Documenting Our Escape

When we set out from Texas, in February; our plan was make our way up to Virginia before turning back to Kentucky and Missouri to see our kids. Then gas prices went through the roof. We made it as far as Hartwell State Park in South Carolina/Georgia and then we reassessed our plans. With gas prices hovering around $5.40+ per gallon and a 100 gallon tank resting in the belly of our “bus”, which gets around 8.5 miles to the gallon; the touring life was getting pretty expensive.
We had previously enjoyed a great vacation, on our cruise; and really felt like time with family and friends was more important than the rest of our planned trip.

We spent a few beautiful days at Lake Hartwell and visited the small town of Lavonia, Georgia with its painted murals and then headed out to Kentucky.

We spent several days with our kids and grand kids; went to a Trampoline park and then to Kentucky Downunder. Our grand kids are growing up so fast, and it was great to spend time just watching them play and be kids. It really made us feel young in our hearts, to see their boundless energy; and then old in our bodies, to watch how long they could keep going 😉 . Nope, I did NOT jump on the trampolines. Yes, we felt young at heart, but we’re not that crazy.

A great day spent at Kentucky Down Under too.

A few travel days later, found us in Missouri. We had a wonderful few days with our other kids there.

Thanks for checking on our progress, in this season’s adventures. Join us next week in Colorado, as we finally fill in that hole on our map; and continue our adventures. Until then enjoy the little things in your life and keep posting on Facebook. We still keep up with y’all there.

Alabama isn’t my home state but, it is the childhood home of a very dear friend. By coincidence, we found ourselves very near the town where her family lives, so we had some insider information on what to see and do.

Our first stop was Clarkson covered bridge in Cullman, AL. It was built 1904 and torn in half by a storm in 1921 but the pieces that were swept down river were salvaged and used to repair the bridge with original materials. The site has a working Gristmill and dog trot log cabin with hiking trails. It was beautiful afternoon.

We spent some time at the Ava Maria grotto later in the week. This is the site of the St Bernard Abbey. The Grotto is a 4 acre park built in a depression created from the quarry used to build the Abbey. It is home to over 125 “miniatures” built by Br. Joseph, a Benedictine monk. The miniatures depict buildings of religious significance from all over the world. It took him some 50 years to create, in his spare time. It was a labor of love. In the beginning, he used discarded items he could find, but as the project grew he gained support from family and friends who would donate items to him. On one structure, he had assistance from a friar that volunteered to help. After that one “miniature,” the friar reported that the work was too hard and did not continue. This was a lovely walk and amazing miniatures. I use the word miniatures under duress because the descriptions on the literature did: however I was surprised at how large they truly were. I would have labeled them “bigatures.” I expected 6” to 12” pieces but these were 3’ and 4’ tall, with some pieces being much, much larger. The gift shop sells many items but my favorite was the monk baked bread! So Yummy…

Our final stop was to Dismals Canyon. This is a private property hiking trail. So there is a charge to get in but it is very well worth the charge and the time. The family that owns this property has an amazing piece of heaven on earth that they have graciously decided to share with the public. They have created a family event that you could definitely spend a whole day enjoying. There is a café, a swimming pool, beautiful outdoor patios that overlook the property and a fantastic hiking trail. And during the appropriate season there are guided night hikes to see the Dismal glow worms light the canyon walks. When we visited; it was too early in the season for the Dismalites, but the hike was incredible. The stream that runs through the property was about 50 degrees and we did have to cross it in 2 places to continue the hike. Mark got to wade about 5 times. Nala decided he needed the foot numbing experience more than just the standard 2. She got her leash tangled in the middle once and he had to fix that snarl and then on the second crossing he helped me across and then Nala got confused at what he wanted from her and bounced back and forth and he had to chase her down. With her thick black fur she didn’t mind the cold a bit but I’m pretty sure Mark’s feet were frozen by the end of it all.

Thanks for check in on our Southeastern adventures. The journey continues to South Carolina. We hope you get the time to check in on us again. 

Mississippi was still all about history for us. We visited Vicksburg, where the battle for control of the great Mississippi River was fought. It was an important place for both the Union and the Confederate Armies for their supply lines.  I was really able to better visualize the difficulty and real struggle as I looked from hilltop to hilltop with the thought of brothers and fathers, side by side; not only fighting a war, but fighting the cold, the elements, and the topography.

 And yes some guys rushed up the gullies during the battle. This was a beautiful area but very sombering looking over the markers of encampments locations.

WOW! I might have been a better history student if I had been traveling and home schooled on the road! Well…probably not but, it IS much more interesting with visual clues. We stopped by the little village of French Camp as well.

I also never realized that there was an inland Navy during the Civil war. I actually had pretty good history teachers but, I’m pretty sure if it came up, I was zoned out at that point. The Union’s river Navy was called the Brown water Navy. We visited the U.S.S Cairo. It was recovered from the bottom of the river. The metal parts, of course, survived the best but there were some of the ancient wood parts still left. It was pretty cool to see now, as it is; and as it was then, through photos. I enjoyed the visuals immensely.

And because Vicksburg is all about history this trip; we just had to visit the “most haunted house” in Vicksburg. Nothing paranormal happened for us but it was another of those “time capsule” homes. The different owners over the years added on to the house without feeling the need to renovation the older parts. The house came complete with a civil war cannon ball and a grave marker for the mass grave of Confederate soldiers that did not survive their hospital stay while the house was an infirmary during the war.

Thanks for checking on our travels! So on we go on our trip through the Southeast United States.

Our venture southeast started in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Natchitoches is the oldest town in Louisiana. Nope! Not New Orleans. While I’ve always viewed New Orleans as a party town, maybe because of my misspent youth; I’m not much of a party girl these days. Natchitoches actually predates the Louisiana Purchase, and was already a thriving community before the Louisiana Purchase happened. So while I’m not a history buff, it’s almost impossible to not appreciate the history of this area.

So we set out to northern Louisiana. What southern girl doesn’t enjoy oak lined avenues and grand Plantation architectures, so representative of this area?

Natchitoches is definitely a step back in time, with its grand historic homes downtown and its sprawling country plantation homes. We visited Oakland plantation, which was built in 1821; and has the distinction of having been owned by the same family, until the 1960’s, when it was released for preservation to the National Park Service.

It is a time capsule of one family’s history; it is a reflection of the American way of life. The building started life as a two room “weekend” home. A place where to family would leave “Big” house in the city, during the heat of summer; and travel to the country home. This home was located by a river. The gentlemen could check on the plantation during the growing season and the children could play by the river. As time passed and the plantation prospered, the house was added to and some outbuildings were repurposed. The old separated kitchen of pre-civil war architecture became a boys “fishing cabin”. The back porch was closed in, to be the “new and modern” kitchen in the 1948, right beside the 1800’s grand dining room.

The Plantation near Oakland Plantation was the Melrose Plantation. It was a prosperous plantation owned by people of color from the 1796 to the 1847. It reached its zenith in 1838. Each plantation functioned on the backs of enslaved peoples and each had to reorganize their way of life, after the civil war, learning to use tenant farmers and share croppers.

This side trip was a reminder to me that we don’t need to have “it” all at once, but can better appreciate things built up over time. Yes, we may need to reassess the purpose of things as time goes on. 

For us, this is what traveling is all about, moments of awareness, realization and contemplation; all wrapped up in a beautiful world that is God’s coloring book. Thanks for checking on our adventures, as we complete our first foray to the Southeast.

Welcome to our vacation cruise in the middle of our semi-retirement plans.

The cruise left out of Tampa, Florida so we left the bus and Nala with family in Texas and AirB&B’ed to Florida. Our First stop was an overnight in Slidell, Louisiana; then on to Tallahassee, Florida, where we spent two nights. While there, we got tested for Covid, to satisfy our cruise cancellation insurance; that we were negative before arriving for the cruise. While there, we visited the Tallahassee outdoor museum. It was incredible. And we got Florida’s criteria settled. Remember, for a place to get counted on the map: we have to spend the night, talk to a local or eat local and do an activity. This place has every thing from 1880’s Florida colonial life; Florida swamps complete with dinosaur metal art to a walk above zoo of Florida wildlife. Tallahassee Museum is really worth the stop if you find yourself in the area.

Tests taken and criteria met, we moved on to Tampa; met up with friends there, and got on the Ship. Warm, sunny beaches here we come!!

Our ports of call were: Dominican Republic where we toured historic Puerto Plata, did a cooking class and enjoyed local dance and wild life

St. Thomas, here we spent the day on Sapphire beach. It was awesome!

St. John’s, we chose to hike up and over the Pillars of Hercules. It was my favorite adventure on the cruise.

St. Lucia , we took the excursion to the Diamond Botanical Gardens and Falls. We stopped by a local “watering hole” to enjoy a view of the Piton’s

St. Kitts, we rode the “Sugarcane rail train” to the back country to see the old Sugarcane plantations around the island.

Lastly Puerto Rico. We did not go ashore in Puerto Rico; which was good, as it rained the whole day in port and I was too comfortable (aka lazy) to get out there and get soaking wet.

Thanks for checking in on our adventures. If you have any question on the ports drop me a message. As always, I’m happy to hear from you and I will answer as soon as I have service. Until next time, take time to discover the adventures that wait in your own backyard. And let us know about them.

So now we’re ready to start the New Year and a new season of travel. What??? I’m just a few months behind! Here’s a quick recap of how our travel map looked, at the end of 2021.

But everything is a new adventure for us this season. We have a new, (to us) rig, New Year, (welcome 2022) so this should change things up a bit.

We traded the motorcycle and fifth wheel for a class A motorhome. We sold the truck and bought a small car to tow behind the “bus”

And, of course, the “bus” needed a few updates. So Mark got started on his list of things that needed to be done. And then we got going.

I did a little bit too. And we had the roof inspected and resealed. $$$ Ouch! Water damage is the Number ONE enemy of RV life. SOO

Lots of time and money later, we still have things to do on the bus but we are rolling and enjoying and learning a whole new way of rolling. And surprisingly enough, our financial advisor is still accepting our calls! Just kidding but here’s a shout out to Joe for all his help and patience getting us set up.

And now we are ready, SO thanks for checking in. Our adventure continues in 2022 with a cruise and a trip to the Southeast. Hope you squeeze in time to check in with us along the way.

After after our one night in New Mexico, we headed straight to Texas. We stopped over for a one night rest in a Harvest Host location, just outside of Clarendon, Texas.

This was a farm location, with big open fields, and housed a Wind Farm. I was concerned that it might be noisy, up that close; but either I was very tired or it just wasn’t that noisy.

This Harvest host also had the remains of a late 1950’s motel from the now ghost town of Jericho, Texas that was once a stop off of Route 66. We enjoyed the night there and then headed for Waxahachie, Texas the next day.

In Waxahachie, we signed up for an 8 week, Christmas season, warehouse job. I thought we were in pretty good shape, after a season in Yellowstone and several hikes along the route home. Boy was I EVER wrong. This job was very physical. We worked 8 hours days, in a 5 day week, for the first 2 weeks; just to soften us up a bit and then moved up to 9-1/2 hour days. It was nonstop lifting, moving, pushing, pulling and walking. Mark worked in the receiving area loading and unloading trucks, stacking pallets and generally moving heavy boxes. I worked in the Bombay area. That’s a line of shuttle bays you drop merchandise into, at a rapid pace, that open, like the bomb bays of an airplane, into the individual store bins to ship out to the separate stores. I ended up most of my time in “virtual Sort”. This is an area that merchandise which was too heavy or too awkward for Bombay; was manually moved and sorted by a human, mostly me. It seemed pretty “IRL” to me but it was called “virtual sort.” SO… Mark and I pretty much thought of this job like boot camp that they paid us to do.

Once finished with “boot camp”, we left Waxahachie, Texas on December 24 and spent the next month focusing on friends and family. Thank you Rob and Lisa, for the Van Gogh experience.

Thanks for stopping by and following our progress. I’m almost caught up with the details of 2021 and will start our new year. Please take time to enjoy the adventures which unfold in your daily life and let us know what’s caught your attention.

After we left our friends in Hurricane, we stopped over at Moab. We did the sunset to sunrise hike in Bryce Canyon. This was another personal challenge. Mark kept us on track and I made it through. I still don’t get the whole exercise for the sake of exercise but I definitely get the “exercise for the beauty of nature.” And now that I understand what “Hoodoos” are: I am in love again. 

We ran over to Zion and took a jeep tour that ended in a sunset over Zion canyon’s Checkerboard Mesa. No hikes for me here though.

We hiked to Corona Arch as well. Another challenge for me but I got the “opportunity” to worry about my furry baby too. Nala was allowed on this hike and she knows no fear. So I worried enough for all 3 of us.  Again Mark coached me through and I made it happen. Personal challenges met and accomplished. I was proud of myself and ready to head to Texas and have some family time.

We stopped by one Harvest Host location in New Mexico, Wildlife West Nature Park. If you’re looking for a worthwhile and interesting place and are near Edgewood, New Mexican; stop by and see these folks.

Thanks for checking in on our adventures. I’ll get caught up here and get on with the new season. We hope you have your own adventures wherever you are. Please keep up your own posting, here or on Facebook because we do voyeur in to keep up with you guys.

WOW! We hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving, a Merry Christmas, a safe and Happy New Year; and that the loves in your life remembered you on Valentine’s day. It’s been a good while since we posted so I’ll do my best to get caught up and the get the new season started.

 West Yellowstone, Montana was good to us, but the days were getting shorter and much colder. So it was time to say good bye to new friends and head south for the winter; to see good friends and family.

The southerly path we chose, took us through Utah.

Willard State Park was our first stop and a welcome dose of warmth. The area was beautiful, albeit full of house flies. We and Nala enjoyed to lake and the freedom; but the houseflies became unwanted castaways that traveled with us for weeks. Now I do remember science class and that houseflies only live a short time but these guy were either mutant flies or very prolific because we did struggle with them for weeks before we were rid of the last of them.

We stopped off to contact some new friends we made in Yellowstone and get a wonderful tour of their home turf. Our next stop over was in Hurricane, Utah. That’s pronounced Herkin by the locals. It is a beautiful area and winter home to some dear friends we met in Yellowstone. We hiked our first slot canyon in nearby Snow Canyon State Park and spent time in Kanab looking into the Moqui Cave Museum and the Sand Cave, a wild cave.

The Moqui cave was originally a beer joint and dance hall built by Garth Chamberlain. He was a stuntman in old western movies, which were filmed in that area in the early 1950’s. He bought land with a cave and opened a dance hall and saloon for the movie stars and set workers, because “there was no nearby place to cool off and find a cold beer”; out there in the desert.

The Sand cave was just down the road from there and I LOVE caves, second only to waterfalls and wildlife. This was a personal challenge for me as I am NOT grace in motion and this required a certain amount of rock scrambling. The original excitement faded to grime determination and lots of encouragement from Mark; but I was glad a persevered as the cave was worth the effort. The rooms and openings in the cave were awesome and the views from them were inspiring.

Thanks for checking in on our Semi-retirement travels. I hope you are enjoying the weather and taking time to get out there and make your own adventure. Please continue to share. We love to keep us with you all.

We are having an awesome time in Montana and it was made even more special when we had family and friends to share it with.

Thanks for checking in and sharing the adventure with us too.