2017 Southeast Motorhome Trip

March 9

Left Georgetown to start our Southeast trip for 2017.  A stop in Elgin at Meyers BBQ for a shared 3-meat plate of ribs, brisket and sausages with sides of beans and coleslaw.  Yum!

Arrived Houston and checked into the Traders Village campground for our two night stay.

March 10

Our day started with a stop at Tom's Ace Hardware to pick up some security cables and lock for our new satellite dish that might be inviting as it sits on the ground or tripod.  Arrived at Churrascos in Memorial City to meet Bob's nephew, Ralph, and his wife, Judy, where we enjoyed some great conversation and fair food.  Ralph is recently retired and is becoming acclimated to retirement.  It was a fun get together.  Back to the park for our final night in Houston.  We are glad that we don't live there anymore.  We thought the traffic was bad in 1987 now it is impossible.

March 11

Drove from Houston to Pat's of Henderson at Lake Charles where Iris enjoyed her favorite, crabmeat au gratin and Bob loved the fried catfish.  We always stop here when going through plus they have easy access and parking for the Motorhome and towed car.  Arrived at Baton Rouge after several detours and stop and go traffic jams on I-10 followed by new route due to long delays crossing the I-10 bridge routing us into Baton Rouge on US 190 after crossing the river well north of the usual bridge crossing.  Our reservation was at the KOA that cost the same as a site in the Florida Keys on the waterfront.  Guess the flooding last year put them underwater so they can now charge waterfront prices.  Won't be staying here in future.  Rained on us all day and then all night.  Iris was up during the night checking that water was not standing around the Motorhome.  Still jumpy after our flood in 1998 on the Guadalupe.

March 12

Got packed and had a fuel stop at Racetrack, parked at Lowe's at the Millerville Exit, extracted the car and drove to Bob's sister-in-law, Merleane's house.  Then we all went to church at the First   Presbyterian Church in Baton Rouge.  Inspiring service, huge attendance.  Brunch was at Byronz Bistro, recommended by Dave and Nancy, and it was outstanding.  Iris had crab cake with Canadian bacon and poached eggs, Bob had one egg Sardo and one Benedict, Merleane had "Back of the stove" chicken.  Iris tried the milk punch and then tried another to be sure the ones at Green Pastures in Austin were better.  Scientific experiment.

After getting Merleane home we hooked up the car and took off to New Orleans and got set up in the Bayou Segnette State Park on the West Bank.  Very nice park completely rebuilt, since we were last here, after Katrina.

Ma ch 13

Minor setbacks along the way, the power cord for our TomTom GPS that we use in both the car and Motorhome died.  TomTom wants $60 for a new one so off to Best Buy for a new one at $99.  It was easy enough then to find Willie Mae's Scotch House, our chosen food experience for today.  Amazingly we found a parking place then got in the loooong line, in our case about one hour, but the wait was worth it.  We had fried chicken, best anybody's mama ever made, fried okra and cornbread muffins.  Folks in line were from Houston, Virginia and Minnesota just around us.  Our take away contained about the same as we ate.  Needing a walk we drove to the area of the Church of the Immaculate Conception where we parked fairly close and walked there and then walked around the inside of this Jesuit masterpiece rebuilt in its current form in 1929 and it is magnificent. After another short drive, thanks to TomTom, we parked close to the old Jackson Brewery building and walked to the LA tourist information office on Saint Ann Street where a nice lady gave us a tip in order to avoid the long line at Cafe du  Monde.  Just as she said we entered another place in the building and were immediately seated and had our coffee and beignet in less than a minute.  Lovely and tasty.  Back across the river in order to beat the rush and we were back in our Motorhome just in time for happy hour.

March 14

Turned a bit cold today.  Cleaning day, Bob off to do the laundry and Iris cleaning house.  Light breakfast as today is Commanders Palace.  We parked without difficulty and walked in the door at exactly 11:30 and were seated in the garden room.  Quickly we had in front of us a $0.25 martini and a $5.95 glass of wine from very close to Roussillon in Provence, both enjoyed.  Iris had the 1-1-1, sampler sizes of turtle soup, chicken gumbo and shrimp tomato bisque.  Bob had the chicken gumbo followed by a wilted kale and sun dried tomatoes with fried oysters while Iris had oyster poboy.  Dessert was bread pudding soufflé for Bob and pecan pie ala mode with chocolate and caramel sauce for Iris.  All plans for the afternoon went out the window and we had a nice long nap instead.  Watched some TV and ate leftover fried chicken for our dinner, wasn't quite as good as when hot but still tasty.  Off to bed early and slept 10 hours.

March 15

Low 40's this morning, Bob away early to complete the week's laundry, free here.  Late breakfast.  Drove around in Old Algiers neighborhood looking for the old double shotgun house we considered buying in 1980 and while it has been fixed up some around it are still in need of renovation.  So good decision as we would have missed Scotland and Norway.  Crossed the bridge to find the brand new Walmart close to downtown, made a few purchases then drove Saint Charles and Carrollton area including cross streets admiring the houses and Loyola University with its old and ornate buildings.  When we had enough of riding we parked on Saint Charles close to Superior Seafood and read our books until 4:00 PM when happy hour started with the 50 cent oysters and $3/glass wine.  We enjoyed some wine and a dozen on the half-shell then bowls of seafood gumbo and flourless chocolate cake with ice cream.  We were stuffed.  Made our way back across the river in the rush hour traffic to our Motorhome then watched the President's address from Nashville and the Spurs get beat by one point.  Slept really well again as it is really quiet in this state park.

March 16

On the road after getting up to 40 degrees.  Really enjoyed our stay here.  I-10 from NO almost to Mobile then north on I-65 to Montgomery South RV Park, nice park but only yards off I-65 so noisy and we didn't sleep well.

March 17

Continued our route from Montgomery to Atlanta where we found crawling traffic on I-75 around Atlanta finally arriving at our campground at Allatoona Landing, closest campground to our friends, Collyn and Helga.  Arriving around an hour late (forgot time change to Eastern time), set up the Motorhome and then drove back to our friends' house where we had a long delayed  catch-up.  Helga had been our neighbor in New Orleans when we lived there in 1980.  Had a lovely supper of orzo dinner salad and cake for dessert.  Our visit was as if we had never been separated.  Sometimes it was hard to know who was listening as we all wanted to talk at once.

After the nostalgic evening we drove back to the park to hear the trains, the track is right at the entrance of the park.

March 18

Rain, big time.  Rain stopped just in time for is to unhook from water and electric and use the dump station before leaving the park.  Back to adventures on I-75, not as bad this morning, Saturday.  Only 91 miles today to get to Athens with a stop along the way at a closed restaurant with a nice big parking lot.  Had our left-over Willie Mae fried chicken and most of a bottle of champagne left over from Georgetown that was still fizzy.  Great pairing!  Arrived in Athens and our GPS took us directly to the house of Randall and Carolyn.  They had arranged a parking space for us close to their house, nice and level with electric hookup.  Almost immediately we went to "Uncommon Gourmet" for a wine tasting including cheeses and spreads.  Sampled about six wines, most very good.  From here it was back to the house where preparations began for the dinner for six that included rack of lamb, potatoes, lima beans, wilted collard greens with garlic and bacon and copious amounts of Italian wine.  A real feast and good company.  Sleep came quickly.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Goose Island State Park, Rockport, TX. beautiful sunshine today with weather for shorts and short-sleeve shirt.  We had a leisurely breakfast and read a while until it was time to go for our late lunch today at Shempy's Grill, located way south of Rockport on Highway 35.  We began our meal with crab cakes, probably the best we've ever had, no breading just lots of crabmeat followed by a fried oyster and shrimp platter with fries, coleslaw and (new to us) fried okra with ranch dressing.  Yum!  But the thing that put it over the top was the bread pudding that we shared and could not eat it all so took some in a go-box back to the motorhome.  Our evening was watching the evening news (never good) on the only TV station we could get. Then we had one of our favorite videos with us  "Notting Hill" and we watched it for about the tenth time.  Always enjoyable.

Thursday, February 2, 2017
Another leisurely morning watching the flog with big breakfast then a drive into Rockport to visit the Fulton Mansion right on the bay.  This was the home of George & Harriet Fulton for many years before their deaths and later families lived here some purchasing it with large acreages for $10,000 - 50,000. The state of Texas purchased it for $150,000 then spent $1.7 million restoring it.  It's a lovely old building from 1874-1877 and well worth a tour.  We had been here several years ago but before the restoration so we really enjoyed seeing the ground floor and second floor.  The third floor is exactly like the second, four bedrooms and one bath.  Then it was off to Alby's Fish Market where we bought some oysters and flounder filets for our motorhome frig.  Shortly later we drove back out to Shempy's to try the fried flounder that we had seen the day before.  It was as good as we suspected.  The bread pudding was just as good as the day before and again some had to be taken home.  Again tonight we watched the evening news on the channel then Bob enjoyed the western, "Appaloosa" again.

Friday, February 3, 2017
Up really early in order to drive back to Georgetown for 1:30 PM appointment.  Very windy today so driving the motorhome was a challenge but not so for Iris as she drove the toll road portion of the trip.  Traffic was light and we made good time arriving home with time to spare.  We got the motorhome unloaded and put into storage.  It needs a good wash but that will wait until next week when sunshine is scheduled to return to central Texas.

Monday, January 30, 2017

Loaded out of the house in Georgetown into the motorhome and away we went to Rockport.  Left at 9:05 AM and arrived 2:30 PM at Paradise Bay where we had decided to have our lunch before finding our way to the campground.  Paradise Bay Grille sits at the end of a road that gives access for the public boat launch, a marina for storage of all sorts of craft and a huge boat repair facility that looked like an aircraft hanger, tall, wide and long.

Table selection was a bit slow but we were finally seated and began our eating adventure.  First was clam chowder, the recommendation of a couple we met on the way in.  We then shared the fried seafood platter of mahi-mahi, oysters, shrimp, fries and coleslaw.  All yummy!  For dessert we decided to have the key lime pie.  When it came we were so excited we forgot to take a photo.

Leaving Paradise Bay we made our way (with only being lost once) to Goose Island and the Texas State Park where we checked in and were assigned a spot just off the water which meant we could see the water between other RV’s that were parked right on the water.  Got all set up and tried out our lounge chairs in the reclined position.  Some call this naps.  Slept until after 6:00 PM    Had a walk to see the sunset over the water.

Then a quiet evening watching over-the-air TV, not very exciting except for old re-runs of Fraser.

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Bob’s 77th birthday.  Started the day with a big breakfast of fruit, sausage, eggs, toast and peanut butter.  Installed our new towel rack in the bath, cleaned inside the motorhome, carried trash to the dumpster (don’t know how we make so much garbage in such a small space), read some, had a sandwich for lunch, discovered an empty space on the water so called the office to see if we could get it and found it was still occupied but they did have two spaces we could choose from.  We disconnected our water and electric and drove to see the choices and decided on one, called the desk and advised our choice and then set up camp in our new space, maybe 20 feet from the water’s edge with views of the shrimp boats working the bay and pelicans and ducks floating just offshore.  Much nicer spot

At about 3:00 PM we uprooted our motorhome again and off to see the birds.  Whooping cranes had been spotted in a large field close by so we drove there first but no whoopers but did see a large group of sandhill cranes.  With the long lens we were able to view them.  Had a stop at the "Big Tree".

Leaving the wildlife we drove into Rockport for our obligatory visit to Walmart for some essentials.  Several RV’s parked in the lot so we visited with some of them before making our purchases.  From Walmart it was off to our restaurant, Latitude 28.02 where we parked in the parking lot so we could see the water from our chairs where we enjoyed happy hour before our reservation at 6:00 PM.

For dinner we enjoyed a salad for Bob, poblano/corn chowder for Iris, grilled drum, Iris added crab meat and asparagus, Bob’s plain broiled fish, both with vegetables and orzo.  As usual it was very nice.

Asking for the check from Nancy she brought it and Bob handed over his credit card.  Nancy returned with the card but no bill and informed us that the gentleman seated behind us had taken care of the bill and tip and wished Bob a Happy Birthday.  Preparing to leave we thanked the men seated behind us and they seemed happy to see us enjoying Bob’s birthday so they wanted to do that for us.  WOW!

We drove back to Goose Island State Park and set up the connections in the dark but all went well and it was not long before we were in bed.  Iris had to sit up and read for a couple of hours but this did not disturb the birthday boy.

Latest news first - we sold our house in France!
Friday, November 4 we had the formal closing with the buyer and notaire and as they say "The check's in the mail".  As our friend Bill said "Happy Times!".  This has been a difficult time showing the house, not having lookers, finally having lookers and then an offer that we quickly snapped up.  As this is being written we are in a hotel at the airport in Marseille waiting to fly out tomorrow for home.
But it's not all been all work and no play.
The balloon carrying tourists came over the house in Roussillon several time a week.

We had some summer evenings at a local winery where we had music, food and some good wine.

We sold our beloved Peugeot 207 to one of the real estate agents that sold the house.

We had some great meals at some of our favorite restaurants.

Some of the fall colors of Provence:

September 29, 2016
Oklahoma City to Amarillo, TX
271 miles today with the sun at our back and the new motorhome performing just as we wanted, trouble-free.  The Fort Amarillo Campground was very comfortable with good WiFi.  We had stayed here on an earlier trip.  Iris drove for the first time today for about 1.5 hours.  She was quite comfortable and did a fine job.

September 30, 2016
Amariillo to Santa Fe
Leaving the campground we drive back along I-40 Business to find a supermarket where we stocked up on essentials and to Walmart to fill up with fuel.  The on to I-40 W for our drive today to Santa Fe.  271 miles again today.  Wind was a little tough driving so Iris declined to drive today.  Stopped in Santa Rosa, NM at the Silver Moon Cafe for lunch with a nice big parking lot for trucks and RV’s.  Green chili cheeseburger and green chili stew that we split, both were very good.  Arriving in Santa Fe we checked in at the Los Suenos Park, got settled, did the laundry and cleaned house then spent the evening with a short read and crashed.

October 1, 2016
Santa Fe
After breakfast we rode the bus into town from Los Suenos, $1 each for all day use of the bus.  We stopped at the French Bakery for cafe latte and a couple of pain-au-raisins, walked around the Plaza looking at the Indian jewelry for sale by the indians sitting under the portals, then met Robin at The Shed for margaritas and New Mexican food (Bob & Robin had layered enchiladas with red chili sauce and a fried egg on top that was delicious.  Iris had pork carne adovada that was good also).  Then a shopping walk with Robin around the Plaze before we returned by bus to our motorhome while Robin checked into her motel.  Robin drove to our motorhome later for wine and smoked summer sausage and cheese.

October 2, 2016
Santa Fe
Robin picked us up at 10:30 AM and we went to Museum Hill where we saw the Wheelwright Museum, today was first Sunday thus free admission.  We enjoyed the beautiful jewelry and implements used by the Navajo and Zuni to make items from silver and beads.  Had a coffee at the Museum Hill Cafe before looking at the items for sale at the Museum of Indian Culture and Heritage.  Robin bought lovely earrings.  Then a drive to Tesuque, out from Santa Fe for lunch at the Tesuque Market Place.  Blood orange margaritas went down smoothly followed by smoked brisket  with green chili slices on a bun for Iris and Bob had red chili enchiladas and again we shared half of each.  We drove back to town for a stop at Trader Joe’s for peanut butter and flowers and Robin needed a few things also.  A stop at El Ray to see Robin’s motel, old but nice then she took us back to our  motorhome and we said our goodbyes.

October 3, 2016
Santa Fe to Colorado Springs
324 miles today in high winds.  Had lunch in Raton, NM where we have many times stopped for a meal but everything we used to go to was closed so we tried K-Bob’s where we thought we’d have our last NM meal before entering Colorado.  Disappointed!  Back on the road driving in the strong winds.  Passed Pueblo where Donald Trump was holding a rally, unknown to us,   Just before arriving at Colorado Springs we exited the freeway to go to Cheyenne Mountain State Park, our home for the next three nights.  The campground is very modern with great hook-ups, paved roads and level concrete pads for parking the motorhome.  We were set up quickly and called Bob & Sylvia to announce our arrival.  They came to the campground where we did the show and tell about the new motorhome and had a glass of wine before going to Tapateria.   We enjoyed many different tapas and some nice Spanish wine.  Nice place, good food, attentive staff, enjoyable.

October 4, 2016
Colorado Springs
After getting ready for the day Bob picked us up and drove us to their house where Sylvia  was working to prepare a fantastic lunch of grilled lamb chops, sweet potatoes and green peas with a super merlot.  Needless to say the meal was delicious.  We had a great time talking about current events as well as some old memories.  It was like we had never been apart even though it has been five years since we were together.  We made an early departure so we could watch the VP debate and promptly went to bed.

 What a setting!

Roughing it!

October 5, 2016
Colorado Springs
Bob & Sylvia picked us up at 10:30 for our drive up to  into the mountains west of Colorado Springs  and lunch at Swiss Chalet Restaurant where to food is always exceptional and today was no different.  B&S are regulars and we were treated like royalty.  We both had veal brats and kraut and is was really good.  We also enjoyed  a nice bottle of merlot.  After lunch we drove on to Mueller State Park to see the aspen colors and lots of deer.  We scouted out some RV sites for future use then drove back to Colorado Springs to their house for more visiting.  Sylvia had recently had back surgery but is recovering nicely.  While there we checked our emails as we don’t have WiFi in the state park and what fantastic news - our notary is setting the closing date for the sale of our house in France so either October 28 or November 4 was offered.  We are trying to get organized to make it for the 4th of November.  Yippee!!!!!!!!!  This is our last place to visit before heading back to Georgetown.

Iris' new hat!
October 6, 2016
Colorado Springs to Amarillo
Nice drive today but long, 350 miles, from the fuel stop in Colorado Springs after we left Cheyenne Mountain State Park until we arrived in Amarillo.   Rain was drizzling when we woke, then windy crossing Raton Pass, but after leaving Raton with Iris driving, it was pretty nice.  Iris pulled into the Rabbit Ear Cafe in  Clayton, NM about 12:20 PM where we had our last New Mexico meal for awhile, enchiladas for Bob and chili rellanos for Iris.  Yum!  Then on to Amarillo where we stopped at Walmart for fuel before arriving at Fort Amarillo RV Park again for the night.



October 7, 2016
We are leaving Amarillo this morning, 37 degrees, heading for the night in Abilene and home tomorrow early afternoon.

First Motorhome Trip

September 21, 2016

Left Georgetown around 9 AM in the new Unity motorhome, Bob was still sick so we cancelled our stops in Waxahachie and Dallas so as not to infect anyone.  Arrived late afternoon at Mt. Vernon, TX where we pulled in to Still Meadows RV Park, $27, nice level spot, nice campground, had a few permanents that reminded us of South Arkansas (junk under and around trailers) but we had an enjoyable evening eating our leftover Mexican food from a couple of days ago.  Easy and fast.

September 22, 2016

Left Still Meadows and continued north on I-30 with a stop at Hope, AR for Walmart purchases and fuel.  Continued on to Little Rock where we picked up our rental car from Hertz and made it to the Maumelle Corps of Engineers campground. There we set up in space B-32 with a great view of the Arkansas River flowing West to East.  Nice level spot so Bob was happy.  Lots of big, old trees so a really beautiful spot and our long time favorite in Little Rock.  As the temperature was 96 F we decided some A/C would be in order.  Both tired so relaxed in our lounge chairs and got ready to watch the evening news with a glass of vino.

Dinner at Capers, a favorite, close to the Maumelle Campground with Richard and Anne, good food and fun evening.

September 23, 2016

Little Rock

To Starbucks for internet then to Trios for lunch with Kathy and Charles, good food, Bob had his favorite, chicken and dumplings, afterward a nap back at Maumelle Park.  Went to the Core’s at 6 PM for wine and snacks then to a fabulous restaurant, Brave New, where we sat on the deck overlooking the Arkansas River.  After dark we could see the Little Rock skyline reflected in the water.  We had the scollops and they were exceptional.  Fun evening with good friends, Mac & Carol.

September 24, 2016

Little Rock

Because of the big bicycle race starting at Pinnacle Mountain and past Maumelle Park we left early to meet John, Sean and Shea at Mexico Chichita on Highway 10 where we chowed down on Mexican food.  We returned to the motorhome where they inspected the new motorhome and we visited sitting on the banks of the Arkansas River.  Early evening as we are driving to Branson tomorrow.

September 25, 2016

Little Rock to Branson

Picked up John and Sean at 9:30 AM in our rent car for our drive to Branson.  We had a stop at St Joe, Arkansas at Coursey’s Smoked Meat for ham and turkey sandwiches with smoked cheddar cheese.  Fantastic as usual. A beautiful drive into Branson through Northeast Arkansas and South Missouri.  Then on to Branson where we checked John and Sean into the Hampton Inn close to the house of to Lucy (Bob’s niece) and John. We visited awhile before picking up John and Sean and heading to the White River Fish House at Bass Pro Shop beside Lake Tanycomo.  We enjoyed great fish dishes and some crisp white wine.  The night’s entertainments was at the Lawrence Welk Theater to see the Million Dollar Quartet, tributes to Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash, all recording at Sun Records in Memphis at the same time.  Good show, good 50”s music (Sean had never heard any of the songs).  Between the food and entertainment, John and Lucy drove us around the area for an overview for Sean of the area.  John is a great tour guide.  We stayed with John & Lucy for the night in their nice guest room.

September 26, 2016

Branson

Today is the main reason for being in Branson, for Sean to tour College of the Ozarks.  We were in the Admissions office at 9:00 AM, our appointed tour time where a second year student gave us an excellent tour of the campus including a mens’ dorm room, the chapel was a highlight (constructed by students in the 1950’s) with spectacular woodwork and stained glass windows.  After the tour we went to the museum where John and Sean enjoyed the top floor with the guns and weapons display while Iris and Bob enjoyed the displays on the first floor.  College of the Ozarks has a work program so that any student accepted (only 500 accepted each year out of 4,000 applicants).  COO requires good grades and hight ACT scores, each student must agree to not use tobacco, alcohol or drugs during their time at COO, zero tolerance.  If caught the student has 24 hours to be gone.  Upon completion of four years the student can graduate with zero student loans as the work program pays 100% of tuition plus if a student works during the summer his room and board are paid also.

Lucy and John met us for lunch at the restaurant at the Keeter Center, 4-star lodge where all the servers are students (freshmen).

We left COO and drove back to St Joe to pick up some bacon and summer sausage to stock the motorhome refrigerator.  The beautiful drive from there to Little Rock went pretty fast and we arrived back to let John and Sean off before we had to have the rent car back by 5 PM.  The agent from Hertz drove us back to the campground and we were glad to put our feet up as it was a tiring two days.

September 27, 2016

Little Rock to Oklahoma City

Leaving Maumelle Park we got on IH-40 West from Little Rock to Oklahoma City where we checked into the Twin Fountains RV Park.  We called and made plans to visit Burianella at her house the next day.  

September 28, 2016

Edmond, OK

Arriving in Edmond we parked the motorhome in the dead end street behind her house and had a good visit before Burianella drove us the the Interurban Cafe where we had some of the best Mexican enchiladas  we’ve ever had north of Mexico.  After lunch some more visiting (never a lag  in the conversation) and then we drove back to the RV park to spend our second night.

New Motorhome

September 7-12, 2016

Arrival NYC.  This is where we last left you.  We flew to Sarasota where we saw our new beautiful motorhome for the first time after ordering it in January.  We spent two nights at the dealership getting familiar with the coach, a 2017 Unity 24MB manufactured by Leisure Travel Vans in Winkler, Manitoba, Canada.  Leaving Sarasota, our first night on the road was at Tallahassee, FL, second night at Biloxi, MS, then lunch at Prejean’s in Lafayette, LA with overnight at Beaumont, TX before arrival in Georgetown.

September 13-20, 2016

Laundry, laundry and laundry.  But also we got to our Sunday School class once, had dinner with friends (usual suspects), loaded the motorhome, contracted for storage of the coach about 2 miles from the house, saw some doctors, ate some of the things we’ve missed in France all summer like Dale’s hamburgers, fried catfish, chicken fried steak, Mexican and generally prepared for our maiden voyage in the motorhome.