As in past years we are parked (this is a parking lot with utility pedestals, not a campground as you might think) with our windshield facing onto the beach just south of the LAX departure runways.  The planes overhead are a reminder of other travel modes and trips we have taken.  They no longer have the power to keep us awake as we seem to stop hearing them after 11 PM.  They are still there but are merely background at our slight remove from the departure zone.

On the walk in front of us there is a regular parade of people on all kinds of people powered vehicles, bicycles, tricycles (3-1 and 1-3) skates and on foot, walking and running.  Their dress ranges from full coverage to minimal bikinis (the guys really don’t look good in those) and every possible variation in between, regardless of the weather.  At sea there is a changing variety of ships passing on their way to the port in Long Beach or just anchored off shore waiting for we know not what, though most are high in the water with no cargo on board.

We are covered with salt mist and I will have to wash down everything thoroughly once we get away from the ocean.  Most mornings we stay on board, or near the RV Park going about our regular lives.  In the afternoon and evening we are with Yechiel and Miriam and the boys.  It is pleasant to be stopped for a while, but the wheels are starting to itch.  We have been within 200 miles for a month.  Time to roll is getting near. 

The desert beckons and beyond the desert, the Great Plains.  We keep looking at the map and thinking about the day after tomorrow.  Will we take the middle route along I 40 or is a more northerly route along I 70 in the cards this year?  What is the weather going to be?  What are the sights we want to see as cross the country in a couple of weeks?  Of course we will divert to stop in Covesville to see the rest of our family, but what else/who else beckons? 

Carol keeps talking about Four Corners and Mesa Verde and we really want to see Canyon de Chelly and other sights in the Four Corners area.  It remains to be seen whether the weather will cooperate.  In any event, it would be merely a taste as we do need to get back across the country by May so we can leave again in June.

Here comes the walker with heavy weights on her wrists and ankles.  I have seen her at this time every day.

Posted from I 40 in New Mexico, more to come.

Yechiel and his family came to La Jolla for the weekend and we decided to cap the week end with a day at the San Diego Wild Animal Park.  The day was like most days with children at a zoo.  Where are the elephants?  Can we eat lunch now (at 10:15 AM) ?  Look at those birds!  You get the point.

The Wild Animal Park has changed since our last visit eight years ago and the tram that used to circle the park is gone, replaced by a shorter ride around the African Veldt area of the grounds.  By 11:30 we had worked our way back to the Simba Station where the “African Safari Tour” begins. The line was fairly short.  We decided that we would ride now and eat lunch after.  The ride was fairly typical, if anything about this immense park can be said to be typical.  Here is a herd of 5 or 7 black rhinos and there an uncountable number of springboks and oh my gosh the number of giraffes.  Oh look, that herbivore with the corkscrew antlers has an infant, the guide says he doesn’t remember it from the day before and it is shaky on its legs it must have been born today.  As we watch a giraffe seems interested in the newcomer and ambles over; mom is not happy and begins to threaten with her antlers and gets really protective although the giraffe is more than twice her size.  Oh my . . . the giraffe has kicked or stepped on the newborn and it is not moving.  The tram accelerates away.  Next stop the lions. 

I will spare you the pictures. 

A lot of our time is spent connecting with people.  Over the years we have made many friends on  the road and have arranged to meet again as we move cross the country.  As we sit here in the Borrego Springs area of southern California we seem to have hit a confluence.   We planned to meet Jane and Dean here, we met last year in Death Valley.  WE knew that the Hoggs, who we first met in El Paso in 2003, were going to be near by, so we planned to get together for lunch.  The plans worked better than expected and we had a Happy Hour with Dean and Jane and the Hoggs AND met Denny and Irene, friends of Dean and Jane.  Whew!

Picked up a message one night from the Armstrongs, Who we met several years ago at Dockweiler (Los Angeles) and since in a couple of places.  They have been west bound about two days behind us for over a month.  It appears they are headed into Borrego Springs.  We may have a gathering with them and Dean, Jane, Irene and Denny.  We have seen other friends along the way including the Topfs in Florida – although we met in Minot ND we have seen them in three corners of the country and too many times to easily trace.  Gee this RVing is lonely 🙂

Oh yes we are planning on meeting my sister Sandy and husband David in La Jolla, CA, but I am not sure that’s really RV related although we would not be nearby were it not for the lifestyle. 

The Armstrongs are here and Dean and Jane are gone.  We have been hiking all over the place and may use the car today.

Not sure I will be posting much for a while.  I will continue to put up pictures at:  Winter 2010 on Picasa

Each day upon sitting down to breakfast we face a serious decision; shall we take a hike, or go kayaking or maybe go for a bike ride.  Actually these may not be mutually exclusive as it is possible to go for a kayak ride then take a hike or vice versa.  Oh my aching head, what should we do first.  Some days are interrupted by other needs.  Just as the body has its needs the coach needs to be serviced regularly.  Today we were reaching the end of our on board fresh water and the the grey water tank was claiming it was full.  So the first activity of the day was preparing for the short ride off the beach and up the hill to the water fill and dump area.  An hour later we were faced with more choices.  We had not gotten on the bicycles which we have transported from Rochester on the roof of the car since, hmmm, I’m not sure when.  So we set out for a ride up the road to the Imperial Dam and Water Diversion facility.  Here we found the beginning of the All American Canal which supplies irrigation water to the Imperial Valley farmers. 

In the mean time our the lake at our doorstep is literally at the doorstep as we had planned when we set up here.  Our next plan was to go for a kayak paddle on our own lake having moved the inflatable up from the launch area at Squaw Lake (just above the aforementioned Imperial Dam) after yesterday’s superb float with Doug and Lois, our neighbors.   The wind has picked up and is too strong for us to consider getting out on the lake with our high floating inflatable – we would have a merry ride downwind, but I have my doubts about our being able to come back upwind or even to have much control trying to paddle crosswind.  I get to devote more time to Moby Dick and some writing.  We saw one nice aluminum canoe put in at the upwind end of the lake and the guy had to walk back the length of the beach – half a mile or more – to get the truck to pick up the canoe and his woman friend at the far downwind end of the beach.

Tomorrow, or maybe Monday, we will go into town so we can have clean clothes and fresh produce.  The forecast for Sunday is grim – high of 63 and 80% chance of rain.  Of course generally rain here is 1/4 inch and if you stand out in it you might get damp.  OTOH it is possible to get an inch or more and face serious issues with the many dirt roads in the area. 

It was more.  A lot more.  We went into to Yuma and did laundry, had lunch – don’t ask – and did some shopping for food and stuff.  As we were heading back to the coach the rain resumed with a vengeance.  I will admit to getting antsy about the situation of the coach, but when we got there all was well, if a bit muddy.  The lake level had not risen any consequential amount and I would not have wanted to try to move until the mud had a chance to dry.

Time passed and we had another great float, this time on Senator Wash with Lois and Doug.  As we fought the wind back to the coaches we were glad to be back on shore.  Then the wind died for the moment.  They had some firewood remaining and were planning on leaving the next day so Doug invited us to join the fire circle and we shared snacks and bear and wine until time (well, past time) for dinner.  We said farewell in the morning and set off for Mexico, if you can call Los Algodones Mexico.  It is on the other side of the border by 100 yards and offers, 400 dental offices, 300 opticians and more sources of generic medicine, vanilla, liquor and, and  and, than you can think about.  I have new lenses in a pair of glasses for half the price of the same lens in made Rochester.  We bought some meds for much less than the states.  One example that I did not buy is Simvastatin.  My copay is $7.00 for a 30 day supply.  I could have bought the same dose of the same drug for $6.50.  No wonder people are willing to cross the border and then wait in line to get back into the US for up to 3 hours.  They can buy a 90 day (legal max) supply of medicine for less than the copay, if they had insurance. 

More decisions.  Tomorrow we head for Borrego Springs and the Palm Valley RV Resort where Dean and Jan are staying.  We were able t get two nights and then we will move out into the desert for a while.  Pat and Bob Hogg will be visiting for a day and we will probably get to the Indio area where they are staying before heading into LA.

We have settled in almost the same place we were last on the “beach” at South Shore of Senator Wash (the GPS keeps saying Senator Washington, wonder where that came from).  The lake has emptied for the time being and we are overlooking a mudflat with gulls. Day time temperatures have been mid 70’s and overnight has been mid 50’s.  Shorts weather is greatly sought after and will be with us for a while. 

We have taken a hike around the lake, three and a half hours with one small detour.  As we approached the end of the walk we came across a man selling LED replacement bulbs for our interior light fixtures.  They are very bright and draw a tenth the power of the old incandescent bulbs.  They are also about ten times as expensive!  The lamps he had did not work out as the light they cast was too garish and inadequate for the purpose in the fixtures we have.  Fortunately he left them with us on a trial basis, back they go.  The technology is changing fast and while we were in town shopping for some other replacement stuff I found some newer LEDs that work very well.  They have warmed them up and these can be swiveled within the fixture.  Although I have seen similar lamps for in home use I would not suggest them, yet.  The price has to come way down and the light quality still needs a lot of improvement.  We have three on the coach now because they are battery savers, and when dry camping they are fuel savers as I can reduce my generator run time.

Last night, after having finished yet another Nevada Barr murder in the National Parks mystery, I got out Moby Dick, the Whale, H Melville and started out with the classic opening sentence: “Call me Ishmael.”  I think Carol was surprised to hear me chuckling through the opening chapters.  I guess I too was surprised at the humor.  I am looking forward to a great time reading this book.  You will understand if I write less for the next week or so. 

I shall pause in this writing now to enjoy the day. . .

Resuming; It is now Wednesday, March 3, We have gone kayaking with Doug and Lois from the Southwind parked next to us.  We have been back to town for more produce and to take back stuff that was the wrong stuff and replace with the right stuff.  I now have new windshield wipers on the coach, a nontrivial exercise since many places do not carry the 26” wipers we need.  The old ones were shredding as we drove through the last rain storm. 

We have finally been to Lutes Casino for lunch.  It may have had some gambling once upon a time, it was won by the current owner 40 years ago in a card game, but its primary business today is to serve a lot of good food at a reasonable price.  It is on Main Street in Old Yuma and it is packed.

And now it is Thursday, I had better finish this off and post it, but first another set of facts we learned yesterday.  The reason for the highly variable amount of water in Senator Wash has been a matter of conjecture among those of us camping on its shore for as many years as we have been coming here.  Yesterday while Carol and I were on a walk ( a hike would imply use of poles and backpacks with water and distance) that took us down to the Pumping/Generator station below the Senator Wash Dam.  There was an employee of the Imperial Valley Irrigation District coming out of the pump house and we stopped him to ask about the operation.  It seems that water for agriculture irrigation is ordered from Hoover Dam seven days in advance of expected need.  The wash is the last holding place for surplus and a buffer in the event too little is available for the farms’ needs.  According to this man up until four years ago the woman responsible for estimating the need and placing the order was so competent that the reservoir seldom fluctuated more than a foot or so.  She died, the current managers, including her son apparently are not so good at forecasting, thus major swings in the amount of water in the Wash and the shoreline comes and goes.

When we leave here we will go to Borrego Springs to meet Dean and Janet – Death Valley last year – and arrange to get together with the Hoggs as well.  then into Los Angeles to spend family time and face an incredible rip off at Dockweiler RV Park (municipal park) where the rate has risen 80% from last years rate which was a 33% increase over the prior year.  Welcome to California!

Enough of freezing nights and chilly days.  We have had a lovely time in Kartchner Caverns and this is certainly the most carefully preserved cavern we have ever seen.  Following thier discovery in 1974 the two spelunkers who found it kept it a secret with a small expanding circle for fourteen years.  It was 24 years, 1999, before the caves were ready for tours by the public.  The wait was worth it.  I have no pictures because they permit no cameras, cell phones, or anything else that might harm the cave.  For the best information Click on http://www.pr.state.az.us/parks/KACA/index.html

It has not gotten over 45 degrees here and it is forecast to stay cool through the week.  We planned to go to Patagonia State Park for birding, but is it only 60 miles away and will also be cool.  The Yuma area looks to be our best bet for warm within a day’s drive.  By tomorrow afternoon we expect to be situated at or near Senator Wash on the CA side of the river, but still operating on AZ time, sort of.  Time has limited meaning there.  Phone service will be less than ideal, but if past experience is any guide, we will be able to on line and although we cannot have a lengthy conversation at the coach, it is five minute walk to better reception. 

I could rant on about Arizona’s destruction of its tourist infrastructure.  They have closed most of the highway rest areas and the most recent announcement on the state parks web site says that by June there will only be nine state parks left operational in the state.  The state has stripped the Parks of almost all their funding.  New York looks good, only by comparison.

We set out from Falcon on what appeared to be the nicest day of the entire week.  The GPS (Germaine) was set to take us to the Wal Mart in Del Rio, TX.  This is an easy six hour drive and the Wal Mart may be one of the most RV friendly Wal Marts in the system with eight reserved RV only slots near the Auto/Tire area.  After an uneventful drive with a disappointing stop at an HEB in Eagle Pass to buy groceries (the store had a very limited selection clearly aimed at a lower income Latino population) we arrived at the Del Rio Wal Mart and chose our parking spot.  With the temperature around 75 I was in a T shirt as we walked into the store.  An hour later we walked out through the chill of the entrance to be greeted by 54 degrees and high winds.  The coach was rocking and I pulled in the bedroom slide to save the topper awning from the beating.  Other than trucks coming and going we had a good nights sleep and enjoyed the luxury of showering in a Wal Mart parking lot again.

By now our propane supply was below half and with long stretches of travel ahead where we have no idea where to find propane, the last Flying J we had stopped at couldn’t pump it, I was getting nervous.  This was especially true because the temperature forecast for the immediate future was cold enough to require a lot of propane to stay warm.  I found a campground on our route that claimed to have propane, but when I put the name into our GPS, it wanted us to retrace east several miles.  This not seeming right we called the campground and determined that “RV Directions” had the location wrong yet again.  We have learned that it will get us close, but not there and we call ahead to be sure.  As we motored out of the Wal Mart we spotted a propane pumping station on the side of the road and circled back. This required two U-turns on a moderately busy four lane divided highway with car in tow.  While we were being filled I watched another motorhome do the same routine. 

By now we were talking about where to go.  I know this should be decided before starting the engine,  and we had decided to go to Davis Mountain State Park, but Big Bend National Park beckoned as we neared Marathon, the best turn to get to the park.  From that turn it is 40 miles to the entrance, then 20 miles inside the park at 35 to 45 MPH to the park headquarters and the turn to the Rio Grande Village Campground which is another slow 29 miles and we had no assurance of a place to camp.  So we were thinking about at least 180 mile detour – 90 each way – for only three nights.  We would have just two days to play in this huge area and Davis Mountain SP has such great birding and wonderful trails and mountains and so here we are.  Our site is shadowed from satellite 119, our Dish source of news and limited entertainment, phone service is almost nil and thus internet is not available either.   Marfa Public Radio is loud and clear so we have NPR and local news, weather and music.  We were hear several years ago when they “turned on” Marfa Public Radio and even attended a Willy Nelson concert in Alpine to celebrate and fund raise for the event. 

We froze our first night, the temperature got down to 22!  We are at 5200 feet so cool is to be expected, but . . .  Water line and sewer line were frozen when we awoke, I expect them to thaw soon as the sun finds its way down to us in our valley.

While waiting we decided to drive the Marfa, Alpine, Ft Davis triangle.  First stop was Marfa where we returned to The Chinati Foundation to see the restored Donald Judd Concrete Boxes stretched out over the field. When we viewed them last year there was a a major restoration underway and they reopened to much fanfare in October.  This was followed by lunch at Food Shark – a lunch truck set up under a farm market pavilion next to the tracks in Marfa. It has been written up by Martha Stewart and featured recently on NPR.  We first ate there last year.  Great middle eastern food in the far west.  A stop at the Marfa Bookstore cost me the purchase of a recent edition of Moby Dick!  I am reading Ahab’s Wife or, The Star-Gazer by Sena Jeter Naslund and realize that the last time I read Moby Dick was the summer after my 10th grade at a summer reading camp (my mother thought I did not read well enough – I was the only one in the camp who had the freedom to read wherever I chose since it was clear to the staff that I needed no supervision to be sure I was reading.  In any event i shall pick up Moby Dick as soon as I finish Ahab’s Wife which could be another week.  It appears to be longer than Moby Dick – at least it has many more pages.

On our return to the state park we walked up to the Quail Viewing area where there are feeders to attract Quail and other birds.  We found the area taken over by a mule deer which had no desire to leave. However the birds were not intimidated and eventually we saw the Montezuma Quail that are famous for being in this park – they were totally absent the last time we were here.  We also saw many other birds, several that I had not noted as being seen by us in the past.  These are called Life Listers as we maintain a list of all the birds we have ever seen, known to avid birders as a Life List.  Some also maintain annual lists, regional lists and day lists.  We are not that obsessive, yet.  A single life list is kept in the margins of our old National Geographic Guide to the Birds, Second Edition.  Of course our Scutch and Stiles – Birds of Costa Rica – has a separate list of the birds we have seen in Costa Rica and other parts of Latin America.

Dinner at home and prepare for another night in the low 20’s.

As we left Davis Mountain we had one unsatisfied goal.  There is a work of art along side the road that we had seen before bit not stopped to photograph and had seen written up in a NY Times Travel article about Marfa.  We thought it was along the stretch of US 90 between Alpine and Marfa and were disappointed to have not seen it when we drove the triangle.  We determined to continue west on 90 from Marfa just in case.  Sure enough, some 17 miles west of Marfa after passing through Valentine we saw this box along side the road.  I will let the picture speak for itself.

There are more pictures if you click through here.

We stopped in Las Cruces and had Shabbat dinner with Stewart and Leora and Amanda and their friends from Boston.  They had just been to Kartchner Cavern State Park in Arizona and we had driven by it many time and not stopped.  So here we are with two tours tomorrow and then on to  . . . ?

We got in here on Wednesday February 3 and we were booked through the 10th.  On Sunday we decided to stay on as the weather didn’t look any better anyplace west of here – or most anyplace in the country.  We extended to the 14th.  We will move out on Valentine Day regardless of the weather, unless we change our mind again.

We have been birding endlessly.  As I was sitting here writing a Black-crested Titmouse was foraging on the ground outside my window.  We have gone on a couple of organized bird walks with Wendy, a retired biologist who is a Texas Parks Volunteer offering three guided walks a week and working at the Roma Birding Center as well.  We went on a canoe trip on the Rio Grand with volunteers with the Fish and Wildlife Service, Merle and Lois, who are camped across the street from us.                                    Ringed Jay 

We also got out our bicycles and road around the park and eventually to Salineno where the DeWinds no longer feed the birds, but there is a new person keeping the birds and birders happy.  That is a great birding spot and it is wonderful that the Texas Ornithological Society has continued to maintain the feeding there.

On our first Saturday birding walk one of the men showed a picture he had taken of a hawk in the park.  A couple of very experienced birders identified it as a Roadside Hawk rarely seen north of the border (and here I thought roadside hawk was the generic name for any unidentified hawk seen along the road).  The uproar among birders within 200 miles has been phenomenal.  It took us six days, but yesterday we finally got to see the hawk.  Traffic in the park has been quite high, with people coming from Harlingen and Mission to see the hawk and stopping at Salineno as well.  The hawk is very cooperative.  We watched it sit on its roost for almost an hour as it left a couple of time to hunt and then returned. We were told it had been there for over four hours that day.  There are other rare bird sightings in the area as well, but we have contented ourselves with the hawk.  The others require us to get in the car and drive many miles and we are not yet that obsessive.

Thursday night was a potluck dinner followed by a gift exchange in advance of Valentine’s Day.  This turned out to be a lot of fun and laughs.  The idea was to bring a gift of something found or purchased for $5.  Each gift received a raffle ticket.  When your number was drawn you could choose a wrapped gift from the table or you could take a gift from someone else who had chosen before you.  The third “owner” of a gift is the final owner.  The laughs got more and more extended as the rounds of drawing proceeded and some people had three and four choices taken from them and they played up to the game.  Remember, nothing was really valuable and most of the “stuff” was going back into someone’s regifting pile.  Carol had her first choice plucked away, but got to keep an LED flashlight, as if we need another one.

For more pictures Click Here

We are indeed pulling out on Sunday – tomorrow as I write.  We have talked with Leora Zeitlin in Las Cruces and they will be around next weekend so we will take our time crossing the rest of Texas, depending on the route 750 to 800 miles and not less than 18 hours of driving.  We will take three days at least. 

We chose Goose Island SP, just north of Rockport, TX as a slightly out of the way destination on our way to Austin.  We wanted to be in Austin over the weekend so we could have time with Leigh and Pat.  We had not been to Goose Island State Park before and when I called I was offered the choice of “Bayside” or “Wooded Area.” since we had no idea we chose Bayside because it is always (?) good to be on the water.  As we set up I was not so sure, the wind was blowing from the north at 25 mph and there was nothing to block it or reduce its force.  We had to hang onto the door when opening it and closing it required a strong pull.  As the sun set so did the wind. 

The next day, that would be Monday, we drove into Rockport to see what there is to see.  We had lunch at Hemingway’s, which we would strongly recommend if you are in the area.  Nice atmosphere, tasty food at a reasonable price.   On the way we stopped at a Nature Trail – see Carol’s Message in a Minute for much more about this.  We stopped to see the Big Tree on the way back to Gee 2. On Tuesday we packed lunch and headed for Aransas National Wildlife Reserve (NWR) to see the Whooping Cranes among other critters.  We did see the Whooping Cranes at a great distance, a bit disappointing although clear enough to enter them on my Life List.  Back to the coach for dinner and reading.

Wednesday we joined a bird walk with Jim and Sally Lockwood leading to see shore birds and we saw plenty.  The group list was over 40 species and my personal list was 26 species that I could identify.  At the talk we heard that Whooping Cranes could be seen in the park so we went to see them. That afternoon we went to the recreation center for a talk by the raptor lady, an 87 year old woman who travels the country in a van with a Great Horned Owl, a Caracara and a Screech Owl and an American Kestrel.  She has state and federal permits to have these birds and she gives a very educational talk about them.  After dinner we came back for a preview talk on the small birds we were likely to see on the next morning’s bird walk.  It’s a good thing we went because the birds were not in evidence the next morning.  We could hear them, but spotting them was very difficult.  We left our new found friends and packed up Gee 2 for the trip to Austin and more rain.

For more of the pictures Click Here.

Back in Austin Lone Star RV Park for probably the 6 or 7th time we settled in to wait out the rain, do some writing and reading.  As usual there was nothing to watch on TV.  On Saturday we joined Leigh and Pat at their home and set off for lunch and the Austin Modern House Tour.  That link will take you to photos taken by a photographer we saw at several of the homes.  Most of the houses were for sale and the realtors were very active at each location.  The house with the lap pool cantilevered over the gorge was extreme.  Priced at over $3 million it was not at all ordinary.  Others were also extreme in different ways.  It was a lot of fun.  We went to dinner at Fabi And Rosi an intimate dining room with an excellent menu, fine service and great food.  Sunday we went to the Blanton Gallery on the UT campus and went to the Austin Playhouse for a matinee performance of Misalliance, Shaw at his most Shavian.  It was well done.  I would go back to the Playhouse.  Leigh had prepared a wonderful meal back at the house and we enjoyed it and the time with them immensely. 

Monday we packed up and set out for Falcon State Park.  Oops! I called from the road to find that there was no room for us.  While Carol drove I called Texas Parks and Wildlife Reservations and got us booked in to the Water and Electric section for four days.  That is about the comfortable limit for us with no sewer hookup.  I found a Passport America RV Park in  Zapata, TX.  Just follow 16 across 83 and down to the water. 

Posting from Site 202 – full hook up in Falcon SP.

On our return to Florida we spent two days in St Petersburg visiting with Carol’s brother and sister-in-law.  The KOA at Madeira Beach that we stayed in is tucked in between an industrial strip and the water.  It is bordered by the Pinellas Bike and Foot Trail also.  It is a  nice enough KOA, but it’s location makes it one of the priciest I can remember.  It had a lot of amenities that we have no use for generally as they are for families with young children.

On our way back from Miami, the vibration from the tires on the RAV4 which I had flat spotted December ‘08 became far more severe.  I started to worry that something would come apart and I drove with both hands firmly on the wheel.  Nothing bad happened.  The next day during our visit, Art had some errands and I said I would drive and find a tire place to check out the tires.  We to went a local place and they got the car up on a lift and within minutes I was buying two new tires.  The left rear had a flap of rubber peeling off the tread! and right rear was not that bad, yet.  The car drives so smoothly now it almost feels like new.

Our visit was very satisfying and Carol appreciated having the additional time with her Art and Natalie.  This was not a planned  visit and we did not think we would see them until they come to Rochester in May.  Bonus!

Leaving St Pete we decided that going up I 75 looked boring and we chose to take 19, the local highway out of town and up the coast.  We had hopes of seeing more of Florida, and we did.  Boring!  We have done that and do not need to do it again.  There was not much to see and the only benefit was the opportunity to keep our speed down without hindering traffic on the interstate.  We spent the night in a Wal Mart parking lot in the Panhandle.  When I made a routine walk around  someplace down the road from there the next day, I noted that a little black cap on the passenger side arm of the tow bar had gone missing.  I did not think much about it as the lock was set firmly.

We decided to make a two night stop in Louisiana so we could satisfy two desires.  Carol wanted to do a Swamp Tour and we both wanted to go to Shabbat services in Lafayette, if there was a place to go.  We found our way to Poche Fish’n Camp outside of Breaux Bridge LA and from there with some difficulty we found our way to Lake Martin where we joined a group with Butch for a two hour swamp tour that turned into a three hour tour. The weather was perfect and no one, even Butch, seemed to be in a hurry to get back to shore.

For more pictures Click Here

We cleaned up and Carol finished a bean salad for the covered dish dinner that Temple Shalom was having.  We had a wonderful evening, the dinner was fine, Rabbi Barry Weinstein and all those present made us feel welcome and we made a lot of friends.  It was a bit strange attending a Friday night service with a Torah reading, but I do know that is common in smaller congregations that are glad to get together a minyan once a week.  If we are passing through on Shabbat again we will certainly stop there.

Saturday morning found us in a very different setting.  Daniel, a fiddler who was at the Shabbat service, had told us that there was a Zydeco Breakfast at Cafe des Amis

in Breaux Bridge starting at 8:30 AM.  We had to go!  Great music, good food and plenty of dancing. We were back at the coach preparing to roll by 11.  After hitching up in the driveway we had our first oh-oh!.  That missing cap was more than just ornamental apparently.  The passenger side bar did not latch as we pulled onto the highway.  After some finagling with the coach and the car, we managed to get the bar to latch and we set off down the road wondering if it would hold, not the most comforting thought.  I’d been wanting a new tow bar for a year to get a better release mechanism, but had not been able to justify the expense.  Now I had my justification, but no local dealer had one in stock.  The nearest place I could find what I wanted was Camping World in Houston, TX, only four hours down the road.  I called and verified that they were open until 5, and open on Sunday at 11 and they had what I wanted in stock.  Without pressing too hard, we arrived there at 4:45 and by 5 Pm I was installing the replacement on the back of Gee 2.  I have replacement parts to rebuild the old bar and will fix it up when I get a chance and see if I can find  buyer.

Next stop Goose Island State Park.  I will post that later.