St Augustine Fl.

Anastasia State Park sits on the beach on the barrier island that protects St Augustine from the storms of the Atlantic.  The day we arrived, the west side of St Augustine was sunny but the island was enveloped in thick ocean fog.  By 10:30 am the next morning the day was sunny and warm.  The fog was nowhere to be seen!  H ditched his long pants and donned his Bermudas for our bike ride thru the park - Up and around each campground loop – taking attendance.  During H’s truck drive on the beach just south of the campground, the angry tide was high and was sending huge crashing waves on shore, in some areas all the way up to the one way-driving lane.  A few times it was a “One – two – three - GO!”  situation.  The most well known symbol of St A is the tall stately, black and white peppermint striped lighthouse, which sends her beacon out across the waves each night.  Her other well-known attraction is the restored 1500’s Spanish fort, the Castillo de San Marcos and adjoining “Old Towne”.    Each year when we visit, we make our pilgrimage to town at dusk to stroll the streets, have an ice cream cone, people watch and enjoy the twinkling Christmas lights.   The horses, decorated with large jangling bells and still pulling their overloaded white carriages, look so very tired as they steadily plod along on their tour routes that surround the pedestrian areas.   The center of the enclosed garden behind the cathedral is filled with large dark red Christmas Poinsettias.  The trees and bushes are strung with thousands of tiny white lights that illuminate the area with a soft glow.  The historic public park across from the stately church is also full of lights on trees, lampposts and the gazebo.  A multicolored Christmas tree surrounded by oversized gifts complete the Holiday scene!   The families with their excited children, the young lovers holding hands as they strolled and the old folks with their canes and silly flashing Christmas necklaces were all out enjoying the evening just like we were!   The time had come, however, to head back to the awaiting condo and settle in for the remainder of the night because the next day was a moving day.  We were moving to Salt Springs in the morning!

South Again

Have you seen the storms that have been stomping across the entire nation?  Our plans originally were to leave the semi frozen north and head south on Friday but with the impending threat of the raging storm – we tucked our shirttails in and latched on to the over loaded “condo” and headed south.

Hopefully we were going to make it south of the “Mason Freezin Line” before the ice and snow caught us.  Instead of stopping at our customary Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, we forged on to Tennessee and found the Volunteer RV Park just south of Clinton and just north of Knoxville.  Steve was unable to meet us for supper so we drove the 30 miles – up down and around the extremely narrow back roads to his little home nestled on the side of the hill on Old Harriman Rd!   It’s not fun driving in the dark - at our age - on headlight absorbing blacktop like that!  Oh, yes - did I not mention that it was raining?   Another problem was that H put in “fastest time” for the GPS to get us back to the “condo” which took us all the way down to US 40 in Knoxville and then back up 75.  Oh, well, we made it.

Friday was still wet but we pressed on thru the Smokey Mountain National Park.  Add thick FOG to our list of fun weather situations!  By the time we exited the park in Cherokee NC – the sun was shining.  Alas – but not for long.   Commerce Georgia was the final stopping place that evening at the Georgia RV (?) Park.  Yes, it rained AND the bathroom facilities are STILL spooky!  But it was the perfect place to stop so we could call our dear friend Bobbie who lives just down the road in Milledgeville!  We had met her and her husband Gene on many of our stays at Moss Park!   SPFBs!!    Gene has since gone on to be with his Lord and on this trip; dear Bobbie was available to meet us for breakfast Saturday morning!  It was GREAT to see her again.

Georgia US Rt 441 is mostly rural and at this time of year, winds thru white fields of cotton all the way to the Okefenokee Swamp.  The Laura Walker State Park is still a great place to park along the peaceful smooth lake.  Met a couple who towed a turquoise blue restored 69 VW bus!

Sunday noon and we crossed the Florida line!  Home for 2 days is now the jungle of Anastasia State Park on the barrier island off of St Augustine.  H is in his tee shirt and Bermuda shorts.   We can hear the ocean from our site!

Now the big question is:  Did Michigan State beat Ohio State last Saturday?

Homeward Bound

New Mexico - and the Rio Grande is DRY!  The White Sands Missile Range is WHITE!  We came thru the San Augustin Pass and the white sands lay out before us, interspersed with skeletal remains of towers and fences from when the area was really a missile range!  Miles from the Mexican border we encountered another “Inspection Stop” – this time the guard on duty was a bit intimidating with his body bulk crammed into a dark uniform, clean shaved head, stern looking face and prominent black eye patch!    The Alamogordo Sands Motel and the Sunset Restaurant finished up our day on the road.  The special of the day was a “Wobbly Wayne” and we could not resist – a juicy chopped BBQ sandwich and a bottle of root beer!   Sunday morning led us up out of town and we climbed steadily to the crest of the Lincoln National Forest – Yes – all the facilities were closed but the road, the tunnel and the scenic pullouts were still accessible and the views were gorgeous.  From the 8700 ft elevation the decent was long and slow thru forests with trees that were finally taller (much taller!) than our van.   The vast pine forests were sporadically dotted pale yellow from trees that had begun their fall color change.  From there on our journey east became a blur. Pump jack fields, nodding up and down as they pulled the black oil from the ground split up the Texas fields of sunflowers, sorghum and cotton.

Years ago – before the days of our blog – H and I were traveling home across the northern states of Wyoming and Montana, and were seemingly playing leap frog with another couple on a big black Goldwing pulling a big black trailer with lawn chairs secured on top.  We finally stopped together and Gene and Betty from Post Texas became lifelong friends!  A visit with them was a welcomed break in our run for home!

Once we hit the interstates of Rt 30, and then 40 – it was all over  - no more slowing down to see what interesting view we were passing because the ‘view” was a steady stream of semi butts and then the massive blank walls of their side panels as we passed them by.  From Dallas/ Fort Worth, thru the entire state of Arkansas to Memphis Tennessee – the “view” was the same.  And we won’t discuss H’s ire about “rolling roadblocks”!

The “Land Between the Lakes” area in north/west Tennessee- south/west Kentucky is similar to the Natchez Trace but since the National Parks are closed due to stupidity – this road was just that – a nice calm road, without semis, to get us north.   Louisville, Kentucky – Indianapolis and Ft Wayne, Indiana to the new Rt 24 interstate thru Ohio to Toledo and we were done.

Thanks for coming with us!   H is now debating whether to get the trailer ready for a trip north one more time or just winterize it and wait for the clock to strike “Go to Florida” time!

Heading East ( Remember you can click on pics to enlarge them )

Toledo’s traffic has nothing on California!  4 and 5 lanes each direction and bridges on top of bridges and off ramps going every which way!    And at 6pm it was 90 degrees in San Diego/ Imperial Beach area.   I saw National City, LaMesa, Lemon Grove and El Cajon go by as we were keeping up with traffic - heading east – outa town.

From crowded populated cities, to rolling scrub desert the terrain then turned to farmland with rows and rows of irrigated fields.   Fields upon fields of lush green hay, some freshly mowed into identical parallel rows.   Some already baled and turned into stacks and stacks of big rectangular blocks of sweet smelling hay.  Stacked so high and wide that they looked like huge pole barns at the far side of the vast manicured fields.  If there were more than one stack, they resembled one of the many trains that we’ve passed on our journey.   We’ve passed thru miles and miles of windmill farms on the way out and now, on the way back there are solar fields of shiny panels all lined up like dominos in mid tilt.   And, no matter which highway we’ve been on, there is the constant companion of a railroad track next to it.  All the way west and now heading east, we’ve seen train after train being pulled or pushed by either 2 or 4 big yellow engines.  Boxcars full of shiny new automobiles going west and empty boxcars coming back east to get more Jeeps!!   

El Centro was our resting place for the night - finally.  If you ever come this way in the future be sure to stop at the Vacation Inn.  Reasonable prices, free hot breakfast and Harry got a FREE BEER!!  I got one too but we know who drank it. 

On Friday we woke early again and were greeted by temps hovering at 76 degrees.  The day was sunny and clear – till we traveled down the road a bit. We passed thru a high pass and then began a long, long ride to the bottom of the barren rock mountains on each side.  The semis were made to pull over and check their brakes before they attempted this downhill roller coaster ride.  As we descended we passed sign after sign warning of high winds and blowing sand.  Nothing like strong winds and blowing yellow sand to make a person thankful that you are not on the motorcycle – or pulling a trailer as big as a roadside billboard!  Winds were blowing the sand sideways and in a frenzy in front of us.   On the opposite side of the road we saw highway trucks pushing sand off the road like the snow plows up north!

Rt 8 rolled into Rt 10 thru Tucson and on to Benson where we aimed to “camp” for the night.  Both Mel and Bud said we had to go see Tombstone that was 20 some miles south of Benson.   Of course, since we’ve been waking up so early, we were just about the 1^st folks to town.  Breakfast was 1^st on our agenda and we found it easily at the OK Coral Café!  By the time the over worked, only waitress served our meal and we cleaned up our plates, the costumed gun fighters and their colorful ladies were sifting onto the wooden sidewalks of this old cowboy town. 

Then the Wells Fargo Stagecoaches slowly rolled up the dusty road, pulled by pairs of matched draft horses.  There was no mistaking the cadence of the steady clip clop of their hooves as they slowly plodded along, ready to give tourists a tour of the town. Most of the shops and “pay to see” venues were closed but we still enjoyed the feel of the town as we went from one end to the other, imagining what it was like when Doc Holiday and the Earps had the infamous fight at the OK Coral.  If we would have stayed longer we could have paid to see it happen all over again, and again!  The original town was started in 1878 and grew to over 15000 residents during the silver rush in Arizona.  When the silver veins ran out – so did most of the folks who called the town home.    And it was getting to be time that we ran out also!

8 Days On The Road To California

We’ve made it to California and we’ve made it to the town where my cousin Alan and his wife Judy live.   I have not seen him since we were both kids.  His folks moved their family out to San Diego area back in the 50’s.  Our grandparents followed soon after that.  When my grandfather had a stroke, my father packed up my brother, younger sister and me and drove out in a 55 Chevy station wagon pulling a homemade camping trailer.  I was about 12 or 13.  Now, Alan invited us to join them for dinner at their home on Tuesday.  Before we were to arrive, H and I did some shopping and also found several historic places and parks to explore, including the Yucaipa Regional Park.  Too bad everything was so very dry and what was left of the 3 lakes was a slimy green like the Algae Bloom in Lake Erie.  Prospect Park was the home of a historic mansion but we enjoyed the park’s shady grove and fixed lunch instead.  Alan is a retired teacher, now turned artist, fisherman and excellent cook.  Judy is still teaching and when not working, she serves tea parties or sweet-talks her 3 kitties!  Together, they travel and run marathons in ALL 50 states!  It was well after dark when we said our last goodbyes and trusted our GPS to get us thru the narrow, up and down roads back to the interstate and our motel.  Only one miss-turn but we made it!

Now it was time to head for the beach!  We’d been on the road for over a week and still have not see the Pacific Ocean.  You’ve heard all the horror stories about the smog and the crazy traffic and the confusing expressway signs in and near Los Angeles  - They are ALL true!   White knuckled, H maneuvered our grand old van thru traffic and we safely exited Rt 5 in San Juan Capistrano and found the beaches and then headed south, keeping as close to the them as we could and stopped at the various fishing piers or sandy shores.  Every stopping area had its share of surfers, patiently waiting on their boards for a good ride, however, most of their rides ended in topsy-turvy crashes in the roaring white waves!  In Oceanside we walked out on the longest wooden pier on the coast.  What a grand view of the endless coastline!   In the morning we realized we were traveling on “Historic Rt 101” and learned that this eclectic road was just like our Beloved Historic Rt 66!  The original road was a 1777 Spanish trail built to go from one mission to the next all the way from Mexico to the Canadian Border.  In 1925 it was designated the Pacific Highway.  She led us all the way down the coast, thru Encinitas, Solana Beach, in and out of several mile long state park beaches.  Sometimes the road wound along high cliffs and sometimes thru towns that celebrated the California life, complete with OLD VW buses, Mustangs and antique Winnebago motorhomes.   In LaJolla we pulled into another parking spot. This one clung to the side of a high windy cliff.  The foul odor that smacked us in the face as we opened the van doors was unmistakable – below us on the wet rocks were sea lions!  LOUD squawking sea lions! Pelicans, sea gulls and cormorants, too!  We had unknowingly found the Seal Beach and Ecological Underwater Preserve.  Huge white waves crashed on the cliffs and rocks all along the rugged, curved shoreline.

San Diego is not the quiet peaceful town anymore.  It was by accident that we found Old Town Historic Park, most of which is now restored to its 1872 era.  From there we sifted carefully thru the rows and rows of traffic and found the Harbor and the Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum.  Luckily we got a great parking spot and were surprised to see the same Naval Sailor Kissing the Girl – Just like the one in Sarasota Florida!  San Diego is also famous for the Coronado Bridge and the Strand Boulevard.  After all that, H was done – and it was time to get out of town.  Did I mention the traffic?   We know the van does not make “U turns” as good as the bike does but she did her best and we did get out of town.   The beaches and the surfers are gone – we are heading east.

Las Vegas

 There may have been frost on the van at 7am but by noon it was 80 degrees and then up to the mid 90s by mid afternoon!

Our last section of Route 66 for a while was from Williams to Kingman and from there we headed north on Rt 93.  The next stop was in the very bottom corner of the state of Nevada - the 726 ft tall Hoover Dam and the magnificent view of Lake Mead behind it.   In 1994 we flew to Las Vegas with R&N and rented a car to drive out to see the famous huge dam.  If you are wondering – the dam is 45 ft thick at the top and 660 ft thick at the bottom! Now there is a skyscraper tall bridge that spans the Colorado River just 1500 ft down stream from the dam.  The river looks as if it is a mile below us but is really only 900 ft down.  ONLY?   The dam and bright blue lake that it holds back is just as breath taking as ever, however the lake level is way down and various islands are now clearly visible where there were none before.

 

From there it was 30 miles to Las Vegas.   Once we were settled in our motel, we bravely set out to walk the block to the “Strip”.  H’s first objective was to find one of the newer casinos – New York New York.  We recalled how busy the street was back in the day and today the street is 6 lanes wide with even more bumper-to-bumper traffic and sidewalks crowded with even more camera and cell phone toting tourists.  Thankfully there are now pedestrian escalators and walkways that cross over the streets, joining one brightly lit casino with the one next to it.   We started out at Bally’s, checked out Paris, crossed over to Excalibur, then to New York New York.  Down on street level we kept going, past Mirage with its red rock waterfalls and volcano and finally reached the Treasure Island Casino with the old pirate ship show.  The ships are still there and still put on a good show but it’s no longer all pirates but are now “vixens”.  As we journeyed the mile hike back to our motel after the sun had set, the millions of bright lights and flashing neon and LCD screens did their best to put our senses on overload!

In the morning we climbed in the van and attempted to go downtown but there were more casinos in front of us.  We parked in the Tropicana’s mostly empty lot and passed thru the spacious marble entryway.  Their breakfast buffet was $18 each so it was thru Tropicana and over several more bridges, finally ending up back at MGM.   In 1994 the downtown casino area was just being covered up with a high domed canopy and the streets were being turned into pedestrian walkways. Yes, the Golden Nugget’s flashing gold sign and the tall neon cowboy are still standing high up in the metal arches.  The cowboy’s hat is not as tall and his arm no longer waves to the passersby below.

Monday morning – we are both ready to blow this town and head for some peace and quiet.  We got it -  Rt 93 then further south on Rt 95.  The busy traffic of “Lost Wages” gave way to rolling low hills of the California high desert, passing thru small gray towns before ending back on Rt 40 and a portion of our Route 66!    Rt 62 led us west thru towns like 29 Palms and Yucca Valley before we entered into Joshua Tree National Forest.   From the highway the “forest” and mammoth rock formations were almost non-existent but once we were a few miles into the park the trees appeared everywhere and in the most twisted forms.  H even noticed that several of the cactus looking trees had bursts of pale yellow clusters of flowers growing out of the palm tree looking branches.  Double click on that picture and you should see the clusters just beginning to bloom!   Back on the highway we headed for Redland and Yucaipa California.

California or Bust part 2

 Gotta keep moving!  Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona!   We’ve been putting between 350 and 450 miles on the van each day – jumping on and off of Interstate 44 ( and then 40 ) to catch the highlights of Historic Route 66.  Each day we’ve gone thru another time change that has thrown our body’s time systems off!   We’ve watched the terrain change from rolling farms to vast prairies of blowing waves of grasses, to miles and miles of scrubby brush with flat-topped dark colored hills in the distance.  Miles and miles of  - - miles and miles!  Cool at night and up to 90 degrees in the daytime!   Most of our accommodations have been just fine but we’ve also stayed in a typical “Route 66” vintage motel with no wifi and not much of any other accommodations – including a comfortable bed.

In Claremore, Ok, we stopped to see the Davis Gun Museum with its collection of OVER 10,000 guns.  Even H had trouble taking them all in! We saw a big silly looking blue whale sitting in a small pond just outside of Catoosa.  We drove thru towns with names like Sapulpa, Depew, Stroud and Chandler.  In Chandler we spotted a restored 1889 round red barn.   In Elk City we had our own early morning tour of their restored “Old Town” complete with the biggest Route 66 sign of all.  Texas had its share of small towns with their own collections of 66 memorabilia.  In Groom it was a leaning water tower and in Amarillo it is the line up of half buried Cadillacs, standing nose deep in the dirt by the highway.  In Santa Rosa, NM, we stopped to see the Blue Hole and adjoining park.  What a treat!  Too bad we left our snorkel stuff at home!  The water was deep rich blue and the temp was 61 degrees. The boulder-lined pool was 60ft across and 81ft deep and bubbled with 3000 ( Yes - 3 zeros! ) gallons of water per minute!

  We drove the entire Central Ave in Albuquerque, NM – the longest main street in the USA according to our “Route 66 Adventure Handbook”!  Arizona made us stop and once again drive thru the beautiful and ever amazing Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park!  The last time we were here we were on the bike and did not get to stop at too many turnouts.  This time, H gave in and was amazed by the colorful vistas and the mammoth deep veined logs that have been turned to stone and crystal over the millions of years!  Holbrook Arizona has a Wigwam Village Motel that drew us in to check out the restored tourist cabins, each in the shape of a large white teepee.  Each had a sweet old classic car parked by its door.   Several old tow trucks were parked under the front canopy as if ready to go assist a tourist having car trouble on a hot day.  

And then there was Winslow!   Remember the Eagles’ song – “Take It Easy”?  The lyrics call for standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona and also a line about a girl in a flat bed Ford, slowing down to take a look at me.  You bet – we were there!

Our goal for that day was to make Flagstaff – a pretty college town nestled at 7000 ft up in the mountains and surrounded by dark green Ponderosa Pines.  But I must mention that it is the home of Northern Arizona University and it was “Parents Week” so we pushed on - 27 miles more to Williams where motel rooms were more plentiful and lots more affordable!  Alas – they were also without the above-mentioned amenities.   H said we did have wifi but the room was too small to get the laptop in it!   The antique air-conditioner/heater did work well enough though since it was almost 90 degrees when we parked and there was frost on the van when we left the next morning!

Next is Nevada – Hoover Dam and Las Vegas, aka Lost Wages.