4/26/16 Florida and Jack in Singapore

Cousins Marcus, Mark and Debra

On a river south of Tallahassee, Deb reunites with cousin Mark (and son Marcus) who she hasn't seen since childhood.  It's like being with an old friend and we can't wait to get together again soon.  

 


Further south, we find a little rustic RV park hidden in a small fishing village called Keaton Beach.  Old Pavilion RV Park turns out to be one of our most favorite stops in our Freedom Folly as our intended overnight stay turns into 3.  Cash or check only, no facilities, but quiet and the

Early Morning Moon Rise from our RV

Sunset from the Deck

nicest people ever.  Parked right on the water next to the parks deck, we enjoy watching birds, fish, crabs and the company of fellow RVers for nightly sunset cocktails.  John spends many hours fishing along the shoreline and catches a 19 inch speckled sea trout and a red fish - YUM.  Friendly kitties visit and neighbors Duane and Barb, and Chuck and Pippy Longstockings (dog) plan to reunite here again April 2018.

On to Leesburg where we spend the day with Deb's cousin Terry and family at the Mt. Dora Blueberry Festival.  So fun watching the twins play and fresh picked blueberry's were big and sweet.  Good fun was had as we visited John's sister Judy (and Bill).  While the girls went shopping, the boys went golfing and John nailed a 50 foot put from 10 feet off the green. Sounds like a fish story to me based on how he usually describes his golf outings but Bill backs him up.  We camp at rustic Griffin Lake Park with great trails and kayaking.   A dangerous coral snake crosses Deb's path on her morning walk and a photo to Zoe for confirmation comes back with this little ditty, "Red touches black safe for Jack.  Red touches yellow kills a fellow".  Don't ya just love having a wildlife ecologist in the family.

Singapore From Jack's Hotel

News headlines provide details of the continually rising tensions with the Chinese as Jack's "Great Green Fleet" patrols among shoals claimed by China in the South China and Philippine Seas.  A port call in Singapore, provides needed R&R, another beautiful hotel with an endless rooftop pool, touring and more Facetime with Jack.  John asks "hows your Mandarin", whence Jack replies, yes we have been communicating a lot with our Chinese counterparts.  Jack suspects the Chinese boats and planes that buzzed them recently were probably wondering what they were doing as they played corn hole during a "steel beach picnic" on the deck of the Chung-Hoon.  Jack got to

Sigsbee Ceremony (can't see Jack)

participate in the 21 gun salute during a ceremony honoring the ships name sake, Admiral Chung-Hoon, for his heroic actions in WWII while serving on the USS Sigsbee during a kamikaze attack.  

4/19/16 Mississippi and Alabama

Love driving on I-10 which is flat and pretty scenic once you get out of West Texas.   A morning drive into Mississippi to Davis Bayou Campground in Gulf Islands National Seashore Park and another state sticker gets added to our RV travel map. What a find this small campground nestled among dense forest beside the bayou.  We watched osprey catch and eat their dinners while kayaking among the swallows and jumping mullet.  

Gulf State Park Shore

Big winds expected later today so we depart early for the short drive to Alabama's Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores. Long late afternoon walks on the beach remind us of what we will be doing once settled into our new condo overlooking Misquamicut Beach. Of course Deb picks up pretty shells while John finds chunks of dried oil and shells coated in black.  It has been 6 years to the day since the horrific BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill devastated the flora and fauna in this part of the Gulf and the economy of nearby communities.  Oil flowed for 87 days spilling an estimated 5 million barrels. Although it looks beautiful now, oil contaminated 1,300 miles of shore line from Texas to Florida, where they continue to find significantly high levels of birth defects and low reproductive rates among fish and wildlife.

John, Linda and Steve

We visit old friends Steve and Linda I., spending the night at their lovely home in Fairhope, Alabama.  John and Steve served together on the USS Guitarro in the early 70's and we hung out with them when they moved to Connecticut in the late 70's.  We had 30 years of catching up to do and realized, crap, we are getting old!   Note the beautiful grey hair on these lovely ladies. Deb let hers grow out over the past year, deciding to get through this ugly stage while on the road and away from friends and family.  She had to cheat a little and have the front "salt" streaked with "pepper" to match the back.  


While driving near Mobile, John notes that his Great Great Grandfather (another John H.) fought in the Civil War at the Battle of Mobile Bay as part of the Minnesota 7th Infantry Regiment.  His mother gave him a 2 volume book published in 1888, "History of Minnesota Regiments in the Civil and Indian Wars", which was signed by this Grandfather.  How cool is that!

Debra's RV Workstation

It's somewhat melancholy as we add Alabama, the last state sticker to our map while on this Freedom Folly.   After this point, we will not be camping in any states we have not already visited. That leaves only Utah, Tennessee, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Alaska to explore on future folly's.  Oh yes, and Hawaii for which we will have to buy RV pontoons. 
  
Progress on the condo seems to be speeding up.  At this rate can't believe it will really take till February to finish up.  

Windows In and Deck Almost Done

4/14/16 New Orleans, Louisana

Alligator Next to RV

The roads through Louisiana to New Orleans were mostly on piers over wetlands and rivers.  Not hard to imagine what happens to southern Louisiana when oceans rise from hurricanes and global warming.  Aviation Arbor RV Park at Naval Air Station New Orleans is a lush, tranquil little park south of the city.  From the RV we enjoy listening to birds and watching ibis fish in the drain.  Several 4 foot gators are regulars but after a monsoon rain the drain doubled in size and a 6 footer swims by.  

Jazz Plays Everywhere for Free

We take a pedestrian ferry to the island city of New Orleans and jump on the Hop-On Hop-Off City Bus Tour which includes walking tours of the French Quarter, Garden District and historic Lafayette Cemetery #1.  We arrive during one of many outdoor music festivals and enjoy numerous venues walking around the historic French Quarter.  Beautifully preserved buildings as far back as late 1700's tell the story of the tumultuous Spanish, French and American blending of

Beignets, Chicory Coffee - Cafe du Monde

cultures. We enjoy beignets for breakfast, spicy creole food (crayfish quesadillas and gumbo) and the fantastic "original muffuletta" sandwich from Central Grocery and Deli.  Think fresh bread, olive salad, and layers of mortadella, salami, provolone, ham and mozzarella.   

In the mid 1800's, Americans poured into New Orleans building beautiful Victorian mansions in the Garden District to get out of the crowded city and away from the French and Spanish style

Garden District Home

buildings.  Historic Lafayette Cemetery #1 was established in early 1800's featuring above ground tombs, the norm in New Orleans due to the high water table.  We saw French's and Smith's in there.  On the other side of the district was the Irish

Typical Cemetery Tombs

Quarter where poor immigrants settled from Ireland and Germany.  John's grandfather William Cortland H., moved here from Chicago around 1930 and worked for Sloan Valve.  Uncle Gene was born here and went to Loyola Seminary which may account for why he loved to come back and visit.

Amazing that after three days of touring with several different guides, only one mentioned the horrific August 2005 Hurricane Katrina which caused $100 billion in damage, flooded 80% of the city (half of which is below sea level), killing almost 2000 people.  After massive reconstruction, the only reminder we saw was this tree house sculpture built with storm debris.  However, outside the tourist areas in poor sections of town, an estimated 25,000 abandoned homes (down from 43,000) continue to rot.  

4/8/16 Eastward Bound! Texas and Zoe in Boise

Mountain Range after Mountain Range, West Texas

John retired 4 years ago this month and we took possession of our RV, which we have had on the road for 2 of these 4 years.  Whew.....time flies when you're having fun.

  We start heading East today, planning to hang around San Antonio, hoping the past weeks of severe rain, floods, hail and tornadoes along the Gulf subsides to we can navigate safely. so good to be back on the road again as we put the Texas state sticker on our map.  We stay at Fort Bliss RV Park in El Paso, tour the Museum of Archaeology during the Poppy Festival and spend a most delightful evening with Virginia friends Elizabeth Mac., Greg and 3 year old George who has added to our daily lexicon "mistakes happen sometimes".  We just missed Hannah and Patrick who were visiting grandma :( 

Japanese Tea Garden, San Antonio

Alamo Chapel

After a very long day driving to San Antonio, we arrive at Lackland AFB FamCamp to the intoxicating smell of cut grass.  Having spent much of the Fall and Winter in the West where drought and desert climate colors everything some shade of brown, the lush green grass and forests in mid Texas make us homesick for the East.  We are happy to meet up again with RV neighbors from Tucson, Tim and Cecelia, also staying at Lackland and with a family from John's days at Camp Smith in Hawaii, Joe and Lisa D.  

 Love, love, love the hop-on hop-off double decker bus tour which gave us a great overview of this beautiful city.  In the middle of the city is the Alamo, infamous for the 1836 battle where all the Texian fighters were killed by the Mexican Army including Jim Bowie and

Lunch on San Antonio River Walk 

Davy Crockett.  It has

been tastefully preserved and presented.  So many really great things about this city...the river walk and boat ride, the very cool Scottish Rite Cathedral (Masonic Temple) with it's awesome 1920 theater, the Briscoe Museum, and the tranquil Japanese Tea Garden to name a few.   

Half of our trip to the East coast is crossing the massive state of Texas.  In Houston, rules at the fancy Advanced RV Park (not usually our style) say if the RV is dirty, you have two days to get it washed or you will be asked to leave. Get over yourself!  We kayaked in Clear Water River (maybe clear back in the day) off Galveston Bay and spent a day at the Houston Space Center.  
John loves space stuff and would have chosen Naval Aviation astronaut training had the program not been cut after we landed

Space Shuttle atop a Plane

Apollo 13's Mission Control Center

on the moon.  Although much smaller than Cape Canaveral, the movie "Our Real Journey To Mars" and touring the space shuttle and it's carrier plane were well worth the visit.  Reminded us of watching the final flight of Endeavor on it's carrier plane as it flew around the DC area in 2012.  The movie described an inflatable living area and today SpaceX launched a rocket which delivered an inflatable room experiment to the Space Station.  Also a first, this rocket returned to earth, landing on a floating platform! Sure wish SpaceX stock was public so we could buy some.

Rocket Platform Landing

P.S. Lord help us as the motley crew racing for the Presidency continue to shock and embarrass our country.  If Trump wins I am moving to Canada!


On a happier note, Zoe takes a trip to Boise, Idaho to meet with fellow team member, Carter Niemeyer. Carter, a retired federal wolf and livestock depredation expert and author "Wolfer" and "Wolf Land", has been a tremendous resource for the Washington State University's wolf project.  He works with Zoe to try and fill in lots of gaps in the statistical data sets she is analyzing for her PhD dissertation.

Zoe and Carter