at 3:45pm with some stunning photos as a memoir. We stopped at Costal Waters Restaurant in Ingonish for brunch which we deemed very good. It seems that the east side of Cape Breton is Scottish and the west side is French/Acadian. We took a side trip into Neil’s Harbor and up into Dingwall. We had hoped to find some fresh fish/lobster/oysters or crabs – but saw nary a seafood market on the whole trip. We asked at the “Salmon Museum” in Margaree and she said that you can only get seafood at the large supermarket – nothing on the Cabot Trail. She also said that there is no more fresh river salmon, only farm raised.

A note about the road: There were several construction zones where we often had to wait 10 minutes or more for a “follow me” truck to take us through the road work. The first hour of driving was so bumpy that Don felt sick to his stomach and I got a headache. There were some portions that were smooth, but that was not the norm.

On the western coast, in the Pleasant Bay area, the elevation was 1,486 ft. and the steep downgrade makes Mount Washington look easy.   We can say that we drove the Cabot Trail.  Amen.

We went to dinner in Baddeck at a pricy restaurant called Bell Buoy. The food was excellent, as was the view.  Back at the campground,  Don and I agreed that we had seen enough of Nova Scotia and I went to the office and got a refund for the next 2 nights. We found that the local people are very friendly and helpful.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010 – Waterborough, NB

We left at 7:30am and stuck to the Main Highway - all a very good road. Perhaps it’s just the “secondary roads” that are so rough.

A note about the prices in Canada. The TAX is 15%. Gas is done by the liter – which is a little more than a quart- and it was $1.05 a liter in Nova Scotia. That means over $4.00 a gallon.This is a VERY expensive trip!!

Don drove for 7 hours – much longer than our usual time and we camped at Mohawk Camping, a Passport America campground in Waterborough, NB – west of Fredricton – the Capitol of New Brunswick.  The park is situated on beautiful Grand Lake. It’s a peaceful, but rustic place. We will stay for 2 nights to rest up.

Thursday, August 26, 2010 – Waterborough, NB, Canada   It’s been a drizzly day. Our neighbors from Ontario are out in their first travel trailer and Don helped him hook up the portable TV. He’s retired military & she’s a RN.  It’s been nice to rest, read my magazines and try to figure out my Streets & Trips program. Fresh cod for dinner which we bought at the Atlantic Super Store.

Friday, August 27, 2010 – to Maine, USA!

I made eggs and English muffins for breakfast. We left camp at 8:30am and had really smooth driving on Canada Route 2. After 2 hours, we arrived at the border. I went into the Duty Free store to inquire about the “tax refund” and was told that it was discontinued in 2007. I bought a couple of bottles of wine with no tax- a pleasant treat.

As we drove through the US Customs, we were told to “pull over, give us your keys, your passports and go inside – please”. It seems that we were setting off the radiation sensor. One problem was Don’s US Army compass that he’s had since Korea. It has a luminous dial ( it glows at night). They still weren’t satisfied and they drove our motor home through the detector twice more and finally, after many errors on their part, we were free to go after being held up for one hour and 11 minutes!!

But – after all was said & done, I am very, very happy to be back in the USA.

Another 2 hours of traveling south on I-95 and we arrived in Old Town, Maine – where the Old Town Canoes are made. We parked at the Elks Lodge where we had a fine view of the Penobscot River.

Saturday, August 28, 2010 – Seabrook, NH

We spent a quiet night at the Elks and slept well. I made breakfast and then called Salisbury for a 4 night reservation Sunday through Wednesday night. We headed south on I-95 – a smooth, 4 hour ride to Seabrook, NH. We felt sorry for those going north, as the traffic was at near stand-still for over 15 miles. They say it’s because of the air show.   We pulled into the Seabrook Sam’s Club, where we’ll stay tonight. We needed lots of staples – milk, orange juice, onions, celery, hamburger, a cooked chicken and Ice Cream! The temperature is in the high 90’s, with a nice breeze. It was so good to be able to use the telephone and talk to our children – something we really missed in Canada.

Sunday, August 29, 2010 – Salisbury Beach, MA

We were up early – 6am – after a very quiet night at Sam’s Club. We got gas for $2.51 a gallon and filled up the motor home. By 8am we pulled into Salisbury and went to the big parking lot at the beach to unhook the car. Our site – B36 – was vacant, so we parked & hooked up to the electric & water. The day crowd at the beach is in overflow parking along the road. It’s really hot – 90+ degrees. I waited until 7:30pm to register because of the long lines. No problem.

Monday, August 30, 2010 – Salisbury

A beautiful morning at the beach! We went to the public showers and then out to breakfast at Pat’s Diner. Don helped Pat fix her “chef” clock and she treated us to a free breakfast. What a nice lady! We came back and I changed the sheets on the bed. We sat outside and enjoyed the shade and land breeze. After lunch, we went to Seabrook, NH – Walmart’s, Irving Gas and Market Basket where Don had 2 fresh lobsters cooked for us for supper tonight. $4.99 a pound. We also bought frozen shrimp for a shrimp cocktail.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010 – Salisbury

A VERY hot day – mid-90’s. Don suggested breakfast at the Stagecoach. He had the Western Egg sandwich and I had the Eastern, which we both would get again. Later in the am, we went to Sam’s where Don bought a Samsung 46” LED flat screen TV for home. He saved $117 in tax by buying it in NH.

We have new neighbors from Florida with their 2 grandchildren in a Hi-Lo trailer.

Wednesday, September 01, 2010 – Salisbury = Hot!!

It’s the first of September and our last day at Salisbury. We went to Linda’s Breakfast Place in Seabrook. I had the French Toast & sausage patties, which was very good. Don had the western egg sandwich on rye – a great choice. We stayed indoors most of the day because of the heat. The “ocean” breeze came up in the afternoon and it dropped the temp into the 80’s. Because of the threat of Hurricane Earl they came around and said that everyone in the campground had to be out by 5pm on Thursday. We were leaving anyway, but it’s the first time we’ve ever heard about evacuation.

Thursday, September 02, 2010 – Home

Another day in the low 90’s. We left Salisbury about 8am and got home at 12:30pm. Along the Mass. Pike, we saw a convoy of Power & Light trucks headed for the Cape.

Maureen, Mark & Dad came to help us unpack the motor home – God Bless them in this 93 degree humid weather.  This is the end of this journal.