Florida

We spent the last 3 weeks of our trip in Florida, where we plan to relocate in the next few months.  On our way to Sanibel Island, where Kenny's aunt lives, we stopped at Fort Walton and Clearwater to sleep.  It is a looong drive through northwest Florida, and it's pretty much uninhabited.  This is a picture of King wondering if he's going to get out of the truck ever again...

 

We enjoyed a few days in Sanibel with Kenny's relatives before heading to the east coast.  King had the time of his life playing with his friend Tashi who he hasn't seen in months.  It was just warm enough for the beach, so we took a nice long walk and collected seashells, which Sanibel and Captiva Islands are famous for.

 

 

Tashi & Aunt Shirley and King & Kenny

Tashi and King playing

It didn't take us more than 3 hours to get to the east coast from Sanibel.  Once we found a campsite, we spent the next two weeks apartment hunting.  Unfortunately, all of the apartment complexes on the southeast coast do not allow American Staffordshire Terriers or any pups that resemble them.  For all you dog owners out there, the "aggressive breed" list has expanded and probably includes your dog if it's over 40 lbs.  Other dogs on the list- huskies, rottweilers, any kind of bulldog, boxers, mastiffs, golden retrievers, labs, etc.  Our only option for housing was to find a rental house ($$$!) or condominium.  We weren't having any luck on our own, so we found a realtor who showed us some nice properties.  We found a nice new condo close to the beach for rent, which has no restrictions on dogs.  If all goes well, we will be moving in February 15th!  Goodbye NJ, hello Sunshine State!

Don't Discriminate :(

 

 

 

Cajun Country and New Orleans

We left Lafeyette, Louisiana with some new brakes and one new rotor- the mountains of the west have taken a toll on the Dodge.  We headed southeast into "Cajun Country" or the swamplands of southern Louisiana.  We cruised through small historic towns like New Iberia, Jeanerette, and Franklin.  Little seafood shacks advertised southern fixins like crawfish and boudin sausage.  Sugarcane fields lined the roads, and the sugar factories spewed sweet smelling steam into the air.  We made it to our campsite that night and spent the next two days exploring The French Quarter and the Garden District of New Orleans.

 

 

We stopped for coffee at Cafe Du Monde, which has been in business in The Quarter since 1862.  We were surprised to find that the cafe only serves coffee and beignets (fried dough covered in powdered sugar- yum!).  No mochas, espresso, caramel frappacinos, or decaf available.  The coffee and beignets did not disappoint, both equally delicious.  And the street performer who was serenading us with gospel & blues music made it a perfect New Orleans experience. 


The Garden District of New Orleans is home to the city's millionaires- movie stars, authors, and famous musicians call it home.  Along St. Charles street, giant aged oak trees shade country mansions with perfectly manicured lawns.  The main attraction of the area are the historic mansions and plantation homes, but the newer mansions are just as extravagant and beautiful, especially with Christmas decorations draping the monstrous porches and pillars.  Even though we were in the sophisticated part of town, you could tell drunken-craziness was not far away- Mardi Gras beads hung from every tree along St Charles.  

Before Leaving Louisiana for Mississippi, we took another drive into sugarcane land to see Oak Alley Plantation.  The plantation is famous for it's 28 perfectly aligned oak trees on it's grounds.  The trees are thought to be more than 250 years old.

Texas

Everything is BIGGER in Texas.

After leaving Carlsbad Caverns we went south into Texas. They say everything in Texas is bigger and from what we saw it was. Including the distances between gas stations. The first sign we encountered as we crossed the border said "No Services for 130 Miles", well that's not comforting but it is adventurous. It was almost as though they were daring you to continue and if you made it, you were welcome to stay. We passed the 130 mile test and came to rest in Fort Stockton. We didn't do anything here except sleep.

Our next stop was San Antonio which is about 315 miles or 6 hours away. We stayed at a KOA that night. We haven't been staying  there to often because they are a little pricey. The cost would be justified if we were 8 years old and still enjoyed playing on the monkey bars. We drove into town that night after setting up camp to see the sights but since it was a weekend almost every parking garage was full.  We did get to see the Alamo as we drove around the city. On a side note, for all of you who have seen this photo but have never seen it in real life don't be fooled. The Alamo is not in the desert and is not separated from civilization. It is smack dab in the center of the city completely surrounded by high rise apartment buildings. There is only one spot behind it clear of buildings. I was so confused. Please see Exhibit A below for more information. 




When we checked into the campground I commented on the "All You Can Eat Pancake Breakfast" they have every morning and I guess the lady behind the counter was in a good mood because she gave us a coupon for a free breakfast. The next morning I made it a point to wake up early so I wouldn't miss breakfast. I almost didn't make it but thanks to the militaristic wake-up call over a 100 watt PA system at 8 hundred hours I was able to pull myself from the mattress and sit down at a family style table with bikers taking about initiating their pledges. After finishing my first plate of pancakes which I had to force myself to finish in the first place (they were great pancakes but I have never been able to eat more than three pancakes), I went back up to the window and asked for a second helping. When the lady in the window turned around I sneaked away and returned to the camper to give Jean my second plateful of homemade pancakes.

On our way to our next stop in Willis, Texas we swung through Austin but could  not find parking that would support the trailer. The reason we went to Willis was so I could see a great friend of mine. Spence and I have been friends now for almost two decades. He moved to Texas almost 15 years ago and we have never lost touch with each other over the years. He moved back to Jersey for a couple months last year and after he returned to Texas I made it a point to see him when we passed through. Spence is the type of guy you want as a friend. He has always been there for his friends even though it meant putting his own neck out on the line and in some cases he did. If you call him he always willing to talk and never turns a cold shoulder.
I went to go see him the day before we left and hung out at his place about six miles north of our campsite. It was great to reminisce of the good ol' days and talk about all the things that changed since he left.  When I returned home from being out all day (almost 9 hours) I unlocked the camper door and Jean looked relieved that I was home. Come to find out that when I left and locked the door behind me I actually locked Jean and King in the trailer and they could not get out. I guess we are still learning all the ins and outs of the trailer.

The next morning we headed out to Galveston just so we could see some water. The town looked nice but was still a little beaten up from the storms. We parked next to the beach and made a quick lunch then headed to the ferry on our way to Lafayette, Louisiana. On our way through another 6 hour drive we stared to notice the brakes were getting really loud. I found a Dodge Dealer 20 minutes away and had them take a look this morning before before we left. We are now in New Orleans and pretty excited about going into the city tomorrow. Stay tuned for more.

Roswell and Carlsbad Caverns

After leaving Santa Fe we moved onto Roswell. If you have been living under a rock the last 63 years, Roswell was the location of one of the most famous supposed UFO crashes in US history. We entered Roswell at night, which is the best time to go if you ever do.  Me being a connoisseur of the weird, unusual, and anything considered linked to conspiracy, thought Roswell would be a great place to experience the extraterrestrial. However as with anything related to history is exploited and is now either a tourist trap or a pay per view area. Even the area McDonald's is build to look like a UFO.  I wanted to go to the ranch on which the crash happened but I found out that you need a 4x4 to get close and then hike 1/2 mile to the site, so we scraped that idea.





After leaving Roswell we went to Carlsbad Caverns National Park right near the New Mexico and Texas border. About three years ago Jean and I were in California with our friend Amanda and a group other friends. They brought us to a cave which at the time was the only one I have ever seen. I thought it was great being underground and thought it was pretty decently sized. Man was I wrong. Just entering


Carlsbad Cavern takes about a half an hour. In total it took us almost 2 hours to get to the bottom of the cavern or 75 stories underground. The size of this "hole" is indescribable. The cave is at a steady 55 degrees and 90% humidity. Everything is was wet including us by the end of our trip. We cheated getting out because we used the elevator but I think we could have made it out before dark. Take a look at some of the photos and if you don't mind the thought of being buried under 750 feet of rock then stop by the caverns and check it out, you won't be disappointed. 

Santa Fe

Top 5 Reasons to love Santa Fe:

1) Art galleries and sculpture gardens

2) No skyscrapers or buildings to obstruct the landscape

3) Adobe architecture

4) Wide blue skies with red sunsets

5) New Mexican food

Thanksgiving in Denver!

Our tour through southwestern Colorado was cut short by some severe winter weather.  We were in Moab, Utah preparing to travel south to Mesa Verde National Park, Durango, Silverton, and Ouray, Colorado when the meteorologists announced that a strong and frigid weather system was making its way towards the Colorado mountains from California.  The Rockies were expecting 1-3 feet of snow within the next 2 days.  In light of the new weather alerts, we decided to scratch our plans of seeing the points mentioned above and headed straight for Denver.  

We left our campsite in Moab and jumped on I-70 which took us straight over the Rockies of Colorado, all the while listening to the updated weather forecasts on the radio with dark looming clouds right behind us.  We started seeing some snow flurries as we passed through the ski area of Vail, Colorado.  It was now 9 pm and it seemed like we were the only ones on the road at that time- well, us and the snow plows ready for action.  We made it to our campsite outside Denver safely that night, excited to see our good friends in the coming week, but sad that we had officially started the decrescendo of our trip.  Two months down, one to go… Time flies…

The next week was spent hanging out with friends that we had known since grade school, drinking good wine, eating deep fried turkey, and laughing until we cried.  We couldn’t ask for a better Thanksgiving.