the Youngest Snowbird:

Scary Moment in Mexico

My cyber-pal Mexi-Croft posted a spooky story this morning about an RV couple they met recently, who were just robbed while travelling thru Mexico.

Instead of trying to re-tell the story, Mexi-Croft gave me the nod to repost what he wrote. In his own words:

"This is a story I hate to relate! We stayed beside this couple here in Chetumal for two nights. We had long conversations and shared a dinner out. They are from Alaska and she is a council member of her village near Fairbanks. I have absolutely no doubts about their story.  Here is the email I got from Cheryl yesterday:

Hola dear friends,

Yesterday, about one hour after leaving campground, Rancho Hermanos Graham at Aqua Dulce, we were robbed on the highway. Driving along, a white VW suddenly passed us on the left and pulled immediately in front of us. We just thought they were crazy drivers. Frank tried to avoid a collision which looked imminent. However, they pulled in front again and while doing so, a gunman fired a shot aimed at Frank. It barely missed him, went through the windshield and hit the ceiling of the inside of the truck in the back. In fact, today, we got the bullet which looks like a 45. They forced us to the side, two gunmen got in and forced us into back seat with our dog Missy. We drove frantically up and down highways unknown to us. Then they pulled over, took me out of the truck and put me in their car with two banditos, while two banditos stayed with Frank in our truck. We then separated and drove up-down and who knows where for approx one hour. They had taken our bank cards and were taking me to bank machines, but, you won't believe this, I couldn't get money. The reason, which I figured out the next day was because I was using wrong password for wrong card. Eventually, they got $10,000 pesos and drove back to where Frank was. They stole both our computers, our two cell phones, one mp3 player, etc. We are at an internet cafe in Cholula right now. We stayed in a hotel last night and also tonight. It was terrifying, and hope you guys can notify all website-facebook sites that need to know! Please. We have no internet addresses. Yours was in my purse. We are heading north to the USA. 

We would appreciate it if you would let people know. We were on a Cuoto, by the way. We wonder if perhaps we were set up. There were some people staying in a palapa at the campground mentioned above. We are terrified.

Great to meet you and sorry to contact you with sad news.
Cheryl and Frankie

This is the same road Norma and I have to take when we leave the Yucatan. It can be fairly desolate in places. Our plan is to get in with a group of trucks and stick with them the whole way through. It is very unlikely that lightening will strike twice in the same place and this is normally known as a safe highway. "

Mexico is one of my favorite countries in the world, and banditos there just like everywhere else have gotten more brave, stupid and desperate over the years. I'm glad the couple from Alaska were not physically harmed, although the mental trauma from this nightmare will probably stick with them.

Safe travels to my pal Mexi-Croft and his wife as they navigate that same road in the next month.  

And My Fella's parents will soon be leaving a different area of Mexico for the northbound journey home.  Take care of yourselves, Outlaws.  Hasta pronto.

Things We've Learned in 2 Years on the Road

(this started out as a comment on a previous post but it got so long, I figured it deserved its own post)

Some of the things we've learned while RV-ing over the past couple years:

• how cotton grows (on a two foot shrub-like plant)
• and how peanuts grow (underground, like carrots or radishes)

• how it feels to be in the middle of severe tornado warnings
• driving thru the aftermath of a destructive tornado
• watching someone groom a palm tree 
• seeing fresh armadillo road kill
• finding out what 100% humidity does to my body weight
• being thisclose to a 1000 pound alligator
• seeing the beautiful home $80,000 will buy in Arizona (in a similar Okanagan neighbourhood, that house would cost $400,000) 
• when dealing with American retail cashiers it's usually easier to make up a zip code than try explain what a postal code is, or that "I'm not from here..."
• vegetables traditionally grown in California are cheaper to buy in Arizona and Alabama (???)
• a teenager can legally buy a shotgun anywhere in Alabama, but it's illegal for a thirty year old to buy beer in a dry Alabama county (roughly half the state is dry)
• if we're ever lost in the desert, there are parts of some cacti we can eat

• our little family is so much more aware of our hydro/water usage; in an RV we use only one third of the water/hydro than we used when we were homeowners
• we really don't need to be carrying around so much toilet paper   :)
• I am a very average driver;  My Fella is a better driver than 99.9% of folks on the road
• at least half the vehicles in North America are driven by someone completely unaware of their surroundings; from my high perch up in the motorhome I frequently see drivers talking on a cellphone, texting, yelling at kids in the backseat, reading a map, eating lunch, fumbling with an ipod/cd player, etc. ... many of us have forgotten that driving is a priviledge, NOT a right

No doubt there are many more things on the "What I learned While Travelling" list; if you're an RV-er  (or conventional traveller) feel free to add to it.

In the meantime, a little humour from our senior RV neighbours:

Billy was 4 years old and was staying with his grandfather for a few days. He'd been playing outside with the other kids, when he came into the house and asked, "Grandpa, what's it called when two people sleep in the same bedroom and one is on top of the other?"  His Grandpa was a little shocked, but decided to tell him the truth. "ahem - Well, Billy... it's called sexual intercourse."

"Oh. okay."  Then Billy quickly ran back outside to play with the other kids.

A few minutes later he came back in and yelled, "GRANDPA, it ISN'T called sexual intercourse -  it's called BUNK BEDS. And Jimmy's mom wants to talk to you."     :) 

Love, Love, LOVE This Place

We may have found a permanent winter home in southern California.

Don't wanna get ahead of ourselves, but Rancho California in Aguanga has pretty much everything we want in an RV resort.

numerous pools and jacuzzis

tennis and pickleball courts scattered thru-out the resort

14 hole golf course (unlimited play for $150/month or $200 per couple)

stocked fishing lake

paved interior roads and a great variety of rental sites to choose from

and beautiful landscaping with tropical palm trees and dramatic foothills in the background

The plan is to return this fall to see exactly what the weather is like in this area between November and February. (I feel like a bit of a hypocrite after vowing we'd never spend any more time RVing in Cali... but this resort is definitely changing our minds about RV value in this state.)   

electric use update: as of this morning we've used 44 kilowatt hours of electricity, for a total of $9.24 (at 21 cents per kilowatt hour); at this rate, metered electric will cost $12/week or roughly $50/month 

Rancho California in Aguanga

We are now in Aguanga, California at a gorgeous RV resort we found online.

Rancho California is a huge (500+ sites) park where lot owners have beautifully landscaped their own sites and either use them or rent them to snowbirds. Some owners may rent privately, but we went thru Kim and Candace at Fairway Associates. I can't say enough good stuff about these two ladies. They were quick to respond to my emails and they tried to accommodate us in every way; that's more than I can say for many of the RV parks we've stayed at.

The rental rates at Rancho California are reasonable for what you actually get. We picked a private, landscaped lot with:

• a lake/fountain view and no one behind us
• a huge concrete pad
• a special built-in turf strip for the dogs to pee on
• wicker lounge furniture and a outdoor table/chairs
• a shade umbrella
• free tennis, pickleball, swimming  

This site is $600/month with full hookups BUT you have to pay for your own electric.  And at 21 cents per kilowatt, it's not cheap. We're new to the metered electricity thing so we decided to monitor it closely for a week and see what kind of power we consume.

It's not going to be much since:

• we never use hair blowdryers or our a/c units 
• my computer is always on the eco friendly screen
• during our stay we'll use the propane furnaces instead of space heaters
• we switched the fridge and hot water heater over to propane

We have used the coffeemaker and the microwave a handful of times, but so far, after two full days here we've only used 3 kilowatts.  Is that possible?  A whole 63 cents worth of power?  We thought we may be reading it wrong, but it's digital so it's not hard to figure out. I hope we're not missing something.

Anyway, this resort is perfect for us. It has a golf course (one month unlimited play for $150 or $200 for a couple), 6 tennis courts, 2 pickleball courts, 6 swimming pools, 5 jacuzzis and lots of safe space for my daily walks and our dog walks.

And if that's not enough, it was sunny and 25C today. And tomorrow. And the next day...

Special note to my cyberpal Mexi-Croft:  As requested, I am getting off my lazy butt and putting together a post about our Tiffin customer experience. Since first driving our unit off the lot, we've had so much bad luck with it that I was waiting to see if everything they said they fixed was still working after our trip west... and it IS!  Post coming up soon!

And one last thing: Thank You Rene` and Jeanette from the RV Voyageur Blog for not only walking around Yuma and getting contact info for RV sites, but also for recommending the Quechan Casino in Yuma.  We boon-docked there overnight and filled our grumbling, empty bellies with the buffett dinner - awesome after a long day on the road. Thanks again, you guys! 

Pics from Las Cruces to Tucson

JohnnyDisco travelled another 282 miles yesterday from Las Cruces, New Mexico to Tucson, Arizona.

We left Coachlight RV Park (full hook-ups - PA rate $18) at 8:30 Friday morning. About twenty miles west of Las Cruces was a border patrol check stop, which we were quickly waved thru.

Then it was a lot of this:

This whole area was pretty soggy. That may look like white snow on the ground (on the other side of the train tracks) but it's actually huge puddles of rain water soaking into the desert.

The trip from Red Bay, Alabama to Tucson, Arizona was 1554 miles or 2500 kms.

And (hope it doesn't go to his head, but) we made the trip in one piece thanks to this good-lookin Fella, who is such an awesome driver.

(I notice he's gone a bit more grey this trip - is it road stress or Kelsi stress? Either way it's certainly helping us sneak into those 55+ parks   :) 

51 Minutes from El Paso to Las Cruces

These are the final pics from Wednesdays travel day.

We drove 461 kms from a rest stop just past Wickett, Texas to our RV park in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Here was our first peek at El Paso, Texas - population 650,000. 

there was lots of road construction in progress, like every other major city we've driven thru

the majority (85%) of the population of El Paso is hispanic

exit to the border crossing into Juarez, Mexico

from the interstate you can clearly see the border wall separating El Paso from Juarez

(every single time I see that wall I feel so lucky to be born in Canada, surrounded by opportunity - it's really all just luck of the draw, isn't it?)

Pictured below is housing on the Mexican side of the border; shanty style houses, huts and trailers, many of them missing windows and doors.  There are no vehicles in the pic and I honestly don't know if anyone lives there - but it looks very similar to the hillside housing at the Nogales, Mexico border.

The Juarez Mountains are in the background.     

The north end of El Paso is minutes away from the New Mexico state border.

lots of dairy farms along this stretch of I-10

entering our destination city of Las Cruces, New Mexico (population 97,000) - in the background you can see the Organ Mountain Range

It's day two of our rest stop in Las Cruces, and although we really like this part of the USA, JohnnyDisco will be back on the I-10 Friday morning, westbound for Tucson.

But before ending this post, I have to show you what My Fella picked up today at The Outlet Shoppes at El Paso.

When it comes to shoes, he's like the male version of Imelda Marcos.

And now my manly Fella is the proud new owner of the hot pink trimmed golf shoes, pictured above. The size 13 pink PUMA shoes retail for $110 US dollars, but he picked them up at the PUMA outlet store for $5 bucks. 

(this would be the perfect time for me to make a smart-alec comment about my guys shoe fetish - but as the owner of twelve identical khaki GAP miniskirts, I'm really in no position to judge)

Praying for Gas

Day three of our trip west started early yesterday morning:

• we left the rest stop at 8am
• panicked a bit after seeing we had less than a quarter tank of gas
• panicked more when we hit the road and drove straight into a headwind
• continued panicking when Garmin identified the next gas station as being 61 miles away
• felt incredibly relieved to finally make it to the Chevron on the hill
• where relief changed to outrageous disbelief that the thieving Chevron owners were charging $3.99/gallon... 65 cents more than anyone else on this stretch of the interstate 
• we grudgingly pumped $50 worth of fuel (about 12 gallons) and continued on to Van Horn, Texas where gas prices were back down to $3.35/gallon

After filling up the tank, we hopped back onto the I-10, westbound towards El Paso. 

wow, look who's awake for once...

apparently the time change made Shelbert tired again

but Normie is wide awake and ready to go

This part of Interstate 10 runs parallel to the US/Mexico border and El Paso is directly across from the Mexican city of Juarez. About 20 minutes before El Paso we saw the first border checkpoint in the area.

there were a few border agents parked along the roadside in case one of the eastbound vehicles tried to turn around before the checkpoint 

Shortly after the check point we hit the outskirts of El Paso, Texas.

My Fella and I are actually heading to the big outlet mall in El Paso this morning but I'll post the rest of our road pics later this afternoon.

Hasta la vista, babies!

Red Bay to Texas

It's been 3 solid days of driving since we picked up JohnnyDisco from the Tiffin Mothership on Monday. 

More about our Tiffin customer service experience in an upcoming post, but so far everything they fixed seems to be working. Fingers crossed.

We left Red Bay, Alabama on Monday around noon and stopped for a quick propane fill-up at L & L Gas.  The folks on staff were fun and very opinionated Alabamians, and during the fill-up we had a great conversation about 'wet' and 'dry' counties. (Quick reminder: Franklin county is dry.) I won't reveal what was said but I can tell you the words 'hypocrites' and 'church' were tossed around a few times.

From Red Bay we drove south down the historic Natchez Trace Parkway. Despite being winter, there was a lot of greenery thru the parkway, except for one long stretch where a tornado levelled the area back in April 2011.

Miles of forest along the parkway were completely ripped apart. Definitely an eye opener after all the tornado watches/warnings we'd experienced over the past four months in Alabama.

Our little RV family (happy to be reunited with JohnnyDisco) drove a total of 765 kms on Monday - thru Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and finally pulling over at a welcome center just past the Texas border.

Tuesday morning we were back on the interstate by 9am, after a quick fuel-up and grocery stop. We were heading westbound on the I-20 towards Dallas.

After the Dallas  turn off, the I-20 gets pretty lonesome. Yodelling twangy country song kinda lonesome. "I'm so lonesome I could cry", kinda lonesome...

The interstate is flat and straight and the open fields are dotted with oil rigs, wind turbines and tumbleweed.

And the odd oil refinery.

We drove past Midland, Texas - home of George Dubya.  I waved ... sort of   :) 

Just past Odessa, Texas we stopped for Subway (for the 15th night in a row) and then parked at a truck stop for the night.

Unfortunately within half an hour, a truck and trailer packed with yahoos pulled up next to us. And they brought the party outside. Five drunken meatheads - laughing, drinking and slamming doors right outside our bedroom window.  One of the twits was actually yelling into his cell phone at his girlfriend.

It took us 3 minutes to get dressed, pack up JohnnyDisco and hop on the interstate towards another Texas rest stop, just a few miles down the road.

In all we drove 905 kms on Tuesday.

The above pic is Garmin, leading us to the Subway store and then the interstate rest stop. In the bottom right hand corner you can see the speed limit on this stretch of Texas highway is 129 kms/hour.

We were doing about 100kms in the RV, but guys were blowing past us at 140 and 150kms/hour. Apparently things aren't only bigger in Texas, they're waaay faster too.

What the Heck?

My last post disappeared. 

strange...

No time for a redo since we got a very happy message yesterday afternoon from Peggy at the Tiffin Mothership.  JohnnyDisco is ready to go.

We'll be on the road by 9am on our way back to Red Bay, Alabama and (hopefully) a fully functional motorhome. Whoo hoo!

it would seem that some of us are more excited than others

Tennis in Troy

Between stormy weather days, My Fella and I have been playing lots of tennis.

We love the free courts at Troy University, which are mainly reserved for uni and high school students, but can also be used by the general public.

I have never seen such gorgeous, well-kept, free courts. In Canada or the USA. And we've played at lots of different courts, in various places, while on the road. 

Where did the $$$ money come from for these (dozen or so) tourney caliber tennis courts? 

Troy, Alabama is a little university town... similar in size to Comox, BC.  Or Yorkton, Saskatchewan. Grand-Mère, Quebec. Or Petawawa, Ontario.

It's hard not to notice how black and white it is down here in southern Alabama. Not black and white regarding race.  Black and white in terms of money. There are tons of mobile home parks. And there are the fancy restored homes. Not much in between though.

That's why these twelve spiffy new tennis courts seem out of place in a town of only 14,000 folks. But what the heck do I know? I'm just a tourist.

That loves tennis.

Historic Montgomery, Alabama: Part 2

more scenes from our tour of downtown Montgomery... click on the pic to enlarge

From the website History.com: 

In December 1955, Alabama was at the center of the American Civil Rights Movement after Rosa Parks, a black seamstress refused to give up her seat on a city bus to a white passenger. This act became the catalyst for the yearlong Montgomery Bus Boycott, during which African Americans in the city refused to ride public buses. The boycott is regarded as the first large-scale demonstration challenging segregation in the U.S.

One of the organizers of the boycott, a young pastor named Martin Luther King Jr, emerged from the action as a national civil rights leader while also solidifying his commitment to nonviolent resistance. In December 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Montgomery to integrate its bus system.

Following the boycott, tension between blacks and whites continued, resulting in numerous demonstrations and acts of violence throughout Alabama. On September 15, 1963, members of the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacist group, set off a bomb in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, killing four young girls. The bombing sparked outrage across America and generated support for the civil rights cause, helping to bring about passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed segregation in schools, public places and places of employment.

According to the smartest person I know, wiki:

Born in Mount Olive, Alabama, Hank Williams moved to Georgiana, where he met Rufus Payne, a black street performer who gave him guitar lessons in exchange for meals. Payne had a major influence on Williams's later musical style. After moving to Montgomery, Williams began his career in 1937 when  WSFA radio station producers hired him to perform and host a 15-minute program. He formed as backup the Drifting Cowboys band, which was managed by his mother, and dropped out of school to devote all of his time to his career.

Hanks Williams hit songs include: 

• Hey, Good Lookin
• Honkytonk Blues
• Your Cheatin' Heart
• I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

During his last years Williams's consumption of alcohol, morphine and other painkillers severely compromised his professional and personal life. He divorced his wife and was dismissed by the Grand Ole Opry due to frequent drunkenness. Williams died suddenly in 1953 at the age of 29. Despite his short life, Williams has had a major influence on country music. The songs he wrote and recorded have been covered by numerous artists, many of whom have also had hits with the tunes, in a range of pop, gospel, blues and rock styles.

During our RV travels, My Fella and I have discovered the best day to tour the downtown core of most cities seems to be on Sunday, late morning/early afternoon. We explored downtown Montgomery for several hours last Sunday and, once again, had the empty streets to ourselves.

Historic Montgomery, Alabama

Last Sunday My Fella and I drove north to Montgomery, the state capital of Alabama and the birthplace of the Confederate States of America.

Interesting facts about Montgomery and Alabama state:

• Alabama workers built the first rocket to put humans on the moon
• the Monarch butterfly is the states official insect
• the pecan is Alabamas official nut
• the world's first Electric Trolley System was introduced in Montgomery in 1886
• singer Nathaniel Adams (Nat King) Cole was born in Montgomery in 1919 and died in 1965
• in 1902, Montgomery doctor Luther Leonidas Hill performed the first open heart surgery in the Western Hemisphere 

Here's some pics from our Sunday tour of Montgomery. Most of the photos are self-explanatory but you can hover your mouse over each pic for a quick description... and click on any shot you want to enlarge.

On the ground right in front of the Archives Building is a huge map of Alabama, detailing the places, people and events the state is famous for.

Downtown Montgomery is full of history and we took tons of pics.

But right now I'm ready for wine and pizza (and then more wine) so I'll save the rest of our pics for tomorrow.

Internet for RVers in the USA

Just read a post from my blog buddy Rene about using wireless internet while on the road.

Which reminded me that I never showed you what was in this box we had delivered to Coulee Playland RV Resort, our first stop after crossing from Canada into the USA.

We got this:

It's a wireless USB stick from a company called Millenicom. We went with these guys cause they had the best plan for us. Random stuff about our Millenicom service:

• the USB stick was $99 dollars
• the plan is $70/month for unlimited use, but you prepay one month in advance
• our plan uses Sprint - great coverage across the USA
• there is no contract and no taxes
• you turn your service off when you leave the USA and then turn it back on when you return the following winter, just don't lose your USB stick
• when you first purchase the USB stick, it has to be shipped to an American address - that's why we had it sent to our first US rv stop instead of our home address in BC
• had to call their billing folks once and the tech line once and both employees were efficient and friendly
• I can use the internet while My Fella is driving JohnnyDisco down the interstate  :)

Our internet plan isn't cheap but the convenience is worth it. So far we're totally satisfied with Millenicom, but I'll definitely let you know if that changes...

Deer Run RV Park

This might be my new fave RV park in Alabama.

Their website isn't much but I think that's one of the reasons I like this place; they under promise and over deliver, instead of the other way around.  

Since they don't have many pics on their website, here's another shot of the catch an release fishing pond.

See that teeny blue spot down there?  It's My Fella and his new fishing rod, trying to outsmart the fish.  The fish always win, honeybunny.

JohnnyDisco from across the pond.

Still can't believe this RV park is only $400/month, including all taxes. 

I also wanted to mention that the owners of the park live in a house at the entrance gate, which means 24 hour security.  And they're pretty neat people.

The hubby stopped by our RV yesterday, asking if we wanted to try some homemade apple pie moonshine. He doesn't make it, but he knows a guy who knows a guy  :)  

My Fella doesn't drink any kind of alcohol, and anything stronger than light beer or wine has me dancing on tables, so we declined the offer.  But I still thought that was pretty sweet.

True southern hospitality.

My Alabama Walmart Haircut

Yup, I just got a Walmart Special. 

15 minutes in the salon chair and my trim was finito.

Actually it was more than a trim. My hair hasn't seen professional scissors for almost three years and it was starting to become obvious. So I  stupidly  bravely told the scissors wielding stylist "I wanna start all over again with fresh hair. Can you get rid of the split ends and even it out?"

And she did.

Four inches later my hair is just below my shoulders and looks really healthy. It's a little shocking though. I haven't had hair this short since my age was represented by only one digit.

My Walmart Special was only $15; a 15 minute haircut for $15 dollars, or a dollar a minute. 

And now I can say I got my hair cut at an Alabama Walmart.  How many folks can say that?

We must be on a hair binge around here 'cause I just buzzed My Fella's hair too.

Let me know if you'd like to use that noggin for advertising  :)

Fort Rucker, Alabama

We spent yesterday at the US Army Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker.

Admission and parking were free, but unlike the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, we had to show our drivers licenses and car registration to get a visitors pass for the Army base. 

Before September 11th, the main post was unmanned and civilians were able to drive through. Following the World Trade Center attacks, this policy was changed and the post is now closed to unauthorized traffic and visitors.

as usual, hover your mouse over the pics for a description

This was another very cool aviation museum; great exhibits, but on a smaller scale than the naval museum in Pensacola. Lots of history in this building... and once again, it was free.

Edited to add:  While serving in the Army, Al Gore was stationed at Fort Rucker before his five-month deployment in the Vietnam War.

And I also forgot to mention how small the cockpits were in most of these choppers.  My Fella is 6'4" and 220 and I'm 5'7" and 150 pounds; we both felt really claustrophobic sitting in the pilots seat. Can't imagine how scrunched up/closed in the pilots would feel with added layers of flight gear and helmets.

Donde son los Cacahuates?

Where are the peanuts?

We spent New Years Day walking around Dothan, Alabama, the self proclaimed 'peanut capital of the world'. Roughly half of the peanuts grown in the United States are found within a 100-mile radius of Dothan and the National Peanut Festival is celebrated in this Alabama town every November.

Peanuts Around Town is a public art project organized by The Downtown Group, consisting of peanut sculptures decorated in various fashions and displayed around Dothan. There are about 40 peanuts scattered throughout the downtown core, and here are the ones we saw:

as usual, hover your mouse over each pic for a description

Peanuts we missed include the History Nut, the Elvis Nut and the Hooters Peanut.  My Fella very graciously offered to hop in the car and head back out to get a shot of the Hooters nut, but I told him it wasn't necessary  :)  

During our peanut search we saw a few of the murals that downtown Dothan is also famous for:

Dothan (pronounced doe - thin) trivia:  One of the most well-known citizens of Dothan was former Alabama Attorney General and Lieutenant Governor, Bill Baxley.

From wiki:  During his time in politics, Baxley aggressively prosecuted industrial polluters, strip miners, and corrupt elected officials. Baxley appointed the state's first African American assistant attorney general, who later became a federal judge.

Baxley's tenure was noted for its racial unrest, and Baxley himself incurred the wrath of the Ku Klux Klan when he reopened the case of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. In a letter, the Klan threatened him, compared him to JFK, and made him an "honorary nigger", but Baxley responded on official state letterhead: "My response to your letter of February 19, 1976, is -- kiss my ass."

Naval Aviation Museum: Part 3

last museum post, I promise...

There is so much to see at the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola that I couldn't squish all my pics into one post, or even two.

As usual, hover your mouse over the pic to get a quick description of what you're seeing.

This shot is from the back end of the plane.

Beyond the doorway you can see the bunk and storage area, and here at the very back of the PBY Catalina is where the missiles live. Pretty tight quarters for five men.

The famous Blue Angels...

From the smartest person I know, wiki  :)

The Blue Angels is the United States navy's flight demonstration squadron formed in 1946, and is currently the oldest formal flying aerobatic team. The squadron's six demonstration pilots currently fly the F/A-18 Hornet in more than 70 shows at 34 locations throughout the United States each year, where they still employ many of the same practices and techniques used in their aerial displays in 1946. Since their inception, the "Blues" have flown a variety of different aircraft types, thrilling more than 427 million spectators worldwide.

So many more warplanes to see but we couldn't take pics of them all.  Even though it may look like we did   :)

Moving on to the rest of the museum...

Things you need to know about the Naval Aviation Museum:

• it's in Pensacola, Florida off the Blue Angel Parkway
• it's amazing
• it's free
• you'll need an entire day to see it all, and even then, you may go back for seconds

Naval Aviation Museum: Part 2

Picking up where I left off yesterday, these are pics from our recent trip to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida.

The huge hangar houses roughly 150 restored Navy warplanes, plus exhibits, artifacts and tons of history. By no means am I a history buff, but this museum is totally fascinating. As I mentioned in my last post, the sheer number of planes is almost overwhelming; you just don't where to look first.

And it's free.    

The black hat on the plane below is the patch for Strike Fighter Squadron 14. 

From wiki:

The Strike Fighter Squadron 14 (VFA-14) "Tophatters" are a United States Navy fighter attack squadron based at Naval Air Station lemoore. They fly the F/A-18E Super Hornet, and are the Navy's oldest active squadron, having formed in 1919. Their callsign is Camelot, and their tail code is NG.

Since its inception the squadron has flown 23 different type aircraft, had its designation changed fourteen times, operated from 20 different aircraft carriers (and several battleships) and had 81 commanding officers (the 82nd is now in command).

Over the years the squadron has been assigned many different missions, including patrol and observation in its early years, and scouting, attack, fighter, bombing and forward air control missions when it became associated with carrier-based operations. The squadron adopted the classic Top Hat as its squadron patch and called themselves the "High Hats".

Below is a very detailed model of carrier ship, the USS Shangri-la. 

Again from wikipedia (what the heck would I do without this site???)

USS Shangri-La (CV/CVA/CVS-38) was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers completed during or shortly after World War II for the United States Navy.

Commissioned in 1944, Shangri-La participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations in World War II, earning two battle stars. Like many of her sister ships, she was decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, but was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s, and redesignated as an attack carrier (CVA). She operated in both the Pacific and Atlantic/Mediterranean for several years, and late in her career was redesignated as an anti-submarine carrier (CVS). She earned three battle stars for service in the Vietnam War.

Shangri-La was decommissioned in 1971 and sold for scrap in 1988.

The strikes of a Navy ship's bell are used to indicate the hour aboard the ship, and to regulate the sailors' duty watches. Traditionally the ship's cook, or his staff, would shine the bell everyday.

History of the USS Essex aircraft carrier:

It's sunny and 18C here in Ozark, Alabama and time for some tennis... (and this is starting to feel like work) so I'm gonna end here and post the rest of the pics later today or tomorrow.

Totally off topic: Despite regular exercise and eating habits, My fella and I both gained a few pounds and felt really bloated during our two months at the Gulf Coast. Now that we've moved north into central Alabama, we've started dropping the extra pounds and we both feel back to normal. Does 100% humidity make a person gain weight? 

The Naval Aviation Museum is Amazing

We made it to Dothan, Alabama where we'll spend the final days of 2011.

Details on the area and our latest RV park coming up in the next couple days, but first a quick tour of the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. We really wanted to see this museum before leaving southern Alabama so we spent several hours exploring the museum on Tuesday.

My Fella and I agree that it was the highlight of our Gulf Coast adventure. Actually the Gulf Coast Zoo was #1, but this museum was a veryvery close second. I still can't believe there's no admission charge. The sheer volume of displays, exhibits, war planes and history packed into the Naval Aviation Museum is overwhelming. 

Here's what we saw:

Below is the NX44VY, the first ever plane to land on a ship, ushering in the era of Navy aviation in 1911. 

Pictured below is a Felix the Cat Squadron plane. From wikipedia:

VFA-31 or Strike Fighter Squadron 31 is known as the Tomcatters, callsign "Felix", a United States Navy strike fighter squadron stationed at Naval Air Station Oceana. The Tomcatters are the second oldest Navy Fighter Attack squadron operating today.

Seriously, this hangar was stuffed full of 150 fully restored warplanes, jets and choppers ... and these are only the first half of our pics.

Tomorrow I'll post the rest of the museum tour including shots of the Blue Angels, the U.S.S. Shangri-la and the interior of a WWII Catalina Flying Boat.

Reporting from Summerdale, Alabama

My Fella and I are settling into our daily routines. 

Traveling south for the winter is fun but it's not just an extended vacation. I still need a regular routine to stay productive (daily exercise, stock stuff, errands, dog walking, etc.) We're planning a trip to the zoo tomorrow, but in the meantime, a few random observations about this area: 

Weather

Since we arrived the weather has been perfect: sunny and mid 20's during the day, with lows of 7C at night. But the past few days have been very humid.  100% humidity, a few big storms and a couple tornado warnings as well. My Fella has never been to the southeast and has some trouble breathing in high humidity. He says it's like constantly swallowing water droplets.

But it's better than shovelling snow.

Guns

Guns are a big deal here. It's weird to be sitting at my little desk in JohnnyDisco and suddenly hear gunshots nearby. Guess that's the trade off for picking a small RV park out in the country; if we wanna hear the neighbours rooster crowing at 5 every morning, we have to be okay with those wild turkey shoot-outs as well. Or whatever it is those shotguns are aimed at...  

Water

We've only seen the Gulf coastline twice.

Both days we were out driving around, checking out nearby RV parks.

The resort we're at is great but we like to know what else is out there.  After a few days of snooping around the competition we've decided this is the best park in the area with regards to price and pad privacy - which are the two most important things on our personal "RV Resort List". The other RV parks are a little closer to town and/or the Gulf coast, but the RV pads are basically on top of each other. We try avoid parks where RV's are parked thisclosetogether, packed in like sardines. Definitely not for us.

We've also been scouting out coastal beach houses for rent. Our little family needs a pet friendly spot to call home when we drop JohnnyDisco off at the Tiffin mothership for repairs.

My Fella found a few gulf coast vacation spots online through VRBO and most of them were clustered in this area.  

The homes are all built up on stilts and it looks much nicer than my pics. Very beachy. And very gusty. When I hopped out of the car to get this shot, I was nearly blown into a sand dune. The wind howls like crazy on the Gulf.

The beach grass and dunes are really neat... until you look off into the distance and spot the obligatory off shore oil rig in the background.

BP is still a bad word around these parts.

Edited (7:42 Thursday morning) to add this news link: nasty results from yesterdays tornados. 

Arf, Arf, Oink

Our southern Alabama RV resort is definitely in the country.

I've mentioned this a few times already but now I have solid proof. A few days ago, this German Shepherd from a nearby farm came to visit the park.

And he brought a buddy.

Yup, that's a pig.

It's not like we have local dogs and assorted farm animals strolling through here everyday. This RV resort is actually very well taken care of and on the nicer side as far as small RV parks go.

But sometimes a pig just craves adventure. 

The local farmer who owns this little escape artist was pretty embarrassed when she finally tracked the pig down at our site.  And as I witnessed, trying to round up a pig is no easy task; she had her work cut out for her. 

Although Norman was thrilled to watch the drama unfold before his eyes since he's never seen a pig before.  

Our pup was glued to the dashboard until this little piggy went home.

'Bama Scenes

There was a huge college football game in Tuscaloosa last night: Louisiana State Tigers vs. Alabama Crimson Tide. Alabama lost a very close game but the locals are still proud of the home team, nicknamed Bama.

Local folks also use the term 'bama when talking about other things:  'bama roads, 'bama cotton, 'bama coast, etc.  So here are some 'bama scenes from the past couple days...  

When our little RV family was in Arizona last winter, we met lots of Americans who carried guns. They seem to be a pretty big deal down here in Alabama as well, but yesterday was the first time I saw these on the roadside during my daily stroll.

Nearby town of Foley, Alabama:

And the highlight of this post - the numerous 'bama cotton fields:

I swiped a great description of cotton growing from this website:

Seeding is done with mechanical planters which cover as many as 10 to 24 rows at a time. The planter opens a small trench or furrow in each row, drops in the right amount of seed, covers them and packs the earth on top of them. 

About two months after planting, flower buds called squares appear on the cotton plants. In another three weeks, the blossoms open. Their petals change from creamy white to yellow, then pink and finally, dark red. After three days, they wither and fall, leaving green pods which are called cotton bolls.

Inside the boll, which is shaped like a tiny football, moist fibers grow and push out from the newly formed seeds. As the boll ripens, it turns brown. The fibers continue to expand under the warm sun. Finally, they split the boll apart and the fluffy cotton bursts forth. It looks like white cotton candy.

And that, my feathered friends, is where cotton balls come from.

Where Do Cacahuates Come From?

Cacahuate (ca - ca - WA - tay) is the Spanish word for peanut.

And I still can't get over the fact that they grow underground.  We saw the evidence yesterday afternoon in this peanut crop near our Alabama RV resort.

I've been walking about 7k every day on the country roads surrounding our RV park and I pass several peanut fields along the way.  The crop below was all bushy green plants a few days ago, but now it looks like this:

A peanut harvester plucked all the peanut plants out of the ground and left them to dry in the Alabama sun.

Peanut tidbits:

• a healthy peanut plant will yield 35 to 50 peanuts
• it takes 540 peanuts to make a 12 ounce jar of peanut butter
• there are enough peanuts in one acre to make 30,000 pb sandwiches
• Marcellus Edson of Montreal was the first person to patent peanut butter in 1884
• 2 peanut farmers were elected US president; Thomas Jefferson & Jimmy Carter
• peanuts have more protein, niacin, folate and phytosterols than any other nut
• your kid will probably eat 1,500 pb & j sandwiches by age 18

Cost of Driving from BC to Southern Alabama

Details on the trip south so far:

Took us 9 overnight stops to get here - Tuesday, October 18th to Thursday, October 27th.  4 nights were spent at RV parks, 5 were spent boondocking:

• Oct 18th    Coulee Playland - Electric City, Washington  $18 
• Oct 19th    Coulee Playland - Electric City, Washington  $18 
• Oct 20th    Stinkers fuel station - Caldwell, Idaho  FREE
• Oct 21st    Cabelas sports store - Salt Lake City, Utah  FREE
• Oct 22nd    OK RV Park - Moab, Utah  $18 (Passport America park)
• Oct 23rd    Santa Ana Casino - Albuquerque, New Mexico  FREE
• Oct 24th    rest stop off I-40 east - Chillicothe, Texas  FREE
• Oct 25th    Fernbrook RV Park - Longview, Texas  $16.50 (PA park)
• Oct 26th    rest stop off I-10 east - Breaux Bridge, Louisiana  FREE

Total cost for RV parks over 9 nights = $72 (CAD)

We made 8 stops to refuel JohnnyDisco along the way, including the initial fuel-up in BC before we left. Gas ranged from $3.07 per gallon (in NW New Mexico) to $4.05 (Washinton state).

Total cost for gas, from BC to Alabama = $1710 (CAD)

We filled up our propane tank once = $27.50 (CAD)

Groceries, booze, RV supplies, electronics, gifts = $628 (CAD)

Gulf Coast RV park for November (full hook-ups, 50 amp) = $430 (CAD)

We're way under budget for RV parks (compared to last year) and on budget for gas and groceries.

In the next few days I'll write up a quick post about the RV park we chose, Peanut Park. That's not the real name - I call it that because Southern Alabama is peanut growing country and our park is surrounded by peanut crops. You probably already knew this but I had no idea that peanuts grew underground.

And folks down here boil peanuts in salt water and eat them as a snack. We bought some from a roadside stand a few days ago and they're pretty good.  

We also picked up a pound of pink-eye purple hull peas (cost me $1) and made them with steaks last night. I chopped off the ends, put a little butter and salt on them and cooked them like string beans. The pods were too chewy to eat - apparently you're supposed to shell them first.  Oops.  But the peas were really good and we'll be getting more from the roadside farmer.

Messing up new recipes is one of my fave things about traveling somewhere new   :)