The Meanderthals

NOT! Hi everybody, Hope your holiday season is shaping up nicely. We have been spending time since Thanksgiving beach hopping and eating fresh fish and shrimp until we can't stand it anymore. After our sucessful gig at Big Lagoon at which Mark played his bass with us, we have been resting and moving on our laurels from incredibly beautiful gulf beach to gulf beach. One of the prettiest we went to was called Henderson beach near Destin. When you are in the park you feel like you are a million miles from civilization but as soon as you leave, you are in major shopping land - McAmerica. The water is as blue green and clear as I have ever seen it. Mariah was lucky enough to spot a family of rays swimming right in front of us. The next day I just had to go swimming. The kids said I was nuts but it was actually quite warm. We had a great time watching the pelicans dive into 2' of water and catch fish. After we left Destin we went along the gulf coast to Seaside which is a famous 1990's development. It has houses and streets planned to try to create a sense of community that in NM we take for granted but in most places it has to be "created". It was a very hip and beautiful place (I really liked the Airstream food stand, see pictures). I read that it got so popular that investors bought most of the houses so now they rent them as vacation cottages so they lost what they were after. It still was nice though. While we were there we rode our bikes for about 2 miles and got some fresh tuna which we made into sushi that night. It was the best! We did get to see some old Florida along the coast at place called Mexico Beach. How ironic! Our next stop was St Andrew's State park where we enjoyed the bay views. We spent the next few days inland at a park called Ochloknee State park at the confluence of the brackish water from the gulf and the fresh water from inland rivers. For all of you who have been rooting for Mariah to catch a fish, it paid off. She caught 2 on her first cast and then one more. Needless to say she was a happy camper! We saw our first distinct eastern white squirrel here. They are not albino' s they are just pure white with dark eyes. Our neighbor was a land speculator from Alaska who just bought a house in Panacea Fl and seems to think it is the place to invest. The inland area of FL south of Tallahassee is a jungle as is farther south. It reminds me of Costa Rican rain forest only with Walmarts every 30 miles! Once you get away from the coast it is not very crowded. Our next few days we spent in Tallahassee with Tim. The capital of Florida reminds me of Albuquerque in it's size. We went to museums and we even went bowling. One of the places we visited was the Tallahassee Museum of Science and Natural history which really was a zoo but because they had a re-created plantation on the grounds I guess they felt they couldn't call it a zoo or humans might have to admit they are just animals (not a go in Florida). We did get to see some spectacular animals in their natural habitats. There is a boardwalk you walk on that goes over the animals enclosures so the animals unless you make noise aren't aware that you are there. It was very well done. We saw Florida panthers, red foxes, red wolves, black bears, tons of snakes, alligators and bald eagles and of course lots of squirrels (both gray and white). Floridians will never starve because there are enough squirrels here to feed the entire state. We are now at Manatee Springs State Park where we hope to catch a glimpse of the vulnerable Florida manatees. There is the clearest flowing spring here with turtles, alligators, black headed vultures and manatees in it and you can swim it! Hope you enjoy the pictures, I don't have them all on my computer but will send what I have in a separate email. From the Tin Can campers

Happy Thanksgiving everyone...okay okay so it is a little late but we are on the road and have no idea of time. The rhythym of the road is starting to catch up with us. We spent our Thanksgiving in the parking lot of Sam's club which might not sound exciting but we got to spend it with our traveling musician friends the Roes. For those of you who remember our trip to Panama, they are the folks we stayed with and they are the ones who inspired us to engage in this journey. We had fun going to their show, eating dinner and just being with people we know and love. During our time there, we went to the National Navel Air museum. This is the vatican of naval air power. This building is as big as a Walmart warehouse and has all kinds of planes hanging from the ceilings, on the floor and the history and tradition is so thick you can spread it on bread. Mariah opted to stay at the Airstream and work on homework so we had to go back again to show her and to try out the simulator. When we left Sam's Club we discovered our brake controller went out, never let it be said the adventure doesn't continue. In Florida, if you want to stay at a state park you are better off if you make reservations so we made some for a place called Big Lagoon State Park. It was one of those places Hurricane Ivan left an indelible mark, upon which for an educational experience is interesting. You can see where 100' pine trees used to dominate the landscape but now there are only 8' scrub pine. It is still beautiful in a surreal hurricane ravaged kind of way. We were only going to stay for 2 nights but a funny thing happened on the way to the ....First off, I am getting ahead of myself. The first night we went for a walk after dark past the lagoon which does have a few alligators in it. We have yet to see them but there certainly were signs. The girls were a bit nervous but I told them dad was just as good an alligator wrestler as Steve and not to worry. On the way back something did move in the bushes and I thought it was going to take and hour to disengage Mariah from around my head! I really like the beach so the next day the girls and I went to a nearby beach at Perdido Key ( not the traditional keys of FL but the Gulf Coast ones). I sat in the warm sun and graded geometry homework (not bad work if you can it!) while the kids played in the sand. Still a little chilly to swim although you could. It would be like AU in May. On the way home I went west looking for propane and to do a little exploring. We stumbled across the world famous Florabama which we know about from Jimmy Buffetts songs but there are many other references around. It was tucked between all the new highrises going up. I wanted to stop but thought Mark would enjoy it and plus taking kids in bars outside of Socorro might not be acceptable behavior. I was telling Mark about it when we got back and Mariah suggested we go on a date (gosh I love that child!) so we went. Guess what happens Monday nights at the Florabama....yes a wet t-shirt contest...just kidding! It was open mic and I got to play : ). I missed having Mariah and the band to back me up, safety in numbers ya know. The next day I was talking about this with the camp host, a really nice fella from New Orleans and he asked me to come and play because he loved live music so Mariah and I wandered down there and played. Well the next thing we knew they had us signed up to play for their Christmas hay ride this weekend. We get to stay at the park for 5 days for free which is becoming my favorite four letter word! So who says you can't make a living playing music.... I am sure there are more stories I have forgotten but I had to write now and fill everyone in. The weather is about 78 degrees and the humidity is about 95%, it drips off your nose, it is really humid. For those of you in the building trade, there is job security from now till eternity, they are putting up skyscrapers as fast as the hurricanes can knock 'em down. From sunny, sandy Pensacola FL

I can't believe I haven't written since IA. We are now in the sweet sunny south at a malifluously named place called Tupelo, Mississippi. We have had a few adventures but mostly just getting into the swing of things. Our day at the Mississippi River museum was terrific. Lots of great exhibits and very well laid out. We left Iowa and continued on inland away from the river so Mark could go to the National Motorcycle Museum (real shocker there!). We enjoyed that museum also. Lots of beautifully restored bikes from early 1900's and upwards. We stopped in Hannibal MO to see the home of Mark Twain and picked up a mandolin which the only good thing about that town. Very unfriendly for America's Home town. Our next big adventure can only be summed up with "Are you lost?". Yes folks sometimes a 60' rig can get you into situations of which you are not sure of the outcome. We were in backwoods Missouri looking for a place to camp when we saw a sign for Dillards Mill State Historic Site. Well, we had just spent the last hour cowering under a car wash garage because the NWS put out a Severe Thunderstorm Warning with tornadoes possible - you know the yellow box on The Weather Channel - well we were in it! Once we felt it safe to venture forth all we wanted to do was find a place to spend the night. We were driving and found the road to Dillards mill but I was a little concerned when it started to go downhill. To make a long story short we were in Missouri for the first day of deer hunting season and got invited to stay a deer hunting camp. Nice people. We spent 2 days with them. The weather improved enough we could empty out the Airstream and put in the fridge we got in Minneapolis in and put all the stuff back that had been scattered around. Since then our adventures have been mild. The day we left we went by a trout farm/resort recommended to us by one the the deer hunters. Mark brought his fly fishing equipment along and he taught the girls how to fish with it. Our next big fun was going to Cape Giradeau where we found a nice bookstore for Mariah to work on her homework. We parked across the street and met a man who was remodeling his house for sale. He invited us in and we got to talking then his wife came home and they invited us to dinner. We had grand time - making friends on the road. We told them about our home and how we have people over lots and it was fun to be their guest. The next morning I made them breakfast. We were sorry to leave them nice folks. Notice the southern accent starting to creep into my dialect. I have been reading Mark Twain's Huck Finn to the family everyday and it is hard not to stay in the Twain twang. The state park's in Missourri and Arkansas are beautiful. We went to Memphis to try to see Graceland (yeah yeah but it is an american icon, especially if you are in the neighborhood). We got their in the evening and found the TO Fuller State Park which was beautiful and closeby. We dropped off the trailer and took the truck into Memphis and hung out on Beale Street - Jumping off place for BB King and other blues greats. Lots of neon,blues/jazz and barbeque. We ate some ribs (Mariah's favorite) and saw a blues band in a bar. Felt like we were in high cotton! The next day we headed for Graceland but when they wanted $6 to park and would n't post their entrance fee we thought we better call. $100 folks to see where the King lived. Mark is now calling it disGraceland for exorbitant greed. That wasn't in our budget so we settled for seeing Elvis's parking lot as we turned around and left. We went back to the campsite and toured a 1000 year old indian village instead. Olivia rode her bike the whole way there. That about brings everyone up to date. We are in Tupelo, enjoying their very modern library with 20 computer stations available for public use with all new computers supplied by the Gates Foundation. Unfortunatley I just found out I cannot attach my pictures so y'all might get an email of just pictures when I can get on ag'in.

Okay I am pushing it for rhyming but it is the effort that counts today. We are in Dubuque IA where the temperatures are a bit higher than farther north. As you can see we don't get very far but we are enjoying where we are. The attached pictures are from Wyalusing State park which is where the Wisconsin River meets the Mississippi. There is a lovely state park with beautiful facilities which were all closed ( we can't figure it out - it is still warm relatively.) We met some really interesting people from Chicago. In the morning we went hiking down off the bluff to the Wisconsin River and then back up. Olivia has learned to ride her bike and now we can ride to the trailheads as a family which is great fun. The night before last we stayed at a small town on the Zumbro river called Theilman (pronounced tileman). The night we were there someone had gone around and stolen all the republican county commisioners candidates signs. We got to hear all the intrigue of a small WI town. You all will be happy to know, things aren't that different in other parts of the country. If you ever get to travel we really recommend the Great River Road. Time for us to go to the National Mississipi River Museum.

Hello to all from Minnesota, Since we last wrote we have been experiencing a dramatic change in the weather. It got bitterly cold here (Mitch, stop laughing) and we have been dealing with the issues frozen campers deal with. To top it all off our furnace decided it didn't like cold weather either. We are now heading south as quickly as taking back roads will allow. We have had some adventures which are worth noting. Mark's dream of having his child or wife shoot his dinner has not been fufilled this year but it gives us all a goal for the future. We did get to fufill his dream of scaring plenty of pheasants which was quite an experience. South Dakota is beautiful in a windswept, artic tundra sort of way. We had a lovely dinner with some successful hunters who were friends of Mark's friend up here. We got to sample pheasant, walleye and blue gill (fish) plus eat the best pie the country makes. You probably are asking if it is so cold why are you in MN? Good question. We had an appointment in Minneapolis to replace the refrigerator. We had an appointment with Camping World to purchase and install one. We ended up doing the work and they were very helpful. Mark's cousins live in Minneapolis so we stayed with them last night and are re-grouping for our trek down the Mississippi River. We plan to spend some time in Hannibal MO, childhood place of Mark Twain. I am attaching a couple of photo's of our life and warm garage where we replaced the refrigerator. Will send much more interesting photos' when my camera defrosts.....
Hugs to all from where the chilly winds blow