LouTex Days 1, 2 and 3

February 23, 2014

FINALLY, after a long, cold and very snowy winter, we’re on the road.

In this trip, we’re combining the “best of” our two former trips to Louisiana and Texas. AND we’re travelling for the first time with our new kitty, Mandy. Fingers crossed.

We got away early on a sunny, cold day. Mandy started in my lap then abandoned me an hour later and kind of hid for most of the day. But she was quiet!

We booted it to Detroit and got through Customs easily, though he did board and checked the fridge and cupboards for the first time. We pulled in to the Super 8 in Vandalia, Ohio and had KFC.

Interestingly, I lost the cat in the room after two minutes. She’d gotten under one of the beds, and the whole lining of the box springs had been ripped down (likely by a former dog or cat). Mandy got tucked up in the springs and we had to entice her down with food. It was disgusting poking around under there (they’d obviously not cleaned under the bed for a long time). A letter is coming!

No view from my chair today.

February 24, 2014

Another sunny but cold start.

I am amazed by David’s retention of trivia. He knew that the “Overland” silos we saw were for Willy’s Overland Jeeps. Among other things. Amazing mind.

It was an uneventful day with the cat sleeping on the dinette seat all day long. But some signs and interesting sights included these:

• “CyberKnife for Prostate Cancer: New Weapons; New Cures” (ouch)
• “Big Bone Lick” (hmmmm…a body of water we THINK)
• A “Matt Bevin for Senate” sign on a tractor trailer parked in a big and stinky dump
• Snow on the ground, even in Kentucky
• Not a Daffodil to be seen
• Golfers on Kenny Perry’s Golf Course (but not a blade of green grass)
• Lots of dead Coyotes
• “Nervous Charlie’s Fireworks” (not a great vote of confidence)
• First motorcycle on the highway in Nashville
• 866 miles travelled without a traffic jam until outside of Nashville, and only 10 minutes
• “Boobies Bungalow Gentleman’s Club” across from a Truck Centre
• First Robins at the Alabama Welcome Centre (but no welcome for us to stay for the night)
• a Paula Deen billboard for something

We had a noisy night tucked amongst the tractor trailers at a Pilot Travel Centre, so no view from my chair. The cat much preferred the MoHo to a stinky hotel room!

February 25, 2014

It rained most of the very noisy night and was overcast for much of the long drive. We found a great future overnight spot at an Alabama Rest Area at Exit 304 (Route 65). It’s tucked away and very quiet (but “No Weapons Allowed”).

Today’s observations included these things:

• billboards for “the GOLFchurch.com” and “weremoveyourfat.com”
• First Mockingbirds
• Redbud and Dogwood trees in bloom (not very many, but buds on lots of trees)
• bus for the “University of the Incarnate Word”
• Mississippi town called “Eutaw” (say it out loud)
• Highway 59 lined with Magnolia trees, just a week or so before blooming; it will be beautiful
• Daffodils FINALLY in Ellisville, MS (about 120 miles from The Gulf)
• We put the air conditioning on!
• Snowy and Great Egrets in overflow water along the highway in Louisiana (great welcome)

We pulled in to the Fairview-River State Park for a night (Site 60). It’s across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans. We’re not planning to visit NOLA this year. I took a walk on the boardwalk and through a small swamp (scary but no gators).

Here’s the view of the MoHo (no time for chairs):

And a new feature, the Mandy Shot (this one is of her place to ride during the drive; this is on top of the dinette slide. We didn’t see her climbing up there until after. She climbs on the dinette, on to David’s headrest, onto a ledge above his head and onto the top of slide; amazing):

OB October 5

Just a few last words on this shortened trip.

Our Walmart stay in Waterdown was unusually loud: people shouting, generators running (all night!), motorcycles and cars roaring by. In the morning, there were two large Prevost buses, and also three large Class A’s right beside us (from Quebec), in a horseshoe with the centre a gathering place. Usually , people are discreet when parked in Walmarts. won’t stay here again.

We unpacked quickly and I spent last night watching news and reading more about the US government. I must let it go!

Short trip for sure, but always great to travel together in our little house. Come on Spring!

OB October 4

Today was just driving, but at least it was some lovely autumn leaves in Pennsylvania and New York.

We’ve seen a lot of “Wawa” gas stations this trip and just noticed that their symbol is a Canada Goose. So appropriate (as you Canadians may note).

Since I had a lot of time to think, I reflected on what Americans were saying about “Obamacare” and other things. The most telling was the woman who said that their “Constitutional Rights” and laws had been broken by this Administration. No time to ask for details. But am I right to guess that the right to bear arms and the freedom to choose (as in the right to opt out of healthcare) might be what she and others seem to be talking about. I find this all so perplexing. I must learn some more (but not from MSNBC or CNN who “lie” according to our patriot friend in Assateague; by the way, he also loves Ted Cruz!).

Anyway, I have noticed that there are a LOT of billbiards for health Insurance providers (way to get in there!).

Okay, enough.

The drive from Lancaster to I81 along Highway 61 would have been great aside from all the construction. There were diners everywhere: shiny ones!

We got to Watertown for a final night in a Walmart. Since I missed last night’s view from my chair, here are two from here:

OB October 3

I just realized calling this blog “OB” for “Outer Banks” is officially a misnomer. Oh well.

We got away early on an other sunny morning towards Lancaster, PA and Amish Country.

First, we stopped and took the Factory Tour of the Harley Davidson Plant in York:

It was okay and we saw some nice Hogs and even got a postcard and pin for a souvenir!

Next, we did our usual quick and fruitless tour of an outlet mall.

But our reward was an amazing tour of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg. I’ll let the picture speak for themselves. We were pretty much the only ones there. I noted the differences between me and David in a place like this. I was drawn to all the displays with words and stories and people and artifacts: the social history. David was drawn to the machines, and since he had the camera…

We then found a Walmart after seeing two Amish men on scooters. A little reading taught us that bicycles are forbidden since too “mechanical” and might take young people too far away, but scooters (foot-powered) were allowed (though one of the young men was watching all the action at Walmart).

Nice day. But I forgot to get a view from my chair (but it WAS Walmart!).

OB October 2

Despite the beautiful sunrise:

there has been no movement on ending the government shutdown, so we decided to cut our losses and begin the trek home.

We drove south to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and head back north towards Amish Country and maybe some outlet shopping.

We saw unpicked cotton fields in Exmore and the beginnings of the Harvest Festival at the foot of the bridge. There was a huge State Police presence, and the toll lady told us it was for “the drinking”!

Our attempt to outlet shop in Williamsburg was dumbfounded by the GPS and bad directions (just the beginning).

So we headed north thinking we should have just turned back north from the campground; oh well).

First overnight possibility was a Walmart in Woodbridge, south of Washington, but they didn’t allow overnighters.

Then we decided to get north of Washington. Traffic, weird directions (to avoid the main areas of DC though it SHOULD have been empty!) led us to a Welcome Centre in Maryland with no overnighting. The TA Truck Stop in Jessup was PACKED (and across the road from a jail). So we headed to a Walmart in Columbia. They welcomed us, we got Mexican takeout, and we’re here for the night. What a day.

I’ll post my chair view tomorrow!

OB October 1

Biked 4.5 KM

Despite a beautiful morning, we knew the government had shut down and we needed to rethink our trip.

First we enjoyed the morning horse visits (and David saved the neighbours from destruction):

We hung around for a while and decided to leave for Virginia (we found a Passport America campground for $23.75). After reserving, we left. I tried to get my National Park Passport signed at the Seashore Visitors Centre and at the Assateague Visitors Centre, but staff were leaving (and barricades we being readied). So we headed south.

Some interesting things?

• A billboard with the message “Open-Minded Billboard Looking for Long-Lasting Relationship” (complete with pic of a babe on a diving board!).
• A “Mexican Store” with the sign “Want to Keep Your Guns? Vote Republican” Needless to say, the store was closed down.
• “Savage Taxidermy” (how savage can you be?

We got some chicken and take-out BBQ (North Carolina style; very vinegary) and headed to Virginia Landing in Quinby, VA. It was a long drive down a twisty road to a nice place. We set up, rode the bikes and watched Canada Geese, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Killdeers, and Kingfishers:

Fred and Sharon, who were kicked out of Assateague, showed up here as well.

This place is pretty and resembled an old plantation. I asked, and learned it was a horse farm in the late 1800’s, a “squat” for people in the old horse barns for years after it shut down, a gated community (there are some nice houses just behind our site) until it failed and now a Thousand Trails campground.

Things don’t look promising yet, so we’re still conflicted about how long we’ll stay in the area. But tomorrow is another day.

Despite the promised rising of a moon over the bay (it was foggy), we enjoyed dinner and are watching TV!

Here’s the view from my chair:

OB September 30

Hiked and Biked 12.5 KM

It was a beautiful morning! We had a leisurely morning, chatting with Fred and Sharon. The horses put on quite a show as they scrounged the campsite across from ours. The beagle, Jack, held his own:

We discovered that the family with seven kids actually has 10 here (and four more at home). Yep, and all from the one set of parents. And home-schooled. And very well-behaved. Duggars!

David caught a view of (and pretty good pic of) a new Life Bird, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo:

We rode to the beach, walked and enjoyed the waves and seashells. And, of course, horses:

After lunch, we rode to the bridge which joins Assateague Island to the mainland. On the way back, had my photo snapped by a local newspaper guy who was doing a story on people at National Parks who would be affected by the pending government shutdown tomorrow. Yep, that’s us. Eeks.

David chatted with two Harley riders (I sat quietly, listening at a distance) walking through the campground. In just a few minutes, we discovered that they were everything we weren’t in terms of US politics (and Cable news). They love Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck and Hannity. They hate Obama (though as a patriot-which he kept saying-he had to respect the role). They were fundamentalist Christians. We agreed to disagree!

Back home we lazed and read then joined Stacy and Mike, Jack’s “parents”. They are very funny and we enjoyed standing around their fire. Fred and Sharon joined us. Back home for dinner and worries about what we’ll be doing as the government shutdown seems imminent.

In the meantime, here’s this morning view from my chair: