March 29, 2019 - Phoenix, AZ to Miami, Florida

Wow. It seems like we were just in Florida and here we are again!

We left Scottsdale this morning on a 5am flight to Miami in order to get on a Panama Canal cruise starting tomorrow. Our friends, Phil and Marcia, are joining us on the 15 day cruise on the Norwegian Bliss. 

We will have limited access to internet because I refuse to pay an additional $300 to use the ship’s WIFI. I will blog, but not post anything until we return to the the US.

In the meantime, sit back, relax, and have a fruity rum punch with one of those little umbrellas perched on the side of the glass and await the reports!

Bon Voyage!

March 20, 2019 - Lordsburg, NM to Scottsdale, Arizona

Well, I am behind! We have been in Scottsdale for almost a week and realized I didn’t finish our bike trip posts!

We left Lordsburg, New Mexico and made a beeline to Tucson, Arizona where we met our friend, Roger. We had lunch together at El Charro Mexican restaurant. Yummy food and good company! It was great to see him and spend a little time catching up.

From Tucson, we headed north and arrived in Scottsdale around 4pm.

Tobey’s bike ride was 2938 miles and the little RV clocked almost 6000 miles roundtrip! We spent some time with an oil change, cleaning and repairing so it will be ready for its next trip.

We are staying with our moms until Friday when we leave on our next adventure – a Panama Canal cruise!

Stay tuned.

March 19, 2019 - Fort Stockton, Texas to Lordsburg, New Mexico

Today we saw bicyclers, lots of them, riding on the same road between Van Horn and Sierra Blanca, Texas that Tobey rode on two months ago. We saw about 30 riders and most of them looked old (or at least older than Tobey!). There was a rest station set up and only one of the bikers was carrying any gear. Maybe it was a day fundraising event, or just a bike group. It would be fun to find out!

 
After going through El Paso, we were thankful to be heading west and not in the eastbound traffic jam.

We also spotted a giant roadrunner as we came into New Mexico. No, it’s not real. It was a huge statue on the hill.

We called the police in Lordsburg, New Mexico and got permission to park overnight at the Veterans Park, just south of town. It has several picnic ramadas and there are actually three other RVs camping here! It seems like it will be a pretty quiet spot.

For our grand daughter – the moon is awake!

Tobey and I both remarked that it took three weeks to bike across Texas and only three days to drive across. He said he enjoyed the biking much more and I would agree. Interstate driving is fast, but not nearly as interesting! We are both anxious to see our families and our dog, Penny, so for that reason, it’s okay. We will be back to Scottsdale tomorrow.

March 18, 2019 Columbus to Fort Stockton, Texas

All along the interstate this morning – and yesterday – we kept seeing beautiful wildflowers. It was difficult to get a picture as we were driving, so Tobey pulled into a rest area and I walked back to take some pictures. That is definitely a disadvantage to interstate driving compared to the small roads we took on our journey eastward. The bluish-purple flowers are Texas bluebonnets. I am not sure what the red flowers are, but from the road they actually look more orange!

We stopped in San Antonio and visited the Mission San Jose. On the way, we passed the Mission Drive In. There aren’t many left in the United States and it was fun to see there is one here.

We took the free, ranger-guided tour of the mission. He explained that the Franciscan friars’ objective was to convert indigenous hunters and gatherers into Catholic, tax-paying subjects of the King of Spain.  The Indians’ struggle for survival against European disease and the raiding Lipan Apaches led them to the safety of the missions and thus forfeiting their culture.

The mission was established in 1720 but the construction of the limestone church didn’t begin until in 1768. The walls surrounding the mission contained 84 two-room apartments for the 350 Indians residing there.

Adjoining the church is the Convento, where the friars lived. There is an arched walkway in front of their living quarters.

By 1824, Mission San Jose ceased to be a mission. The property was secularized and the lands were redistributed among the inhabitants. The churches were transferred to the secular clergy. In the 104 years San Jose operated as a mission, over 2000 Indians were baptized.

Much of the mission fell into disrepair and during the 1930s, the WPA helped with restoration of the buildings.



We debated heading to downtown to see The Alamo and Riverwalk, but I decided there were too many things to see in San Antonio on this trip. We will need to come and spend a week in order to explore the area and enjoy everything San Antonio has to offer.

After a stop at the hardware store to get some parts for RV repairs, we blasted (as fast as you can in an RV) out of San Antonio. We drove and drove and drove! I-10 West scenery soon became flat and covered in scrub brush. I was happy to spot one small cone formation in the distance.  When we got closer, it didn’t look much like a cone!

Our day ended at the Road Runner RV  Park in Fort Stockton, Texas. Tomorrow, we again head further west toward Scottsdale.

March 17, 2019 - Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Columbus, Texas

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

We said goodbye to Baton Rouge and headed west across the Mississippi River on our way to Texas.

We stopped in Beaumont, Texas to see the world’s second-largest fire hydrant. The 24 foot hydrant in front of the Fire Museum of Texas was donated to the city by the Walt Disney Company in 1999. The giant hydrant can actually blast 1500 gallons of water a minute! When it was built, it was the world’s largest fire hydrant, but Columbia, SC now has one that is 40 feet tall! I guess we will have to plan a trip to South Carolina.

The Fire Museum is closed on Sundays so we made our way to the Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum.

The museum opened at 1pm and we were the first visitors so we had to wait for them to open all of the buildings.
The museum commemorates the discovery of oil at the Spindletop Hill salt dome in Beaumont on January 10, 1901. The discovery sparked the oil boom in Texas that continues today.  By 1902, there were over 500 Texas corporations doing business in Beaumont!  Many of the major oil companies were born at Spindletop, or grew their corporate size as a result of their involvement at Spindletop, including Gulf Oil, Sun Oil, Magnolia Petroleum, and Exxon Company.

After the discovery of oil, Beaumont went from a population of about 9,000 to 50,000 in less than a year. The buildings in the museum house artifacts from all the different businesses in the Spindletop/Gladys City boom town. By the late 1920s, the oil was depleted and the area became a ghost town! When new drilling techniques were developed  the oil industry in the area was revitalized until the 1950s, when again, the oil was depleted.

 

We only spent about an hour at the museum, but gained a greater appreciation of life during that time period.

As we headed west the Houston skyline came into view.

I-10 goes right through the heart of the city, and so does the traffic! There were five lanes of traffic each direction, as well as two lanes of toll road and two lanes of frontage road! In the middle of all this, we ran into 11 miles of two lane traffic. There was construction and accidents which slowed traffic to about 15-25 mph! We were happy once we got out of the construction zone!

We also saw this huge smoke plume as we and could see flames when we got closer, but couldn’t tell if it was from a petro-chemical plant, or not.

We ended our day in Columbus, Texas. We had dinner at Nancy’s Steak House. The food was good and the service was super-friendly. It was a nice end to our day! Tomorrow, on to San Antonio.

March 16, 2019 - Laplace to Baton Rouge, LA

Rain, rain, and more rain! It rained all night and was still raining when we started off this morning. Our first stop was at Laura Plantation, just south of Gramercy, Louisiana.

 
We took the 90 minute tour and our guide, Pam, did a great job of explaining the Creole history and telling us about the family that owned this sugar plantation. There are 12 buildings on the plantation that are on the National Register of historic places.  This was the main house which is built on brick columns. Because the house sits just across from the Mississippi River, the lower level which was their “basement” was used only for storage. All of the living quarters were on the upper level of the house.
The two small buildings were part of the kitchen.

The large pots were originally used in the sugar processing.

After the tour our heads were swimming with so much information we were overwhelmed!

We stopped at the B&C Seafood Restaurant for lunch. We split the catfish and shrimp plate and both decided their catfish was better than their shrimp!

This is the Mississippi River  -  well out of its banks - near the plantation. When Tobey biked this route a month ago, the trees were NOT in the water!

After lunch we were on to Baton Rouge where we are spending the night at the Hollywood Casino. (again) By the time we arrived, the sun was out and we were able to take a self-guided walking tour of the downtown area.

At the “new” state capitol building we took the elevator to the 27th floor where we could go outside and see views across the city.

We could see the Mississippi River and he parking lot for the Hollywood Casino. Our little RV is in the far right corner of the parking lot – near where the water is well over the banks of the river!

Looking below is the Old Arsenal Museum and Indian Mound.
These are the formal gardens and in the center is the grave of Huey Long. He was governor and U.S. Senator from Louisiana who proclaimed “Every Man a King.” He was assassinated in 1935 at age 42.

We stopped by the Former Governor’s Mansion which was completed in 1930 and first occupied by Governor Huey Long. It was used by governors until 1962, when a new residence was built closer to the capitol building.

We both liked the Old Capitol Building better. It was built to look and function like a castle. In 1847, the city of Baton Rouge donated the land to the state where the building sits. It faces the Mississippi River.

A couple blocks from the Old Capitol Building is the USS Kidd Museum. We didn’t go aboard, but opted to just walk along the Mississippi before returning to the RV for the night.

There have been several cars coming through the parking area, stopping to take pictures of the river.

We had the luck to spot this bird come in for a landing not far from us! We will enjoy a quiet evening and head west tomorrow.

March 14-15, 2019 - Jacksonville to De Funiak Springs, Florida

We are heading west again after the long bike ride and trip to Europe. Our Thursday started off with a tire rotation for the RV and laundromat visit before hitting the road almost at noon. We took the interstate from Jacksonville then cut south to Panama City. On Highway 20, Tobey commented that this would be a nice highway to bicycle! I offered to stop the RV and let him unload his bike, but he declined. He said it was too late in the day to get started – likely story!

We again drove miles and miles past towns and forests damaged and destroyed by Hurricane Michael. It was heartbreaking to see.

We took the beach road from Panama City through Panama City Beach and stopped near the pier. We enjoyed a short walk on the beach before continuing on our way.

We didn’t have any camping reservations, but had read that you might be able to camp in the Fort Washington State Forest so we headed there. We found a spot that was perfect … until the game warden knocked on our door and told us there is no camping. (unlike national forests!) UGGHH. He even gave us an actual warning ticket! We had hoped to continue along the coast but all of the RV parks were full so on to plan B. We headed north and west to DeFuniak Springs and stayed there and would get back onto I-10 .

It started raining during the night but fortunately, it was only cloudy by the time we got on the road.
It is amazing how fast you can travel when you aren’t riding a bike! We left De Funiak Springs and were soon crossing Mobile Bay in Alabama.

Then through the tunnel in Mobile.
Before we knew it, we were in Biloxi, Mississippi.
 

We followed Highway 90 along the coast, retracing our route we traveled east on. Today was cloudy, but at least we could see the water. It was cool, so we didn’t stop, but decided we might need to come back to this area for an extended trip – when the weather is warmer!

The next thing we knew, we were in Louisiana!

Enroute to Baton Rouge, we were on I-10 going through New Orleans during rush hour – and RAIN. The traffic there is horrible and the drivers are aggressive! There were several accidents and it took over an hour to get through the city. The only good thing was spotting this bridge with the fleur de leis design.
Heading out of the city we skirted the southwest edge of Lake Pontchartrain – for miles! The lake is 40 miles long and 25 miles wide at its widest point, with an area of 630 square miles. It was interesting to see the powerlines crossing the lake.

We are staying in Laplace, Louisiana tonight and will continue to Baton Rouge. We hope it will stop raining because we have some outdoor activities planned for tomorrow. We will see!