On route to Havana we arrived at Miami International Airport the night before by car from St Petersburg, FL.  We needed to be there for an orientation dinner at Rare Steak house in Miami Beach.  We are told to meet at the double escalators in concourse J at 6 AM.  There is no flight information, or gate information and no one seems to know what airline we will be flying on.  Of course there will be no posting of a flight to Cuba anyplace in the airport.  Gate 19 1/2 (read your Harry Potter)!

Finally at the counter we learn it is a TACA Airline charter flight and the Airbus A320 is full with our 16 and the rest Cuban Americans going to see their families and carrying all kinds of baggage for them.  The paperwork is standard international stuff and the flight is an easy 60 minutes.  Arrival is at Havana’s Jose Marti field, instead of the main terminal we roll up to Terminal 2, reserved for the Miami flights.  Outside the line up of billboards are all anti US propaganda, this is just an introduction to barrage of propaganda on every billboard we see.  An hour later after passing though customs and immigration we board bus 272 Rudolpho at the wheel and Aliane at the microphone. 

Our first stop is the Plaza de la Revolution with the famous image of Che Guevara and the memorial to Jose Marti in the middle.

After a stop at the Memorial to the “Assassinated Ethel and Julius Rosenberg” we finally were taken to the Parque Central Hotel – there was no toilet on the bus! 

After lunch we had several hours free, allowed because there was no way to assume the flight would be on time or how long we would spend in formalities of entry.  Carol and I set off on our own to explore the neighborhood which is old Havana.  Oh my! everything is decrepit.  Buildings look like a sneeze would bring them down.  We walked the length of the Prado, from the park in front of the hotel to the harbor waterfront.  We returned by the route the bus had taken on Agramonte, past the museum of the Revolution – which we were to visit later in the trip. 

We continued our walk to The Floridita a bar that claims to have invented the daiquiri and was a haunt of Hemingway when he was in Havana.  I am told there is a statue of him at the bar, but the smoke, crowd and noise kept us out.  Everyone smokes cigars in Havana, except Carol and me.  At the Floridita we picked up Obispo Blvd a lively shopping street where it is possible to buy many items that are not part of the standard ration.  This is a place where the only currency is the CUC  or Convertible Peso.  These are equivalent to about $1 US and the internal conversion rate is 25 Cuban Pesos to 1 CUC.  Standard salary is 250 Cuban Peso per week.  An ice cream cone on the street was 1 CUC.  Cubans with no source of hard currency don’t have many ice cream cones!  We each had one, they were delicious and we did not get sick!

Back at the hotel we sat with feet up for thirty minutes and then had a briefing by Ariel and Johanna, JDC Staffers from Argentina, on what we could expect to see and how the economy did (or did not) work.  Unfortunately as soon as the lights went down we both took turns drifting off to sleep.  Refreshed, we boarded the bus for the Hotel National which has hosted many famous people dating back into the 30’s.  This includes many stage and movie stars as well as famous gangsters such as Meyer Lansky.  We were welcomed with Mojitos (a light rum drink) as we would be where ever we went.  Dinner was wonderful and Carol was surprised when the beautiful baked potato they brought her turned out to be an appetizer and was followed with a wonderful plate of grilled vegetables.  This was to be the story of the trip, Carol had wonderful vegetables where ever we went.  Our food was also very good.  I did not expect to have steak in Havana.  I am sure it cost a month’s salary or more in local currency. 

After a night’s sleep we started Friday with visits to the two Jewish Cemetaries (Ashkenazic and Sephardic) located on the edge of Havana.  For all the pictures Click Here. Both of these cemeteries have their own Holocaust Memorials.  There are signs of decay everywhere and some signs that work is underway to repair some of the damage.  All of the workers are government  employees and all burials are paid for by the government.  The stones and monuments are paid for privately. 

On the drive we pass by a monument to Castro’s hubris.  Havana had been offered the chance to host the Pan American Games in 1991, this occurred just as The Soviet Union was failing and pulling the props out from under the Cuban economy.  The four lane divided highway to the stadia is crumbling like all of the infrastructure we saw.  Our first sight of the biggest stadium was the giant light stands reaching into the sky, they seemed strange at a distance and soon we could see why, the lights were all gone.  As we got closer we could see that everything else was showing signs of abandonment as well.   I have no pictures as we did not stop and the view from the bus was fleeting. 

Next stop Adath Israel, the Orthodox Synagogue.

There are more pictures.  This entrance stands out on a street of dilapidated unkempt buildings.

We met the cantor/treasurer/leader (not the President) and visited the small chapel they use daily and weekly and then upstairs to the large main sanctuary that is only used for community gatherings and holidays.  There is also a workshop for elderly and we found a doll they had made to buy, it is now added to the various other soft toys that gather on our bed during the day.

We had lunch with community members at a wonderful covered outdoor restaurant.  We had a chance to learn about life in Cuba.  Melanie, who sat with us, teaches dance to the youth and is a youth leader for the community.  She lives with her husband, her two children with him and his two older children and the eldest son’s wife in a two room apartment (that is rooms not bedrooms!).  They are reasonably well off since they do not have to share with a fourth generation, yet!  Apartments stay in the family.  they cannot be bought, sold or transferred out of the family.  According to our guide, Alain – himself a government employee, the only way to acquire an apartment or house is to inherit it.  He lives with his girlfriend in her family apartment, she has no family so it is just the two of them.  They are on the third floor of a five story building with a non functioning Otis elevator.  It cannot be repaired so long as the embargo continues.

After a break, which we used to rest a bit, We returned to The Patronata for Shabbat Services and dinner.  After a brief return to the hotel we set out for a late night adventure.  We went to the show at the Tropicana.  This show has been given nightly since 1939.  For more details Click Here.  We enjoyed the spectacle and returned to our hotel exhausted, but ready to forge onward in the morning. 

On Saturday we resumed seeing sites where JDC is working such as the Sephardic Hebrew Center, which is the smallest and least restored of the three centers in Havana.  We also had a visit to a farmer’s market, one of many in Havana.  Here famers who have met their quotas can bring surplus crops for sale to the public.  Generally the sales are in Cuban Pesos and as you can see even here the prices are controlled Sanitation for the meat is not!

We continued on to a visit to the Catholic Cemetery, which is a grand necropolis covering hundreds of acres and reflecting the desire of Cubans to compete for prestige even in death.  The pictures are included in the web album. 

We toured Old Havana to see the restoration work propelled by the city Historian who has a “license” to develop commercial properties and use the revenue from the properties to renovate more properties.  Sounds like a very Capitalist idea to me.  Some buildings are not likely to be restored as they house private dwellings and offer no profit motive.

That is Alain, our guide (spelling is questionable).  He took us to a Jewish “themed” hotel in the district as well.

I think I know the photographer.

We ended afternoon with a return to the Patronata to see the adults, young adults and children dance and entertain us.  We concluded the evening with a farewell dinner and chance to discuss the events we had experienced in the prior 48 hours.  We were later joined by the leaders of the community for the dinner and somehow a bus load of tourists from Boca Raton JCC ended up in our private room as well. 

Sunday saw us leave the hotel packed for departure with a stop at the Patronata for a chance to dance with the children and say goodbye.  We took the long way to the Patronata with a stop at Papa Hemingway’s House on the outskirts of town.  Here is the typewriter where he wrote standing up. On the way to the airport we stopped at the Habana Riviera and finally Lennon Square – that is NOT a misspelling.  Someone stole the glasses off the stature so there is an assigned guard with a pair of glasses he puts on the statue for an tourists who want to see it.

What we saw is a vibrant Jewish community reviving from the repression of all religion by the Castro Regime until 1992.  This is a small remnant and it is doubtful it would have any existence without the support of JDC and the goods brought in by many Jewish groups visiting.  The touring of sites and places, including the Museum of the Revolution really helped set the environment within which this community must continue to exist.  I doubt that our understanding of the community would be as complete without it.

I guess the word has gone out that I am reasonably handy and will help with any construction project that is underway.  At our son Dan’s, among other projects at other times, I helped with the construction of a new home for their 20 chickens.  When we arrived at Carol’s bother Arthur’s home he was in the midst of assembling a piece of kd furniture (before I get the question – kd means “knocked down” or “some assembly required”). 

This project, with a well written set of directions, required a certain amount of agility and strength in the hands.  After a before dinner scotch (Glenlivet 15 year old!) and a delightful dinner to soften me up, I was invited to try my hand at the assembly.  Less than an hour later it was done; a very nice night table was added the bedroom and I had finished yet another of my traveling construction projects.  

I cannot imagine where my next one will be, but I am sure it will happen.

Next stop Cuba – I hope I don’t have to build anything there.

As we drove along I 95 thinking about the days to come and Cuba in particular this car appeared in front of us.  We expect to see more cars like this in Cuba.

#—#–#

I am not sure who was more surprised.  As we looked at distance, time and bitter cold weather on the Georgia coast we started to figure where to spend some time and have some fun.  It became clear that, on the route we had chosen, we were going to pass within a mile of Deer Creek, the winter home of Shelley and Norm Topf.   A phone call confirmed that there was an empty slot right next to them available for our use.  4 hours later we were maneuvering the coach into the slot under the motorhome port on the site next to them. Shelley prepared a wonderful vegetarian soup, hot soup is wonderful in very cold weather.  We ate and talked all evening. 

Sunday brought clear crisp air.  It is still cold all over the East and deep into Florida.  We are not leaving hoses connected overnight and propane supply is an issue.  Enough with the icebox already. 

We decided to drive to Bok Tower National Monument about half and hour south.  Rather then describe them here is their web site:  Bok Tower. Although it was cool the sunlight was warm and the tower is splendid and any gardens laid out by Frederick Law Olmstead are worth spending some time in.  We were joined in this foray by Steven and Marcy Kraus, friend of the Topfs and people we have met at various FMCA Rallies.  We arrived just in time for a recorded carillon performance on the Tower carillon.  totally magnificent. 

We finished the day with dinner at Cherry Pocket Steak and Seafood.  It is an old Florida Fishing shack which looks like it is about to fall down without the help of a passing breeze.  The food was wonderful, excessively plentiful and not terribly pricey.  We rolled out satisfied. 

After a while in Shelley and Norm’s coach we are back in Gee 2 preparing to go to sleep and head for St Pete in the AM.

Don’t worry, I am not likely to post daily, but I have time this afternoon.

We set out from Malena and Dan’s at about 9 AM.  I had chosen a Passport America (half off regular price for us cheapskates) campground south of Greensboro.  When we set up the route it looked like about 4 hours.  Short for a first day, but heading toward the coast there were not a lot of choices and no Passport America stops. 

Early on I discovered that cruise control was being intermittent.  Most frustrating at the beginning of thousands of mile of driving.  After an hour the everything in the coach was up to operating temperature and dried out and cruise resumed working as expected.  This is the second time it was not worked well after an extended storage in cold damp conditions.  I had the entire module replaced in the spring and it is no better.  I think I will ignore it until it fails again.

As we rolled we agreed that a stop at Replacements Ltd was definitely worthwhile.  Especially since we would be passing within 10 miles of it.  There is always something we need, just a month or so ago and sterling teaspoon had found its way into the disposal.  We pulled into their lot and had lunch and a wonder through the showroom and finally we bought the replacement spoon. 

An hour down the road we pulled in to Cross Winds Family Campground which is very new looking and VERY empty. As I spoke to Glenda, the owner she told me that this campground is less than two years old and that explained why they were not listed in the Passport America directory, just on their web site.  We are an hour south of Greensboro and about the same north of Charlotte NC.  The owners are very friendly and facility is very well set up.  Every site is full hookup and cable and Wifi.  The sites are level and large.  For our RV friends, if you are in the area, you might want to stay a night, especially if you belong to Passport America.

The second day on the road was mostly uneventful.  We left early and rolled most of the day to Savannah GA.  The only stop was at the Darlington Speedway Museum in Darlington, SC.  This is a motley collection of several NASCAR race cars, pictures to follow, and a Hall of Fame that is of interest to serious fans, but is poorly executed.  The best part of the stop was a quick look at the track itself.  It was a fine place to stop for lunch and the tour was only $5, Carol skipped it, so the lunch stop cost one museum entrance.

Our scare for the day was one idiot driver who is lucky she and her passenger are alive.  As we were passing an on ramp at about 62 mph (in a 70 zone) she started to pull in front of me at about 40 mph.  I honked the horn, flashed the lights and stomped on the brakes.  Carol was working with the GPS setting up our next stop and her first indication that we were in trouble was the sudden deceleration.  She had some unrepeatable things to say as our pulses slowed and I regained road speed.  I must admit to some justified road rage, displayed as an evil raised fist out the window as they passed me a few miles down the road.  I have a lot of reasons for holding my speed to 62 and avoiding these sorts of incidents is one of them.

The day ended in a mediocre campground (Biltmore Gardens) in the Savannah area.  This is our second mediocre to miserable camping experience in this area.  We like the city, but. . .

More in a day or two.  We leave for Cuba next Thursday, January 14.

I know when we left Rochester we drove south not east.  I know I am sitting in Dan and Malena’s driveway which is in VA.  But it feels like VT or Rochester.  The coach still has snow on the roof from the snow storm two weeks ago.  The temperature has managed to get over 40 once since we got here.  The overnight temperatures have been in the teens and my feet are cold.  Am I complaining? YES!  I am burning about five gallons of propane daily and we are keeping the living room slide pulled in to reduce the volume to heat.  Other than that everything is great.

Dan and I have been working on building a new hen house to keep them warmer.  It will not be done in time for this major cold, but we are well along.  Not sure Dan will get it set up before they leave for Mexico. 

The other night I noticed that the power from the house had gone off.  It came back on and then went off again a couple of times.  In the morning I fired up the generator and kept it going all day until the power was restored mid afternoon.   The kids kept their house warm with the wood stove and Malena even cooked on it because there was no power for the electric stove.  The only casualty so far is a frozen pipe to the cold water in the back of the coach.  No onboard showers until that thaws.  I hope when it thaws that the pipe has not been broken. 

We had dinner at the Blue Mountain Brewery with the Robbs last night (go back to one of first trips, we met the Robbs in San Antonio in a parking garage).  It was a blast to spend time with them again.  Every time we get together we are reminded how we had so much fun together on the first meeting.  Today we will take the propane tanks in for another refill and stop for lunch in the Barracks Road Mall with Bill Freedman, a high school classmate.

Lunch at Aromas with Bill was fine.  Always a pleasure to spend time with him.

OK, the pipes to the rear thawed and the temperature has risen enough to push the slide out again.  I have shoveled off the roof so I can go down the road without killing someone.  Today (Wednesday) I went to drain the holding tanks ad found the macerator (sewage pump) frozen, aargh!  Waited a few hours and the sunshine and rising temperatures (38!) thawed that so the holding tanks are now empty.  Rollout is tomorrow Thursday the 7th.

Tried to reach our grandson Josh for his 18th birthday with no luck so far.

We rolled out of bed early on December 29 to get an early start on the drive to Dan and Malena’s in Charlottesville.  The coach was sitting in their driveway and we were going to drive though in one day in the tow’d (our RAV4).  There were boxes and suitcases scattered on the floor and I wondered how everything would fit into the back of our mini SUV, even with the seats folded up.  As we ate breakfast we started moving stuff into the car.  It soon became clear that everything would fit just fine and there were only a few boxes left to move. 

Murphy picked this moment to visit.  I was transferring five cans of gingerale into a wine case to consolidate one more item when one of the cans tumbled onto the floor and hit a corner of a cabinet putting a small hole in the side.  Gingerale sprayed over the floor and up the wall as I grabbed the can and tossed it out the door onto the deck, where I will find it come Spring.  After cleanup we finished loading and closed up the house.  I opened the garage door onto 9 degree, blowing snow weather.  The forecast said we had to tolerate this for about 60 miles and then we would be out of the lake effect area and into clear skies.

Clear skies couldn’t come soon enough.  The roads were not bad, but every passing car and truck threw ice and sleet onto the windshield and the windshield washers froze up.  I drove the 60 miles with declining visibility, stopping every so often to scrub the windshield.  After a stop we saw some clear blue sky and could see rainbows to either side of the sun.  An omen!  Murphy was left behind.  The rest of the drive was uneventful, other than finding that Tedd’s Landing (landmark for those who run US 15 through Pennsylvania) was not open for lunch any more.  Perkins, anyone? 

It snowed in Virginia over Christmas – 28 inches at the farm.  It has not warmed up much since.  We found Gee 2 under a blanket of snow, but with paths shoveled to the door and bins where Dan had gone to find an electric heater and a water jug for use in the house during the storm.  Tuesday night we moved it back into its usual spot (ten feet forward from where we had parked it), hooked up the electric and used the water jug for wash water since I was not up to dewinterizing the water system in the dark and cold and I was tired from the drive.   Wednesday we got everything back into live aboard mode and we are cozy and comfortable.  Each morning the children come out to play for 30 minutes before doing their chores and schooling.

Here is Carol (Bubbeh) reading to Alex and Corey:

and this is the view down the driveway as I am writing:

It has been a while since i have had anything to post here.  After getting back from Vermont and the Adirondacks, Gee 2 spent most of its time in storage.  For Thanksgiving we were invited to Malena and Dan’s.  We decided that it would make some sense to move Gee 2 to their yard so we could have some space and add to their sleeping quarter.  Then it seemed reasonable to leave it there until time to start out winter travels at the end of December. 

As I write these words, Dec 11, I am on AirTran flight 60 bound for Los Angeles to visit with Yechiel and Miriam and the boys.  Or as Carol might say the boys, but we will spend time with the parents as well.  Some family news; Yechiel has left academia and is in early times as a life insurance salesman.  I wonder where he got that idea. 

Our winter itinerary has some very definite stops and then gets really fuzzy.  On or about December 29 we will drive the tow’d from Rochester to Covesville for an extended visit.  They are leaving for Mexico on January 10 so we will depart on the 8th or 9th and drive through to St Petersburg, FL for a visit with Carol’s brother and sister-in-law.  On the 13th we will drive the tow’d to Miami airport, with a stop in Boynton Beach to visit Aunt Evelyn, in preparation for a flight to Havana, Cuba with a group from the JDC.  Upon our return on Sunday the 17th we will drive directly back to St Petersburg.  Our current plan is to head west on the 20th.  From there on it is really fuzzy.  No route plan yet, and no specific dates to be anyplace. 

Travels this Fall have included a driving trip to NYC for the JDC Board Meeting in October which included a stop at Peg and Jon Kerner’s in Pound Ridge. Jon was my college roommate back in the dark ages and the four of us were good friends when we lived in Manhattan in the late ‘60s.  We had not seen each other in many years and it was wonderful to have some time with them in there new house.  Jon was always a collector, but he has become a major Wedgewood collector and there are hundreds of pieces displayed in the living room, and other places too.  The drive in the Prius was uneventful and it was really thrilling to drive 350 miles and stop to buy 8 gallons of gasoline for the trip home.  No comparison to the coach, $200 to get to Dan’s!

I am in a chatty mood with no real time constraints so I may just wander on for a bit.  

It is now December 23 and there is two feet of snow in Virginia and very little on the ground here in Rochester, so much for our plans to get Gee 2 out of the weather.  We plan on driving down there on Tuesday the 29th, weather permitting.

We are on a 3 week trip in the immediate northeast. First stop Keuka Lake State Park to visit with Deb Friedman and Scott Mackler, then on to the Adirondaks, too long since we have been there. From there on to Shelburne VT for an overnight with Sandy and David before entering the Essex Fairgrounds for the FMCA Northeast Rally. After that is up in the air. We need to return to Rochester by the 22nd and we fly to St Petersburg FL on the 26th for five days. Whew!

As we set out from Rochester I noted oil on the right rear wheel. A stop at Balantyne RV suggested a leaking seal, but there is plenty of oil in the differential and we determined it would be ok to travel so long as it did not get worse. The beginning of 4 AM wake ups for me, one more thing to worry about. 350 miles and so far no problems. Need to go another 80 to get to the rally, then we shall see.

Our first stop was at Keuka Lake State Park, only 51 miles from home. Why have we not explored this park before? Probably because it is so close. After arrival late afternoon on Tuesday, we set up and drove to Deb and Scott’s for wine on the dock

From August '09 Trip NY and VT

From August '09 Trip NY and VT

and great food and more wine on the deck. We agreed to lunch at Knapp Winery

From August '09 Trip NY and VT

and a shopping trip to Long Point Winery where we tasted our way through most of their selections. I bought three bottles of their Zinfandel Reserve, Deb and Scott bought more, but they don’t have to find storage in a motorhome. We returned to their cottage after a stop at Gee 2 for us to change clothes and for Carol to pick up a salad she had made. Wine on the dock turned into a wonderful boat ride after which we had dinner. As we were cleaning up, there was the sound of fireworks on the lake and a trek down to the dock was rewarded with a splendid fireworks show in Branchport at the northern end of the lake. It was time to say farewell and be on our way north in the morning.

On Thursday morning we began to retrace roads we have not driven since we started RVing. We took I 81 north to the Ft Drum exit north of Watertown. We stopped at Longways to fuel up (a frequent stop back in the 90’s when Dan was at Ft Drum) and continued up Rt 3 to Saranac Lake Village where we picked up 86 through Lake Placid past the entrance to Whiteface Mountain and took the turn into Lake Placid/Whiteface Mountain KOA. We are too big to reserve in most Adirondack State Campgrounds so here we are in a KOA for the first time in over a year. This is a very nice KOA with pleasant staff and plentiful clean restrooms and showers, we needed the showers because we did not a sewer connection and Carol was doing some fun cooking which uses water. Our first day in the ADK we reprised a climb we had done in 1965, Ampersand Mountain. I think the trail in has gotten longer and the steepness of the ascent has surely increased in the ensuing years. We summited in time for lunch and the weather was perfect to enjoy the views.

From August '09 Trip NY and VT

From August '09 Trip NY and VT

On the way down Carol developed a sore toe and my back began to ache a bit – oh oh. The next day we set out to climb Cascade via Porter, but we couldn’t find the trail head along rt 73 and decided to hike in to Round Pond and continue on to Noon Mark another sub 4,000 ft mountain. Three hours on the trail found us a half a mile from the summit of Noon Mark and the previous half mile had taken an hour – Noon Mark is steep! We were running out of time and calories, It was already 2:30 and it appeared we would not exit the trail until after 7 if we kept at it. We turned back after appreciating the views at the halfway clearing.

From August '09 Trip NY and VT

From August '09 Trip NY and VT

As we hiked out Carol’s toe became very sore and my back was pretty bad. This was to be our last hike on this trip. As I write 10 days later, Carol is healed and my back is fine, but I think we will reconsider trying 6 hour mountain climbs on consecutive days for a while.

The next stop was Shelburne VT for an overnight in my sister and brother-in-law’s driveway on the way to the NEAR (North East Area Rally) of FMCA in Essex Junction,VT. On our way from the house to the rally we made a planned stop at the home of Starbase a program for middle schoolers run by the Vt National Air Guard at the air guard base adjacent to Burlington Airport. The site visit was inspired because our foundation has funded transportation for the program for three years. The program is quite thrilling and visit included a tour of the active duty base as well with flight simulator and live takeoff a walk through the maintenance hangar where F 16s were in various states of repair. All in all a very exciting tour arranged by my brother-in-law David Coen.

From August '09 Trip NY and VT

From August '09 Trip NY and VT

From August '09 Trip NY and VT

As we set up at the Champlain Exposition Fairgrounds I was hoping to find someone to take a look at the right rear wheel which had continued to ooze oil through out the trip. None of the vendors had a chassis man present so a call to my road service (Coach-Net) yielded the name of a local truck chassis specialist – Bailey’s Chassis and Spring – who promptly sent a man over to check out the differential oil level and look at the wheel. He found that it was leaking and there was plenty of oil in the differential to continue on. He refused any payment, so I decided to bring the coach there for the repair. But first we called a friend we had not seen in many years, Brad Schwartz. Brad and his wife Jacquie run the Inn at Buck Hollow Farm outside of Fairfax VT. They invited us to park the coach in their yard and we stayed for a two night visit.

From August '09 Trip NY and VT

From August '09 Trip NY and VT

The Inn is still quite lovely and we had a wonderful visit. Leaving there we retraced back to Essex Junction for an appointment at Bailey’s Chassis and Spring where the right axle was pulled the outer seal replaced and everything restored in just under an hour. I slept very well last night at Apple Island Resort in the Champlain islands!

Tomorrow we will leave Vermont and head for an overnight stop in Sackets Harbor, NY before heading on back to Rochester so we can leave for Florida, by plane on Wednesday.

A Slow Trip up the Blue Ridge Parkway

After a night just north of Cherokee, a place we really do not have the urge to revisit, we found our way to the Blue Ridge Parkway about 50 miles north of its southern end in The Great Smoky Mountains. We left behind the dramatic presentation Unto These Hills – a Dramatic Retelling of Cherokee History and Cades Cove and many wonderful hikes that will have to wait for another day, another trip. We had decided at some point to retrace a trip we had taken in 1984 with a tent and B and B guide but going northward, the direction of the Appalachian Trail through hikers, this time. Our first stop was Asheville, the home of The Biltmore, and many art galleries and wonderful scenery. Although I wanted to see The Biltmore again, we decided to focus on hiking, craft shopping and galleries.

Having done an exploratory drive up the Parkway to the closure and a nice hike we came back through Asheville to see if we could find Mast General Store to see if they could outfit me with hiking boots. We could not find parking and we were tired so we went back to Gee 2 for relaxation and dinner. The next day we set out to shop at the Allanstand Folk Art Center on the Parkway. It is one of five craft centers representing North Carolina crafters. After successful shopping there among some of the finest crafts we’ve seen we set out for Asheville again and this time we found parking. Before we could get to the store however we walked into Blue Spiral Gallery and were lost for over an hour. The space is immense, the collection superb and the people were very warm. It was now lunch time so we retraced steps to a spot we had noticed driving in called Mellow Mushroom where we had a delightful lunch on the street under the warm sun. The shopping at Mast General was less satisfying and I still have my 30 year old Danner hiking boots. Several galleries later including a wonderful new photography gallery left us ready for rest. After happy hour with neighbors in the campground we had a light dinner and some reading before falling asleep exhausted.

As we pulled out of Tapps RV in Asheville we knew we were facing a major detour around a large landslide about 15 miles north of us. We skipped the 50 miles, having explored the southern portion up to the slide area by car the day before. We began the journey using a wonderful book “Walking the Blue Ridge” by Leonard M. Adkins. We have had this book for a dozen years or more, but little changes on the Parkway. We had two problems. The book is laid out North to South so we felt like we reading Hebrew as we started with the book opening from the right (the back to English readers) and worked our way forward. This resulted in a number of surprises as we failed to leap ahead to the beginning of a section to read the background that we were traversing in reverse order. The other “problem” was the date. Very little (next to nothing) is open on the Parkway before May 1. This included campgrounds. I called the ranger desk and was told that Linville Falls and Peaks of Otter were the only two that were open. There is over 200 miles of ridgeline between them. Well 50% is better than nothing. We spent two lovely nights in Linville Falls CG with a couple of other RV’s and two Hosts. Even the water was not on, no problem for us as we bring our own, but for the hosts it was a very real issue. They are promised full hookups. We took a lovely hike to Linville Falls from the campground where we met and hiked with Dennis and Beth Bedell, the other motorhomers camped near us. They joined us for happy hour later that day after we went exploring in the car.

From Winter 09 Vol 2

From Winter 09 Vol 2

From Winter 09 Vol 2

On the exploration we came across the Altapass Orchard.

From Winter 09 Vol 2

It was closed, but we saw activity and pulled in. We met the owner who has been running the orchard and retail store for 16 years. They have live local music on weekends and are working to preserve the orchard and its surroundings. The place was built by the railroad to generate freight for their new rail line. We were told that rail buffs will recognize the Clinchfield Loops as an amazing railroading achievement and it is still in use and visible from the orchard stand. We drove on and returned to Gee 2 eventually.

The next morning, with Carol at the helm, we continued north. Our major stop was at the Moses Cone Manor House. The weather was not friendly and it was snowing as we pulled into the parking lot. The Manor sits on a large estate that was given to the Parkway. It comprises the house and miles of carriage trails overlooking Blowing Rock. The manor house is another of the Craft Guild chain and the material on display is just wonderful. Fortunately we are space limited in the motorhome and are very much in “look, don’t buy” mode. We sat in the coach with the dining table overlooking the valley while we enjoyed our lunch and the view. Along the way we stopped in more overlooks and roadside pull offs than it is reasonable to record. Many of these stops for just a few minutes so the driver could take time to see and enjoy the scenery. Our stop for the night was in the town of Meadows of Dan, Virginia, at the Meadows of Dan Campground. It seemed familiar and it was. We had stayed there in 2003 when we joined Dan’s family for the Floyd Fest music festival along the BRP nearby.

Our plan for the following day was to camp at Peaks of Otter and continue our exploration of that area. We have stayed there twice before, once in a tent many years ago. It is a beautiful place with a lodge across the lake from the campground and a trip to Sharp Top that can be hiked or for a small charge there is a bus to the top. Actually one year we climbed another peak and were almost to the bottom before Carol missed her camera. We ran back to the top and it was gone. We stopped at the ranger station to report it and he already had it and was holding it for us. There are also many engaging level walks in the area. Our stop was not to be this time. It was still closed! I called to ask if we might stay over in the picnic area, but the ranger said that the enforcement division would not be happy. We got out the books and settled on Yogi Bear Jellystone RV Resort in Natural Bridge. The only reason we stayed there was that the alternative was a KOA that cost more and had nothing more to offer that we wanted. Germain, the GPS, said we should continue north a bit a then turn left on Petites Gap road for the best route to the campground. We verified that the GPS was set to AVOID unpaved roads. As I turned left over Carol’s well stated qualms I said “see the road is paved” for the first 100 yards! We entered a roughly 3,000 foot descent in 5 miles on a road that was single track dirt with occasional turnouts for vehicles to pass. Since we are used to the road to Dan and Malena’s I was most concerned about the tightness of the hairpins and the steepness of the descent. The turns were fine, if a bit scary, and the descent was first gear and foot on the brakes all the way down. We met three cars coming up and were fortunate that they could see us in time to pull off and let us pass. We would stay at this campground again if necessary as we have once before. We would not enjoy it in season as it clearly caters to families with noisy children and has many wonderful attractions for them.

Thursday found us on our last lap on the Parkway as we climbed up route 501 to rejoin the Parkway at its lowest point crossing the James River where it crosses the Blue Ridge, this is 649 feet. The highest elevation in Virginia is 10 miles to the south at 3,950, we did most of this descent on the aforementioned dirt road! We stopped at the river crossing to enjoy the trails that reach the river’s edge and pass under the BRP bridge as it crosses the river.

Some spelling errors are easier to correct than others:

From Winter 09 Vol 2

and here is the Pedestrain at the Pedestrain Overlook.

From Winter 09 Vol 2

We made one more stop that day at Indian Gap for a very short hike, about.3 mile round trip, to a wonderful jumble of immense boulders that would be a wonderful playground for children of most ages. After a lunch stop in a pull out overlooking Sherando Lake I took the helm and we began a familiar drive that brought us to Dan and Malena’s early afternoon.

We are here until Sunday, May 3 and then we will try to make the 500 miles to Rochester in one day, unless we take two.
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From Winter 09 Vol 2

Eventually Carol will post a detailed retelling of our visit with Ruth Stewart in Houston. Briefly we had a wonderful day visiting this 92 year old women who proceeded to drive us around Houston and tell us her life story as a black singer performer in the era of segregation. She performed and studied in Europe before returning to the US eventually to become a teacher at Southern Texas University.

The next morning we left Livingston with the idea of seeing two more major stops on the Civil Rights Trail we have been following for the past 7 years. But first, my hiking boots are 30 years old or so and are worn out. I need to find new ones and I saw we were passing near a Bass Pro shop in Jackson MS. I also know that Bass Pro shops allow free overnight parking. It seemed like a bright idea to head there for planned shopping and a “free” overnight stop. It worked out fine, but they did not have the boot I wanted in the size I need. When we came out of the store the lot was mobbed. Across the street is a baseball stadium and Mississippi State and University of Mississippi (Miss v Ole Miss) were playing the Governors Cup. With the score Ole Miss 8 to 1 in the 7th the crowd began to break up and by 9:30 we were able to move to the edge of the lot and set up for the night.

The next morning we got up before the store opened and moved out relatively early for a three hour run to Selma, AL. I called ahead to find out if there was parking for us nearby at the National Voters Rights Museum and Institute just down the street from the Edmund Pettus Bridge which you might remember as the site of Bloody Sunday in 1965 – rather than my trying to write a history you can read about it at http://www.nvrm.org/ We found parking three doors down in front of the Masonic Temple. After spending enough time to absorb the story and some of the material we moved on to Montgomery, driving over the Edmund Pettus Bridge and following the root of march across US 80 to the steps of the Capitol there. Actually we checked into the Woods RV Park on the edge of Montgomery and used the car to go first to the Rosa Parks Museum. We arrived with only an hour left to closing, but were able to take in the multimedia exhibit and most of the rest of the presentation. There is a Montgomery City Bus and the story of Rosa Parks’ quiet rebellion is played out on the windows of the bus while we stand in front of the theater that was the bus stop where it happened. This was very powerful, maybe one of the strongest presentations of all the museums and memorials we have seen.

One is inclined to say “dayenu” (Hebrew for “it would be sufficient”-the translation loses something). We drove from there toward the Capitol building, another obsession of ours and also the destination of the March from Selma. I did not realize that the church that Martin Luther King Jr was pastor of at that time was the closest private property within a block of the capitol. After we walked all over the capitol grounds we walked back to the church because our car was parked there. We saw a gentleman outside the church clearly waiting for something and he greeted us with the standard question we get when someone sees our NY plates out of context, “where you folks from?” with this for a conversation starter we figured out he was the current pastor of the church, the only other car parked on the street was in the pastor’s parking spot. He invited us in for a tour of the church and a bit of explanation of its history.

Now we decided to have dinner in town. Throwing a dart at the restaurant guide we came of with Nancy Paterson’s Bistro. When we arrived at the specified address there was no such restaurant. Not to be denied Carol called and determined that they could satisfy her vegetarian needs and got driving directions. They were wrong and we chased all over town. Three calls later – believing that this restaurant had become the holy grail – we arrived there. It was worth all the chasing around, it is a superb bistro and the people are very nice. I would not hesitate to send anyone there with the expectation they would have a fine (not inexpensive) meal. They also make a fine martini.

Up early the next morning we rolled out for another 300+ mile day. This brought us through Atlanta, right through on I 85, and eventually up to the Cherokee, NC area where we stayed at Fort Wilderness CG, terrible entrance road and WiFi didn’t work. Up again early and onto the Blue Ridge Parkway for a log slow haul to Tapps RV in Asheville. We will stay here again when we are in the area. Great location near the BRP and town, good WiFi and slow laundry. Nice people both staff and fellow Rvers.

I see that the pictures I want to include are still not processed, I’ll update this and repost when I have the pictures on line.