Greetings from Tucson AZ.  Today we decided to put in some hours and see how far we could get.  You can tell that we are getting a bit punchy.  This morning Claudia announced that we could only talk if we exchanged the first letter of each word with the letter B.  Try it it’s not easy.  But hilarious.   Anyway that was our wake up in Texas and 10 hours later we are here at our favorite Rv park.  This is the place where we traded in our pickup and camper for a class C motorhome on our way to do some laundry.

 On this trip all I could think of was a dip in the pool and an hour in the hot tub.  That mission was accomplished and now it is time for a bowl of cereal and an early end to a long day.

Tomorrow we will sleep in as our final destination is only 3 hours away.  Good old Happy Trails...our home away from home.

March 31, 2012

Well, guys, this seems to be the end of our adventure.  We had a ball exploring new places and new cultures.  It is just mind boggling the immense  size of our country and it’s diversity.  It is pretty humbling as not everyone thinks the way we do, talks the way we do, dresses the way we do, etc.  

The one thing that we all have in common is our independence.  This is especially true in the deep South.  In fact the Mississippi state flag has the rebel flag as part of it’s design.  Talk about independence!

This is the third day that we have been “home” here in Surprise and we are still exhausted.  Rv travel is exhausting and exhilarating at the same time.  About all we have done is sleep since we got back.

I suspect that when we add it all up the cost isn’t much different from flying to a destination, eating out, and sightseeing.  The big difference in the two modes of travel is that we had our own bed to sleep in each night and that was a real blessing.  

The one common theme of every day is that we wished that each and every one of you could have been with us.  Hopefully this little blog gave you a glimpse into our experience on the road.  After all “this is living.”

Love to all

Grandpa

Greetings from Balmorhea, Texas.  We have been traveling the last two days through Texas.  Big state!  Yesterday we started from Vicksburg, MS and drove 300+ miles to the west side of Dallas/Fort Worth where we stayed the night in the nicest Rv park of the trip.  Nice trees, grassy areas and paved sites.  And hardly any work campers.  It was obviously a place for traveling Rvr’s.

We wanted to get through Dallas on a Sunday as the traffic is legendary around the twin cities.  Not bad on the weekend.

Yesterday the entire trip reminded me of Oregon.  The trees were very green and the roadside landscaping was always grass with wild flowers.  The Texas Blue Bonnets were in full bloom with whole hillsides in a blaze of blue.  There were many stretches of I 20 where people were parked alongside the freeway and taking pictures of the flowers.  I thought it was really dangerous but it apparently is something they take in stride every spring.

This morning we got an early start as the weatherman forecast windy conditions.  And windy it was but we pressed on.  The landscape is totally different in central/west Texas.  It was really dry and dusty.  

It looked like Midland, Tx is booming with employment.  It’s all about oil.  From exploration to refining it to removing it from shale.  We stopped at Odessa for lunch and fuel and the place was full of workers on their lunch break.  I want to learn more about what is going on in this area.

Pres. Bush has a presidential museum outside of Midland and there is an oil museum there as well.  There is lots of money being spent and made in the oil business and politically it will be impossible to make any major changes in our energy policy.

Although just before we got to Midland we passed a huge wind energy farm that spread for miles.  It made the windmills in the gorge look like playthings.  Both in numbers and size.

We have stayed at Balmorhea state park a couple of times in our travels to so. Texas.  It is a historical place where the native indians first found springs in the hills.  They used their ingenuity to irrigate the land where they cultivated corn and other crops.  Today there is a large swimming pool and surrounding activities for the locals to enjoy.  The Rv section is very nice.

Tomorrow we will get through El Paso in the AM and then make our way into New Mexico.  We are making good time but still feel that we are able to “smell the roses” on the way.

Love

Grandpa

Today we spent our time touring the city of Vicksburg.  We first visited the welcome center and got an idea how the city is laid out.  When we got to main street we were pleasantly amazed at the music that was playing.  I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from and finally realized that the city had installed in- ground speakers the entire length of Main St.  I was in heaven as they were playing the coolest jazz/blues music.  After all Mississippi is the birth of the blues.

The city’s main claim is it is the site of a major battle during the civil war  which pretty  much decided the fate of our nation in 1863.  There were fierce naval battles on the Mississippi river and a horrendous land battle that ended in a stalemate.  The north (Union) laid siege to the city and the south (Confederates) held out for 47 days before surrendering.  Leo you would have been in hog heaven being here because of your interest in things involving the Civil War.  Wish you could have been here with us.

Prior to the war Vicksburg was a center for the southern aristocracy whose wealth was based on cotton and lumber.  Thus the many beautiful homes on the streets surrounding the city.  We had hoped to tour at least one of these homes but most are now restored as B&Bs.  We got some good pictures however.

The old court house was a beautiful structure (circa 1858) and was the site of Jefferson Davis’s last speech before he was removed as the President of the Confederacy.

The more I read and observe in this southern region the more I am convinced that cotton farming was the root of all evils for our nation.  It must have been unbelievably profitable but in order to harvest their product they needed cheap labor and that’s where  the scourge of slavery started.  Such a sad chapter in our nation’s history.

In some ways some of this is still going on.  All through Alabama we saw one large co. after another with manuf. plants.  Mercedes Benz and Nissan for example have operations in this area.  Also chemical companies are prevalent.  My sense is that it is all about cheap labor.  There doesn’t appear to be a middle class down here.  Just the workers on the bottom and management on the top driving their Escalades and Porsches.  On our travels through Baton Rouge there was the biggest BMW dealership that I have ever seen.  That tells you something.

Well enough of that.  Tomorrow will be a long day as we will cross Louisiana  and start our crossing of Texas.  Since it will be Sunday we hope to get through Dallas/Fort Worth before the work week starts.  That should be a 350-400 mile trip.  Wish us luck.

Today we had our final punch list of service items completed and by 9:30 this A.M. we headed out from Red Bay, Alabama.  We had a great stay but we had the itch to head out once again.  Because of storms that were predicted along I-40 we decided to take a more southerly route.  So we went basically from the NE corner of Mississippi (Red Bay, AL is right on the border) to the SW corner of MS.  We travelled around 340 miles.

We were going to bust right through and put long hours driving west towards Happy Trails in Surprise, AZ.  But we decided to land here in Vicksburg which is on the Mississippi river

The town is famous for it’s Civil War past.   On this trip we haven’t paid much attention to  Civil War history but the South is right in the heart of most of the troubles.  We’ll report more on what we see in tomorrow’s blog.

Lots of driving and not much to talk about.  Except for something that I have observed occasionally behind the wheel and that is the waving habits of men in pickups we have encountered.  In Texas if we were on a rural road the style of wave was a kind of “boy howdy”.  A full hand wave with a typical Texas type of exuberance.

In LA and especially Al I would have to call the style a “finger wave.”  That is right hand always on top of the wheel and just a subtle and relaxed index finger salute.  It’s always nice to get a friendly acknowledgement on a lonely road.

It is full on spring time down here in the South.  All of the deciduous trees are leafed out and  the various greens we have encountered are just stunning.  In many ways the landscape reminds me a lot of Oregon.  We have included a shot through our bug smeared windshield.

Erik, thanks for including us in your day on the mountain.  This smart phone business just amazes me.  Mom just loves her IPhone and it was great to get multiple “whohas” from you...that’s the sound her phone makes when you text her.

Bye for now

Grandpa

A quick update for today.  We finally got in to have some small warranty items repaired.  They assign 3 technicians for three hours per rv and today we had one hour of service.  First thing tomorrow we will get the additional 2 hours to finish out our punch list.  Just little annoying things like:  stuck shower door,  front door seems to be acting up, cabinet door that exploded on us in the humidity in So. Texas and so on.

I checked on the repair work of the shark bit motorhome and they already have a complete front end cap installed and are installing hardware like mirrors and lights.  Just amazing what these techs can do.

When we were sitting in the waiting room a couple came in with pictures of their coach.  They had it towed 300 miles to Red Bay as the complete electrical systems were torched by a lightning bolt that hit a tree next to them in a campground.  The bolt destroyed a pine tree and travelled through the ground to his Rv where it followed the electrical service box into his systems.  It fried everything including the wiring in his big diesel engine.  He figures the tow alone would cost his insurance company over $3,000.   The overall bill is approaching $30 grand +.  All covered by his comprehensive insurance coverage.

We should be pulling out of here tomorrow at noon and hope to make Jackson, Miss. before dark.  We’ll keep you posted.

Here is a pic of Grandma relaxing before night night.

Love

Grandpa 

Hi, Everyone.  We are still in Red Bay, Al waiting in line to get some warranty work done.  We were able to get a window replaced with one that opens.  Apparently new rules for motorhomes require an emergency window that opens for fast exit but can’t be used daily.  Tiffin said that they could sell us a new window assembly but they couldn’t install it.  But across the street there was an independent that could do it.

While I was at the indepent shop I talked to an owner of a coach that looked like a shark bit off half of the front end.  He was driving up from Dallas, Tx at night and a deer jumped out from the median and ran right into him.  Major damage to the front end cap.  His insurance co. will have to pay for a complete front end plus all new paint.  It is a really big job but the job will be finished in four days.

The company makes their front and rear end caps in Mississippi and his will be here in a day and a half.  This is the main reason why we traded motorhomes as our old unit was manufactured by a co. that is now out of business.  Who knows where a replacement part could be found.  This co. can manuf. any part for  their motorhomes going back to 1980!  

We took a tour of the manufacturing plant where they complete and ship 11 new units each day.  I have never seen such dedication to getting things right the first time.  I’ll put a couple of pictures on that show how these things are put together.

We have been watching the weather forecast closely as the storm that originated in your neck of the woods is right over New Orleans and moving our way.  We are hoping to be out of here in the next couple of days so hopefully we’ll miss the storm all together.

We had lunch at a BBQ joint today for lunch and it was fantastic.  We are addicted to sweet tea.  We split a pulled pork sandwich (on white bread of course) with potato salad .  Both to die for.

Sorry that there is not much excitement to report.  We are just sitting here with at least 100 of our best friends waiting to get into service.  There are 58 service bays that are constantly moving vehicles in and out.  Very impressive.

This morning around 8:00 there was a huge bang outside and all of the workers that heard it ran outside to see what was going on.  I heard one guy say “ I thought that we were going to be “keeled.”  Such is the continuing trouble understanding the language down here.

The noise came from a blown transformer servicing the park where we are all staying.

Bye for now.

Grandpa

We had some fun yesterday as we decided to leave the Gulf and head north.  We got a bit mixed up (my fault) and took some back roads heading to our destination here at Red Bay, AL.  Because of the slow going on mostly rural roads we stayed last night at Tuscaloosa.  We couldn’t find any Rv parks in the city and it was too warm to stay at Walmart so we found online a park outside of Tusc.  It had a nice website and looked nice on the computer.  But when we arrived it was kind of overgrown and a bit sketchy.  

It turned out fine as it was really quiet.  The park manager (toothless) mentioned that we should keep Andie on a leash as his brother across the field and in the trees raised fighting roosters and they were protected by Pitt Bulls. 

Right off the bat we had no power in our 50 amp hookup so the manager had to call his maintenance man to trouble shoot.  He got us going but I asked him why they didn’t have breakers at the box.  He said it was because of “aints!”  I’ll let you figure that one out.   He didn’t have any teeth either.

It’s a different world here in the South.  We stopped for lunch at a Subway and for the life of me I couldn’t understand what the lady was saying.  I just gave her a $20 and let her make change all the while she was talking in a foreign language.

We have never seen so many churches.  Mostly they seemed to be Baptist churches and a few Methodist operations thrown in for good measure.  Simply amazing. But we did the math and decided that a little town of say 3000 souls could fill up several churches since there must be some kind of mandatory church rule down here.  Claudia counted 7 churches in a town with a population of 5,000.

Today’s journey was  beautiful with mostly pine forests and hardwood deciduous trees along the highway corridor.  There was one stretch of highway that had pond after pond for as far as you could see.  I thought that it might be rice farming but we spotted a sign that solved the mystery.  They were commercial catfish farms.

Dogwood trees are in full bloom as are azaleas. Purple wisteria seems to bloom in the wild and is really beautiful.  All of this is unseasonably early as the locals said that normal temperatures are usually in the sixties.  Today it was 82.

Here are a couple of pictures of the Tiffin (our coach manufacturer) repair facility where we are today.  We want to get a few things fixed and tour the factory.  More on that in the days to come.

I’ll be loving you.

Grandpa