Flagler Beach, Sebring

From Jose

After visiting with my cousins Isabel and Miguel near St Augustine we decided to check out the tourist part of the city.  Yep, it's touristy, and crowded. Both Diane and I had been to St Augustine before so we made this one a quick drive-by.

We headed South on A1A a few miles to Diane's aunt Nan and cousin Danny and his wife Tina and cutie dog Daisy in Flagler Beach, FL . We were wondering what would be the best way to introduce our dogs to Daisy. Both Danny and Tina said Daisy is very mellow and would be fine with our dogs.  So we just let Maguire and Matilda out and they all got along fine. Danny and Tina have a canal right behind their house. Within minutes of arriving there we were saying that Matilda might jump in the canal and lo and behold Maguire walked off the edge and into the water. I think he did not see the edge.  Both Danny and I ran over ready to jump in, but Maguire swam to the wall and Danny just grabbed him by the harness and brought him up. Poor Maguire. He did not know what happened.

We had a great visit with them.  That night we parked the RV at Nan's and Diane slept in the house, Maguire stayed with me in the RV.  Matilda was not going to let Diane's bed go unused and slept there all night. In the morning Nan made us a delicious breakfast and told us many stories of her younger days. Then we went back to Danny's for a few minutes before heading south to Sebring.

Wait a minute... We went from Flagler Beach to Sebring. What happened to Orlando, Oviedo, Titusville, etc? Well, my friend Patty lives in Sebring and she's not feeling well so I decided to fast forward to Sebring to cheer Patty up. We will catch up on Orlando later.

We just arrived at Sebring and got to spend some time with Patty.  We all saw 'Santa Paws'. Alright, it's past Christmas but that's a cute movie and it's Patty's favorite. I'll report more on this visit on my next update.

Stay tuned.

Savannah, Jacksonville, St Augustine

From Jose

We have been on the road over 9 months (275 days).  We have driven about 14,500 miles and used about 1,100 gallons of gas.

After Myrtle Beach we hopped on to Savannah, GA. This  is a old city with a rich history. As in other cities where we want to get a taste of the city but not of the traffic, we took a guided bus tour. Our tour guide was a hoot, adding her own commentary when applicable (and sometimes when not). One of the historic mansions we passed had two front stairwells. She explained that one was for the ladies and one for the gentlemen, to keep the gentlemen from looking at the ladies' ankles. Then she added that as the mother of a boy and a girl she has a lot more to worry about these days than ankles. We also saw the statue of the waving girl in honor of Florence Martus who between 1887 and 1931 waved at any ship leaving or arriving at the port.

Next stop was Jacksonville, where Diane 's family used to live. She doesn't know anyone there anymore but we visited her old neighborhood and the colombarium where her mom and sister are buried.

From there we went to Jacksonville Beach and then took US 1A towards St Augustine to visit my cousins Isabel and Miguel. All their children came in from different parts of the US for Christmas. We were invited to Christmas dinner with Isabel and Miguel and three of their children, two spouses, and five grandchildren at one of their children's homes. That house was hopping! Diane had Puerto Rican food for the first time, including arroz con habichuelas guisadas, pernil, pasteles and flan. I had not had a Puerto Rican Christmas dinner in a long time myself. Then the younguns opened some of their presents. Huge thanks to my cousins Miguel and Isabel and their families for including us in their Christmas plans on such short notice.

Now we will head deep into the heart of Florida where we have lots of people and places to see before heading west.

Stay tuned.

North Carolina still

From Jose

It has been pretty busy since my last post.

I found a fatty tumor on Matilda's elbow. It is not too big and it has not slowed her down. As long as it does not grow much I am not going to do anything about it yet.

At the end of my last post we were near the Blue Ridge Parkway. We did get to drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway and found it amazing. I can only imagine what it would be like with changing leaves.

We soon got to High point, NC, home to Bill and Patty, relatives of Diane. I soon learned that the cities of High Point, Winston Salem, and Greensboro are closely related and are called the triad. Right after arriving there I got a bad migraine headache. Bill and Patty were very accommodating and offered ideas to try to make me feel better . I did get to see "It's a wonderful life"  and "Miracle on 34th Street". That made me feel better.  We all went for a bite at Carolina's Diner.

From High Point we went to Matthews, NC near Charlotte. There we visited Elizabeth, daughter of Beth, a coworker of mine some time ago. Beth has an RV and Elizabeth set up an RV parking space at her house.  It was nice having connections. Elizabeth works at Discovery Place, an interactive science museum for visitors of all ages, and she gave us comp tickets. Wow! What a cool place. They have all kinds of hands-on experiments demonstrating electricity, leverage, water flow, etc.  I was like a kid in a candy store. One of my favorite parts was the "Animal Grossology" exhibit which explained in great detail things like flies that feed by barfing digestive acids onto solid foods to turn them into liquids.  Or the different messages that dogs get from each other by sniffing the butt. Diane did not like this exhibit very much. I guess it's a boy thing. Another great part of the Discovery Place is that it's run by a non profit and the city of Charlotte rents them the building for $1 a year. And everybody treated us like we were old friends. Huge thanks to Elizabeth for her hospitality and for turning us on to the Discovery Place.

From Matthews we went to Holly Springs, near Raleigh for a quick visit to Chuck, a friend of Diane's. I have noticed during this trip that when we visit somebody, whether they are my friend or family or Diane 's, we are both welcomed and received with open arms. Chuck was no exception. He made us a delicious breakfast and soon we were all talking and laughing like old friends. Chuck is a cool dude and I hope we will stay in touch.

Before heading south we had to check out the North Carolina Outer Banks (OBX). There we saw Kitty Hawk, where the Wright Brothers first flew. The Cape Hatteras lighthouse is very impressive. In 1999 it was moved 2,900 feet inland to save it from coastal erosion.

On the way back from the Outer Banks we stopped at Roanoke Island and saw the site of the Lost Colony. In 1587 about 100 men, women and children stayed at a colony in Roanoke Island while their governor went back to England to get supplies.  When he got back three years later the colony had been dismantled and there was no sign of the colonists. To this day nobody knows for sure what happened. Hmmmm.

We finally turned to the south and after a few unremarkable days ended up in Myrtle Beach. We had both heard of Myrtle Beach but didn't know what it is all about. What a cool place!  We got to ride the bikes on the boardwalk, we rode the Ferris Wheel, we shopped at some exquisite gift shops that would make South of the Border proud. I am glad we stopped there.

It has been difficult keeping up with the updates to this blog because we do fun things faster than I can write about them. Right now is way past my bedtime but the longer I wait the more there is to write about. I have thought of writing an update every day and it might come to that.

In a few more days we will have been on the road for nine months. The people that gave us six months were wrong. I think we're going to actually last a year.

Stay tuned

OBX!

I can’t remember what intrigued me exactly about the Outer Banks or where I'd first heard about it.  Nevertheless, it was a stop that Jose put on the first map we drafted up a couple of years ago.  Naturally, many of us hear about this area when Hurricane season rolls around each year and now that I’m here, I see how this beautiful area can become so devastated by water and wind.  I find it interesting that the things that make places and people who they are can be used against them by outside forces; yet persistence and hope that lies within eventually rebuilds earth, sky, and life. I digress.

Essentially, OBX is a 200-mile string of barrier islands that extends the entire length of North Carolina and a small portion of Virginia.  There are several gaps that you must either drive over via a bridge or cross on a ferry.  Cape Hatteras lighthouse is as far as where driving; then we’ll turn around and hook back up to the mainland via Roanoke Island.  Visiting the Lost Colony on Roanoke has been suggested by my cousin, Lynne, and Cathy, a Best Friends cat caregiver friend, so we plan to check that out tomorrow.




Many of the houses on OBX are 2-4 stories, and all are built on very tall stilts.  Some of them have decks covering their entire roof, one is built to look like a lighthouse with a regular square house built around it that is just as tall as the lighthouse!  The windswept dunes are high so that much of the drive you cannot see the ocean, but the intermittent gaps provide teasing glimpses along the way. Interestingly enough, a second set of dunes runs in front of the houses that are directly on the beach – I’m assuming that those provide some protection from hurricanes.

Naturally, this time of year, many businesses are closed for the season, but it’s very nice and quiet and there is little traffic although there are some who do live down here year round.

The highlight so far has been our visit to The Wright Brothers National Monument which is celebrating its 110 anniversary today (12/17/13).  It was amazing to walk in their footsteps and fly my little balsa rubber band powered plane from the exact place that they achieved the first flight over a century ago.  My plane did not hit their first marker, but the landing was perfect!

Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia

From Jose

At the end of my last entry we had arrived at my cousin Hilda's in Smithfield, VA. I had not seen her in 13 years and her son Robert in 45 years. Hilda has not changed much in all the time I've known her.  She always looks and acts so youthful. I met Robert's wife Kim, who is also a great person, and spent some good quality time with all of them. They made us feel welcome even though they are very busy. Robert and Kim have jobs and Kim was organizing a birthday party for her sister. We heard many cool stories about how Hilda came to live in Smithfield, how Robert met Kim and many other family stories. I liked their neighborhood too. Houses are big, well kept and with plenty of space between them.

When we left Hilda's we realized we were close to colonial Williamsburg and decided to check it out. They have kept the town the way it looked during colonial days and there are employees in costume.  Some exhibits require tickets but tickets are not required to walk around the town or go into the shops. It was a pretty relaxing stroll through 1776 Williamsburg, like going into the past.

From Williamsburg we went to Raleigh, North Carolina to see my dear friend Brooke. She was my neighbor in Kanab with her sister Sarah. They are two of the nicest people I have ever known. I had not seen Brooke in about 4 years. We met for lunch at The Raleigh Times Bar. The building originally housed a newspaper, hence the name. We had a great time catching up with all that Brooke has done since I last saw her. She graduated from Ringling College of Art & Design, where she studied Computer Animation. She is very talented it and I'm sure will be very successful.

From Raleigh we went to a place I really wanted to see: South of the Border, a very tacky tourist trap just south of the North Carolina/South Carolina line. Diane had been there before and was not too thrilled about seeing it again so I had agreed to make it a quick stop. But by the time we got there it was time to stop for the day anyway so we got to stay at Camp Pedro, South of the Border's own campground. There are several restaurants, several gift shops, two gas stations, its own fire and police department and thousands of trinkets for sale.  For a subjective review of the place see:

http://www.fieldtripper.com/c/5mp2m9JQgLg/south-of-the-border

Now that I have seen it and got that out of my system I can see why Diane was not keen on seeing it again.

At this point we had a decision to make. Some time ago we had estimated that we would be in Georgia at the end of November and informed our friends Lynne and Ed that we would see them for Thanksgiving. As it turned out we were way behind schedule and still had some things to do and people to see before reaching Georgia. No way we could do all that and still make Georgia by Thanksgiving. Right around that time the weather folks forecasted a big snowstorm coming our way. Freezing weather is especially bad for an rv with all the exposed water pipes underneath. So, to spend Thanksgiving with Lynne and Ed and stay away from the bad weather we decided to fast forward to Georgia and backtrack later to the states we missed. Good decision.

Diane and I met Lynne and Ed at Best Friends and quickly realized they were both very nice. Then it turns out Lynne is Diane's cousin. When Lynne and Ed come to Kanab we always all get together. So it was good to spend Thanksgiving with them. They live on 12 acres near Atlanta, there was plenty of room for the rv and even electricity hookup.

Lynne 's mom was from Spain and she has slightly different traditions. Instead of turkey for Thanksgiving she made a pork roast with lemon and garlic. I'm going to let Diane go into more detail about the food, all I can say is that it was delicious. They took us on a drive around some beautiful parts of Georgia that tourists don't usually get to see. But we mostly stayed in the house, talking about family, seeing old family photos, enjoying the antics of their cats, checking out Ed 's guns (if there are any burglars reading this, don't go to Ed's house) and being family. Huge thanks to Lynne and Ed for your real southern hospitality.

From there we stopped by Amicalola Falls State Park, recommended by Carey.  The start of the Appalachian Trail is nearby and I wanted to go there but the road is not good for rv's, so I went to the park instead. They have a huge fancy Lodge and some fantastic scenery.

We are now back in North Carolina, in Asheville, to see this beautiful city and to catch up with the people and places we missed before.  Stay tuned.

Delaware, Virginia

From Jose

Update on the tick bite I told you about in my last entry: it is healing fine, without any complications.  Now it is just a little scab like any other little scab.

Our next stop was Newark, Delaware to visit my cousin Meri.  She teaches spanish at the University of Delaware and also hosts foreign students. We visited Longwood Gardens. From Wikipedia: "Longwood Gardens consists of over 1,077 acres (4.2 km²) of gardens, woodlands, and meadows in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, United States in the Brandywine Creek Valley. It is one of the premier botanical gardens in the United States and is open to visitors year-round to enjoy exotic plants and horticulture (both indoor and outdoor), events and performances, seasonal and themed attractions, as well as take part in educational lectures, courses, and workshops." It started in 1798, when brothers Joshua and Samuel Peirce planted the first specimens of an arboretum there.  It was later purchased and greatly expanded by Pierre du Pont. Meri cooked for us some great Puertorican food, including typical rice and beans, and flan. It is the first time Diane tasted real Puertorican food, which is not the same as Mexican food, contrary to popular belief. We also went to the famous UDairy Creamery, a fantastic ice cream shop run by the University of Delaware as part of their College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Our next stop was Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. This is an old town at the junction of the Shenandoah River and the Potomac River. I had a special interest in Harpers Ferry because the Appalachian Trail goes right through it and my dear friend Carey came through here about a year ago, during her Appalachian hike. The history of Harpers Ferry is very interesting from several aspects.  It was an important passage way for settlers going West after Robert Harper established a ferry across the Potomac River in 1761.

It also became an important industrial town with the opening of the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry.  Many of the rifles and pistols for the Army were  made here and many advances in manufacturing were developed here. I especially liked the lathe for making the rifle stocks using a metal original, a technique similar to the modern machine for duplicating keys.

It was also important to the abolitionist movement of the day when abolitionist John Brown staged a raid on the armory in 1859, with the intention of capturing the weapons for a slave uprising in the South. The raid failed to capture any weapons, but it captured the attention of the nation.

During the Civil War Harpers Ferry changed hands eight times. The armory was destroyed in 1861 to keep it from falling to the Confederates.

I bought a book about Harpers Ferry so I can learn more.  I hope to be able to read it soon.

Next stop: Winchester, VA , home of Christina and Brian. We took this opportunity to relax, recharge the batteries (in the RV as well as our own). The RV house battery was not keeping a charge so I took the RV to a Camping World to remedy this. Christina and Brian were very gracious to shuttle me to and from Camping World when I had to leave the RV. We did see some touristy things. The house where Patsy Cline grew up is right in the middle of town and looks like any other house. Who would have known that such a star would come out of that simple house. There is a walking mall, where they closed a street to traffic and made it into a plaza with brick pavement and benches. It was nice to relax with good friends. On our way out of  Winchester we stopped at the State Arboretum of Virginia, a big expansion of rolling hills with tons of trees.

Our next stop was Reston, still in Virginia, home of my friend Beth. She and I used to jog together in a running group in Orlando, FL and went scuba diving a couple of times.  She is married to Chris and has two precious daughters, Kara and Zoe. Beth and Chris are very busy with work and family but somehow found the time to make us feel welcome and part of the family. They had some help in this department.

First, from Chris' mom who was visiting from South Carolina. In the excitement of the moment I did not catch her [real] name, for which I apologize. Following the example of Kara and Zoe, I know her simply as Mima. They are lucky girls to have such a great Mima.

And also from Jim and Joanie Hall. Through some lucky twists of fate Jim and Joanie have become Chris and Beth's "adoptive parents" and help care for Kara and Zoe. And they helped us immensely too. Reston is close to Washington DC and I wanted to visit without having to deal with traffic, parking, etc. Diane has never been to DC. Driving the rv through DC was out of the question so a train to DC seemed like the only option. There is a bus stop close to Beth's house but I could not find the right connection between bus and train that would let us see DC without leaving the dogs alone too long. I was about to give up on the idea when Jim offered to drive us to and from the train station, about a half hour drive each way. His kindness made it possible for us to have this important stop in our trip. Huge thanks to Jim and Joanie, Chris, Beth, Mima, Kara and Zoe.

By the way, in DC we took a hop-on-hop-off bus tour that allowed us to get a good glimpse of the city while someone else did the driving and the talking. We got off at the Lincoln Memorial and spent some extra time there and in the Vietnam Memorial ("The Wall").

My cousin Hilda is next on the agenda.  That is where we are right now and we'll cover that in the next update.

I am writing this on November 22, 2013, the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination. What were you doing when you found out?

Stay tuned.

Cousins

I am thankful that Jose is a good sport when I tease him saying, another cousin? But he really does have a lot, and we are visiting them all around the country. I am also thankful for his cousins as each of them are unique and delightful so far. 

As you know, we visited cousin Bob in California in April. Cousin Marilu and her husband, VV, from Rochester are vibrant, active scholars and intellectuals, making for lively discussions about religion and science at dinner time.  A trip down memory lane via Marilu's photo albums was delightful. And later walking along the Erie canal in Pittsford village, visiting the George Eastman House, and shopping at Wegmans grocery store, provided a perfect sampling of the community.

Meeting cousin Ed and his wife, Carmen, at their home in Guilford, CT, we discovered he was celebrating his 68th birthday and training for a triathlon in Hawaii!  Ed was so welcoming and just like a kid, grinning and joking all evening,  the birthday boy excited to celebrate with us and Carmen.

Carmen is a cook, running a catering business for 12 years, then putting the business on the back burner to focus on her health after finding she had cancer. Six years in remission, she exudes a playful and spiritual side, full of questions for us about life on the road and delving deeply into thoughts about our experiences so far. It was kind of breathtaking for me to pull my subconscious thoughts into cognition and express them verbally. I made a note to myself to list some of the questions Carmen asked adding several others so I can continue to query myself throughout the trip - list to come! Carmen is still cooking on occasion for select events, and her newly designed kitchen is always set up with a smorgasbord for breakfast and dinner for Ed and herself are self-proclaimed grazers.

Let me tell you that after 26 years of marriage, Ed and Carmen remain caring and flirtatious with one another. He is tender with her and she still adoringly courts him asking, Where is my boyfriend?, when he's stepped out of the room.
When I asked her why she moved to CT, she answered simply, For love...

Ay bendito! So endearing and authentic - I selfishly remain hopeful that this is attainable for me some day.

So, how many more cousins, Jose? I'd be delighted to meet them!

I couldn't leave New England!

Well a couple of weeks turned into three, then almost five! Here's a recap that I put together very loosely based on Billy Joel's tune, "We Didn't Start the Fire". It really is one of my least favorite songs of his, but it's catchy and somehow caught the vibe of all the stuff we did in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.  La la la - sing your hearts out!

"David, shopping, Eva and pancakes, Maine, who wants lobster, Ogunquit's Marginal Way

Boston, duck tour, Edward Gorey house tour, Cape Cod, Wood's Hole, Jamie at the ferry!

Beach walk, P-town, cocktail in the afternoon, sidewalk art sale, but they closed the National Seashore!

We couldn't leave New England - with the home fires burning and the leaves were turning
We couldn't leave New England - and they still burn on!

Karen, Mikey, Jen & Ronnie & Amber, Shyanne & Michelle - love my wild family!

Apple cider, Scituate art fest, pumpkins and fall leaves, riding with the top down

Kingstown, Amy, Hanker-Georgie-Kitteh, foliage in full swing,  flea and tick invasion!

We couldn't leave New England - with the home fires burning and the leaves were turning
We couldn't leave New England - and they still burn on!

Newport, seafood, breathing in the salt air, watching all the sailboats, yes I've missed the ocean

Mansions, ocean drive, man I really feel alive, Red Fez, blue bug,  it's good to be home

East side, wickenden, Hope Street, I'm back again, Roger Williams, I'm really doing OK!

We couldn't leave New England - with the home fires burning and the leaves were turning
We couldn't leave New England - and they still burn on

Drove back to my first house, owner let me inside, definitely different, but still much the same

Steelyard Iron Pour, fire and molten ore, Halloween in the air, cello - what an eerie pair

Michelle has free time, happy she's all mine (lol), that's really greedy, I hope she will forgive me

We couldn't leave New England - with the home fires burning and the leaves were turning
We couldn't leave New England - and they still burn on

Bristol, Colt State, Val and a dinner date, Benny's, bridges, goofing round in Target

BBQ, cocktails, jack-o-lanterns, pool room, melty fried candy bars, Hank's Down South

Baked so many apple pies, over a month has gone by, wiping tears from our eyes, but we gotta say goodbye

We couldn't leave New England - with the home fire burning and the leaves were turning
We couldn't leave New England - but the fires burn on and on and on and on..."

I hope I got everything! Love you all

New York City, Philadelphia, Delaware

From Jose

On our last night in Rhode Island I got a tick bite. It was a little tick but the bite looked nasty. Michelle and Amy said there is a lot of Lyme disease, so I went to a walk-in clinic and they agreed that it could be Lyme disease and prescribed some antibiotics as a precaution.

Our next stop was Guilford, Connecticut to catch up with my cousin Ed and his wife Carmen. I had not seen Ed in about 38 years. Ed is an engineer and Carmen had a catering business and is now semi-retired. They live in a cool forested area, near to town but with big lots and many trees.  Feels like you're miles from civilization. The next day was Ed's birthday and we got to celebrate with him with a scrumptious dinner prepared by Carmen. We talked into the night and the next  day got up early to enjoy breakfast together and talk and laugh some more.

Our next stop was going to be New York City, but I had mixed feelings about seeing New York City. I wanted to see some of it but I did not want to deal with the traffic, crowds, etc. So I asked Carmen if there is a way to see New York City without being there, like a guided bus tour. She said there are a few places along I95 where we could park the RV and take a train to the city. I liked that idea a lot.

We actually only spent a few hours with Ed and Carmen but we enjoyed every minute of it. It was nice to talk and laugh with such nice people.

As we left Guilford we saw a few of the places Carmen mentioned where we could catch a train to New York City. We spent the night in a little town named Norwalk, about halfway between Guilford and New York City to catch our breath and figure out what to do next. Next morning I realized we had not dumped the holding tanks in a long time so I decided to take care of that before any further touristing. The closest dump station I could find was in Croton Point RV Park, about 40 miles NE, along the Hudson River, so we headed that way. As we approached the park, around noon, we noticed a huge train station right next to the park.  When we went in the park office to pay the dumping fee we asked the attendant if we could catch a train to New York City at the train station next door. He said Croton Point is a major hub and that during peak hours trains depart for New York City about every 15 minutes. He also said it is about a 40 minute train ride to Grand Central Station. So we made an impromptu change of plans and decided to stay at the Croton Point RV Park and catch a train to New York City. We debated whether to catch a train that afternoon or wait till the next day, catch a morning train and stay longer. We decided to go just for the afternoon mainly because we didn't want to leave the dogs alone very long. And I did not want to explore New York City thoroughly, I just wanted a taste. After hooking up the RV and making sure the dogs had enough water in their bowl we rode the bikes to the train station and were on the train in a few minutes.

We got off in Grand Central Station and just went outside and walked. In our walk we saw the Empire State Building, old Chrysler Building, United Nations. We did go into the Rockefeller Center and saw the ice skating, NBC studios ("Hello, Al Roker") and the place where the Christmas tree would be (we missed it by a few days). We also saw the jewelry shop district. Just out of curiosity I walked in one of the stores and asked the price of a "Rolex" gold watch. It was $15,000. I am pretty certain it was not a genuine Rolex, it was in a little plastic holder with many others, and had a little plastic thingie protecting the glass. I know the true price of that model is about $22,000. Maybe he had to quote the high price in case I was a cop, and if I had talked to him some more he would have told me the true price but I did not have that much time and I did not intend to buy anyway.

We took the train back to Croton Point and arrived at the RV just in time to feed the dogs their dinner. We slept well that night after a very busy day.

The next day we headed towards Delaware to visit my cousin Meri but before we got there I wanted to swing by the Statue of Liberty. It was well worth the stop. We also took some very good pictures of the New York City skyline.

On the way to my cousin's we drove through Philadelphia and of course had to stop. We found a parking garage that could accommodate the RV and just walked, like we did in New York. During the walk we came upon some parked double-decker tour buses and found out that this was the starting point for a 90-minute guided bus tour and the next tour departed in a few minutes, so we got on. Our tour guide was excellent, knew a lot about the history of Philadelphia. She talked nonstop for 90 minutes and it was all interesting. The biggest thing I got from the tour is that Philadelphia has a lot of personality and it would take a long time to really get to know it. But we did the three main things to do in Philadelphia : 1  See the Liberty Bell, 2 see the Rocky Statue, 3 have a Philly steak sandwich. That's what the tour guide said. In reality they is plenty more to do in Philadelphia. We only spent a few hours there but I  would welcome the chance to come back and stay longer.

As we continued towards Newark, Delaware I saw an old ship moored very near I95. The name of the ship was "United States". I remembered when I was young my brother Cris had a plastic model of a ship named United States and I wondered if this was the same ship. So I googled it and found out that the United States was a famous ship in the 50s. It is the fastest ocean liner to cross the Atlantic in either direction. Several organizations have proposed making it into a floating hotel or museum but nothing has worked out. And for now it sits rusting near Philadelphia. If you are interested read the rest of the story here or follow this link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_United_States

We finally arrived at my cousin's in Newark, DE. But I have rambled enough for today. That will be next update.

Stay tuned.

Rhode Island still

From Jose 

We are still in Rhode Island. This is where Diane grew up and where her family lives.  I had previously met most of her family and it has been great to see them again and to meet the ones I was missing. The rv is parked in Diane's niece's driveway. Sometimes Diane's niece, Michelle, drives us around and sometimes we have the use of her car while she is at work. The rv is hooked up to electricity only and it is fairly easy to unhook and go, so we have been getting around a lot. Diane's sister Karen took on a great guided tour of Bristol, RI. Diane has a lot of memories of Rhode Island and has shown me places where she lived, went to school or worked. I am new here and don't have such memories, so I look at it from a different point of view. 

I do have a friend in the area, Dawn, who I met in Kanab when she worked a t Best Friends, and her daughter Emily and dog Chachi. She knew we were in the area but one night we showed up at her work in a pizza restaurant. She has not changed any since I've known her, which is a good thing. A few days later we all met for a picnic in Chase Park where the dogs got to run around and even jump in a lake. The weather was perfect. 

I'm not usually the shopping kind but two  stores here deserve special attention. One is Benny's, which is a big general store, like a smaller version of a Walmart but the stuff they sell is more "interesting". I found some parallel pliers that my father used to have when I was growing up and that I had been looking for. The other store is Harbor Freight Tools. We are all familiar with the fliers and ads in magazines but to see all those tools in one place is amazing. Their prices are great. They have lots of tools I would like to buy, most of them I don't really need and could not fit in the rv anyway. But it sure is fun to look.

This part of Rhode Island is made up of different islands, peninsulas, channels etc.  The is water almost anywhere you look. One of my favorite parts is Newport. To get there we go over a cool suspension bridge that is all lit up at night. Many famous people had their "summer cottages" there (54 bedrooms, with a staff of 36). Many of these mansions  have been restored by the Preservation Society of Newport County and are open to the public. Colt state park is a great place to picnic, bicycle or just hang out with a great view of the ocean.

Last night  we went to the 8th Annual Halloween Iron Pour, presented by the Steel Yard and the Iron Guild.  These two organizations promote the art of working with molten iron.  For this show they built a volcano complete with flowing lava (iron) and a miniature village. The volcano destroys the village,with a little help from the students.  See a short video here. It was very impressive and the crowd loved it.

You might recall that we planned this trip so we could spend the spring going up the West Coast, the summer in the northern states, the fall going down the East Coast and the winter in the south, avoiding very cold or very hot weather. We did catch the changing of the leaves in Rhode Island, which is the best. The weather here is starting to get chilly.  It gets down to mid 40s at night. I hope that is as cold as we're going to see.

Stay tuned

Rochester, Boston, Rhode Island

From Jose

I have not posted anything for a long time for two main reasons: 1 we have not had WiFi access.  2 when there was something to report we have been going, going, going. Today is about the first truly relaxed day that I have had.

After our most excellent adventure at Niagara Falls our next stop was Rochester, New York to visit my cousin Marilu. But she was going to be out of town for a few days so we had a few days to kill before we could visit her.

We decided to go explore the finger lakes area east of Rochester. We traveled through Geneva, Canandaigua and stayed one night in Waterloo. All these towns are very pretty, the people very friendly.  The weather is starting to get a little cool. The water in the lakes is very clear and you can see all the pebbles in the bottom and all the fish swimming around.

We finally reached Rochester and got to see my cousin Marilu and her husband VV. He is from india and his name is  difficult for westerners to pronounce, so he goes by VV, his initials. They actually live in a little town named Pittsford. The Erie Canal runs through the middle of town and the rowing teams can be seen working out. The town is very friendly to bicycles dogs and people in general.

VV is a retired college professor but he is still active giving lectures and talks about physics, religion and the relationship between physics and religion. I enjoyed our dinner table conversations very much. I would gladly go to listen to him talk on any subject because he makes his talks very interesting. My cousin Marilu is also a retired college professor from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf , which is located in the Rochester Institute of Technology. We visited her old alma mater and she was greeted by many of her former colleagues. To make the deaf people feel welcome and included when two non-deaf people talk they also talk in sign language. Learning sign language is one of the things in my bucket list. Does anybody know of a deaf person in Kanab who could teach me?

We also got to see the George Eastman House, where the man who founded Kodak lived. We learned a lot about him, what drove him and all his accomplishments. One thing that I thought unusual is that in he endorsed a calendar with 13 months of 28 days and one day (or two in leap years) that don't belong to any month.

By this time we were getting close to Rhode Island, and Diane and was anxious to get there to visit her family. Besides, one of the main things we wanted to see in Maine was Acadia National Park, but thanks to our elected officials the park is now closed. Consequently we did not make too many stops between Rochester and New England.

We did stop in Syracuse, New York to visit my cousin Julian, who is a 4th year student at Syracuse University , and his girlfriend Stephanie. Julian is even further proof that all the men in the Pico family are extremely handsome. I found a picture of him in the web and file name was campuscutie. We went to lunch with them and then they gave us a walking tour of the campus. This campus was founded in 1870 and some of the original buildings are still in use.

Diane could no longer contain herself, so we drove almost 300 miles from Syracuse to Boston in one day. That is by far the longest we have driven in one day. So we arrived at Norwood near Boston where her friend David lives. One of the first things we did in Boston was take a duck tour, on a refurbished WWII army landing craft. We drove around Boston and saw many Boston sights such as the Prudential building, Beacon Hill,  the North Church (where two lanterns signaled Paul Revere that the British were coming by sea), etc. Then the duck took to the Charles River and we saw other sights from the water, such as the  Science Museum,  the Longfellow Bridge, etc.

On a different day we took a day trip to Ogunquit, Maine. Towns in this part of the United States have very interesting names, mostly from Native American origin. There is a one mile walking trail right next to the water and it is very scenic. Also the leaves are changing and it is a great view. We had seen changing leaves for a while, but the changing colors in this part of Maine with truly spectacular.

For our final sightseeing day in the Boston area we went to Edward Gorey's house museum, (A is for Amy who fell down the stairs, B is for Basil assaulted by bears) and on to Provincetown, on the very tip of Cape Cod. This is a very eclectic tourist town, with many interesting shops, restaurants, and people. I have wanted to visit Provincetown for a long time and I'm glad I did.

From the Boston area we drove to the Rhode Island area to visit Diane's family and that's where we are now. I will include the details of that part of the trip in the next update, so stay tuned.

Niagara Falls

From Jose

From Bowling Green we continued eastward in the direction of Cleveland. I did not want to go though the big city so we bypassed it to the south. Even then we encountered lots of traffic and red lights. Aaaahhhhh! After a few forgettable days we ended in the city of Erie, Pennsylvania, in a campground called Sara's Campground. I liked this one a lot, not only because it is named after my awesome friend Sarah. There were bike trails galore, including one that goes out on a peninsula on Lake Erie. The place was peaceful and quiet with lots of historical markers explaining the history of the area.  We stayed two nights there.

Another night we stayed in Fredonia, NY. This Fredonia is a bit bigger and more modern than Fredonia, AZ.

Our next stop was East Aurora, NY. The town is very welcoming, clean, happy. We met Diane's family, Betsy Ohler, and husband Rick. Within seconds of meeting them I felt like I had known them for a long time and it did not matter whose family they technically were. They are my friends. They have a daughter named Mariah, a granddaughter named Peyton and a Golden Retriever named Pearl, who wanted to play with everyone human or canine but never gathered enough courage to come in the rv. Rick writes a column for a local newspaper and compiled some of them into a book. They took us to see some of the highlights of East Aurora. One of my favorite was the Roycroft campus. From Wikipedia :"Roycroft was a reformist community of craft workers and artists which formed part of the Arts and Crafts movement in the USA. Elbert Hubbard founded the community in 1895 in the village of East Aurora, Erie County, New York, near Buffalo. Participants were known as Roycrofters. The work and philosophy of the group, often referred to as the Roycroft movement, had a strong influence on the development of American architecture and design in the early 20th century." The place and everything in it is exquisite.

We also went to Vidler's 5 & 10, an original, covering two stories and four connected buildings. I could spend many days going through everything in that store. Check out their website here or go to:

http://www.vidlers5and10.com/

On our last day in East Aurora Betsy took us to Knox Park, where we had a great hike in the country and all the dogs walked off leash. The weather was perfect.

We left East Aurora sad to have to leave behind such good friends and such a cool town.   

Our next stop was Niagara Falls, one of the few things I *had* to do during the trip. We decided to take a guided tour first to learn what interests us and then return later to any sights that required a more detailed visit. The tour included a trip on the Maid of the Mist and tickets to Cave of the Winds. Like Grand Canyon or a Space Shuttle launch, Niagara Falls cannot be explained in words.  You have to see it, hear it, feel it. The Maid of the Mist took us to the base of both the American and Canadian Falls. Cave of the winds was originally an actual cave behind the falls. It collapsed in the 20s but the tour is now on some boardwalks at the bottom of the American Falls. The rumbling noise, wind, water, at the bottom of the falls was pretty impressive. Oh, yes. We were issued ponchos to go on each of these attractions.

The next day we returned to Goat Island to take in the magnitude of Niagara Falls at our own pace. We spent more time at Goat Island as well as Luna Island and Bridal Veil Falls, a subset of the American Falls. So much to see.

Then we spent four nights in a cute little campground East of
Niagara Falls. I am learning that  spending only one night in each place is not enough, it's too rushed. We arrive, check in and hook up, have dinner, feed the dogs and it's time for bed. Then next day feed the dogs, unhook and try to beat check out time. No time for blogging, laundry, relaxing, etc. So now whenever possible I try to drive longer, then stay at least two nights in each place. It won't affect our overall schedule.

Stay tuned

Houghton Lake, Grand Rapids, Toledo, Bowling Green

From Jose

After Traverse City, we went to Houghton Lake, Michigan. We needed to go there to have some work done in the RV. The holding tank sensors keep giving the wrong reading. They say the holding tanks are full when I know that is not true. This is a common problem with RV holding thanks. I wanted to replace the sensors. But the RV repair place told me it would take over a week to get the parts and over $300 to do the work. So I decided this is not *that* important. I usually have a pretty good idea how full the holding tanks are.

Our next stop was Grand Rapids but that was a little further than what I wanted to drive in one day so we stopped for the night in a little town named Paris, complete with a 18ft tall Eiffel Tower that the local High School welding class built as a project. Adjacent to the campground is an old fish hatchery that the town has converted into a park and museum.  The ponds and some fish are still there as well as numerous duck and geese. They have some machines where for a quarter you get a handful of fish food or bird food.  We spent most of our laundry quarters there, the birds and the fish were very thankful.

From there we went to Grand Rapids, Michigan. My niece Gladys lives there, my only niece I had not met yet. I did get to meet Gladys and her youngest son Victor. Her husband Lennie and oldest son Vinnie were out of town at a Raiders football game. Like her siblings, Gladys is super nice.  Very quickly I felt like I had known her all her life. She is a RN. Victor is very talented and has a great imagination. He will surely go far.

We all went to Fredrick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park.  Fredrick Meijer founded a chain of department superstores along the lines of Walmart. He created the gardens and park to give something back to the community. The iconic sculpture in the park is a 24 ft tall horse based on sketches by Michelangelo. There is also an interactive children's learning Park. This, of course, was my favorite.

The next day Gladys' husband Lennie and oldest son got back from their football trip (Raiders lost) and we got to meet them too. We all went to dinner at Red Robin and talked into the night. It's good to know I have such great family in other parts of the US.

In Grand Rapids we had an unexpected and unwanted adventure. One morning I got up to go to the bathroom at about 5am and when I stepped down the floor was wet. I stepped in a different spot and it was wet. I turned on the light to see the whole floor was flooded. Turns out a water valve stayed open and flooded the rv. We spent the next day removing the water, getting everything off the floor, etc. We rented a rug shampooer (from the Meijer superstore) and tried to vacuum up as much water as possible. I hope it will not get too smelly in the weeks ahead.

From Grand Rapids we went to Toledo, Ohio. Does anybody remember a song by John Denver, "Saturday night in Toledo, Ohio"?  Well... We needed to go to Toledo to buy dog food. At the beginning of this trip I decided to buy the dogfood at Costco because it is fairly good, fairly inexpensive, and available in every state of the country. But to my surprise the Costco in Michigan did not carry the canned food. I called the Costco call center and, believe it or not, got a very good agent (not that I have anything against call center agents, some are very good. Right, Katie? ). She searched the stores along our route and found out the store in Toledo had 74 cases of canned dogfood. So off we went.  But I found Toledo to be very busy, crowded, not my kind of town, so after getting the dogfood we kept on going and ended up in Bowling Green, Ohio. We stayed in a cute campground called Fire Lake Camper Park surrounded by cornfields. It consists of a 8-acre lake with campsites all around it. Today we rented a paddleboat and took a spin on the lake. The dogs came too and they enjoyed it a lot. Diane made me watch "Children of the Corn", which has some references to a lake of fire. Hmmm.

The next major stop is Niagara Falls. We'll be there in a few days.

Stay tuned

Michigan lakes are ALL SUPERIOR!

As we got closer to Michigan and began talking to friends from there, we learned about the mitten symbol that is used by most Michigan folks to mark which part of the state they're from.  Showing an outward open palm and pointing to the lower thumb joint  indicates that you are from Detroit; the lifeline underneath the baby finger is where Grand Rapids sits...above the middle finger is the Mackinac bridge..., and so on and so forth.   Pretty clever, I think!  The mitten is known as the lower peninsula and residents are called trolls, while in the upper peninsula north of Mackinac Island, they are called U-pers.   It is very fascinating and kinda fun; they sell a bumper sticker of an upright hand with a perpendicular sideways hand symbolizing the lower and upper peninsulas that Is sort of a stretch of the imagination, in my opinion.  I don't think that the UP looks like a mitten or even a hand , but since Michigan rocks in so many ways it's all good.

Why does Michigan rock, you ask? For one thing, the Great Lakes are here, there and everywhere!   The hues of the water are Caribbean blue and extremely clean and clear.  Superior is huge and often tumultuous like the ocean and is renowned for sudden changing currents resulting in shipwrecks throughout the area's maritime history.  Remember the song "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot?   Michigan and Huron are intersected by the 5-mile Mackinac Bridge which we were fortunate to view from below on the ferry then crossing it in the RV toward the quaint lakeside towns of Harbor Springs, Petoskey & Charlevoix.

It takes 8 years to paint the bridge;
and, when it's finished, they start
all over again!

Then there are the bike paths and harbor towns. You could spend a week shopping and eating around the streets of the triad, but we were more excited to get to Traverse City to meet family of Jose's for the first time. And...the ambitious and spontaneous Aries in me had a brilliant idea to bike a 26-mile trail from the first town to the third; she was ready to go, go, go!   Thankfully, that gung-ho gal is often somewhat ambiguous, and her indecisiveness led to biking a shorter distance of the second half - still 16 miles which she/I are damned proud of!  So long story short, the call of the trail and TC was louder than that of the shops...

Homemade pies and fudge are more reasons why this state rocks.   As soon as we left Montana,  Starbucks stores became fewer and farther between which has been sad but actually a good thing.  It provided the impetus to get moving and eat healthier.  All was going quite well; my pants were snapping more easily, my mood improved, I was on the upswing.  That was up until...the Murdick's fudge incident.   One large box; five slabs of buttery, sugary, granular deliciousness: maple pecan, chocolate cherry, peanut butter, chocolate toffee and chocolate espresso.  It was too sweet for Jose and he probably would have taken a month to eat it all.  So the fudge thought it was safe and sound individually wrapped in delicate tissue and nestled in its beautifully decorated box.  Little did it know that once the box was opened and the sweet, lingering scents wafted together to invade my senses, it had little chance of lasting 24 hours.  The battle lasted about 4 days as Jose feebly chunked away at one flavor with the mini plastic knife provided (what are they joking?) while I overwhelmed and devastated the box, slicing chunks off of all 5 at least twice a day.   I couldn't stand the box just sitting there without sampling throughout the day until I ultimately polished off its bulk.  I will never forget you,  Murdick's fudge - ever.

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Ay Bendito! So much to say...

Aerial lift bridge in Duluth, MN that we almost got caught on in the middle of crossing when a huge barge was about to go under.  We were napping and the warning horn for the bridge shot us from deep sleeps.
Saw a sand hill crane in Wisconsin before crossing into Michigan visitor center – humongous birds that lady said have just started migrating to MI.  He looked like Kevin the bird in the Pixar movie UP; if you haven’t seen that movie, the first 15 minutes has got to be one of the most heartwarming I've ever seen, and I recommend it highly.

Jose tested me on the names of the Great Lakes – I did not pass!  They are Superior, Michigan, Ontario, Huron & Erie (HOMES for future reference!).

We are really starting to make good use of the bikes more and more.  I went through a down period in Minnesota (poor Jose), hence the little communication from me.  However, a great friend talked some sense into me, and it seems I’ve bounced back a bit.  I’ve started to eat healthier and less – thankfully with fewer and fewer Starbucks in the Central and Eastern time zones, the high-cal coffees and the sweet treats that usually accompany them have been eliminated from my diet at the moment.  Adding the biking every day is also improving my outlook.

Lake Superior in Petoskey

Seeing Lake Superior for the first time is simply amazing; every turn you take along the north shore is just as breathtaking as the one before.  I can’t even tell you how many times Jose and I burst into singing Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald!  We drove about halfway up the north shore of Lake Superior and stopped at Gooseberry Falls and then dinner at Betty’s Pies!

Awaiting Mackinac Island ferry!

Biking Mackinac Island

Mackinac Island was next on our list – we stayed a couple of nights in St. Ignace, a neat little town where the ferries depart.  We brought our bikes over on the ferry and biked the 8-miles around the entire island.  One thing you have to kind of get over is the odor and sight of the horse manure all over the roads mixed with the smell of fudge – once you leave the main street though, you leave the odors behind.  There are no vehicles allowed and all the houses are old Victorian – simply a gorgeous old town – a step back in time.  It’s actually also famous not only for it’s delightful fudge but also the somewhat sappy movie called Somewhere In Time, starring Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeves in their younger days.  On a food note, I thought it was kind of weird that there was little fish on the restaurant menus - I guess the lake atmosphere is more conducive to hamburgers and hot dogs compared to the ocean islands of New England where all kinds of seafood are available.  We did have an excellent lightly battered and fried white fish and chips on the mainland - a tasty treat.

Now that we’re in the Eastern Time zone, I am more and more anxious to get to RI to see my family.  Only New York, Maine and New Hampshire remain, and we’re still on target to arrive in MA/RI in very early October.  The other cool thing is that while all the leaf peeper traffic will be traveling north up route 1 to see the foliage, we’ll have already seen it and will have smooth sailing into MA/RI!

I love Michigan!!  The lakes are spectacular, and the towns are all very quaint so far.  There is an awesome 26-mile bike path called the Little Traverse Wheelway that runs from Harbor Springs through Petoskey to Charlevoix.  I was planning to split up the ride, but the 8-mile ride around the Island kind of exhausted me, so I skipped the shorter leg.  I did take some shorter rides through Petoskey State Park where we camped overnight; it is right on Lake Michigan.  When you’re on the beach, the towns of Petoskey and Harbor Springs are at either side of you encircling you in a semi-circle.  It’s just so beautiful.  I REALLY love this area!

The next day, we drove to Petoskey, ate at a trendy café called Toast and Roast or Roast and Toast; I can’t remember!  Then we did a quick run through of a small Farmer’s Market we happened upon.  Back at the RV, we unhooked my bike and I took off for the 16 mile trek to Charlevoix.  Jose and the pups drove the highway and met me at the end of the trail.  It was a nice challenge for me…

Charlevoix

Afterward, we walked with the dogs through Charlevoix and down by the boats.  The marina has one of those cool water fountains that you can play in, but no dogs allowed.  So we strolled on by toward a couple of beautifully landscaped ponds holding black trout.  Jose decided to sit by one with Matilda, but she decided to make her rules and simply walked into the pond before Jose even realized what was happening!  The poor fish had no idea what entered their tranquil waters, but she was happy, and we were mortified yet relieved that no one else witnessed it!  That’s Matilda in a nutshell!

Matilda dreaming of fish and the Great Lakes

Jose’s been n touch with his niece, Miriam, in Traverse City, and we’re going to get to see her perform this weekend!  We're also planning to connect with his nephew, Cristobal Jose (not to be confused with Cristobal Enrique, his brother!), and his sister-in-law, Gladys.  Stay tuned for our next adventure!