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Noel’s US and Canada Adventure
It is Saturday evening; 29th of December 2007 in Lady Lake Florida; about 60 km north of Orlando, the home of Walt Disney World.
I was fortunate to have a friend take me to Brisbane Airport at an ungodly time on Thursday morning; the 27th, for my itinerary listed 6.30 am departure. Thank you so much Sandra. No problems; except realised that I had left my winter jacket over a lounge chair about half way there!! I was not meant that I take it with me.
QANTAS Club check in with no queue and was asked what address was I staying at when I arrived in the US!! This info had to go on the Airline computer before a seat could be allocated; and my international flight was from Sydney. So it was opening up my laptop then and there to get Bill Oven’s address in Lady Lake. Incredible how long it takes for a laptop to boot when everyone is waiting! I had only supposed I would need his phone number which was on my phone!
Up to Club Lounge for breakfast and found on examination of my boarding pass, my flight was due to depart Brisbane for Sydney at 8.30am. not 6.30am as per my Flight Centre itinerary!! To the Customer Service desk in the Club Lounge and they informed me that they had put the 8.30 flight number against the 6.30 dep. Time. This would give me 40 minutes in Sydney to change terminals!! They hastily arranged for me to get on the early flight as I had planned!
The 6.30 eventually left just after 7 with all passengers from a cancelled 7 am flight! The large 767 was chock a block!! Into Sydney and buy a Driza Bone ¾ jacket in Duty Free as well as the compulsory booze!
The regular Sydney International QANTAS Club was closed due to works in progress and the Business Lounge was fuller than a state school, but a point to charge my mobile phone was found as it had been running flat out all morning and did not want to arrive in the US with a flat battery!
WE left on time for Los Angeles and the check in Lady at Brisbane had commented that my seat arrangement would be good. She was right, my seat backed onto a galley, so that no one was kicking me in the back for 13 hours and I had an aisle seat with the only vacant seat on the whole 747 beside me so that I could relax diagonally!! Perfect flight and about 100,000 people were trying to get through US immigration when we arrived! Finally got thru all the formalities with no problems.
Out into the US world, and was very glad to have my new Driza Bone. 6 degree morning in LA! I had hoped to get a standby fare to Orlando on my arrival. I was lucky to even get a full fare seat!! Every one was either going to Florida on holiday or returning to work and home there after the Xmas break!! It is nearly 4000 km and a 5 hour flight. The only flight I could get went to Miami and a transfer onto another flight to Orlando. Best part was it was with American Airlines who are One World partners with QANTAS giving me full Club lounge facilities to relax, eat, drink, relax in a very comfy chair and internet check!! All was going well until about 2 hours into the flight on the American Airlines 777 when a request for “any Doctor” on board. 15 minutes later as we were over New Orleans that I noticed the flight progress GPS screen showed we had done a 180 deg turn. Captain came on a few minutes later to tell us we were going back to Houston to drop our medical emergency off. Subsequently we landed there and Paramedics met the aircraft at the edge of the parking bays on the tarmac and we were refueled and 50 minutes later resumed the trip to Miami. My connection had taken off just as we had landed in Houston!!!
Arrived in Miami at 11pm and the Terminal was quite deserted except for the American Airlines Service counter who were great. Showed the boarding pass for the missed flight and a Voucher for an overnight at the Miami Airport Marriott, one for supper and one towards a breakfast. The Marriott bus was waiting and in 15 minutes I was in a very comfortable room and back down to a bar to have a welcome supper. I elected to take a midday flight next day and had a good sleep-in and had breakfast of “Heuvos Rancheros” which is something with fried eggs on refried beans and peppers and tomatoes. Great!! The shuttle had me back at American Airlines and The Admirals Lounge was an ideal spot to wait for my midday flight. I had spoken to Bill in Orlando and their daughter was traveling back to New York at 4pm, so a meeting spot was arranged at Orlando airport. Orlando is a very modern and well laid out airport on a par with Changi in Singapore, not quite as large, but with a lot of interesting places to window shop.
Bill and Jill arrived on the arranged time and at the place; 32 years had elapsed, but we had not changed much!! A 40 minute trip north west took us into a rural area and then into a very impressive gated Community called Harbour Hills. Many of the homes; as theirs is, front the lake and their boats are in boat houses over the water and winched up vertically into the boathouse clear of the water. The boat houses also have decking, giving an over the water entertainment area. Safely clear of the alligators!!! No swimming here. Every house has swimming pools and hot tubs!!
Today was spent shopping for GPS navigator and a local phone number for my spare mobile phone.
To call me or send a TXT message, use +1 352 391 2783. my email is as normal or the Gmail as on this email.
Tomorrow will be a trip to Ocala to have a look at a motorhome sales lot and on Monday I will rent a car to start my search in earnest. I will have one by the 4th January and the adventure will begin!!
Noel’s US and Canada Adventure
It is Saturday evening; 29th of December 2007 in Lady Lake Florida; about 60 km north of Orlando, the home of Walt Disney World.
I was fortunate to have a friend take me to Brisbane Airport at an ungodly time on Thursday morning; the 27th, for my itinerary listed 6.30 am departure. Thank you so much Sandra. No problems; except realised that I had left my winter jacket over a lounge chair about half way there!! I was not meant that I take it with me.
QANTAS Club check in with no queue and was asked what address was I staying at when I arrived in the US!! This info had to go on the Airline computer before a seat could be allocated; and my international flight was from Sydney. So it was opening up my laptop then and there to get Bill Oven’s address in Lady Lake. Incredible how long it takes for a laptop to boot when everyone is waiting! I had only supposed I would need his phone number which was on my phone!
Up to Club Lounge for breakfast and found on examination of my boarding pass, my flight was due to depart Brisbane for Sydney at 8.30am. not 6.30am as per my Flight Centre itinerary!! To the Customer Service desk in the Club Lounge and they informed me that they had put the 8.30 flight number against the 6.30 dep. Time. This would give me 40 minutes in Sydney to change terminals!! They hastily arranged for me to get on the early flight as I had planned!
The 6.30 eventually left just after 7 with all passengers from a cancelled 7 am flight! The large 767 was chock a block!! Into Sydney and buy a Driza Bone ¾ jacket in Duty Free as well as the compulsory booze!
The regular Sydney International QANTAS Club was closed due to works in progress and the Business Lounge was fuller than a state school, but a point to charge my mobile phone was found as it had been running flat out all morning and did not want to arrive in the US with a flat battery!
WE left on time for Los Angeles and the check in Lady at Brisbane had commented that my seat arrangement would be good. She was right, my seat backed onto a galley, so that no one was kicking me in the back for 13 hours and I had an aisle seat with the only vacant seat on the whole 747 beside me so that I could relax diagonally!! Perfect flight and about 100,000 people were trying to get through US immigration when we arrived! Finally got thru all the formalities with no problems.
Out into the US world, and was very glad to have my new Driza Bone. 6 degree morning in LA! I had hoped to get a standby fare to Orlando on my arrival. I was lucky to even get a full fare seat!! Every one was either going to Florida on holiday or returning to work and home there after the Xmas break!! It is nearly 4000 km and a 5 hour flight. The only flight I could get went to Miami and a transfer onto another flight to Orlando. Best part was it was with American Airlines who are One World partners with QANTAS giving me full Club lounge facilities to relax, eat, drink, relax in a very comfy chair and internet check!! All was going well until about 2 hours into the flight on the American Airlines 777 when a request for “any Doctor” on board. 15 minutes later as we were over New Orleans that I noticed the flight progress GPS screen showed we had done a 180 deg turn. Captain came on a few minutes later to tell us we were going back to Houston to drop our medical emergency off. Subsequently we landed there and Paramedics met the aircraft at the edge of the parking bays on the tarmac and we were refueled and 50 minutes later resumed the trip to Miami. My connection had taken off just as we had landed in Houston!!!
Arrived in Miami at 11pm and the Terminal was quite deserted except for the American Airlines Service counter who were great. Showed the boarding pass for the missed flight and a Voucher for an overnight at the Miami Airport Marriott, one for supper and one towards a breakfast. The Marriott bus was waiting and in 15 minutes I was in a very comfortable room and back down to a bar to have a welcome supper. I elected to take a midday flight next day and had a good sleep-in and had breakfast of “Heuvos Rancheros” which is something with fried eggs on refried beans and peppers and tomatoes. Great!! The shuttle had me back at American Airlines and The Admirals Lounge was an ideal spot to wait for my midday flight. I had spoken to Bill in Orlando and their daughter was traveling back to New York at 4pm, so a meeting spot was arranged at Orlando airport. Orlando is a very modern and well laid out airport on a par with Changi in Singapore, not quite as large, but with a lot of interesting places to window shop.
Bill and Jill arrived on the arranged time and at the place; 32 years had elapsed, but we had not changed much!! A 40 minute trip north west took us into a rural area and then into a very impressive gated Community called Harbour Hills. Many of the homes; as theirs is, front the lake and their boats are in boat houses over the water and winched up vertically into the boathouse clear of the water. The boat houses also have decking, giving an over the water entertainment area. Safely clear of the alligators!!! No swimming here. Every house has swimming pools and hot tubs!!
Today was spent shopping for GPS navigator and a local phone number for my spare mobile phone.
To call me or send a TXT message, use +1 352 391 2783. my email is as normal or the Gmail as on this email.
Tomorrow will be a trip to Ocala to have a look at a motorhome sales lot and on Monday I will rent a car to start my search in earnest. I will have one by the 4th January and the adventure will begin!!
Best wishes for a Happy New Year.
Orlando through to Del Ray Beach Florida
This was also the location of a super Wal-Mart. So clothes hangers and groceries were purchased; Box Chardonay is classed as groceries!!! Would you believe I forgot to get butter!! $122 later and a trolley full, it was off to stack it all in Roncinante; or as Sandy has christened her, Ronnie. If you do not know who Rocinante is look it up on Google.
It was nearly dark and time to test my WiFi sniffer newly purchased from Radio Shack aka Tandy!! It was a learning curve and about 4 false starts and I found a very nice and secure place to park in a Good Year Tyre outlet beside the Tropicana Motel. Which has a very powerful and free wireless internet access. So I parked there for the night. Used the inbuilt hydraulic jacks under Ronnie that level the vehicle at the press of a couple of buttons!! Never to spill a beer again. So attended to my emails and Skype.
Woke very early and was on Interstate 95 south after a nice breakfast by 6am. A comfortable drive down to Delray Beach where Gary Tripp and wife Carol are spending the winter away from chilly Michigan; where I first met Gary in 1975 on my way north from Kokomo Indiana after going to the Indy. We had kept in touch for many years, but it was rekindled in 2000 when Gary found me on the internet and this was a welcome reunion with some marvellous folks. A lovely lunch on the beachfront at Delray Beach of Seafood Gumbo, very good company and a beer.
Some sightseeing and Gary and I hit the Home Depot hardware to get necessary tools, tool box and wiring to get my CPAP “pump” operable on 12 volts in my bedroom.
We went to a pizza buffet for dinner and after I put coffee on in Ronnie, we bid each other farewell again. Gary, the pocket knife will be treasured! I was securely parked in a large shopping centre parking lot beside a busy McDonalds. I slept like a baby. A little chardy before bed does the trick.
On the road before 8am and I95 was very busy southwards towards Miami with commuters. So pulled off at Fort Lauderdale and found a WiFi spot and did a few emails and sorted some photos.
Back on I95 midmorning and aiming for the strip at Miami. Once on the strip there is absolutely nowhere to park a car, let alone 10M RV. If you are not a resident!! But VERY narrow road lanes in a very old vacation spot. Drove the 30km of Strip and then found a nice park on the harbour to reheat my chicken for lunch. A bit of research, and it was on to Bill Baggs State Park, the location of the Florida Point Lighthouse; one more lighthouse ticked off the list!!. It is located on Key Biscayne, best look up your atlas, just south of Miami. I am parked on the very point as I write with the house air-con running. It is 28deg here this afternoon. But to encourage literary brilliance, one must have air-conditioned comfort!!~!
I will head towards Naples this afternoon and Marlena and Toby. Will most likely only go about 30 kays and find a good spot to park.
Best regards to everyone from Florida.
Everglades and Naples
When I left Key Biscayne, I was heading for Kendall Airport; there was supposed to be a museum called Wings Over Miami. But it no longer exists and as it was now dark, I had better find a place to park. Preferably if it has stray WiFi !!! I found a spot in Dade County Shopping centre. Had dinner, an odd little G and T and sorted out a few days of emails.However I was "hunted" out about 11pm and off to the nearest Wal-Mart!!!
Next morning it was an early breakfast and of to the Tamiami Trail; also called I75, to cross Florida from east to west across the Everglades. My destination was the coastal city of Naples. The home port of the brave little yacht called "Rum and Tonic". The equally brave crew of Marlena Brachenbusch and Tobi Casterlerin are now resident aboard her, at a lovely live on berth in Cove Inn at the Port of Naples.
Many of you already know the Rum and Tonic crew from when they were at Monty's Marina near Beachmere in 1990!! Most of you will be aware of Tobi being a little clumsy on St Patrick’s Day that year and ended up being a resident with Marlena at 70 Coronation while he recuperated from his little fall.
I can assure you that a full recovery has been achieved and a full bottle of rum is in serious danger anywhere in his presence. It was a great reunion to have actually on their home turf. They came to visit Beachmere in Nov '06. So it was great to be at their home port and see Rum and Tonic again.
A very special Polo Shirt returned to its source.
Three days spent in Naples included a very special Sunset Cruise on Rum and Tonic on the Gulf of Mexico.
Many small jobs were done to Rocinante to make it just right. A 12 volt LCD TV was fitted to the bedroom wall to give me TV without running the generator. A very nice bicycle was bought from Wal-Mart for an extremely low price; $74!!!! The pantry was fully stocked.
I stayed on board for the 3 days I was in Naples and Rocinante lived in Wal-Marts parking lot.
On the 11th of January, I left Naples for the Florida Keys. Back across Florida on I75. Halfway across the Tamiami Trail, is Joanie's Diner. The only cafe in the Everglades!
A great pork lunch; continuing further down I75 until I arrived at the town that is home to the Indian Muccosukee Tribe. They operate a group of Airboats on the Everglades. I took a trip on one and was amazed by the speed which you travel over the totally overgrown swamps. The one I was on was able to carry 20 people, but there were only 4 on board including the “pilot”. It was powered by a 300HP Ford V8. We went about 3 Km into the swamp and there was a higher ; slightly, bit of land and a series of wooden walkways; and of course a gift shop of sorts staffed by a couple of Indian women making touristy stuff. The main lines they were selling were maybe sourced in Mexico or China!! But it was impressive. There were alligators right beside the wharf. WE saw many alligators on the way out there and back. It was an exciting trip with many highlights stopped for in the wilderness area we traveled through. To point out birds nests and alligator hides, complete with large ’gators!! Soon back to the dock beside I75. It was so good I even tipped the skipper!!!
Onwards the Florida Turnpike and I 1 towards the Keys. Via the secondary road Card Sound Causeway and the long drive down the spectacular Florida Keys started. About 100 km down and it was time to find an overnight. Key Largo has a great RV park called Kings Kamp.
So this was to be my first orthodox overnight. Opportunity to connect to 110 volts power, refill the 68 gallon fresh water and to learn how to connect up the very critical hose connections that allow the "dumping" of the black water and then the grey water. Sounds very simple. BUT draining 40 gallons of what is politely called black water is easier said than done. One mistake and you are literally in the sh*t!!!!
But luck was on my side and I survived without having to take a shower under the hose beside my lovely RV affectionately called "Ronnie". RV stands for recreational vehicle; we normally call them Motorhomes in OZ!!!!
An overnight stay at an RV park on the Keys is not a cheap past-time; the location is a highly desirable destination for many people from the cold northern states during winter here. So and overnite is from Oz $85 and up depending on location in Park!!! So you only use these locations when "support services" are required!!
It does not matter if the camp site is on a slope, because "Ronnie" has an automatic hydraulic leveling set of 4 long stroke jacks. Also used to jack RV if a tyre needs to be changed. All done from a tiny control panel on dashboard. The RV is fitted with 6 brand new 19 inch Michelin tyres and a new spare fitted on rim in one of the thru bins underneath.
A relaxed departure next morning from Key Largo and I was south western bound again. Thru very picturesque marathon and onwards down the Overseas Highway.
It is a wonderful experience to be on a good highway with the Atlantic Ocean on one side of the Road and the Blue Gulf of Mexico on the other side of a very small strip of land!! Sometimes just a causeway and sometimes a real bridge under which large vessels can pass.
But I only got about and the 100Km when I stumbled on the Whale Channel. I found a wonderful spot beside the highway almost under a bridge looking over the Channel. The fact that it was next to a very laid back Bar and broadband free internet is of no consequence!! It was a good place to get the bicycle out and explore north and south from there. A very big American football match was broadcast on TV that night and the bar was really rocking. I also experienced the local food. The south has some very "quaint" food. All very edible and sometimes a little hot. But the seafood is magnificent!!
It was a lazy departure next morning from my very nice overnight spot. No interference from officialdom. So planned to overnight here on my way back to the mainland.Down the Overseas Highway which includes the 7 mile bridge between Knight Key and Bahia Honda Key, A spectacular sight and experience to traverse.
Very soon I was in Key West with it’s very narrow streets and spectacularly renovated old homes and buildings. The narrow streets are not totally receptive to a 10M long 8 tonne white missile!!! With an operator who is a whole lot more comfortable driving on a different side of the vehicle AND the road!!
Found a nice spot to park and have lunch behind a group of professional offices. It was Sunday; perfect. Was even tempted to overnite there!! But headed back to Boyd’s Campground on the adjoining key and forked out US$105 for a nite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hopped on my bike and ride the 8 kays into Key West old town and had a ball in the old centre. Took many photos of the old town at night. Without heaps of tourists messing up the photos. Back to RV camp by Midnite on a bike without a light. Must do something about that. Plenty of bike paths, but a little “dull” at 11pm!!!
Up early and into Key West again by bike around the southern coastal road and a photo fest. The most southern spot in the US is here!! Took my own photo of me standing by the marker!!!
Three cruise ships in town had me soon back on my bike and back to the RV park by midday and a swim in the heated pool and was thrown out at 1.30pm because checkout was 11am!!@!!
On the road again by 2pm and my next blog will continue from there
Key West to Cape Canaveral
The travels continue from the mile marker (MM) 10; US jargon for distances from Key West northbound. It was at Shark Key Boat ramp that I spent most of the day watching the antics of fishermen as they returned from their day on the Atlantic. Quite different boats to which we are used. Wide beam, flattish bottom with a couple of 200 4 strokers pushing 18 ft thru the sound barrier! A lot of my latest Bryce Courtney book was read that day.
On the road at sunset and headed for MM 85 to my previous good spot beside Smugglers Cove Bar!! It was a lovely night spent beside the channel on Plantation Key.
Early start next morning and heading for Melbourne Florida; 258 miles! Make contact with local folks via the internet and by a massive coincidence I was in a Doctors carpark in Palm Bay stealing WiFi; when I sent an email to my next email contact at Melbourne. Some 30 Km to the north, and my mobile rang no more than 30 seconds after I sent the email. It transpired that the person whom I was asking local hints etc from, had put another town as home address in interests of security and lived just 250 M from where I was parked. Rose came and helped me settle in Walmart parking lot and did some local book shopping at Barnes and Noble. Free camp-sites in the US is a book worth its weight in gold.
An easy morning next day and a visit to Wal-Mart; and a big fright when I could not find Ronnie’s Keys!! For some 2 hours!! In my back pocket under my wallet!!!
I headed north to Jetty Park, where I spent a very relaxed afternoon watching the busy port activities just 50 M from my windscreen. Another relaxed arvo!! Back to Palm Bay Wal-Mart and was treated to dinner at Rose’s.
Next morning it was very early to Kennedy Space Centre and I was there when the gates opened. Winter is a slow tourist time for them, thank goodness. They ferry you all over the base in a fleet of 50 seater coaches. I counted over 40 parked in lot at the strart of the day!! I elected to take the best tour and we ended up only 800M from The Space Shuttle that is due to launch on the 7th of February. It was a great day and the pinnacle was a ride called the “Shuttle Experience” Google it, it is 10 times better than it can be described!!! The whole of Merrits Island is a wildlife reserve, We most likely saw about 10 alligators in the gutters beside the roads that we traveled all over the Space Centre. We even went to the airstrip that Shuttle returns to. There have been more than 120 missions.
I wanted to go back to the Ovens next day; at Lady Lake, to collect my Insurance papers for Ronnie. Very important to have on board. So stayed at a car park behind a strip of shops, perfect location, right next to a Chinese restaurant!! I ordered a couple of small serves of this and that. Warning; a small US serve is enough for two normal eaters. I got 4 meals out of the one order. It was marvellous. Good to have a freezer on board!
Trip to Lady Lake thru some very plain country from Merrits Island where KSC is located. Cape Canaveral is part of that island. Arrived before lunch and was good to see Bill and Jill again. Organised package for Bill to forward my license plate to me when it arrives in his post box!!
Back to Palm Bay with a promise from Rose to take me to Daytona International Motor Speedway on the Saturday. It was about 160 km to north and at 75MPH on I95 in her Lexus, the trip was a breeze!! I had expected to just see the outside of the circuit. How wrong could I be. It has many organised tours and attractions. And I must add it was fantastic value. We took the full tour; at Seniors’ rate!!! Which included the infield and being able to take a photo of yourself?? On the Dias on Victory Row.
The bonus was that 8 NASCAR teams were wanting to practice!! The jet engine track dryer had been doing slow circuits and an announcement to the whole speedway was that practice was allowed. The cars were all in plain colour, I have been going to motor races for ever. What I was not prepared for was the noise of a NASCAR vehicle at 205 MPH passing you while you are at trackside ; behind the barrier as it passes just 1.8M away!!!! Only me and my Laundry person will know how much of a surprise I got!
The 3D film was a big plus and the myriad active displays you could participate in. A great day and the Flea Market trip was delayed for an hour or so to see everything. Thank you Rose.
The flea markets are fairly common in many locations here. What is the surprise, is the enormity of them, over 400 stalls permanently set up for Fri thru Sun operation. Great fresh produce as well as everything else!! I notice a baby pusher with a net over the front, I had not noticed any flies or mossies, what I then noticed was that the pet monkey was in there!! It was a pet stroller. 20 minutes later in the markets, was another and they had a bloody skunk in it!!! Now I have seen most everything.
It was back southwards to Palm Bay via the Cabbagepatch Bar. See http://www.cabbagepatchbar.com/
I will let the site do the talking. On to Omar and Marcia’s place on 5 acres on a lake on the way back to Palm Bay. Friends of Rose. Was given a great stock of lemons and oranges for my onwards travel Thanks. Omar is an Electricity linesman, great people, resisted offer to stay for dinner, alcoholic overdose was a prediction!! Back to a nice meal in Palm bay and Walmart to Ronnie. Next day will be recorded in stone somewhere. I was asked if I wished to attend a New Age Church. It was in West Melbourne and situated on 30 acres of prime land. About 40 people in safety vests were assisting the vehicles to park!! The auditorium seated 2500 on the main floor and about another 1200 in the balcony areas, It had a full TV production facility running the whole time.. Pastor Mark preached on the worth of donating 10%,(before tax) to the church to guarantee that you would not be delivered to the flames of hell!!
It had a creche that looked after 300+ kids!! No kids in “service”. There was a marvellous band and some great young voices. Plasma screens of enormous size everywhere and it was full downstairs and 1/3 up top!! Great show….
Back to Ronnie and it was back onto I95 for St Augustine. This city is the oldest continually inhabited town in the US. About 1565 some Spaniard arrived with all his building material and built the first Fort. Everyone had a “shot” literally at relieving various tenants of the fort, including Sir Francis Drake. The town has a colourful and sensational history and I found a good camp spot on Sunday night to start my tour from next morning.
Relocated Ronnie onto the peninsular where the old town is. Parked inconspicuously and headed off by bike. A full day’s activity doing the tourist thing was very enjoyable; It was last light by the time I returned to Ronnie still safe and sound and undisturbed. So called this spot my overnight camp site!!
Early start to commence my tour westward. With New Orleans by the 26th to meet my co traveler and Navigator, who is due to arrive from Brisbane on that day. Liz; who I have met socially a couple of times, professes to be a good navigator and map reader!! She is a seasoned OS traveler and I am looking forward to a travel companion that has more conversation than my white plastic electronic dog; Beepa!!
Traveled westward thru some very pleasing scenery. Many dairy farms with their Friesian cattle. Just near Green Cove Springs; on the eastern shore of Johns River and was parked beside the road at the side of a massive bridge to take photos. A truck pulled up and half a dozen safety vested blokes jumped out and started cleaning rubbish bins and cleaning up all around. Then the “supervisor” came around the corner of Ronnie and Jail Officer Craig watched their progress. They were State Prisoners. About 30 gangs operated from the Facility which they called home. Apparently it is a sought after work detail.
Further on I saw signs for Fort Blanding, the home of the Florida Army National Guard. It has a good outdoor museum collection and in interesting small museum. A pleasant stop. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/camp-blanding.htm
I arrived at a tiny town called Mayo in late afternoon. I was parked in an industrial parking lot doing my email and a white sedan pulled up; and the shortish fellow who approached me, was not a law officer, so all was ok!! Ira Mikell was the features reporter from the Mayo Free Press and about ¾ of an hour later he had his story and photos!! He commented that RV’s never stopped when going through Mayo. I can understand why. I spent an interesting hour cycling around town. Only the petrol prices told me it was 2008 not 1968!!
Laundry opened at 7am next morning and with clean clothes, on towards Panama City Beach.
This is just like Surfers Paradise; without the surf. It is on the very shallow Gulf of Mexico. But it was “closed”. A summer location, here I was in the middle of the seafood basket of southern US and I could not find a Seafood restaurant on the main drag. Waffle’s and Maccas only!!! So it was chicken pieces from Wal-Mart and back to my seaside camp site on an empty building lot on the main drag!
Next morning an early start and off to Pensacola.
The US Marines Navel Air Museum is located here. It also is the site of a massive Marine Cemetery. I passed this on the way to the Museum on Base. This museum is claimed by many to be the best Aviation Museum in the world!!! It has over 180 aircraft inside the massive building and its side annexes. Only the 1910 Curtis Aircraft in the foyer is a replica. All the others are the genuine thing. It is a purpose built building without any add-ons!! In one room there are 4 Blue angel Aircraft in tight formation hanging from a portion of the ceiling that is also used as a function centre / banquet room.
I had arrived here at about 10 am and a marvellous veteran of 37 Marine flying service gave about 20 of us a 2½ hour tour of the facility. His service since 1954 when he got his wings was truly fascinating. At 95kg and 6’ 4” tall and looking 15 years younger than his years, he was an impressive guide, thank you Dick. Your stories were great to hear.
It was on the road late-ish and traveled through Alabama and I made it to Gautier Mississippi where a nice lot beside the Best Western Hotel summoned me!! Very cool evening, but the inside of Ronnie is well heated and comfy.
I was keen to see what Cyclone Katrina did to the region. I was not prepared to find that for 30 miles west of Biloxi, every home from the boulevard; State highway 90 , back some 200 metres was demolished. The first line of house had the eastern bound road pavement; which was right on the beach, dumped either on the home or in the front yard!! This was the same story right thru to Westport. Traveling through a section of swamp country and perhaps a dozen fiberglass boats were spotted through the bush and reeds. Goodness knows where they came from!!
On to New Orleans where I had booked 3 nights in the Bayou Segnette State Park. It has about 60 RV sites with power and water to every site for $18 per night with wireless internet to your laptop and free laundry. Superb setup. It was 2pm when I arrived, so it was time to use their “dump” facilities to get rid of my black and grey water. I did a full service on the black water tank having high pressure water available. All the housework done, it was on to Site 23. A small shopping list and with a shopping centre just 3 km away, it was on my bike with beanie to keep ears warm, 7 degrees!! And my Driza bone and backpack!! Alls well and get my groceries and staples! And on coming out of store, rain is falling quite heavily. On my way, well buttoned up and I pulled my awning down when I arrived home at Ronnie. I knew I should have practiced this maneuver in the dry. But it worked very well and I was able to keep all the wet parts outside and a slightly damp me in!!! It has rained most of the night and many of the Mardi Gras processions scheduled for Friday evening in downtown were postponed. There are 6 processions that will go ahead today. I hope to se the 2 processions scheduled for 12pm and 1:30 pm tomorrow along Canal Street.
It is a slightly grey morning as I write this up. Liz has Txted that she is in LA awaiting the Delta flight to Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans.
New Orleans , Mardi Gras and onwards to Anniston Alabama
On Australia Day, it was off to Louis Armstrong International Airport late that afternoon to meet Liz when she arrived on Delta 866 out of LA. She was able to recognise me, because I was the only person waving a 1.6M Australian flag on a pole!! It was to baggage and all collected and she was introduced to her home for the next 4 weeks. It has spacious accommodation and was well accepted.
Back to the site at Bayou Segnette and an early evening. Liz managed to surface after a mixed nights rest courtesy of jetlag and by 11am we were in the Algiers District of New Orleans on the way to the Ferry to take us into New Orleans. We were about 4 Km from the parking area for the ferry and noticed a Mardi Gras procession getting ready to “roll”. So we parked on a convenience shop verge; as you do with a 10m long 7 tonne vehicle and with Oz flag we parked ourselves on a corner to watch the parade go to its parade route. What we did not bargain for was all the goodies that were thrown out to us. This is what the floats do, we ended up with kilos of strings of beads and soft toys and plastic medallions and stuff!!
We then found a park space at the ferry and went across the Mississippi and to Canal Street and the city was being barricaded off for the 2 parades that were due to start in a couple of hours. They were late; but the crowds were large and thronged the length of the route thru the city centre.. Two parades came into Canal Street and it was marvellous, colour, pizzazz, music and the themes of the floats were very family oriented. Many school marching bands were interspersed with the floats. Great spectacle and lots more goodies!!
Back to Rocinante and then back to Bayou for a very restful evening. Liz was much better rested after her second evening in The Ronnie Hilton. It was checkout at 11am and after a visit to the Camp site “dump” site to do some housekeeping and we were on our way into Algiers again. We parked outside a small apartment duplex near the ferry and a helpful resident helped up park up on their verge. He worked at a bar called the Kangaroo café in the Warehouse district and we promised to visit after our day’s activity. We caught the Natchez Paddle Steamer for a 2 hour trip down the Mississippi for about 12 Km and back. A very Creole lunch was enjoyed on board.
It gives another aspect to the City of New Orleans.
Back to the city and we explored The French Quarter and very little Jazz music was in evidence! A trolley ride to city park on the 100+ year old trams was taken and we arrived back in the city centre at about 8pm and headed for the Kangaroo café. Jambalaya was on the menu there and was a delight. We were feted as the only Australians there and left with barely enough time to catch the last ferry across the river to where Ronnie was parked!!! It was relying on Tom Tom the navigator to get us to the suburban Hanrahan’s Wal-mart!! Over the new bridge crossing the river near the CBD was much better than the fearsome previous 3 trips over the old Huey P Long Bridge with the railway taking up 2 tracks in the middle and 2 VERY narrow road lanes hanging from each side of the rail tracks!! No one can pass an RV or semi if they are crossing; very narrow!! Next morning it was northwards. The new Ponchartrain expressway is a very good roadway and well worth the $1 toll!!!! An early start from the Wal-mart and it was straight over Lake Ponchatrain. A 35km elevated causeway dead straight across the lake on our way to Alabama.
Why to Alabama; not exactly the tourist mecca of the US!!! In 1975 when Gillian and I did the US by Greyhound for 2 months, I visited an old ham radio mate; Ed McCall, who I had spoken to scores of times over the previous 2 or 3 years. After a very interesting visit to Anniston over 2 or 3 days; he made an unexpected act of generosity when he gave me one of only a couple of existing copies, of an 1887 6” X 5” Souvenir Folder that had a 14 page fold out featuring lithographs of the proposed City of Anniston buildings. I have cherished and shown it to everyone that has ever been at home!!! When I was contemplating my trip to the US, I put this small treasure out to bring back with me. I contacted the Anniston City Council and only when I attached a couple of photos, did the alarm bells start ringing!!! About 30 minutes after I sent an email with the photos, I received a phone call and was most surprised to hear that the caller was the Mayor of Anniston!!! Chip Howell was very welcoming! Anniston has no RV park; that was no problem, as he rang back about an hour later and we were told that Rocinante was able to overnite for a few nights in the City car park adjacent to the City Library!!!! We drove through Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to arrive very late afternoon. The Mayor had told me that he would knock on our door about 8.45 next morning and would arrange for the City to receive the Prospectus. Precisely, he arrived at Ronnie; complete with Oz flag in its pole holder on the front, photos were taken there and he announced that a small reception was arranged in the prestigious Alabama Room of the Anniston Library. Bonnie Seymour; the Library Director and Tom Mullins, the Curator of the Alabama Room were there to greet us as well as the Councillor; Stan, from central Anniston. After many photos and such the prospectus was displayed and oohed and ahhed over and then the Mayor pulled a surprise move and I was given the Key to The City of Anniston!!! I was floored. Not speechless, but floored none the less. We were then directed to some city highlights that we should see and the Berman Museum; look up Google!!! And the Anniston Natural History museum are more appropriate to cities of 1 million people, not a city of 50,000 and county of 100,000!! However incredibly large generous bequests of both complete collections and kind have enabled these institutions to emerge as world wide known centres.
Next day, it was up to Cheaha National Park via the Skyline Road. Ed McCall took us up to this very same destination 33 years ago. It is the highest point in Alabama at 2450 feet and a marvellous restaurant on the ridge with perfect views. The day of the presentation, I had enquired about where my old mate was interred. The information of course was held by the Alabama Room and it transpired that his daughter still lived in Anniston. I had rung her and explained my presence in town and was invited for a visit late the next afternoon. Alice and her husband Fred showed us marvellous hospitality and we were able to exchange anecdotes and to discuss her dad’s amateur radio activities. I managed to visit his grave at one of the Anniston’s Cemetery’s.
Next morning; in minus 4 degree outside air, it was good bye to Anniston with Key in hand! And headed for Memphis. Near Jasper in Mississippi, we found Natural Bridge not far from the State Highway. It is about a 30 M span over a large grotto. It was a bit cool as we walked into the grotto, only once under the arch did we notice the icicles everywhere! On the walk back along the valley bottom on the sand path we noticed and photographed fresh footprints in the sand , BEAR!!! But not fully grown!
We traveled as far as Holley Springs and overnighted at the picturesque Wall Doxey State Park that borders on a very large lake system. The weather was much more mild and by 10 am we were on Elvis Presley Boulevarde in Memphis and in line for a tour of Graceland and its grounds. Not my first visit; but much more of the property on display since the last visit in 1981. Very well done now and on a cool Sunday morning, no crowds. A lot of people there, but no congestion at all. Changed dramatically as we departed about 1pm when the crowds started.
Time to leave Tennessee for places south and west. Down the eastern side of the Mississippi On Highway One; which is the “Great River Road from Canada to the Gulf”, to Greenville was an eerie trip with drizzling rain and a foggy atmosphere over the endless paddocks of harvested cotton. These were once again partially flooded by the recent rains and as we traveled parallel to the river, the other side was impossible to see. Greenville by 6pm and yet another refuge in the Wal-mart parking lot!
Greenville Mississippi and on Westward.
Greenville dawned warm and bright. 52 F is a good start after 27F!!! A few kays out of town we had the opportunity to go to a State park right on the bank of the Mississippi; obviously only a ‘non flooding time” camp and picnic site. The Levee is nearly 8M high and the river is 8M below the flat land between there and the levee!! Two Pusher Tugs passed in the channel. Each was pushing 30 barges loaded with g goodness knows what, but coal was fairly obvious. Each barge can be 1000 tonnes. It is a spectacular river. Mark Twain thought so!
A couple of kays further on ( kays for my American mates is a slang term for kilometre, which is 6/10ths of a statute mile, a measurement that the rest of the world(( except UK)) uses!!!) Anyway, back to where I left off, the bridge(s) over the Mississippi to Arkansas are a spectacle as well. The old bridge to the north is still in use and is an engineering marvel of 70 or 80 years ago. The new one to the south of the existing is a work of ART!!!! It will be opened in about 3 months!!!
In Arkansas; said as ark-in-saw, the cotton and rice fields go forever, but not as far as they do in northern New South Wales. After a 100 odd kays in Arkansas, we headed south on I79 back to Louisiana. Shreveport with its Military Air Base and very modern CBD passed by and we were back in the rural areas again. As we went thru Arkansas and Louisiana, the little “plumbing” installations beside 6M tanks beside the road indicated we were in Oil Country. As we crossed thru into Texas, we have seen drilling rigs in operation as well as lots of little producing well heads!!
We arrived in Henderson Texas just after the bright red orb of the sun settled below the horizon. As I type this, the aroma of garlic in the bolognaise sauce being cooked on Ronnies kitchen is wafting thru the apartment on wheels. Smells good Liz!!
Greenville Mississippi to El Paso at the western side of Texas
A very leisurely departure from Greenville with the mercury at about 4 degrees C and we headed west on Highway 82 into Arkansas; Arkinsaw to the rest of us!! Cotton, rice and corn fields everywhere after we crossed that big brown river. The homes at the side of this minor highway showed a cross section of the community that never reaches us on the other side of the world. We traveled at a leisurely pace and headed south after we reached El Dorado in Arkansas and then down back south into Louisiana. We kept on Highway 79 and via Shreveport, we entered Texas and Henderson was our overnight stop. We had been trying for 2 days to buy replacement windscreen wiper blades for Ronnie and at last succeeded. Only by buying complete assemblies for goodness knows what and removing the rubber blades and fitting them to our truck style fittings with 100% success!!! About 1 hour before the rains started and we did not know until next morning; the worst tornadoes in that part of the US for over 25 years. 59 tornados to be exact!! We had wondered why the very strong wind gusts had rocked us during the night!! The morning TV news bought it all to reality!!! We had just left the devastated area a day before.
Texas revealed itself to our panoramic front windows mile after mile! We were heading to the Alamo!! We got as far as Seguin about 50 kays NE of San Antonio that day. We meander and look at whatever takes our fancy!!! No real program at all. Chardy time beckons by the time the sun is ready to hit the horizon!
A casual drive around Seguin next morning and Travelers World RV park in San Antonio was our prospective destination. Out little Tom Tom navigator was sure where it was taking us!!! But the neighborhood was a little less than expected. BUT the park was a jewel amongst a rather plain suburb. It had every convenience and was home to over 100 Motorhomers who were there for 3 to 4 months from the frozen northern states!!! We went and did the Spanish Missions and then into downtown San Antonio where the incredible Riverwalk reveals itself as it courses in a horseshoe shape for nearly a kilometer thru the CBD! It is about 7 metres below the street level of the CBD and has walkways on either side of it that are given to given to restaurant tables offering every cuisine. Mexican influence is supreme and Café Rio won our attention and was quite acceptable. We had taken a twilight river tour by one of the 40 nine metre long flat bottom boats that traverse the loop! Loop you may say, whenever has a horseshoe shape been a loop? Well in about 1924 the river flowed thru the loop and regularly flooded the shXt out of San Antonio! So they put a channel across the loop and installed floodgates isolating the horseshoe should the shXt hit the fan in the Away of a flood! Now it has turned the city into a spectacle. After you have spent 30 minutes seeing where Davy Crocket, Daniel Boone and Col. Travis were shot up in a quite terminal manner on the 6th of March 1834 with 186 of their mates at the wrecked and abandoned ex church structure that is called the Alamo! I think!! It is now rebuilt; several times into a form that resembles what we have seen in all the movies!! The bullet holes on the front wall are not reconstructed and 2000 troops commanded by the Mexican General Santa Anna completely annihilated all but one of the male occupants of the Alamo. However; 600+ Mexicans bought it on that chilly morning! The fireworks started at 4am and it was all over by 5.30!!
We intended going to the San Antonio Rodeo, but it was in a section of the city that was almost impossible to get “home” by public transport when it finished at 11pm, so we decided to head towards El Paso the next morning. The day was lovely; the news from the eastern states of a casualty count of 59 persons in the tornados was not good news. We diverted north of Interstate 90 for a short distance to Garner State Park in a very picturesque area of central Texas. It is in a glorious canyon with a lovely wide shallow river flowing through the middle. No campers there at the moment, but summer beckons and a couple of thousand to this lovely site for the whole of summer!! Much nicer now!!
Del Rio on the Rio Grande River was our next night and early next morning we ventured to the border to Mexico entrance at the bridge and safely parked Ronnie and went over the mile long bridge for an afternoon in Mexico!! An experience if not much else. Cuidad Acuna is not a tourist town; anymore, severe border restrictions have made it a pain in the ass for anyone to come back into the US. It took us 40 minutes and our documentation was perfect!! So much for 911 and the aftermath. But there are about 20 million illegal immigrants already in the US and public feeling is fairly high about it. So the controls are on. Even extending to checks of our passports at regular intervals along the Highway 90 which follows the border for us as we travel west.
A fairly cool!!! Evening in Del Rio was bought to our notice when our furnace ceased to provide living warmth in the early hours of the morning!! The LPG tank level monitor had been lying to us!! NO GAS!!! And about 3 degrees!!! Outside. The generator kept the little; and very effective, ceramic heater from allowing arctic conditions inside Ronnie. Saturday morning was not the best time to go searching for LPG; but luck was on our side and by 8.30 am 24 gallons of propane onboard and fridge and water heater were going again.
A must see stop was the small; (very), outpost of Langtry, which was made famous by the eccentricity of its resident Judge from 1895 thru to 1903; Judge Roy Bean!! A character perpetuated in a movie or so!! The perpetrator of Justice West of the Pecos River!! Google him for an amazing story. A wonderful Texas Travel information Centre has kept the legend bigger than ever and his buildings as they were then without any restoration!!
Arrived at El Paso on Sunday afternoon after an evening at the Apache Pines RV park in Marfa. Google Marfa Lights for another incredible story about strange and very frequently observed lights. They even have a very modern and well set up observation area on I 90 about 16 kays west of the town!! But the only thing that we saw that night was a rabbit running around the RV park; no little green men or such!! But next morning was minus 3 C!!! And the heaters were working.
A lovely drive along I 90 through some fairly poor country. But as we approached El Paso, ground water was more plentiful and also irrigation from the Rio Grande had many cotton farms for many miles. The Dual cities of El Paso in the US and Juarez in Mexico form a community of about 2 million clumped closely to one another on each side of the Rio Grande River. A trip up the cable car on the Franklin Mountains, virtually overlooking the city, gives an impressive view of Texas, Mexico and the state of New Mexico from the summit. Perfect winter clear weather with the temps in the early 20’s was a delight. The drive up to the cable car station was another thing!! El Paso is at about 4000 feet above sea level and the cable station is about 5000’. The snag is the road is only about 1.2km and rises 1000 feet!!! Low was selected and the V10 6.8 litre Ford pushed 7 tonnes of Ronnie to the cable station, and the cable way took us to about 5700 feet above sea level!
The drive back to the city centre via the Scenic Drive was marvellous. Maybe not so; for a few drivers, who found our 8 foot 6” width a bit of a surprise as they came around a few of the corners over the double lines!
The night scene from our prime position camp site in the Wal-mart car park beside I 10 about 8 kays to the east of town, is a fairyland. There is a 240 degree vista of lights below us reaching far into Mexico, across the CBD and the giant Texas Star in lights on the southernmost point of the Franklins is clearly visible!
Maybe on to New Mexico tomorrow. It will be a cool night this evening!
Juarez Mexico and west and upwards to Flagstaff Arizona.
Next morning was an early rise as the overnight spot was quite near to I-10 the main east-west interstate highway. About 4 semi-trailer trucks a minute 24/7!!! It was a Monday and the chance of getting a parking downtown El Paso and leaving Ronnie to walk over the bridge to Mexico was considered long odds. The $3 per day sites were empty!! So paid for 2 sites, and we left to go to the other country again. It is not much different to Acuna, but does have a vast market area about 1 kilometre inside the city. Quite interesting and the food is unique. I tried a full lunch and lived!! It was very good, but my tummy is fairly bulletproof!
A 30 minute wait in the queue at US Customs on our return was endured and apart from a query about what was in a flimsy plastic bag; a cowboy hat was completely evident!!, our return was uneventful.
A call from my motor home vendor requested a photocopy of my passport to complete the license registration transaction; an ongoing saga! The AAA; (RACQ equivalent and reciprocal benefit ) was most accommodating and made a copy and faxed it to where it had to go. It was then north to Las Cruces in New Mexico and we overnighted there.
The way west is on the main Interstate and a couple of stops at “Trading Posts” for souvenirs and lunch and coffee stops across an arid and very forgettable State. After passing into Arizona, the country became a little more interesting and there was even some agricultural activity. The turn off to Tombstone was beckoning and a place in the Wells Fargo RV park in the middle of the old town had a space, so it was park and connect to power and cable TV and investigate the streets where the old sheriffs and gunslingers walked.
However; the only activity was a brief bit of police siren and someone was carpeted for exceeding the 25mph local limit! There are 2 Cobb and Co style wagons with a pair of Clydesdales clopping around all day and the 2 main streets are pedestrians and neddy’s only! Next morning we went to the old music hall called The Bird Cage that was last operating in 1891 and was boarded up then. It was opened up in the 50’s and it alone had avoided the fires that have ravaged the rest of the town buildings over the last century. It was slightly away from the rest of the other buildings in the street The Bird Cage Theatre was the scene of 16 killings and a poker game that went without pause for 8 years!!! The inside is exactly as it was when closed in 1891!
Along state highway 82 towards Nogales on the border with Mexico. A lunch stop at the small town of Patagonia was when a gentleman inquired as to the Name on Ronnie. I admitted to the spelling mistake and he concurred and was an aficionado of Steinbeck AND Don Quixote!! Charles Spiher was a retired Pharmacist who; with his wife, wintered in Patagonia for 3 or 4 months each year. A writer and fascinating gentleman was our guest for about an hour. Thanks Charles.
On to Nogales and it IS just another tatty town on the Mexican / US border. A large fence actually delineates the border and there are no shortage of US Border Patrol vehicles everywhere!
An hour or so later and we headed north and we were in Tucson. An overnight at an enormous Wal-mart on the southside with 11 other RV’s was very comfortable with the predictable cool morning. There is the biggest Gem Show in the world on at Tucson at the moment. An annual event. An easy drive out to the west and we visited the great Desert Museum; Google for more info!!, and then back into town later in the afternoon. I last visited Tucson in 75 when I stayed for about a week. Our hosts were Guerdon and Maxine Jackson whom we had met on a trip to the Trobriand Islands in ’74. Their niece and nephew Debbie and Terry were our gracious hosts then, and showed us the sights around town!! I had lost contact with these marvellous folk a long time ago and with a Google search on a local phone data base, Terry was “maybe” located, the last address was long outdated!! So it was with great excitement when I received a call from him next morning. He also informed me that Maxine had returned to live in Tucson. I had planned a visit to Pima Air Museum that morning and Liz was doing Retail therapy at the large Park Mall. So Lunch was arranged and a very old friendship was rekindled. Terry’s wife Shelley joined us at a lovely lunch. Overseas travels must be on your agenda Terry! My shout next time. A call that morning to Maxine was received with some consternation due to my accent!! But she soon was recounting some of our activities of April 28th “75! I have no recollection at all of buzzing her home with husband Guerdon on board the little C172!!!! As we did the aerial tourist thing of Tucson and the country to the south. We parked Ronnie in her driveway for the night and next morning, Debbie and partner Keith joined us for breakfast. The years melted away. Maxine is still the ultimate Hostess, thank you so much, we are blessed to have such great and enduring friendships. I hope to be able to reciprocate the hospitality.
Despite the invitation later in the day to join a group of Experimental Aircraft assoc of US for a yarn, the timetable indicated that the 400km towards Flagstaff Arizona which is at 7000’ was going to be a full days drive from Tucson, which is at about 1800’ ASL.
Phoenix has the most incredible ring road system and I-10 from Tucson joins ring road 101 for 60km as it circles a quarter of the city and I-17 heads north towards the Grand Canyon. About 150km up the road and the national monument of Montezuma’s Castle is just near the highway. An Indian civilization lived here from about 1250 to 1400AD. In rooms built onto the face of a cliff on a mountain accessible only by an elaborate ladder system. Most likely the inaccessibility is the reason it still exists in marvellous preservation!
As we climbed through 4000’ on I-17, white stuff was observed beside the road. As we progressed thru 6000’; whole paddocks were covered. Apparently this is snow and can be found in colder climes. The sun was out and shining, the world was at odds. When we arrived in Flagstaff, whole parking lots had recently been cleared!! And the resultant 15’ high heaps of the stuff indicate it was probably still winter here. Black Bart’s RV park had a vacancy and we managed to park on our site before dark. Connecting the power was an effort as I had to walk across what appeared to be hard white stuff. But Crocs are not recommended “white stuff” footwear and by the time 110 Volts was connected to Ronnie, I had frostbitten toes!! Not really, but a message was learned. Wear the boots bought for the purpose! Tomorrow will be off to the Grand Canyon.
Flagstaff, via the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas.
With the mercury tipping 6 below Celcius, it was quite an exercise to disconnect plumbing drains, power and cable TV lines next morning in the RV park in Flagstaff. But the inside was a nice and comfortable 24 degrees. It did not snow overnight, but the snow of the previous week was piled high on the side of all the roads and up against the buildings. A refuel and it was on to the scenic route to Grand Canyon via the 8000 foot pass beside majestic snow covered Humphrey’s Peak. At about 12000’, it dominates the otherwise “flatish” 6000’ plateau which typifies northern Arizona. Ronnie cruised through this road with ease. Vast pasture areas just big flat white expanses’. The forested areas were bathed in recent snow from a couple of days previously. But it was hard and ice like to the touch. I have yet to experience powder snow.
The Village of Tusayan which is just on the outside of the National Park was clearly in “stack snow up everywhere” mode. It was like big piles of ice everywhere except roads, footpaths and carparks. National Geopgraphic have a massive IMAX Theatre. http://www.explorethecanyon.com/
It was a wonderful sunny day in the high teens and as we climbed up through to the 7000 odd feet altitude of the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Parking an RV near the sights was at first a difficulty until the secret RV Parking signs were discovered. I will write them about this!! A Trip out to the eastern extremity of the park to Desert View and a lunch spot to dream about. The RV Park in the national park is only about 600M from the rim, but a short trip west to Maricopa Point; http://digital-desert.com/grand-canyon/maricopa/slideshow.html to catch the sunset took us on a very narrow and slightly icey road. The footpath out to the precipitous overlook was worse than slightly iced. But the view was worth the slippy walk.
It was a cool evening with a low of about minus 5 and clear sky. So no snow again! Out from the Park back to the village and to the movie at the IMAX Theatre. Spectacular re-enactments of all human interaction in the canyon for the last 1500 years!
Ran into a Phone Company Techo at a cable pillar in the middle of town. His life on the road and the problems are EXACTLY the same as us in country areas of OZ. Except no ice and snow in Queensland. Thanks Mike for an insight into your work.
South down I-64 to Williams and lunch in the carpark opposite the 100 year old Williams to Grand Canyon Railroad Station. http://www.canyontours.us/?ovchn=GGL&ovcpn=Grand+Canyon+Train&ovcrn=Grand+Canyon+Railroad&ovtac=PPC
A steady 65mph run west on I-40 and in several places, the Iconic Route 66. We reached Kingman by late afternoon and were fortunate to get for only $3 the bits to repair the right rear air-bag Schrader valve.
Kingman Az to Hoover, Vegas and California.
Overnighting in Kingman Arizona on an even keel with the right airbag once again functioning. An easy start next morning and at last I saw the notice for the SkyWalk. A new attraction over the edge of the Grand Canyon. But it has a 20km gravel road in and closed to anything larger than a Hummer. So together with the Au$105 to walk out on it; no minimum time, they also get you for the transportation as well. And no cameras allowed!!! It is not at all promoted through the normal channels and only one road sign saying 80km into the staging location. So I looked on the web.
Soon Ronnie was soon approaching Hoover Dam. Parking for RV’s within an hours walk of the dam was scarce. But managed to find a place on the south side in Arizona. They are not about to tow 8 tonnes of in-gear RV in a hurry! The tour through the tunnels 550 feet below the dam wall continue to fascinate. Up to 4999 other people think so also each day. Lake Mead; behind the dam is about 80%, and supplies water to half of the SW of the US. And to supply power via its 12 giant generators as well.
It was a short run up Highway 95 to Henderson and into Las Vegas. The KOA Campground behind the Circus Circus Casino was considered the best option. There are about 4 RV parks within 5 or 6 km of the strip. It is double what I normally pay for a good Park but this is the only one right on the strip and so no Taxi was ever needed. The Deuce Bus has a $5 24 hour ticket and travels the whole length of the strip in comfort and stops everywhere. The Belagio Casino, New York New York are just a couple of the spectacular structures. The half hourly water “show” of the Belagio, the Amusement rides clearly visible at the top of the Stratosphere tower some 500 feet up are just a scraping of the spectacles. The Lions inside the MGM Casino area in their 9 million dollar enclosure; and the lions only spend 8 hour “shifts” in there and travel from their home on a Ranch some 28km from the MGM. The 2 or 3 lions are rotated constantly all day from the pride of 38 that are kept for the continual free show.
http://www.vegasexperience.com/indexflash.html
The above link is to a mind bending live experience. In 2004 the concept to fully roof the old Freemont Street Downtown area for nearly three blocks; that had been made into a mall quite some years before, was undertaken with a difference. The semi circular roof some 25 M over the sidewalk was fitted with 12 million LED sets creating the Planets largest video screen. Match that with half a million watts of sound through massive speakers the length of the mall, and the 5 to 7 minute show on the hour after dark is incredible. There are live entertainers working the mall all the time. At 20 seconds before the hour ALL the outside Casino lights are extinguished!! And then the show starts. A must see. Great entertainers are free to see in many of the venues, You have to be well organised with the “cheat” sheet to catch them, but they are well worth while. The buffet meals on everywhere are a challenge… but the Americans attending do a massive job on putting so much food away!! I was able to enjoy a couple of nice meals though.
The lovely KOA RV park was perfectly located with all the facilities you could ever need.
On the 21st , it was west towards California. There was high wind warning and Ronnie headed straight into it. I made Baker by lunchtime and then onto Barstow and then I-58 to Mojave. The small military aircraft storage area clearly visible from the Highway I-14 as the track southward towards LA was followed. Big winds continued to buffet Ronnie. Thank goodness for full airbag function. Overnighting in the Wal-mart at Lancaster with a series of squalls thru the evening.
Early start and then coming on to some land that was not just pathetic desert and unproductive. Quite mountainous and still about 3000ASL as Ronnie wandered on along I-14 through Palmdale; no palms, and then west to Valencia; and no oranges!! BUT as soon as I found I-126 along the valley of the Santa Clara River, every vegetable was to be found growing along this glorious and picturesque valley. A pleasant afternoon and overnight in Ventura on the Pacific Coast ended a part of my Trip in Rocinante. From the Atlantic Ocean at Key Biscayne to the Pacific Ocean at Ventura. 9306 kilometres traveled to do this. I must admit that the most direct road distance is a lot less. But I have used Ronnie as a runabout and have done all the tourist stuff on the way.
Next morning was down State Highway 1 though Malibu; did not see Nicole nor Keith, but did see many scorched mountains all the way to the sea. The Canyons running back from the coast could only be seen as firetraps. On the highway south of Ventura were many strawberry farms and many Mexican workers. No smart picking trolleys like they have around Caboolture. A big Naval Air Station along side the highway to the sharply rising coastal mountain range must make for some interesting instrument approaches to their runway.
There are fantastic homes plastered over the beach and all over the hills from Malibu though to Santa Monica. The big and famous pier at Santa Monica can be experienced after you park you car for $6 or your RV for $30!!! I have a nice photo of the pier from the highway!!!!
Venice beach was a much more interesting destination that afternoon and street parking was available within a kay of the esplanade and its 2 km of stalls, entertainers and general weirdos. BUT an RV can actually be parked in the esplanade car parks for $14! A bargain. The sun was out and all the locals were at large!! The forecast wind was up by 2pm and then the rain by 3pm. Later on in the afternoon it was southward towards San Diego and even though it was a Saturday; every person that had a car in LA was on the road. San Clemente is a very strange yuppie community and even parking an RV in the main drag attracted the local feds. Please park out of sight and you must not stay in town overnight. But Ronnie and I are now in California; where great Rest Areas are located and just 6 kays north of Oceanside, we found our overnight location.
A relaxed start next morning and it was raining quite heavily. It is Oscar Day today in LA and the rain gods are in attendance!! A very windy walk down the famous Oceanside Fishing Pier and the great surf on the famous grayish sand surf beach that makes the surf on Woorim look good.
Onwards to Mexico. I want to traverse the complete west coast of the US and Tijuana in Mexico through to Vancouver in Canada is my goal.
Ronnie was parked on the street in Los Americas; a shopping centre on the US side of the border about 1 kay from the border fence. Still blowing and drizzling. So with Akubra and Driza Bone, it was back to Mexico again. The shopping was more interesting here than the previous expeditions into Mexico. Still had a long long queue thru Immigration and Customs on the way back to the US.
Back towards LA and a great and quiet night at a rest area. In 1982 I sent a pair of gold plated single shot .22Sh. Butler pistols to a Museum in Temecula. I was not able to licence and keep them in OZ. So communication with the Museum which we had visited the year before, and they accepted the lifetime loan with glee. A few years ago, I decided to check on the Museum and found it had “dissappeared’!! So today I turned up at the Company’s HQ in Temecula and found that they had a “reorganization” in 1986!!! The local town heritage museum was given the normal stuff. The Curator of the Town Museum had information that the firearms had been sold to the Gene Autry Museum which is located beside the LA Zoo.
http://www.autrynationalcenter.org/visit.php
I then set out for the Autry Museum. A 140 kay trip to the NW side of LA from Temecula in the countryside in the SE!!!
It was midmorning on a Monday and traffic was not too bad. Arrived to find that the Museum is closed on Mondays. But a Security Person helpfully communicated with the powers within and a Curator appeared through the closed front gates!! Michael Duchemin is actually the Senior Curator and I may be able to find out whether my pair of derringer style pistols are within this $100 million complex. With a staff of 100 plus that has a marvellous project to continually present an evolving story of the Americas West from the wild 1800’s to the present. I was privileged to spend an interesting hour talking to Michael about the Museum and his aspirations for it’s future. Thanks Michael.
So with a reassurance that with the details and gun serial numbers; the Curator responsible for these items will be able to find if my little treasures actually are here. I certainly hope so, as they will be available for many people to see. If not, I will have some serious questions for the people who were not all that happy to see me at Bianchi in Temecula this morning!! However, that is life!!!
Michael has now informed me that the Autry Museum sold them to a private collection in 1989, as they did not reflect western heritage.
Back on the road again in early afternoon and out to Rialto in the eastern side of greater LA. Close to San Bernadino. At the Rialto Airport is a group of Aircraft Rebuilders who specialize in warbirds. I will meet up with them tomorrow. I arrived quite late this arvo and after I pounced on fuel available at US$3.15 per gallon; equals 3.8 Litres, It was evening!! I only needed 61 gallons today!!!
Rialto California heading north along Highway 1 and onwards thru San Francisco.
Bill and Alan at Westpac Aircraft Restorations were most welcoming to their facility. They are in the advanced process of moving lock stock and every last nut and bolt to Colorado Springs. Moving 14 families as well; 1000 miles to the NE, has been a carefully orchestrated scenario.
The Skyraider; a single engine, 7 tonne, tailwheel attack bomber that has an 18 cylinder 2700HP radial engine, is the last project on the floor of the vast hanger(s) complex here and is due to be test flown in the first week of March. The aircraft type was first flown in 1945. It was operated from aircraft carriers
Overnighted within the safe confines of the airfield and fully fuelled, headed west towards Pasadena on Route 66 and Hiway 210 till Interstate 5 was picked up after 80 kays. The recent rains and warm days have made the roadsides bloom in yellow button daisies. The bleak roadsides of the past 3000 kays since I left Louisiana, have not gone unnoticed!!
I have tried to avoid the main interstate highways wherever I have pointed Ronnie’s nose. On reason is to avoid the continual stream of 18 wheelers. The numbers of semi’s on the road is beyond your imagination!! The main reason for avoiding the main highways is that the minor roads are a lot more interesting. I can see where the people live and work and when I stop for coffee or lunch, I take the opportunity to chat to people every day. May be a fellow highway traveler, the lady in the small shop or the small café.
But California is different. It has a monstrous great mountain range running its complete North South dimension. So the options are limited! When I got as far north as Mettles; about 30 kays south of Bakersfield, I picked up I66 west to Maricopa and passed through flat valley country with brilliant displays of apple and pear blossoms on both sides of the roads. Many working oil; walking beam type, deep well pumps peppered the landscape. The oilfield activity increased with co-generation plants creating both electricity and steam from byproducts of the pumped product alongside the road. The steam is used to keep the wells heated to increase flow rates.
The small town of Taft is home to the West Kern Oil Museum. Half a day was spent here. Agnes; the volunteer manager, gave me a Master Key and told me I was free to explore all the buildings. Even those not normally open!. Bob; another volunteer, and having spent 55 years working on all facets of this field, was a great guide.
His knowledge and stories made the time fly. I had decided to try to go further west from here to pick up highway 101 which goes to Salinas. To some of you, this town will ring a bell. To those who are not John Steinbeck fans, it is the town of his birth and is home to the John Steinbeck Museum. His book “Travels with Charley” is the basis of my trip. His old 58 Dodge with a slide on camper was his travel home in 1960 and was called Rocinante. I cannot claim originality!!
The road out of Taft on Road 33 was through some enthusiastically undulating countryside. More oil wells dotted over the hills and then intersected with State Road 58 towards Santa Margarita. This is where the undulations became quite vigourous! 80 kays of spectacular canyons and green hills. The flat valley about midway housed dozens of fertile farms and then through a small range out to Santa Margarita. A lovely drive on a good road with minimal traffic. Postcard views all the way.
The rest area just north of San Miguel on 101 was a very comfortable overnight and a great place to yarn with the truck drivers in the central lounge area in the facility area. 62 mph is their max allowed; 55mph is the real limit! Next morning, the fog was a real peasouper!! King City was just a few kays to the north and was undoubtedly the tomato centre of California. The Laundromat was easily found and housekeeping and laundry was attended to.
As the fog lifted on my departure from King City, the wide valley which spans either side of the Salinas River and the laser level fields rolled out for thousands of acres to reveal the Salad Bowl of America. It also revealed the hundreds of Hispanic; a politically correct term for people from south of the border, that attended the crops. Not just 2 or 3 , but maybe 40 to 60 in a 100 acre field. Old School Buses parked at the sides of the fields. This was the story for about 200 kays.
The writings of Steinbeck detail the battle that the “immigrants”; from the dust bowl states of Arkansas, Virginia and Oklahoma, as they worked for very little money on the vegetable farms during the 1930’s in the Salinas Valley. All I could think of was that only the origin of the workers has changed in 70 years. The indentured labourers from the Philippines pre WWII are now the farm owners!!! The names under the farm names, shows this to be common. Grapes of Wrath is being lived out again!!
After a day in Salinas where I luxuriated in the wonderfully created Steinbeck National Museum for a couple of hours. His ’59 Dodge Pick-up with the tray back camper that was custom made to his specification for the trip through 34 states in 1960, was there in its original splendour. The name Rocinante emblazoned on the right hand side. In his total trip, no one commented on the name. At least I have had a response, thanks Chas.
I then went to the house at 132 Central Street that his Family built in the late 1890’s. John lived there until he was 17 and went to Uni. It is a spectacularly kept house in virtually original state. It does have a commercial kitchen attached to the rear to cater for its function as a specialty restaurant. I had my lunch there and the photos all around the walls in the several downstairs rooms, showed the family 90 years ago in the same places. It was a lovely and memorable meal.
The next part of this “pilgrimage” was to the Salinas cemetery. The whole family are interred in the plot under his mothers family name. Only the dead ones are there, I was not clear on that point! So I said G’day John, and Monterey was keyed into the Tom Tom GPS navigator and Beepa was put in the middle of the windscreen to check on everything. Arrived in Monterey about an hour before dusk, but the thick sea fog was rolling in and the sun was history. I found 2 car parking spots, paid up the meters on both and set off on foot to explore. There are many tourist traps on the wharves. Many touts were trying to put bums on seats for dinner. But the wind and the fog was keeping the people away. Just a handful of us hardy souls were out and about. I decided to see what was left of the Cannery Row that featured in Steinbeck’s book and subsequent movies. It was quite intact when I was here in “81. Now there is nothing left; apparently earthquake and storms and the desire of developers to create condos’ on such prime locations have created a completely new environment. At least the seals are still here in the harbour!! If you have a curiosity about Monterey, rent the Movie “Cannery Row”, It is a waste of time visiting now. There are some beautifully restored 1920’s grand homes on the esplanade.
The fog had totally enveloped the City. I did walk about 8 kays round trip northwards along the shoreline walkway. The sunsetting across the Pacific created some good photography. It was getting chillier by the moment and it was back to Ronnie and head 15 kays north to Marina and a comfy overnite in my favorite supermarkets front yard.
My research had shown that the Highway 1 follows the coastline all the way to within 30 kays of San Francisco. The lovely Pigeon Point Lighthouse location was my morning tea point. The surf and the high cliffs are truly beautiful. A few kays further along and a model aircraft field was clearly evident on the land between the highway and the Cliffside. A few hardy modelers were braving the 20 kph breeze and a very well maintained 300 foot strip and associated handling areas was carefully cordoned off. I spoke to a couple of the flyers and modelers everywhere have the same problems!! However there are very few model airfields in the San Francisco region. We are a lot more fortunate in Queensland.
A few kays along No 1 and the Half moon Bay Airfield was my pull in spot for lunch. Very quiet day on the aviation scene here. US$4.50 a small gallon for Av Gas is keeping people on the ground.
The scenery just kept gliding past my left hand windows and in a moment I was over a small range and San Francisco emerged. Not a large city, 700,000 souls; smaller than Brisbane. The familiar streets were crossed and the approach to the Golden Gate Bridge to reach the northside was posted. I pulled off to the viewing area on the southern side and the tops of the towers were lost in the mists of the low cloud. The Bridge was crossed and the Vista Area on the northern side was kinder to RV travelers and a good view of the city and Alcatraz was in the panorama.
Highway 1 was on my map as going up the coast. So not to miss further sights, I traveled towards the route 1 north. Just after I was committed to the route I saw signs that said that it was inadvisable for any vehicles over 35 feet long to travel the route. Well 30 foot is a lot shorter, isn’t it!!! The advise was wise, it was a very carefully traversed 50 kays till the canyons were behind me. The equally narrow coastal roads were all the way up to Petaluma; with its time warp of houses. The 2 kays of main street are directly from the 20’s. A very picturesque small town.
I can recommend that anyone coming to San Francisco; hire a car and, drive Highway 1 all the way from Monterey to Santa Rosa via Highway 1. It will be a lifetime experience.
Santa Rosa at the start of The Redwood Highway through to Oregon.
Highway 101 heading north is a picturesque throughway; the bonus is that it heads into Redwood country. These massive stands of trees 100’s of years old in many places nearly 2000 years old. The highway used to be a one lane road and there was an adequate space through the forest without cutting majestic trees down. Now a two lane “highway” wends its way through that same pathway. Many of these giants on each side of the road have many “brushes” with traffic indelibly carved on their sides. About semi trailer pantec height and motor home roll-out awning height!! I managed to avoid leaving an autograph anywhere along this highway. The drivers seat was a bit sweaty some times though.
The small towns along the way all have an industry based almost entirely on the trees. The craft shops make everything from burls , roots and branches. The chainsaw carvings are quite artistic. Everything is depicted, from bears on their hind legs to hunters complete with musket!! These are all life-size plus in stature!
Eureka was my destination and a lovely parking spot was secured and a couple of comfortable days were enjoyed here. Exploring the Old Town and Boardwalk by bicycle and even went to the movies and saw Fools Gold that was filmed around Port Douglas. A good movie!!
From Eureka it was a short day to Canyonville and a days layover in a convenient carpark and then it was back onto the Interstate 5 to Eugene and over to the scenic Highway 99W. The valley that started at Eugene, is about 150 kays north and south and about 50 kays across. The mountains on each side bathed in snow. No wonder it was -2 C this morning. Many market gardens and even some sheep farms. Most of the country was hay production grasslands with extensive irrigation.
McMinnville was my destination as about 15 years ago an Aviation engineering based organisation negotiated with the Aero Club of Southern California to take over the care of the Spruce Goose. Howard Hughes; (of “The Aviator” movie recent fame, and a multimillionaire of the 20’s thru the good fortunes of the Hughes Tool and Machine Company.), built this gigantic seaplane in response to a US wartime spec and he actually flew it for about 1 minute in 1947.
It has lived at Long Beach in a most unkind environment since that date. Various organisations had “looked” after it, the most recent was Disney. The son of the Owner of Evergreen Aviation was a young and very rich F15 Pilot with the USAF and looking for things to do. He negotiated to take safe care of the Goose; really designated the H4, and proceeded to organise its disassembly into 38 major parts and the lot was freighted 1600 kilometres north to McMinnville Oregon. The site www.sprucegoose.org has the whole story, but I will summarise it here. Young Michael spent many millions to organise the total refurbishment of this giant aeroplane and it was to be the centerpiece of a Museum not only to satisfy the plane people, but to educate and encourage everyone from primary school upwards. Daily educational and practical sessions for large groups of schoolchildren was the dream. The purchasing of a vast collection of WW1 and WW2 aircraft was undertaken with enthusiasm to fill out the gaps that would be in the giant museum building around the Spruce Goose. About 50 rare collectables were acquired; but in March 1995 Captain Michael King-Smith and a fellow F15 pilot were killed in a car accident. His father stepped into the harness and created a trust and things really started to happen. The project was multiplied in size and scope and the enormous complex of buildings is in the middle of one of the Evergreen Vineyards and is a magnificent memorial to young Michael. The F15 is pole mounted across Interstate 18 in front of the Evergreen Corporate Offices on the perimeter of the McMinnville Airport.
The dream has been made real in totality.
Michael is in 150% size presence in bronze in USAF pilot flight gear as you enter the complex.
The very large volunteer and regular staff attend to every need of the visitor. If an P38 is on display, a volunteer at a nearby desk will have had WW2 service time in one; in this case he was in his early 80’s and was a great raconteur. He operated in the Pacific and Europe in WW2. This is the norm at Evergreen Museum.
A real German M108 was on display in flyable condition; no, not an old one from Spain, a real one built in Bavaria!! With a Daimler Benz and the big cannon intact.
About 25 primary students were making gliders out of foam plastic dinner plates!!!! And then they all had a distance flying comp!! Excellent work by all there.
The Spruce Goose was moved into its perfect home in 2001. The final touches of replacing all control surface material was completed after a further 3 years. An extensive sprinkler system to protect against fire is in place. The building is kept at optimum temperature and humidity. There is a mirror image building to this one about 500 metres to the east and it will house a new space exploration display. A titan rocket is in the parking lot at the moment. Completion is due in just a few weeks. In between these two buildings is a smaller building housing Conference rooms and an IMAX theatre. A curved screen 20 M across and 18 M high displays a number of both aviation and Oregon state history productions. I watched Fighter Pilot. Air Forces from 6 nations battle it out in the deserts of the mid west. Australia was one of them, unbelievable cinematography.
I have my amateur radio unit set up on the dash and have just been listening to the local operators. I did have some conversations in this area and the President of the Salem Radio Club; State capitol city of Oregon, is from Melbourne. Simon called me and a diversion was towards Salem. Radio Club Promotion officers; Annita and Stuart, invited me to their QTH for dinner. An ad-hoc meeting in several of the Salem City Parks after dinner, with several of the local Hams was to select a site for a weekend ham radio station operating site in June. Simon arrived on his way home from work and yarns were exchanged.
Ronnie was parked in front of Annita and Stuart’s, and a casual start next morning towards Washington State line. The Pearson Army Airfield Museum was my destination. A small well established museum with a well preserved collection and a very active educational regime for teenagers in place.
McMinnville and Salem in Oregon and thru Washington to British Columbia in Canada.
After the magnifigance of the Evergreen Museum and the Spruce Goose, it was back on the road. I have been talking to people on the Amateur radio as I have traveled and have concentrated more on this as I have traveled up the West Coast.
The people on the local radio mentioned that the president; Simon, of the main radio club in Oregon is actually an Oz from Melbourne. I spoke to him on his way to work and then spoke to the publicity officer of the Salem Amateur radio Club just a few minutes later. So after I left the Spruce Goose Museum, I was on my way to Salem and Planned to park in front of Annita and Stuart’s home in Salem. There was an Amateur radio Club activity planned that evening. It was to select a place to have there Summer Outdoor Radio Weekend, in June!! It was a lovely 2° C this evening. I had some lovely gloves and earmuffs back in Rocinante!!
I think a decision was arrived at and Simon; arrived part way thru the inspection of the 3 parks, on his way home from work. We had a bit of a yarn and RMIT was out common ground!! Small world.
Next morning it was on Interstate 5 and north to Washington State.
On to Portland which is the largest City in Oregon and home to the Pearson Army Air Museum. It is a blast from the past with the original buildings from the 1920’s in their original condition and location. It is now a General Aviation Airfield, but the museum has a good collection of aircraft and devotes its time to encouraging school age kids into an interest in aviation. Even better than Evergreen, but lesser in numbers. Great movie room and great staff., It is located in the grounds of an active Army base!!
It was over the border to Washington State and the city of Vancouver!! This is not the Canadian one, but the US one in the State of Washington.
A leisurely day’s travel up I 5 to Chehalis and an overnight at my favorite Supermarket Parking lot. I spent some time looking at the great scenery on the way today.
Next day was to Seattle and the home of the 747 etc!!! So it was towards the Museum of Flight in Seattle’s suburb to the north west where the original Red Barn is located. It was a treasure to be discovered and actually has the original Red Barn building integrated into the new Museum Building. It was Saturday the 8th of March; the most important day of the year. The International Women’s Day, and my birthday!! There was a special event in the great theatre of the Museum where The first Continental Airlines woman pilot and 2 women pilots from the WW 2 scheme when girls delivered all the new bombers and fighters to the active bases. These girls were fantastic. One of the WW2 girls still exercises her instructors rating. Google Maggie Ray and discover a lady who still competes in many powder puff air races in her late 80’s!!
The director of the Museum is a lady who has 6 space shuttle command flights to her credit. Debbie is a most modest person and a great promoter of her Museum. One of the best in the world. It was my pleasure to have a short conversation with her.
If you ever get the opportunity to come to the North West of the US, you must visit this museum, it has something for everyone, congratulations.
The Boeing Field at Everett; near Seattle, is an exercise in GIGANTIC.
I arrived in time for a guided tour. The “Museum” location is not a museum, but a ticket selling site for a visit to the New Boeing Factory. But all very reasonable. The access was good and the tour was very informative. A great experience. No cameras though!
The assembly area is larger than you can imagine and the access is very good. I was able to look down on the 747, 767 and the 787 prototype assembly lines. Most impressive.
I was able to get to Lynnwood near the Museum and my favorite supermarket was once again my host. My evening was spent sorting out my photo files. A continuing job with about 2500 pix of the trip on file to date!! I am endeavoring to keep the aeroplane pix out of the real photos and am labeling them all. I have yet to learn how to put them on the web to be seen by all!!! Picassa is not a part of my accomplishments as yet. Had a little success in that area and have a couple of hundred on my website at
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/NoelSpalding
Is my web Photo page. A continuing job though!
My overnight was at one of the Highway Rest Stops. Washington State locates these frequently and in postcard like locations. They have all facilities, but the semis do run their auxiliary power units all the time!! So the soundproofing cum insulation in Rocinante is appreciated. Snow on the nearby Cascade Mountains down to a about 1000 feet indicated a quite chilly morning. It was back onto a minor highway north and the small town of Everson had both a Post Office and a laundry. So it was housekeeping morning and after that a lazy drive onwards to the Canadian Border at Sumas. No problems at all for Rocinante and me to come in and stay as long as we wished!!
It was just a few Kilometres north to the big Highway One that goes right across Canada and then east for a short while before heading north for 30 Kilometres to Agassiz; pronounced agga-sea!!! Where The Farm of Peter and Joyce Irwin is located. Many of you will know the Irwin’s, they resided at Monty’s Marina near Beachmere on their yacht Canowie for many years as well as living at Coronation Ave from time to time. They are held up in the Philippines for a couple of more weeks. Son James and wife Nicola and Matthew; 9, and Lucas; 7 live in Agassiz town just 6 km away. It was really very good to see them again after soo long. Rocinante resided in their driveway for a couple of days before I moved out to the location I am now parked beside one of the gigantic barns on The Farm.
James and I rolled the J3 Piper Cub out one sunny afternoon and went for a great “aviate” up and down the very broad Fraser River valley which forms a boundary on the southern side of the farm. At least a very high levee bank is the boundary to prevent the late summer inundations totally flooding this broad verdant valley that is totally taken up with dairy farms.
But not a cow to be seen, they are all in barns 365 days. A neighbour to this farm has 40 acres and only milks 25. His total feed for the cows is silage that is harvested from his own land. He does add supplements to their diet. He also works on a larger dairy where he does the midday milking of 250 cows. My eyebrows went up at the strange timing and he explained the farm owner did the midnight milking!! The cows are inside and it does not make any difference to them!! Mucking out is sort of automatic with collection ponds, water sprays and gravity!! A whole set of new dairy farming activities!
James very kindly loaned me the use of the farm truck; a 4X4 GMC V8 1½ tonne Ute. So It was off to Vancouver Island to visit Stephen and Helen Kormilo whom I worked with closely at Unitech in PNG during the mid 70’s. We have kept in touch with cards, email and Skype. So it was key Goodrich Rd Nanoose Bay into Tom Tom and it tells me that there is a 60km ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay just north of Vancouver City to Destination Bay on Vancouver Island. With mountain bike in the back of the Ute, it was of westward on Highway One. The highway One actually ends at the Ferry Terminal!! Appropriately enough I suppose in retrospect!!
The very large Fairwinds Housing Developments at Nanoose Bay; just south of Parksville, are very well done. The locality is totally rock!! But the houses are very grand and the views from nearly all of them over the Strait of Georgia are post card ones. The Mountains rising from the shores of the mainland all being totally covered in snow. The mornings here are about 2° C and tops during the day at Nanoose about 7°C. We did a lot of sightseeing and did some very beautiful and quite steep bush walks into the river country in the middle of this very large Island. It is several hundred kays long and maybe 100 kays across.
On Friday Stephen was competing in the Finals of the local Winter Curling Competition. This is when a 30 lb circular granite rock is slid with a great deal of skill along an ice rink about 120 feet long. Just like bowls; but a lot colder and no jack! I must add that it is taken VERY seriously and the National championships are being held at the moment. Every TV station features them. I even had a “slide” myself. Did not do too badly, it was just a little bit long. Incredible how such a heavy rock slides so easily!
Mountain biking on Sunday morning is not at all like flat old Beachmere. We covered many kays on lovely bushwalking tracks and reached some great view points. The legs told the story when we got back home. Fortunately the National Curling Champs were on TV in the afternoon for my recovery.
Monday morning and it was pack up and head back to Agassiz via the Dukes Point Ferry further south. These trips take about 2 hours and the ferries carry several hundred cars and maybe 30 odd semis, buses and motorhomes. BUT the charge for a motorhome is $100+, so the $38 for the Ute and $10 for me was very good option. Helen came back with me as far as a southern suburb of Vancouver City where she is visiting her sister.
Back on The Farm and a host of small jobs to be done to Ronnie. A very good external scrub being the most important. A number of small jobs had to be attended to, to get her back to pristine condition and the largest job was to repair the gas lift system that allows the under double bed area to be accessed. It was very lightly fastened, and when a much heavier and larger mattress was fitted, the screws would not stay in!! So some timber doublers and bolts were the perfect solution. This took a good day to do completely. Manhandling a very large mattress in a confined space on my own was not the least part of the task!
Carpet cleaning today and a super vacuuming and a final assault on the laundry here to leave everything sparking and clean.
It is Good Friday today and I awoke to look out the front windows of Rocinante to see that snow had fallen overnight down to about 500 feet on the side of the mountain I am looking at from right where I am sitting at the laptop. The sun is rising and it is disappearing from on the trees rapidly. It is about 2 kays from where I am sitting and is now 3° at 8am. A true postcard view.
I have my Greyhound Bus ticket for tomorrow morning from Chilliwack about 25 km from here and a lift teed up for the 8.30 am coach. It is about a 2 hour bus trip for the 100km and I will get an Airport Bus from the City Bus Station in Vancouver for the 20km trip to the Vancouver Airport on an Island in the Straights. Causeway, no ferry required! It is a mid afternoon flight with American Airlines to LA where I am on a midnight departure on the Qantas flight direct to Brisbane….. and HOME!!!! On Easter Monday morning. I loose my Easter Sunday.
And that as they say in the Classics, is my US and Canadian Adventure at an end.
Arrived home on Easter Monday and thank you so much for being patient Cathy; as my flight was an hour and a half delayed in Los Angeles due to a Philipines Airlines delay!! So it was back to Beachmere with some gladness and the prospect of a lot of grass cutting with a goal of making it look like lawn again!!
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