Thanksgiving

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We sure did. We always have such a good time at Joe's house with his family and their friends. Thanksgiving isn't just one day at the Thomas household...it carries on throughout the weekend at their beach house in New Smyrna Beach (where we parked our RV in his driveway again). I'm so bad about not taking pictures when I'm with family and friends. That's really something I should try harder to do, but I find that I just enjoy 'being' in their company. But we played football (I'm still sore), croquet, ping pong, some went surfing, some went biking, etc. It was a nice way to bring our trip to it's conclusion.

At first when we arrived in New Smyrna we were coughing from a rare Red Tide that had floated into the area. Thankfully it cleared up after a couple of days so we could enjoy the beach. I couldn't imagine being back on the Atlantic Ocean and not being on the beach!

We'll be home tomorrow. Then we'll be busy unpacking, cleaning the condo, visiting with friends, getting services reconnected and all of that kind of 'stuff'. Talk to you later...

We're Breaking Records

If you read our blog, you already know we're not long-distance drivers. 150 miles in a day is considered a good driving day in our dictionary. 300 miles is an extreme for us. So you'll be shocked and awed by our last two driving days: yesterday we did 375 miles! And, today we did 465 miles!! Wow! Who are these people? Well, we are trying very hard to get to Orlando to spend Thanksgiving with Andy's brother and his family. It's tradition and we've only missed one year that we can recall. We were close enough to give it our biggest effort, and since it was a weekend and we didn't have to worry about the market, we figured we'd go for it.

Achy backs, sore butts, highway hypnosis, crossed eyes...all this and more gives me more respect for the OTR truckers and our RVing friends, Lynne and John, who cross the country in days. Lynne and John go from job to job zigzagging the country as needed - they went from Port Townsend, WA to Melbourne, FL in something crazy like eight days just a few months ago. I truly do not know how they can do it. But, I'm sure it is because we never had to.

Because of our latest travel experience, we've also had a few firsts: 1) we've never driven our RV in the dark before (sounds crazy after 4 years of RVing, huh?); 2) we've, therefore, never pulled into a RV Park in the dark before and had to set up camp in the dark (we always felt sorry for those that had to backup and connect in pitch blackness); 3) this was the first time we maxed out how long we could tow the car before having to re-run it through it's gears; and 4) we're staying in the worst park ever in our history (if we could've seen it when driving in, we probably would've driven away! ha!)

Gator Hunting

We know we're close to home when we can go hunting for alligators. No, no, not with a gun - with a flashlight! All you have to do is take a walk along a waterway and shine your flashlight over the water. When you see a red dot, or two, or four...you found a gator(s)! Their eyes reflect red in the beam of light. We went gator hunting in Huntsville and 'caught' one. We tried again last night in the bayous of Weezeeana (we just love how the locals pronounce the name of their state).

Texas

It's been almost a week since my last post so I thought I'd update you on where we are and what's happening. Nothing too exciting. After leaving Balmorhea we spent one night in Fredericksburg...a great little town with a microbrewery and nice shops. It has definitely grown since our visit in 2004. Rumors had it that Pres. George Bush, Sr and his secret service were in town for the Veteran's Day affairs. Fredericksburg is the hometown of Admiral Nimitz.

Then we moved on for one night in Brenham before deciding to head slightly north to check out Huntsville State Park. We felt the need for some exercise and Huntsville has a trail system for hiking and biking. The park is known for its trees, so we called ahead to see if there was a possibility to get our satellite dish to work and were told that some sites are open. As soon as we drove into the park though, we knew we were in trouble. When the dish couldn't find the satellite after we first set up camp, we decided that we had to go for a bike ride before dark. Great trails! Then we tried moving the RV back and forth (in the dark) to bypass the trees in our site to see if we could find that magic spot to make the dish work. Our neighbors must've thought we were nuts! We finally gave up and realized that we couldn't stay in this beautiful park - huge campsites, ours was on the water, just a quiet and peaceful place. So bummed, but work has to come first.

So we moved again for the fourth day in a row. We couldn't go far, though, because our mail was being forwarded to Huntsville. So we're now in Willis, TX about 20 miles south of the State Park. Sometimes things happen for a reason, though. I got sick with a cold (couldn't have biked anyway) and Andy got to wash the RV (we've been trying for months to do this).

RVing Defined

My girlfriend, Jen, busted my chops the other day because I was whining about not being able to stop and see Chiricahua or State Parks. She got me thinking about why it bothers me so much to not see places as we travel. So, here are my thoughts. An RV is a "recreational vehicle", right? If you take away the 'recreational' aspect of it, then it is just a vehicle. Which means, if you are not using your RV to tour and explore, then you are just driving a vehicle across the country. Which sounds more inviting to you? So, we'll keep the 'recreation' in our vehicle and keep touring and exploring...because it's the driving part that is no fun.

Unfortunately for you, that means you'll hear me whine once in a while when we've had a few consecutive days of long driving and no time for the good stuff! Sorry!

Balmorhea State Park, TX

We love Texas State Parks - they continue to please us with every visit. Not to mention they have a great informational brochure, a great website, and friendly staff. And since it takes so long to cross the state (880 miles on I-10), we find that buying the annual State Park pass saves us money. So we headed to Balmorhea to check out the spring-fed swimming pool that this State Park is known for. It was so big, I couldn't get it all in one photo. It was Texas-sized.At first glance, we were a little unsure because the concrete steps and concrete bottom were covered in algae, and it is only 72-76 degrees year-round. Chilly for us! But after walking around the pool we realized that half of it is natural - rock bottom, plant life, fish, soft-shelled turtles - then we said "cool"!
Can you tell Andy was excited to check it out? We had our swim goggles with us (no snorkel gear or wetsuits) so we swam around and checked it all out. It was like swimming in the ocean at home with lots to see...well, except that we couldn't stay in too long. Thankfully the hot sun warmed us up quickly when we got out. But, boy, did it feel good to get submerged.

Deming, NM - Rockhounding

Ended up staying for one more sleepless night in Deming. Winds and work had changed our plans. The good thing that came of this was that we were able to revisit Rock Hound State Park. We had been here before and remember enjoying the park and we had even gotten to see Ibex. I had noted in my journal that we didn't get to hike the nearby Spring Canyon SP, so our first attempt was to visit that section. That wasn't to be on this trip either - it is closed on Wednesdays and it is only open to 5pm which is probably why we didn't hike it in 2004. Oh, well. We drove back to Rock Hound...

This park is different because they encourage you to keep any rocks you find - geodes, thunder eggs, etc. We have yet to find those kinds of rocks, but I still enjoy hiking the hills and looking for wildlife. Signs warned us that it was tarantula mating season in Oct and Nov, and asked us not to kill them, that they are harmless. We had kinda hoped to see one, even though it would have given me nightmares for the rest of my life.
The rocks are such a variety of colors, that you can't help finding yourself becoming an amateur rock hounder. My favorite was this pink Jasper...

Deming, NM

When we left Casa Grande, we didn't know where we'd stop. Our first thought was Benson, AZ but only because we like the RV Park, Cochise Terrace - but that was way too short of a drive. Then we considered Willcox, AZ so we could visit Chiricahua Nat'l Monument - but we realized that in reality we wouldn't have the time during the week to really visit the park the way we'd like because sunset was now at 5:30ish. So we just kept driving...we even drank our first Monster Energy drink to keep us going on this drive...and ended up in Deming, NM. There are three State Parks within a 30-mile drive from here, so we thought if we stayed we might be able to visit one of them. Unfortunately, train and highway noise kept us up last night so I'm sure we'll be leaving tomorrow...which means we won't be visiting the State Parks on this trip.

Casa Grande, AZ - Friends

While in the Phoenix area, we stayed in Casa Grande to be close to Jim and Chris. They are living and working at Palm Creek Golf & RV for the winter months. It's a beautiful place with every amenity and activity you can imagine. Normally RV parks might offer a swimming pool, jacuzzi, a small library, perhaps a pool table and so forth. Palm Creek, however, has all that plus a silver smithing shop, a lapidary shop, a computer room with high-speed computers available, a sewing room, a model plane airstrip, and so much more. Of course, all of this comes at a price and that price was a little too steep for our budget.

While filling up gas at a Flying J back in St George, UT, someone (who realized he had a captive audience at the gas pump) handed us a promotional flyer to visit a membership club called Western Horizons. We'd get 20 free nights if we listen to a 1 1/2 hour presentation. There just so happened to be a Western Horizons park 5 miles away from Palm Creek, so we thought we'd take advantage of the promotion. To make a long story short, we don't see ourselves buying into WH at this time because we don't see the financial advantage if we're not full-timing and because we tend to be destination-travelers. By that I mean, we travel to certain areas to visit a National Park or State Park not to spend our time in the RV resort. But as with everything in life, things may change. So, we'll keep membership parks like Thousand Trails, which Jim and Chris belong to, and Western Horizons in mind for the future.

Eventhough we got to spend time with Jim and Chris over the week, it just wasn't the same as when we are in the same park together. In the past we always parked next to them and could yell out the window to one another, or I'd join Chris on a walk with Odie, etc. It was nice having the spontaneity of being next door neighbors. But our conversations are always special - the joys and challenges of RVing, running a business, earning an income on the road, etc. We always go in depth with them, which is so refreshing when you sometimes feel isolated on the road.
Our last hurrah was breakfast at Cracker Barrel before Andy and I continued down the road - another day with a destination 'unknown'.

Phoenix, AZ - Family

We had a wonderful time visiting with my sister, Kathy, and her family. They moved to Scottsdale in the summer of 2005, so it had been about 2 1/2 years since we've seen eachother. Boy do kids grow up quickly in that amount of time! We went for a hike in the Cave Creek area, which had beautiful Saguaro cacti dotting the landscape.The funny thing was that they promised we would go rockhopping in the creek along this trail. And warned us that we might get wet. So here are our three "kids" rockhopping. Notice anything odd? Yep, no water. The creek was bone dry. But we still hopped on the rocks, and admired the variety of stones and plant life, and just caught up on all the changes in life.
Coming from the Philly-area, they are experiencing a new and different life in the desert. They shared stories of quails, bobcats, rattlesnakes, tarantulas, and the like.