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

3/31/16 More Tucson Explorations and Jack in South Korea

Our RV Sunset View Over the Boneyard

The unusual el nino weather has left Tucson hotter and dryer than normal this winter.  Great for living outdoors which is how we spend much of our time.  Walking and biking around our RV park at Davis-Monthan Air Base base for exercise and errands keeps us in good shape.   Coyotes howl in the night and cross our paths during the day, we read lot of books and keep busy touring.  Deb, however, has had her fill of planes for a while.  The RV park overlooks the largest airplane boneyard in the world.  All branches of military have parked over 4,000 of their moth-balled aircraft, as they await being used for parts or scrap, sold, or refurbished for service again if needed.  Planes fly overhead day and night and thank you so much John for taking great pains to describe the dozens of planes displayed at the Davis-Monthan Airshow which featured aerobatics by the  fabulous Air Force Thunderbirds.  Won't miss months of 7 a.m. reveille and 5 p.m. taps blaring over the loud speakers.

Larry, Missy and John at Biosphere 2

We have sooooo enjoyed hanging out with John's Duke family (Grandma Mary Duke) cousin Missy and husband Larry for dinners, touring the artsy town of Tubac, and Biosphere 2. The unique Biosphere research facility was constructed in 1986 to research and develop self-sustaining space-colonization technology.  In early 1990's, 6 researchers set out to live in this sealed dome structure for a year, growing their own food, making oxygen and clean water but found that the systems within this 3 acre facility were not large/efficient enough to sustain life for these 6 people so the experiment had to be abandoned.  Bickering and an unexpected pregnancy added to the stress.  No experiment is a failure; much was learned.  Can you guess what Biosphere 1 is?  Earth

Desert In Bloom

We also caught up with Bob S. (from John's Navy Nuclear Power School days in early 70's and Sonalysts  in late 70's/80's) at his lovely home in Green Valley, and had great fun hiking the Santa Rita Mountain Nature Trail. We had already hiked the surrounding Tucson, Catalina and Rincon Ranges which are covered in magnificent saguaro, prickly pear, ocotillo, and cholla cactus whereas the Santa Rita's along the Mexican Border sport leafy trees and shade.  Deb collected several dead cholla branches to use as hangers for the "ghost town" glass she got in Quartzite.

 Barn Owl at Desert Museum

Harris Hawk

The drive to and tour of the 21 acre Desert Museum on the west side of the Tucson Mountains was spectacular.  We especially loved the Bird Of Prey exhibition where a falcon tucked it's wings and flew within inches of Johns face and several Harris Hawks practically touched the tops of our heads as they majestically flew among the spectators.

At the annual Tucson Rodeo, John enjoyed the horse barrel racing as he reminisced about his Dad, younger brother and sister riding in this event while he lived on his parents racing quarter horse farm in Minnesota while in high school and college.  We left after a couple of other events which clearly were not healthy for the animals involved.

Speaking of "back in the day",  a tour of the only remaining Titan Missile site brought back disturbing child hood memories of Deb's grammar school air raid drills and her Dad's submarine patrols.  John's recalled his early years in Las Vegas where his family watched A Bomb tests to see how the buildings his father (Naval Civil Engineer) constructed reacted to the blast.  Science at the time did not know radiation exposure was cumulative in the body; unknowingly subjecting thousands to unsafe levels with each successive blast. Operational from 1962 to

1983, it only took 3 years to design and build the 54 Titan missiles and silos spread out in Tucson, Witchita, and Little Rock which  is unbelievable considering the technology which had to be developed along the way.  This really boggles our minds as we get news that our condo will take another year to complete - making our little 8 condo unit building a 3 year project as well.  Really... Really.... Oh well, guess we'll just have to hang out with Jack in Hawaii for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years!

Mission San Xavier

The magnificent Mission San Xavier since 1783 stands alone in the
desert south of Tucson.  First under Spanish rule, then Mexican, and finally the U.S., the local Tohono O'odham Nation have guarded this Franciscan church for centuries.

Having finished his Naval War College Project John now spends time writing articles about military strategy that seem to be stirring up a hornets nest, in a good way.  He loves it.  

We have kept in touch with the family who took in our little grey kitty, Luna, when we left Virginia and recently received news of her passing from cancer. She was well loved and lived a particularly pampered life these last few years.  She will be missed by both families and we are happy she is at peace.

Buson Baseball Arena

Good Korean Food

The USS Chung-Hoon pulls into Buson, South Korea and we get to talk to Jack again!  Interesting times to be patrolling the waters around South Korea as North Korea launches two "test" ballistic missiles into the sea near Japan which puts Japan and our fleets on high alert.   Jack likes to eat the local fare but one time there were no menu pictures to pick from and the food that came looked so uninviting they went to McDonald's instead. Even had time to take in a baseball game! His Carrier Group joins with the S. Korean Navy which a Soul Newspaper says will practice preemptive military strikes to take out North Korean nuclear sites.  This is the largest joint exercise ever conducted by the two allied forces.

As first quarter 2016 ends, oil prices and the stock market are rebounding but diesel in Tucson is still only $1.69 a gallon, a whole lot cheaper than the over $4.00 we paid when we left Virginia in the beginning of this trip June 2014.

Although a great place to spend much of the winter, we are restless and need a change of the daily sunshine, cloudless sunrises, glorious sun sets among the surrounding mountains, hot days, and cool nights.  

2/17/16 The Great Green Fleet; Jack in Tokyo

The USS Chung-Hoon joins Carrier Strike Group 3, also known as the "Great Green Fleet", and Jack is off on a 7 month deployment. The group consists of the carrier USS John C. Stennis, along with the cruiser Mobile Bay, the destroyers Chung-Hoon,

Stockdale, and William P. Lawrence, and the fast combat support ship Rainier. Much to do in the press about this fleets reliance on an alternative fuel blend using beef fat and other energy saving strategies. Hey Jack, does the ship smell like McDonalds? One reports says the Navy has led the way in weining U.S. armed forces off a dependence on fossil fuels with this new biofuel formula costing less than traditional fossil fuel.

 

We finally find a photo of Jack on the Chung-Hoon's Facebook page.  Here he is in the orange vest between the CO and XO driving the ship up to the carrier during an "underway replenishment".  He gets his

ship close, then they shoot lines across, then transfer tons of fuel, food, equipment, mail, etc. across the lines. Driving the ship is one of Jack's favorite things to do!  

Tokyo From Jack's Hotel Room

Although Jack can email while underway,  his first port call is Tokyo where we get to see/talk to him via Facetime! He is working hard, loving his time on the sea and grateful to have a few days liberty in a beautiful hotel with a sleeping space bigger than a coffin and a change of menu.  For his last night in the hotel there were no more "foreigner" rooms which meant sleeping Japanese style on a floor mat, sitting on floor cushions, and using the facility which was just a hole in the floor.

He and some shipmates enjoyed the exercise touring for miles in and around Tokyo sampling the local fare.

Jack in Tokyo

2/15/16 Tucson For The Winter, Side Trips to Florida and Minneapolis

We settle into Tucson for the winter at Davis Montham Air Base Famcamp.  Quartzsite was a good intro to the West reminiscent of old western movies and exploring the mountains surrounding Tucson continues the feeling.  Morning weather is delightful for hiking and we learned early that trails are not always marked well so we got "off trail" which is REALLY BAD when you are a newbie in the desert surrounded by cacti of all persuasions. Bushwhacking through cacti in thin pants (thankfully we had on long pants) is pretty dumb as Deb found out when she ended up with a leg full of hair size cactus spines. Next day we took a wonderful guided walk in Sabino Canyon Park with Ranger Dan, a retired oil geologist and water engineer. Deb learned to bring "Nair" (remember stinky leg hair removal lotion from our teens?) along and slather it on when you get cactus spiked because it dissolves them!  Dan shared lots of rock puns including John's favorite for which he continually reminds Debra when she picks up a rock.  It's called "leaverite", aka "leave-er right where you found it". Ha Ha.  We came upon a couple of scat samples, Dan said you can tell fox scat from other small carnivore's as it is often on top of a rock or log and it tastes salty.  He picks up a piece and tastes it!! 

Bobcat In Tucson Spiritual Center Parking Lot

Come to find out, his assistant had gone ahead and set up a few sea salt chocolate covered almonds along side some real fox scat.  Looked very real!  He called it Fox-on-the-rocks. Found out where he buys them and are sending some to Zoe to try out on her biologist friends and to use in presentations :) Also learned that the tallest saguaro cactus in these parts are about 250 year old and die when they get too tall (about 50 feet) and fall over.  A 10 year saguaro is only 1.5 inches tall.  A 50 foot cactus can weigh 2 tons after it absorbs water from a rare rainfall. Only 11 inches a year here on average.

True Lies Club at Geri's

We are only in Tucson a few weeks before Debra sets off to the Florida Keys for her annual "True Lies Club" get together at Geri's, followed by a week with sister Sherrie in Key West.  Although the weather is a bit cooler than normal by Florida standards, much fun is had revisiting the Big Pine Flea Market, lunching at No Name Pub, and brunch on Little Palm Island with the TLC. At one of the hundreds of Tucson Gem Show venues, Deb found a handmade Afghanistan belly dancer jingly belt for Geri to wear when she teaches Zumba and she loved it!  

Sunning on Key West Beach

Had a blast riding bikes all over Key West with Sherrie, checking out President Truman's Key West White House, collecting beach treasures and sunset/bar hopping  Duval Street with thousands of other tourists. When the bartender at the Hard Rock left to check on our food, she left us in charge of the bar.  Free drinks for all!  Another time while hovering around a couple waiting for their seats, the gal says, "Oh, you want these seats? What is it worth to you?"  Sherrie whips out a stack of 2-for-1 drink cards the hotels hand out like candy; the gal does the same and the two of them begin swapping.  What a party town; it was great fun but glad we took hotel shuttle back to Ibis Bay Beach Resort before all the real crazies came out. 

Sistas

Deb was "noting" that the Florida temps were 10-15 degrees below their normal winter 80's.   Meanwhile John was in Minnesota visiting Aunt Joanne where he also was "noting" that among the snow and ice, the temperature there was -2 with windchill of 25 below zero.  OUCH!  He also visited with sister Barb and high school friends Melisa, Steve, Don and wife Carrie.  To ease Deb's conscious a bit she brought him back some big Key West Pink Shrimps.  Gonna take a lot more than that.....

Deb's View

John's View