Aaaargh!!!!! Internet on the road ...

Sporadic, low bandwidth, often nonexistent and NO internet cafes, all conspire to make life as we now know it frustrating to say the least. There are often no Starbucks, MacD's or DQs in most of the areas that we are finding ourselves in of late. So what is done? Curse, yell, pull out one's hair? Simply do without and become increasingly frustrated as the days go by.

That said, we do at times find restaurants that offer free wifi but usually it is when we don't have our computers with us, only our cells and that is limiting in and of itself. Some people are able to ;I've completely off their cell phones, our grands for example, but I find it hard to type on the small keyboards and often times the mobile aspect of what you are trying to do is less than stellar. hmmmm I wonder if I kept a small bluetooth keyboard in the car that I could attach to the cell. Will have to try this today - we have cell service, well 2-3 bars of 3G, in town.

Our tripping across and around America since our last blogging has led us to:
~in and around Texas, as I had a couple of doctor appointments and we had dentist appointments. Finally we were all finished and released and could go farther afield. Didn't take us but a day to revamp the holdings in the RV and set out. Our first stop for other than a night is ....
~Red Cedar, Oklahoma. From here we were able to car trip up the Talimena Scenic Drive, have lunch at the Lodge (yes it is once again open but the campground still has water issues) and down the other side in a circular route. Here we did a couple of geocaches leaving some for future visits. (is that a good excuse for not pursuing them all?) [photos] Danny was also able to get in some mountain biking off-road. Then it was on to ...

~Tulsa, Oklahoma where we had a wonderful visit with DS#2 and his lovely wife. Tulsa is a great city, full of opulent buildings, for the most part, done in the art deco style. There are also lots of green spaces and tourist attractions. One of the amazing museums is about the very affluent Afro-American community that existed during the boom years.
Our trip towards our next stop took us through a couple of interesting areas where we stopped  for an overnight visit and a touristing experience:
    - Roman Nose State Park, northwest of Oklahoma City which allowed us the opportunity to go about in the car [photo]
    - Kingfisher, Oklahoma where we visited a very well appointed Chisholm Trail museum.[photo] It is here that one of my firmly held beliefs was dispelled - the fact that Chisholm (photo) wasn't a rancher driving cattle, but rather a trader who was well thought of by the Indians and traversed the route trading that was to become the Chisholm Trail that the cattle drives followed. He was also the man responsible for helping the government to enter into treaties with the Indians, that they later broke. Oddly enough there was a geocache right in the living display of the museum in memory of the Ma Dalton (they have her old cabin) who had numerous sons of which 4 turned bad.
    - Red Rock Canyon, Oklahoma [photo] where we did a series of geocaches.

~ Caprock Canyon State Park, Texas was our next 4 day stopover. Here the buffalo roamed freely, even through the campsite [photos]. Danny was able to ride a Rails to Trails here that was overshadowed by a threatening thunder storm. There was a tunnel on this route that he was particularly keen on riding. Hiking in and out of the canyons gave for a beautiful scenic day, again overshadowed by the threat of the usual afternoon thunder storms. The wind blew furiously at times while at other times it was but a gentle breeze. This is a state park worth visiting again: the drives through the canyons are wondrous with steep grades at more than a couple of spots [photo]; the wildlife is abundant and not really afraid of people as there are so many visitors to the park; bird are also abundant; we know that there was probably rock art in the area but we certainly weren't adventurous to venture far into the canyons with the threat of thunderstorms and resulting flash floods; and let but not least, we were able to do a few geocaches.

~Albuquerque, New Mexico was our next stopover. Here Danny was hoping to get in some really good mountain biking but the trees had a better idea. The pollen was horrendous, the worst that I have ever known it to be. We both were laid flat with the resulting effects. In spite of taking antihistamines (the non-drowsy kind and thus less potent) we still suffered horribly. Still we got out for some much needed shopping and I was able to do a small amount of sewing. Sewing is hard when your eyes are swollen, watering, and itchy all at the same time.
As we left ABQ and headed towards our next stopover, we happened upon a great little museum a ways off of I-25.[photo] Commemorating the exploits of the Camino Real from Mexico City to Santa Fe, New Mexico, the modern, recently built museum was a history lesson throughout. Much of the information I was already well aware of having traversed parts of it, stopping at all the waypoint informational signs, and yes, even in Texas. Mentioned was the information about a lady who had completed the whole historical "Royal Road" by whatever means it took to go on it, all the while photographing the points, people, and anything of interest. A great coffee table book and from it I can see a possible hiking/bicycling trail/ATVing/4WDing trail in the future. To be so lucky as to have it drivable. Imagine driving something that took a whole year to traverse in that time period.

~Deming, New Mexico was our next stop. This time to visit with good friends. The wind is horrendous so leaves little to no windows for cycling. Both are now in their late 70's, early80's and have slowed down just a very little. B still rides but often times he has to be pushed and prodded by P. to get out and do it. LOL Sounds like me and DH. We did spend the evening playing dominoes - Chickenfoot and within the early learning curve for Moon.

~Rodeo, NM was next up and here we sat at the base of the Chiricahua Mountains and National Monument. [photo] A short drive and we were in Arizona. The park is actually in Arizona whenever we went to the lodge to eat or to listen to the music of the hour, we crossed over into another time zone - 1 hour earlier - which we always forgot and consequently we were always an hour early for everything. LOL
A trip to Douglas, AZ on the border with Mexico [photo] was a day trip. Along the way we saw the monument for Geronimo's surrender. Didn't stop because we wanted to go to Agua Prieto, Mexico for lunch. It was too bad as there were geocaches all along the road and it turns out that the grands great grandfather was the person that Geronimo surrendered to and they would have loved to have a photo of the monument and sign. Oh well, next time.
From Rusty's RV Park in Rode we went to ...

~Reserve, NM where we are currently parked for the next 4 days. Reserve is little community that has  number of restaurants and a couple of hotels. They are a stop for refueling and refreshing for the hikers on the Continental Divide Trail. Our first trip into town and what do we see? A hiker thing to hitch a ride back out to the trailhead. Apparently it is 28 miles from town and traffic is mainly work trucks which aren't allowed to pick people up. So yes, we drove him out to the trailhead. Lo and behold, there are 6 hikers trying to hitch into town. The wait is long, for traffic is scarce: So yes, 3 are brought back to town and then the second 3 are brought in.
Hikers on these long distance trails all use trail names. On the AT (Appellation Trail) Danny's started out as Idigo, his Ngöbe name from Panama but quickly became Easygoing. This is how he introduced himself. We took Numbers out to the trailhead and brought back Paperweight, Sass, and NightWatch, who is from Gr Britain and S Africa. Then we brought back Half Mile (who is a name unto himself), A Float, and The Beast. Was fun talking with them all and hearing their stories. To follow any or all go to: [link them]
hikingislove.wordpress.com
longwayupthecdt.wordpress.com
loncooper.com

Listening to all their stories makes us yearn a little for doing our own hike. But first we have to get back into shape after me being off my feet for 6 months. NightWatch, as well as the other two in the car, were quite interested in the John Muir Way in Scotland [link] and he told us about the West Highland Way [link] as well. Oh boy, two that we can do in Scotland alone and through beautiful countryside - I would think a great late summer or early fall would be the ideal time.
We have one more hike to do after today's - this one actually is up and over the "mountain " and down into a valley in order to explore a trove of petroglyphs and not to forget, the two geocaches - one at the top of the "mountain" and one near the petroglyphs. Today's hike, the Apache Creek Interpretive Trail, was switchbacking up a "mountain", walking along a basalt cliff where many wonderful petroglyphs were found, and lastly a switchback trail down the "mountain".

We are headed towards Flagstaff in a round about way, with an arrival date of May 18. Why so specific you ask. It is so out of character for us. We are headed to the Overland Expo [link this]being held just outside of Flagstaff in Mormon Lake Lodge. Here we are hoping to find the answers to all our questions about a new vehicle (ours is getting to the point of no return) and how to outfit it for some longish trips to Mexico and possibly even farther afield.

A word about geocaching. For me this is a great way to get out and get more than the usual exercise. It is fun for the seek and find as well as the getting there. What isn't fun is when you don't have cell service to fuel you gps and the gps isn't as close to ground zero as it should be. We met a lady in one of the parks who has found over 12,000 geocaches and here I was thrilled when I hit over 225 finds. Will have to get busier than I am currently and find some more. If interested, go to geocaching.com [link] for further information.

And for now we head out again day on Friday heading up and over the mountains of Arizona towards our destination, Flagstaff. Our plans beyond are somewhat fluid after our upcoming trip the first week of June to DisneyWorld with the two youngest grands. That will be a lot of fun. Then we have a trip to Calgary, Canada for a July 2 wedding. Our niece is getting married and it is a great chance to see all the family again. Then, do we turn right and go East or do we turn left and go West? We probably won't even make the final decision until we are actually there. It would be nice to spend a bit of time in Banff National Park and we both are looking forward to an eventual trip to the Maritimes. Will it be this year? Tune in for a final decision ...

Traversing Texas

Our map our travels around Texas is becoming quite marked up [photo], all for the sake of putting 10,500 miles on our new motor, staying within a short 1-2 day drive from the shop. Then another oil change/retuning and we are free to roam wherever.

From McAllen we headed a few miles north along the border to Falcon Lake State Park. A beautiful area with pull through parking slots that are overgrowing with acacia bushes. Before we could properly park, we had to do a few minor trimmings of branches in order to save our paint job. What fun that was.

The temperatures here were again not anything like I had expected. Cool and rainy for the most part. It made for pleasant day tripping however.
Roma is one of the oldest populated towns in Texas, being right on the Rio Grande River (Rio Bravo in Mexico), overlooking an entry point into Mexico. [photo] It has, along side the new modern crossing with all the checkpoint paraphanalia, was the last suspension bridge over the Rio Grande - not in use anymore. Here we walked the bluffs overlooking the river while doing an EarthCache, learning all about the geology of the bluffs. Very interesting to view as we read. The town also had a very interesting tour of architecture from the early early Spaniards and a German immigrant to Mexico who designed and built many of the buildings in the area. [photos] We spent a very interesting afternoon here.

After a  couple of days spent in Falcon Lake and it was on to Laredo, TX, another border crossing but not one that one should use if at all possible. The narco-traficantes are abundant and the violence rampant. It too is a beautiful town, with both very modern and very old areas. The plaza is beautiful, but wait there are two distinct plazas, both with gazebos. On Sunday we toured the plaza areas and could find only a handful of parking spots, 2-3 blocks off and lots and lots of people milling around; families and lover couples alike.

Did you know that Texas once had a republic within it's borders? No, not the Republic of Texas that we have all heard about but the Republic of [the] Rio Grande. The capital was the plaza in downtown Laredo, right by the river bank and old crossing. (their flag) It was actually during the time of the Republic of Texas and lasted all of 286 days. A little bit of trivia for your minds - who knows when it might be a question on Jeopardy. LOL
[photos]

From Laredo an eastward track was set and we headed for Goliad State Historical [Mission] Park. This is part of the string of missions in San Antonio. The mission itself  was first located in Refugio on the coast but due to Indian hostilities was moved up closer to the mainstream of the mission road. It was rebuilt from the floor up and the exhibits show how life was for both the Franciscans, the pioneers, and the natives - a very hard life, and if the Franciscans had anything to say about it, very simplistic. Education was purely around Christianity and life skills with a goal of christianizing the native population. In touring the actual mission church, and if it has been redone true t life, you can see the indigenous influence in the painte reliefs. [photos]

The state park system spreads helter skelter around the state and has a variety of  reasons for being. Our next stop was Palmetto State Park. Here we encountered a little bit of a swampy, tropical environment that extended not that far out of the borders of the park. Inside, parked amongst the huge trees, it was cool but oh so humid. A very pleasant place to light but the mosquitos are no doubt very vicious.

This stop enabled us to make a dash to San Antonio to try and get my computer repaired. It was a great trip until we discovered that the Apple store doesn't carry repair parts for the new MacBook Air. They have to send it out to the factory authorized repair shop (read overseas) and when it returns in 3-5 working days, they won't mail it onwards. So back we go with plans to head east to Houston. The shop in Houston will be so much easier to get to that the one in San Antonio, from East Texas. This isthe trip that is made the next day - so much for a relaxing interlude in the park. We will be able to drive down to Houston, have a wonderful seafood dinner, pick up the computer and head back to the RV all in one day, unlike the 2 days it would take if we had left it in San Antonio.

And so now are back in E Texas at our home away from home - Double Lake Recreation Area outside of Coldspring, TX. From here it is an easydrive to pick up the mail and also head to Nacogdoches in a couple of days for hopefully the last for awhile, doctor appointments.

Photos will be put up when the computer returns from it's vaction ...

Rain? RAIN?????

What is this? Rain? is that a known rain down here in Monterrey, Mexico? I was under the impression that when we came down it would be HOT. Not!

We are parked in McAllen, on the border of Texas and Mexico in what is commonly referred to as The Valley. To my way of thinking, this brings to mind hot, dusty and forever sun. Instead,what we have is cold,rain and wind. Wearing a sweater all the time and wishing for a fleece. Not the ideal weather for sightseeing at all. But from the weather online, the good news is, this ends on Sunday when we go back to hot temperatures and forever sun but with the desert in bloom.

We left the car in the parking lot near the bus station and rode the bus across into Mexico. What a story to tell with that. As we had to get a tourist visa at the border,we headed directly into immigration as we came off the bus. A very short time later, no waiting lines, just us, and our bus had gone: left, se fue, ciao,  however you say it, the driver left us stranded. The immigration officials were wonderful, and very helpful. The long and short  of it, we had to wait for the next bus to come and they arranged for us to get on it. The second driver was a little upset that the first driver had left us behind and called the office. That was the last that we heard of the situation but I can imagine that the first driver had some explaining to do when he got back.

Monterrey is a very modern city in some parts and very old in other areas. We were located in the newer part as we had some medical to be done and that is where the doctors are. (All is well in that department) You felt as if you were in any of the European cities that we have visited.

While here we re-discovered the joys of Uber. Have you used Uber? They are wonderful. i have heard some horror stories but each and everyone that we have ridden in has been very good. A lot more reliable and cheaper than the forever ending stream of local taxis bouncing down the road, honking at you to entice you to ride. The cars are much newer as well.

The bus ride back was just as uneventful as our ride out and in no time at all, we were back in the US picking up the car and then heading out the next day. And still it rains!

A decision made, and we are off ....

After much discussion and humm and hawing, we have made a decision for the next month of our time. A time delineated by a doctor's appoint for Mar 30. Sometimes, however it seems that our decisions are made to change so who knows when and where ....

 Do you sometimes feel like this? Feel like you left something(s) behind? Luckily for us, we have discovered the use of a travel list - one for car travel, one for international travel, and one for an experience of discovery. They are indispensable. And the luckiest of all is that in the USA we travel in our home and we should have everything we need at our finger tips, right? Wrong! There is always something that got taken out and put into the storage unit that we wish we had at any given time. You can not carry every thing with you and we don't even try. Again it comes down to decisions and priorities.

We have friends who carry their household in 2, yes 2 large rolling suitcases and a day pack. We try but ....

This weekend we are in Double Lake Recreation Area, TX just outside of Coldspring, TX. This is our go-to area for a couple of days for planning purposes. This weekend it is a double whammy: planning and quilting. I am wanting to get DS#1s quilt flimsie done so that on Monday I can take it over to the longarmers before we leave the area. The skies are a beautiful clear blue and the sun is shining, without a cloud in the sky. The temps are up in the high 70's during the day and cool enough to sleep snugly at night. Occasional rain has fallen during the night but that is not the norm of late here in Texas.

We are planning a leisurely trip down towards the Valley and across the border to Monterrey, Mexico. Were planning on taking the RV down as we had heard of a KOA in Monterrey but are unable to find it so will park on this side of the border and car trip/bus trip it down to the area instead. That decision will be made when we get there and assess the situation of the time.

I am planning also this weekend, to get the old bike out and to start to ride again. It has been a long time. Danny has bought me special pedals to use until the swelling in my foot goes down enough to get my keene cycling sandals on and thus be able to use my clip-in's.

And then out comes Miss Betsy so that I can work on DS#1's quilt. While sewing, I will also start to watch the BBC's mini series War and Peace, compliments of my friend in England. Thank you Paul.

 

 

A weekend of music

Louisiana is a state, like all the states, of diverse cultural differences. The Acadians were shipped from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada to different places in the 1700s, with New Orleans one of these places. This has been immortalized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem called "Evangeline", written in 1847. Their history, from their arrival in Louisiana down through time to today, is well documented in various museums and general information as it pertains to the specific area that is handed out in Chambers of Commerce and Visitor Bureaus. These people became what is known today as Cajuns and their music and food are the focus of our short visit to the area.

Basing ourselves out of Eunice, LA we have managed to cram in a lot in the short time that we have been here, starting with a trip into the fast food cuisine of Opelousas, our first stop. My favourite snack - deep fried dill pickles with ranch dressing, and the best that I have had to date. A small order but oh so worth it.

 and of course, one could make them like this: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/fried-dill-pickle-coins  but homemade never seem to be as flavourful as restaurant or kiosk style. Wonder why?

As is our norm, we like to make a tour of the state parks to see if we can park there with the RV, especially if we can get a senior discount. Very often these parks have 50Amp service and water in the site but no sewer, so that limits our time. Some great cycling out here but way too many hills to safely get in and out with the RV. Leveling could present a challenge as well.

Another norm is to stop at a local Chamber of Commerce to get the lowdown on the area and happenings of the time. The ladies at the Ville Platte, LA Chamber were just delightful

and all joined in to give a wonderful synopsis of everything, including that this area is the true Mardi Gras area and "why didn't we come down for that?" Leaving, we had our hands full: t-shirts, maps, pamphlets, booklets, and ideas.

 Saturdays in this area for us, all start early as Fred's Lounge (read bar), in Mamou, LA opens at 7:30am and is only open until 2pm with music from 9am til 11:15am.

 They do not serve breakfast, just drinks. So eat first and then come on in

 Where else can one have a bloody mary at 8am? coffee for me, thank you.

The musical part is a never ending line of local bands, each playing for one day, some more famous than others. Others call it a jam session where the players come together to form a band for the day, but I IMHO, doubt this. This part of the morning is actually a live local radio spot: KVPI 92.5 fm playing the Oldies. Smoking is allowed, so allow for stripping, washing the clothing, and showering as soon as you get back to wherever you are staying. People, as evidenced by a couple sitting next to us, come from all over the world to visit Fred's (they came from the US Virgin Islands), listen to music, and dance.

Another recommendation was to visit the Swamp Pop Music museum, which Danny did: He is more thrilled with immersing himself in this environment than I am. The whole culture is a very colourful one, both visual and auditory.

Saturday is finished up with a visit to the Rendez-Vous des Cajuns music radio show(again a live radio show) in Eunice. We have attended this before and enjoyed not only listening to the music but watching the people activities, of which most is dancing. Every Saturday has a different performer and band and is in a mixture of French and English with one week a month totally in French (we hit this one). This is held in the Liberty Theatre and sponsored by the Jean Lafayette National Park of Eunice. Again people come from all over to attend this.

 The RV park that we are staying in is renown for it's own hosting of the music culture of the area. Here we discovered that the week of Mardi Gras 2017 is already booked with only 3 slots left. Of course, we booked as we had tried for days to find just this very thing this year. A lot of good it would have done, as the area books solid a year in advance. So now we have a booking already for 2017 - go figure. It is an odd happening that we actually book so far in advance.

Sunday is not forgotten, even though this is a heavy RC area. One has seen movies with the old saloon down by the swamp, hidden away from all eyes. We Whisky River in Henderson, LA, outside of Lafayette, up and over and then tucked in behind the levee, would definitely qualify for this.

 

 Best we can tell, music is only played Sunday evenings but I am sure that is not totally correct. This again has people coming from far and wide to listen to the music and do some floor stomping. 
This evening was zydeco by a locally famous artist and his band, Geno DelaFose.    The music was very good, the smoke thick, and the people watching awesome. I saw more cowboy hats, belt buckles, tight blue jeans and boots than one would see at a Texan rodeo. Talking with the man who was selling hamburgers et al, most of the “blacks”,  who were the best dressed of them all, are all ranchers and farmers from around the area.
On our way up and over and out, we met a Fr couple who are touring the world over 4 years in their small RV "They do not dance like we dance".

The food has been awesome and if we stayed very long in the area, we would roll out of the RV and have to go on a strict diet. So much deep fried food. I wonder if this is a recently developed food form or has it always been so? And is it so tasty because it is deep fried? And do they deep fry in veggie oil or the good old fashioned pork fat? So many questions: Will have to think about taking a cooking class down here sometime.

 Everywhere you look in the fields, we saw varying stages of water filled fields. Are they growing rice? Mais oui, mes amies! But what are those weird things sticking up in the water? They are farming crawfish and the harvesting is done buy a very strangely adapted boat.

As do all great journeys, this one too had to come to an end. Heading back towards our own fields, we headed to Texas and to the activities that called us back. What will be our next journey, time will tell and you too can discover it simply by coming back to visit us here at Where Are We?

A great visit

On Sunday our friend came in on his bicycle to spend some time with us here in Double Lake Recreation Park in Coldspring, TX.

  Coldspring is right on the route of Adventure Cycling's Southern Tier across the USA.   Danny had ridden with him a few days before from DeRidder, LA to Kirbyville, TX and today, rode out to meet him coming in.

Our visit was great - we garnered lots of great ideas for future activities and hopefully we shared some for him as well. One of the things that would be an interesting trip, albeit long, would be to do the Great Loop in a boat.

 This of course, would necessitate us buying a boat of sometime that we could live on. Heck, we could be like the canal boaters in Holland. It would probably take a year to complete.  

And then there is something like was done by this couple: https://tortugaphoto.smugmug.com/ Their rig is awfully small to live in but heck, that would be just like a tiny house I guess. Of course, one would have to be somewhat like our friends who live in Europe, traveling from place to place, living out of 2 suitcases each. 

Yes, I think we could do that for awhile. Think of all that we could see!

Tomorrow we are heading out. Our stay here has been great and things have been accomplished. The main one is that I finished Mom's quilt for Amylee.

 Danny is holding it up so you can get a sense of the size.

Now on to another project as we also see more of countryside that we haven't seen before.

February 13 and .....

February 13 and that means ... Tah Dah .....> it's my birthday. Yes, today I celebrate another year older, not necessarily wiser, but definitely on top of the world. February is our celebration month - my DH and I both celebrate our birthdays, we have our anniversary and of course, there is Valentine's Day, the old "love" day. We celebrate sometime during the month as all the celebrations are spread out over the month. I leave it to DH to come up with something and we normally end up going somewhere for a weekend. So what will it be this month? Keep tuned for an update.  

We are currently sitting in Double Lake Recreation Area in Coldspring, SE Texas. We have been here a couple of weeks now. Danny is both mountain bike riding and road cycling.  I am trying to get some quilting done but there is always something else that comes along to interrupt the flow that Miss Mojo likes to keep going. For example:

On Wednesday we drove over to DeRidder, LA where we met a friend from the AT - Bert. He is cycling across the lower US following Adventure Cycling's Southern Tier maps. Danny rode with him Thursday from De Ridder, LA to Kirbyville, TX. I on the other hand, sagged this endeavor, and got us home that night. 

 A good time was had by all.

And now today, my birthday, we are heading to Houston to have seafood and maybe see a movie.

We will be moving on Thursday one again but we still haven't decided exactly where. It will probably be either Louisiana or Arkansas however. .......