Florida Day 6

We spent the entire day outside today.

We woke to sunshine and clear, blue skies. I went to the beach and it was still chilly and windy, and the white sand was like pin pricks against your skin. We walked the inland beach instead and saw several shore birds (have forgotten the names already), found the bike trail for later, then saw TWO Great Blue Heron nests with birds sitting on both. Amazing.

After lunch, we rode the bikes to Langdon Beach, much busier than the beach across from the campground. People were flying kites and fishing. We learned about Pompano (just coming in to season) and Ghost Shrimp for bait. All this from our campground neighbour, who was lovely until he got a little religious and maybe a touch racist. We did more bike riding and beach walking.

We got back exhausted but very happy.

Another neighbour's “Big Tiger” motif for his motorhome included a flag, big blow-up tiger, a stuffed tiger, tiger lamps and a grouping of chairs in front of an outside big screen. Guess it's the Clemson Tigers and he IS a fanatic. And we found out later the Tigers got trounced. But he has the spirit.

It was a great and proper day by the sea!

Here's another view from my chair:

Florida Day 5

Well, I should never had said we'd avoided the bad weather.

We awoke to rain and it has rained ALL day (but NOT a tornado, so maybe still some good luck).

We've eaten, rested, snoozed, watched a movie and are SO happy we're no longer in a tent (and there are plenty nearby).

SO, here's the rain-soaked view from my indoors chair: 

Florida Day 4

Fair sleep; nary a wild boar nor armadillo (though we did see a dead one on the side of the road later). We WERE awakened by a rooster. And spotted a Red-bellied Woodpecker, Bluebirds, Chipping Sparrows, Purple Martins and Robins.

We took a back way to Florida, the country roads filled with contrasts of small and large well-kept houses and abandoned or ramshackle houses and trailers, like Ray Ray's Junkyard.

Two interesting signs:

Free at last, for FREE (a church-based, drug rehab place; bad taste to me)

Critter Gitter (pest control!)

Went through a pretty town, Brewton, with the railway tracks and stinky smells of a mill, in fact, a pulp and paper mill.

We were in Florida by 8:43 (state line in the middle of town with TWO Dollar Generals, a mile apart!)

Next sign indicated the Aircraft Controlled highway AND a vulture flying overhead (austerity program).

We headed south to Pensacola and a stop in the Visitors' Center (and the first pelican sighting of the trip) and a grocery store. We crossed the bridge to Gulf Breeze and to the Fort Pickens Campground (site C21, $20 a night). It's a bit crowded and open, but the beautiful white sand beach is a short walk away.

After lunch, we rode the bikes to the beach, walked a bit and rode to Fort Pickens to scope it out for another day. Here are some sunny, sandy pictures (and yes, sand not snow!):

So many retirees here (and a few younger people, of course four right behind us!) so it's quiet and friendly. And the beach. Can't wait for more.

TV says we're in a Tornado Watch area, and we see that we missed a tornado in Huntsville, Alabama, which we drove through yesterday. Can it be that we will just continue to avoid the bad weather by a day or a few hours? We can only hope.

Here's today's (adorable) view from my chair:

Florida Day 3

We woke to a LOT of singing robins and sun and 60 degrees. We had a longish trek through rush hour in Nashville and hit a new state for us, Alabama, at 10:30. Trees are in bloom and it's really sunny. The Welcome Centre had azaleas in bloom and a Saturn 1B Rocket (made in nearby Huntsville) AND, apparently, the world's highest urinal (or so I was told).

We crossed the wide Tennessee River and headed to 70 degrees in Cullen (along with a sign for Warrior Robbins-okay we thought it was funny given our early-morning red red Robins). We also saw the first convertible with the top down (and a few more later).

It was 75 by lunch in Greenville (with our first dandelion and Mockingbird!). More easy driving and we decided to stop in Castleberry, Alabama, at the Country Living RV Park ($10.50). It's a dozen sites in a field and quite nice. We were regaled with a very talkative, self-professed Hillbilly who told us more than we needed to know about a lot of things (along with the warning about the Wild Boar and Pythons in the park...AND the Armadillos who feast on the pecans from the trees around us). He was sweet and the day was good. Pensacola and the beach tomorrow!

Here's the view from my chair (with some Purple Martins in their gourd houses):

Florida Days 1 and 2

Florida Days 1 and 2

After 4 1/2 months of a nice Fall and relatively mild Winter, we're on the road again. It feels great. However, our hearts are a bit heavy (and my lap a bit cold since that's where she rode) as we cope with travelling without our cat, Cassie. She would have liked this. Here's a picture of her favourite activity during last year's Winter trip:

We had a sunny day for travelling and a quick stop at the Port Huron border (he didn't even come on board). We love our new satellite radio and Sirius. I can sing every song from the 50's, 60's, 70's and some of the 80's (and I do, much to David's chagrin).

We passed lots of dead deer on the highways of Michigan then saw four swans in Indiana ponds!

We stopped at a Super 8, thus no "view from my chair"!

We woke to tornado warnings scheduled for our route, but left anyway in rain under overcast skies. But we were safe. It was 39 degrees and dull when we left at 8:00, the sun was out by 9:00, it was 65 degrees by 10:00 and 68 by 11:00.

Favourite signs (and so far, so boring I must say) were these:

Motorcycle Aciidents? Call the man with the Bible

Don't Drive Naked

A two part sign with "Jesus Saves"/"Car Wash" (when I commented, David stayed focused on the KFC Buffet sign beside it!)

THEN there was the KFC Yum Center in Louisville (still craving KFC now)

We saw people golfing in Indianapolis and more in Edinburgh (of course).

We stopped at 11:30 and off came the down vest and up were coming daffodils, day lilies and irises.

We noticed the air smelled sweet then saw the Fruit of the Loom factory!

We stopped at the Bluegrass RV Park in Franklin (which was just missed by a tornado earlier that day) and enjoyed a night in the MoHo (serenaded by coyotes very near by).

Here's the view from my chair (note the happy robin):

Wild West Days 24, 25 and 26

Just drove and drove, and we're home! Here are some final observations:
October 14
Good WalMart sleep (really) and we're off.
Nice parade of motorcyles: three with sidecars and trailers plus a Can Am Spider and trailer plus two regular motorcycles and trailers.
Outside Iowa City, we saw huge cardboard "heads" in the ditch. One looked like Will Farrell. Huh?
Took a short scenic drive by the Mississippi then pushed on. 
"Don't Die With Your Teeth In A Glass". Not a warning from me; just an ad for dental implants.
Got caught up in Chicago area rush hour (the impact of that city is huge) and ended up in Michigan City, Indiana, WalMart in the dark. Phew.
No more views from my chair; they're all the same now!
October 15
Early start (easy as delivery trucks arrive) and to a nearby outlet mall. AND we each bought something! We drove north to Holland then headed east again.
As we were driving, David thought I said "buffalo" (not sure what I WAS saying) then he remarked that we hadn't seen buffalo since Wyoming. In seconds, a trailer passed (brand name was "Bison") and we saw a sign to Wyoming, Michigan. Seriously.
LONG drive to Port Huron WalMart in the dark. Almost home.
October 16
Up with the birds (still dark), got Duty Free and sped through the border (well, I mean no problems at the border). Passed a third Wyoming (Ontario near Sarnia) and made it home by 1:30.
It was a great trip. 

Here are ALL our Wild West pictures:


South Dakota
Wyoming
Utah
Colorado
Kansas

AND our RV Trippers videos channel.


A gorgeous time of year to travel west. We had great weather, despite the snow in the Rockies which was expected. It was funny to be passing what looked like Snowbirds heading west then south for the winter as we were heading east and north! Can't wait to go again soon (and the kitty might make yet another trip; she's happily sleeping on an afghan on a chair).

Wild West Day 23 October 13

It was a lot of driving and no picture taking today, but we're heading home.

There were trains ALL NIGHT within earshot of our WalMart home. But it was a sunny day!

Favourite sign of the day: “Jesus Saves and Restores; Pornography Destroys” displayed beside the “Lion's Den Adult Store”.

In Junction City, we saw several LARGE flocks of Canada Geese heading south.

We passed a current Military Base, Fort Riley. All the vehicles were sand-coloured, instead of the expected camo. But of course!

Went to Cabela's in Kansas City and I bought a down jacket! BUT we were dismayed by the display of many, many mounted animals, including exotics. There are lots of Cabela's, and so a lot of animals killed and stuffed. David told them of our disgust.

Stopped at the Amish Store on the Iowa State line just as an Amish cart and horse clomped by.

Second best sign: “Terrible Casino”. Okay, it was “Terrible's” Casino...

Here's the view from ANOTHER pretend chair at a WalMart (AND Sam's Club!) in Des Moines: