[Read about our travels in other years]

                                           TO READ ABOUT WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW, CLICK HERE.

Thursday, January 10, 2008
Ancient Oaks RV Park, Rockport, TX

          We woke up to a clear and cold New Year morning in Austin. Nice time visiting Andrea and Chuck, and enjoying Austin. We left their comfortable but chilly driveway around 8:30am that day, and drove south towards the coast. Made a couple of shopping detours, arriving in Rockport and settling into our campsite. in the early afternoon. 205 miles. The cruise control quit not far into our trip, we'd gone all of 300 miles since it was "fixed." The cool was not quite so here, and on arrival we sallied forth on foot (Bill) and bike (Pat) to do some preliminary exploring. Looked like this place will suit us fine for January. Good thing, we've booked a month - our longest one-spot stop so far. We're sliding into being "winter Texans." The last few week has been positively balmy, with overnight lows near 60 or above and sunny warmth during the day.

          Andrea came down with the 'flu the day before we left Austin, and no sooner had we settled in here than we came down with it too. We reefed our sails, battened down the hatches, lay low in our snug little home, and waited for it to pass. Which it seems to have done. We had 5 days of misery, but are now are mostly recovered. This is a great place for biking, and birding, though it's spread out to be sure.

 

Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Ancient Oaks RV Park, Rockport, TX

          The 'flu is gone, no complications. And the weather has chilled. Oh well, can't have everything. Strange times and much happening.

          First. Pat decided to upgrade her web design/development software while she is upgrading the website (do you like the new look?), and also for her non-profit support projects. Her version of Dreamweaver is now 4 years old, and not up to current web best practices. There have been two major upgrades since she bought it. Plus its beginning to crumble - she could uninstall and reinstall it to see if that helps. Anyway, it being the beginning of the year and with our reduced travel there's a bit of slack in the budget. So, she checked the specifications for the new Dreamweaver CS3, it should run OK on her laptop. She ordered the complete design package (Dreamweaver + other software). It arrived, only to find out you can't install the programs separately, and there's not enough RAM in her laptop for the complete suite. Did research to identify compatible RAM modules to add (including 2 calls to HP/Compaq support - in the Phillipines). But, learned the motherboard can't handle more RAM. Ouch. Didn't want to buy a new laptop, especially didn't want one with Windows Vista. Much teeth gnashing. Decided to bite the bullet and buy a Macintosh laptop, a MacBook. Ordered it. Tracked it's shipment from Shanghai (2 days). Safe arrival, looks good. But the Leopard Operating System is a new interface so she's back at the bottom of yet another learning curve. Next, she tried to install the new web design software on the MacBook. Oh bullfeathers, it doesn't work. 2 more support calls (to Adobe - in the Phillipines, and to Amazon - you got it, also in the Phillipines). Returned the software and ordered the Mac-specific version. What is this with the Phillipines? Has that country outsourced all US help lines? Imagine those nice young people sitting at the phone and putting on a different hat depending on which line the help question comes in on. Yikes. Now she's a (reluctant) 2-laptop person, talk about planned obsolescence. But... Must say, the Mac looks and acts like a gem compared to an often klugy Windows computer. So much for Microsoft.

          Second. We're working through another time of transition. We're half way through our 4th year of living in Clemmie, and 8 years of full-time roaming the land and sea. More and more we're coming to miss being in a community. Our travels have enlarged our perspective astronomically, but - now - we feel ready to settle down. So where does this take us? We think we'll continue to the east coast and our dear ones this spring. Once there, we'll trade in Clemmie for a minivan that we can sleep or camp in for short periods, and we'll ship our wordly goods from Clemmie and the few boxes in Nikki and Gordon's basement to Juneau. Then, during the summer in the van we'll visit dear ones in the northeast, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Ontario. Thereafter, we'll head west and in the fall, take the ferry to Juneau, and move into our (currently rented) house. It feels like this plan will fit for us. We'll still have access to van camping in beautiful places, and we'll plug into the Juneau community - which, as previously noted, already almost feels like home to us. We'll most likely continue to make an annual east coast excursion to our dear ones there - hoping, also, that they'll visit us in beautiful Alaska.

 

Friday, January 25, 2008
Ancient Oaks RV Park, Rockport, TX

          Disappointed in the weather. All week it has been very cold and very wet. Daytime highs in the mid-40's, and inches of rain saturating everything. Living in Clemmie we are confronted with the weather, can't escape it. The cold dark walk in the mornings to the bath house for our ablutions. The hammering, dancing, or sprinkling of rain on the roof above our bed. The patter of bird feet too. We'll miss that in a house. Maybe "miss" is the wrong word, we'll certainly be less likely to notice it as life gets more comfortable and convenient. Hoping to continue our light footprint on the Earth as we move into our next life phase, house dwellers. To alleviate our feeling of being trapped inside Clemmie due to the weather this week, we rented a car. Birded in the rain at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge (didn't see the whooping cranes). Took the ferry to Port Aransas and birded the Birding Center there, Mustang Island, Corpus Christi, and in Rockport. The birds are out there regardless of the weather so we're trying to live up to their stoicism. Got a bunch of good bird pix. Researched minivans. Dealt with tedious and drawn-out paperwork issues around a piece of Pat's retirement savings from her time in D.C. government. Continued guitar practice (Bill) and transition to Mac (Pat.) All's well, but we're more than ready to move on.

 

Friday, February 1, 2008
Dellanera RV Park, Galveston, TX

          Things warmed up a bit the last several days, made it easier to move around. We've enjoyed the gulf shore and wetlands here, not a bad place. This morning we left Ancient Oaks, and Rockport, around 8am. We were well ready to leave. It's the longest we've camped in one place and we needed to find out that we're just not snowbirds, it doesn't work for us to stay put in a campground. We don't exactly fit with other winter residents, seem to have little in common. So we're back on the road. East on Rte 35 to Port Lavaca where we stopped to provision. Ran the generator to exercise it, and noticed how nice it is to sit in our own house drinking a cup of cofee in a supermarket parking lot. Then through Palacios and east on coastal routes to Freeport. Flat farm land, some grim poverty, a few flocks of airborne sandhill cranes, a field full of snow geese. Through Freeport and past a humungous Dow Chemical factory, south to Seaside and east across the bridge onto Galveston Island. Watched a barge working along the Inter-Coastal Waterway through the mudflats. We were last here 2 years ago. Then, western half of the island was bare, undisturbed grassflats and dunes. Now, it is all built up with new condos and Mcmansions by the sea. Ouch. Wonder how long it'll be before the next hurricane levels them. Migrating birds have lost a major stopping point on their way north. Drove along the seawall in Galveston looking for the Visitor Center. It had moved. Came back through town to the Galveston Island RV Park which we had selected based on reviews at RV Park Reviews, a usually reliable source. Drove in and drove out. An armpit. Did some fancy footwork and found this nice public park on the beach just past the end of the seawall. Serendipity! Lovely spot, adequate bathrooms, fast and free WiFi and a lovely Seawall bikeride into town. Plus (unknown to us) MardiGras starts in Galveston tomorrow. We lucked out! Think we'll stay here a while, hoping for decent weather.

 

Sunday, February 10, 2008
Bay Colony RV Park, Dickinson, TX

          Weather tanked the day after we arrived at Dellanera RV Park in Galveston, and we sat in a fog of windy salt mist for four days. Poor Clemmie acquired quite a crystal coating. But then the sun came out Wednesday, though the wind was still too fierce for much biking. Nice beach walking, however. Decided to move on Friday, couldn't get into Brazos Bend State Park over the weekend because it was full, so came here until Monday, when there'll be room. This place is a pleasant large parking lot, big concrete campsites, good WiFi. Mostly winter Texans with big rigs, and a truck, and a car. Our little Clemmie seems a bit out of place. We spent yesterday planning our route to DC and made reservations at some State Parks along the way, hoping for some nature time. We'll be pretty much out of Internet access after we leave here but hopefully our phone will work. Looks like we'll get to DC around March 10. Our focus these days is on getting on with our transition! Pat spending chunks of (pro bono) time on upgrading the DDR website while Bill practices guitar and researches which vehicle we'll acquire as we kiss Clemmie goodbye. (Boo Hoo.)

          We can tell we're eager to settle down - we just booked our ferry trip to Juneau from Prince Rupert, BC, for the very end of August. Virginia Satir said all transition comes with relief and loss, and that if you don't deal with the relief you'll feel guilty and you won't know why. And if you don't deal with the loss you'll feel angry and you won't know why. This is most often applied to death or divorce, but it's applicable to most major life transitions. And we're certainly into one. So, for the record:

• Relief. We'll be anchored together in a known and attractive comunity and no longer be a roaming island of isolation. Our social interactions will increase vastly. We'll watch our grandsons grow up. We'll be able to have a consistent exercise schedule. We'll walk to the library, the swimming pool, the exercise club, the bookstore, two grocery stores, the bagel shop, the waterfront, to many hiking trails, take one of the dogs with us if we want. Good and easy bike rides. We'll have plenty of running water for washing up cooking mess. A big oven and more refrigerator space. Room to move around inside on a rainy day. Reliable WiFi all the time. Access to PBS all the time. We'll join or create groups, get guitar lessons. Get NetFlix. Go to the symphony or theater. We'll be more immediately mobile because we'll have a car. No more constantly hooking up or unhooking electric and water supplies, or dumping the waste every few days. Not having to climb onto the bed to make it every morning. Not having to negotiate a wide vehicle in city streets or onTX and CA freeway hells.
  
  
• Loss. We'll miss much about travelling in our moving home. It's so cozy. Having so little stuff. Everything is at hand, no need to go out to the car for anything. Life is very simple. No bathroom to clean. No yard work to do. Cleaning house only takes 5 minutes. Not trapped by having a car - so we don't get sucked into unneccessary trips. We walk or bike instead, or learn new bus systems. We're constantly exposed to people who live in much different circumstances, humanity is in our face. Nature is in our face. Our landscape is always changing in interesting ways. We don't have cold dreary weather in winter. We visit dear ones in places we'd otherwise never go to. We're low maintenance visitors so we can stay longer. Camping is very deluxe. It's great to always have your bed (for a nap) and toilet (you know why) with you on a long trip. We'll miss that early morning encounter with the outdoors as we head for the bathroom. We'll miss all those sunrises and sunsets.

          And for all of this we're very well aware of how lucky we are: good health, loving families, and enough resources not to be burdened by money worries. We are truly blessed. Meanwhile others freeze to death in Afghanistan, starve to death in Africa, or suffer untold violence in war-torn places. Once we're settled, it may be a bit easier to pass our good fortune along in a more substantial way.   

  

Thursday, February 14, 2008
Brazos Bend State Park, TX

          Bliss. Sunday we took Clemmie to be desalted at a truck wash near Houston. And Monday we happily left Bay Colony RV Resort and drove north and south on the I-45 service road a half dozen miles stopping in at a bunch of car dealers to look at vehicle options. We're pretty clear on our priorities: AWD, good gas mileage, plenty of cargo space, long enough for us to sleep in for a night's camping. Then we made our way to this beautiful state park, southwest of Houston, spreading over 5,000 acres of lakes, prairie, and bottomland hardwood forest. Nearly empty after a busy weekend, so we had our pick of spots. Heavy downpour overnight. Woke for a little and watched fireflies blinking through the tree branches. No more freeways (for a while.) No more man-made lights and noises (for now.) What a relief. Watery sun brought forth a morning loud with songs of cardinals, crows, woodpeckers. Yesterday and today the weather turned gorgeous and we have had much needed quiet nature time. This is a birdy place with over 30 miles of hiking and biking trails. But watch out for the alligators. No wonder this state park gets into the 10 ten best in the nation.   

 

Sunday, February 17, 2008
At Danielle's, Houston, TX

          Friday morning we left Brazos Bend and worked our way north the the freeway mess around Houston. A few traffic jams, much construction, a world dedicated to the car. Eventually arrived at Danielle's and squeezed into her driveway. I very pleasant little neighborhood buffered from the city. Andrea and Chuck arrived on Saturday and we had a nice time reconnecting. We went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science and saw the Lucy exhibit. We helped Danielle get ready for her Open House today, and during it went to the movies ("Juno," excellent.) She's moving to California in a few days.

 

Friday, February 22, 2008
Bayou Segnette State Park, LA

          We left Houston early Monday morning, a dazzling sun right in our eyes as we fit in with the heavily trafficed I-610 going east. Then I-10, rattle and bump, to the Louisiana border. At the LA welcome center, the docent suggested we take Rte 90 to New Orleans, swinging south through the swamps, rather than busy I-10. Dreadful road surface, stop lights, through Lafayette and south for 30 miles, then improved drammatically. Many of the southern parts of this route are elevated above the swamps of the disappearing Delta, filled with cypress trees. Arrived here around 4pm, 365 miles. This handy state park is about 4 miles south of New Orleans, across the Mississippi. It's been rebuilt since Katrina (signs of devastation still showing in the undergrowth and broken trees.) Unexpected gifts: free but slow WiFi and free but slow laundry! Tuesday morning watched a gorgeous misty sunrise break the day. Earlier, too. We're gaining some easting. Wednesday we rented a car and drove to Algiers Point to take the ferry across the River. Spent the day in New Orleans, passing historic buildings, eating beignets in the French Market, found the Jean Lafitte National Historic Park headquarters, and followed a ranger on a guided wet walk through the French Quarter. Then we found the New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park, a segment of John Lafitte NHP, and lucked out - enjoyed a free 1-hour concert by jazz pianist John Royen. Rain started in the afternoon and continued through the night, heavy downpour in the morning. Wrapped in rain gear we drove to the Barataria Preserve (another segment of the NHP) for a nature hit. Thankfully the rain dried out, and we spent over an hour watching birds and alligators as we hiked along boardwalks beside swamp, marsh, and bayou. Later, we drove further into the Delta to the village of Jean Lafitte and ate gumbo for lunch. Signs of hurricane and flood damage widely evident everywhere.

         A few interesting things we learned about the Delta: This whole area of southern Louisiana between Texas and Mississippi was once a shallow bay. In less than 5,000 years, the Mississippi, draining 40% of the US and discharging 450,000 cubic feet of water per second into the Gulf, dumped millions of tons of sediment along its path and filled in an embayment that once reached to Cairo, Illinois. This 20,000 square miles of new land is the Mississippi Delta, where 1/3 of the nation's seafood is now harvested. The bounty of this vulnerable land (lumber, cane, rice, seafood, petrochemicals, and transportation access) drew population growth, and rapid development. Canals, levees, port facilities, refineries, concrete, roads, buildings, pumps, pipelines, and introduced species have now utterly destroyed the natural drainage system. For nearly 300 years, human efforts to tame and harness the river slowly starved of the Delta, destroying the river's ability to create new land to match that which washed away. The infrastructure built to access the area's abundant resources is rapidly destroying those very same riches. The golden egg is gobbling up the goose. Absent a huge coordinated effort, it is estimated that the Delta will disappear in our lifetime. The coast lost 2,000 square miles of land in the last half of the 20th century, retreating inland 20 miles in the last decade alone. The first line of defense against hurricanes, and an incredible human and natural resource, is gone (it seems) for ever.

 

Monday, February 25, 2008
Three Rivers State Park, FL

          We drove across the Mississippi early Saturday morning into downtown New Orleans, where we picked up I-10 going east. On its way to the Lake Ponchartrain causeway, the interstate cuts through the middle of the upper Ninth Ward. Those views will be etched in our minds for ever. Abandoned apartment complex after abandoned apartment complex. Subdivisions with a few cars in the driveways of a few rehabilitated houses, neighboring houses vacant and decaying. Miles and miles of it. Misery in the air, palpable. Through Mississippi and Alabama into the Florida panhandle. The sun came out as we arrived in the Sunshine State (FL) and helped us disconnect from the ravages we'd seen. Then near the little town of Sneads to this small State Park nestled on the shore of Lake Seminole, created by the Jim Woodruff Dam. 357 miles. The Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers flow into the Lake, which drains into the Gulf through the Apalachicola River. We're (literally) on the eastern edge of the Central Time Zone here (we entered it at El Paso, 1,000 miles back) and the sun rises early. It's a lovely, laid back spot, filled with bird noises and marshes busy with turtles.

 

Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Country Oaks RV Park, Kingsland, GA

          We drove out of lovely Three Rivers at crack of dawn this morning, ahead of what sounded like some nasty weather. East on I-10 to Jacksonville, then south on I-295 west of the city to Rte 17 and south to Green Cove Springs to pick up accumulated mail from our agent, St. Brendan's Isle. A big pile, 2 months worth. (It's so nice not to get mail every day.) Then back north to provision just south of Jacksonville. The skies by now very dark, the forecast a tornado warning. We hunkered down in a mall parking lot while the skies opened. A bit of wind, but not terrible. Once it passed, then back north on I-295 to I-95 to the Georgia border and this convenient campground. 290 miles.

 

Monday, March 3, 2008
Myrtle Beach State Park, SC

          Last Wednesday, a quiet day at Country Oaks, with Bill fighting a cold while Pat did laundry and caught up with email and photographs. The free WiFi was inadequate for updating the website from laptop to the Internet. Not sorry to leave Thursday, 29°F overnight. Continued north on I-95 then Rte 17 through the Georgia flatlands round Charleston to this lovely state park. 297 miles. Nice surprise. Free WiFi, decent laundry, and nice heated bathrooms. Cold again at night, Pat has caught Bill's cold. Both of us coughing and spluttering. The sun has shone, but it's been chilly, though warming up. We've had mostly stay-at-home days, nursing our cold/cough miseries, wading through the accumulated mail, doing taxes, working out the scheduling of how to fit the next 6 months travels together. Not easy, but we're fully engaged in making this transition. Today we took Clemmie for her 50,000 mile oil change and check up, and ourselves to a clinic since our colds seemed to getting worse not better - Pat's in her sinuses, and Bill's in his chest. Result, some relief and Rx $$. Did the 'flu diminish our resources and make us more vulnerable to follow up lurgs?

 

Thursday, March 6, 2008
On the street at Don and Carolyn's, Richmond, VA

          Left Myrtle Beach on Tuesday morning, continuing northeast on Rte 17 to Wilmington, NC, then I-40 to I-95 north to Richmond. Arrived here soon after 4pm (346 miles), jacked Clemmie up on levellers in front of Don and Carolyn's and plugged our long electrical cord into their power. Bill feeling better, Pat miserable. Her symptoms finally subsided enough for some sleep yesterday which she spent napping in bed, and (at last) a good night's rest last night. Nice to reconnect with Don and Carolyn.

 

Sunday, March 9, 2008
In Carolyn and Don's driveway, Mathews, VA

          Pat and Carolyn drove the 80 miles to Don and Carolyn's getaway in Mathews County, on the edge one Mobjak Bay's creeks, one of the many indentations to the Chesapeake Bay. Don and Bill followed by car later. Pat recovering slowly, happy to be able to cook and get back to her DDR web work. A nice low-key weekend.

 

Saturday, March 15, 2008
In Martha's driveway, Takoma Park, MD

          Monday morning we left Mathews around 8am and drove north on Rtes 14, 17, and 301 then west a short way to reach the east side of the Washington Beltway (I-95/I-495). Awful to be back in heavy traffic. Drove into Martha's driveway around lunch time - she was in bed with early stages of a very nasty 'flu virus. Said hello from a distance and decided to borrow Martha's car and stay at Mary's as our home base. We've been sick for 4 of the last 10 weeks and have no need to catch this particular bug. Thanks to Bill's online research we became car owners within 48 hours. Happy to have the freedom of our own wheels, fearful of being trapped by 'em. Martha was very ill for 5 days. We got sick of driving back and forth from Mary's to Martha's and back again through DC's traffic to check on Martha, run errands for her, take her to the doctor on Wednesday, and work on sorting out our belongings on Clemmie: stuff to throw away; stuff for the Goodwill; stuff to move to Juneau; stuff we'll keep with us for our travels. We're both fearful of the pressures to "stuff up" that'll inevitably face us once we settle in Juneau. We've loved not having much stuff these last 8 years. The negative energy from all of the area's urban and traffic stress has quite flattened Pat, but she's slowly bouncing back. We'll adjust, like people do, but won't be sorry when it's time to finally leave it behind for good. For now, we're settled for a while to spend quality time with dear ones in this area where we used to live, and to work on our various project and on our transition.

 

Friday, March 21, 2008
At Mary's, Washington, DC

          We're well into transition. We drove Clemmie to Gordon and Nikki's Monday morning and emptied her out into their copious basement. Bless them for letting us use this space to organize our belongings - including a pile of boxes they've stored for us since we gave up our house and moved into Callipygia those many years ago. Over the next couple of weeks we'll go through everything, weed it, box it up, and get move quotes for shipping it all to Juneau. Tuesday and Wednesday we thoroughly cleaned Clemmie's insides (and outside lockers) and yesterday we took her to Beckley's (where we bought her 4 years and 51,000 miles ago) and sold her. A few tears as we took one last look at our sweet little rolling home. It's been a wonderful time, we've learned and enjoyed much, but it's time to move on to the next phase.... So for the next couple of months we'll split our time in this, our former home, area between Mary's, Martha's, Gordon and Nikki's, and haul off to Frederick to Dana and Marge's for a few visits there. Hoping to have quality time with Pat's daughter and grand-daughter, Sarah and Dasia, and reconnect - even if only briefly - with many old friends. This is hard.

 

Monday, April 28, 2008
Bouncing around the Washington, DC, area

          We're bopping around between Mary's, Martha's, Niki and Gordon's. The boxing up of our stuff was at first intimidating but then turned out to go fairly quickly. We began by going through most of what we'd left behind when we went off cruising. We'd lost attachment to quite a bit of it, so made several trips to the Goodwill and/or Salvation Army to offer some stuff to be reused. Several trips to nearby liquor store and UHaul for boxes and packing supplies. Horrified to find by the end that we have 72 boxes includig a dozen boxes of books. And we thought we didn't have much stuff! A rude awakening. Arranged for 3 movers to come look at it and give us estimates for shipping it to Juneau. Picked one, got references, clinched the arrangements. All set to be picked up the first week in August. Hopefully we'll arrive before our boxes.

         Webmaster very busy on webwork for others. Tearing hair out with clients who don't understand web development, design, or best practices. Facing the pitfall of pro bono work - clients treat your time as if it's an endless resource of little value. Practicing patience. Also, she's been moving towards a traditional blog for some months now - not that she'll stop updating our Travel Log - but as we transition from fulltime travellers to house-based dwellers our roaming will be reduced. Ergo, she decided to install WordPress on our website and set up a traditional blog for each of us. Having read through Lisa-Sabin Wilson’s instructions in WordPress for Dummies she was a bit intimidated. Thankfully, Network Solutions (our wonderful web host, highly recommended) has an (essentially) 1-Click install for WordPress available from our Hosting Control panel. Now you can read Bill's blog (the Psychology of Good and Evil) and Pat's blog (Awakening Consciousness.) And, the look of the basic WordPress blog theme is slowly being modified to be more compatible with our website.

        Weather varying between springlike and summerlike. Birds in full song. Good hiking trails reasonably accessible. Nice to have plenty of time to visit with dear ones - who knows when we'll be back in this area next. We've managed to reform our diet a bit and loose a little weight round our middles.

 

Thursday, May 8, 2008
Bouncing around the Washington, DC, area

          Still bopping. Great quality time at Mary's, Martha's, Dana and Marge's, and Niki and Gordon's. It's getting busy, though, and our remaining time before we leave for ponts north on June 7 is sliding away. Pat has (almost) finished the Constellation Group's website, and has put a new face on the DDR website. She met with the latter's owner and resolved some issues that were holding up the work. The latter is a big job, will keep her busy in spare time during her travels. Plans for the month include: a trip to Philadelphia (for Pat) to visit on old high school friend; a trip to Red Creek, WV, with Martha; time with Pat's daughter and grand-daughter; more time for Bill with Dana; a trip to the Delaware Bay near the end of the month to experience the horseshoe crab spawning and shorebird migration stop. Plus several more appointments and chores.

 

 

[Click here to go to the beginning of the year]

[Click here to read about last year's travels]

Home | Site Map | Cruising | Logs | Seminar | Writings | Growing Old | Photos | Nuggets | Contact