Morels in Bryce?

Apparently, we have missed one of the best mushroom hunting seasons in years. Of course our dear friends who have been enjoying these delectable little fungi have reminded us of this. Well get a load of this...

Eat your hearts out!

Pilot To The Rescue!

Today we got our first flat tire of the trip. We stopped for gas and Bill happened to notice that one of the tires on the travel trailer was low. When he filled it, it went, "Pop!" Whatever was lodged in it came out in a big hurry along with all of the air. Ta da!!  Pilot Travel Center Gas Station




saves the day! Not just your average gas station, we were lucky enough to be at this one. With their flat tire repair kit, Mr. Fix It (aka, Bill) took care of that little hole in no time. (Credit goes out to Joe Moore for this one! His showed Bill how to do this.) Despite how it looks, it's holding up so far. We are on the road again, heading for Flagstaff... Thank you, Pilot!!

Desert Beauty

 

I have always been fascinated with the southwest. Not because I hail from there but because of the feeling it invokes when gazing across vast open spaces with all of its dry beauty. Yesterday those feelings were in full in gear when we biked our way around the 8 mile loop in Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Arizona. This place looks like a desert botanical garden with the many varieties of cactus beginning to bloom. Dashel's favorite (and perhaps mine too) are the Ocotillo with its long spiny arms sometimes adorned with delicate green leaves and many with blazing orange-red flowers atop each arm. Gorgeous. 

Our first sighting of the famous Saguaro cactus was driving on I-10 as we approached Tucson. These human-like cacti are better in person than in cartoons. It's hard to believe how tall they can grow--frequently over 30 feet. The boys were quite captivated by them. We also encountered our first rattlesnake of the trip--albeit a deceased one. And a baby at that.

After our nature ride, we surprised the boys with a visit to the Pima County Fair just down the road from our RV park. The county fair's we are used to are about 1/10 the size of this one. Must be a featured event for the folks in Tucson. Incredible midway with rides I had never seen before. Plus really clean. I never thought I'd encounter elephants in the desert.

Don't Mess With Texas!

Well, we did mess with Texas--in a good way. Catching up with our dear friend Rhonda Meyer Vivian, her husband Patrick, and her parents Bob and Barb Meyer was a special treat. The town of Comfort where the Meyer's have a 20 acre ranch brought just that. Bob and Barb are more than just good people. They are saints for putting up with our crazy boys while Bill, Rhonda and I toured some local Hill Country wineries. I saw this donkey at a new winery. Bill says I can get one of my own.

We then hit the road to our next destination with 25 mph winds blowing us and our Travel Trailer along Hwy 10. She's quite a sight, isn't she? We made it to Big Bend National Park in southwest Texas to run the Rio Grande river in Boquillas Canyon. In a word, spectacular. Or should I say, poo. Burro poo, that is. Lots of it. And burros too. Have you ever been awakened by one of these creatures braying in the middle of the night? It sounds like a fog horn.

Oh and did I mention how hot and dry it is on the river? This is what my skin looked like (and still does).

It was an epic adventure replete with beautiful scenery, good food and lots of paddling. Plus some extra sights along the way.

From the Emerald Coast to Bourbon Street to San Antonio

It's amazing to me how our country is so different. Driving from Florida through Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana to reach Texas is quite an experience. In Lousiana on I-10, we drove over the 10th longest bridge in the world (not over a body of water). The Achafalaya Basin Bridge is about 18.2 miles and carries you over swamp land, parts of which were absolutely stunning. Texas brought cacti and Bluebonnets along the highway. Texas, by the way, is a very big state if you hadn't noticed. I am sure the scenery here will change abundantly.

RV TP

Did you know that Lowes sells RV toilet paper?

Ferries, Forts, Fins, Fans and Fishing

It's been a jam packed 5 days since my last post. In our continuing efforts to deprive our children of sleep, we kicked off Tuesday with a 5am roll call. Off to the Yankee Freedom II ferry in Key West for our day at Garden Key to visit Fort Jefferson. After the 2.5 hour ferry ride to the Dry Tortugas (meaning no fresh water available), we were treated to an historically rich tour of the Fort worthy of praise from the likes of Don Adams (Bloomington North H.S. military history teacher). The US wanted to control entry into the Gulf of Mexico to protect many ports so they started building the Fort in 1846. Construction lasted for 30 years and was never completed. The Army abandoned the Fort in 1874.

After the tour we headed for the Fort's beach for some snorkeling. All but Dashel donned masks, snorkels and fins. Well, he wore the fins at least. This was Gibson's first go at snorkeling and he was a champ. Another first for the boys was becoming a National Park Junior Ranger. They even swore not to touch coral and pick their noses at the same time. We returned to Key West around 5:30pm for dinner and to watch street entertainment. We didn't expect that Dashel would become one of those entertainers. The "Men Who Wear Red Pants" acrobatic/juggling duo chose #3 to assist in their act. Dashel was in rare form as he danced his way to center stage capturing the hearts and laughter of the 100 plus crowd. After chants of "Dashel! Dashe! Dashel!" from his fans, his finale was jumping repeatedly to catch the $1 they were attempting to give him. I wish Dashel would work on his shyness problem.

Now in Clearwater, FL visiting Bill's sister Barb and family, we have already conquered a 15 mile bike ride from the Clearwater RV Resort to Safety Harbor where we dined at Crispers (wish we had one in Bloomington). Dashel was clocked at 16 miles per hour pedaling his once lost but then found bicycle.

3 days in the Everglades and 1 lost bicycle

I always pictured the Everglades as a place with noisy airboats ripping through alligator infested swampland. Not the case. The rivers, the wide open bays and the multitude of flora and fauna were astounding. Did you know there are four different type of mangroves in the Everglades? Birds ranging from cormorants to white ibis littered the skies. Osprey's with their large homes atop mangrove trees were plentiful. Bottle nose dolphins would swim next to our skiff when were boating through the bays to our next kayaking destination. Our guide, David (Everglades Adventures), was knowledgable and full of great stories. A unique adventure for sure.

Our next destination was Grassy Key RV park. En route, we pulled over on the Tamiami Trail (Hwy 41 that will take you all the way to Miami) to check out alligators in the waterways that line the highway. Good thing we did. Once we stopped, the car behind us slowly pulled up and informed us that we had lost one of our bikes about a couple miles back. More like 4 miles back. Good thing we had a bike to go retrieve the other bike. This morning as Bill checked out the bike rack, he noticed a crack in the steel. Geez, you'd think they'd make these racks strong enough to hold 5 bikes and one trailer bike!

How "Hauling Trailer Ass" can lead to "F&$@#%! Out Of Gas"

Can you believe what your on board car computer tells you? It said the fuel range was 22 miles left and we were only 5.3 miles to our turn off. And we were making really good time...

It's my turn to drive

I believe in anti-sway control for travel trailers. It made driving through downtown Atlanta bearable. We are almost 10 hours into today's drive with 2.5 more to go. So should we stay at the Flying J or Walmart?

This was not what I planned!

Okay. I was finally at peace with leaving 3 hours later than expected then we hit Bonnieville, Kentucky at about 7:23pm a mere 4.5 hours into our trip and just 53 miles short of the Bowling Green KOA. Whammo! Traffic completely at a standstill. Overturned Tractor trailer, driver pinned. It is now 8:11 and here we sit. Sort of patiently. At least I am able to start my blog!