Apr 1, 2013 - April Fool's Day

April 1 today and it was a beauty. Donna spent a few minutes doing our finances (minutes instead of the hours it used to take - thank you Caroline!) and we are still about as broke as we were last month! Actually it appears the holiday is costing less than expected and we helped that cause today as we left our wallets at home for a day of lounging around, first at the beach then finishing off the afternoon perched on a chaise poolside. The pool is unheated - so a little bit chilly says Donna and f***ing cold according to the rest of the...

Mar 31, 2013 - hanging on to the sun

HAPPY EASTER, everyone!!!!!!!!!!!! During our much anticipated phone call to Comox last night we were told that the weather on the island was at least 20 degrees and Dallyn even mentioned that he was wearing shorts in celebration of the wonderfully warm days. So it seems that Easter weekend has been nice up north and down south. We woke to blue, sunny skies this morning which was unexpected as there have been threats of thunder storms heading our way. But today was beautiful so we took advantage of the sun and had a nice long bike ride on...

Mar 30, 2013 - missing Helen's dinner - booooo!

A beautiful beach morning so Donna got our laundry started then headed out for a long run while I hung around the laundry chatting to campers who had wintered here. This place charges $450 a month so many folks spend their whole winter here and have formed bike riding and hiking clubs which you can join if you wish. I always thought there was too much to see to stay put in one place but my lovely navigator thinks a month here would be great so we will see. The down side is that it is not quite as warm as we would like (they say mid to high...

Mar 29, 2013 - 'Bama bound

An early blastoff this morning as we headed west for Alabama. After a day of cruising a complicated (to all but the navigator) selection of the back roads of Georgia we crossed into Alabama making it as far as Dothan. Georgia was very rural with many small villages and dozens of churches scattered across what looked like farming and logging area. There were a lot of swampy areas as well and really not a place the navigator is interested in re-visiting. Being a minister, preacher, father or rabbi in the states seems to be the best career...

Feb 22, 2013 - A Beautiful Beach Day

Weatherman said it would be cloudy this morning with a 50% chance of rain increasing to 60% this afternoon. If you look closely at the pictures, you will note that that 50% fell on us quite a bit. We went to Gulf Shores with a picnic lunch and could barely see the Gulf or the bay. Downpour may not adequately describe what we were in. We had our picnic in the truck and decided that we needed to do some grocery shopping before dinner, so we again found ourselves in Bon Secour chatting with the folks at Billy's. Yep, some Royal Reds are in...

Feb 16, 2013 - Flying away in the wind

The wind was brutal today, 20-28 mph, generally in our faces. But it was most often at about the 2 o'clock direction, so we could not ride a paceline and get a draft effect. One bridge was angled so that the wind was from about the 4 o'clock position, which helped get us up the bridge, but the gusts threatened to blow us into traffic or off the bridge! White knuckles!! On the other bridge, I gave up and walked, while getting sandblasted. Thank goodness it was a fairly short mileage day. We saw our first green flag, for quiet surf...

Feb 13, 2013 - Getting ready for a long trip on the highway

Well, friends, it is the day after Fat Tuesday, my suitcase is packed, I have some books in a bag, the gas tank and oil are topped off in my little Ford Fiesta, and I am ready to roll down the highway - it is 560 miles from here to Savannah!

Jan 28, 2013 - Dauphin Island

A wonderful start to the day! Great coffee and yummies for breakfast! We stopped at Sugar Rush on the way out of town. No, seriously, that was the name of the terrific bakery in Bayou La Batre! We spent the next two hours on a nice quiet road, working off the calories. It is Mardi Gras season down here. Nearby Mobile already had a couple of parades. And we see the beads spread along the road for many miles. In the photo showing the beads, John is looking at the ditch in front of him. We are pretty sure we are looking at evidence of the...

Jan 7, 2013 - Interior photos of our "Near da Beach" duplex

Finally - since several people have asked what the inside of the duplex looks like - we have most(not all) of our photos and pictures hung in the duplex and have set up furniture where we want it, so I finally took some photos for those hwo are interested. we have not hung any of our family photos yet, so those are stacked in the den/office and guest room until we decide where to hang them. We have two dining room chairs that are broken and need repair so they are sitting in the office area of the den/office for now. They are "on our list"...

Dec 16, 2012 - Time To Leave Coastal Alabama

From Gulf Breeze RV Resort – Gulf Shores, AL Spending our final day in this beautiful Gulf Coast area of Alabama………where did the last 57 days go?.......they for sure went by way too fast! We said our goodbyes to the small group of HitchHiker friends in this park earlier this evening. If not for missing our children and a few good friends in our “home base” park area in Texas we could easily stay here another 2 or 3 months joining the other “snowbird” or “winter” visitors to this area each year. Since our last post we have just taken time...

Dec 16, 2012 - Gulf Shores, AL

Traveling to the state park in Gulf Shores, Alabama was the longest drive we have made so far at 278 miles and almost 6 hours. We made a couple of rest stops. Six hours is a long drive in a rig our size for an amateur driver. Even though it is getting easier with all the miles of experience, it is still a challenge and fatiguing, and requires a lot more attention than steering a little car around. We seldom exceed 60 mph and often travel at 50 or 55mph, depending on whether we are in a city where the speed limit is 55 or out in open...

Dec 11, 2012 - Day 149 - Gulf Shores, Alabama

Today is a cool dull day. It was only 6 degrees when Garry got up this morning. The locals are complaining loudly. I made use of their fabulous laundry facility and then we headed in town. We got our necessary shopping done and then decided to see a movie. The theatre was showing Skyfall, the new James Bond flick, that we wanted to see. We got a pleasant surprise at the box office; because we were over 55 we got in for $7.00 each, and then there was a senior's concession deal, small popcorn and drink for $4.25. So we got in and ate for less...