The Meanderthals

Will the solar panel be unbroken or the sky doesn’t send bas

2007-07-30T17:47:04Z

This entry to the travel journal was going to start out waxing philosophically about how we are back at our journey’s beginnings but there is a funnier story than that happening here. We have returned to the spot where we first found out that, yes, Airstream waste tanks, despite their contents, can indeed freeze but this time it is a most comfortable temperature with little worry of repeat. We are camped about 4 miles north of Mark’s hay quarter in Clark SD at one of the nicest city parks we have visited yet. For a mere $15 a night, you get full hookups. This time of year across America there remains the summer tradition of baseball and much to Mariah’s delight the field of dreams is right next door to our campsite. We thought we would go over and enjoy an afternoon of this pastime when one of the players hit quite a foul ball. We watched it sail high into the clear blue sky only to have gravity reach up, grab it and throttle it down upon our stationary, unaware, innocent Airstream. I heard a dull thunk and prayed it was not the sound of a crushed $800 solar panel. Hence the journals’ title. The ladder and I immediately dispatched pillows over the panels for their safety.
The town of Clark is like Pleasantville. Almost everyone is an anglo and everyone drives an American car. It has been like this forever. The kids and I ride bikes down the middle of street with no fear of being hit because there isn’t very much traffic. Mariah and I have put together what we think a town needs to have to be designated a town.
1. at least 2 cafes
2. post office
3. 3 hairdressers, 2 barbers
4. a grocery store
5. gas station, usually more than 1
6. library
7. motel, even if it only has 7 rooms
8. some form of diversion (movie theater, bowling alley or skating rink)
9. Summer activity places (ball fields, swimming pool, tennis courts or golf courses)
10. church

Clark has all of these but very few people to utilize them. They can’t all be out farming seven days a week. It was nice to see some of them gathering for the baseball games.
This morning we sat out in front of an empty store front and pirated some WiFi from a plumbing supply house and nobody even seemed to notice us. On the other hand we don’t have to lock our bikes or trailer. It will be nice to go from this to the big city of Socorro.
On the news side, Mark sold his hay and acquired another windmill. He is trying to use Fluffy for work but it is not easy with a camper on the back – better luck next time.
One of the things I love about us is that we seem to generate a party wherever we go. One evening during a baseball game some friends of ours came over to say hi and have a beer. Small towns generate a curiosity about strangers that in the event that one person acts as if they know the aforementioned stranger then everyone who knows the friend must come over and introduce themselves to “be in on it”, hence a party forms.
Late summer evenings are lovely until the mosquitoes feel they should have been invited too. It was lovely to spend some time with local South Dakotans especially when it has been raining and the crops look good.
As time passes we feel the tug of home and started to cross the great plains at great haste so we could spend some time with our friends from NM who purchased a ranch in Oklahoma. The difference between NM and OK becomes very clear when you are talking to a rancher who makes the jump. There is grass in OK, lots and lots of grass so much that you have to hay it and that makes ranchers into farmers. The adjustment is traumatic but in a strange way. Instead of cows suffering from thirst and hunger, they now have foot rot and obesity (as if there is such a thing in a cow!). The ranch that the Mckinley’s have is a gorgeous piece of property in central Oklahoma with tons of wildlife and birds. Besides being a rancher and a farmer they are now going to host guests for hunts and birding. On the ranch are nine guest houses, each with it’s own amenities such as washer/dryers etc ready to take guests. For those of you looking for a nice getaway you might consider emailing Donne at mckinley5@pidi.net.
Fast forward to our time in New Mexico. One of the features I love about cell phones is you can call people and they don’t know exactly where you are calling from. I had fun with my friend Tracey who called me on Thursday to find out when I was coming home. I told her our target date which was Aug 1 but she wanted to know where we were then. I stretched the truth a little and told her I was still in OK which was sort of true for we had only just crossed the Texas border. What I didn’t tell her was the fact that I was whisking my way her direction to surprise her at the Santa Fe farmer’s market on the coming Saturday. After a wonderful visit with my cousin in Galisteo, we shocked the Tracey and her family at the market and then ate a culinarily delightful meal at Tomacito’s. It is so good to be back in the Land of Enchantment. Our first nighttime thunderstorm with it’s smell of creosote and sage and rolling thunder over Santa Rosa lakes reminded us of how we could never leave here. Waking up to the sunrise over the Sangre de Cristo’s and the everchanging light on the grasslands is like heaven. The air is pure and crisp and dry.
We have decided to ease into home with a quick trip to see my mom and dad in Los Alamos. We have a acquired an extra child, Shayna who is daughter of Tracey, my beautiful blue eyed girlfriend. Feels like home already…..
This is the final travel journal entry, barring any more adventures between here and Socorro. I am sure an epilogue will be in order. Thanks to everyone who read the journal and all your kind thoughts for our good and safe travels. Also thanks to all those who put us up and put up with us in one form or another. Open invitation to all to come see us.
Hugs from the Meanderthals

Will the solar panel be unbroken or the sky doesn’t send bas remains copyright of the author fdeters, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Orange pickin to blackberry pickin

2007-07-11T23:37:20Z

One can tell that we have been on the road for a long time when you read that title.
Sad as we were to see Madison, WI in our rear view mirror, it felt good to know we were on the road headed west again, another leg closer to home. We were sad to leave Dave, Jackie and Dan and their wonderful hospitality but the open road beckons us. Being the early starter that we are, we felt lucky to make it another state before late.
Traversing country we passed by before felt like déjà vu, only you have pictures to prove you have been here before. Such was the case as we passed over the Mississippi near Wyalusing State Park. Before we were fleeing the icy grip of a cold front and this time we could turn on our air conditioning carefree of the heat outside (thanks again, Stick). This time we could stop and appreciate Effigy National Park where prehistoric Indians made mounds that are remnants of some ancient sophisticated culture. It felt good to hike up the hill and appreciate the effort of those who came before us.
You might think we made it to another country for we spent the night at Lake Louise……….….Minnesota. A lovely park in the middle of now-here, it felt good to be 1 of 4 in a park in the middle of summer that had room for 50. The morning was cool enough for a long bike ride and the girls and I went on one and along the way picked blackberries for our breakfast (I should say theirs, I am allergic). Pricked and stained, we headed back to the camper with our water bottle full of berries for dad who opted to stay for hot shower instead of the ride.
Ever westward, our destination is the Pipestone National Monument which doesn’t have a campground but the town nearby has a city park dedicated to a Rapunzel looking water tower. This is a mecca for people throughout the area and for centuries. They came here for the special stone which was soft enough to carve but sturdy enough to hold fire within. Even today, only Native Americans are allowed to mine the unique stone. Also called “Catlinite” after the famous painter of the residents of plains in the early 1800’s, George Catlin, it is a red ochre color and carvings upon it are very durable.
Although the quarries are not that impressive to look at the visitor center and associated gift shop is well worth the visit. The sacredness of the location is very evident as you walk around appreciating the waterfalls and wildflowers. We are very lucky in that the weather has cooled off considerably (reviews of past attractions!) so hiking is more fun.
Back in South Dakota, the feeling is more western than eastern and we breather easier for we are at heart westerners. Till our paths cross that is the news of the road. Hugs to all, the Meanderthals

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Orange pickin to blackberry pickin remains copyright of the author fdeters, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Kimo's Rules and Murphys laws

2007-07-08T17:54:37Z

No rain no rainbow's Kimo's rules

It never fails no matter how flawless a situation you try to create, the gnomes come in a provide one with a reality check. Having my 78 year old mother travel with us was a new twist in the family unit dynamics. Thank goodness she is spry and flexible since the Airstream decided to initiate her by blowing it’s 12 volt electric system. It was only one circuit but it was the circuit that runs the water system and lights the frig. My mom had a great time watching me scurry frantically around trying to figure out what was wrong and then how to fix it. Welcome to life in an antique Airstream, mom! I was quite proud of her trooper-ness. We lucked out in that the weather stayed cool for her visit. We had fun going to Lake Michigan and pretending it was fun to swim in 40 degree water – brrrrrr. Refreshed and invigorated we hit the trail to Madison,Wisconsin.

Madison has the reputation of being one of the most liberal, happening places in the US and I have to say it lives up to its reputation. Located in central Wisconsin, surrounded by lush farmland and situated directly on 3 lakes, Madison is one beautiful town. Easy to navigate despite the lakes, it has the famous University of Wisconsin, noted for many firsts in the agricultural community. Bless my mother’s heart for wanting to walk a mile….. no wait drive some miles in the Meanderthal rig but the heat and rigors of the road were a bit overwhelming I believe. My first task was to get her to a place she could get home from. Unfortunately flights from here to anywhere are quite pricey and so she decided to drive back to NM. Bon Voyage mom!

Dave, whose house we are staying at, is a good friend of some friends of ours in NM. He and his wife, Jackie and the artist in residence, Dan, have welcomed us and helped us solve some problems we were having with our rig. Dave has a tremendous amount of knowledge about a lot of things including music. When he heard Mariah play, he insisted that she go into the recording studio of a friend of his and “lay down some tracks” so we did. Mariah hadn’t practiced much as she had been away for a few weeks but it sounded pretty good anyway. Very nice studio and Dave’s friend, Jack who was the sound engineer was so helpful, encouraging and knowledgeable. It is nice to see people inspiring Mariah besides mom and dad.

Madison has a tremendous farmers market. 120 vendors and about 30,000 people all milling about peacefully and graciously waiting in ques for their fresh organic produce, fresh, non factory farm raised meats, and lots of baked goods. I love open markets and this one was unforgettable. Lots of people playing music. We had a lovely day popping in and out of the eclectic little shops around State St and then touring the capitol. The capitol building rivals the US capitol in DC. Very ornate and awe inspiring. Mariah insisted we get mall-ed so we went for her sake and now hopefully her wardrobe is complete (ha- fat chance!). We are heading back to the land we started from (South Dakota) today and then south and west so this journal will soon wind to an end and life in the Socorro fast lane will start again. Thanks everyone for being part of our travels and our life. Will send out Kimo’s rules when I find them and we can apply them to all our glitches, triumphs etc.

Hugs from the Meanderthals.

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The Haj

2007-07-08T17:22:29Z

The Haj

For the first time in the Meanderthal journal entry history, everyone has to guess where we were when I posted the last pictures. Just a fun touch! Happy 4th of July to all!
Our first stop on the way west (yes we are finally heading west!) was near Lock Haven PA where I used to go as a kid. Continuing west we stopped at the Packard museum where we enjoyed some very fancy restored Packard. I hope everyone who is interested will read about the Packard first’s!
We had big plans to go to Dearborn Village in Detroit but somewhere along the way a very distracting event happened, actually a combination of events. On our way west, Bill told us about a bluegrass festival in Ohio which intrigued us but seemed to be to far south. The Roe family whom we had visited with in Florida, were traveling in Ohio and when I told them about it, it came together that we could all meet there. Since we were their video crew and they were doing a show for free we got in free too! The festival is called Mountain Heir and I enjoyed it as much as any festival I have been too. Lot of good pickers! All good things must come to an end and so off we were to visit the home of Airstream, Jackson Center Ohio where our Airstream was built. It was funny to pull into a campground (cleverly called Terraport) where there were only Airstreams. We were still the oldest rig in the park however. Most of the people there were there to get their Airstreams repaired and came over to inspect and trade war stories about life on the road with an American legend (their advertising not mine!) . We went on a factory tour but because it was the week of the 4th all the employees were gone so it was quiet. Their operation is not as exciting or efficient as the Corvette factory in BG but it was interesting none the less. We had a technician come out and look at ours because we think it is sagging to one side but he said it looked in good shape. I guess we have a higher standard of what “good shape” is. Most Airstream owners sometime in the life of their trailer or motor home come here hence it is called “the haj”.
It is a long way from Jackson Center to Chicago but once you are in Chicago it makes the other miles look like they flew by. I just didn’t realize that Chicago is the 3rd largest city in US. I am glad that we had a very good reason to come here or I would have avoided it. Yes we are now the Meanderthals + 1. My mother and daughter are with us now and we feel like an American family on an American holiday. The campground we are at is right on Lake Michagan and is very nice and thank goodness the weather is cool (no AC). We will watch the fireworks from the lakeshore that the three communities (Chicago, Waukegan and Zion) nearby are firing off. Happy 4th everyone!

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Old neighbors and new neighbors

2007-07-08T17:19:47Z

The family unit travels minus one again. Mariah is off on her great adventure with my mother to Europe. We miss her but the show must go on.
Every once in a while in your life you get to go back in time, not just in memory but actual time and you feel in your mind and heart like you were when you were “young” and had no worries about the future or the past or the current. I was lucky enough to have this experience when we were in Burlington, VT. I visited my first love and it really felt like no time had passed between us. The beauty of it was that as much as we had changed, we hadn’t changed at all. It is rare to find and lovely to experience. The best part was that my friend Alan and Mark got along great. I enjoyed sharing my family and meeting his mate and his friends and his life.
Sadly we had to leave to wind our way to Massachusetts to visit a neighbor who lived across the street in Socorro. Saskia and John belong to the liege of people who come to Socorro, steal ours hearts and then leave. The fun part is that we feel at home whenever and wherever we get to visit them and be their neighbors again as we camp in their front yard interfering with their electric dog fence (whoops!). They have two handsome boys that are much bigger and more mature than I expected. We arrived on Saturday and Mariah had to leave on Monday so she got to visit a little but not enough. In our quest to try more amusements parks, we tried to check out Six Flags on Father’s Day. Now I know what people in downtown New Delhi live like everyday. It was such a mad house we decided to try again another day. Talk about a well disciplined teenager, the next day while we tried again to enjoy Six Flags, she stayed in the camper to finish her schoolwork so she wouldn’t have to take it on her trip with grandma. Wow! It was sad to put her on the plane but I know she will have fun and learn a great deal.
When in New England do as the NE’s do. I guess that means we have to eat fresh lobster and fresh clam chowder, rats! One of the historical trips you can take when in this area that doesn’t involve large cities or downtowns with to many people is go to Salem MA. The Salem Witch Museum is a testament to the wrong that can be accomplished when fear is used as a weapon. I particularly enjoyed how the museum showed how we refuse to learn from our past and keep using the same techniques to manipulate and stereotype.
You can’t go to New England and not enjoy the coastal villages that make it what it is. We had the pleasure of watching a man in his boat go out and get his dinner from a trap in the water and then seeing all his lobsters in a box. The dinner was set and now Olivia got to see how to put a lobster to sleep before putting in the water to cook. I bet she never forgets that! On our way home we had the pleasure of getting lost in downtown Boston. There was an adventure. The computer which I have been using to navigate with MS Streets and Maps with GPS decided to run out of battery and so we had to wing it. We got to the Sommer tunnel which as it turns out doesn’t allow campers through. Whoops, back up, try to cross four lanes of traffic coming into the tunnel and then look for the entrance to a bridge we can see but seems to be 50 feet above us. Oh and by the way, it would be nice if Boston would put some street signs up so you could at least know where you are so you can try to explain to someone on the phone how lost you are! We did make it back but only after some hair raising passes under very low bridges. Thank goodness the beer was cold and the seafood medley delicious.
Once again we were on the move and we decided to stop and see some friends we had made in Florida. It was a quick stop but enough time to tour downtown Hartford which was very nice. They have a spectacular rose garden and a very clean downtown. The first statehouse has been well preserved and it set the tone for everything else. One of the days in the MA we spent trying to see a museum in Kent CT. After driving 3 hours to get there we found out it was closed. We couldn’t leave well enough alone and decided to try again and this time met with success and the effort was definitely worth it. Mark and I both share a love for tools so the Sloane/Stanley museum was a must. I don’t want to go into great detail about who he is but if you haven’t heard of him (Eric Sloane), you should look him up. He was a very interesting collector, artist and author. The icing on the cake was that the Connecticut Antique collector park was next door where volunteers have preserved relics of the evolution of the industrial revolution. Everything from steam railroad engines to early oil pumping equipment that used the steam engine but was powered by natural gas can be seen in the 10+ buildings, all in working order and mint like condition. The people who are there are all volunteers and very motivated to educate one on what each machine does and what role it played in the industrial revolution that shaped the northeast. There was a mineral museum where they are creating a coal mine and showing a dynamite blast in sequence. They have the best fluorescence display I have seen yet and I have seen a few now. We really hated to leave there but westward we must travel. Our destination is Chicago for the 4th so we can pick up Mariah and my mother who wants to experience the adventure in the flesh. It is not for everyone but it sure is fun! That is the newsiest news there is from the Meanderthals.
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All who wander are not lost but sometimes..

2007-06-15T17:56:55Z

I always wanted to start our one of our journals like this and knowing my memory I probably already have but it really does apply here. When we left Gettyburg, I really had no idea where our next destination was. Sometimes even I run out of fresh ideas and energy to execute them. Mariah actually inspired our next destination. She had met a very nice couple when she went traveling with Frances, my mother. Bob and Dorothy, Mariah’s friends, live in Pittsburg, as good a destination as any. Their grandson was one of Mariah’s penpals so she was anxious to meet him too. A few weeks ago, I had read somewhere that Pittsburg was considered America most liveable city and I was curious to see how a city got that rating. Having spent about 3 days there, I am still not sure but it certainly showed off its best weather for us. Bob is a retired minister and he breaks my mold of any minister I could have met. Dorothy, his wife would be over the top busy had it not been for a broken foot that keeps her housebound. We also met Dorothy’s mom who lives in an assisted living facility nearby. She is the ripe young age of 99 and is a powerhouse herself. Bob ferried us all over Pittsburg. The view of the confluence of the Monongahela and Alleghengy rivers (to form the Ohio River) is something to behold. It is easy to see how a settlement was placed there. Steel mills and coal plants used to make Pittsburg one of the dirtiest cities around but the air was as clear as any I have seen on this trip. There are rolling hills everywhere full of thick bushy trees. The fall colors must be something. Pittsburg is the home of Carnegie and he put a lot of money into the museums and library there which we went to and enjoyed. Saw an exhibit on Italian glass blowing and how it influenced American glass blowers and we learned all sorts of techniques about it. Our last good deed before we left was to play music for Dorothy’s mom and her friends at lunch. That was fun.
Our current fun is in New York at Niagra Falls. As long as we are this far north and west, what the heck!
It is easy to see why Niagra Falls has been a tourist trap ever since they could get people up there. It is a geologic wonder, just the sheer (ha ha) amount of water coming over the falls boogles the mind. Draped in our souvenir pancha’s we H2ohhhh and awed along with our 200+ asian and indian companions on the Maid of the Mist as we glided into the set of falls that make up the US and Canadian border. It is a spectacle I doubt any of us will soon forget. Back on shore the abundant sunshine made rainbows for us to photograph and admire.
Okay sometimes one can wander and get lost and it can be the kind of lost where you say – we really don’t want to go this way. Such was the case as I was writing post cards and only paying ½ attention to navigating. I looked up in time to see a sign that said “last exit before exiting the US”. Uh Oh! Mark did his best to turn around in a one way pull through parking lot at a duty free shop but we managed to rip out the side wall on the tire of the Airstream. Which crisis to deal with first? 1) pull way over against the side so you are out of the way b) Call roadside tire repair people III) Explain to US customs about missing the last exit and can we somehow get going the correct direction without having to go into Canada, Pleeeeaaassse….
All is well that ends well. The tire people came out and fixed us up (thank goodness we had purchased the correct tire before we left NM and it was in our Beverly Hillbilly box on top of the camper). The border crossing people were very understanding after they did a backround check on us. No Canadian visit necessary. Not that we wouldn’t love to go to Canada but we aren’t prepared (see journal entry Oct).
After Niagra our big push was to get to Burlington VT to visit an old friend of mine. We drove along Lake Ontario and the kids were impressed with the ocean like appearance of the great lake. Along the way we stopped and spent the night with some people we met in Florida, Larry and Janet. Mark was away when we had made their acquaintance and so it was fun to show them that he really did exist.
Burlington sits on Lake Champlain and it is a gorgeous lake that forms the border between New York and VT. Of the towns we have visited and I would consider moving to Burlington in summer along with Ashville are way up there. The eclectic community is alive and well and hiding in VT, Socorro and Ashville. I must go jet skiing now on Lake Champlain so forgive my short journal entry this time (ha ha) Hugs to all, the Meanderthals

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Where’s my “get of out jail free” card?

2007-06-06T18:33:19Z

The family unit is reunitied! Mark is back after a busy time at the homefront. The girls and I didn’t sit pining for him to return however. DC is a town where anything is possible with a car and credit card. On Sunday, our friend Tim joined Greg and the family for a day of kayaking and biking. The Potomac is much cleaner than when I lived here and we all had a great time paddling around T. Roosevelt island and swimming in the river. When our 2 hours was up, we hopped on our bikes and rode the Capital trail for a ways. After a nice dinner, we all passed out from our extra exercise adventure.
Memorial Day was spent honoring the dead. Greg’s folks are buried at Arlington Cemetery so two birds were damaged with one stone when we went and put flowers on his folks grave and toured the sites there. The eternal flame and tomb of the Unknown Soldier are worth seeing and I can’t remember ever having been there. The previous day plus the heat and humidity were forces that undermined our desire to do much outdoor touring so we went movie going instead. Mariah and the guys went and saw Pirates 3 (aye matey, that they were!) and Olivia and I saw Shrek 3. We lived the urban experience but once was enough.
Tuesday had the kids and I wandering around the National Zoo where we found the famous panda’s and other assorted animals. Later we went riding on the mall where we enjoyed the Lincoln memorial and all the war memorials. The weather was very cooperative.
Many years ago, one of my many jobs was working at the US Patent office. It has a new facility and a completely different feel. The search room where stacks of paper patents lived and people would scurry around trying to find information has now been replaced by banks of computers where searchers find the information they need with a touch of a button. The kids and I left Greg to finish up his work while we went and toured Old Town Alexandria. Row houses and cobble stone streets with upscale shops and restaurants line the Potomac River where George Washington once roamed. The day ended with the glorious return of the head of the family. Mark’s flight was supposed to end in Providence RI but we were able to pick him up because he had to change planes in Baltimore. After a nice dinner at Fell’s Point (Eat Bertha’s Mussels), we returned to Greg’ house.
Thursday morning was a forgetful morning. I went to go get Mark some coffee at the Airstream and …..whoops, it was gone. The luck you push sometimes pushes back and I guess it is the price you pay. We had to bail out the Airstream from a tow yard. I guess it‘s better than bailing your kid out of jail. $200 later and in need of a new lock, we found the Airstream a better home on a quiet little street a few more blocks away.
Mark had not gotten the pleasure of touring the DC mall so we returned once again to see the Air and Space museum and the inside of the Native American museum. The Air and Space museum had the latest in space technology available for our perusal. The Bhutan rocket and balloon capsule that went around the globe were there plus the Wright Bros plane that has always been there. If you are a space cadet, that is the place to go. At the Native American museum they had a wonderful exhibit on beaded Indian outfits. The girls and I went to a demonstration by a Kiowa woman where she talked about her upbringing and Kiowa traditions. She was a beader who had won best of show at the Santa Fe Indian Market. We had a nice conversation after her talk about NM where she is from. I would have gotten homesick but I know I will return in 2 months.
On our way back down the mall Olivia decided she wanted a Junior Ranger Badge. For all you “wanna be travelers” or who are already on the road, please take note if you have children. All parks have a junior ranger program and it is definitely worth doing. Not only is it educational but it is fun too. Late in the afternoon we rode over to the Franklin D Roosevelt memorial which is new since I lived here. It is one of the most extensive, most well designed monuments on the mall. FDR was a powerful president and it is fitting that he should have such a moving memorial. Waterfalls mixed with quotes and statues that quietly tell the tale of one of America’s darkest hours and triumphant return.
Now when I wake up in the morning I feel a certain urge to go and check on the Airstream….hmmm. Mark got to play with Greg and his cousin rebuilding Greg’s front portico and then later going and looking at blacksmithing equipment. Olivia and I made a morning of it by going to see the Washington Folk Festival in Glen Echo. I have forgotten how beautiful the parkways are to drive around DC. Just miles and miles of tree lined highway without a hint that you are in a major metropolitan area. The folk festival was really quaint. We saw a set of twins who played remarkable blues music especially considering they were 11 years old and shouldn’t have a clue what the blues were. Their song Teddy Bear Blues brought a tear to my eye. It is always a pleasure to see young people carrying on the tradition of homemade music.
Greg lives in a small townhouse development that strikes one as just perfect for block parties since the block is well defined. Sure enough that afternoon they had a party with a bluegrass band and appetizers competing for best in taste. Voting was done with dollars and all money went to charity. The band caught Mariah and I singing along and at their first break asked us how we knew all the songs. One thing led to another and next thing we knew we were up playing with the band. It was great fun and very unexpected. Later that evening Tina and her friend Dave came and joined us. We started talking about food and somehow a plan formulated for the next day to go down to Polks Creek and eat crabs. Maryland blue crabs are considered a delicacy around these parts, much like green chile is in NM and it was a grand adventure showing the kids how people from the Chesapeake area boil them and eat them. Dave is from the Delmarva peninsula which until about 35 years ago was an isolated backwoods rural area. The construction of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge changed all that. Dave had a great time showing the westerners the best way to get all the meat (not a lot by the way), out of the crab. Mariah and Olivia enjoyed the experience, especially Mariah who spent some of her time making artistic photos with a crab. Hopefully I can get her to post them on the web.
Monday was a day of farewell to DC as we headed north to continue our journey. We are now in Gettyburg and spent yesterday touring the battlefield and learning about mid 19th century battle tactics and war horrors. We all learned so much our heads are bursting. Somewhere on our journey Mark had picked up a copy of the History Channel’s Gettyburg Expedition Guide and it was so helpful. It is really hard to appreciate what ridge is until you are standing on it. When you just look across the landscape, you can’t see them but when you are on them, their advantages become obvious. So little slope, so much increase in odds….
This edition of the Meanderthals journal must come to an end or every one will feel like they are reading War and Peace. Hugs to all from the complete Meanderthal unit.

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Where’s my “get of out jail free” card? remains copyright of the author fdeters, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Memories of the way things...we were

2007-06-06T18:31:28Z

Memories….of the way things we were

Please excuse my tardiness on getting out relevant information about our journey but time is hard to come by when you are a single traveler with 2 kids, one of which needs time to get school done. Our travels to Williamsburg and surrounding area were both enlightening and nostaligic. As we cruised merrirly along it occurs to me that I was once an easterner and all the skills and traits you develop to survive here come flooding back like basic instincts. The traffic here is something to behold and it is frightening in a 60’ rig especially when you have grown accustomed to the rush minute of your hometown. This is my old stomping ground, the central east coast and so I am getting to visit childhood friends and seeing interesting places along the way. The area around Williamsburg is now known as the historic triangle and for years I thought it was the first European colonization of the US until my culture clash occurred in New Mexico and I realized the English were “Johnny come lately’s”. Still it is fascinating to be an adult with history that makes living history all the more engaging. We stayed on the opposite side of the James River and had to take a ferry over everyday which gives you time to pull your self together for the day, it was great. For the kids sake, I broke up our history tour with a trip to Busch Gardens where our friend Bill came and joined us and we did the little kid trade off while also having someone to ride the roller coasters with Mariah (real hardship). I remember when one of the roller coasters (called the Loch Ness) opened and I had to wait in line for 2 hours to ride it and I did that over and over. The park this time was empty and we could get on most ride in less than 5 minutes even the brand new one they just opened. Physics is a wonderful science and when applied to thrill rides it can become magical. The newest trend in roller coasters is to suspend seats from the top which gives the designer the freedom to throw you in new directions that suspend your belief you are going to live through the experience. After the first ride you scream and laugh like you are immortal and isn’t that what roller coasters are all about?
Williamsburg is the same as it was when I visited and John Adams visited and …just kidding but it really hasn’t changed except in some presentations. They now have living history in new way. Instead of just the saddlery shop and the blacksmith shop etc, they have live plays of historical events. The 2cnd day we were there, they had the citizens doing skits about the revolutionary war and it’s affects on their lives(each day it is a different aspect of the colonial times). They stood on the capital building steps and read the Declaration of Independence. It is a very powerful document especially when read aloud. Another skit, Benedict Arnold and his crony rode into the town and declared the British victors and the interaction between him and the “colonists” was moving. Williamsburg continues to be a first class operation.
Jamestown and the ships were also very interesting but after our experience at Henricus and the fact that we only had half a day to enjoy it, it didn’t measure up to Williamsburg. We did get to go onboard the ships and from that I picked a detail which had escaped me for years. The ships that brought over the colonists were cargo ships and the colonists were cargo and not much more. They stayed in the hold of the ship for the entire 4 month journey. Perspective is another beautiful thing especially for the kids (they have to be older to have nostalgia!). We did not get to see the Yorktown vistor center unfortunately but I think we were all a little historied out at that point but the battlefield was interesting and the town is well preserved and so you could appreciate how strategic it all was.
With fond farewells to our friend Bill, we headed to the seat of the nation, Washington DC. For those of you who don’t know, I grew up in SW DC. On the journey there we stopped at the boarding school I attended called St. Margarets. It is still there with giggling girls going into town for ice cream and now coffee at the new coffee shop with internet. I had great fun showing the kids where I spent some of my formative years and thinking about them in a philosophical sense.
The nations capital is alive and well. My friend Greg is graciously letting us use his place as a home base and we spent our first day being escorted around the capital by one of Pete Domenci’s staff, Monica. The artwork, especially the statues donated by the states was intriguing. One of the statues New Mexico donated was of (I know I can’t spell this) Po’Pay who is the Indian who started the pueblo revolt. I found it interesting that many states had rebel statues. We really do celebrate those whose nature is to go against the grain. Patriotism runs high when you walk in the footsteps of the most powerful nation in the world. Government is a funny thing however. When we went into the Senate gallery, there was a senator orating loquaciously about the immigration legislation and referring to his colleagues on both sides of the issue as if they were in the room with him and the room is empty except for some staff and the Senate majority leader who I guess always has to be there. I understand it about congressional record (for the record etc) but it feels like a dog and pony show. Still issues are being addressed and things are getting done. Collective good will bless America!
There is a new museum on the mall and it is dedicated to the Native American and the architecture is worth the trip. It seems some of the museums are closed for renovation which was a shame. We only got to see part of the Natural History museum and even part of that was closed. Late in the day I took the kids to my old neighborhood where I spent my exciting, dysfunctional childhood (nothing personal mom). Nothing has changed since I was there and I am still impressed with the urban planning that went into the neighborhoods of the area. It is still beautiful and functional but still underutilized.
It was a lovely day and we look forward to returning after we rest up.
Memorial Day weekend is upon us and Rolling Thunder rides into DC. Veterans from all over come here to pay their respects to fallen comrades and I salute all my veteran friends this weekend via the internet. Saturday was a day of schooling for Mariah and rest for me which was desperately needed. Greg, Olivia and I did go to downtown Georgetown in the evening and wow has that changed since my party days. It is so very, very upscale and there are designer stores (finally filled with people), multiple overpriced restaurants and bars. The old waterfront where I used to enjoy cheap beer in seedy hangouts is now a park with chic bars overlooking the waterfront. It really is quite nice.
That covers the journey’s from then till now and hope all of you are having a lovely Memorial day weekend. Summer heat is here and I look forward to enjoying the dryness of the southwest soon. Hugs to all, Francie with the Meanderthals -1
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These are the good ole' days

2007-05-20T19:41:17Z

These are the good ole’ days especially when compared to 400 years ago…

Mariah goes to new high school and I visit my mom’s old one in Stauton VA. We are walking down a different memory lane these days. Mariah had the pleasure of going to the hormone infested high school of my friend’s daughter’s high school while Olivia and I went and visited the school my mother and her sister went to. It was a venerable institution that reminded much of the school I went to. The alumni director kindly showed me the yearbook in which my mother was in the tenth grade. It is funny to think that someday my children may realize I was once in the 10th grade too! I have to brag on my mom for a minute. She is currently in Cleveland OH receiving the distinguished alumni award for her graduating year. It seems someone else knows how terrific she is beside the small inner circle she tells. All jokes aside, we are all very proud of her and wish her well on her continued success. Mariah has fun at the high school and feels she is up to speed with her internet high school and I am glad for that. On our trip to Richmond we were passing through Charlottesville and stopped at Monticello. What a great place to build a house. One really feels like you are walking in history’s footsteps at some of these places. I feel very patriotic taking my kids to the past presidents’ homes. There were a few items that struck me as “gee, I would have wanted that in my house.” The collection of copper kettles for one.
We are spending a few days in Richmond with my mom’s friend Micky. She has a friend, Maryanne, who is graciously letting us camp in her backyard so we can spend more time with Micky and her family. Maryanne came to check on us and let it slip out that she was going to the mall. I had to hold the kids back from rushing out the door to ask if they could go with her. Gosh you’d think I never take the kids shopping…
It was very nice of her to take them and they had a great time.
Mariah had some more teenage time with Mickie’s grandson who she has been emailing for several years but had never met. I love the new penpal era. One night we all went bowling and despite Mariah getting 2 strikes I still proved the old adage that “Age and treachery will overcome youth and skill!”.
It has come to my realization that you cannot drive in this area without tripping over history. We were on our way from Richmond to VA beach when we came into the town where a replica of one of the 3 ships that discovered Jamestown was docked and the park was having a historical reenactment demonstration. Men and women dressed period costumes explaining how they survived with just the small amount of things they brought with them and help from the Native Americans in the area. The costumes were very authentic and so very intriguing. They were roasting chickens over an open fire and trading beads with Indian re-enactors for real animal skins. It was the best history lesson the kids could have asked for. We got close to the Godspeed replica which was on its way to Richmond but we couldn’t get a tour ticket. We did get to see a surgeons kit which made me grateful for modern and Chinese medicine. We are now at Virginia beach and there sure are a lot of people out east….Next stop Williamsburg, Jamestown and Busch Gardens – whooppppeeeeeeeee!

Reasons I am glad we took this trip when we did:
1) With gas prices projected to soar over $3/gallon, I suspect we will all look fondly back when it was only $2.65/gal (trip avg). Ah, nostaligia – it’s a beautiful thing.
2) It is a time in which no one in either Mark or I’s family was in need of direct medical intervention or attention. Lest we not forget, there are those whose needs still require a shoulder and I look forward to that. PS (and we are grateful to have our health so far on the journey).
3) The children were at an age that they will remember the trip and were able to “endure” it without to much hardship.
4) The technology that keeps us in touch is affordable, accessible and has less glitches than expected.
5) People still feel safe enough to welcome strangers into their towns and homes. I have to believe that will never change but…..

Sure more will come to mind but this is long enough, farewell to yarns...the Meanderthals - 1
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Horses to Heaven, almost

2007-05-14T16:52:04Z

It takes some Street Sense to watch the Run for the Roses and we are the luckiest people in the world. Not only did we bet a little on the winners but we feel like winners in general just getting to be there. Thanks to Bruce and Debbie we got to see the race close up and in person. Churchill Downs is lot different than the track we are used to in Ruidoso. For one thing the personnel in Ruidoso don’t go around handing out mint julep’s even on the day of the Rainbow Futurity. The Derby in these here parts is more than a horse race. It represents a bygone era of elegance and wealth. It was amazing to see all the very well decorated hats and gorgeous outfits. They really do go all out for the KD. There is more to Louisville (that’s only 2 syllables btw – loo-vill) than just the derby. It is home to Muhommed Ali, Dianne Sawyer, Louisville Slugger and the Ohio River. We started out with lots of rain but it stopped for the Derby and the last few days have been beautiful spring days. Debbie has a dog that is the size of a small horse called Diesel. We are heading on to Lexington to visit our cousins then back over the Blue Ridge for some more east coast adventure. Mark has returned to NM so it is just the girls and I trying to run the gauntlet of the east.
We have moved on to Lexington where we are visiting my cousins who live here. Instead of reiterating meals and conversations I want to share some more observations. We are currently in the Ohio river valley, an incredibly fertile area that has enough pollen to build a planet with. I have come down with a condition called the Ohio Valley grunge. It is a lot like allergies in NM but with more flu like symptoms. I watch people cut grass here every 3 days. Coming from a place where we coax the grass to grow like a baby’s first steps, it is strange to see grass gone wild. People leave dinner parties to go home and cut grass because if they don’t, they won’t be able to get out of their houses in the morning to go to work (and we don’t go to school if there is an inch of snow on the ground!). It sure makes it pretty though.
If you look at one of our pictures, you will see Mariah lounging in a hammock our friends from Louisville gave us. It seems their garage had too much stuff and they were in pitch mode and we couldn’t let it go. I am going to need a garage trailer soon if I keep this up. Setting up house now is a whole new adventure. We have to look for sites with trees that are appropriately spaced and a flat spot for the new grill (also a donation).
One of the things I am enjoying the most about Kentucky is all the horses. They are like stars at night, beautiful and plentiful. We went to a horse show yesterday and was great to see the giant warm bloods being run through their paces with capable riders upon their backs. They remind me of home. The park we are staying at is the KY horse park and it is next to the area where they have many horse events like polo and show jumping.
The reason we are in Lexington is to visit family and everyone knows that sometimes that is not like going to an amusement park. We had a great time visiting with ours. Tom is my mom’s sisters son and Ellen is his wife and we don’t get to see them very often. Tom’s dad is my Uncle John who we visited in Florida. He comes and lives in Lexington in the summer. We all got together several times and one night we played Apples to Apples and there was a whole group of us. It was hilarious and fun. Tom and his brother Johnny and his dad are involved in an organization that connects handicap children and horses. We toured the facilities and saw the new barn that is being built there at the horse park. That evening we had a barbeque at our campsite which I tried to spoil them like they had been spoiling us.
Moving east to West Virgina, almost heaven for weather but tough on trucks. This is part of driving that I don’t like because we have to take interstates to make sure the grades don’t get to steep for Fluffy. One of the daintiest things we saw was the gold leafed dome of the capital building of WV. It looked liked a giant Faberge egg glinting in the sun. With a state as pretty as West Va, it is no surprise that there are nice state parks, one of which is called Babcock State park and this is the time of year to camp. There was no one there. Our friend Bill from Florida came and joined us and we had lots of fun hiking, biking, playing music and exploring the area. Nearby is the River Gorge bridge park where we saw the westeren hemisphere’s largest single span arch bridge and a movie about its’ construction. Personally, I am always in awe of boys who can design and play with erector set pieces that are larger than a football field. At the park there is an old grist mill that is still in operation and one can purchase stone ground corn there if you like. With all the creeks and rivers everywhere, all I can think of is tire swings.
At the outbreak of the civil war it seems many people in West Virginia did not want to join the Confederacy so to prevent their having to, the state of WV was created and admitted to the union. As you pass from one state to the other there is little difference in the magnificence of the scenery. I think Mariah must have taken a hundred pictures while we were driving. We are now in Harrisonburg Va visiting a high school friend of mine and her family. Her husband is also in the throws of chemo and they are all handling it very well but more collective spirit gathering is in order for Steve Parks.
That wraps up this edition of the Meanderthals adventure. Hope this finds all of you healthy, wealthy and wise.
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My My , the old Kentucky home

2007-05-03T18:52:00Z

Sometimes a little unexpected down time can return a person’s spirit to where it needs to be. We stopped at a KY state park (Barren Lake, in case you are ever near there) just over the state line and we happened to be there on their camper appreciation weekend so not only did we get two nights for the price of one but there were many families with lots of kids camping too and many child friendly activities. I think we saw Olivia 3 times the whole weekend. The rangers put on a big feed on Sat night that was terrific and then they had a talent show. We played a little and then tried to get other people to show their talents and it was down right funny when they started doing karaoke. After everyone left it was a very empty campground but we did some catch up repairs, practiced our instruments and rested. Did you know that Bowling Green KY is the home to the GM plant that assembles Corvettes? There is a museum there dedicated to them and you can get a tour of the plant. Modern American car assembly is something to behold. Corvettes are a little different in that there is more hand work than robotics but it is amazing to see 1000 people build 170 cars a day. Henry Ford would have been proud. Olivia couldn’t go in because she didn’t have closed toed shoes. Her first foray into why high heels can be a pain. We had to go back the next day so the kids could see it.
Somewhere in our Nashville wanderings we had heard that the Bluebird Café was the place to introduce new songs so we decided to run down and see what that was all about. Unfortunately, Mariah didn’t get to sing but Mark and I watched singer songwriters. We now have piece of paper that if we ever get back to Nashville, Mariah will be guaranteed a spot. She has written several very good songs and I will be curious to see an audience reaction in Nashville.
I am sitting in Louisville KY listening to the rain and the geese across the road honking while reading all my wonderful emails. It is so peaceful. We stopped at Mammoth Cave Ky on the way north and did the grand tour. It is so fun to compare the various types of geology and tourism associated with National Parks. Mammoth cave is like stepping back in time because it is not so touristy. The hotel and visitor center seems quaint when compared to newer ones like Carlsbad. The park is so big that all the tourist towns are far away so you are shielded from the overt commercialism that is often associated with parks.
We took backroads from Cave City to Louisville where it is so green it almost hurts your eyes. The rolling hills are fun to drive even in a rig our size. Along the way we stopped at the log cabin where Abe Lincoln spent some of his childhood. Lincoln once said “I hope to have God on our side but I absolutely must have Kentucky.” We can see why.
We are staying with our new friends Bruce and Debbie who we met in Florida and helped convince us to re-route our trip through the ‘original” west to see the Kentucky Derby. It is funny to think that after the revolutionary war you were considered a pioneer if you went over the Blue Ridge mountains. When you are here, it is easy to see the attraction. You have to be careful where you spit your seeds because something will surely grow as a result. That is about all the news fit to print right now. I would like to add one small note of cloud on the horizon. A good friend of ours has been diagnosed with cancer and for all those out there who believe in the power of combined spiritual goodness please hope for a good outcome for John Marshall of Socorro. Together maybe we can make a difference. Thanks, Hugs to all from the soggy Meanderthals.
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From Asheville to Nashville

2007-04-27T00:03:27Z

Looking this over the beginning sounds rather melancholy and I don't mean it to but when the muse calls I am not always in charge of what it has to say. The fun part is a paragraph or two down. Missing everyone....

On the halfway point of one's journey it is interesting to note the things that make you homesick. I have a girlfriend in Socorro who is very sick or at least she sounds it and I am heartbroken that I am not at home to make her chicken soup or run to our other wonderful friends house and pick up some healing herbs for her.

We had the good fortune to have some friends of ours from Colorado pass our way and though it was unknown to both groups of our particular locations, our paths crossed and we rejoiced in our reunion. Alas, they had to return home and we had to continue our journey but not without some reflection on my part as to what home means. It takes more than ordinary fortitude to depart on such an adventure as ours. I believe this sentiment was best written about by Homer in the Odessey which was brought home to me on our experience at the Hermitage ( Andrew Jackson's very well preserved home in TN that has a painting of Telemachus trying to find his father and home on the entrance way hall) and Dorothy said it best with "There is no place like home". Another very good friend will be leaving Socorro for her new life in other parts of the world and I am not there to say "till we meet again" and that makes my stamina waver tremendously. So when emotion starts to play, any good scientist turns to numbers. So for fun and because I was inspired by a book I perused recently, here goes. For those of you who are inspired by our journey here are the numbers for 5 months of traveling, family of four:

# of heartaches: 5 per week at the 1st month, with dimishing returns to 1 per week at 3 months and increasing to 2-3 with passing time

# of gallons of gas per week: If move along at a slow to fair pace, 20-25 gallons for a diesel pickup. This does not include gas for the generator if we boondock.

# of gallons of bottled water: 5-8 per week depending on temperature

amount spent on laundry: cheapest $4.00, cyber wash:$20 (stay away, far away!), once a week with about 2 loads

rolls of toilet paper: 2 per week, remember we are a 2 bathroom unit.

cost of camping: average: $15 per night, including state parks, boondocking (see Walmart), and private campgrounds

best boondocking: Walmart, (Note if you think it's free then leave your purse or wallet in the truck when you go in to use the restroom), casino's, street parking in cities (lock your door for good measure)

groceries: We found that since we are roughing it that comfort can be found in quality foods so there is little skimping here since we only eat out on special occasions or in very special places so on average our grocery shops are about $100 per week. This is where we say we are saving money by staying in Walmart parking lots but because of what we spend when we shop there I am not sure it is a savings.

Average cost of educational fun: $10 depending on whether you stay out of Disney World and Graceland which will increase your average to $25.

Mastercard has it right: Memories: priceless

Best part: new friends we have made along the way

That sums up the most obvious things.

On to the journey,…After hiking with our friends from CO up Klingmon's dome in the Great Smokey Mountains, we traveled on to Oak Ridge TN on the other side of the mountains from N. Carolina. Talk about a grade, 21 miles of downhill, I was afraid for the Airstream and Fluffy but both made it down without a hitch or should I say with "hitch it tact". Oak Ridge held a fascination for me since it was part of the trinity which created the nuclear age and the cold war, etc. We enjoyed the science museum and how much the town resembled towns in New Mexico we know. Our journey west on I-40 took us to Cedars of Lebanon State park 20 east of Nashville. We had fun at the local flea market near here looking at spring pigs and chickens while Mariah worked at selling earrings she had made. We visited the home of Andrew Jackson one day and "busked" downtown on Sat. night. Not as good a return as in Key West but it was fun none the less. We has a very interesting conversation with the folks at the Nashville Songwriters Assoc where we learned about the country music song writing business. We are now trying to figure out what our next move is since we missed the Thunder over Louisville fireworks show.

Greetings from music row near downtown Nashville. We have been the typical wide eyed awe-struck tourists since our NSA experience, we have been to the Ryman theatre (home of the Grand Old Opry til 1974), the country Music Hall of Fame and the the new Grand Olde Opry. Our favorite experience was in a violin shop in west Nashville where we took Mariah's fiddle to be repaired. An extremely good looking young fellow came in who looked very familiar and I asked him if he was the son of the owner (and no I never put my foot in my mouth, pth pth) and the owner and he laughed and pointed to a magazine dealing with the music business and this fellow's picture was on it. I knew he looked familiar. Turns out he plays the fiddle and he and Mariah got to chatting and then he asked if he could play her fiddle and now I know why his picture is on the front of the magazine. He and the owner started jamming and it was impressive. I would have taken pictures but I think I would have gotten in trouble, I don't really know but I didn't want to ruin the moment. I hope we see him again and if I can contain myself I will ask him if I can take a picture of him with Mariah. Very down to earth for how high he makes people feel with his playing. Hey that could be a song…..That's all the news that is fit to print, Happy Trails from the Meanderthals.

Pictures not posted yet..sorry get to it soon

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Wild wind in the Woods

2007-04-18T00:36:16Z

We are hanging in Asheville for a few days with our new friend Tommy. Asheville is a beautiful town in the middle of the Blue Ridge mountains where wealthy folks have come for years to enjoy it’s beauty and laid back style. There are several colleges in the area. Tommy is a 3rd generation Ashvilleon and we have been enjoying his stories about its history from a native’s point of view. Here’s something not everyone knows: NASCAR racing’s nascent beginnings began with the moonshine runners during prohibition. Tommy grandfather was an circuit preacher just like Mark’s grandfather so they are having fun exchanging stories about people who knew their ancestors. On Sunday, Tommy took us on a tour of Ashville and we went and looked at the scene where “Thunder Road” was made which is a 1960’s movie about moonshine runners. It is funny because the city has re-routed the road since the movie was made but the over pass is still sitting between two new businesses with trucks parked around it. Tommy, Olivia and I went walking around one the first race tracks that drivers like Richard Petty got started but the wealthy didn’t like it’s location so it became the center of a river park on the French Broad river. Tommy told us about past drive through drinking establishments that had clever names. One was a gas station/bar called the Coast In – Stagger Out and another was the Toot and Tell (you toot your horn and then tell ‘em what you want).

I have been having fun making myself at home in Tommy’s kitchen and cooking for everyone. Last night we had a major front blow through and one of the trees outside Tommy’s home came down and took out a power line about 100 yards from the camper unit. We watched as the fireworks from the transformer lit up the night sky. About an hour later we lost power too. We had the kids stay in the house but Mark and I stayed in the camper and I had to put in earplugs to quell the fear of every branch breaking in the gusts. We spent the next morning removing debris from the road and cleaning up the branches we could move without a chain saw. Tommy had gone off to work but came home and ‘caught’ us cleaning. He called his boss and said ‘I can’t come back my guest are cleaning up my war zone.’ We explained to him how we missed working but he stayed and we had a community effort at making everything right.

A perfect evening for us consists of a nice New Mexican dinner and an evening playing music which is what we got to do. I had looked in the local paper and found an open mic in downtown West Asheville and we made red chile enchiladas for Tommy and then arrived at the open mic around 8:15pm. We had no idea how hot the music scene was here, every space was taken- shoot. We spent an hour in a smoke free pub enjoying the locals who got up and played and I was delighted by one of the cleverest ideas I had ever seen. In the bathrooms, the walls are all chalkboards and there are pieces of chalk everywhere for those graffiti artists with an Aristotle urge. I hope we can talk the Capital Bar in Socorro into doing this!

Sometimes things happen but not the way you expect. A friend of Tommy’s who is in the music business and was at the pub told us about a private jam down the street. We grabbed our instruments and played with some very friendly and excellent musicians. There was a fiddler there who played harmony fiddle to Mariah’s licks that sounded terrific. Asheville is the most community oriented town I have seen so far. They have several food coop and everyone is into supporting community agriculture and helping those in need and it is easy to understand how in a recent quality of life survey, Asheville rank very high. I saw a bumper sticker that I would love to get and it said “Buy locally, 1000 miles fresher”. That sums it up in my mind.

The morning of our departure we spent touring the downtown and went into the City Hall which had a very art deco feel and then into the Grove Park shopping area which was built long ago and is very decorative and detailed. The building was the center of downtown shopping until WW2 when the government took it over then put a weather center in it. In the 1970’s Asheville decided they wanted it back to a shopping area and have done a great job at remodeling it and putting in local businesses. I am very sorry to have to leave Ashville, I like it a lot.
The great Smokey Mountain National Park is the most visited national park in the country and we are going to see why.
Hugs to all, The Meanderthals

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hiking to royalty and heaven

2007-04-14T22:18:14Z

Picking up where we left off, a few more hours turned into most of the day as the parts of the South Carolina State Museum that we missed the previous day were as interesting as the parts we saw and we went over some of the stuff we saw again plus the Civil War relic room. We are heading into the piedmont and so our progress will now only be slowed by the hills and valleys of the Blue Ridge.
We spent the night at King’s Mountain which is the site of one of the most decisive battles of the Revolutionary War. Most of the RW was fought in the north but Cornwallis wanted to cut off the south so the north couldn’t get soldiers and supplies from there. He had a commander named Ferguson who was considered the best shot in the British army who was sent to the Carolina’s to recruit and train loyalists and he did. To make a long but interesting story short, his Tories met up with patriots from the Carolina’s at Kings Mountain in 1780 which history will tell you was not a kind time in the war for the Americans but the patriots whooped the Tories and so rallied the country and forced Cornwallis from the south and the rest is history as they say. We hiked the trail all around Kings Mountain and it was impressive how any force could have routed another from the top of that mountain. It was a beautiful spring day and the landscape was coming to life in the spring like weather. We had spent the morning at a re-creation of an 1850’s farmstead where the buildings were original dovetail log construction and Olivia got to experience the chore that a colonial child would have of pulling water from a well. Plus we saw some chickens that made us homesick for our chicken period.
A well versed traveler should always visit at least one site where a famous movie was filmed and we did that today. At the end of the Last of the Mohicans there is a very sad scene where the Native Americans are trying to escape from their enemies and taking the anglo children of the commander with them to save them but in the end everyone dies. It was filmed at Chimney Rock North Carolina. This is a very impressive rock outcrop and accompanying waterfall in the Appalachian mountains. You really have to want to get there because you have to go over some big mountains to get there. We were all very proud of Fluffy for not only did she get us to Lake Lure which is at the base of Chimney Rock but she got us halfway up the mountain to Chimney Rock and down again. We hiked all over the cliff’s around Chimney Rock to the waterfall that is twice as high as Niagara but not nearly as much water volume. Olivia kept up the whole way about 2.5 miles, it was a workout for all of us but thank goodness we had some practice at King’s Mountain. The weather was good for hiking, not to much heat and not to cold. It is supposed to snow tonight here. So much for warm spring weather…We are in Ashville tonight visiting Tommy who we met at Tuck in the Woods. Soon to be playing bluegrass in the Blue Ridge…hope everyone is not blue but happy. Hugs from the Meanderthals,

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hiking to royalty and heaven remains copyright of the author fdeters, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Springtime in the Carolina's, nothin' finer

2007-04-12T13:40:42Z

Hunting Island is a very popular campground so we had to move to another one if we wanted to tour Beaufort so we found this nice campground called Tuck n da Woods which gives private campgrounds a good name in our view. We were only going to spend one night but some people camping near us asked us to play music for them so we said sure and plus we wanted to spend more time with Bill and tour more of downtown Beaufort. We had a great time playing music and thought we were leaving the next day but Mariah made a friend that was her age and the family just adopted us and fed us and we all went bike riding the next day. We thought, okay we will leave tomorrow but that was not to be as the family, (Kenny, Kerri, Kolton and Kurtis) had a brother who came with a boat and Mariah went out with them the next day and participated in water sports such as tubing and knee boarding (like water skiing on your knees). Kerri was a great cook and insisted we eat with them so we didn’t argue. A great time was had by all. They are from Homestead Fl and we traded tales of our travels till wee hours in the morning. We are finally off to Charleston today.

Charleston is the zenith of southern elegance and charm. The houses in the historic district are well preserved, lovely to admire and easy to navigate. We spent the afternoon wandering around after dropping off the silver queen at a lovely park called James Island County park which is ten minutes from downtown. The beauty is hard to describe and the feeling of old timeyness is evident all around. You can see Ft Sumter from the waterfront and almost hear the ghosts of civil war participants in the walkways. On our meanderings we wandered down Zig Zag Alley which seemed irresistible if in just it’s name. At the end we ran into a home owner who was taking care of his small but meticulous garden and he recommended a place called Slightly North of Broadway and he was right on the money, it was very good. I have been spoiled lately with Kerri fixing us meals and then going out to eat but I am cooking again. We have been to Patriots Point where we toured the USS Yorktown, bloody big ship. It it like a miniature town with everything from kitchens, shoe repair shops, to barber shops and movie theatres. Mark went on and did the submarine tour but the kids and I experienced that claustrophobia when we were in AU. I really enjoyed the re-creation of the Vietnam American army camp. It made me think of all my heroes at home : ).

Today was tea plantation tour day. We went to the only tea plantation in the US south of Charleston where they grow, process and package their own tea. The man who owns it, is a 3rd generation English tea taster and obviously has a passion for it.

Having a passion for tea myself, I purchased some tea made on the plantation itself and though it was good, I myself prefer the tea from Australia. The tea made at the plantation had a American characteristic that you taste in the ice teas here. It is obviously made for that market.
Into the interior of South Carolina we go. The countryside is covered in the beauty that only spring can produce. We are in the midst of a freak cold snap now and it is affecting the flowering plants but at least we got to see them for a moment. The dogwoods are dropping their petals quickly and with the cold it looks like a light snowfall of big flakes everywhere.

Talk about a surprise that surprised us. We were at a South Carolina campground near the small town of Sumter when a truck with camper pulled up and asked us if we could help them get into a spot. I looked at the woman and realized it was Kerry from Tuck in the Woods. I was so surprised and happy. They spent the next 3 days with us and we made food and went exploring and just had a great time. Mariah got to hang out with someone her own age so she was happy. The game Apples to Apples came in handy and we played for hours. Nearby was a an Air force gunnery range so we were serenaded by the sound of A-14’s shooting gatilin gun bursts off and on all day. Everytime I heard it, I thought, sure glad they are on our side.
After a tearful goodbye to our new friends from Homestead, we headed off to Columbia and they to Tampa. They were having a good joke at our expense because Columbia is maybe 40 miles away and Tampa is 300 miles but we both had to start out early. It is true, we don’t make it very far in a day.
Columbia is the capital of South Carolina and has a regal state house where many remember the controversy of the confederate flag having a home there. We visited the state museum where we learned such interesting tidbits as the difference between the lowland and uplands and how they grew different cotton and why the capital was moved from Charleston to Columbia. We also have enjoyed seeing wall sized pictures of the latest Hubble telescope images. We enjoyed it so much we are here in Columbia today to visit again so we can spend a few more hours looking at their collection of Civil War relics.

That’s all the news fit to print for now. On the road and doing well, hope everyone is doing well too! To all those who’s birthday’s I missed Happy Birthday!

Springtime in the Carolina's, nothin' finer remains copyright of the author fdeters, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Our Florida escape

2007-04-02T20:33:25Z

We have escaped Florida! It’s funny how you get into a mode and then one day you wake up and you are not there anymore, in thought process or manner. We never seems to get an early start and the result of which is we made it out of Florida but not far. Our first stop was Crooked River State park on our march up the sea coast. It feels good to out of Florida but the landscape hasn’t changed enough for us to know. The bugs are moving north too, much to Mark’s chagrin. On our way to Savanna we stopped at San Simon Island lighthouse which was Mariah’s first lighthouse. It turns our that all southern coastal states have barrier island and so there are lighthouses all up the coast and we are all going to be experts on Fresnal (pronounced fre-nel) lenses by the end of this trip. Mariah was so inspired by the trip that she wrote a song and we are looking forward to the learning experience that goes with copywriting a song.
We spent the night at a park called Fort McAllister which was just south of Savanna. Fort McAllister was the first earthen fort of the civil war that was used by the confederates and union as a testing grounds for defense against modern (of the day) armaments. It was supposed to guard the backdoor of Savanna from blockade runners. The union sent it’s ironclads up the Ocheebee river to see if the fort could withstand it’s guns and it did. The sturdier masonary forts would blow apart but with earthen bulwarks the damage inflicted could be fixed overnight and also would absorb the impact of the blast. We spent our first but certainly not our last day learning about the country most significant time.
We went to Savanna for a day and it was interesting the way the city was laid out and the influence of cotton as a mainstay of it’s economy. The historic district has little plaza’s everywhere that give it a park feel and each of those are surrounded by very old masonary houses. The rest of it is just big, old city. There is a very exciting college there called Savannah College of Art and Design and the students were everywhere with their art supplies making paintings and drawings. The river area is very old and is home to the Savannah Cotton Exchange which if you read “Big Cotton”, a fascinating book about the influence of cotton on world events, it is a reverent spot.
Carolina on my mind….We are in South Carolina now near a town called Beaufort and this more my style. Another town spared by Sherman it is small and has all the charm one would expect from a town this size. They are going through a river revitalization project and are doing a fantastic job. Lots of antebellum houses with the basement slave quarters that have been restored. We spent our first part at a popular park called Huntington Beach which is way out on a barrier island. You feel like you are driving for miles to get there and think no one else must know about this place and you get the last spot available at a campground that holds 200 people. It too had a light house that we toured with our friend Bill who came to join us. It has been his life goal to climb it and he finally got to with us. The diameter of this lighthouse was much bigger that the ones we have climbed and much taller. The view as usual was spectacular.
The exterior color scheme and unique flashing light pattern of the various lighthouses can tell a sailor his location and he can go to a book and find out what the local hazards are. This seems antiquidated by modern standards but if the satellites go out there will many a boatman who will be glad that the lighthouses are still around. Mark and I read an interesting book by Jimmy Buffet called A Salty Bit of Land that involves the restoring of lighthouse so it fun to actually see all the items talked about in the book.
The music continues to light up our life. Olivia is further inspired by the patterns given to us by Joe from the Florida House Inn and we are having fun keeping people up at night in the campgrounds. Hugs to all, The Meanderthals

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From forts to inns

2007-03-27T13:38:55Z

Ahh to have things to write about and the time to do it…hard to find. St Augustine reminds us of home since it too started as a Spanish colony although it didn’t take the British long to try to take it over. The French tried to which brings me to our first tourist stop here which is called Fort Matanza. We wondered why the name because when we hear the word matanza our mouths start to water thinking of the yummy pig we get to eat at home when a matanza is held but hardly a name we would call a fort. It turns out that the Spanish slaughtered a bunch of French people who were trying to usurp the Spanish land here and hence the name Ft Matanza. There is a very fun street in downtown St Augustine called St. George that has shops and restaurants and at night, there are ghost tours that one can take. I guess there are lots of ghosts here. The architecture is colonial Spanish and English and is quite pretty. In downtown, there is a restored Spanish fort called the Castillo de San Marcos and they have live demonstrations of daily life during the Spanish colonial days. Olivia’s home school lesson for that day was how to load and fire an 18th century flintlock musket or Englishman hunting safety training course. The fort is made of coquina blocks, a material comprised of compressed crushed shells. Mark’s funny for the day: “If you sold it, you would be a coquina dealer.” The park we are staying at is one of the prettiest yet. It is called Anastasia and we can hear the surf from our site. The beach is not only pretty but there is a café with internet on it. I wish we could live here.
Despite Mariah’s protest we were able to take her to the Castillo the next day but only if we promised she could spend the afternoon at the café on the beach working on her homework, we acquiesced. She really enjoyed it despite her reservations about another fort with long concrete rooms. We learned that many western Indian tribes were sent to this fort to “confuse and reprogram” them. We learned that this was one of the only forts in America never to be taken by force.
We spent the afternoon at the beach where Olivia and I made sand castles and played in the water. We made a sand castle that looked like the Castillo and Olivia named it the Castillo de Sand Marcos, like father like daughter! If sand were not so ubiquitous I would have had my camera and taken a picture of it but alas you will have to use your imagination.
Our next stop was Fort Clinch, a fort of a different color. It was a civil war and Spanish American war fort. Our friend Bill came and visited us from Jacksonville and we jammed one evening. We are near the historic town of Fernandina on Amelia Island which has one of the best preserved historic districts around (ie no destruction from war, hurricanes or neglect). The fort at the campground is considered a 3rd tier fort started before the civil war, fortified for the Spanish American war and abandoned when modern armament made it obsolete. The fort was designed to protect the harbour at the confluence of the Amelia and St Mary’s Rivers and the harbour of Fernandina. There was a senator named David (I think) Yulee who saw Fernandina as a perfect port for moving goods west across Florida so ships wouldn’t have to negotiate the Dry Tortuga’s (considered very dangerous now and at the turn of the 20th century). He instigated the building of a railroad between Fernandina and Cedar Key on the west coast and so this is a thriving port town to this day with the charm of an old port town.
I keep saying that the well of human kindness seems infinite and I have another story. We were supposed to be moving north yesterday but Bill, our friend from Jacksonville, had some work in Fernandina and invited us to have lunch with him. Together we toured the fort and packed up and went into Fernandino. We ate at a place Bill recommended and he knew the owner who came over and we all started talking about music. It turned out there was a bluegrass jam night that night at the Florida House Inn where we were at. This is a large two story historic bed and breakfast with a café and bar inside called the Frisky Mermaid (don’t you love the name, the mermaid art inside is fun too). They had a stage where musicians can play and covered veranda overlooking a beautiful courtyard with a mermaid fountain in the middle. To make a long story even longer (ha ha) the owner offered us a space in his parking lot if we would like to stay and jam. Not only that Joe, the owner, had a stand up bass that needed repair and Mark had his tools with us so Mark spent the afternoon working on a bass, happy as a clam. We not only sing for our supper, we fix the instruments to play with too! We had a great evening of jamming and meeting people and just overall fun. The owner Joe has an adorable son who Olivia took an instant shine to and she has been wined and dined by Tanner and feels like the belle of the ball. I keep thinking that there is no way any experience can top the previous one but I think that is what gets us up every day because that is what life is all about. That the Meanderthal update for now. Hugs to all.

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You say it your birthday

2007-03-27T13:34:55Z

What could be more magical than Key West…..well how about the Magic Kingdom itself. Yes we decided that for my birthday we should take the kids to Walt Disney World. It was a gorgeous day both in weather and events. We took in as much as we could pack in for 12 hours. To make sure it was educational we watch the Hall of Presidents where the kids watch a movie about the US and then heard animotronic presidents talk about their experiences and what makes America special. Patriotic and corny, I love it. The park we are returning to is like the animal kingdom with deer, wild turkeys and alligators (sounds like a menu don’t it.). We thought it was the most peaceful place we had found until the weekend. One of the biggest sports in this part of Florida is frog hunting at night with air boats. I don’t mean a small boat till 10pm, I mean a boat that sounds like Hughes Spruce goose till about 3 am. We spent about 2 hours trying to figure out what it was and decided some developer was behind on his loan and was developing land but when we asked we found the real source of the racket. We found a genuine small town in Lake Wales. The people are friendly and act unthreatenend by the impending Mc-america-ing of Florida. I suspect the farther north we go the better it will get. The other great attraction at Lake Kissimee was an 1860 cow camp, authentic down to the “cracker” that was living there. For those of you interested and not in the know, a “cracker” is what the native Floridians are called. I say the rest of the natives are called Seminoles… Anyway the term “cracker” comes from the sound of the whip that the cowboys used to control the dogs that helped round up the scrub cattle. It imitates the sound of a gun but is cheaper since after the civil war, powder was “dear” down in the south. Florida at one time was the largest cattle producer in the US so it was big business down here.
Spring must be here because we are traveling without reservations. After a night at the Ocala National Forest where we left the airstream so we could go to a bluegrass festival in Live Oak, we had our first brush with life threatening adventure. It started with our power steering gear box seal developing a leak. We tried some stop leak magic fluid but that didn’t encourage it to quit. What we didn’t realize was how bad the leak was and how it can affect the brakes if the reservoir runs dry. We were pulling up to the Suwanee River Music Camp when the brakes and steering simultaneously chose to go on vacation. We were extremely lucky for several reasons. We were on a hill so we were slowing down naturally due to gravity and we were able to, using the Armstrong method, to get the truck off the road and we were not towing the airstream. We went into the park and met the most helpful, nicest people who helped us get mechanic and then let us spend the night in their camp. If you are going to break down I highly recommend doing it outside a bluegrass festival. We met a great guy named Bill who is letting us camp in his cabin until our truck is fixed. Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers.
Fluffy rides again! We managed to get our beloved truck back and get to Ocala to pick up our bigger half (ha ha) and wing our way to Daytona Beach where spring breakers rule this week. We are visiting a class mate of my mother who lives here. After a great time in Ormond Beach and Daytona where we were absolutely spoiled rotten by mom’s friend, we have moved to St Augustine which I will write a great deal about when I have more time.
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Paradise lost, Paradise found

2007-03-06T20:36:01Z

Mark has been wielding his sarcastic pen again after we had our expectations crushed by an abundance of heat, humidity and no-see-ums at Bahia Honda. We all realize that the tropics can have some uncomfortable areas but this was ridiculous. Mark now calls the park “Bahia humbug”. We started our adventure into the Keys by spending the night in a Kmart parking lot where we found the New Zealand family that we had met in the Everglades. They wanted to go to Bahia Honda so we all met at there. We spent a lovely day at the beach and then they got a campsite that was one of the non reservable sites for 2 weeks. At first we were a little envious but didn’t want to be tied down anyway. That night after a lovely dinner we all went to bed. It was about 94 degress and 99 percent humidity and the bugs were hungry. I spent a very uncomfortable evening taking refuge under the covers until I was drenched in sweat then throwing the covers off to be eaten alive. Mark seemed unbothered by the whole situation. Needless to say I was a bit grumpy the next day when I had no sleep but realized that here I was in the beautiful Keys and the sun was shining just like I had asked for so I took a shower and washed my bad attitude away. Mariah had a similar night so we comforted each other and enjoyed the day. We went snorkeling and exploring. It was too bad there was 3 feet of sea grass piled up like a speed bump on the beach and there were Man ‘o War floats all over but we had fun none the less. That evening I was determined to be prepared so I took an ice cold shower before bed and slept in a long sleeve nightgown and threw a light weight shirt over my legs and I slept great but Mark was the bugs dinner that night. I felt for him but he had been warned. I swear he had 3000 bites all over him. He looks like he has the chicken pox! All he wanted to do was leave the keys but we convinced him he had to see Key West (which he was calling Flea West) so off we went.

We love Key West! The drive was gorgeous with all the water and the islands everywhere. We went to Fort Taylor and found the best beach in KW and played there in the morning and then rode our bikes around town that afternoon. There are tons of quaint houses in KW and Duvall St is full of bars, stores and restaurants. We saw Ernest Hemingsways house and had dinner on the harbor. The full lunar eclipse was occurring so we watched that and then went back to our truck camper. The park had closed but one of the gates was still open so we went back and loaded the bikes and headed out. Whoops, they closed and locked the gates in the interim and we almost spent the night in the park by ourselves but the grumpy lone ranger came and let us out. There are certainly worse places to sleep than the western most point of Florida on a beach! We wanted to see Duvall St. at night so we headed downtown and parked at the city hall lot and wandered around. It was full of people and everyone was having a great time. We had heard that you shouldn’t take kids there after dark but there were lots of families and only a few instances of akward questions (Mom, why is that man dressed like a woman?, well honey why don’t we just “Let the mystery be”). It turns out Kenny Chesney was filming a music video that night at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Bar so we watched the crowd for awhile. It was an invitation only event but that didn’t keep the crowds from hanging around outside. There was a rumour that JB might show up (he didn’t) and so we stood around until Olivia passed out and we took her back to the camper. When we got back Mark suggested that Mariah and I go play on the street with our instruments (busking as it were). We made $36 in half an hour, I got to play a Jimmy Buffet song on Duvall St and get paid. Just like the big guys! It was so fun. After we had sweated enough and I mean that literally, we went back to the camper and Mariah begged to go see Kenny Chesney so I went with her and we stood outside till some drunk started telling us about what a fake it all was and I told him to not crash my 14 year olds trance. He told us that if we wanted to see KC to go around the corner and look at his bus, so we went to get away from the drunk. It is funny how things work out sometimes. We were on our way back when Kenny came around the corner and almost bumped right into Mariah. Needless to say she is still walking on cloud 9!

We decided to stay right where we were and spend the night and it turned out okay. We spent the next day living in KW. We did laundry and Mariah did school. While she did school we checked out a boat show where Olivia took a fishing class and got a free rod and reel and tackle box for her efforts. She is now the casting queen of the family. Later in the afternoon, Mark, Olivia and I checked out a 120 year old light house, lots of steps and very interesting. Great views of KW from the top. We spent the evening on the White St pier where Olivia went fishing. I had to explain to her why they call it fishing and not catching. We stayed another evening in lovely downtown KW. Before we left we went in search of a secret garden that a friend recommended and after finding it and appreciating the lovely orchids we headed to Bahia Honda to dump tanks and shower and pick up our can opener we left when we fled away. Off to Naples to pick up our Airstream and head north.

Don’t know when I will get to write again so I will tell of this last adventure. We decided to drive to Naples in one day which isn’t a big deal. We arrived late to find out that the refridgerator in the Airstream doesn’t work without a battery and frozen chicken doesn’t last long without it’s heat removed. YUUUUUCKKK! I spent my night cleaning the fridge but bless Mariah’s heart she stayed up and read to me. Who says teenagers are troublesome? Are not! Hugs to all from sunny Florida

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Moving at the speed of snails

2007-02-28T19:23:23Z

Give us our journal, our daily journal….I find that if I don’t write daily that I get lazy so will try to put something down everyday. Today I purchased some handmade wooden jigsaw figures from one of our neighbors, he says it keeps him out of the bars. They are whimisical things like fish and clowns and a really cute flamingo. The pieces don’t fit exactly right so you know it is handmade but they are 95% right and so the flaws release you from the gods anger. It is a beautiful day here. Our new campsite is the nicest in the park. We are right on the water and our picnic table overlooks the lock. Mark said yesterday he got to watch a 100’ yacht go through and it was spectacular. I was with Mariah downtown so she could get her schooling done. I knew if I didn’t type everyday I would be in trouble and sure enough…You would think that people acting retired would have lots of time but it seems to slip away like grains of sand in an hourglass. We are really enjoying Ortuna because the people are so nice. They have this musical (as in musical chairs) campground routine that they do where they stay at each of 3 Corp of Engineer parks for 2 weeks because there is a limit on the time you can stay at any one park. One of the other parks is about 40 minutes away and some of the people who were at Ortuna set up a potluck at WP Franklin and they asked us if we would come and eat and play music. How can you say no? Potlucks always make me think of home and it was really nice, despite the pouring rain. I got to see my new friend Elton who I played to outside his RV window and lots of others I become acquainted with. During our stay at Ortuna we met a couple who had a gorgeous RV called a Vogue. All wood interior, a built in bar and very handsome design all around. We got to tour new Airstreams – also very nice. We ran into a man we had met at Salt Springs who told us even more about Florida, he has been coming here for 30+ years.

We were sad to leave Ortuna but we knew we were going to see our new friend Becky and go riding. We spent the weekend at a great camp area known as Picayune State Forest which is 35,000 acres of Everglades and it is very lush. We saw cypress trees starting to come out for the expectation of spring and glades of ferns. It was quite a contrast from the manicured lawns and neatly placed landscaping. It was one of the coldest nights we had since we have been here. On Saturday we went out for 6 hours. At camp that evening, we managed to get some other riders over who also played music and had a jamboree for all the campers, it was great fun. We will be spending the next few days with Becky who we met at Alafia State park. She is letting us leave the Airstream at her place while we go to the Keys. We spent a day with my Uncle John and had so much fun. We went his place in Naples and then to lunch and then he gave us a first rate tour of Naples. Talk about the ritzy neighborhoods, my goodness. There was a house there that was 60,000 square feet. Mariah and I were wondering if they just have it to rollerblade around, I mean what else could you use all that space for? We also got to see my cousin Johnny and Olivia went swimming in their heated pool. It is not quite warm here but close.

Tomorrow is Mariah’s birthday so we are going to some fancy mall and then play putt putt golf or something. I can’t believe 14 years ago I was getting ready to have a baby. If anyone would have told me I would have been here now, I am not sure I would have believed it. Olivia will be half Mariah’s age soon…makes me wonder where I will be 7 years from now.
If you have never spent a day at a mall with a budding teenager you are missing one great experience or else I am missing some brain cells. The morning started off with Mariah bouncing out of bed (your first clue to extraordinary day) and rousing everybody with “Come on guys, we are burning daylight!”. A quick breakfast and off we go into the traffic bound yonder. Coconut Point is currently the world’s largest outdoor mall or at least in Florida where competition for concrete pads is taken very seriously. Mark disappeared into the Barnes and Noble (chicken!) and the girls and I went off in search of the latest fashions. Mariah, to her credit, shopped wisely and found some cute things that didn’t warrant my pulling out a second Visa card. We had a lovely lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen, nice décor and good food. After another couple of hours bouncing in and out of stores we went off to find Putt Putt golf. I love this game because everyone can play. Olivia needs some work on how to hold the club and how to not bounce it off the cars passing on the road next to us but other than that we did great. Becky had dinner ready for us when we returned (bless her heart) and we ate the birthday cake I made in the middle of last night. We didn’t have any birthday candles so I tried to use Q-tips, yes your imagination will paint the picture just fine. She got to blow out one anyway without setting the cake on fire.

Mark gets a day. In the middle of Florida there is a place called Flywheeler Park which is a tractor man’s heaven. 35 acres of land set aside for antique equipment. Three times a year they have shows and people from as far away as California bring their tractors, steam shovels and hit and miss engines to Fl. The permanent exhibits includes a 1914 Snow Engine which is fueled by natural gas, has 400 HP, 4 cylinders, 4 stroke engine, 36” stroke, 20 inch bore and has a flywheel with a diameter of 12 feet, 6 inches and weigh 12 tons. The whole machine weighs 100 tons. It is quite a machine. Activities for the day include a tractor pull (it is like watching golf), Model T put together (they put a completely disassembled one together in less than 10 minutes), a kids pedal tractor pull, a fully operational steam saw mill, parade, more tractors than you have ever seen or may even want to see and 1500 booths that sell everything from magneto parts to stuff your own teddy bears. In the evening there is an open jam and of course we showed up but were a little late. They had a stage and they invited us up to play. Mariah got a standing ovation for Angel Band and was asked up to play solo’s for everyone else’s song after that. Mark said he almost cried when she got her ovation.

How can a mother and father have 2 days where you want to cry? Have 2 incredible daughters! Olivia got to participate in the kid’s pedal tractor pull and afterwards got a free homemade ice cream and t-shirt. Mariah told us that she was going to play at 2:30 so we went to watch. It turned out to be like the evening before – an open jam. Olivia says to me, “ Mom, can I sing Big Rock Candy Mountain?”. You bet if you are ready. Olivia and Mariah sang the whole song and Olivia sang several verses by herself. I was in tears. Now I can sit back and relax and wait for the …..oh wait I like to play! A great day was had by all.

Upon our return my Uncle John called and said he hoped we would visit again so we did. It is nice when people want you to come back. After another day of family fun where I met my cousin David who I hadn’t seen since I was knee high to a grasshopper, we got our stuff together to travel down to the keys. The Florida Keys are along a 2 lane road that crosses over outlaying islands and they are considered by many people to be paradise which means everybody and their cousins are there so for that reason we left our beloved Airstream in Naples and the four of us are traveling in the camper. Yes it is now the Sir “Lance”alot the cramper. Actually if you don’t mind the rearranging ritual every night, it is not to bad. We spent a night in the Everglades after a beautiful drive through Big Cypress National Park. Talk about ‘gators, I saw hundreds along the canals and I was driving so I could only get quick glances. After our night in the mosquito capital of the world, we went on a short foray into Key Largo and checked out John Pennekamp. We are now at Agnes’s house in North Miami where last night we drank French champagne into the wee hours of the morning and talked about all subjects under the sun. So, aurevoir for now. We love and miss you all and hope to keep in touch.

Moving at the speed of snails remains copyright of the author fdeters, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Long Time No Write

2007-02-12T20:22:57Z

Long time, no write…Sometimes it seems that life does not inspire you to write so you don’t. As it turns out, funny things do happen and they are worth sharing but you are not sure whether they have the “guess you had to be there” rating. First and foremost we are so happy to be back with Mark. I am so blessed because I get to live the motto of successful relationship numero uno : half the work, twice the fun. We did get to meet the families that started a web site called RVfamilyfun. It was great for the girls. They both made new friends and we got to see how people figure out how to do this and make a living. Sponsorships for RV suppliers…they reminded me of the movie RV, two families, two RV’s for two years. Very nice people traveling in very nice RV’s. The next park we stayed at was Highland Hammocks in the center of Florida near Sebring. It was bit of natural untouched raw Florida. At the time we were there, they were having a Scamp (a type of pull trailer type RV) convention and there were about a 100 of them there. Seabring is the home of the 12 hour endurance car race, kind of like Le Mons in France. We found a great wireless internet cafe there. Olivia and Dad went to the CCC museum and I heard all about what they did and when later that day.

We are staying in mid Florida now at a Corp of Engineers park on a river by a lock. Everyday we get to see beautiful boats go by and there are tons of birds. The people seem to be very relaxed and very friendly. The night we arrived, our neighbor was in his RV playing a guitar so I went over outside his window and strummed after he did. I could hear him asking his wife in a deep southern drawl if she had heard anything. He strummed again and I strummed again. Hmmm he says. He comes out and looks around on my side and there I am, smiling and holding my guitar. He was very nice and we played some more together that evening. The next evening he put together a jam session at one of the sites and tells the story about the first time a woman serenaded him outside his window…a little tall tale but a great story. Mariah and I had fun playing music with campers, none of which are younger in age than 70 but very young at heart. Not much else happening here.

Mariah is doing her schoolwork faithfully and Olivia is practicing her banjo. ( Roger please send me a summary of the work needed to go through Shoo Fly Shoo, thanks). I did have a great mom moment the other day. Olivia has grown very fond of all the “gray beards” and makes friends all over the park. Yesterday she asked me for my song book and I said I would bring it wherever she wanted but couldn’t just let her have it. She took me, my guitar and the book to a woman who played the dulcimer and there were a group of people sitting there chatting. Olivia said “Mom, would you play this? (Big Rock Candy Mntn). So I started to play and she sang the whole song and then sang about 10 more for the group. I was stunned, pleased, proud, excited and overwhelmed. Not only did she sing on key with perfect rhythm but she had style. A great mom moment and the best part was the woman, whose name is Naomi, taped it. To me, that is better than brass baby shoes! We will be heading to Naples to stay with the wonderful woman who we went horseback riding in Alafia with. We look forward to seeing her and doing some riding. Miss everyone near and far.

Mark’s funny for the day: Our children are becoming “Road Scholars”.
Pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/fdeters

Long Time No Write remains copyright of the author fdeters, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Daddy's returned

2007-01-31T08:00:00Z

The promise of a new day and great hope arises in our hearts. Dad has booked a plane ticket back to us so gladness is the emotion of the day. The kindness of strangers never ceases to amaze me. Take today for instance. It was a day of school for Mariah and in our search for WiFi we found a restaurant called Crispers. I needed power and the manager brought out a 100' extension cord just so I could do my internetting. He ran it across the floor so I could sit at a table and work (& book Mark's ticket). After I was done, I made use of my past and looped the cord so it could be stored neatly and conveniently for its next adventure. I was very grateful.

Mote aquarium home school day. It is no surprise that Florida is a state with an abundance of aquariums. With the Gulf of Mexico on one side and Atlantic on the other and plenty of wetlands, swamps, estuary's, bays, etc, it is a water lovers paradise both fresh and salt water. It is also perfect situation for the study of man's affect on the environment because there are way to many people here and competition for space is becoming increasingly fierce. The mission of Mote is do research and then to disseminate the information as quickly as possible in hopes of making the ever growing population aware of it's impact. There are the typical bells and whistles of aquariums but they are used to lure the unsuspecting patron into understanding the role they play in the game. I mean game. They have a huge interactive screen with touch screen monitors so you can play and see the result immediately. But I digress…I lucked out and found in one of the local papers'events calendar that Mote was having a home school day so off we went. The facility had different classes for different ages. Olivia learned the basics about sharks (Mote's specialty) and dolphins. Mariah spent the morning doing activities that demonstrated Florida's ecology and watched a demonstration on coral reefs. One of shortcomings of home schooling is the worry of no lab for the science courses so imagine how tickled I was when in the afternoon Mariah went over to one of the research labs and dissected a bonnet head shark. I had no idea that was what she would be doing. She came back grossed out but excited. For the next hour, I was regaled with tales of slimy shark innards, stomach contents (sharks eat crabs, who would of guessed?) and cute boys (yes, there were teenage boys in the group who were equally grossed out). That was the best reward for our money but we also got t-shirts and a curriculum package for studying the rainforest of Panama (lucky for Mariah she has already been there). We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around looking at the fish, turtles, dolphins and playing the interactive ocean theatre. It is going to be difficult to top that day but we will try. I must really be getting into traveling mode for I had my first lost in time experience when a RV pulled up to our campsite and asked us when we were leaving. I said I thought tomorrow but I had gotten mixed up on the day so we had to see how quickly the girls and I could pull together and pull out. We did it in 40 minutes not panicking. They really are getting the hang of this. We are off down the west coast to Koreshan, a religious utopia that finally went under because one of the basic tenets was celibacy. The girls and I had our firedrill pack up again. We were staying at a private campground when the office staff came over and asked if we were staying another day. We said no and they informed us check out time was 12 (it was 12:10) – whoops again and they say lightning never strikes twice. We were gone in 20 minutes. The girls are getting very good at getting going. Tonight we have been invited to play for the Koreshan ghost tour. It is nice when you practice and someone offers you something for your playing. Mariah's fiddle really brings 'em in. Holy mackerel batman, we made money playing for the ghost tour patrons. It is one thing to play for people who specifically come to hear music and quite another to play for total strangers that you really don't have a clue whether they like music or not. Needless to say we were well received and it was great fun. We even made a bit of pocket money. Friday evening, we had no idea that people would give us money and so the only vessel into which they could put some was Olivia's bicycle helmet which she had carelessly tossed on the ground next to us. Some people put in change and we didn't realize it and it fell through the holes in the helmet on the ground. Now we understand the meaning of "my bucket's got a hole in it, can't buy no beer"!. The next evening we left Mariah's fiddle case open and that was better – no holes. The ghost tour was an interesting way of presenting living history. There were people dressed in period costume, having conversations as if you weren't there about events in the community. It was very well done. Sunday the some of the volunteers did a bread baking demonstration using a dutch oven. Great bread, now I want one so I can try. We are now at a beautiful park called Ft Desoto which was voted America's #1 beach by Dr. Beach (how do you get a name like that?). I want to be Madam Beach so I can test all the beaches in the world and have people pay me for my opinion…dreaming. Anyway the beach is very pretty and the campground has lot's of squirrels for Olivia to chase. Mark comes back tonight (Whoopee!) so I may not be able to write for awhile but will try to keep you informed.

Daddy's returned remains copyright of the author fdeters, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Where are the Barbies?

2007-01-11T08:00:00Z

Life without Dad is like music without harmony, the essentials are there but somehow the song is not as sweet as it could be. The day of his departure we tried to make the best of it in the typical fashion that women will do (ha ha): we went shopping. Now as most of you know I am not a big shopper, most places bore me stiff but we managed to find some great finds in Ybor City. It was such a delightful place on our last visit but we didn't have as much time to explore its inner recesses, really what I mean is it's exchange clothing and vintage stores! I found a Florida outfit and Mariah found a dress for her trip with Grandma Richey in June. We had a great time watching a man hand roll cigars and then going in and smelling what a real cigar store should smell like. The best part of the day was the lunch with Dad overlooking Tampa Bay. The turn of the century houses along the drive to the restaurant were very impressive. This was the summer home of such notables as Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. It is always interesting to me to see how architectural style has changed over the years. It seems like much has happened since I last felt like writing but only the highlights come to mind. We have been adrift since Dad left and people who were once strangers now have come to fill some of the emptiness. One couple we met were musicians. The wife played mountain dulcimer and her husband learned to play the guitar so they could play together. We all got together and played for a campsite campfire. All the people seemed to really enjoy it. The girls and I had our first go it alone moving day and we were pleased all went well. We are staying at a county park that after we got there we discovered they only took cash for the RV space. Thank goodness Mariah had some because I was plum out. We are now living in a mangrove otherwise known as no-see-um land. It is beautiful during the day but if you step outside around sunset you are bait, dinner and dessert for a whole array of insects with invisibility cloaks and really sharp teeth. I have to laugh at Florida and their wildlife sometimes. They have "fire ant's" here that are the size of our sugar ants in Socorro. They look harmless but they leave a bite that won them the 'most painful insect bite' award in my book. We are trying to avoid the great outdoors during certain parts of the day. We finally got to see the Museum of Science and Industry (nicknamed MOSI) which is sort of like Explora in Albuquerque but not as good. They did have an interesting hurricane experience tunnel that the kids enjoyed. Mariah has been working her tail off with her schooling which is terrific but it leaves Olivia and I kind of hanging because I don't like to go off and do fun stuff without Mariah. After a day or so of keeping ourselves entertained at the campground, Olivia and I went on a reconnaissance run down to Sarasota. We stopped at a fresh seafood market that had a small café on the Sarasota bay. It was a beautiful place to eat and watch pelicans be lazy after a tough morning fishing. From there we went down to the Ringling Museum complex. We wandered around the grounds and decided we needed to come back the next day with Mariah. Our intuition was correct. We saw thehouse of John and Maybel Ringling of the circus fame and it was a fantastic view into the life of the very wealthy from the 1920's. The house, museum and grounds had been donated to the state of Florida upon John's death and they had no children. Mr. Ringling had been an art connoisseur and had built a museum for his collection and his wife Maybel loved the Venetian style so the house was very ornate. I would describe it as the Versailles of Southeastern United States. Everything was hand painted and gilded with gold. The house had been closed up and left just as it was when John died. The state just restored it in 1996 so it is in very nice condition, even down to the shoes and socks Mr. Ringling wore still in the closet. These were people who had an interest in detail. The grounds also contained 2 museums on the history of the circus plus an extremely detailed miniature circus diorama that takes up about football field. It was a great way to spend a beautiful Florida day.

Hello Dali! It must be museum week at the moving home place. Olivia and I went to the Salvador Dali museum in St Petersburg. You must be asking yourself "why is the Dali museum in St Pete's?" Well a wealthy patron and friend of Salvador Dali's wanted to put his entire collection which was quite extensive in a museum but he would only place it with the stipulations that the collection came as a whole and none of the pieces could ever be sold . Most museums want to pick and choose or sell off some to pay for other works of art. A business man from St Petersburg saw an article about the collection and it homeless problem and was able to convince the city fathers of it value and viola – an incredible Dali museum in sw Florida. Olivia was so excited but after about 15 minutes she started to pout and said she wanted to see where the Barbie's were. Whoops so much for the Dolly museum in her mind. After that we enjoyed a tour and some of the many works of Dali's that were not in the paint medium. Did you know that the dream sequence in Alfred Hitchcocks movie ' Spellbound' was put together by him? When you see the scene - it is obvious. He had quite an interesting life.

This weekend we spent with some folks we had met at Hog Island so the kids could get some kid time. They had fun jumping on the trampoline and watching movies. Olivia and I did manage to go to the St Pete pier to meet up with some friends of hers. It is an upside down pyramid out in the bay. It was such a beautiful day. Later that day we had a traditional St Pete experience. We went to the Gaspirilla parade. It is like the Mardi Gras of this area. It commemorates the pirate's invading Tampa. There are lots of gorgeous men and women dressed in period costumes on pirate ship floats throwing off lots of beads. The kids came home with a trailer full of 'em. If we ever break down, I can use them to tow us into town! You learn a lot about a place in a parade. There were not any political floats and very few commercial floats. It was mostly the descendants of the St Pete's founders and neighborhood associations. I guess they do it 3 times. Once is the childrens day parade, next the adult daytime parade and last is the nighttime "adults get very wild" parade. I wish Mark would get back…. Today is moving day, off to Lake Manatee.

Where are the Barbies? remains copyright of the author fdeters, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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After the new year

2007-01-02T08:00:00Z

A good deed indeed can go unpunished. We really enjoyed our cousins so much that we took them camping at Hillsbourough River. Ryan is 15 years old and very polite. His sister is 13 and coming into her own as a teenager. They were great company for the kids and everyone spent hours laughing and fishing. We were sorry to part company but we had a date in Crystal River with our friend Tim. There are no state parks in Crystal River so we thought we would try our first foray into the land of private campgrounds. Well the first thing we noticed is that they are expensive. They are also very "tidy", in attitude as well as looks. We were so excited because there was a heated pool, Wi-Fi and complete hook ups. Well, we were the oldest and most venerable rig in the place which had such notable tenants as Gary Burghoff (otherwise known as Radar from MASH). We pulled in and got our spot and were immediately assaulted by the activities director who told us about the New Year's Eve party and the poker game on Tuesdays and the art classes on Wed and the bridge on Thursday s etc etc etc. We weren't sure what la la land we had entered but we decided to make the best of it. Tim showed up and ran the electronic gauntlet (coded electric gate) and we felt like gypsies in the palace. Olivia immediately headed for the heated pool and Mariah took advantage of the intermittent internet access. Many of the residents came by to enjoy our cheerful little camp. Later (like at 11 pm) I went swimming in their heated pool and took a hot shower. Once upon a good night sleep and some more pool time for Olivia, we returned to the camper to fix breakfast and the hatchet man showed up. It turns out there is a little known rule that people are not allowed to stay in truck campers but we were welcome to stay if we didn't stay in our truck camper. Now we had become bonafide "riff raff". The good news is we got a refund for the next couple of nights we were supposed to stay and the bad news is ….actually it is more good news, for tonight – New Years Eve- we are at a state forest campground with no pool but a great campfire and we are much more comfortable and happy.

New Year's Eve in the woods is a beautiful place to be. It's quiet and safe and gives you a place you can contemplate what the New Year means. It is also a place you can pop a bottle of bubbly and let the cork fly! We managed to do both while we shared our wonderful New Mexico champagne that had traveled a long ways to be consumed at such an opportune moment with our friend Tim. Thanks to Pete and Jan for the bubbly : )

New Years Days had us on the "hunt for" the elusive manatee and we finally found some at Homosassa State Wildlife Park. The park used to be a private-for-profit theme park where profit seemed to be almost better served by development but the state stepped in and took it over and now it is a State theme park. We traveled down a canal on boat to the actual park and it felt like a Disney ride. The park has several shows where they feed the resident hippo that everyone wanted to keep after all the other "wildlife" from other places was shipped away, talk about the 12 "gators" and the highlight was the feeding and frolicking with the manatees. I bet you all didn't know that manatees love sweet potatoes! The park was filled with Florida's native plants and animals. After being in Florida's undeveloped wildlife areas, it was quite the contrast. We returned to our wildlife sanctuary in the woods and found that despite the drizzle all day our fire was still alive. One of the benefits of being in the state forest is the firewood is plentiful so we loaded up the next day and headed to Alafia River State park. This park really reminds me of a cross between the Bosque del Apache and South Dakota. Last night we were serenaded by redwing blackbirds and this morning our alarm clock was sandhill cranes. We are about an hour from Tampa but you would think we are a million miles away from any civilization. We know that is not the case as we had to go into town to do laundry and the subdivisions start about 5 miles west of here. There are 17 miles of mountain bike trails so off we go to enjoy the great outdoors before it rains again.

The Fat Tire Fiesta (a mountain bike festival in Socorro) folks would have a field day here. There are so many different types of bike trails here it is like an amusement park for the fitness conscious. Mariah and I rode the easy trail and felt like idiots when we forgot our helmets. You ride through the jungle and sometimes the trees on the path leave only enough room for the handle bars (whoops, don't forget to fold in that mirror) and (thanks I didn't need all that skin on my hands anyway!). When we were done, we were done in. It was fun and the humidity was only 95 percent so it was bearable. On Thursday, we went into Tampa for the day. Despite the late start we packed a lot of activities in. We went to the power plant and saw wild manatees (not the most active creatures in the world) but the power plant had a very nice visitor center that glorified it's relationship between nature and industry and how the manatees are so grateful for the warm effluent from the power plant. We heard from many people about the Science and Industry museum so we headed there for a look see. The admission price was a bit high considering we would only get to spend a couple of hours so we opted for a tour of the gift shop which was educational and fun. Olivia is now the proud owner of a pet tornado which she has been having fun with and we realized one could make a Wizard of Oz version by inserting a plastic Dorothy and witch on bicycle. Ahh fun with science! Our next stop was Ybor City (pronounced EE-bor) where Tampa's immigrant population congregated to work in the cigar factories in the 1800's. It is like a cross between the French Quarter in New Orleans and New York City. Two and three story buildings with ornate iron railings. This is the gathering spot for Theo's Rough Riders before they went to Cuba. We learned where the term "stogie" came from. Cheap cigars were made in Conestoga, PA which is the same place as Conestoga wagons and the cigars went west with the settlers and were called stogies. The evening was spent at the "Greatest show on Earth". Yes we went to the Ringling Bros and Barnum Bailey circus in downtown Tampa, home of the Ringling Bros and Barnum Bailey. There is an art museum here that we look forward to seeing that was Mr. Bailey's personal collection. I keep wondering if at the museum if they will "bring in the clowns"? Olivia enjoyed the circus but the rest of us noticed that Disney, NDI and insurance companies have had a definitive impact on this circus. It was a great day overall and tomorrow looks to be a quiet day of fishing, riding and resting.

You meet the nicest people when you travel. We spent the day riding and looking for fishing spots. The park guide here is Patrick and he has spent quite a bit of time telling us about what is available in the area. He told us about the fossils beds that are in the area and how there were two shallow currents of water that passed over this area when it was covered by a shallow sea and how the animal life flourished here and that is why there was a phosphate mine here from all the animal bones. You can still find dugongs fossils and sharks teeth etc. We didn't find anything but we did enjoy the water. In the afternoon, Mariah and I met a woman who had to many horses to ride herself so she said we could ride her extra horses – whoopee! The next day we went trail riding through the park with her and her girlfriends. It was great. We saw an alligator from the back of a horse and I must say I felt a lot safer from that vantage point. On the afternoon ride we had a bit of excitement when an armadillo spooked the horses and then at the trailhead somebody's dog got loose and tried to bite one of the horses but all is well that ends well. I have to laugh because I could get on her horses without assistance, they are not as tall as the horses I am used to. Today (Sunday) we leave this wonderful place and head onto Little Manatee River. I can finally send out this so I will. Missing everyone. Oh and by the way if you are in Socorro or near Socorro for the next three weeks or so Mr Mark will be flying solo in Socorro starting Tuesday and the girls will be on our own in the great state of Florida and -no- we are not sick of each other, he just has to take care of some details at home. Please take good care of him, we love him and look forward to his speedy return.

After the new year remains copyright of the author fdeters, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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when it's snowin at home...

2006-12-24T08:00:00Z

it's orange picking time in FL. Hi Everyone, I have been trying to be more organized so I have been writing our experiences every few days in Word so I will be adding at the end of this. We are Dade City, enjoying the warm weather and Richey family on my mom's brothers' side. Kids and TV, my children are in heaven! Pictures from our adventures are attached. Some of them are from our time here in Dade City, we went to the Pioneer Florida museum where Mark was in his soul's time period. In Tallahassee we saw the tin can camper and thought of us. Here is the rest of the story...

There are parts of Florida that are like the Carribean and then there is the interior. The interior of Florida is like the cloudforests of Costa Rica. Or at least it is today. Everything is wet, wet, wet. The humidity is like smoke in a forest fire. When you walk through it, it penetrates your soul as well as your hair and clothes. There is a primeval instinct that is aroused when you are in a jungle and it stirs a desire to go and hunt mastondons or some prehistoric creature. You know you are in central Florida when they hand out a flyer about alligators with your campsite map. Fortunately for us there was only cute little deer everywhere. At Manatee Springs, we saw so much wildlife, you practically stepped on it wherever you walked. Mariah needs an internet infusion every couple of days so we found a great place called the Sunday coffee house where we were able to leave her for a couple of hours while we wandered down to Cedar Key. Talk about the lost coast. This is a town where they used to make pencil blanks to be shipped around the country. At one time it was a very prosperous place but has fallen from grace and is trying to rebound. There are handsome two story wood structures connected by porches and boardwalks with the gingerbread style accents. Some have been restored and some need restoration. Unfortunately for this little town, it appears to be very vunerable to the whims of the weather and the ocean. Sea level takes on a new meaning when you realized the storm surges in this region regularily go 8-10 feet above normal. We knew this to be the case by the number of houses built on stilts like mini-hi-rises. Still it was quaint and kind of old timey. Paynes Prairie is the misnomer of the trip so far. If this is Florida prairie, I am Marilyn Monroe. This is jungle and I am not blond. I know there is an open area some where near here because we drove through it but I can't see it from here. I hope to explore later with our bikes.

Later really comes and with it a change in attitude that evolves from education. We went exploring at Paynes Prairie and found that not only is it a prairie now but it was once a lake. This is all due to it is really a very large sinkhole in the middle of Florida and in late 1800's the bottom plugged up with logs and a lake formed. American's being the great entrepreneurs that they are, started using the lake for transportation but alas all good things can come to an end and when the "log-jam" broke and the lake drained in a week. I imagine that a person could pick up a steamboat very cheap about then! The marsh that remains is a fond reminder of the Bosque del Apache at home. Our neighbor at Paynes Prairie was a musician and we look forward to meeting up with him at Highland Hammocks State Park and playing together again. In case you are wondering the federal government does have National Forest in Florida and we found it here at Ocala National forest. There is quite a bit of camping here and the sand pine and sand oak scrub make wonderful privacy fences between sites. Alexander Springs is like Manatee Springs only bigger and has more alligators. I was so excited by Manatee Springs that I went out and bought a mask and snorkel. We are in Florida after all. I went down the 72 degree spring, jumped in and saw tons of fish, river grass and turtles. What I didn't see was the alligator swimming about 30 yards away from me, darn I should have looked. That would have been hilarious from shore as I would have paddled like mad to return to terra firma! I did get to see it from above when I lifted my head to tell the family what they were missing and they told me what I was missing. Not to worry, alligators are not noted for attacking innocent bystanders although some Darwin awards were handed out last year for about 8 candidates I believe. We are trying to take advantage of the many outdoor activities available so with that in mind we rented canoes one day and paddled down the Alexander run. It was gorgeous. We did get to see an alligator on the shore with his mouth agape. There were so many turtles even Olivia quit being amazed by them and she loves them. Our treat for the effort however was a river otter who came over and inspected us and played around. We have spent enough days at this campsite that we have been adopted by some locals who now ask us to dinner every night (nice to be fed!) and we entertain them with our musical antics and Olivia's sparkling conversation! Tommorrow we head to the big city of Dade City to spend with our cousins for the holidays. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and sorry no cards this year but lots of virtual hugs going out to everyone. Be safe and remember "It is easier to ask forgiveness than it is to ask permission", Happy Holidays from the Meanderthals

when it's snowin at home... remains copyright of the author fdeters, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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