A Merry Mississippi Christmas to All!

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful" but it isn't snow, just heavy fog. On our most recent trip to the Gulf along the shore in Mississippi, the fog was such an issue that we actually delayed our return to Florida by a day. While the fog is mostly heavy along the shoreline, there is also the matter of the causeway at Mobile Bay where the fog is sometimes so heavy that it is nearly impossible to see other vehicles only a few feet away - not a great way to travel. Today, being 75 degrees and sunny here in Holt, we decided to take a trip to Navarre beach; however, as we drew near the Gulf of Mexico, we were once again greeted by a heavy fog bank. The bridge that links US 98 to the beach area was nearly invisible and although we had a nice walk along the beach, even the largest of buildings quickly faded from view as we walked toward the more remote end of the island (see last 2 photos below). We could hear aircraft and boats from time to time as we walked along the edge of the surf, but couldn't see either. We decided to return before running the risk of entering the Bermuda Triangle or the Twilight Zone.

Our photo record below includes a few shots of Christmas decorations at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi. Curious that the vision of Christmas here in the Deep South is the same as in the North (cold, snow, Christmas trees, etc.) even though snowfall is an extremely rare event here; however it is interesting to note, as you may have heard, that there was recently as much as six inches of snow in parts of Louisiana and areas of Texas (oh, and let's not forget the few inches in Las Vegas!). I'm guessing it is all related to global warming.

A Merry Christmas to all! Click here for photos.

Art Show - Air Show

Fat Albert JATO Takeoff

We spent part of each of the last two weekends in Pensacola, FL. The first trip was to visit an art show that was held in the historic district of downtown and the second was to witness an air show that was conducted at the Naval Air Station.

For those of you in PA who have visited "Art in the Park" that is a yearly event at West Park in Allentown, this venue is at least 10 times that size and includes artists of all sorts, locals and from around the world. While it was interesting to view much of what was on display, the prices and the space limitations of our home precluded anything more than enjoying the works where they stood in the stalls along the street and through the park. Also on hand was a large variety of food vendors which included a bakery with goods of all sorts being baked right there in the middle of the street. The area is surrounded by many cottages of all shapes and sizes as well as a selection of historic structures. We also spent some time taking a drive through parts of Gulf Breeze and a part of the road that runs the length of Pensacola Beach. At the end of the road is a National Seashore that remains closed due to damage caused by the numerous hurricanes that have devistated this area in recent years.

The NAS at Pensacola is a huge property that lies right along the Gulf of Mexico. It is not only the home of the Blue Angels Demonstration Team and the "Cradle of Naval Aviation", but also a training facility for many aspects of the Navy's air related activities. It also houses some small components of most of the other armed services, including such things as the Air Force's Parachute Water Survival School. The air show included a number of 'demonstrations' of extreme flying with several types of aircraft. One demo was a 'dogfight' between two aircraft that was complete with some pretty awesome pyrotechnics. Of course, the main attraction was about an hour's worth of some amazing aerobatics performed by the Blue Angels. Perfroming at speeds and altitudes that would have been difficult to appreciate from a distance, these guys thrilled the audience (many thousands) time and again. I think Deb did just a fantastic job in capturing images of what we witnessed and we hope you enjoy the show (sorry you'll be missing all the sounds (deafening - nearly 140 Db) and smells (acrid)).

Click here for art show photos.

Click here for air show photos.

Small Town America

You can't find a much smaller town than where we are currently located in Holt, Fl. So far I've not been able to confirm a population figure, but I'm guessing it is probably not more than a thousand or so and probably only a few hundred within the actual "city" limits. Nearby (8 miles North and East) is the town of Baker (Pop. about 7000 - and most of that population must reside well outside of town). Since the time we started on this adventure, we've enjoyed participating in 'small town' events and activities in many of the locations we've had the fortune to explore.

The last two Saturdays we spent some time on the grounds of the Baker Block Museum enjoying sunny afternoons and an art show, music, the museum itself and a heritage celebration which included demonstrations of such things as lye soap making, bee keeping and hand hewn wooden shingles. This part of Florida is of a very conservative bent and one major attraction at yesterday's event was a mobile GOP headquarters which I've included in these photos.

Traveling Around the Area

Blue Angel Tribute

Last week we took a couple of road trips - one close to our current 'base' here in Holt, FL, and the other a bit further afield. The photo above is from a support of one of the ramps connecting Interstate 10 to Interstate 110 which services Pensacola, the site of a Naval Air Station and home of the Blue Angels. There is at least a dozen such displays in the area, a very nice tribute to the Navy fliers, the armed forces in general and the men and women who serve our country and defend our freedom. In the photo collection that follows there is a shot to give a better perspective on how these appear as one passes them along the highway.

Our first trip was mostly along Florida 4, starting from a bit North of our location here in Holt, Florida and taking us on a drive to a point just over the Alababma border (at Atmore). While we really have no photos to share of this trip, I'd have to describe it mostly as a nice quiet ride of 60 some miles (one way) where we encountered, in about equal portions, huge horse ranches, the Black Water River State Forest, acres and acres of cotton fields approaching harvest time and rural small towns with unique names like Canoe and Jay (Pop. 579).

The second trip covered the 12+ miles along US 90 from Biloxi to Gulfport, MS. The entire length of this stretch of the highway remains under construction since most of it was destroyed, in some areas completely obliterated by Katrina. The highway travels right along the coast, usually with nothing but beaches between the road and the Gulf of Mexico and the other side was previously lined with with a large number of antebellum homes and a variety of businesses. There was probably not a single property left undamaged by the hurricane and many were completely destroyed. Today, although there is a lot of reconstruction in process and indeed some has been completed, it is still very sad to see all the devistation, including damaged homes and empty properties where homes once stood. We refrained from photographing most of the damage except a couple of large piles of debris and a bit of reconstruction, feeling it was just not something we wanted to share. Click here for photos.

Tunica to Holt

SunCruiser with Additions

The day before we left Tunica, MS, we revisited the River Park we had last seen in April. We were completely amazed at the level of the waters of the Mississippi, now at least 30, if not 40 feet lower than on our previous visit. It is very difficult to comprehend such a change, but it is quite an indication of just how the flooding of this water way and others that flow into it can cause so much damage to areas that lie along the banks. You can click here for the latest photos and this slide show will be followed by the shots that I distributed with the blog entry from earlier this year for you to compare.

Today was "installation day" for some new additions to our rig. For some of you that have no RV experience, you might find some things about owning an RV to be just a bit astounding. For instance, almost every manufacturer we've investigated over the time we've been keenly interested in the subject recommends using a pressure regulator for the water supply (there's no telling what you may run across from one RV Park or Campground to another and too much pressure could damage plumbing), but we've yet to run across a unit where a regulator is installed as part of the standard equipment - quite a puzzle, considering the $8 (give or take) price tag for such a device at Wall-Mart (Ok, you can spend 2 to 3 times that at your local RV dealer); however, considering the tens of thousands to millions of dollars one might pay for a new RV...what can I say? Or, how about the fact that most new "Class A" Motor Homes these days are built with an "In-Motion Satellite System" which includes a dish enclosed in a dome (see front of our roof) a controller, etc. but no receiver and (of course) you have to pay a premium to some provider or another for the service. Now, who has to watch TV "In-Motion"?? It might be neat to use this for an Internet connection while in motion, but no such luck. Oh, you can buy your own receiver and NOT get a provider and pick up some transmissions for free that you'd never want to watch.

But I digress. There's quite a list of such items but today's subject is air vents. All RV's have roof vents of one sort or another, some with fans, some larger than others, some with remote controls, etc., etc., etc. Our Bounder had two, one large and one smaller, both with covers that allowed them to be used when it rains or while driving down the road. One would suspect this would be the normal state of things - wrong! The vents ALL have covers, but if opened in the rain you'll have at least a puddle, if not a flood on the floor. If you open them while driving down the road (or forget to close them before embarking on your trip) you can expect the parts of the cover and mechanism to be scattered as far down the road as it takes you to realize you have a problem. The solution is aftermarket covers (of course). You can find them at prices ranging from the reasonable to the absurd and you can have them installed at your local RV dealer at a cost that probably will not exceed 3 to 4 times the price of the covers themselves. Or, as I did, you can search out the most reasonable price via the web and spend a couple of hours installing them yourself. Oh, naturally, in order to match the color of our "dome" which we don't use, we had to pay an extra premium. For future reference (something I never knew before)...the color black is up to $20 more than the color white [please, don't anyone tell the Crayola folks].

We've been in Florida (Holt) now for about two weeks now and are likely to remain here for quite a while. We'll eventually be exploring some locations that we never got to visit the last time we were here. If anyone should be wondering, we continue to love this RV living, the things we experience, the people we meet and the freedom.

MidSouth RV Resort

Same Tower - New NameThe MidSouth RV Resort is part of the Harrah's Hotel and Casino complex (a 2000 acre tract - formerly known as The GRAND) that is located just to the North of Tunica, MS. There are 8 other casino hotels in the neighborhood with two additional RV parks located at Hollywood and Sam's Town. Upon our arrival here a week ago, this 200 site location was only about 25% occupied, but within two days there were no more than two or three unfilled sites at any given time as folks arrived in the park in advance of the arrival of Gustav, escaping mostly from Southern Louisiana. We also heard that the other two RV parks were filled as well. There were all sorts of RV's, from small campers to the largest of motor homes filling the sites, some with as many as 10 people staying in one unit. Fortunately, the weather was sufficently nice here during the height of the period that many folks could set up for eating, etc. outdoors. The staff and facilities provided here proved to be more than adequate with the exception of the laundry facilities...pretty tough to service 200 family units (probably 600 people or more) with only four washers and driers! Click here for some photos.

The remnants of Gustav, followed by other fronts crossing the area with high winds, rain and spotty thunder storms, have caused us to extend our stay here; however, we are hoping to be back on the road and heading South within a day or two [keeping an eye on the new approaching tropical events, particularly Ike].

From Mount Pocono, PA, to Tunica, MS

After spending a few days in the Mt. Pocono Campground, we started heading West and South a bit and spent our first night on the road in Breezewood, PA, along with friends Karen and Roger. As we pulled into the small location tucked behind the local Fire Station, we were sure the place was closed; however, although it was deserted, there was an "Open" sign on the office and instructions for an honor system stay. We set up our rigs on two of the 13 available sites and proceeded to spend a comfortable and peaceful evening of solitude in the foothills of some PA mountains. The next day we proceeded through more of PA, across the slim finger of West Virginia that juts up along the Western border of PA before proceeding to a KOA near Columbus, Ohio. We then headed through part of KY on our way to Elizabeth, Indiana, where we spent two nights at the Horseshoe Hotel and Casino. From there we headed back into KY and on to Nashville before heading West to Memphis and then just a bit South to Tunica, MS where we are spending a week, the first half of which was spent in watching the progress of Gustav and the next half of the week we'll be watching for conditions to return to normal in the Gulf area before resuming our journey South. Click here for a few photos along this leg of the trip.

Life is a Highway ...and Here We GO Again

Unexpected Guest

Perhaps you've heard the song without quite picking up on the lyrics, so here's the part we'd like you to know: Life's like a road that you travel on, when there's one day here and the next day gone. Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand, sometimes you turn your back to the wind. There's a world outside ev'ry darkened door, where blues won't haunt you anymore, where brave are free and lovers soar. Come ride with me to the distant shore. Life is a highway, I wanna ride it all night long. If you're going my way, I wanna drive it all night long.

After a longer than expected stay at Mike's place, we're back on the highway. Over the last couple of weeks we've switched to a new rig and prepared her for the resumption of our travels. No, there was nothing really wrong with the Bounder and she served us quite nicely, but our Itasca SunCruiser (by Winnebego) has a number of nice features that make our home more comfortable and attractive and with sales of RV's in a bit of a slump these days, we were fortunate to make a really good trade; making this a worthwhile investment. We're absolutely thrilled with our new home and you can get to some photos via the link below.

Our first trip with the new rig was a short 'shake down' cruise (about an hour) to the Mt. Pocono Campground where we're spending a few days with friends we met in Florida last Winter before setting off on some more extended journey to somewhere that is still not quite determined; however, we know that we will eventually work our way back to Holt, Florida and the Eagle's Landing RV Park where we will no doubt spend a good portion of the Fall/Winter.

More travels and travel info to follow. Photo Link

A New Chapter

What's All This Then?

Details to follow...

A Very Strange Evening

Mount Airy Lodge

Yesterday afternoon we decided to take a short break from our current concerns and took the 45 minute drive to Mount Airy Lodge/Casino/Resort. Ok, those of you who know us best are thinking "well, there is nothing strange about that" & you'd be right of course, but wait...

The drive was pleasant as usual, traveling over the mountains on our trip North; however, we did notice about half the way there that nearly everyone coming South was driving with their lights on. We guessed that we'd encounter some rain somewhere up the road and indeed the sprinkles started a short time later and there were some moderate showers by the time we arrived in the Mount Airy parking lot. We darted between the drops as best we could and spent a couple hours on the casino floor when suddenly the place went black...nothing but a few emergency lights to be seen here and there. The darkness was only momentary, and everything seemed to return to normal; however, in a short while we noticed it was beginning to get warmer and within an hour or so it was getting quite warm, not quite to the point of hot, but uncomfortable. We concluded that the place was now running on generators, probably as a result of a lightning strike in the area.

Since we had not yet had anything to eat to this point in the day (now about 7pm), we decided to go toward one of the several available eating establishments only to find that they were all shut down due to the shortage of power (naturally, the available generated power was being directed toward keeping the casino running). We returned to the casino and within about another hour we were really getting uncomfortably warm and headed to a corner of the building where we knew there were doors nearby and concluded if things were no better there, we'd just call it a day. In one of our favorite spots, the temperature was indeed better and we continued playing. Deb was in the middle of a bonus round of 30 free spins when suddenly the place went dark again - this time for a much longer period.

Eventually, the lights came up again and we waited as machines were rebooted, etc. Meanwhile, we began to hear stories that only two of the four generators were working and almost nothing was running at this point except the casino. People staying in the hotel could not get to their rooms (no elevators) and even if they were to take the stairs, the electronic door locks on the rooms were not working (nor were such things as ATM's, change machines, escalators, refrigerators, etc.). We decided to 'cash out' our winnings and soon everything went black once more. Once again, after about 10 minutes or so, lights came back, machines rebooted; however, this time we heard there was only one generator running.

Ok, now here's the "Very Strange" part of the evening. They actually CLOSED the casino. Now for those of you that gamble to any extent, you know that this just NEVER happens, but we figured that they finally decided that if they lost the last unit, they'd have a bigger mess on their hands than they would want to deal with - no matter how much money was hanging in the balance.

Mossy Point and Knobels

Hauling Wood for the Fire

As many of you know, we've delayed resuming our travels until our help is no longer needed with some medical matters with family members, but it is nice that we happend to be here in PA at this time and that son Mike and his family continue to provide such a nice and convenient spot for us to linger for a while longer. No doubt we will be publishing something about the continuation of our journey when we have a better handle on things.

On a brighter note, Memorial Day Weekend found us on a short trip toward Central PA for an overnight camping experience and amusement park visit with Grandkids Jes, Ben and Liz (as well as the twins' parents Vic and Steve). We all had a nice trip, a good time and even the overnight with 7 of us in the RV went rather well. Mossy Point is an 'under construction' campground in Elysburg, PA with limited, but expanding utilities and sites in a quiet, secluded and wooded spot - well off the beaten path but still rather easy to get to. Knobels is an amusement park of the sort that dotted the country before the likes of Disney, Six Flags, etc. While the park has some 'modern' rides, it also has some that date back to the 20's and 30's. Click here for more Knobels information and description. The twins were super excited about the whole adventure and it was not hard to tell that they enjoyed every part of it. Click here for photos.

Resting Among Pennsylvania Magnolias

Considering our recent time spent in Mississippi, it is probably fitting that we should now find ourselves nestled next to a Magnolia tree. As we spend some time in PA before we mosey on down the road, it has been a very nice time to visit family. The weather has been mostly cooperative and we're likely to remain here for another couple of weeks before striking out again to discover what lies beyond the next bend or over the next mountain. Unfortunately, we've begun to question the wisdom of continuing our original plan to spend the Summer months in Alaska. As everyone knows, fuel prices continue to soar and we've made some realistic (and sobering) estimates of the cost of our travel plans and we will continue to monitor the situation while considering alternatives over the coming weeks. We can't help but think that there are others of you in our situation (RVing full time) that are having similar thoughts about now...shorter trips and longer stays in one place. As much as all this may alter some plans, there is no dampening of our enjoyment of this sort of life and all that it has to offer.

A Temporary Return to PA

Oops!

On Sunday, the Thirteenth of April, we arrived in PA for a stay and visit of a month or so before continuing our journey which will take us across some of the Northern parts of the US before we head up into Western Canada on our way to spend most of the Summer in Alaska.

True to form, we found some parts of Pennsylvania highways to be about the worst we've encountered since hitting the road in October. We were not more than 30 miles or so into PA when we noticed a tire on the the tow dolly appeared to be a bit low on air. Not being able to discover any obvious signs of a cause, we used our little portable compressor to inflate the tire and continued our trip. We were not more than 40 miles from the end of the day's travel when the tire blew and took a major portion of the dolly fender with it.

We are now on a nice pad that Mike and Lori provided for our stay with power, water, and we can even get some TV reception AND WiFi! We will be quite comfortable here while we visit with friends and family, take care of some necessary business and get the vehicles prepared for the trip to Alaska.

Across West Virginia - Into Virginia

When we left Milton, WVA [about 20 miles East of the KY border] this morning, the forecast for the day was a high of 61 degrees but we arrived in the Walnut Hills Campground near Staunton, VA at about 5:30pm to 77 degrees. After another day of Tornado Warnings yesterday and an approaching cold front that has been crossing the country in this region, we appear to have outrun the front for now, but the forecast for tomorrow here is a high of only 52 - obviously the front will be overtaking us sometime soon.
On our way across the widest part of West Virginia, we traveled on the curviest Interstate Highways that I've ever encountered, not to mention a whole lot of climing and descending - probably never more than a mile or so of flat land at any one time for most of the way. We stopped at the largest roadside rest that I've ever seen, including a huge circular gift shop that must have been 1/4 mile in diameter. There were thousands upon thousands of items to choose from, but it is really quite amazing how our limited storage space will keep us from finding things that we can't live without; however, the stop also included a Starbucks - a first in quite a long time.
If the weather holds, we hope to be enjoying at least some portion of the Skyline Drive on our way North tomorrow and we will likely be heading into PA by Monday, April 14th.
WVAtoVAMountains - Be sure to catch the captions.

Second Week of April - 2008

Country Music Hall of Fame

A beautiful Sunday in downtown Nashville. We visited the Country Music Hall of Fame, walked by some of the many bars (most with live music) of Music Row (even stopped in one to listen and have a bite to eat) and toured the Ryman Auditorium, former home of the Grand Ole Opry. Deb had a chance to revisit her experience of a family trip to the Ryman back in the early 60's - even got to stand on the stage where most of her Country Music favorites stood at some point in their carreers. Even for those of us who may not be the biggest Country fans, there is no denying the historical impact of the Ryman and the influence of the Grand Ole Opry on the evolution of both Country and American popular music. It was quite an honor to be in such an historic landmark and for those of you who really are not at all fond of Country music, you should know that Caruso once performed at the Ryman [as did many other performers]. Be sure to see the photocaptions.

CountryMusicPhotos

Monday and Tuesday we took a trip with Roger and Karen to Metropolis, Illinois. After getting out of the Nashville area, we enjoyed quite a pleasant drive North West for about 170 miles to the banks of the Ohio River and had a first-hand opportunity to view the extent of some of the flooding that has afflicted many of the river areas of this part of the country. As in Mississippi, we did not see any extreme damage resulting from the flooding; however, there was an incredible amount of water covering wooded areas and farmland all along the river. While at the hotel in Metropolis, we actually saw the water's edge reaching to tires of some of the vehicles parked in the lots surrounding the hotel. Oh, and how about some antique slot machines?

OhioRiverPhotos

Wednesday saw us leaving Nashville and heading East to Knoxville, then North to Norris Lake, a spot rather high in the mountains of Tennessee and a bit unusual in our experience as you will see in the photos.

NorrisLakePhotos

On Thursday we traveled from Norris Lake in Tennessee throuh part of Kentucky and on to Milton, West Virginia which is just a bit east of Huntington. Deb drove for the greatest portion of the day, taking us into KY and driving along the Hal Rogers Parkway through a part of the Daniel Boon National Forrest. It was a pretty drive and it was nice to be off the beaten path (and away from Interstate truck traffic) for a while, but the Parkway proved to be somewhat less scenic than we expected. Tomorrow we plan to find something a bit more interesting as we continue our journey through parts of West Virginia and Virginia on our way to PA.

ThursdayPhotos

Nashville: Gaylord and the Opry

Nessie Visits Nashville

Saturday was spent exploring the Gaylord Opryland Resort and the (new) Grand Ole Opry and Museum in Nashville. The Gaylord is a complex of three large hotels that appear to host many and huge conventions, but most notable (to us) and the reason for our visit (thanx to Roberta for the tip) was the two beautiful and huge atrium complexes that are incorporated into the areas between the towers of the hotel rooms. Other than being a bit taken aback at the hotel charging $16 for parking, we spend a very pleasant couple of hours exploring the complex and enjoying all that was to be seen in the atrium enclosures.

In our opinion, the Grand Ole Opry was a bit of a disappointment; first, because we were not able to see anything of the inside of the Opry (and we could not find any shows that listed anyone that either of us was interested in hearing) and second, right next to the Opry is the Opry Mall - yes, a shopping mall - huge in scope and so busy that the nearest parking we could find was on the order of 1/2 mile away from the entrance. Naturally, this also meant a considerable amount of traffic in all areas surrounding the mall. On the other hand, the Opry Museum was a pleasant experience - a step into both the history of the Opry and the evolution of Country Music through the legends that appeared on the stage at the (old) Opry which we plan to visit tomorrow.

Photos of Gaylord and the Opry

From Tunica to Nashville

Painter of Light? Hmmm[You'll have to see the photo captions for more information]

It was a one day trip from Tunica to Nashville - really just a few hours of travel but we made one extended stop at a spot named Casey Jones Village along the way. For the next week, weather permitting, we will be exploring the Nashville area. We had considered attending a performance at the Grand Ole Opry, but after checking the schedule, we've decided to spend our time and money on something we'd like to see rather than sit through a performance that we really did not care to hear. With any luck we'll be clear of the rain tomorrow. Flood warnings and watches continue for the area, but our current location is well out of reach of most rivers except the ones that run down through the campground when the rain is really heavy.

PhotosTunicaToNashville

The Mighty Mississippi

Plying the Mississippi

On Thursday, April 3rd, 2008, it is a very rainy day as we sit here to the SE of Nashville, TN [planning to be here for a week]. As in too many days recently in many parts of the country, we are under a Flood Watch in this area, as we were for the entire time we spent in Tunica, MS. On the day before we prepared to move out of Grand Casino RV Park, we visited an area along the Mississippi River and had an up close and personal view of just how high the water was reaching and while that perticular area was not quite at the point of experiencing really damaging effects, there were other spots just to the North and South of our location where conditions were much worse. Be sure to see the captions when viewing the photos for a bit more information.

Mighty MississippiPhotos

Tunica and Graceland

Elvis' Graceland

In the time since our last blog when the Shuttle linked up with the International Space Station over Indonesia, the Shuttle has returned safely and we have moved from Holt, Florida to Tunica, Mississippi. Although it was our original intent to slowly explore areas of MS on our way North, we quickly discovered that although there are many RV Campgrounds and Parks along the way, there are very few with space available due to a high population of temporary workers located in the available spots who are involved in the building of a number of pipelines in the area. We did manage to spend one night along the way in a spot about half way between Jackson and Vicksburg, MS; however, we were really not at all fond of the location and were unable to secure a spot in Vicksburg where we had originally planned to spend some time exploring. Finally, we had to make the decision to continue on to Tunica where there we found plenty of space available and we also had the chance to meet up with our "Holt" friends Roger and Karen for a few days before they moved on into Tennessee where they used to live in the Nashville neighborhood.

We've now been in Tunica for nearly a week and we'll probably remain here at least another couple of days as we wait for wind conditions to subside a bit. As in Florida, we are experiencing some unexpected weather here, including some flooding of the Mississippi River which is only a few miles from our location. We found a great spot in the RV Park that is part of the Grand Casino complex and we've spent much of the week visiting a number of casinos in this area [will give more detail of all this later]. The following photo link incudes a few shots of the trip and our current location. See captions for additional information. TravelAndTunicaPhotos

On Wednesday we took the opportunity to travel the short distance by car to Memphis, TN, and visited Elvis' Graceland. While not all of you may be Elvis fans, it was quite a nice afternoon of visiting the mansion and other displays that are available, including the automobiles he once owned, costumes, trophies (gold and platinum records, Grammies, etc.) and aircraft. There are quite a number of photos from this visit and captions will give you some sense of what you are seeing. GracelandPhotos

STS-123 Docks with the International Space Station

NASA TV Image

Here are some screen clips from the docking of STS-123 with the International Space Station that took place the evening of March 12th. This clips were captured from NASA TV once again and even though the quality is not great, it is simply amazing to see all of this live [see captions for information]. How about a quiz? When the docking took place at 10:49pm CDT, where was the shuttle located relative to earth (over what country)?

Two additional photos are provided (thanx to Chuck) in the album. Our friends Karen and Roger departed for Mississippi this morning and I have little doubt that they are having some fun at the Beau Rivage as I write this.

Photo Link

Launch of STS-123 [Update - Video Link Added]

Launch Image - NASA TVPress This for Video Link

In case you missed it, early this morning [Wednesday, 11 March 2008] shuttle mission STS-123 was launched with equipment on board to be delivered to the orbiting International Space Station. Yes, we are still located here in Holt, Florida, but no, we are not close enough to the Cape Kennedy launch site to actually observe the launch, although, being one of about 25% of shuttle launches that have been accomplished in darkness, like earlier such events, I'm sure it was quite a spectacular sight for observers within a radius of many miles surrounding the area.

I've always been a great fan and supporter of our space program to the point of setting up my 35mm camera on a tripod to capture photos from the TV from the first lunar landing (no VCR's or DVD recorders in those days) and you could usually find me absolutely glued to the TV for just about any broadcast coverage. Today it is difficult to find much more than a brief mention of events on commercial TV and with our limited (and far from clear) reception in our current location, there was little chance of me seeing much of anything about this launch via the normal means; however, thanx to today's technology, I was treated to a superb account and view of events via NASA TV which I was able to view through NASA's site on the Web.

I'll not bore you with the details, but for those who are interested, you can access NASA TV via this link http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html and you can be sure you will see events unfold as you've never seen them before.

You can see just a bit of what I observed in the wee hours this morning at the following link; keep in mind that these are mostly screen shots so the resolution is a bit rough:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=1443i1v0.8s7768u8&Uy=-lt87zo&Ux=0

Fish Fest at Eagle's Landing

Thanx to a 'care' package that arrived from our Alaska kidz, Tracy and Jeff, today we enjoyed a feast of fish and other goodies with some of our neighbors here in Holt, Florida.

Deb's fishing for Halibut in Alaska a few years ago is a story that's been shared with a bunch of the folks here and so it was only fitting that when the gift of frozen delights arrived a few days ago, Deb decided to organize a Sunday afternoon gathering of about a dozen folks to taste a bit of the shipment. In addition to the Halbut and King and Silver Salmon, there were also contributions of mac&cheese, baked beans, deviled eggs, grape salad, broccoli salad, corn bread, pecan pie and strawberry pie.

It was a perfect day for the event, with 74 degree sunshine all afternoon and just a comfortable light breeze blowing. Deb and Karen fried the Halibut while I grilled the Salmon and others pitched in with the other chores to make it all come together. The meal was superb as was the company and a great (and satisfying) day was enjoyed by all.

FishFest Pix: http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=1443i1v0.69p44r0w&Uy=7nluf3&Ux=0

Heavenly Bodies

On a recent trip West along Interstate 10 between the Alabama/Mississippi border and the Interstate 110 'spur' that heads South to the Gulf of Mexico, we were treated to a wonderful display of the interraction between sun and clouds on the tail end of a storm front that had moved through the area producing some very nasty weather including hail as large as tennis balls in some places and damaging tornados in others, including some as close as 30 to 40 miles from our current 'base' location here in Holt, Florida. Before landing here in December, like most folks we know, we were well aware of the potential for hurricanes along the Gulf Coast, but we were not at all prepared for the extent and frequency of other severe weather conditions that are common to the area. Today we are again experiencing some very heavy rain with a forecast of the possibility of T'storms, tornados, etc. later in the day and into tomorrow.

Last night it was our pleasure to witness quite a nice Lunar show; however, the approaching front was beginning to push a thin layer of high level clouds in our direction and we had to be patient to catch glimpses of the progress of the eclipse, especially during the hour or so of full umbra when we could see the crimson colored moon for only a few minutes at a time.

Use the following link to see photos of the Solar and Lunar displays. Unfortunately, the resolution and light gathering capabilities of our camera does not allow for really nice shots of the moon, but at least it will give you some sense of the show for those of you who missed it.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=1443i1v0.23pn9mps&Uy=o34ghd&Ux=0

Here and There

You've probably noticed that we've not done a whole lot of blabbing, er blogging, lately. No, our computers are not broken, neither have we lost our connection to the internet, nor is it a matter of blogger's block. Over the last few weeks we've spent more time here at Eagle's Landing and less time traveling here and there (Ok, there have been some trips to Biloxi). It is not that we've run out of places to go, it is more a matter of staying inside on cooler and rainy days, spending time in the sun on days like today (sunny and 70) and visiting with the neighbors before we all head off in different directions. For instance, Dick and Sue head off to the Okefenokee RV Park in Folkston, GA, in two days (remember hearing of that place before), Roger and Karen head West into Mississippi about the same time we do (around the 10th of March), Chuck and Candy remain here a bit beyond that and others a bit (or a lot) longer.

There is also the matter of other things to be done, laundry, cleaning and misc. fun things like 5 hours of fixing the water heater yesterday. Hey, you say that sounds just like being at home! Well folks, we ARE at home and not every day can be a vacation; however, it sure is nice to sit back and soak up some sun between chores. Later today we have a Chili Fest thanx to one of the neighbors and Deb has baked a banana cake for the event.

You'll find a variety of pictures at the following link (see captions for info.). The shots of the RV park are thanx to one of our neighbors who frequents a local air strip.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=1443i1v0.6ak4kd68&Uy=ny4pin&Ux=0

Propane Day [Updated With Photos]

[See end of Blog for new Photos]

No matter how it may be represented, propane is a pretty essential ingredient of the RVer's lifestyle. It may be used to heat your unit, heat your water, run your refrigerator, cook your food or, in some cases, even run your generator. Running out of propane is not an option so when the tank gets low, it is time to correct the situation. Now for those in 5th Wheel and Trailer type RV's, this is really not too much of an issue since it is simply a matter of taking your tank(s) to have them filled; however, with a Motorhome, the tank is usually an integral part of the coach and (in most states) this means taking the entire coach to have the tank filled. Well, not a big deal you say, the coach is on wheels & you can simply drive it wherever you need to. True - and while we are traveling down the road on a routine basis, this is nothing more complicated than stopping for gasoline; however, when you've set yourself up in a location where you plan to stay for an extended period, you now have a horse of a different color. When driving down the road day after day, much of what you take with you is neatly packed away and secured, but when you're staying for more than just a day or two in one spot, the photographs are on display, appliances and cooking utensils are on counter tops or otherwise readily availble, computers are hooked up and running, awnings are out, tires are covered to prevent sun damage, there's a tow dolly to be removed (in our case), outdoor furniture to be moved, and the list goes on.


Today was propane day. A couple of hours in preparation to move the 'rig' and another couple of hours to get everything back in place upon our return - all for a 13 mile trip down the road and back (less than an hour door to door). Ah, but then we are not complaining. We did it all on a bright and sunshiny day with the temp in the 60's and we have all the time in the world. It was great to be on the road with our motorhome, for even the short trip to near Bagdad and back and upon our return, our nice neighbors, Karen and Roger from Tennessee, were kind enough to invite us for a dinner of BBQ ribs and homemade baked beans which we were quite pleased to enjoy outdoors on their picnic table [just picture that on the 28th of January].

While it may not be something that we'd want to do every day...Propane Day was really not a bad day after all!

Thanx to Candy - Photos from Propane Day: http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=1443i1v0.g5bpugo&Uy=-o9d7yr&Ux=0

A Rainy Saturday in Florida

New Addition:25-Pint Whirlpool Dehumidifier ENERGY STAR®

Don't get the wrong idea from the title of this entry to our blog, we are still quite happy to be spending rainy days here, even with the high temp for the day hovering around only 50 degrees, as opposed to facing a possibility of snow and such for the afternoon and evening in PA! After all, the current forecast for Sunday and Monday here is temps reaching the upper 60's to lower 70's with sunshine.

So what to with a rainy day? For openers, we jump in the car, head to Interstate 10 and take the 10 mile trip East to Crestview and go shopping at Lowe's - our mission: the purchase of a dehumidifier. In all the cool days we've been experiencing (along with running heat in the RV), we've been seeing quite a bit of condensation, particularly in the front area of the coach (windshield, windows and storage compartments around the driver's and passenger's seats). After a number of discussions with some other motorhome owners, some notes Deb found in the owners' manual and some investigation on the web, we decided it would be in our best interest to do something to reduce the humidity; a major concern being not so much what we were observing on the windshield, etc., but what condensation may exist in places where we can't see it. We checked around a bit (mostly on the web) and found a unit that seemed to be best suited to our needs - hence the trip to Lowe's. We have the unit up and running and we'll be sure to report on the effectiveness we observe going forward for those of you who may be interested or have similar concerns.

The rest of the rainy day was spent mostly in a movie marathon. Deb and Candy (from the Monaco two doors down) spent the afternoon with "Steel Magnolias" and Deb and I spent the evening with "Don't Say a Word" and "Rules of Engagement" until SNL came on (as usual, not a very good show).

As I finish this entry (Sunday morning), the sun is now shining brightly and it promises to be quite a nice day. Oh, and it appears that the dehumidifier is doing a great job, there was almost no condensation on the windshield this morning and I could not find any in the other locations.

Trailers, Temps and Trips

We awoke this morning to find the temperature hovering just above the freezing point and there was evidence that it was well below that over night - frozen puddles and the like. This is not at all 'normal' for this area, but it is known to happen from time to time and although we expect another refrigerator night tonight, we should be returning to more seasonal temps after that. That being said, we still expect a high today that will be around 25 degrees warmer than what is being expected in PA and I heard a blurb on TV yesterday about some areas in the North/Central part of the US that will be going through about a week where the high temp of the day will be sub-zero. I guess we will not complain too much, especially since there was snow in parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia yesterday. In our previous blog entry we shared some photos of our neighbors' rigs here in Holt and one of our readers questioned why there were no trailers among them. It just happens that most of the folks that we chat with here on a regular basis have either motorhomes or 5th wheels (and these types of RV's probably constitute around 75 or 80% of the unit population here). This seems to be the same as the general population of what we've seen on the road and other RV parks. Pictured in today's album (below) are some shots of about 1/2 of the population of trailers that are currently located here - a variety of types (see photo captions). I do believe that there is not a day that goes by that we don't see the name of a model or an RV manufacturer that we've never seen before. We've mentioned our trips to Biloxi, MS before and included in today's album are some exterior shots of the Beau Rivage casino/hotel that we've visited several times. As is frequently the case, these are photos taken through the window, while moving since it seems that no matter our original intent to take some time to look around the area and perhaps visit some other locations while in Biloxi, we get inside the casino and the next time we see the outdoors is when we're heading back home (except for those few moments when we may look out the window of our room, or the front entrance door near the lobby). Photos: http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=1443i1v0.7lsvzpk&Uy=8uuhfr&Ux=0

Eagle's Landing RV Park - The Neighbors [Updated]

[ Chris Has a Solution - See Comments]

We've been here for well over a month now and decided it was high time that we took some shots around the park to give you a better sense of things, at least in terms of our neighbors/contacts here, but since you've already seen some of our neighbors via the recent 'Campfire' entry in this blog, today we treat you to shots of their rigs. While each of us has our own particular reasons for selecting the type and size of our RV's, it is an interesting experience to hear about what other folks think and sometimes we'll tuck away a thought or two that may be applied to our own RV, either immediately or for some future consideration.

Why is Eagle's Landing an RV Park? Thanks to a conversation with Judie and Dick, owners of this park [and Recreation USA Camping Club], there are three primary types of places to stay with your RV. An RV Park like this (and our preferred type) is a property with sites that are pretty much open (not filled with trees). There are some, not many, recreation facilities such as perhaps horseshoes and a clubhouse (like here), laundry, showers and usually a communal campfire location. This is also the type of place that we stayed at in Folkston, GA. Another type, like where we stayed in White Springs, is referred to as an RV Campground. These are generally heavily wooded, have campfire rings at each site and are frequently located at more remote locations. Finally, there is the RV Resort that will frequently include such things as pools, a host of organized activities, etc. As I said, so far the RV Park seems best to suit our needs since we're not real big on acorns dropping on our roof through the night, we prefer beaches over pools and we're not all that fond of bingo.

Time for a new challenge? You've seen Crestview mentioned in some earlier blog entries. Between here and Crestview and a bit to the North lies a community that is not large enough to support a bank but has a school, a pharmacy, a couple of eating establishments, a grocery store, a feed store and a museum. If you choose to accept it, your challenge today is to name the town, the museum and tell a bit about the contents of the museum. BTW...there was NO response to the most recent question so it is possible for someone to score twice in one day!

Unlike most of the photos we've sent your way on earlier blog entries, each of these photos has some sort of caption associated with it - usually the names that belong with the rigs.
You'll find the photos at:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=1443i1v0.ngcdpt4&Uy=63715f&Ux=0

Campfire

Deb Tends the Fire

One of the neat things about the RV lifestyle is meeting other folks from all over the US and CA who, like us, have chosen to explore and enjoy all there is to be seen and done via living as nomads. We are, in a sense, very much like many of the American Indians of centuries gone by, the gypsies of 'old' central and Eastern Europe, or even the Huns, etc., in that we may stay in a given location for a period of time according to any or all of the weather conditions, the things there are to do and see, how much we like our neighbors, or we may simply become restless and ready to move on. I doubt that a motivation to move would ever be that the Buffalo have become scarce in the area, but y' never know!

Back to my initial point, meeting and chatting with people from other places and sharing life experiences is certainly a nice part of the experience. Sometimes it is just a short converstation with someone who is on the move and will be staying for only the night, while other times it is a series of visits over time as we walk around the park or sit around a campfire.

A Day in Destin, Florida

As We Like It!

This was our first trip with our new companion, Ms TomTom. Not having an exact destination to program into the GPS device, we entered a 'Point of Interest' that we knew about that was located along the direction we planned to explore today. The device performed flawlessly in guiding us from Eagle's Landing RV Park in Holt to the Okinawa Japanese Steak, Seafood House and Sushi Bar in Fort Walton Beach. Although we were frequently startled by the voice instructions, we were pretty amazed by the precision of the information that was provided along the way. What I have not seen as a highlight in any of the advertising for the device is the 'home' feature. After turning off the device and just wandering about for most of the afternoon, when we were ready to return to Holt at the end of the day Deb simply pressed the HOME button on the screen and we were guided through the best route for our return. At one point along the way, we decided to make a short stop at one of the National Seashore locations in this area and when we were leaving the parking lot, the GPS picked up on our sidetrack location and proceeded to guide us out of the park and back to the route home.

We had intended to spend some time on the beach today, but although the temperature and sunshine were cooperating just fine, the sea breeze was much too strong to make it comfortable and we left the beach after only about 1/2 hour; however, nothing lost - we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Destin which is located just to the East of Fort Walton Beach. Destin is a beautiful community of streets lined with palm trees, but also highways lined with strip malls and beaches lined with condos and hotels. We managed to find some nice quiet spots here and there and Deb had the opportunity to get many shots of a cooperative Great Blue Heron and some other shore birds. We were very pleased to have had the chance to explore and enjoy Destin, but we can't imagine what a busy place this must be 'in season' with the many thousands of people that could be occupying all the huge facilities in the area, not to mention what the traffic must be like at that time.

Link to Photos: http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=1443i1v0.15udzdsw&Uy=ktycg2&Ux=0

A Return to Milton [Update]

[The Blimp Mystery may have been resolved. See Comments section at the end of the blog.]
We previously introduced you to Old Spanish Trail about a month ago. This time we got photos of the brick road, most of which is no longer in use but parallels US 90 for several miles in this area. Following this return trip to Milton, Florida, as we were leaving the town, Deb suggesting turning on to a side street where we might be able to approach the Eastern side of the Black Water River and to our surprise and delight we discovered a stretch of the old brick road that is still in use. It does not see a whole lot of traffic since there are very few dwellings in the area and only a small marina at the end of the road segment where there evidently was a bridge that is long since gone.

Before leaving Milton, we stopped again at the Veterans Memorial Plaza that sits on the West side of the river and we were again deeply moved by the experience, especially considering that Taps began to sound just as we were walking toward the plaza.

The photo below is just a very small portion of the bricks that surround and serve as walkways through the memorial. The bricks have names of contributors and/or memorials - thousands upon thousands of people who made contributions to the creation of the plaza. While it is not possible to read most of the inscriptions from the photo, it is quite impressive to stop and read some of these and realize the magnitude of the effort that it took to complete this memorial and the number of people that were involved.

Bricks of a Different Color:

To end our day, we were suprised to have a knock on the door of our RV. Roger, one of our neighbors, had spotted a blimp flying West above the tree line following what appeared to be the direcetion of US 90, just to the North of us. While seeing a blimp is not anything particularly unusual, I'm sure this is the first time I had ever seen one flying at night (other than on TV), all lighted up. It seemed to have a name in lights on the side, but it was a bit too distant to tell if it was Goodyear or something else.

Along the Road - First Day of 2008

Mystery Road.

A Stuckey's in Bagdad?

Tonight, all across the region, we are expecting record low temps...into the teens. It is the major news item of the day and it is already below freezing at 8pm. Ok, you folks in PA and other colder areas are not impressed, but here this is indeed a serious situation. People here are simply not prepared to deal with freezing temps for more than a couple of hours at a time (this includes us). According to the local news, there are dwellings that simply have no sort of heating system and there is also the matter of animals, plants, crops, etc. Certainly there are steps being taken to minimize the impact where possible, but there is a very real chance of some crops being damaged to the point of having an impact on some food prices all over the country. It has been at least four years since this region experienced anything approaching what we'll be seeing for the next couple of days...indeed it is suspected that we may see a new record.

On New Year's Day we took a drive to Missippippi for the second time since we've been located here in Florida and Deb managed to shoot a few pictures as we traveled West along Interstate 10. Along that journey, there are many large waterways to be crossed and one series of pictures shows a newly completed bridge that replaces one that was destroyed by Katrina and just to the North of the bridge is a (lower) railroad bridge that was essentially unaffected.

The Q&A items for 2007 have been completed and Vickie is hereby declared the victor! Congrats Vickie the Victor and best of luck to each of you as we begin the next series.

In the first photo above there is an arial shot of the tail end of a length of Interstate highway that is also pictured (more than once) in the following photos. Can you associate the arial shot with the ground level shot and identify the Interstate's numeric designation and location of this section of road?

Photos at the Kodak Gallery: http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=1443i1v0.16gs0f88&Uy=-livnr3&Ux=0

Happy New Year

Thomas Arrives in Coopersburg, PA (not Chester)

We returned to Florida a couple of days ago after spending some time in Pennsylvania for the Holidays. Although the outbound trip went pretty much without a hitch, the return was a horse of a different color. Between delays, then cancellations, then a new flight, then more delay, lost luggage, etc., we are so happy that most of our travel these days does not involve planes and airports.

We returned to a lot of rain (much needed in may areas around this region), followed by a beautiful day on New Year's Eve, but now to be followed by an unusually cold period of a few days which is forecast to include a couple of nights of 'hard freezes' before returning to the type of weather that attracted us to this area.

Christmastide in PA was very busy, but it was nice to have some time to visit with family and to see the twins celebrate their third birtday and enjoy Christmas for the first time that they really recognized what was going on.

We'll now be returning to our explorations and you can expect to see blog entries about all the things we discover.

Have a happy and prosperous 2008!