As is our norm, as we left Golden Acres Ranch we set out toward Macon using US highways and state roads.  We wanted to see more of Georgia than the interstates and we wanted to avoid going through Atlanta at any time of day.  Along the way we elected, sometimes by choice and sometimes by inadvertence, to go directly through Main Street rather than take the bypass.  We saw many beautiful towns and came across one Landmark House tour that was right along the route.  We also passed by a large group reenacting a Civil War battle.  That was in the appropriately named town of Gray.

Yesterday as we looked at the FMCA atlas we always have open to our route, we noted that we were going to be passing by Andersonville Historic Park and the National Prisoner of War Museum.  They were directly on route 49 which we were traveling along.

A bit of a refresher, in 1864 the South was looking for a place to hold Union prisoners away from battle in a place where there were building materials and a food supply.  They selected Andersonville and began construction of “Camp Sumpter” a 16 acre stockaded area with a stream, Stockade Branch, flowing through it to provide water.  They later expanded the stockade to 22 acres.  The original plan was for 6,000 prisoners then 10,000. Eventually they housed over 20,000 prisoners in a bare stockade forced to build whatever housing they could from material they had with them or could salvage.  The death rate was terrible and through a novel written in the 1950’s it has become known as the most horrible of Civil War POW camps.  There were northern camps that had death rates in the same order of magnitude, some believe to have been as high as 25% of all imprisoned.  Here is a picture taken from the south.  This is a view from a gun emplacement at the southwest corner intended to be able to sweep the entire northern end of the stockade as well as to turn and defend against the Union Army.  The white posts indicate the location of the stockade and the “deadline.”

We entered Florida on US 90 through Pensacola.  We determined to avoid I 10 for the most part, since we were in no hurry.  Drifting along US 90 we made our way to Mexico Beach and Rustic Sands RV Park where we had stayed several years ago.  Rustic is an appropriate description.  We arrived late, for us, and left early, for us.  We had a couple of nights before we were scheduled to arrive at Lazy Days to complete the service work that had begun there in early December and been carried on to their dealership in Tucson.

Looking through our choices in Days End, an Escapee listing of free and cheap overnight camping spots, we spotted a National Forest Service (NFS) campground next to an abandoned fire tower north of Lake City FL.  Following the directions with which our GPS concurred, was an act of faith since we entered a network of unpaved back roads in the heart of Florida that we did not know existed.  Upon arrival we saw the fire tower and plenty of space to park as well as a tent camper who looked scruffier than he was.  His head was covered with insect netting that made him look quite disheveled.  Soon we were outside with our netting as well.  The gnats were ferocious and the only thing worse came later when the mosquitoes came out.  They were far worse than anything we encountered in Alaska.  After chatting with our neighbor, we retreated to the relatively insect free interior of the coach and left him to feed the insects.  He was 3 days from using up his two week permit.

In the morning we pulled out, sliding under the low hanging power line with greater ease than seemed apparent and rolled south to eventually stop at Keel and Curley Winery, a Harvest Host winery, that was  just 17 miles east of Lazy Days where we were due the next morning.  There we met AJ and Linda, fellow members of Harvest Host, in the parking field.  After chatting a while, Carol and I went into the wine tasting room to sample some wine and make ourselves known as Harvest Host members.  If you think blueberries are an appropriate base for wine, do not miss this.  If on the other hand you actually like wine made from grapes . . .  I tried their Merlot, and bought a bottle of blueberry wine.  It was very nice, for blueberry wine.  The intersection where we were parked seemed to be blessed (cursed?)  with the passage of every car in Florida that was lacking a sound deadening muffler.  We became convinced that we needed to poke holes in our mufflers to be legal as we passed through that intersection, how else to explain the number of very noisy cars passing through there all day and all night.

The next day, Thursday, we arrived at Lazy Days.  Friday they took Gee Whiz into a bay and by Friday evening the only job left was a detail wash.  The shower door opens and closes nicely, the shade in the bedroom does not require brute force to raise and lower and the cameras for the rear and side view are stable and clear.  Oh yes, even the rock guard with the Phaeton name on it is brand new.  Thank you Tiffin and thank you Lazy Days.  We were treated like royalty with admission to the Crown Club and the Crown Club service area which are reserved for those who buy from LD and everyone was very nice to us and worked hard to keep us informed.  James Busch, the Tiffin Representative was especially helpful.

After a Saturday night dinner at Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza with the Topfs, we took our time getting out on Sunday and drove 50 miles to Fort Desoto County Park and after setting up we began our visit with Art and Natalie, Carol’s brother and Sister-in-law.  For the record, if you contemplate going to that park with a 36 foot or greater coach, avoid site 173.  The entrance was very narrow and required several minutes of very close maneuvering with Carol driving and me as spotter to get in without hitting a tree or a stake.  We did it, but I was sweating by the time we got set up.  Also this site had a very narrow camping area as well.  Other sites we have stayed on there are more roomy.

We had to leave today, Thursday and begin our trip north.  We are spending tonight at Golden Acres Ranch outside Monticello, FL, fours miles south of the GA border.  This is a Harvest Host stop and their specialty is Mayhaw jelly.  They also raise sheep, goats, chickens and they have a flock of guinea fowl as well.  The Mayhaw season is not going well.  Three years ago they had 700 pounds. Last year with the drought they had 50 pounds.  This year, with plenty of water, but two frosts, Fred showed us a half dozen berries he had found.  The Mayhaw berry, ripens in May and the tree is in the Hawthorn family, thus the name.  Bobbie and Fred are delightful hosts and in the morning we look forward to buying, eggs, ground lamb and some jellies that Bobbie has put up.  Their Mayhaw festival starts tomorrow afternoon and we will be long gone, across the border into Georgia and possibly somewhere near Macon by dinner time.

Skipping across the south.  We left Joe and the Audubon RV Park following US 90 to the east.  Our next stop was New Orleans.  We stayed at French Quarter RV Park, one block north of Rampart, leaving a two block walk to the French Quarter.  For entertainment we walked the French Quarter, again with a stop at Cafe du Monde

As we prepared to leave Beaumont after the rains stopped and the water started to drain off, we had to decide where to stop next.  Checked all our resources, no Harvest Host within a hundred miles of the intended route, No Corp of Engineers, Passport America, yes, half off at Audubon RV Park, only four (4) sites.  That is strange, have never stayed in such a small RV park.  Well it is just south of Abbeville, LA and right in the middle of the area we want to visit so we decide to take a chance, how bad can it be for a night or two with full hookups and for only $10 a night, cash only as Joe says when we call to make a reservation and yes he does have a site that we can get into, and please don’t park on top of the lift pump when you set up.

The on board GPS tells us we have arrived and there is not an RV in sight.  The street address is a lot higher than the one in the book so we drive on, Carol at the wheel.  Eventually after avoiding a dead end street and taking a left turn to stay on Audubon Road we find the campground.  Four sites lined up parallel to the road.  The one closest to the road might accommodate a popup, but no trailer or coach would fit there.  On the far end is site 4, our assigned site, the others are all occupied, all 2 of them.  After a quick run to Walmart in Abbeyville we barely return to the coach when Joe, the owner, appears.  I part with cash for three nights and ask about the tour he mentions in the description of the park.

Ten minutes later we are in Joe’s truck headed for a tour of his holdings (and his brother’s).  I learned more about crawfish husbandry then I knew I wanted to know.  Also we learned that the same fields that produce crawfish in the winter, produce rice in the summer.  For that matter we have arrived the day after the last crawfish harvest of the year.  Tomorrow they will drain the fields from 18 inches of water to dry to be able to drill plant the rice, then when the rice comes up they will flood the field to 2-3 inches.  Joe is a multi talented guy.  He works for Chevron Gas managing over 154 miles of gas pipeline, farms his acreage for crawfish and rice and runs a small campground.

This is the wheel that drives the crawfish boat, it is driven by a hydraulic motor

Joe reached into a crawfish trap that had not been baited and…

Found one trapped bug

This is the boat underway in the crawfish field, the wheel pulls and the trailing disk keeps it stable

Why only four sites when he owns acres of land around the campground?  He planned on forty sites, but marriage slowed down his plans and he has had these 4 sites for at least ten years that I am aware of.  He likes to meet the people who he sees traveling the roads in RVs stopping to watch the work in the fields.  We enjoyed meeting him too.

We were in Las Cruces NM until March 30 and it is now April 9 and we are in Beaumont Texas at mile post 845 (Anthony TX west of El Paso is mp 0).

The short story is Las Cruces to Fort Davis TX, a stop in Fredericksburg at Oakwood RV and on to Austin where we stayed at McKinney Falls State Park which we left this afternoon at 2 PM.  In Fort Davis our hiking was limited – non existent – as I had a sore on my foot that prevented anything more than minor hobbling around for a couple of days.  That has cleared up with treatment of Vaseline Petroleum Jelly – the old fashioned cure all for dry skin and squeaking hinges.  We puttered about and took some pleasant drives, nothing on primitive roads.  And moved on to Austin where we planned to meet Leigh and Pat again, two visits per cross country trip are better than one.  We also were in close communication with Anna Lee and Jerry Braunstein, fellow RVers who we have met up with in various places, the first time at a gathering of CHAI in Vermont (that’s Chavuarat Yehudim in case you wondered, not the tea).

We went to a music crawl on the UT campus with three live performances at different venues on the campus, LBJ Library, Visual Arts, and the H R Ransom Library.  There were three more performances at three more different venues we could not get to.  Among the performances the most intriguing to me was solo for dial phone and electronics.  We got stuck in an exhibit of Alfred Newman photography and work papers at the Ransom then after dinner at Maribeau Restaurant we went dancing at Donn’s Depot – good ole two step.  The next day started with lunch at Rubys BBQ pit which has the best brisket in Austin city limits.  Then more galleries and back to Leigh and Pat’s for dinner.  We had a call from Anna Lee and Jerry that they were settled in to a site just around the bend from us and we stopped there for cappuccino and conversation before retiring.

We agreed to an 11 K Volks March for the morning.  During the walk we added a tour of the Driskell  Hotel lobby and the entire Texas Capital Tour.  As planned we regrouped late afternoon (early evening) to drive back into town to see the Mexican Freetail bats swarm out from under the Congress Street Bridge – aka Ann Richards Bridge.  Swarm they did.  Jerry got an interesting picture of them, my photos were more black on black, no point posting them.  We moved on from there to dinner at Second, yummy on our second visit.

We said good night to Leigh and Patrick and returned to the coaches and said goodbye to Anna Lee and Jerry.  I had made a fuss about avoiding going through Houston while headed east from Austin.  This requires a 150 mile detour and it is something we have done frequently.  For some reason, having decided to move east on Tuesday to avoid a forecast storm after shopping in the morning, we found ourselves on course to pass right through Houston on 290 to 610 to 10 between 4:30 and 5:30.  It was not awful.  I would not recommend it as a steady diet.  We continued on at speeds varying between a crawl and 62 mph (our self imposed speed limit) and only lost about 20 minutes in the process.  I suspect we are just a 100 miles or so behind the Braunsteins at this point and we will overtake and pass them on their caravan some time this week.  We may stop in New Orleans, or not.  We are staying in Beaumont for at least a couple of nights to explore this area a bit and get some laundry done.

I guess it has been a few days since I have written anything on this blog – like a week.  We wrapped up our stay in Tucson by going to the opening night of the national touring company of Wicked.  We had decent seats well back in the hall and enjoyed the show a lot.  It has been some time since we have attended a big Broadway type musical and I guess I had forgotten how much fun they can be.  The performances were wonderful and the effects were grand.  I guess I wrote about this in a brief post on Google+ but did not distribute it beyond that media.  Apologies to those of you who have already read this.

We moved on first to Saguaro SKP Coop in Benson for three nights and then on to Las Cruces.  In Benson we took a couple of drives.  One day we made several stops along the San Pedro Riparian Reserve including a stop at Fairbanks town site, the Hereford Bridge and San Pedro House.  this is excellent birding territory and we saw many birds of many species.  AT San Pedro House they were all around the house and grounds and it was fun to eat our lunch while observing Gila Woodpeckers and Pyrrhuloxia among the doves and other birds.  We returned by way of Bisbee.  We have not been there in some time, but after a brief stop in old Bisbee and at the copper pit mines we drove on through back to Benson.

The next day I found an off road track for my new Garmin eTrek and we set out to Parker Canyon Lake to see what we could do on our own on this designated beginner level track.  Once we found the entry point it was a lot of fun for the first half of the track, but somewhere way back “there” the course on the GPS did not agree with any visible jeep track we could see.  We were almost a quarter mile off the track when Carol and I agreed that it was time to turn back and retrace our entry.  At this point we came a cross a lady hiker on the trail along.  I am not sure who was more startled.  I guess did not appear threatening and she walked over and chatted with us confirming our decision to turn back.  The return was as much fun as the entry climbing the steep rocky descents and ascending the steep rocky descents.  Our collection of off road pin striping is growing.  The rest of the track was a paved road through fort Huachuca – boring.

Las Cruces became our Pesach stop.  Monday night, first Seder, we were along on the coach.  Carol worked really hard to put out a beautiful table and meal and we spent a couple of hours following the “order” through to the end.  It is much easier with only two and no children getting tired, bored or as they grew asking way too many questions.  Second night we were invited to Leora Zeitlin and Stuart Kelter’s home along with many others and a broad age range from 10 to 8x.  We sang, we told stories, we covered most of the points of the Seder in some fashion and by midnight we were wrapping up.  I think Carol and I got back to the coach about 12:30.  It was indeed a grand Seder and we thank Leora and Stuart for including us in their family gathering.

All this time I had been following Rick Morgan on Google+ and reading his blogs.  As we arrived in Las Cruces I read that he and JoAnne, his wife, were near Alamogordo, about and hours drive.  I have always said, once I’m on the road what’s a couple of hundred miles. After an exchange of messages on Google+ and emails and then phone calls, we agree to meet at the White Sands Monument Visitor Center on Wednesday.  And it was so.  We watched the National parks film and since our Jeep is more spacious then their car and we have driven the road many times.  We all piled into the Jeep with lunches and cameras and other necessities and had a tour of the road, lunch way out in the dunes and a walk on the boardwalk and bit of a hike on the nature trail.  It was really grand for us to meet fellow RVers who have a similar lifestyle to ours.  I hope we will run into them on the road as we both stay healthy and have safe travels.

I have held back posting waiting to work on some pictures, but given the poor service we have here in Davis Mountain State Park, here are the words, the pics will follow.

We continued to wait at Tucson Lazy Days.  I finally sent a message to a Tiffin Rep at Lazy Days Tampa to ask what needed to be done to break the log jam.  That was the answer, within 30 minutes we had the authorizations needed.  However parts for some of the fixes were not readily available.  We said ENOUGH!!! do what you can and ship the parts to Tampa!  We are headed that way to visit Carol’s brother and we can get in a couple of days early and if the parts are there and if they actually communicate and set up the schedule, we should be in and out in a day and on to Fort Desoto.  Like I really believe it is going to happen, yeah sure!

While waiting, we got together with Marjorie and Larry Aleamoni.  She and I went to #1 School and then Monroe High together some years ago.  We became reacquainted at the reunion in 2010 and decided to see if we could get the four of us together for a day.  We met at Good Egg for lunch along with their son Aran and then went on to have a lovely day together and finished with dinner at Shlomo and Vito, how’s that for a mix?  It was fine Deli.  As we walked around their house Carol spotted a faded, discolored family reunion picture and offered to scan it and prepare a reconstruction of what it might have looked like 40 years ago.  She used to do a lot of that work so it was fun for her to do a nice restoration.

We shopped.  This is a rarity for us, I seldom shop, I buy.  Carol seldom shops because very few stores carry clothes that will fit her.  Who wears a Petite 0?  She found stores that carry clothes that fit!  She shopped and she bought.  Thank you Margie for the guidance.

We decided that we would stay through Wednesday night and leave regardless of the need for more work.  the campground was filling with attendees at a rally we might have joined had we known we were going to be there.  But by the time it became clear there was no room and the rally would overlap the beginning of Pesach.  Carol found out that the National Touring Company for Wicked would open on Wednesday night.  We got tickets, way back but good seats nonetheless.  It has been a long time since we have attended a big Broadway Musical.  It was a lot of fun.  The performances were wonderful and the set and staging were positively mind blowing.  I know, where have we been? this show has been around and this is the fourth National Touring Company.  We loved it!  We also had a very nice dinner at Casa Vicente, we both had a selection of Tapas and the timing was perfect for the show.

Wednesday Afternoon before the show we came back to see where the coach would be setup for the night.  There was no longer any room in the campground, not even in the overflow areas.  Katrina promised us that we would be given a spot behind a service bay with water and electric and although not ideal it would work fine for us.  We are not permitted to drive our coach in the service area so we waited for a driver.  The driver was Kat and she is the manager of the parking in the service area.  When she learned that we were just staying for the night and wanted to leave on our own schedule in the morning, she put our coach in the line up with the for sale coaches with water and electric.  She said, “if security asks any questions just tell them Kat put us there.”  There were no questions and we returned from Wicked to our cozy home in line with many coaches that were going to be open to the public for sale the next day.  We determined to be gone before they opened the sales floor.

We were, and we are now happily settled into Saguaro SKP Coop in Benson, just 45 minutes east of Lazy Days and happy to be clear of the mobs.  The coyotes are sounding in the distance so it must be time to save and post for the night.  Next post I will try to remember to tell where we are going and when, as if we know.

The day after my last post we drove north to Florence where Dean Cross and Jane Eccelstone have been wintering.  After they visited with us in Tucson on Thursday they invited us to come and join them on a Jeep ride in the back country on Monday.  We drove up and met them and three other Jeeps (well two Jeeps and a Suzuki).  There were some double takes as Dean and I drove up, our Jeeps are almost identical Cherry Red four door Rubicons.  

After a short highway drive we turned off onto a dirt road and finally reached a turn off onto a lesser road and pulled up in a wide spot to air down the tires to 15 psi for traction and comfort.  I would love to describe the next four hours in detail, but will spare my readers and my fingers.  At one point as we made a switch back turn I saw our leader about to climb a cliff wall.  Carol said “there is no way we can drive up that” I engaged 4 L and the lockers on both my axles  (real traction aids)  and we drove up the incline on dirt and stone without a hesitation.  I felt like I was lying on my back and the only way I could see forward was to lean out the window and stare ahead.  I memorized the route before beginning the ascent.  After one of these, the road turned 90 degrees right and I just had to keep going straight until the hood came down enough to see.  On one climb the Suzuki had to back off the grade and find an alternate route after he made it to within 10 feet of the top.

As we were leaving the area Dean and Jane called to us that there was a hill we needed to play on.  I drove over and stopped and Carol and I got out.  Once again she said “there is no way to drive down that cliff and how do we get out if we do”.  We watched as Dean and Jane descended straight down the cliff face.  Not to be left behind, I once again engaged all my tools and drove down the cliff face, no more than 60 degrees, made the loop at the bottom and followed them right back up to the parking lot. Damn that Jeep is fun!  Carol says the Jeep is a mountain goat.

After airing the tires back up we had some time to chat and agreed we will see Dean and Jane in the same place next year.  We drove back to Lazy Days for dinner and some rest.  For the most part we have been hanging around the Lazy Days Campground reading, cleaning and sometimes chatting with neighbors.  The tech had fixed the red signal but left us without use of the dvd.  Rather than wait for him to get to it, I opened the wall of the cabinet, located the hdmi distributor and was able to see that it had four output cables and no input.  I located the input, plugged it in and once I demonstrated that everything was working for the moment, I closed it back up.  So far so good.  We used my handiwork  to watch Glenngary Glen Ross.  When it came out I swore I would not see it.  I was right!! It is a fine movie with great actors at their peak, the story is not one for anyone who has spent a life in sales.  It is way too painful and I swear I knew some of those guys in my office at one time or another.

We continue to wait, the temperatures have soared into the 90’s.  We have a date to get together with Marjorie and Larry Aleamoni this Sunday.  Marjorie is a high school classmate of mine.  We last saw each other at the 50th reunion a couple of years ago.   Carol and I are looking forward to this.

Oh, one other exciting stop.  We went to the Etherton Gallery to see the exhibits.  It is a photography gallery and when we mentioned that Carol was a VSW Alumna, Terry Etherton responded that Nathan Lyons had just been in Tucson and had spent some time in the hospital, flu.  It is amazing, how many people we get to talk with when we talk about Carol’s relationship to VSW.  She spoke to Joan today and Nathan is well.

It looks like we will not get out of here until late in the week, maybe even that is wishful thinking.  There are parts to be ordered and approvals for warranty work to be received and who knows what else.  Fortunately there is plenty to do here so boredom will not be an issue.

Thursday night we went to Temple of Music and Arts for a performance by local talent of Neil Simon’s “Sunshine Boys.”  It has plenty of laughs and I think they extracted the maximum from it.  We had sore sides as we walked out.  The “Temple” is in bad shape, there are large chunks out of the plaster proscenium and that was just the most visual sign  of lack of funds for the venue.  Friday night we went to Temple Emanuel for Shabbat Services. The people were warm and the young Assistant Rabbi gave an emotional talk about the mistreatment of women and non orthodox in Israel.  There was no news, but it needs to be told and retold.

Saturday Jane and Dean came to Tucson in their 2010 Jeep that is in all appearances identical to ours plus some dings from serious offroading.  We never moved off the campground area and had lunch together in Lazy Days restaurant.  When the time for them to drive back to Florence approached They suggested that on Monday we drive to Florence and go “Jeeping” with them and another couple.  This will give us a chance to try out what we can expect to do with this toy of ours in company with friends who have much more experience – and equipment = should someone need to be pulled out of trouble.  We leave at 8 AM for the 90 minute drive to get there.

After they left we searched, for some reasonable  entertainment and Carol found that Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Jazz Band were playing on the AU Campus and there were tickets. The performance was phenomenal and we really enjoyed the show and the people.  The weekly alternative paper has been a great source of things to do here as it is in Rochester – go City!!

Today, Sunday, Carol finally got to attack her need to keep things clean, two weeks boondocking in the desert do not offer power to run the vacuum or water to wash floors with.  The interior of the coach is shining. The laundry hamper is empty for the first time since we arrived in Yuma.  The exterior will be clean before we leave here.

Our tech, Bob, got the satallite Red signal for the front TV working, it is fine.  In the process it appears that the HDMI cable for the DVD has been disconnected.  We could not watch the movie we had been looking forward to – that is why I have the time to write this now.  I suspect Bob will not be thrilled when he returns to work on Tuesday – his crew works Tuesday through Saturday.

Until we have new adventures or move on, which ever comes first!