We arrive home after four days of driving through, at first, beautiful sunny skies, which change to rain and wet snow by the time we cross the Canadian/U.S. border. Sigh - yes, back to the north, that which we had escaped in the beginning. But it is good to be home, to see our son and the rest of our family and friends. Last impressions:
I describe our trip as magical. We saw so many wonderful things, went so many fantastic places and, of course, made so many great new friends. It is the people we met that stand out most in my mind when I think back on the past five months: Jean and Denyse, Denny and Linda, Janice and Jerry, and everyone else. The campfires, the pranks (still sorry about the rattlesnake Mike and Julie), "happy hours"... such fun! RVers are the best people in the world.
Of the places we visited, it would be difficult to pick a favourite. Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico was a highlight, as was swimming at Balmorhea in Texas, but then Slab City in California was a whole different experience. Camping alone in the mountains in the Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico was so peaceful, almost spiritual, as was camping in the middle of the desert at times. Seeing my uncle for Christmas was a special treat, having not seen him for over 20 years, and he so reminded me of my dad. The beaches in Texas, at least on the Padre Island National Seashore were full of seaweed and nothing like the pristine, clear beaches of Florida - a surprise for us.
Weather-wise, we were caught by how cold some of the states were in November and December. We damned near froze in New Mexico and Arizona and had to buy warmer clothes and blankets. I guess we're just as guilty as Americans who think all Canadians live in igloos and have sled dogs, we thought the southwest would be warm, but there was snow on the ground in many areas due to the elevation - up to 9,000 feet in southern New Mexico. Lesson learned!
Grady was such a good boy on this trip too. He didn't like being in the truck, especially when we had to make long journeys over several days, like from Texas to Florida (three days) and home (four days), but he survived. He never tried to get out of the trailer, even the few times I tried to take him out on a leash - that just made him nervous and he wanted back in the trailer, which I guess was good. But he's happy to be home and he runs all over the house which took him a few hours to get used to.
Texas - the Lone Star State. It certainly is. The people of Texas are extremely friendly and the state is very travel-friendly. RVers are welcome to stay overnight in highway rest areas and picnic areas, unlike many states (like California, a very travel-unfriendly state!). Texas tends to think of itself separately from the rest of the states - it's bigger, it has more resources, it's just different; it's special.
New Mexico - Land of Enchantment. It enchanted us. We had never been to New Mexico before this trip, and we found it had a lot to offer the nature lover. We will definitely go back, but in warmer months. Great people, great land, great hiking, caverns, hot springs, mountains, beauty abounds.
Arizona - the Grand Canyon State. Well it's a claim to fame, but I think they need a better nickname. We didn't go anywhere near THE Canyon on this trip (too far north), but we've been there twice before and it is a sight to behold! We found southern Arizona less attractive than northern AZ, although still some good parks to see and when the sun sets across the desert, the lighting is spectacular!
California - the Golden State. You know, no one I asked in CA knew their state's "nickname". They thought it was "the Sunshine State", but that belongs to Florida. I had to look it up online. So named because of the Gold Rush? Because the setting sun on the Pacific Ocean turns the grasses a golden colour? Who knows. California can be a beautiful state, but it's bankrupt and most tourist facilities are closed. Remember the commercials with Arnold "come to California" - just don't try to find a rest area or Welcome Centre on the Interstates! Great parks though once you get away from the cities - Mojave, Death Valley and Joshua Tree.
Nevada - the Silver State. Well they did and still do find a lot of silver here. Everyone comes to Nevada for Las Vegas - GET OUT OF LAS VEGAS people!!! Nevada has so much more to offer. Valley of Fire State Park is the most breathtaking park I've ever seen. Seriously! And the Hoover Dam offers tours (which we took in 1987). And now the new bridge - WOW! Lake Havasu is gorgeous too (ok, this is really in Arizona, but on the highway near Nevada). London Bridge is in Lake Havasu City, transported stone by stone from England - really.
Florida - the Sunshine State. Actually, New Mexico and Arizona get a lot more sunshine than Florida because the former states are much drier so they see something like 350 days of sun each year - not kidding. EVERY day when we were there, we'd get up and see the sun. It ALMOST (but not quite) got boring. In Florida, like California, we had quite a lot of rain. But, our warmest weather was in Florida, so I won't complain! And the beaches were the best in Florida. We only spent time in the panhandle (northern FL), although I've certainly been to many other parts of Florida in past years. Florida was our last stop before we came home, so it was already spring and everything was in bloom - gorgeous.
So where to next? Well, next time we're thinking of starting out later in the year so we can finish later in the year and see some of the states more in the north - parts of northern New Mexico, northern Arizona, northern California and Colorado. We can't wait and will probably start planning soon. But for now, we're still cleaning up from the past five months - finishing unpacking the trailer, cleaning it, and dealing with five months of mail. I'd rather be RVing!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Calling All Saints
Our last two parks are both state parks on peninsulas east of Panama City in the Florida Panhandle. It's our last week before we start our drive home .
St. George Island State Park is on a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico. We cross two incredibly long bridges that make us think we are in the Florida Keys. Unfortunately, the weather while we are here is horrible. Cloudy and windy for the first day, and steady rain for the other two with severe thunderstorm warnings. So we don't get out to explore much, but we do hike most of the way out to Gap Point where primitive tent camping is allowed. Along the trail are many 50 to 60 foot tall sand pines, one of which is tapped to show how they used to make turpentine; it reminds me of the tapping process for maple syrup in Ontario and Quebec. Unfortunately we have to turn around before we get to the end of the trail because it is getting dark, and we get back to our trailer just as it gets dark.
It's impossible to sit on the beach even when it's not raining because of the wind, but the beach looks nice - beautiful, white sand, and a long stretch of beach for walking, running, or just kicking back and relaxing. The campsites are quite nice, not too close together and lots of trees for shade which would be important if you camp here in the summer. The humidity is already killing me!
There are two ponds as we drive into the campsite area. There is a sign at each pond that says "Alligator. No swimming." Brad wants to take my picture by the sign. So I go and stand just behind the sign and while he is adjusting the polarizer and determining the best focal length, blah, blah, blah, I feel sudden stinging sensations on my right foot. I quickly look down and see that I have about two dozen fire ants all over my foot. I yell to Brad to quickly help me get them off as they are biting me and it freaking HURTS! I was standing on their nest. We get the ants brushed off quickly, but I sustain almost a dozen bites, which drive me crazy for about a week. They are itchier than mosquito bites. From this point on, I watch where I walk.
St. Joseph Peninsula State Park is on a cape about 30 miles west of St. George Island. Thank goodness the weather clears by midafternoon and is supposed to be great for the next few days, because I want to work on my tan before I go home. We manage to book an extra night, and we hear from our Quebec friends Jean and Denyse, whom we first met in Mojave National Preserve and later spent a few days with near Tucson, that they want to come this way to spend a night or two in the area and they manage to scoop a site in this very overbooked park. Here's the story of the campsites - it's really insane.
We are originally booked into site #38 at St. Joe's for Thursday and Friday nights. When we arrive, I ask if there's been a cancellation for Saturday night because we want to stay an extra night since the weather on Saturday is supposed to be so nice and we want to spend the day on the beach. The Ranger tells us "Sorry, no, but keep watching the website and maybe something will come up." But the Ranger Supervisor walks by and says "We could move you to a non-reserved site now for three nights, but you won't get the site you originally booked." "We don't care. We'll take it as long as it will fit our trailer." We work out the details and we're good to go - we move into site #18 for the three days! Earlier this afternoon our RV friends from Quebec, Jean and Denyse, asked us to find them an RV park in this area for Friday and Saturday night. There is nothing available at this park we were already told, and we passed no RV parks on our way from St. George Island, but I had found a list of parks on the internet in a couple of nearby beach towns that I had sent to Jean. However, now our old site #38 becomes available at least for Friday night, so I call Jean on the cell phone and tell him that if he hasn't reserved another RV park (he hasn't), to call Reserve America and book site #38 here at St. Joseph Peninsula right away because we just gave it up. So he does and he gets it, but it is only for the one night. Not the end of the story.
Jean and Denyse arrive around 5pm on Friday after a long drive from New Orleans. We all enjoy Happy Hour, have dinner and a campfire and I tell them that they should continue looking on the Reserve America website to see if a cancellation comes up for Saturday night so they can stay in the park and not have to go to one of the beach towns tomorrow. Jean says, "We are not so good at doing that like you are." "Come on inside and I'll show you how to check," I say. I take Denyse inside and show her how to get to the website and how to search for a free campsite and voila, site #38 comes up as available for Saturday night! Someone must have cancelled! OMG! "Denyse," I say, "your campsite is available tomorrow night. I can't believe it! Shall I book it for you right now?" Denyse runs to the door and "blah blah blah" en Francais to Jean who doesn't believe her at first, but she convinces him and he runs back to their trailer to get his credit card to make the booking. So here we all are for the beautiful, sunny weekend in this usually full state park, sitting on the gorgeous white sand of this fabulous Gulf beach, enjoying each other's company until we leave for Canada on Sunday morning. What are the odds of the stars aligning in the right direction, at the right time? And for the one site that became available to be the site that they are already occupying so they don't even have to move. AND for me to show them how to use the Reserve America website at the right time when the cancellation of site #38 had been made but no one else had reserved it yet. So many pieces of the cosmic puzzle just fall into place.
Brad and I take a hike along St. Joseph Bay, where we see tons of tiny crabs and beautiful views of the bay and the mainland, but here we see a funnier alligator sign than the one at St. George Island (which wasn't funny really). Beside every pond at St. Joe's park is a sign that says "Alligators. Swim with caution." Swim with caution? Who the hell wants to swim in skanky ponds with alligators? Well, we couldn't resist a silly photo. Brad emailed this one to a bunch of friends saying that I'd had enough of him after 5 months (ain't it the truth!).
Anyway, for our last day in Florida, of our 5 month journey, we enjoy the day on the beach with Jean and Denyse and we have our last campfire (we have to use up all of our wood that we got in New Mexico since we can't take it across the border) and in the morning we say our last au revoir to our Quebec friends. Well, for this season. Au revoir nos amis. Adios to the southwest and warm temperatures (although some temps during the 5 months were downright freezing!). Until next year.
St. George Island State Park is on a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico. We cross two incredibly long bridges that make us think we are in the Florida Keys. Unfortunately, the weather while we are here is horrible. Cloudy and windy for the first day, and steady rain for the other two with severe thunderstorm warnings. So we don't get out to explore much, but we do hike most of the way out to Gap Point where primitive tent camping is allowed. Along the trail are many 50 to 60 foot tall sand pines, one of which is tapped to show how they used to make turpentine; it reminds me of the tapping process for maple syrup in Ontario and Quebec. Unfortunately we have to turn around before we get to the end of the trail because it is getting dark, and we get back to our trailer just as it gets dark.
It's impossible to sit on the beach even when it's not raining because of the wind, but the beach looks nice - beautiful, white sand, and a long stretch of beach for walking, running, or just kicking back and relaxing. The campsites are quite nice, not too close together and lots of trees for shade which would be important if you camp here in the summer. The humidity is already killing me!
 |
| Fire ant bites on Marilyn's foot |
St. Joseph Peninsula State Park is on a cape about 30 miles west of St. George Island. Thank goodness the weather clears by midafternoon and is supposed to be great for the next few days, because I want to work on my tan before I go home. We manage to book an extra night, and we hear from our Quebec friends Jean and Denyse, whom we first met in Mojave National Preserve and later spent a few days with near Tucson, that they want to come this way to spend a night or two in the area and they manage to scoop a site in this very overbooked park. Here's the story of the campsites - it's really insane.
We are originally booked into site #38 at St. Joe's for Thursday and Friday nights. When we arrive, I ask if there's been a cancellation for Saturday night because we want to stay an extra night since the weather on Saturday is supposed to be so nice and we want to spend the day on the beach. The Ranger tells us "Sorry, no, but keep watching the website and maybe something will come up." But the Ranger Supervisor walks by and says "We could move you to a non-reserved site now for three nights, but you won't get the site you originally booked." "We don't care. We'll take it as long as it will fit our trailer." We work out the details and we're good to go - we move into site #18 for the three days! Earlier this afternoon our RV friends from Quebec, Jean and Denyse, asked us to find them an RV park in this area for Friday and Saturday night. There is nothing available at this park we were already told, and we passed no RV parks on our way from St. George Island, but I had found a list of parks on the internet in a couple of nearby beach towns that I had sent to Jean. However, now our old site #38 becomes available at least for Friday night, so I call Jean on the cell phone and tell him that if he hasn't reserved another RV park (he hasn't), to call Reserve America and book site #38 here at St. Joseph Peninsula right away because we just gave it up. So he does and he gets it, but it is only for the one night. Not the end of the story.
Jean and Denyse arrive around 5pm on Friday after a long drive from New Orleans. We all enjoy Happy Hour, have dinner and a campfire and I tell them that they should continue looking on the Reserve America website to see if a cancellation comes up for Saturday night so they can stay in the park and not have to go to one of the beach towns tomorrow. Jean says, "We are not so good at doing that like you are." "Come on inside and I'll show you how to check," I say. I take Denyse inside and show her how to get to the website and how to search for a free campsite and voila, site #38 comes up as available for Saturday night! Someone must have cancelled! OMG! "Denyse," I say, "your campsite is available tomorrow night. I can't believe it! Shall I book it for you right now?" Denyse runs to the door and "blah blah blah" en Francais to Jean who doesn't believe her at first, but she convinces him and he runs back to their trailer to get his credit card to make the booking. So here we all are for the beautiful, sunny weekend in this usually full state park, sitting on the gorgeous white sand of this fabulous Gulf beach, enjoying each other's company until we leave for Canada on Sunday morning. What are the odds of the stars aligning in the right direction, at the right time? And for the one site that became available to be the site that they are already occupying so they don't even have to move. AND for me to show them how to use the Reserve America website at the right time when the cancellation of site #38 had been made but no one else had reserved it yet. So many pieces of the cosmic puzzle just fall into place.
 |
| Alligators - Swim With Caution!!! |
Anyway, for our last day in Florida, of our 5 month journey, we enjoy the day on the beach with Jean and Denyse and we have our last campfire (we have to use up all of our wood that we got in New Mexico since we can't take it across the border) and in the morning we say our last au revoir to our Quebec friends. Well, for this season. Au revoir nos amis. Adios to the southwest and warm temperatures (although some temps during the 5 months were downright freezing!). Until next year.
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