If you're viewing this:

"You're still here? It's over. Go home. Go."

courtesy: Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Thanks for playing....

Today we will arrive full circle, back in the Bay Area, after almost 8 months on the road. We stayed overnight in Bakersfield in the middle of an orange grove and as I was checking out the ripe oranges on the tree next to us, I couldn't help but also notice our US map, on the back of the van, now covered with the states that we stayed in.



So with appologies to Jonny Cash.... sing along if you know the words:

I've been everywhere, man
I've been everywhere, man
Crossed the deserts bare, man
I've breatherd the mountain air, man
Travel - I've had my share, man
I've been everywhere

We've been to:

Watsonville, Redwood Shores, Arcata, Bandon by the Sea, McMinnville, Portland (Oregon), Deschutes River, Coeur d'lane, Glacier National Park, Two Medicine, Three Forks, Emigrant, Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, Grand Tetons, Cody, Thermopolis, Devils Tower, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Ft. Collins, Estes Park, Rock Mountain National Park, Breckenridge, Colorado Springs, Dunes National Monument, Durango, Ouray, La Junta, Dodge City, Kansas City, Des Moines, Cannon Falls, Brainerd, Duluth, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin Dells, Door County, Bailey's Harbour, St. Ignace, Tarvas City, Detroit, Grafton, Alleganey Forest, Niagra Falls, Cooperstown, Moose River, Bangor, Bar Harbor, Portland (Maine), Scarsborough, Cape Ann, Mystic Seaport, Milton, Lancaster, Washington DC, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Charlotesville, Monticello, Lurray, Staunton, Wytheville, Myrtle Beach, Savannah, Gainesville, Sarasota, Naples, Everglades, Juno Beach, Titusville, Homosassa, Ozark, Birmingham, Hattiesburg, New Orleans, Westlake, Houston, San Antonio, Fredericksburg, Waco, Dallas, Carlsbad Caverns, Roswell, Deming, Bisbee, Tucson, Tonopah, Indio, Joshua Tree, Bakersfielde, Santa Cruz

I've been everywhere, man
I've been everywhere.



Our plan is to stay in the Bar Area for the next month or so, deciding where we would like to settle down, and then head that direction when weather permits.

We will occasionally add to the blog, but not as often. Thanks to everyone who followed our adventures, posted comments and sent emails, it was like having our friends and family along for the ride (without having to feed you).

We'll see you soon!

Where in the world are we?

Time to play that exciting game show "guess where we are?"

OK, it's getting near the end of our trip and I'm running out of blog ideas.... humor me....

Here are the clues:

...gardens of Chollo cactus....



...wild coyotes....(this one darted across the road in front of us, and then hung around)



...cool rock formations like "skull rock", I think it looks more like Mr. Burns)...



AND....here's the big clue.... they have Joshua Trees.....did you get that Josh-ooo-uh trees.....



You guessed it, Joshua Tree National Park. Whew that was exciting... are you still there?

The Southwest...We blew by it!

Or you could say it blew by us, with lots of strong winds. Actually most of what we wanted to see in the southwest, Flagstaff, Taos, the Grand Canyon was already in the throws of winter. So we stayed south...and I mean south, like Bisbee, Arizona, 80 miles from nowhere, right on the Mexico border.



This former mining town (our RV site was perched on the edge of a copper strip mine) looked like the type of place you went to either, become a famous artist, become a starving artist, or just disappear from the human race.

Tombstone was just OK.



Tucson provided spectacular desert beauty.



One final word about Roswell, be careful of whom you ask directions or you might make a wrong turn.



Today headed into California... here we come... right back where we started from...hey there's a song in there somewhere.

Starbucks in Roswell???

Every now and then we get a question in the "comments" section that we're sure everyone would like to see the answer to:
chaz said...
"I'm curious, does Rosewell have a Starbucks? 'cause even Alpha Centauri VII has a Starbucks."

NOPE!

But they do have:



and what town would be complete without:

We are not alone, especially if you BLOG!

After getting unsolicited comments from complete strangers after our JFK posting I'm a little tentative about a Roswell BLOG.... ah what the heck.

With the exception of a small section of downtown that features alien street lights....



...and the usual souvenir shops....



Roswell looks like any typical small town. In fact according to one shop owner we talked to, it wasn't until the 1990's (the crash was in 1947) that they decided to court tourism. That was when the "UFO museum" opened up.



A timeline walks you through the crash...



...complete with a fragment from the craft..



and lots... and lots.... and I mean lots... of written documents like one government issued memo that provides guidelines as to what to do in the event of an alien crash (hint....deny, deny, deny)

There are photos that point towards a cover-up...



...along with an alien autopsy re-creation



The museum is really a collection of raw data that challenges the visitor to connect the dots.

THERE YOU GO... a completely unbiased, non-judgmental blog on Rosewell.... yep... no implants or probing needed here.

a thousand words

New Mexico sunset.

The Grand Canyon with a Roof....

You really don't get the full perspective until finding the people in the shot!




Will Rogers called Carlsbad Caverns, NM, "The Grand Canyon with a roof over it". Since it's cold and windy here, a roof seems like a pretty good idea. We took an hour and a half, self-guided, tour of the "big room". Since the last photo archive I posted was of Niagra Falls, so I thought this would be a good place to blow the lens dust off the camera. A few are posted to the left under "Photo Archive". If you don't have time here is one last picture for now:

"X" still marks the spot

The nice thing about not having to be anywhere is that you can change your plans at the drop of a cowboy hat. Over Christmas my sister, Leeann, described a tour she had taken of the Texas School Book Depository, now called The 6th Floor Museum. It sounded so interesting that we decided on the spur of the moment to turn north to Dallas. Hey, it was only 300 miles, that's "just down the street" in Texas.

The self guided audio tour takes place entirely on the 6th floor. Old photographs and video footage walk you through the Kennedy years leading up to November 22, 1963.



The climax of the tour is a sniper's view from the 6th floor window, (no inside pictures allowed) with boxes of books set up exactly as they had been when Oswald shot Kennedy... or did he....

Take a trip outside down Elm street, where an "X" marks the point of assassination, to the "grassy knoll". You'll still find conspiracy theorist ready to preach to anyone who will listen. Most are selling something. Here Donna is listening to a man who said he was a business partner of Zapruder (of Zapruder film fame), selling secret congressional findings that are not supposed to be released until 2035...oops looks like the cat is out of the bag.



My favorite was a man who claims to have been 18 feet away from Kennedy when he was assassinated. Here, he is pointing to a picture of himself at 13 years of age, in the crowd, as shots rang out.



He states that he saw the deadly shots come from behind this fence on the grassy knoll.



What I found interesting, is that he was the only one not asking for money.

This was one of the best tours that we have seen on our trip, well worth the detour.

Happy New Year!

Lots of people have sent emails asking where we spent the new year (ok 5 people). Fredericksburg, Texas, a small town settled by the Germans. No partying here, were asleep by 9pm. I can't understand why, I only had one beer.



All our best to you in 2008!

Ghost Children of San Antonio

THE LEGEND:
"Back in the 1930s a school bus full of children was making its way down the road and towards an intersection when it stalled on the railroad tracks. A speeding train smashed into the bus, killing 10 of the children and the bus driver. Since that dreadful accident many years ago, any car stopped near the railroad tracks will be pushed by unseen hands across the tracks to safety. It is the spirits of the children, they say, who push the cars, uphill, across the tracks to prevent a tragedy and fate like their own. The second half of this legend is that if a light powder - like talcum or baby powder - is sprinkled over the car's trunk and rear bumper, tiny fingerprints and handprints will appear - the prints of the ghost children pushing the car. Many who have tried it swear that indeed they can see the evidence of small children's handprints in the powder."

THE TEST:
Hey, we had an afternoon to kill (no pun intended). We found the small country road and parked 30 yards from the tracks on an uphill. Since our car had not been washed for a month I didn't see any use in sprinkling powder on the back bumper, there was plenty of road dust. Sure enough the car began to roll uphill gaining speed across the tracks.



We turned back onto the road to find another car had stopped, and was just sitting there. He rolled down the window and asked "how do you do this, I'm in neutral and nothing is happening". The car was a large sedan and I guessed that perhaps his car weighed too much, but just then, an equally large car pulled up behind him waiting it's turn. He pulled over and sure enough the other car began to roll.
The driver of the first sedan then decided that the "ghost children" needed some help. He got out of his car and began to push. When he had up a good head of steam, he jumped back in, but the car slowed to a stop well short of the tracks.



I suggested that the ghost children were none too fond of him and he drove away frustrated.

By the way... there were no tiny hand prints in the dust on the rear of the car. I guess now I'll have to wash it.

Westward Ho, Ho, Ho....(holiday humor)

Now that Christmas is over we have begun heading west....yes, I know, we've been heading west since we left Florida but now we're heading back "into" the west.

First stop, San Antonio. Let's see.... where did we go there??? Ah, yes I remember...The Alamo.



and of course lunch on The River Walk...



At first the city seemed overly crowded with tourist. We then found out that tomorrow is the Alamo Bowl. Thousands of Penn State and Texas A and M fans have made the trek. I think most of them picked the same day as us to tour the Alamo. A long line of Aggies and Nittany Lions wrapped around the building. Happily a second battle didn't ensue.

a Paws in our travels..

We want to wish everyone happy holidays while we visit with family in Texas.

Our adventures will continue soon.

Naw-lins

Since Donna has not been to New Orleans , we did all the touristy stuff: hurricanes at Pat Obrien's, catfish po boys, a walk along the Mississippi, a stroll to the garden district, clubbing down Bourbon Street, and of course morning coffee and beignets at Cafe du Monde.



Yes that's Donna eating fried dough and powdered sugar! (She only went there for me and since tomorrow is my birthday, the big 50, she couldn't possibly turn down the request...that's her story and she's sticking to it).

The tourist haven't quite returned in droves to the city. In past walks down Bourbon Street it was hard to get from one side to the other. This time there were only scattered groups of people and this was after a Saints football game in which they won.

I would say that only a third of the businesses are back in full swing. Another third are still being repaired and the final third have packed up and gone elsewhere. Good timing for us, I guess, as we have not had to wait in any lines.

Here's a final picture, the Royal Sonesta decorated for the holidays.

Swim'n with da fishes...uh..manatees

Our Manatee Tour began at 5:30 in the morning. It was cold. It was foggy. It was....well...DARK. After a one hour boat ride up river, it was still cold and foggy but at least it was daybreak. Apparently the manatees are most active in the early morning and the alligators are not, or so claimed our captain. After a little searching one was found lounging on the bottom but even after being warned and watching the required video, the two kids on board splashed noisily into the water scaring it away. I suggested we steam on and leave them there (to test the alligator theory) but the parents objected. Another manatee was located and this time we all quietly slipped into the water. All in all a fun experience. I wish I had a better manatee picture to post but we only had an inexpensive, disposable, underwater camera and it was...well...DARK!

What is this...Rocket Science???

We have been waiting for the space shuttle to launch since Thursday. Finally at 3pm today NASA announced that the launch would take place at 3:20pm tomorrow (Sunday). I rushed over to the office and extended our stay by one day only to get back and find that in the 15 minutes I was gone the launch is now "tentative" again!

We can send a man to the moon... BUT.... well you know the rest.

If the shuttle doesn't launch tomorrow we will have to leave as we have reservations to swim with the manatees at 5:30am on Tuesday on the other side of Florida. I hope the manatees are more reliable than our space program.

Coincidence....I think not!

We decided to take a tour of the Kennedy Space Center a day before the scheduled shuttle launch. Security was high, including a metal detector and search of carried bags. Those bringing in cameras, which we both had, were required to turn them on. When Donna went to turn hers off she hit the button to take a picture by mistake causing the flash to go off. Security was immediately scrambled and they stood next to her to make sure she deleted the "out of focus" picture of the floor. BUT NOW we find that the shuttle mission has been scrubbed for today. Obviously a closer security check has turned up something in her background. Oh well, we built in one extra day here just in case but after that we will have to watch it on TV.

5th Rock from the Sun

Currently in Jupiter, Florida. This is the first week since we have been gone, that we have done absolutely nothing! No pictures to post no stories about close calls with wildlife and no death defying hikes. Each morning we go on a long walk and then swim the dog at the beach across the street. Afternoons are spent by the pool with a mai tai. I think after 6 months we are finally getting the hang of this.

When in Rome...uh...Naples

While in Naples, our closest stop to the everglades, we took a 30 mile drive down a narrow dirt road in the middle of the swamp.



At every possible stop there was...you guessed it...alligators.



Dory had to stay in the car as we were fearful of letting her out even for a moment. This was reenforced when Donna stopped by the ranger station for a map and saw a photo of a gator eating a german shepherd (the dog not the nomad). In fact one of our guides on a later trip made a point of saying that if you get out of your car, make sure to leave the doors open so you can jump back in in a hurry. No mention was made of what to do if a gator had crawled in your car while you were away.

The day before Thanksgiving we took a boat tour of the Everglades 10,000 islands.



These mangrove (not to be confused with mango) covered islands are teaming with birds dining on fish....



and Pacific bottle nosed dolphins that rode the wake of our boat and jumped out of the water...






Tomorrow we leave for the Atlantic side of Florida, ah Palm Beach...Boca Raton.... the only alligators there are on izod shirts.

Gators-Galore

Ok, we chickened out on kayaking and opted for an airboat tour. There were hundreds of birds ....ho hum... more beautiful birds in flight....



...and of course gators...



...gators....



...gators...



Each time we passed one, it would enter the water and swim towards the boat. I think our decision not to paddle in our inflatable kayaks was a wise one!