Lakeside

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First Time Visiting a Plantation

Let me start by saying Lee and I in no way wish to glamorize what life in the plantation system was like.  But it is part of our history and since I love old houses and antebellum architecture it was on both of our must-do lists.  There are numerous plantations in Louisiana available to tour, but they all have different rules and Lee settled on Oak Alley because it allowed both inside photography and free roaming tours of the grounds.  Oak Alley  has the look of the quintessential plantation with a beautiful line of 28 300 year old oak trees along what used to be the driveway from the main road along the Mississippi.  The trees alone are worth the visit and despite the $20 entrance fee it did not disappoint. It did get more crowded though as the day wore on, so if you want to get people free pics of the house, I definitely recommend getting there early.  The first thing we did upon arrival was go to the trees and we took some pics of the house, in between people wandering through. 

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You simply cannot take a bad picture here!  Next we decided to take the house tour and I am glad we took this early.  Despite the relatively small crowds the group was still pretty large and at times we had difficulty hearing the tour guide.  The staff dresses in traditional costumes and were very knowledgeable about the plantation and the area.  One interesting thing was that about half of our group was African-American. I think we were all a little tense about the subject matter in the beginning, but the tour guide did an outstanding job of factually dealing with the role slavery played in plantation life.  She was very careful to make it clear what work was done by the slave population and her tone was direct and historically accurate.  I watched the black families on the tour to see their reaction and eventually they relaxed which made me relax.  I gave them huge credit for sharing the experience with their children, because it is such an important part of their history and the kids seemed pretty sanguine about the whole thing.

The Creole Plantation owner

The Creole (born in America but of french descent) Plantation owner

And his wife

And his wife

These pots were used to catch flies and had handkerchiefs covering them

These pots were used to catch flies and had handkerchiefs covering them

The large fan above the dining table was pulled by a slave during dinner to keep flies off the food

The large fan above the dining table was pulled by a slave during dinner to keep flies off the food

All the beds had mosquito netting

All the beds had mosquito netting

As did the childrens quarters. They also had a full time slave in their room at night to keep flies, mosquitos, and animals away from them as the doors were left open and they had no screens

As did the childrens quarters. They also had a full time slave in their room at night to keep flies, mosquitos, and animals away from them as the doors were left open and they had no screens

Loved the master bedroom. The furniture is from the time period but not original to the house which they were very upfront about

Loved the master bedroom. The furniture is from the time period but not original to the house which they were very upfront about

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I was surprised by how small the inside living are of the house was.  Although the celilngs were all 13 feet tall to help with controlling the heat, the rooms themselves were smaller than we expected. The upstairs only had four bedrooms and was “all porch”.  I was unable to get the dimensions of porch versus rooms, but it was at last 1/3 of the available space. We were able to go out on the second floor porch though, and that was amazing. You may recognize the view from the movie “Interview with a Vampire”, which is one of the many TV shows and movies that have been shot here.

The view from the porch

The view from the porch

Loved the architecture

Loved the architecture

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After the tour, we went down on the front lawn and walked down to take some pictures.  Never could get a shot completely people free, but took some nice ones.  I loved, loved the oak trees and we could spend as much time as we wanted wandering among them, which not every plantation allows you to do.

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Huge roots growing from the trees

Huge roots growing from the trees

HEre's me in the shot to give you some perspective of how huge they were

Here’s me in the shot to give you some perspective of how huge they were

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After taking our pictures we took a lunch break and found a lovely place in the gardens to eat.  Well, it was lovely and then we were invaded by a huge group of school kids.  Actually they were extremely well behaved and very nice group of kids, but it would have been nice to have the spot to ourselves.

Beautiful flowers in the gardens

Beautiful flowers in the gardens

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Our lunch spot

Our lunch spot

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Then the kids came :)

Then the kids came 🙂

After we ate lunch, we toured the slave cabin area.  The original cabins were destroyed, but the re-creations were built after extensive research and this area of the plantation was extremely well done.  They personalized the cabins by talking about the experiences of some of the slaves who lived in the originals (using records and documentation) and gave what I felt was an accurate portrayal.  They also dedicated one whole wall with the names of the slaves who had worked on the plantation, which I thought was very well done.

Slave row

Slave row

One of the cabins

One of the cabins

The bed and uniform of one of the house slaves

The bed and uniform of one of the house slaves

Versus the bed and clothes of one of the field slaves who raised numerous children in this one room

Versus the bed and clothes of one of the field slaves who raised numerous children in this one room

A great write-up on the discovery of one of the slaves who developed a strain of pecan

A great write-up on the discovery of one of the slaves who developed  the first strain of papershell pecan that won an award.  It was clear, however, that his owner received all the credit

The wall where the names of the slaves were memorialized

The wall where the names of the slaves were memorialized

A map showing the concentration of slaves in the Confedercy. The darker colors had more slaves and many counties had none at all

A map showing the concentration of slaves in the Confedercy. The darker colors had more slaves and many counties had none at all

The history of the tignon was interesting as well, which free women of color were required to wear

The history of the tignon was interesting as well, which free women of color were required to wear

We loved the whole experience and the only weird note of the day was a small tent where an employee dressed as a confederate soldier talked about the war.  He had strong opinions on the war and Louisiana in general, which he stated “was one of the few places you could still live as an American. ”  What was odd was he was originally born in Berkeley, CA, moved here 8 years ago and actually found a piece of land and homesteaded it, so he will never have to pay taxes.  I found the history interesting, but could have skipped the lecture on the state of our country.

The confederate soldier

The confederate soldier

A general's tent

A general’s tent

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We also watched a really great short movie about sugar cane production.  The plantation is a working sugar cane farm and the movie was really informative.  And they had a young kid doing blacksmithing demonstrations which we loved.  He sold his work for tip money and we ended up buying two of his pieces (for $5 each) because we liked them and him so much.  Oh, and the gift shop was really good.  Lots of unique items (although not much was produced locally so watch out for that) and I ended up buying some Swamp Pop which is cane sugar flavored pop with pecans.  Wow super sweet.

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Blacksmithing has some similarities to glass blowing

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We ended up buying the hook with a nail and a bottle opener

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All the nails were made by hand in the 1800’s. He cranked one out in a couple of minutes, but think about the labor involved in making nails only

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Locally made in Louisiana

So even though it is more than we usually spend, I highly recommend a plantation tour and Oak Alley in particular.  Just go there during the week, get there early, and take your pictures of the house first!

The next day Dave and Sharon came into the park and we also invited Pat and Bridget and we had a wonderful time.  I wanted to return the favor on all of Bridget’s food and stretched myself by making Crab Stuffed Cod.  Everyone really liked it, so I am including the recipe here.  This is what it’s all about . Nothing beats good food, good friends, and a great campfire!

Setting the table

Setting the table

Crab-stuffed sole, green beans, and little potatoes

Crab-stuffed cod, green beans, and little potatoes

Sharon wathcing Bridget cutting her sweet potato and pecan pie

Sharon watching Bridget cutting her sweet potato and pecan pie

Pat, Bridget, Sharon, David, me, and Lee

Pat, Bridget, Sharon, David, me, and Lee

Recipe

Crab-Stuffed Cod

  • 4 Cod, Sole, Haddock, or Flounder fillets Costco sells Wild Caught North Atlantic Cod which is delicious
  • 1 cup soft bread crumbs
  • 1 cup crab meat fresh if available or canned if not
  • 1 small yellow or red onion; finely chopped
  • 1 egg; lightly beaten
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Dash cayenne pepper
  • 3 TBL butter ; melted and divided
  • 1 TBL flour
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth (low sodium)
  • Grated Parmesan cheese from the deli
  1.  In a bowl combine bread crumbs. crab, onion, egg, salt, and cayenne
  2. Mix well
  3. Spoon onto middle of underside of fillet then roll both ends up and secure with two wooden spears or toothpicks Most grocery stores sell a wooden skewer about double the length of the toothpick which I used
  4. Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes in a greased pan until fish flakes easily with a fork; drizzle with 2 TBL of butter prior to baking
  5. Place remaining butter in a saucepan, stir in flour until smooth.  Gradually add broth, stirring and cook and stir for 2 minutes until thick and bubbly
  6. Drain liquid from baking dish and then spoon sauce over fillets
  7. Put Parmesan cheese on fillets and broil for 3-5 minutes until cheese is meted and lightly browned
  8. Remove toothpicks and serve
Crab Stuffed Sole

Crab Stuffed Sole

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First Time in N’Awlins

Lee and I are not really “big city” people, but through our lives we have visited most of the major ones with the exception of New Orleans.  So when we changed out plans to meet up with Dave and Sharon in Bayou Segnette State Park, 30 miles away from the city,  we knew we would take at least one day there.   I had heard about the park from Kelly and Bill who in turn learned about it from Deb and Steve and wow, was it a great choice.  At $28 a night it was a little on the high side, especially considering there’s no sewer hookup (there IS a dump station) but the park and campground itself are very nice.  They have free Wifi (pretty weak signal), large sites, and numerous other features including free laundry, wave pool (opens after Memorial Day), nature walks, marina, and bath houses.  Since it was only 1 hour from Pat and Bridget’s we arrived pretty early, dumped, and settled into our site (130) which backs up into some swamp.   This time of year the weather has been absolutely beautiful, high of 80’s in the day with cool nights and relatively low humidity so we sat outside and listened to all the noise on the bayou.  Crickets, cicadas, frogs and tons of birds chorused us in the mornings and at nights and after hearing lots of rustling in the trees behind us we discovered a beautiful nesting pair of Yellow-crowned night herons, which we spent quite a bit of time taking pictures (through pretty dense foliage) in our “back yard.”

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Night herons live in the trees during the daytime and come down to feed at night

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Looks like a totally different bird with the neck elongated (Lee’s pic)

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And they look different again when they “puff” up (Lee’s pic)

Sunday, we spent the day in the park just hanging out and it was immaculately tended with the only exception being our fire ring.  Once again we had some trash in it (two beer cans and a piece of rope)  and unfortunately when I reached in to pick up a beer can to clean it out the beer can was full of fire ants which swarmed me!!  I have been VERY careful about fire ants as we travel, meticulously avoiding their dirt mound nests, but I just didn’t see them on the can.  So I was bit, several times, which was a first and for those who haven’t experienced it…not fun.  They are tiny, bite hard, and some of the bites quickly form a small blister which itches and hurts.  Luckily, I got most of them off me quickly, but did end up with some swelling on my hand and a particularly nasty bite on the top of my foot which was still slightly swollen three days later.  I called Bridget (who taught biology and chemistry and lives in the area) and she told me the quick swelling was normal and to use a topical analgesic to help with the itchiness and stinging.  She also made sure I wasn’t having too severe a reaction (which I wasn’t), since occasionally people do.  Anyway, I was fine, but wanted to mention it since if you are from the north (like we are) it is probably not something you are very familiar with. The thing to look for are mounds of dirt or sand with teeny, tiny red ants in them or in this case, be careful of trash lying on the ground.

We planned our visit to NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) very carefully on Sunday.  There is a ferry that crosses into the city, not that far from us, and most people park there ($5 on regular days and more during special events), ride the ferry ($2 per person), and then walk or take the trolley once they hit the city.  We could have taken this route, but instead chose to drive.  (I think if I went again I would take the ferry instead, since everything you want to see is relatively close together and the experience of the ferry and trolley would have been fun in and of themselves.)   Knowing parking would be a challenge, we decided to leave early Monday morning in the hopes that it would not be a busy day.  It was a good call.  We got downtown around 9:30 and found some free parking on the street in our first stop, The Garden District.  It is unlikely though we would have found that parking, especially for our truck, later in the day. Then we moved the truck down closer to the french quarter and again, because it was early, found a spot but it cost us $25 for 9 hours.  Not terrible by big city standards but not cheap either.

The ferry looked really nice

The ferry looked really nice and fun

The trolley was cool

The trolley was cool

The parking lot we ended up being in. There were still several spots around 10:30 but it was completely full at 2 when we went back to get our truck

The parking lot we ended up being in. There were still several spots around 10:30am but it was completely full at 2pm when we went back to get our truck

We wanted to start at the Garden District rather than just hit Bourbon street, because I wanted to see the area Anne Rice had written about.  We have visited many places our favorite writers used as backdrops over the years, Bangor, ME (Stephen King), Prince Edward Islands (Anne of Green Gables series), and more recently Charleston, SC (Pat Conroy) and it rarely disappoints.  A good writer can really make you feel like you know a place already and I felt like I knew the Garden district through her writing.  Since Anne Rice writes about vampires, the very first thing I wanted to see was one of the old cemeteries.  I wasn’t particular about which one, and with sheer dumb luck we ended up parked on the street right next to Lafayette Cemetery Number 1 right outside the garden district.  We have visited numerous graveyards during our travels, but I have never felt as unsettled in one as I did in New Orleans.  They are extremely old, above ground, and the walls surrounding them have bodies in them as well.  Let me just say I am glad we weren’t there at night.  Everyone should see them at least once, but we didn’t linger.

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Each square in the wall contains remains

I was happy to see some of the older graves were being restored by SOC (Save our Cemeteries)

I was happy to see some of the older graves were being restored by SOC (Save our Cemeteries)’

And a few of the oldest ones were in amazing condition still.

And a few of the oldest ones were in amazing condition still.  Generations of  families are often buried in these crypts.

After the cemetery we walked around the Garden District.  I definitely recommend it, but it was nowhere near as cool as Charleston, even on the side streets which we spent most of our time on.  Many of the older homes on St. Charles have been torn down and replaced by condos and what it was really missing was the elaborate gardens of Charleston.  Still it was a pleasant walk and we did get to see Anne Rice’s old house which is now owned by a convent.

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Here is an example of a small house that was sold and the sign shows what they are replacing it with

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I did like the wrought iron fences

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A few of the old homes had historic plaques with who lived there, but again much less than in Charleston. If you really want to get into the history you need to take a tour or do some extensive research

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One of the few houses that had a large garden

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The oak trees were beautiful and as you can see have done some damage on the sidewalks. Wear good walking shoes.

One of the coolest things we saw was this bird attack a cat! NEver seen that before and it's not a great pic but this bird was not messing around. The cat was pretty nonchalant about the whole thing

One of the coolest things we saw was this bird attack a cat! Never seen that before and it’s not a great pic but this bird was not messing around. The cat was pretty nonchalant about the whole thing, but did move away

After finding parking, we started to aimlessly wander heading vaguely towards Jackson Square.  Normally I do a ton of research, but since I was just trying to get the feel of the place intentionally did not.  Plus from the way people talk about it it’s all good food and good music.  I would say this was not the best approach.  I wish I would have been more targeted about what I wanted to see, because it was a lot of walking and the different sections of the French Quarter are very different.  I also think I missed a whole chunk with this approach, which kind of bums me out since I don’t think we will be in a hurry to go back anytime soon.

Jackson Square itself was great though.  Tons of street artists, a beautiful catholic church which you could go into, and lots of shops and restaurants.  We liked it early in the day, but when we returned later in the day it was uncomfortably packed with people.  Cruise ships are landing in New Orleans now and we saw lots of big tour groups along with so many visitors for a Monday!  Still I thought it was neat and liked the vibe.

Jackson Square statue

Jackson Square statue

The garedens were pretty

The flowers were pretty

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Cafe Du Monde where the line was super long throughout the day with people waiting to get beignets.

Cafe Du Monde where the line was super long throughout the day with people waiting to get beignets.

Lots of fortune tellers in the square

Lots of fortune tellers in the square

 

This guy was talking about how well trained his bird was and right on queue it bit him. Cracked me up

This guy was talking about how well trained his bird was and right on cue it bit him. Cracked me up

A Popeye's chicken commercial was being filmed in Jackson Square which was cool

A Popeye’s chicken commercial was being filmed in Jackson Square which was cool

Cool little shops with unique items

Cool little shops with unique items

I loved the masks they were beautiful

I loved the masks they were beautiful

I bought this magnet because it made me think of Pat and Bridget

I bought this magnet because it made me think of Pat and Bridget

Loved the street art

Loved the street art

St. Louis Cathedral and the square

St. Louis Cathedral and the square

The St. Louis Cathedral is the oldest continual use church in the US

The St. Louis Cathedral is the oldest continual use cathedral in the US

The ceilings were amazing

The ceilings were amazing

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Beautiful wooden pews

Beautiful wooden pews

Loved the pulpit

Loved the pulpit

Statue of the King of France

Statue of the King of France

The stained glass was some of the best I have ever seen

The stained glass was some of the best I have ever seen

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Beautiful statue of Mary

Beautiful statue of Mary

I lit a candle for our grandmothers and Bridget's Mom

I lit a candle for our grandmothers and Bridget’s Mom.  Bridget told me later that when her Mom was sick she watched mass daily on a local  broadcast from the cathedral

After seeing the square, we wandered off down some side streets and some of them we really liked.  The alleys are narrow and most places have second story balconies so there is always shade and lots going on.  We saw several street musicians, mostly young kids, but none of the classic jazz music I had heard about.  Could have been the time of day, where we were, or the proximity to the music festival, but it was definitely not what I thought it would be.  Research would have helped in this case, but it was fun and I like the flowers.

Lots of narrow streets

Lots of narrow streets

Some of the hanging gardens were beautiful

Some of the hanging gardens were beautiful, but most were not well kept

Street musicians

Street musicians

I almost bought a shirt that said this

I almost bought a shirt that said this

But chose this one instead :)

But chose this one instead :).  It says Bourbon Street on the front

Ah Bourbon Street.  Well first off let me say if you visit New Orleans and go straight to Bourbon street and then leave you are really doing yourself a disservice.  I really didn’t like Bourbon Street at all.  It’s a particularly narrow street and the smell of garbage, even on a relatively cool day, was over powering.  I can’t imagine it jam packed with people, because my claustrophobia really kicked in.  It looks and feels like a bar street in a college town and it’s really not our thing.  The only thing a little neat about it was a couple of “Voo Doo” shops, but we spent as little time on that street as possible.

Had to get a picture of the sign

Had to get a picture of the sign

Funny guy at a Voo Doo shop

Funny guy at a Voo Doo shop

This boss doll cracked me up

This boss doll cracked me up

By this time we were hungry but the section we were in didn’t look like it had places I would want to eat end.  I had read you can’t eat a bad meal in New Orleans but that really isn’t true, and we should definitely have researched a place to eat lunch.  We ended up back in Jackson Square and ate at Monty’s on the Square. 

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The table was nice with a view of the square

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The fries were ok. Bacon was great, roast beef unnecessary. I liked the plain cajun fries much better

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Lee’s roast beef sandwich was a huge disappointment …no flavor at all

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My deconstructed bacon wrapped shrimp was both pretty and delicious. It had a bourbon jam that was good and was on a fried biscuit

So the New Orleans meal I had been wanting to eat did not live up to it’s press.  The service however was outstanding and you couldn’t beat the location and at $40 it was reasonably priced for a city meal.  Definitely worth a return visit at some point to one of the better reviewed restaurants in the area, but I would definitely go with someone who ate there frequently.  After lunch the streets were really getting busy so we decided to wander back to the car.  Huge crowds are definitely not our thing and turned the charming features of the narrow streets into a bit of a claustrophobic mess.  As we were walking out, we went up on the hill behind the square and looked into the water.  That was pretty and we saw New Orleans Famous Beignets which did not have a huge line.  Have to do it right, and boy are we happy we did.  It was cash only, $3 for three big beignets and they were hot and really delicious.  Watching Lee eat them was a food porn experience and one of the best parts of the day 🙂

The little place we stopped at. They also had beignets stuffed with sausage for $3

The little place we stopped at. They also had beignets stuffed with sausage for $3

The lady yelled Order which was awesome

The lady yelled Order (old school) which was awesome.  The staff was really nice

Really, Really Nice Beignets

Really, Really Nice Beignets.  And yes Lee did share them, but watching him eat them was half the fun

So we left by 2:30pm and were done with the town.  Not that we wont ever go back, but it will definitely be with someone who knows the city or better armed with specific things we want to do.  We would never go during Mardi Gras, and have no interest in going at night, but hey that’s just us.  However you decide to visit the city , I do recommend doing some research before you go.

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Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. We very much appreciate any purchase you make via our website links as they support our blog. Thank you.   Search Amazon.com here

 

 

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March 2016 Budget

This month looks worse than it truly was from a budget perspective because of two major purchases.  We finally broke down and bought good hiking shoes (after I sprained my ankle) and those ran about $250.  We also had to double pay our insurance in March as we transitioned to a new policy and had to pay $309 upfront to make sure there was no gap in coverage. So if you take those two purchases out of the equation we were only $100 over which was pretty great considering how much activity we crammed into March.  See below for the details.

March 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Campground Fees – We did great in this category because we stayed in less expensive campgrounds out west.  Look for this to shoot up as we head east and then settle to nothing as we start our work kamping job.

Groceries – Really happy with groceries as we ended up about $100 under.  We did a great job of managing those costs when we were with Cori and Greg and we focused on cleaning our our freezer (needed defrosting) for the rest of the month.

Dining Out – We were over by $180 but $100 of that was our big meal in Texas which was a deliberate splurge.  The $72 in eating on the run continues to be a challenge, but not for lack of effort on our part.  Travel days we tend to grab food more frequently and it’s simply not practical to pack a lunch everywhere you go.  We talk about this a lot though and continue to work on it.  We found these great $1 Bumble Bee Snack On The Run at Wal-Mart that Lee really likes and that is helping, but I really need to find an alternative to peanut butter and jelly. 

Truck Fuel – We were over by $210 which was a bit of a surprise for me since the gas prices are so low.  We are filling up the truck every other day on travel days and that does add up. Expect this to get worse before it gets better and I am very curious what happens when we are work kamping in Alaska. 

Gifts – I splurged and bought gifts from Mexico for my nieces and nephews we will be seeing in April.  What is the use of having a traveling Aunt if she doesn’t bring you cool stuff once in a while.

Equipment – One of our relatively new Rhino sewer hoses  got a leak in it and had to be replaced and Lee installed another 8′ vinyl fence post cover for storing sewer hoses and   accessories to get them and their associated odors smells out of the storage compartment. I also bought a ton of magnets and those add up.  Anyway, we were about $60 over in aggregate. 

So not to bad, will see what happens in April.

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Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. We very much appreciate any purchase you make via our website links as they support our blog. Thank you.   Search Amazon.com here

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First Time “Mooch” Docking

First, I’m going to apologize to Bridget for using the term “mooch docking”.  She feels (and rightly so) that the term “mooch” is the antithesis of hospitality, and I totally agree.  I did decide though to put it in that context in the hope that people who are doing research will find this post and use it as a guideline for exactly how to open your home to someone who is a full time RVer.

We met Bridget and Pat briefly back in 2014 at the RV-Dreams rally, and then again at the 2015 Reunion Rally.  Because Bridget’s mom was ill, they were staying close to home in Louisiana, but were very much looking forward to spending more time on the road.  When we determined our route back east would take us near them, I reached out to see if we could stop by.  Two reasons; first and foremost I wanted to see them again, and spend more time with them, but I also had never been to Louisiana before and really wanted to learn about it from people who grew up there.   Unfortunately, about 10 days before we were due to arrive, Bridget’s mom passed away and I was very uncertain about what to do.  After some soul searching, I decided I wouldn’t make her choice for her and reached out.  Not only did she still want us to come, but she was grateful for the visit.  Anyone who has been through it knows the grief process when losing a parent is a long and difficult process and she was happy for the distraction.  So we made arrangements to stop for a couple of days with them and headed down route 90 into the bayou.

From the moment we arrived they were absolutely amazing.  They have a longish driveway on a somewhat busy street, so they both stopped traffic so we could have the time to back in.  The angle was a little tough, but we pushed up against their garage and then Pat hooked Lee up to 50amp electric and water.  Just so you know, 50 amp is not required.  Most full time RVers can stay on a property for a couple of days with no services at all, but having access to electric and water was a nice bonus. Both Lee and I felt a little uncomfortable that we were taking up so much of their driveway, but they really couldn’t have cared less, and were so excited to see us that we felt more comfortable about the imposition.

Tucked into the driveway

Tucked into the driveway

It’s important to note here that as long as you have a driveway or piece of land long enough to fit the camper (and local regulations don’t restrict it) people can stay with you.  We don’t mind if you don’t mind, and are always grateful for a free place to stay.  Once we settled in we got a tour of their home and wow is it amazing.  Pat is a retired State trooper and Bridget was the principal of the local school, and after several years of marriage they built a beautiful home on a piece of Pat’s parents land. My favorite part of the house was the kitchen which was huge and full of handmade cabinets and furniture that had been created with reclaimed wood from both Pat and Bridget’s parents old homes.  Out of respect for them I didn’t take tons of pictures of the home, but I couldn’t resist the kitchen.  Bridget retired after 32 years in the school system, and then started a small home kitchen cookie business, Cookie Clutter.  Her cookies are not only beautiful, but absolutely delicious, so what started as a hobby has turned into a 20-25 hour a week job, and she has the kitchen to support it.

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Serious pantry envy

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Bridget’s cookies

I loved loved her commerical stove

I loved loved her commercial stove

We spent the first evening touring the house and grounds, catching up, and talking.  They had a lot of questions about how life has been on the road and we had a lot of questions about living in Louisiana.  Plus Bridget cooked an amazing dinner of Shrimp and Crab corn chowder and Shrimp and Crab cakes.  She walked me through how she cooked as she did it and what can I say other than crazy impressive.  You hear about southern hospitality and southern cooking, but to experience it in someone’s home was a very special opportunity for us.   I have read in cookbooks about certain techniques, but the opportunity to see them in action from someone who has been cooking like that her whole life was on a whole different level.  She also wasn’t at all possessive about the kitchen, which was nice.  There was no expectation, but if I wanted to jump in and help she was all for it.  They also are incredibly generous people.  Many people say “my house is your house” but Pat and Bridge take it to a whole new level.  Oh you were looking for local rice, here take this bag.  You think this wine stopper would work in your camper, please take this extra one we have we aren’t using.  I could go on and on.  Let me just say in all seriousness I have never received this level of hospitality in my life.  No disrespect intended for anyone who was ever kind enough to let us stay with them, but this was a whole other level. It was funny though when I took them at their word and after dinner got up and started to do the dishes.  We have a rule that whoever cooks doesn’t clean up and when Bridget fussed at me a bit, I said you wanted me to feel at home, and to her credit she sat and talked to Lee and let me do them!

Excited about my new wine stopper

Excited about my new wine stopper

The next morning though Lee and I woke up and felt slightly uncomfortable.  The very last thing we would want to do would be to take advantage of anyone and it sort of felt like that.  So when we went over in the morning we sort of stumbled through explaining how we were feeling and asked for them to please not go to any trouble.  To their credit they listened patiently and then kindly dismissed everything we had just said 🙂 Well alright then, let’s just go with it.  They weren’t sure what we wanted to do during the day, but I just asked for them to show us the area as locals.  I think they thought we would  be bored initially, but as we went through the day and they saw how excited we got they understood.  The opportunity to see and experience a place as the locals do is a rare opportunity when traveling.  Unless you have gotten to know someone in the area, you often end up doing the more touristy things, which is fine, but not nearly as rich of an experience in my opinion as “going native.”  So we visited local stores, saw where Bridget and Pat worked, and went down and toured the bayou…and what an amazing day.

Since I love to shop locally we went to a local meat marker

Since I love to shop locally we went to a local meat marker

Loved the history of the place

Loved the history of the place and the “miracles in meat” tagline

I bought andouille sausage (pronounced "ahn-do-ee"

I bought andouille sausage (pronounced “ahn-do-ee”

This is a picture of the summer sausage that Pat makes himself, wow was it good

This is a picture of the summer sausage that Pat makes himself, wow was it good

Then we went to a small seafood store

Then we went to a small seafood store

Where we bought a bag of live crawfish for that nights dinner

Where we bought a bag of live crawfish for that nights dinner

Shopping for dinner the same day is something I enjoy and because the seafood is so plentiful, everyone here buys it as fresh as they can and then cooks it right away.  Next we drove down to the bayou, where Pat fishes frequently, and ate lunch at Schmoopy’s and toured the area a bit.  Almost all of the homes are built on stilts due to hurricanes and flooding and it is a mixture of modest homes and much nicer ones right next to each other.

Next was lunch at a restaurant down on the bayou

Next was lunch at a restaurant down on the bayou

The shrimp boats and water were right outside

The shrimp boats and water were right outside

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My kind of place.

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This made me smile

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And I loved this spoon hanging on the wall

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Bridget and Pat with their Po’Boy.  Sorry Bridge I caught you mid bite!

At lunch we grabbed the check and poor Pat (who is a true southern gentleman) was extremely uncomfortable.  Bridget, sweetheart that she is, put her hand on his arm and said let her do this.   Very, very sweet.  Next we checked a box of my long time bucket list.  I adore gulf shrimp, think it is the best in the world, and I have always wanted to buy it fresh right from the docks.  So we went to Martin’s Fresh Shrimp, where Lillie helped make that happen.  When Lillie found out I had never done this before, she spent a ton of time explaining the process and gave me a little extra, explaining the Louisiana concept of lagniappe.  We ended up getting 4-1/2 pounds of shrimp (caught the night before) for $20.  Amazing and I loved the whole experience.  Pat brought a cooler with ice and after making our purchase we headed back to their house.

Houses along the bayou

Houses along the bayou

MArtins Chrim and Crab ...yummy

Martins Shrimp and Crab …yummy

Modest stand but super fresh product

Modest stand but super fresh product

One of their fishing boats

One of their fishing boats

Not on the menu that night, but these looked amazing

Not on the menu that night, but these looked amazing

Pat held up a beauitful blue crab for me

Pat held up a beautiful blue crab for me

Lillie weighing out my shrimp

Lillie weighing out my shrimp.  She taught me Lagniappe which is the Louisiana word for that little bit extra

Along the way though we started talking about geocaching and Lee felt the best way to explain it was to do it, so we all found a geocache on their local college campus.

Lee showing Pat and Bridget the geocache app

Lee showing Pat and Bridget the geocache app

Getting close

Getting close

Found it!!

Found it!!

Once we got back to the house, Pat and I sat outside on chairs and cleaned shrimp.  I had never cleaned shrimp with heads on before, so asked for some plastic gloves, but after we did a few it was pretty easy.  Then Pat used his commercial vacuum sealer to make us some beautiful little packages of shrimp.  He also froze them in one of his big freezers so the next morning we could just load them in ours.  Then Bridget took us into their orange and lemon grove and we picked some fresh oranges and lemons and we went over to her mom’s house to look at books.  Bridget knows how much we love to read and since she is planning on donating her mom’s books anyway, wanted us to take what we wanted.  As a side note most full timers use Kindles but we still like paper books and after reading them we drop them off in whatever local town we are in at the library or campground. Plus, Bridget was giving me a bunch of old, local cookbooks..so yeah, I was excited.   On the way back to her parents house we were looking at the pond and I got to see my very first wild alligator.  It was about 4 feet long, and just hanging out.  I went back to get my camera and told Pat there was an alligator.  He said, “Ok I’ll take care of it when my son gets here.”  Naively I asked what taking care of it was and he looked at me kind of strangely and said, “We will catch it and eat it”  Well, sure, why not?  I have no issue with people hunting and fishing if they eat what they take and it’s not like they are rare down here or anything.

The commerical vacu sealer. Wish we had room for one of these

The commerical vacu sealer. Wish we had room for one of these

Hooray shrimp

Hooray shrimp

Soon to be snack alligator (Lee's pic)

Soon to be dinner alligator (Lee’s pic)

Alligator (Lee's pic)

Alligator (Lee’s pic)

Lee's pic of a slug at the pond. They are really kind of beautiful the way he shot this, but Bridget says they are a pest

Lee’s pic of a group of snail eggs at the pond. They are really kind of beautiful the way he shot this, but Bridget says they are a menace

Lee's pic

Lee’s pic

Pat cleaning the crawfish

Pat cleaning the crawfish

These ones are on the small side

These ones are on the small side

All the fixins for the boil

All the fixins for the boil

Cooking crawfish is serious business

Cooking crawfish is serious business\

My plate of crawfish was a very small portion

My plate of crawfish was a very small portion

Getting ready for my lesson

Getting ready for my lesson

Lee is getting into it

Lee is getting into it

The carnage after the meal

The carnage after the meal which all goes on their compost heap

 

So here are my thoughts on my very first crawfish boil.  The veggies were spicy, although you can control that with what you put into the boil, the meat on the crawfish was sweet (sort of a cross between lobster and crab) and tasted great but it’s some work getting to it.  Of course Bridget and Pat were much faster at it than I was, so that would probably improve over time.  Most of all it was totally fun.  You only eat the tail part and the head gets thrown away (or used later for gravy) so the grossness factor was much less than I expected.  Plus it is a true Louisiana experience and a must try at least once for everyone.  Oh and they used Zatarain’s Boil mix for seasoning and Bridget’s Go To Cajun seasoning for almost everything else is Slap Yo Momma .  She of course gave me generous portions of both to take with me. And she taught me about Kary’s Dry Roux which is a fat free alternative to traditional roux and much easier. 

After dinner we sat around and talked until very late, when Pat and Bridget’s daughter arrived.  She is a beautiful and sassy 23 year old and I thought she was terrific.  When we went to bed finally we realized it was 10:45pm!!  What??  I never stay up that late, but the company was so good the time just flew by. Do you ever talk with people and cover 50 topics in an hour, but the conversation flows easily?  That is what it was like for us.  It was conversational magic and later Bridget said it was exactly what she needed to help “shake her out of her fog.” The next morning, they packed our freezer with fish, shrimp, gumbo mixture, and sausage while I made us a big mid-western country breakfast.  It wasn’t fancy, but they seemed to like it and I loved cooking on that amazing stove.   We are so very grateful that our first experience staying on someone else’s property was a positive one and they set the bar pretty high for future experiences.  It was such a great weekend that I suggested they package it and sell it as “The Louisiana Experience”, but Pat says they will be too busy traveling the road themselves 🙂  Glad we came for the visit in while they are still there.  Next up New Orleans and Dave and Sharon of Two Lanes Of Freedom fame.   I really can’t believe this is my life!

Recipes 

Bridget’s Maque Choux Corn

  • 1/2 stick Butter
  • 2 TBL Flour
  • 1 can Rotel Tomatoes Mild
  • Sweet or bell peppers (optional)
  • 1 large onion, cut into small pieces)
  • 1 stalk celery (thinly sliced)
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 3 cans Green Giant Niblet corn or 16 oz bag Green Giant Niblets frozen corn  (fresh works the best if in season)
  • 1 packet Splenda (use with canned or frozen corn to sweeten, not necessary with fresh)
  1. Melt butter in pan
  2. Saute garlic, onions, peppers, and celery in butter until slightly soft
  3. Add flour, stirring constantly until thickened
  4. Add Rotel tomatoes and stir constantly until warmed
  5. Add corn
  6. Add 1 packet of Splenda to sweeten the corn and stir
  7. Let simmer on low, stirring frequently until “smothered” in the sauce.

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Rick, this post is for you.

Next on our whirlwind tour of seeing people as we headed back east were my work friends Rick and Laura.  Since Rick self-admittedly only reads the beginning and end of each post and looks at the pictures (he is not alone in this tactic by any means) this is a special post just for him.

Went to Tomball, Tx.  

Saw Rick and Laura.

Ate Chinese Food.

Went to Louisiana.

There you go Rick, now you can just look at the pictures. Sorry, I couldn’t resist!

For everyone else (Laura included) here’s the rest of the story.  Many years ago Rick and I worked on a major Oracle software implementation.  For five years we worked night and weekends and traveled frequently and probably spent more time together than we did with our families.  Luckily we really liked each other.  We were both transplants to the New England area (Rick from Texas and me from Ohio) and really bonded about our cultural similarities in comparison to the Northeast.  Plus we were both totally devoted to our respective families and he made work traveling fun and relatively easy because he is a true southern gentleman.  Arguably he knew me better during that time period than any non-related person and to be honest I was a little worried about what he would think about all of this RV “craziness”.  I feel different than I was in my previous life and since we no longer have the work thing in common would we still be close to one another.  Turns out I worry too much…big shock there right?  When people really care about you, that stays regardless of whatever changes you make in your life and our conversation was easy and extremely comfortable, but let me back up a bit.

We had heard about a free city campsite, Spring Creek Park in Tomball, TX from both Cori and Laura and decided to try it out.  There are 8 sites in a row in a nice city park with beautiful brand new full hookups.  Unfortunately somehow we missed the fact that you would need reservations, despite the fact that it is free, and when we found out (after we set up in an open spot for the night) it was a bit stressful.  We got extremely lucky for Wednesday night and were able to stay, but it was booked on Thursday so we had to move on.  We ended up at Corral RV Park, which was well cared for and had extremely large full hookup sites, but was $40 a night.  Yikes.  Well, as my grandma used to say, beggars can’t be choosers, and I felt a little better about it since the night prior was free.  First time we have ever made that particular mistake though.

The view behind us at Spring Creek Park

The view behind us at Spring Creek Park

The beautiful full hookups

The beautiful full hookups

Lee finally figured out how to hookup our grill up to our rig propane so no more little bottles...hooray!

Lee finally figured out how to hookup our grill up to our rig propane so no more little bottles…hooray!

After we moved and set up again on Thursday, then we went to Costco.  Lee and I decided we were going to try a Costco membership and there was one close by.  We didn’t live near any big box stores in New England so this was new to us, but after checking it out with Cori and Greg I feel pretty confident it will be cost-effective, but only under certain conditions. We bought the Premier membership for $110 which gives 2% cash back at the end of the year.  When you get the check at the end of the year if it doesn’t cover the additional $55 over the basic membership price Costco will refund the difference.  We chose Costco because of the deals they have on car rentals, insurance, etc, and mainly because the queen of the internet Cori compared Sam’s Club to Costco and thought Costco was a better deal.  We decided to get the membership mainly because of their deals on meat.  I can get great deals on dry goods and we travel and we prefer fresh produce from local farms when available but meat continues to be a challenge.  Since we have limited freezer space we can’t stock up on the good deals, so we are often at the mercy of whatever is on sale that week.  Costco has high quality meat on sale pretty much continuously and we ended up buying Ribeye, chicken thighs, and hamburger for great prices.  They also have some wonderful deals on great quality frozen fish (another hit and miss item at local grocery stores) and I got a packet of Atlantic Cod.  Everything else though you really need to watch the prices and quantities.  Will you eat it all before it goes bad and do you have room to store it are big questions when shopping at a box store, so we were super selective in what we bought.  Still we ended up spending $200, but I have a full freezer and we will see how the economy of the whole thing plays out over the next year.

As a side note I kind of get why Rick would skip the section above.  Laura said they would “kill each other” if they lived in that small of a space together so it’s not really relevant to him.   He has a huge pantry and can Costco it up to his heart’s content!  Still a little pantry jealous obviously.

After Costco we chilled for a bit and then went to see Rick and Laura’s house.  Eight years ago Tomball was a rural suburb but as Houston has grown so have they.  It’s a great house though with a huge kitchen and as we got the tour I had serious pantry envy!! We sat and talked for 2 hours and time just flew by and then we all jumped into Laura’s car to go to their favorite Chinese buffet.  Getting good Chinese food on the road has been a real problem and it was great to have their recommendation to go by, plus Rick generously bought us dinner, which was really nice. The China Bear was huge, seriously, the largest building holding a Chinese buffet I have ever seen, and had lots of regional specialties on it, including crawfish. The food was good, company was even better, and the price was definitely right!

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Huge Chinese restaurant and gift shop

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Laura, Lee, and Rick who is recovering from neck surgery …hence the brace

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Really nice gift shop

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Big buffet

Afterwards we went back to Rick and Laura’s and saw their son Jeff.  Now 27, Jeff works in IT for a local college and is all grown up.  It’s been 8 years since I have seen him and what a nice young man he has grown into.  Plus, when he said he read my blog, well I was super excited.  The fact that a millennial (who is not one of my kids) finds my blog interesting was a huge ego boost.  We chatted some more and caught up on his life and then left around 8:30 to get ready for an early departure the next morning.  Since Texas is one of the few states where we can spend the winters we know we will definitely see them again and it really was wonderful to renew the connection.  Since this is in the middle and I know he’s not reading it, I can say I absolutely love Rick and adore Laura.  They are wonderful people and getting to see them is another one of those great benefits that goes along with the travel lifestyle.

me and Jeff..whose all grown up!!

me and Jeff..whose all grown up!!

We had a 7 hour travel day scheduled (which is our outer limit) in order to make it to Pat and Bridget’s house in one day and knew we would have to deal with Houston traffic on top of that. Luckily Tomball is on the northern edge and there is an outer outer belt you can take that is so new it doesn’t even show up on Google maps.  Unfortunately it is a toll road and only accessible if you have a TX pass, which of course we didn’t have.  We weren’t sure what route the GPS would take us, so when we woke up at 4:30am to heavy rain we decided to get an early start.  We got out by 6:30, which is highly unusual for us, but I am glad we did.  Traffic was slow even at that hour and suddenly we found ourselves GPS directed to the toll road.  We use an RV specific GPS and almost always use it because of height and weight restrictions so despite the signs saying violators will be prosecuted we decided to risk it and take the toll road.  The traffic was MUCH lighter on that road and we were making good time when the one policeman we saw pulled out behind us.  He followed for a while and we were sure we would be pulled over, but apparently decided to give us a break and didn’t.

Here’s my opinion on the whole thing.  We were guests in the state, pulling this monster rig, and we followed our GPS.  If you are going to have a major toll road then have a way for people from out-of-town to pay.  It’s not like we were trying to break the law, we just really didn’t know what our alternative was. Plus it’s a great section of road and probably saved us an hour on the way out of Houston so everyone should have access to it.  If they send us a bill for the $5 in the mail, we will definitely pay it or maybe they will just let it go.  We will see.  Once around the outer belt we hit a wall of traffic on I-10.  It eventually cleared up about 10 minutes outside of town but it took us about 30 minutes to go 5 miles.  And this was at 7:30 am so I really do recommend an early or late start when going through Houston.

We took I-10 through Texas, which was not the nightmare I had heard.  Yes it’s rough in some spots and there is traffic, but it wasn’t awful by any means.  I drove most of it and appreciated how flat it was actually. When we hit Louisiana we switched because this was my very first time in Louisiana!!  My first impressions were it was very pretty.  Super green, lots of water in the rivers and creeks, and comparatively very little trash.  Eventually we turned on 90 and hit big swamp sections and it was even cooler.  The highways are raised in many sections because you can’t build in swamps and we were surrounded by cool old trees and moss.  I saw numerous egrets and other birds along the drive and I was fascinated.  90 though is a really rough road comparatively and we were seriously getting bounced around.  Bridget had warned us though so we just took our time and tried to have a good attitude about it.  I thought of it as a training course for our trip to Alaska!! Every truck stop along that road has an attached casino and they are relatively small, but we did find a place to stop and eat.  It was real Louisiana countryside and I enjoyed it…bouncing aside.

 

My very first view of Louisiana swamp was really pretty

My very first view of Louisiana swamp was really pretty

So next up is our very first experience at “mooch docking”, which is staying at a friend’s house and our wonderful visit with Bridget and Pat.  I swear I am trying to get caught up here, but there is so much going on!!  Thanks again Rick and Laura for your hospitality and can’t wait to see you guys again!!

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First Time Meeting Jim and Diana

OK, everything isn’t perfect in Texas.  The weather is indeed unpredictable and we got snow.  Not just a little either (although it is a pittance by New England standards) but a couple of inches with some ice rain thrown in for good measure.  Thankfully we had a pretty short travel day scheduled on Easter Sunday and could take our time in the morning waiting for it to thaw.  We don’t even own an ice scraper anymore, so around 10am Lee broke down and went up on the roof to clear the roof and slide-outs with a broom.  The truck windows were thawed by turning the car on and the ice on the stairs that stopped them from being closed…well, Lee got creative and used our metal grill spatula.  Have to say it did a nice job.  So we didn’t roll out until 11am, which is extremely unusual for us, but I have to say I found the late morning way more relaxing. I may have to talk Lee into more of those.

The stairs in the morning

The stairs in the morning; pre spatula’d

The drive itself was largely uneventful, especially once all the ice/snow melted off the hood of the truck.  It was long stretches of farm land with thousands of windmills in the fields.  We also saw some oil rigs and despite what I have heard they didn’t bother me at all.  I give huge credit to the farmers who grow crops, raise cattle, and harvest energy via either oil or solar on their fields.  The wind in particular I find impressive and good for them for finding a way to make a family farm profitable. It’s smart 21st century farming and makes me hopeful for our future as a country.

Lee had picked Abilene State Park for our overnight stay and our GPS took us on a weird route waaay off the interstate to get there.  We did get to see more of the countryside (including my first amazing Longhorn Steer with HUGE horns), but it ended up making for a longish day.  I was tired when we got to the park and very annoyed when we discovered that our $18 a night campsite was actually $28 because Texas parks charge a $5 per day per person fee whether you are camping there or not.  I really, really don’t like that, especially because Reserve America doesn’t tell you that when you make the reservations.  If you live in a state or have camped there before you just know it, but we have been caught by that more than once.  I was also pretty under impressed by the general state of neglect of the park, culminating in our fire pit which was full of trash and even a piece of cooked chicken.  Totally gross.  For $28 a night I expect better.  The site itself was very nice, large, wooded, and nice space between you and your neighbor but for an overnight stay I didn’t think all the extra effort to get there was worth it.

They did have very cool heated yurts for people to stay in

They did have very cool heated yurts for people to stay in

This is where Lee and I (and many others) disagree.  I think State Parks in general are over rated and not the end all be all of our stays.  Lee, along with many of our friends, would always pick them as a first choice because the sites are so nice and there are no people right on top of you.  I think they generally aren’t worth the hassle for an overnight stay and are usually not the cheapest option.  I think that’s why Lee and I love City/County parks so much. In general, they combine his love of a more roomy site with my love for a good deal and relative convenience.   Of course, this is only for overnight stays, if you are staying in a place for a while and can take advantage of the trails etc many state parks are a good choice, but be careful about hidden costs when booking them.  Either way, I really hate paying for a site that isn’t clean.  Whether private or government the campsites and surrounding area should be free of trash and this park is definitely a disappointment in that category.

One bright note though was we did do our first geocache as a couple.  We downloaded the app back in Texas and haven’t done much with it, so I was pleasantly surprised when Lee found a geocache .10 miles from our site.  We wandered over and found it pretty easily and Lee really liked the treasure hunt aspect of gecaching.  Plus I finally got to drop off a trackable I picked up in Arizona so felt pretty good about helping it towards it mission of finding someplace colder.  I think the snow we experienced this morning definitely qualified! (Trackables have a unique number and a stated mission.  They aren’t that common so the fact that I found one on my 2nd geocache experience was cool.  It also is some pressure though because you need to help it accomplish it’s mission and I was glad to get it out of the glove compartment and on its way).

Geocaching in the State Park

Geocaching in the State Park  Side note:  The couple who created this geocache emailed me after we logged we found it, because they saw it was our very first one and they had just become full-time RVers 1 month ago.  How cool is that? 

The next morning we had a short drive, but wanted to be on our way so we left around 9:30.  I did stop and tell the park ranger about the chicken leg.  She explained (with a bit of an attitude) they had 3,400 guests over the weekend and were two rangers short.  Although I appreciated the explanation I was not crazy about the lack of an apology.  A simple “I am sorry that happened” followed up with an explanation goes a long way with me.  Anyway, we drove to Junction, Texas, through the small town, down some side streets to Morgan Shady RV Park.  The older woman who runs the campground was not there when we arrived and the sites are not all clearly marked.  But after pulling up the map and doing some detective work we found our spot.  It had a great view of the river and full hookups and although $30 was on the steep side, I really, really liked this park.  Tons of birds on the river and hardly anyone else there, plus the lady was very nice.  It is a little gem of a site and I guess she’s been unsuccessful selling up, but someone really should snap this park up and spruce it up.  Anyway, no sooner had we setup then Lee wanted to go geocaching and one short walk turned into driving around town and 2 hours later he had found 4 of them.  I loved his enthusiasm and it was fun to log them, but I really was getting hungry!

The owners home and parlkoffice at Shady Morgan

The owners home and park office at Shady Morgan

Our site

Our site, OA

The river

The river

The view upriver

The view upriver

Lee playing with the two baby goats

Lee playing with the two baby goats

Lee found his first geocache

Lee found his first geocache

Look how happy he is

Look how happy he is

Lover's Leap

Lover’s Leap

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Nice view from Lover’s leap of the town

Geocache #2./ This was a hard one as the description was not that good

Geocache #2./ This was a hard one as the description was not that good

Number 3

Number 3

And finally number 4 which took forever because it was a special geocache container made to look just like a piece of wood. Lee found it though

And finally number 4 which took forever because it was a special geocache container made to look just like a piece of wood. Lee found it though

The next day we had talked about going to the The Texas White House (President LBJ’s family ranch), because Mary one of our blog readers had recommended it and is currently volunteering there.  We loved the river so much though, we were seriously tempted to take a float.  The campground owner gave us the names of two different people.  One wanted to drive our truck back…Lee was like nope, but the second was only $20 and said she would meet us at the campground at 10am.  Since all three types of kingfishers (which I have never seen) are on the river, we couldn’t pass it up.  It was a cloudy morning with a 20% chance of rain, but we got up and got all our gear ready.  Then waited and waited,  at 10:15 Lee finally called but received no answer and at 10:25 am we called it and went back to Plan A of the LBJ ranch.  We drove out to the park through this great little town of Fredericksburg which is in Texas wine country.  The town was founded by Germans and has tons of restaurants and cool gift shops.  We couldn’t stop though because we were already behind schedule, but I definitely want to go back and check out that town.

The LBJ ranch is a little confusing because there are actually three different historic parks in three different locations and none of these are the Presidential library which is located in Austin.  The ranch itself is in Stonewall and is one of those places that is part State and part Federal.  You stop at the visitors center/gift shop, which is run by the State Park system, to get a free parking pass, then drive down a road to the ranch which is a National Park, which has its own gift shop…weird.  I asked at the State Park if they had heard of Mary and Ron, but no one had. Then when we did the auto tour of the ranch we stopped at the barn and I asked the Ranch Manager, but he had a couple of Ron’s working for him and no idea if they were married to Mary.  Despite not being able to find Mary the auto tour was very cool.  When LBJ donated the land he stipulated that it stay a working ranch and they have a herd of long horn cattle there.  Lee had a long conversation with the ranch manager about volunteering there, as he as always wanted to work on a ranch, and I wandered down to the pens and took some picture with one of the big bulls.

State Park sign

State Park sign

The Texas wildflowers in bloom were beautiful

The Texas wildflowers in bloom were beautiful

The one room school house where he started school

The one room school-house where he started school

He signed some major education into law right here on this bench outside the school house

He signed some major education into law right here on this bench outside the school-house

LBJ was a teacher right out of college and very committed to education as a means of prosperity. He signed over 60 education laws into being, more than any other president

LBJ was a teacher right out of college and very committed to education as a means of prosperity. He signed over 60 education laws into being, more than any other president

The ranch manager was very nice and answered my many questions about cows.  He seem a little perplexed at first by why I was so interested, but I explained I spent a lot of time looking at cows out the window as we traveled and since they were raised in all kinds of terrains had some built up questions that needed answering.  He did confirm that different types of terrain could support more of less cows and he taught us that the Bull Texas Longhorns had wider but shorter horns than the Steers which had the really super, long ones.  Then we had to talk about the difference between a Steer and Bull (Steer’s are essentially castrated) and it was a very interesting conversation.  Although we might not be able to volunteer there since it doesn’t pay anything, it does renew my interest in finding us a ranching job in the summer of 2017.  So if anyone hears anything please let me know.

They raise HEreford cattle here

They raise mainly Hereford cattle here.  They are huge

Some sheep and goats

Some sheep and goats

They have a herd of Texas Long Horns.

They also have a herd of Texas Long Horns.  Here’s the Bull I went to see.  The Steer I mentioned in a previous post had horns twice as long

The middle of the fields also had a small air strip so this is Air Force 1/2 that they used to fly him back and forth to the ranch

The middle of the field also had a small air strip so this is Air Force 1/2 that they used to fly him back and forth to the ranch.  He spent a ton of time at the ranch

At the end of the auto tour we reached the house and paid $3 for a tour of the first floor (the grounds and auto tour are all free).  I decided to ask one more time about Mary and hit pay dirt.  The Park Ranger went out a door and grabbed her and in she came.  At first she was a little confused (she said the accent threw her as I don’t write with an accent lol), but soon we were chatting away.  Mary and Ron have RVed for years but just became full timers in January.  They are from Texas and took this work kamping gig to give their kids and grandkids time to get used to the transition (super smart in my opinion) and in the process she said she has really enjoyed herself.

Mary and I

Mary and I

I told her how grateful we were for the recommendation and she is the first reader I have gotten a recommendation from, gone, and met.  We took an instant liking to each other, but she said she had to leave and give the next tour.  Well guess what we had already booked that tour!!!  How awesome was that.  She did a really good job by the way, especially for a self-proclaimed introvert and she said the whole experience has helped her get out of her comfort zone.  Unfortunately, there are no pictures inside the house because of the families deal with the park service, but I absolutely recommend it.  It is definitely a home that was also transformed into a presidential working environment. Fascinating.

MAry giving the tour.

Mary giving the tour. It was funny and informative.  Great job!!

Teh secret service headquarters was a small house they moved

The secret service headquarters was a small house they moved

Where the pilots hung out

Where the pilots hung out

LBJ routinely uses this wagon for BBQ's

LBJ routinely used this wagon for BBQ’s

The side entrance to the house. The original structure was made of limestone, a common building material in Texas.

The side entrance to the house. The original structure was made of limestone, a common building material in Texas.

The most interesting thing was this 300 year old oak tree under which he routinely had cabinet meetings. Major decisions were made under this tree

One of the most interesting thing was this 300 year old oak tree under which he routinely had cabinet meetings. Major decisions were made under this tree

They added onto the original house twice. The right hand side was the two separate bedrooms they amde after he became president because she didn't like waking up to strangers in her bedroom. I don't blame her

They added onto the original house twice. The right hand side was the two separate bedrooms they made after he became president because she didn’t like waking up to strangers in her bedroom. I don’t blame her

Beautiful view from the front wiondows

Beautiful view from the front windows

Ladybird lived in the house until she died and swam regularly for exercise

Ladybird lived in the house until she died and swam regularly for exercise.

This is a picture of a picture but it shows the TV in the wall of his office which I though was ahead of its time

This is a picture of a picture but it shows the TV in the wall of his office which I though was ahead of its time

His car collection. The corvette was a gift to his daughter. Nice car

His car collection. The corvette was a gift to his daughter. Nice car

This car was one of those aqua cars that also worked in water.

This car was one of those aqua cars that also worked in water.

As soon as he got to the ranch he drove himself (because he could) and the white convertible had mud tires

As soon as he got to the ranch he drove himself (because he could) and the white convertible had mud tires

Regardless of your politics I highly recommend seeing this. I wasn’t a big fan of his going in (like him a bit better now), but either way the historical significance of the place cannot be denied.  Because of his love of the land he and Lady Bird worked together to create 60 new federal parks and we are all reaping the benefits of those today.  Yes his role in Vietnam was pretty awful, but he was also a man thrust into a situation no one expected and how he handled it (basically by running the country from Texas) is interesting.  Thank you again Mary for recommending it and it was such a pleasure meeting you.  I really hope we see each other again down the road.

After the tour, we left and headed back to meet Jim and Diana for the first time.  Jim and Diana are fellow graduates of the RV Dreams class of 2014, but we had never met because they went to the Fall Rally.  Jim and I became acquainted on the RV-Dreams forum and I started reading his blog because I really loved their story.  They RVed for years and decided to sell their house, getting the call for the sale while they were at the rally.  They went ahead and sold and then moved into their rig, but stayed in Michigan because Diana needed to be close to ailing mother.  What’s very impressive to me is that they spent the entire winter in Michigan.  He did an amazing job of winterizing their rig and when the rest of us were all running around, they stayed and took care of family first.  Impressive.  When Diana’s mom passed, the went down to Florida and as sad as I was for them for the death I was very happy that they were finally able to start their travels.  Jim is a history buff and writes about the history of every place they visit and they also find little known places in their travels.  I love the blog and as you often do felt like I knew them.  He really won my heart though, when he sent me a private message after Lee put regular gas in the diesel tank.  It was so supportive and so caring, it almost made me cry.  So when we were happening to cross each other on I-10, Lee and I changed our plans slightly so we could meet them.

When we arrived at the campground after the long drive, they gave us a few minutes to get settled then came over.  I only knew Diana though through Jim’s writing so it was very fun to really get to know her and since Lee doesn’t read their blog or do the forums he was new to them both.  There is a danger when you finally meet people you have read about for so long that you jump ahead because you think you know them.  You may know parts of them, but certainly not the whole story, but I think we were all careful not to fall into that trap.  They got to hear Lee’s version of several of our stories and we got to learn more about them. We talked a lot about blogging and of course we talked about full timing.  We swapped stories, shared RV modifications, and in a very short time we truly bonded.   Although it was a short visit, I absolutely know we will see them in the future and it was wonderful getting to know more of our RV-Dreams family.   Oh and on a side note, Lee (who is always a little tentative about meeting “the internet people”) liked Mary, Jim, and Diana very very much. Since both instances were such a great experience I think I will have more luck getting him to open up to more of these meetings in the future.

Lee telling Jim and Diana one of his stories. They seemed pretty entertained

Lee telling Jim and Diana one of his stories. They seemed pretty entertained

Jim and Diana hanging out on my couch

Jim and Diana hanging out on my couch

Lee, me, Diana, and Jim

Lee, me, Diana, and Jim

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First Time in Amarillo

We left New Mexico around 9am on Good Friday and headed toward Texas.  The drive on I-40 was easy, with lots of rest areas and truck stops along the way. For the first time we are traveling with plenty of time to get where we are going.  We have to be back in Rock Hill, SC (where my sister lives) no later than April 21st, so we have over three weeks to make the drive.  The idea is we will stay extra days in areas that are interesting and keep moving east on the other days.  We also have stops scheduled to see some friends, which I am excited about, and Lee wants to show me some things along the route.  So we planned a light day ending in Amarillo, TX with a visit to Cadillac Ranch and The Big Texan steakhouse, but when I talked to my friend Kelly and she mentioned we should see Palo Duro we decided to extend another day.  It’s weird traveling with no reservations and no specific dates to be at the next place, and for me at least it takes some getting used to.  I have to actively fight the urge to put a schedule in place.  Some people can just get in their RV’s and wander aimlessly, but apparently this is tough for my project manager soul. Still, baby steps, right? This trip back East is an important test on whether we can choose to “meander travel” as so many other people do.  It seems like fun, go where you want, when you want, and this kind of travel really appeals to Lee, so I am giving it a shot.

When we were about an hour outside of Amarillo, I called the Amarillo Ranch RV Park (which is owned by the Big Texan restaurant) and grabbed a spot for two days. Normally we don’t stay at places like this, but it’s actually pretty nice.  The people are great and our particular site (103) is extremely large.  It’s a weird layout though, with some spots having tons of room and others being close, and at $33 a night (with Good Sam’s discount) it’s not cheap.  Still, we’ve been doing great on campgrounds this month and decided to splurge a little on full hook-ups.  My one complaint is the indoor pool and “adult only” sauna was not adult only.  The lady at the front desk told us they will be building a whole new park next year, along with a new restaurant and several hotels.  Apparently business is good at The Big Texan!  The campground also offers a free limousine shuttle to the Big Texan steakhouse, so once we checked in we told them what time we wanted to be picked up.  Our driver was right on time, and did a nice job telling us about the history of The Big Texan on the way to the restaurant.

RV Park OFfice

RV Park Office

The campground

The campground

REally cool lobby

Really cool lobby

Oh yeah we are in Texas!!

Oh yeah we are in Texas!!

We found out later free shuttle rides are offered to all the surrounding campgrounds and even the local Walmart

We found out later free shuttle rides are offered to all the surrounding campgrounds, and even the local Walmart

Our site which was deep but we did have neighbors close on each side

Our site which was deep but we did have neighbors close on each side

The limo!!

The limo!!

Did I ever mention Lee wanted to mount bull horns on the truck? I exercised veot power on that one and glad I did because looking at the horns made me kind of car sick

Did I ever mention Lee wanted to mount bull horns on the truck? I exercised veto power on that one and glad I did because looking through the window at the horns made me kind of car sick.  Plus would the other states even let you in???

The restaurant itself is part restaurant and part experience.  It was located on route 66 and then eventually moved to I-40 once the freeway opened.  It has a western themed motel, a swimming pool shaped like Texas, bars, party rooms, and a balconied restaurant.  It’s claim to fame is that anyone who can eat a 72oz steak with all the fixins in less than an hour gets the meal for free.  Two people made the attempt while we were there and they sit up on a platform near the open kitchen with a timer so everyone can see…no pressure.  One 12 year old boy didn’t make it while we were there but everyone in the crowd cheered anyways.  The meal costs $72 if you don’t manage it in under and hour, and since only 1 in 7 manage the feat it’s pretty genius marketing that pays for itself.  The current record is held by a 124 pound woman who ate the whole meal in under 5 minutes, then went on to eat 2 more steaks.  It’s all out on You Tube and good for her, but I never really got speed eating.  I like to enjoy my food, plus love leftovers.

I loved the whole vibe of the place and it all felt very Texas.   It’s not cheap (we spent $79 on appetizer, dinner, and drinks before tip), but the couple next to us ended up splitting a meal which would have been plenty of food and much more affordable. One piece of advice though is to request a well-marbled steak.  The key to great ribeye is lots of fat, and mine was just too lean for my taste.  I ended up switching with Lee though and his was fabulous, I think it is the best restaurant steak I have ever had, certainly since eating at the Red River Cattle Company restaurant in Cincinnati in the 1980’s (which is now unfortunately closed).  I also recommend trying their homemade craft beer sampler.  I picked one before I realized they offered four 4oz samples for $6.  Should have gone that route and tried several.   It’s the most by far we have spent on a single meal since going on the road, but I didn’t regret it.  Gotta do everything bigger in Texas!!

The Big Texan

The Big Texan

Loved the dog park

Loved the dog park with it’s own fire hydrant

The Texas shaped swimming pool was closed but you get the point from the cover

The Texas shaped swimming pool was closed but you get the point from the cover

They even had a horse hotel with a horse in it..

They even had a horse hotel with a horse in it..

Checked out the huge rattlesnake in a terrarium while we were waiting. Yikes it was big

Checked out the huge rattlesnake in a terrarium while we were waiting. Yikes it was big

This is how much you have to eat for the challenge. Huge steak, shrimp cocktail, salad, baked potato

This is how much you have to eat for the challenge. Huge steak, shrimp cocktail, salad, baked potato, and roll.

Our view from very cool balcony seats

Our view from very cool balcony seats

Look at all this food

Look at all this food

The giant friend mushrooms were the best I have ever had, but didn't heat up well the next day so definitely go for the half order

The giant fried mushrooms were the best I have ever had, but didn’t heat up well the next day so definitely go for the half order

My steak was so-so "Duke cut", bone in ribeye

My steak was so-so “Duke cut”, bone in ribeye

But Lee's was to die for

But Lee’s was to die for

I loved the table side music. They took requests

I loved the table side music. They took requests

Lee's scared bear face. I made him do it lol

Lee’s scared bear face. I made him do it lol.  Look at all the leftovers he is holding.

When we waddled to the limo for our ride back (with three boxes of leftovers) I was so full!!  I rarely eat that much in one sitting, but again, it’s Texas, and it’s OK to splurge once in awhile.  We ended up getting three individual lunches (with some supplement) out of the leftovers alone so I don’t feel too bad about the excess, but really, if you decide to split a meal you will have plenty of food.  You just can’t go with Lee who is not so much about sharing his food.

The next day we started out pretty early with our list of things to see.  I have been using the Roadside America app since we have been traveling and this close to Historic Route 66 it did not disappoint.  There was a VW ranch (don’t go out of your way to see it, a Combine Ranch (cool but closed off by barbed-wire fence, and lots of giant Texan statues.  The big winner for the day though was the Jack Sizemore Traveland RV Museum.  Our interest was piqued when we saw they had one of the RV’s from the Robin Williams movie “RV” so we decided what the heck, let’s check it out. And wow, what a find it was!  The museum is in the back of a large RV dealership in Amarillo and Jack’s collection of old RV’s and old motorcycles was amazing.  Each RV had a sign stating where Jack found it and if and how it was restored and Lee and I really loved it.  Plus, it was totally free.  The RV place also had a really cool store with lots of high end RV items and we even took a tour of some Super C’s while we were on the property, because I have been very curious about how roomy they are on the inside.  Lee liked the Aspect, but I was a fan of the Minnie Winnie’s.  

Nice RV store

Nice RV store

The RV Museum

The RV Museum

Very cool old Harley only one of two made that year with a left hand side car

Very cool old Harley only one of two made that year with a left hand side car

 

1936 Alma

1936 Alma

Part of the nice motorcycle collection

Part of the nice motorcycle collection

The first known tent camper

The first known tent camper

A Chris Craft Boat

A Chris Craft Boat with a BEER license plate for my friend Bill 🙂

The Gornicke Bus was really exciting to see

The Gornicke Bus that Jeff Daniels drove in “RV”  was really exciting to see

The inside of the bus. Ceilings were nice and high

The inside of the bus. Ceilings were nice and high

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Where Jeff Daniels sat

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1976 Argosy

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An old truck camper

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This trailer was owned by an 84 year old woman who finally decided to stop camping and turned it in

My favorite was this FMC which was owned by the president of Max Factor

My favorite was this FMC which was owned by the president of Max Factor

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It came with a built in blender

It came with a built a counter top blender

One of several restored air atreams

One of several restored air streams

The inside of the aristream with a really nice fridge

The inside of the aristream with a really nice fridge

This trailer has been all over the world

This trailer has been all over the world

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1953 Fleetwood

With matching dog house :)

Dog house designed to look like the Fleetwood

The weirdest thing is what I saw as I was walking by the owners office. That is the best stuffed lion I have ever seen. Would have loved to ask about it, but they were all pretty busy

The weirdest thing is what I saw as I was walking by the owners office. That is the best stuffed lion I have ever seen. Would have loved to ask about it, but they were all pretty busy

 

And if all that wasn’t enough we also visited Palo Duro Canyon State Park  (The Grand Canyon of Texas) and wow, am I glad Kelly recommended it. At first I was unimpressed.  Long line to get in and a $5 per person entrance fee, plus the initial view was cool but not that impressive.  But when we drove down to the bottom of the canyon it was really cool.  We found a spot to picnic (it was packed, so I definitely don’t recommend going on the weekend) and then we toured the campgrounds.  The Mesquite campground in the way back was fantastic and we have added it on our list of places to stay in the future.  The sites are big enough and very close to the rocks, and the views from the bottom are spectacular.  There were numerous hiking/equestrian/mountain biking trails designed by local runners and there were several easy, shorter trails interspersed with some more challenging ones.  I was very impressed, and like I said, we are going back for sure, despite there being absolutely no cell coverage of any kind down there. They even have horseback riding in the canyon for $35 an hour which I will absolutely do when we come back.  We didn’t want to fight the crowds though on the trails, but did stop and hike up to the big cave.  The walk up looks worse than it is and we were so lucky that we had the cave all to ourselves for the time we were in there.  It was really neat and a great romantic spot for kisses and that alone definitely made the $5 entrance fee worth it.

The crowds for coming in. Definitely recommend coming during the week

The crowds for coming in. Definitely recommend coming during the week

The Grand Canyon of Texas

The Grand Canyon of Texas

The spot where we ate lunch

The spot where we ate lunch

We walked down the path a bit

We walked down the path a bit

An saw the cowboy dugout

And saw the cowboy dugout

You could see in the inside. Nice for kids

You could see in the inside. Nice for kids

Terrific campsites back in the mequite loop and despite absolutely no cell coverage we are definitely coming back here to stay

Terrific campsites back in the mesquite loop and despite absolutely no cell coverage we are definitely coming back here to stay

Lots of great views

Lots of great views.  Can you spot the hikers at the very top?

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We decided to hike up to the Big Cave which was in the back of the park and not that crowded

The path up looks worse than it is.

The path up looks worse than it is.

The cave was really pretty with great rock formations and colors

The cave was really pretty with great rock formations and colors

Also the ceiling had some holes you could look up through

Also the ceiling had some holes you could look up through

I even saw my first golden-fronted woodpecker

I even saw my first golden-fronted woodpecker

And got my first shot of a road runner in the wild

And got my first shot of a road runner in the wild

So Amarillo, which was supposed to be a quick stop in the road, turned out to be a fantastic place to visit in its own right.  I can now see the benefit of no reservations and being able to extend for extra days on a whim.  That being said, we have been lucky enough to make arrangements with numerous people on our way back east due to travel serendipity and have locked ourselves in to make meeting folks work for the next couple of weeks.  No spoilers, but I am super excited about the people we get to see on the road.  So from Texas…Y’all come back soon!

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Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. We very much appreciate any purchase you make via our website links as they support our blog. Thank you.   Search Amazon.com here

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Kay’s Birthday, Taxes, and Healthcare

As I’ve stated before I don’t believe in coincidence, so when Kay’s route between her Air Force school in Monterrey (she passed her Korean course with honors) and her next duty station at the Goodfellow Base in  Texas took her right through Albuquerque it felt meant to be.  When she made it to Albuquerque on her 20th birthday, it felt like more than that.  One of my few regrets about becoming full timers is that Kay doesn’t have a permanent home to come back to on holidays, so being able to spend both Christmas and her birthday with her this year has been amazing.  Plus, Lee just loves hanging out with her.  The two of them really get each others sense of humor and they are pretty adorable together.  Kay is driving (with two vehicles) with someone in her class who had a relative in Albuquerque, so they split apart for the day and Kay drove up to hang out with us in the camper.  We even had a cake mix I had picked up somewhere awhile back and were able to make her a cake, some lunch, and recycle the cool Happy Birthday tiara Deb and Ellen had gotten for me in Glacier back in August.  It was a wonderful day and we spent several hours together.  Really a perfect visit and I am so grateful that we got to spend it with her.

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,

We had plans to see several places in the area starting on Tuesday but crazy strong winds came into the area and between the wind and the cold, I decided to pass.  I needed a break plus I really needed to work on taxes and figure our healthcare.

Previously we always used H&R Block in our small town, but because our situation involves working in multiple states I decided to use Travel Tax , a small company that specializes in taxes for mobile workers.  Our friends Jo and Ben have used them for a couple of years and had a great experience and after a couple of free phone consultations and a look at their tax workbook, I felt like this was the right choice for us.  In addition to dealing with working in multiple states, we are filing taxes for our small business Open Road for the first time.  Luckily, Lee did a great job throughout the year of tracking expenses and income so it was a matter of matching up the expenses with the IRS deductible categories.  Going forward all the expenses will be placed in these categories at the time they occur, so it should be even easier, but it wasn’t bad, just a little time-consuming.

After getting all the data classified properly, I also had to gather the various pieces of paper and this was much harder than prior years where our taxes were pretty straight forward.  It’s a good thing though because we get to write off our solar investment we made this year, part of our cell phone/data bill (I am conservatively going with 30%), and hopefully loan interest on our camper because it is now a primary residence.  Yes, I could have used Turbo Tax and may in the future, but since this is all new territory for us, we both felt a qualified tax professional was the way to go.

The other big issue this month was the fact that my subsidized health care is running out.  As part of my buy out I received healthcare at the same cost as when I was employed and medical and dental for $368 a month was obviously a good deal.  Unfortunately COBRA jumps to $1003 a month starting in April and that’s just a crazy amount of money.  Once again in uncharted territory I reached out to fellow full timer Kyle Henson.  We first met Kyle back in 2014 at the Seveirville RV-Dreams rally (with his wife Lisa and their daughter)  and after his talk on healthcare options, I absolutely knew he was going to be my go-to guy.  Luckily he is not only still in the business, but has expanded his relationships to include one with Escapees and in my opinion is the absolute best resource for healthcare questions in our lifestyle.

Kyle explained that because my life changing event had happened back in November I was unfortunately not eligible to sign up for the Affordable Care Act until open enrollment in December.  So  our options were: keep COBRA (cost was just too high), go without insurance (scary because even though we are in good health and have $12K in an HSA plan one serious event could wipe out our savings, or purchase a short-term supplemental plan.  He found me a short-term plan with a $10K deductible and a maximum $10K copay out-of-pocket for $306.11 a month.  It has a nationwide network and is a good plan for healthy people to have just in case.  The only downside is that the plan does not meet the qualifications for the government so I will also owe 2.5% in taxes on everything we make over $20K.  It still makes financial sense though, because even combining the penalty and the monthly rate it should be much less than $1K a month.  Kyle was awesome and using the quote and link he sent me, enrolling online was easy.  I can’t say enough about the experience and seriously, if you have any questions about healthcare he is definitely the guy to call!

So while I was doing all this, Lee was having an adventure of his own.  He discovered there were two working western studio ranches here in Santa Fe and through perseverance and some luck he managed to talk his way onto a private tour at one of the studios.  Everyone who has met Lee knows how much he loves movies (westerns in particular) so he had to try, and I am sure the manager of the working ranch/studio saw that and decided to give him a tour.  They spent 2-1/2 hours together walking the ranch, and although there a very few areas that were off limits because a movie was being filmed that day, he did get to see almost everything. It was an amazing experience for him, and I am so glad he got to do it.  I’ve included some pictures of what he saw, but not a ton of specific information because this facility is normally NOT open to the public.

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The western town sitting in the middle of a 14,000 acre working cattle ranch

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This shot has been in several movies dating back to the 1960’s

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Lee loved the tree growing in the middle of the street

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This shed is used frequently for fashion shoots

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One movie brought in a ballistics expert and shot real bullet holes in this wall which they have left

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The upstairs of the saloon

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Movie Magic …here’s what is in the other side of the doors…just enough room to walk through

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As a hint to the location, the reality show Kid Nation (which we watched with our girls) was filmed here

This house was several movies. I love how they painted it a different color and stopped where the shot ended

This house was in several movies. I love how they painted it a different color and stopped where the shot ended

Looks like brick?

Looks like brick?

Look a little closer

Look a little closer

The interior of the house

The interior of the house

The ceilings in all the buildings are high and open to allow lighting to be placed in

The ceilings in all the buildings are high and open to allow lighting to be placed in

The view from the porch is awesome

The view from the porch is awesome.  See the cows?  Working ranch so they hang out in the areas that aren’t being used for a shoot

An old adobe building where part of the last episode of Bonanza was shot

An old adobe building where part of the last episode of Bonanza was shot

This four story barn was in The Astronaut Farmer

This four story barn was in The Astronaut Farmer

The inside of the barn

The inside of the barn was really cool

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Recreation of the 1940’s government town where the atomic bomb was worked on….complete with cows hanging out 🙂

For those of you who were expecting more about Santa Fe and the surrounding area I am sorry.  Real life and bad weather got in the way, but since we left so many things undone from our original list we are both committed to coming back at a different time of year.  I do highly recommend the Cochiti Lake Campground though if you are passing through.  It’s kind of out-of-the-way, but really nice.  The Corp of Engineers have done a great job with it.  Next up is Texas as we start to head back East…looking forward to getting somewhere warmer!!

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Living a Life with Less Fear

A few weeks ago someone asked a question on the RV-Dreams Forum  about what our biggest fears were before we started full timing, and how we worked through those fears.  It was a good question and got me thinking about how much less fear I have in my life now than a year ago.  So many things I was absolutely terrified of have been resolved or gone away.

  •  I was scared of losing my job – I left it proactively and it’s not so bad.  So far it’s actually been pretty great and I am surprised by how much low level fear I was carrying around associated with the job that is now simply gone.
  • I was scared of Lee and I alone in the camper – I’ve talked about how buffered our relationship was by kids, jobs, responsibilities and I was scared of what we would find when we stripped all that away.  Turns out it’s been really good.  Stressful yes, but also rewarding and enjoyable to really get to know each other again.  Plus my sex life hasn’t been this good in years.
  • I was scared of the camper – I have a low mechanical aptitude and as a non-experienced camper I was scared of the thing.  Those issues have largely worked themselves out with time and experience.  Plus Lee has been hugely patient and really is a great teacher. I still have a few more things to work on, but this is my home now, and you really shouldn’t be afraid of your home.
  • I was scared of losing myself – Without my job and kids in the house, who was I?  Well, I am still trying to figure that out, but instead of being afraid of it, I am thrilled to finally have the time and experiences to grow as a person.  Plus being friends with so many amazing strong women has really helped.  They haven’t stopped being who they are because they are full time RVers and they are exploring themselves just as I am.
  • I was scared of being “homeless” – I wasn’t particularly attached to either of my two “hometowns” but it was scary to give up the comfort of familiar grocery stores, hair salons, etc. This fear has manifested itself into travel day anxiety which still exists but is getting better.   I still need to work on this one, but I am getting much better at quickly acclimating to a new place and hope eventually to lose the travel anxiety all together.

Those were the big ones.  There were lots and lots of little ones of course, but they mainly fall into one of these categories.  And overall I feel like I am doing well.  I’ve changed more in these areas in the last two years than in the 25 previous. I know what I need to work on and am getting pretty good at noticing the triggers and talking about them proactively rather than reacting to them.  So why write about this now?  Well today God/Universe hit me with three stressful situations, all in a one hour period, and I didn’t do so well.   So I thought it was probably time to write about all of this, because if not now, when it’s fresh then seriously, when?  But first let me back up a bit.

We left early Saturday morning for Lake Cochiti (near the Santa Fe area) and I was pretty excited.  I have wanted to see Santa Fe everysince my friend Sue visited here last year.  Plus, we found a cool Core of Engineers park to stay in and were looking forward to trying it out.  Our friends all rave about COE parks, but our one and only experience was not so great.  The drive was short and we even had time time to stop at The Crane Diner at the Phillipsburg 66 truck stop and have a hearty breakfast.  My eggs were ok, but Lee loved his Trucker special that came with a HUGE piece of country fried steak.  Plus, it was a real truck driver experience and I thought it was fun.

Then we got to the Core park and it was great.  Cochiti Lake is built on Cochiti land as a cooperative effort between the Core of Engineers and the local Indian reservation.  The engineers own the dam but the native americans own the water and the cooperation between the two seems to be working well.  The park is extremely nice, with water, 50amp and the cleanest dump station I have ever seen, and thanks to my husband owning tons of long cables and hose we were able to park backwards with a beautiful view of the lake.  Not sure why they would put the hookups so you faced away from the lake, but we are rule breakers now.

Our site at Cochiti Lake

Our site at Cochiti Lake

Our view

Our view

Since the reservation was right next door we drove through trying to find a local Pow Wow that was happening (we had seen some hand painted signs) and stumbled across a local jewelry maker.  It turned out that it was in Julius’ house and his aunt and grandmother make the jewelry.  They had a small table set up in their living room and he came right out to meet us.   I was simultaneously excited (been wanting to buy something for my niece Bailey that was authentically Indian made) and nervous because I was in his living room.  Turns out we did all the right things, didn’t take pictures, made eye contact, introduced ourselves by name, and shook hands gently.  I also ended up buying a bracelet and had a very nice conversation with Julius who invited us to church in town for Palm Sunday.

Going to church on the road s always a treat and the opportunity to go to a Spanish church on Palm Sunday in an Indian reservation was amazing.  But church is not really Lee’s thing, and I knew it was unlikely I would have the nerve to go alone.  Next, we followed Julius’ directions to the Pow Wow in the local elementary school gym.  Although the event was open to the public, everyone in the parking lot was a native american. Lee and I both felt like we were intruding on a local cultural event, but we did get out of the truck and walk up to the door.  Once we peeked inside, however, we lost our nerve and using the $3 cash per person admission fee as an excuse we left. (We only had quarters in the truck) Now keep in mind I have wanted to see an authentic pow wow for many years and here was the opportunity right in front of me, but I didn’t take advantage of it.  Not good.

So we decided to go to the Tent Rocks National monument, only 4 miles away, and since it was a National Park we felt like we would be on solid ground.  As we were making our way back through the reservation, however, I asked Lee to stop the truck because I saw this beautiful black puppy limping.  He came right up to the truck when I opened the door and I saw he was badly tangled in metal wire and a small metal sign. My heart went out to him and I was trying to figure out what to do because it looked like it would take wire cutters to get them off, when Lee said, “Watch out for the other dog.”  I glanced up and a very huge, very mean looking dog (with a collar) was staring right at me.  He was obviously looking out for the puppy and I realized that as soon as I tried to get the wires off the dog would definitely yelp and then would the big dog attack me?  Plus  I didn’t even feel I could get out of the truck and if I tried to lift him in, he would yelp.  I simply didn’t know what to do.  I kept looking at the big dog, who didn’t take his eyes off me, and the puppy was wagging his tail, and Lee was very concerned.  When the puppy jumped down and limped back to the big dog I am very ashamed to say I just let him go.  I hoped they were headed to their home, but when we drove down to tent rocks I was upset.  So much so that as soon as we got to tent rocks I asked Lee to drive back and look for him.

Lee drove up and down every side street in this little town and we even stopped and talked to one high school aged kid who was outside his house.  The problem is there were tons of dogs all over the place on the reservation and most were unleashed with no collars.  We drove for at least 30 minutes but we just didn’t see them and and finally we went back to the camper.  I was incredibly upset.  It wasn’t just the dog, although that was bad enough, but in less than an hour I had opportunities to do three brave things and didn’t do any of them.  So this supposedly brave new me, wasn’t so brave after all and I couldn’t get the picture of the dog out of my head.  I should have walked into the church,  gone into the Pow Wow, I and helped the dog.    The kind of person I want to be would have done those things and it makes me sad to  realize that I have so much  more work to do.

Needless to say it was a tough night, but after getting some sleep I did wake up feeling better.  We were headed into Santa Fe, which is a town I have wanted to see since my friend Sue came here.  We left early and drove down to the Santa Fe Plaza.  For 10am on a Sunday the parking was pretty full and we saw signs for a special event.  Since it was Palm Sunday and there is a huge church on the plaza we thought most of the spaces were taken up by people going to mass.  We finally found a place to park in the school and we walked over to the plaza passing the church along the way.  As we went into the plaza we saw that there was a crowd and some people on the grandstand.  The local churches were holding a multi-denominational ceremony in the courtyard and after the ceremony  all of the participating churches with their congregations walked around the plaza holding palm leaves to remember Jesus’ walk into Jerusalem.  I watched with tears in my eyes as all of the groups circled the plaza twice and then split off in small groups and walked into their individual churches.  The bells of the  Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis (patron saint of animals) started pealing as their group entered the huge front doors.  In that moment I felt as if God was speaking to me and I was forgiven for my cowardice.  The message was it’s OK if you are not perfect, just do better next time, and the heaviness I had been carrying in my heart was lifted.

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis

Statue of St. Francis

Statue of St. Francis

The multi-denominational ceremony in the plaza

The multi-denominational ceremony in the plaza

The processional

The processional

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This group sang as they walked, brought tears to my eyes

This group sang as they walked, brought tears to my eyes

The Plaza is wonderful in its own right, by the way.  Amazing shops, cool little restaurants and I just loved the old part of town.  But I will remember it for the Palm Sunday service I saw there and the feelings of forgiveness it evoked in me.

Recipes

Pam’s Ravioli Lasagna

  • Ravioli (cheese and any other item) You choose the variety
  • Mozzarella Cheese
  • Spaghetti Sauce Again you choose, I recommend Connie’s meat spaghetti sauce
  • Pam
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  2. Spray baking dish
  3. Place one layer of sauce on bottom of pan
  4. Place a layer of frozen ravioli
  5. Cover with sauce
  6. Sprinkle with Mozzarella Cheese
  7. Add a layer of frozen ravioli
  8. Cover with sauce
  9. Sprinkle with Mozzarella Cheese
  10. Top with Parmesan Cheese
  11. Bake covered with foil for 30 minutes
  12. Bake uncovered for 10-15 minutes until crust forms on top
  13. Let sit for 10 minutes
  14. Serve

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First Time Seeing the Very Large Array

We left Roswell and headed across New Mexico towards the Very Large Array on HWY 380.  Highway 380 is also known as Billy the Kid highway and traverses Lincoln County which is the territory of Billy the Kid.  It also passes through Lincoln, New Mexico which is an extremely old town that he was captured, taken to, and escaped from.  Neither one of us was that interested but the town was super old and there were numerous historical locations that people stopped at.  We were interested in the lava fields though.  Crossing route 380 is a huge lava flow that the land is slowly reclaiming,  There was a scenic view and we pulled over and walked out on the rocks a bit.  Neither one of us had ever seen anything quite like it, as it looks like a giant black river frozen in place.  I would have loved to explore a bit more, but you have to watch your time on these side trips or you end up pulling into your campground at night.

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Loved these rippled rocks

Loved these rippled rocks

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Another thing on the drive we were interested in was the Smokey the Bear Historical Park!  I was a Smokey the Bear fan as a small child (I mean really, who wasn’t?) and thought if possible it would be a fun stop.  This desire was heightened when we stopped at a small rest area for lunch and saw the place where Smokey was found.

Capitan Gap (in the background) is where a a small bear cub was rescued during a major forest fire

Capitan Gap (in the background) is where a a small bear cub was rescued during a major forest fire

Smokey did exist as a cartoon character created during WWII to help the war effort preserve timber.  In the early 50’s though the cartoon character became a real bear when the bear cub was rescued.  He was flown to Washington D.C., met the president, and was installed in the National Zoo where he lived a 26 year long bear life.  The neat part of the story is when he died he was sent back to the town of Capitan who created the burial site and historic park for him.  The whole small town now has a Smokey The Bear theme, but for $2 we thought we couldn’t go wrong seeing the park.  Actually it was pretty cool, with a nice 10 minute movie and lots of old posters and memorabilia.  The outside park itself was small and could use some updating, but I did like the grave site.  Finally we went next door and saw the gift shop, where unfortunately things were crazy expensive.  Still glad we did it and it only took 45 minutes or so to see it, which was more than a fair trade.

The historical park. We parked in parallel out front btw as it was a slow day

The historical park. We parked in parallel out front btw as it was a slow day

Smokey as a cub and grown bear

Smokey as a cub and grown bear

My favorite childhood poster

My favorite childhood poster

Lee's favorite childhood poster

Lee’s favorite childhood poster

Didn't know this but many other countries picked up the Smokey idea and have their own programs. Australia uses the Koala

Didn’t know this, but many other countries picked up the Smokey idea and have their own programs. Australia uses the Koala

The gravesite, which was built at 3am so the body wouldn't be stolen. Weird for the 70's but apparently that was a real concern

The gravesite, which was dug at 3am so the body wouldn’t be stolen. Weird for the 70’s but apparently that was a real concern

Next we hit the town of Socorro, which is over 400 years old and was a Spanish missionary city.  Again, not a lot of interest on our part, but if you are interested in old Spanish Missions this is probably a place you would want to check out.  It was starting to get a little late but we were excited to see The Very Large Array (VLA) along our path. Knowing we were spending Friday there we didn’t stop, but I did take a couple of quick shots from the window.  We were a little awestruck by the huge white dishes in the middle of nowhere.  I won’t get into to much detail at this point, but here’s a sneak peek with the view we saw.

Looks smaller from the road than in the movies

Looks smaller from the road than in the movies, but still pretty amazing

Many more miles down the road we finally arrived at Jackson Field our free campsite in Pie Town.  As you probably know by now, Lee loves pie, so when searching for a campsite near the VLA we decided to try this place out.  There aren’t lots of options close by, and free plus pie equals sold for us.  The dirt road leading back to the sites was very soft (absolutely would not try this in a big rig if rain was expected) and the sites themselves were not clearly marked.  Luckily a very nice man who was living there helped us find a spot and it turned out to be OK.  We had no ATT and only 1 sliver of 3G Verizon, but the fields were full of deer and other animals we saw tracks for but didn’t see.  Lee loved it for the wildness, I was a little nervous about animal activity but for a couple of free nights wasn’t bad.  I will say if we went back to the area though I would definitely stay at Datil Wells BLM campground which was $5 a night and much better kept.  The biggest disappointment was the Pie-O-Neer store in Pie Town.  It was a beautiful little store with a great story, but the pies were $29.95 each!! Even Lee wouldn’t spend that kind of money on a regularly sized pie and shame on them for charging such a ridiculous amount of money for a pie.

Our campsite at Jackson Field

Our campsite at Jackson Field.  Lots of free firewood lying around

A big piece of bone near our fire ring

A big piece of bone near our fire ring

The overgrown baseball field we were up against

The overgrown baseball field we were up against

The Pi-O-Neer

The Pie-O-Neer

Inside was super cool

Inside was super cool

Such a shame that they only make pies now and charge so much for them because the place has style

Such a shame that they only make pies now and charge so much for them because the place has style

Pie aside though we were more than ready to see the VLA.  I haven’t seen Lee this excited in a while so we got up bright and early and headed that way.  It’s a little confusing how you actually get back there, but follow the signs and about 4 miles off the road there you are.  It only cost $6 per person to get in and that includes a really good 20 minute movie (narrated by Jodie Foster), some informational material, and an outside self guided tour.  It’s really all about seeing the antennas close up though and in that case it did not disappoint. Oh and did I mention that we saw Elk along the way?  Since we got up so early we saw tons of them including a buck with a large rack that I unfortunately did not get a picture of.

Elk in the wild

Beautiful Elk

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The beginning of the walking tour

The beginning of the walking tour

The time was right

The time was right

Lee was obviously having a good time

Lee was obviously having a good time

This sign shows how big the dishes are. Two school buses could fit across their width

This sign shows how big the dishes are. Two school buses could fit across their width

This givesy ou a feel for size as the cars below are RR box cars

This gives you a feel for size as the cars below are RR box cars

You get to walk right up to this one

We were able to walk right up to this one

Amazing

Amazing

Underside

Underside.  See the stairs?  Guys walk up there and using harnesses work inside them

And one of the neatest things is that they move them by pulling them with this big machine along RR tracks

And one of the neatest things is that they move them by pulling them with this big machine along RR tracks

There is almost always one out of rotation for maintenance in this huge bay

There is almost always one out of rotation for maintenance in this huge bay

They are currently in a tightly clustered formation, but they can also be moved into a loose configuration and be very far from each other

They are currently in a tightly clustered formation, but they can also be moved into a loose configuration and be very far from each other

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They collect radio waves (which tell jus a lot about black holes) and are located in no where New Mexico because there is minimal earth noise to wade through.

This really helps you see how they are all parts of one very big machine

This really helps you see how they are all parts of one very big machine.  You can see the RR track running beside them

And we both loved the cows that graze freely on the land. They've even lined up like the dishes for us (Lee's pic)

And we both loved the cows that graze freely on the land. They’ve even lined up like the dishes for us (Lee’s pic)

It was a really terrific experience and I highly recommend making a side trip to spend part of a day here.  It doesn’t look like the movie Contact (which was digitally enhanced to add extra antennas), but it is awesome in its own right. Next up, Santa Fe!!

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Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. We very much appreciate any purchase you make via our website links as they support our blog. Thank you.   Search Amazon.com here