Happy New year - A little late

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year (albeit a little late)

Red Bay, AL, Atlanta, GA, Hilton Head Island, SC, St. Augustine, Kississimee, Alachua, Tallahassee and Ft. Walton Beach, FL, Biloxi, MS, New Orleans and Lake Charles, LA, Houston, Waco, San Antonio and Ft. Stockton, TX, Las Cruces, NM and Benson, AZ.

That's where we have been since November 4th when, after just over 6 weeks, we left Red Bay with everything working on our motor home. Tiffin Motors did a great job for us. Here is a picture of where we were parked for 5 weeks,

When we left, Kathy's son Pat & family told us they were coming to Disney World in Orlando on 12/5 so we decided, without telling them, to surprise them. For the next few weeks we lied to everyone about where we were and Kathy almost had a breakdown. She has a hard time lying to her children.

We spent 2 1/2 weeks in Hilton Head Island, SC. It turned out to be very expensive and not a lot of fun.

This a view of the park from our coach.

Both of us were recovering from colds and the RV park we stayed in charged way too much for services that they didn't provide. One highlight was getting Kathy a golf lesson and playing golf. The lesson was really good and Kathy didn't call her clubs bad names during the 9 holes following the lesson.

We spent a day in Charleston and had our 1st shrimp and cheese grits at the Hominy Grill. They are really good and now a staple on the motor home

We then headed for St. Augustine, FL (everyone thought we were in Alabama), and had a very good time there. We read that the International Golf Hall of Fame was there and they were featuring Bob Hope with a display called "Shanks for the Memories." I found the perfect driver while there.

It was a lot of fun and although we didn't visit the Fountain of Youth (Kathy thinks maybe I should have), we had a nice time and would visit St. Augustine again.

On December 1 we left for New Smyrna Beach (everyone thought we were in Mississippi), and spent 2 days touring the Kennedy Space Center. That is a great place to visit.

On our way the Space Center we found the business of our dreams. On our way home that night we passed it again and there was an "open" neon sign in the window,

While we were there, Kathy saw her first armadillos, a wild pig, turtles, alligators, blue heron, egrets and, when the tour bus pulled into a parking area, it had to manuever through about 40 vultures just sitting around waiting for dinner. Besides being a fascinating Space Center, the area is also a large wildlife refuge. One highlight at the Space Center was watching the huge, gigantic, and awesome "mover" that's used to transport the Space Shuttle back and forth from the maintenance facility to the launch pad.

The shuttle had just landed in California, so we unfortunately didn't get to see it -- but the whole Space Center is something else to see and experience.

December 5th and on to Kississimee. Pat and family arrived yesterday in Orlando. The next evening we surprised them at their hotel by having the desk call them and tell them there was a package at the desk waiting for them. At 10:00 that night the entire family strode up to the desk asking for the package and there we were.

A lot of fun and Kathy could now confess that she lied to her children and everyone else. We spent 2 1/2 days with them and went to Universal Studios and the Magic Kingdom and had a great time.

On 12/9 we left and spent the night in Alachua, FL and then on to Tallahassee to have our motor home serviced at a Workhorse Chassis dealer. While at the campground in Alachua, we were invited to the park's Christmas Party. It was quite interesting! Many people live there full time, and they put on quite a party, complete with an appearance from Santa! We enjoyed it. The next day on to Ft. Walton Beach, FL to visit my OLD Air Force boss, Al Dismukes and wife Jimmie. I first worked for Al in 1950 in Biloxi and then in Waco, TX. We had a great time reminiscing about the good days. Al looks great and he is 82 and going strong.

M/Sgt Al Dismukes

12/15 and on to Biloxi, MS. This was quite an education in terms of seeing the damage that Hurricane Katrina had done. Much of the ocean drive is still under construction and clean-up. Many of the businesses (including hotels and casinos) have not been rebuilt. Our sense was that the city had a long way to go to become healthy again. We did find one casino, and managed to play the nickel slot machines for a couple of hours and still come out with some money. We also ate more Cajun food, including crayfish, gumbo, hush puppies, and okra.

12/17 and on to New Orleans. Our RV park looked like it was in a war zone. We were the only motor home there and we were right across from the pool and spa and inside an intimidating locked gate. See the picture.

As you drove up to the RV park there was a long building with 40 or so small storage units. Every one of the units had been opened and all of the contents were piled in front. I believe this happened after Katrina hit and has never been cleaned up. We took a bus tour of New Orleans and part of it covered the Katrina damage. It's really still bad. We did visit one of the cemetary's where every one is buried above ground. Our friend Mark in Lake Charles said they buried them above ground so it would be easier to get them to vote! The French Quarter just seems to get seedier every time I go there. We had lunch at Pat O'Brien's, toured the Quarter, and a lady stopped us on the street to give us some nice warm beignets (a delicious pastry akin to a cream puff that's deep fried and then covered in powdered sugar). We liked the beignets so much we bought two more at Cafe Dumond's. For dinner we ate etouffie and Jambalaya. The shrimp and cheese grits are also wonderful. The food in New Orleans is still great but all in all, neither one of us wants to go back. It's going to be a long time, if ever, before it is a good place to visit. The only good "jazz" we heard was from one small street band - all other music was hard rock and/or Hip Hop.

I tried to get pictures of the 3 ugly ones! There are over 100 nuns buried in this crypt!

On the 20th we headed for Lake Charles to have dinner with our friends Mark & Sue Didelot. We had met them in Red Bay. Sue made us sea food gumbo and it was delicious. Kathy and I are both big fans of Cajun cooking and that was the best gumbo we have ever had. We played a game of Mexican train dominoes and let Mark win. We are looking to get our own set as it is a great game.

Mark & Sue by picture Sue painted.

The next day we went on to Houston to visit with our friends Arley and Lonnelle Walters and they had us over for a delicious roast beef dinner. Seems like we are eating our way through this journey. Lonnelle is a great cook and no one would turn down one of her home cooked meals. We left with a bag of her home made peanut brittle. It didn't last long. Best we've ever had!

Our goal was to make it to Waco for Christmas with Maynard & Linda Miller-our good friends from my Air force days and of course, Griffin, their Welsh Corgi. He was waiting for us when we got there on the 23rd and Kathy was ready with his favorite snack of turkey. He stayed close to us every time we were at their house!

We had a very nice Christmas with Maynard, Linda, and their families. Once again, wonderful food - each and every day. We are so grateful to have great friends like Linda and Maynard -- thanks again for making our holiday special! We were visited by Santa, and had stockings stuffed with many goodies. Maynard is a very talented wood turner, and he gifted us with two engraved pens, a spinning top, and a ring holder. Incredible craftsmanship ...Kathy and Linda even got a day of shopping in, and Kathy has fallen in love with a Texas jewelry artisan named James Avery. She got herself a bracelet (with hearts on it, of course) that she is enjoying. We also liked our RV park in Waco - we've stayed there a few times. We always ask for a space by the lake, and are greeted by Huey, Dewey, and Louie -- their three HUGE white ducks. We always feed them bread, and they greet us loudly every time we come and go from the motor home. Tiger (our cat) isn't very impressed ... I think he realizes these ducks are bigger than he is!

But onward once again - leaving Waco on December 28th. We arrived in San Antonio and had a nice RV park there. We called Carol and Todd Reineck - David's brother-in-law, Al Isaac's sister and her husband. Todd is going through cancer treatment - we pray he does well and has a complete recovery. We had a nice lunch with Carol at a local restaurant. We then contacted our friends, Manuel and Connie Esparza - another fun couple we met in Red Bay. They picked us up and took us to dinner at Mi Tierra - an awesome Mexican restaurant. Kathy determined that their Chile Rellenos were pretty good! They then took us to the River Walk downtown San Antonio - near the Alamo. We saw all the holiday lights, and had a spectacular boat ride on the river -- thanks, Manuel and Connie for a fun evening!

On December 31st, we left San Antonio and drove to Ft. Stockton, TX. For any of you who've ever driven across West Texas, you know what an exciting experience (NOT!!) it is! There's just a whole lot of nothin out there. So we spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in Ft. Stockton in an RV park that was also a "whole lot of nothin" - in fact, we'll attach a picture of a rocking chair from a nearby trailer -- it was chained to a post so no one would steal it! EEEK!

But for $13/night, we got what we paid for. We made the best of New Year's Eve, and had a martini and some Crybabies, crackers, and cream cheese. Crybabies came from Linda and Maynard -- they're yummy sweet/hot sliced Jalapeno peppers!

From Ft. Stockton, it was onward across the rest of West Texas to Las Cruces, New Mexico. We stayed in the same park we'd stayed in on our way heading east last Spring. While in Las Cruces, we got to see the movie, Tale of Desperaux - it was a good show!

We left Las Cruces on January 4th - and here we are in Benson, AZ. Kathy stood up and cheered as we passed from the Central Time Zone into the Mountain Time Zone!! Heading west feels really good right now -- we miss our families!

We're here in Benson for a week - at a lovely "Escapees" park in the middle of the Arizona desert - complete with Saguaro cactus around and a spectacular view of the valley and mountains. A couple of nights ago there were coyotes talking or (howling) right behind our motor home. We have a very nice site, and are enjoying the week of R & R - and are trying to lose some of the extra pounds we put on over the holidays.

Tomorrow we are going to visit Tombstone, AZ where the OK Corral had the big shoot out. We may even wear our cowboy hats.

They finally caught up with me- note the guy in the red bandanna in the "coffin" - don't look at the naked woman -- it wasn't Kathy!!

She died with a smile on her face, thinking of all the fun she's having with the "old guy", Dave!

Yesterday we drove over to Tucson by car (40 miles west of here) to look over the Worldmark time share we'll be staying in from January 17-31. David's sister, Kathy and her husband, Al are going to join us for part of the time -- we're planning to party, relax, and play some golf -- and, of course, soak up some sun. Kathy and Al live in Western Washington, and they're ready for some dry weather! They've had a bad winter there - lots of snow, ice, and now floods. Anyway, in order to spend two weeks in the Rancho Vistoso time share, we had to find a place to store the motor home and also board Tiger (no pets allowed in the time share) -- so we spent a good part of the day making the appropriate arrangements.

We'll leave Benson on Sunday, January 11th, head for Tucson, and stay in an RV park there until the 17th - then we'll "move" into the time share. We're looking forward to a real bed, real shower, and a toilet that one doesn't have to flush with one's foot! It will be a nice and welcome break! More to follow ....

Update on Logan: Just to let all of you know, our grandson, Logan (the one who was diagnosed with cancer in July, 2007) has just had another round of tests at Children's Hospital -- and he continues in remission! Thank God!! We are so grateful. And happy he's enjoying first grade (like a normal child) with his cousin, Sydney. Hooray!!

Have a Happy New Year and Happy Trails!