Salisbury, NC

Here are some more pics of the town of Salisbury, near Lexington, NC and the lake we stayed on.  It's a pretty nice town, Salisbury, that is. This is their "famous" wall mural and I couldn't resist this shot. Too much time on my hands and not a lot of imagination!!  Lots of historythere.  Kind of like a big Amelia Island maybe?  Anyway, another spot to mark off in our book "1000 Places To See Before You Die".  I think it's in there.  But the lake and the birds were nice and I got some new flower pics as well.  We are beginning to plan our 2010 trip; up thru the Natchez Trace, Graceland, Hot Springs, AR and then slowly go up the Mississippi River.  We'll be in Jax until April and are enjoying time with friends and family.

It's All About The BBQ!

I've heard a lot about "Lexington style BBQ" so we decided to take a little detour and head to Lexington, NC from TN to find out what's so special about the way BBQ is prepared in this part of the country.  We went to two places, Lexington BBQ which has been featured on TV and a local favorite well off the beaten path - Cooks BBQ.

Our 1st place was Cooks BBQ not too far from the camp ground.  The place is a place where locals eat and it literally located in the very back of a residential sub-division.  Weird.  They did have brisket ( which is called sliced beef in this part of the country) so we shared a combo platter of BBQ delights which included ribs, pulled pork, brisket, hush puppies and a pitcher of iced tea.  We couldn't eat it all, so we took it home and made two more meals out of it the next day.  I liked the food and it was cheap!

The second place was Lexington BBQ, which I saw on TV.  It was so hard to find ( not on our GPS) that we had a heated discussion on the way... but we finally found it.  It sucked.  Not worth the trip.  Just plain pulled pork.

Lexington style BBQ is dryer than the BBQ's of the south west and the primary meat is pork.  As a matter of fact, Lexington BBQ serves ONLY pulled pork.  No brisket, no ribs, no nothin!  Didn't like it much.  I can season and cook a Boston Butt in my crock pot in the RV that comes out with more flavor than Lexington BBQ.

This was our parking spot

Back In Tennessee!!!!!

Ok, so we made it out of Florida and of course, our timing was impeccable!  We sat through 2 months of 90° plus weather and 95 per cent humidity..............but wait!  It all went away the day we left!!!  Oh well, the mountains are spectacular and so is my son.  I love the beard!  He and his friend Patrick (a great guy, also a GREAT BIG GUY) came for dinner last night.  I guess I didn't remember how growing guys eat...................sorry boys if you didn't get enought steak and shrimp.  It is so good to see my son; it's been 10 months!  Plus, he is giving us the privilege of painting his bedroom tomorrow, so that's really really nice of him.  We'll be here for about a week and then off to Charleston, SC to spend some time with Nicole.  She's ALSO allowing us to help her move.  Gosh, we such thoughtful children.  God Bless Yooz Guyz!!!!!  Please take a look at the pics below.  There's one of Grandma in there at her birthday celebration.  The lake is Lake Watauga, right about  20 miles from here.  Very pretty, too bad we won't be here in 3 weeks when the leaves turn.  Don't forget to scroll down to the next post.  It's got all the pics from Amelia Island and Crystal's 29th Birthday Party!!
Thanks for reading and welcome Heidi!!!  It's so good to see you again....................

Fun On Amelia Island, FL

So, after holing up in the RV, and adjusting to the heat and humidity, we starting visiting our great friends on Amelia Island.  We spend almost a week there house and doggie sitting (Maxie, the min-pin) will get into all the liquor and have parties if she doesn't have a babysitter.  Plus, her mom and dad went to Denver to see Jay's son get married.  Anyway, long story short, we partied hard when they got back; then went back a couple of weeks later to Debbie's daughter Crystal's 29th Birthday Party!  Steve grilled a bushel of oysters; we had oyster shots and Margaritas....................good food, good party.  I got to catch up with a lot of folks I hadn't seen in years.  Oh, BTW, Crystal is a model for Ford Modeling Agency and she was on her way to New York City for a Cosmopolitan photo shoot...............hope you got the job Crystal!!!  And here are the pics..................................all pretty much "G" Rated!!!!

Click to see pics of Amelia Island 

Florida in the Summer...

Yikes!  I forgot how hot and muggy FL is during the summer.  Almost too hot to sit outside during cocktail hour.  Almost.
Kathy's Mom is doing just fine, so that crisis is over.  I took my RV to Rivers RV in Jacksonville to get my body work done, so that's done too.  Scratches and dents are all gone :)
I think that we've had maybe 5-7 days with no rain since July around here.  The weather is really starting to get on my nerves and I'm looking forward to fall and winter when the temps drop below 95 degrees. Whew.
We are having fun visiting old friends though!  Since we'll be here in Jax until sometime in April, we have lot's of time to catch up. Cheers!

Back in Jacksonville...

Well, we made it! We drove 2,800 miles in 7 days. Kathy's Mom gets out of the hospital tomorrow and we will be here in Jacksonville until Sept.12th when we have to head for Alabama to get some body work done and a few other "after market" mods done to make our RV more livable for us.

Thanks to ALL our friends and family for their concern about Pat! she's doing well and is under Kathy her sister's  care for the next couple of months.

Did I mention that it's HOT in FL this time of year?? We forgot!
Cheers!
Steve

Thanks Everyone!

Mom is doing well and as I write this, she's resting comfortably in her hospital room, watching her favorite show.

Steve and I would like to thank everyone of you who called, emailed, etc. to check on her. We have some great friends and family.

We made it to Wyoming today and should be home in about 4 or 5 days, and I think my mom will be in the hospital for a few more days.

My sister and niece Kellie are awesome!! Thanks you two...................you are the best.

Kathy

Heading to Florida

I just wanted to let everyone know that Steve and I are headed back to Jacksonville starting this afternoon. My mom is in the hospital having surgery and I need to be with her. I hope everything will be ok and I will keep you informed.

We are going to take care of mom, and then regroup later on.

Take care all,

Kathy & Steve

Illegal Gas Pumping...

Did you know that's it's illegal to pump your own gas in the state of Oregon?? Some gas station guy threatened to call the police on me when I got out and filled my own tank. Zeez Louise!!!

Northern CA...

Staying for a few days at Klamath River RV Park located in northern CA just a few miles from the coast line. Now I can see why the people in northern CA want to secede from southern CA! It's a totally different world. It's beautiful. The forest here is thick and green and there are more trees than people too! We LIKE that part. HA.

Finally found that stupid drive through tree!

After the 30th of June, we'll be out of CA and into Oregon! So far, the drive hasn't been too bad along Hwy-101 in the RV, but there are places where the speed limit is 30mph because of the 7% decline or 30mph because that's as fast as my RV can make it some of these steep 

mountains! Unlike FL, where you can drive 70mph everywhere, a 150 drive here could take us 5 hours or more. Kathy, as she's sitting in the passenger seat says, "Ohhhh... look at THAT! It's sooooo pretty!" Of course MY eyes are on the freakin road, so I miss a lot of, uh, vistas :)

San Francisco & Bay Area

Whew. We made it! I feel a little better now that we have driving through two major cities - Los Angeles & San Francisco, behind us. We're now parked in Greenbrea, CA which is just north of San Francisco and it s good home base to see the bay area.


We drove downtown SF on Saturday and ran into an Italian festival and THAT was filled with 1000's of people and NO place to park. Talk about traffic! Wow. We ( well - I did) wanted to eat in China Town, but driving a car in SF is for crazy people only, so we headed towards Lombard St. and drove down the crookedest street in the world.


On Monday, we figured that we'd visit Fisherman's Wharf because there would be less people. Wrong. There was a zillion people there too! I know that Kathy was a little disappointed with what she saw. She lived and worked in the city 27 years ago and the changes since she was last here were mind boggling. Fisherman's Wharf is now filled with shops selling T-shirts and coffee mugs on one side of the street and over-priced restaurants selling average food on the other. A draft beer cost $5.00 and a fish sandwich was $14.00. Lunch for two = $55.00. Ridiculous.



Standing in line to take a trolley car - 1 hour.

We took a LOT of pictures, so if you want to see them, click here to view them on line!

Kathy says: So, we spent a week in San Francisco; no surprise to anyone since that's all I talked about on the blog for, well, forever. I wish I could say it was as a great trip, and that everything I imagined it would be. But it wasn't. Nothing was what I remembered it to be like. Also, I have never ever seen so many tourons (tourist + moron = touron) in my life. We made the tactical mistake of getting off the streetcar in the heart of the
touon center at Fisherman's Wharf. I was hoping to see some of the sea lions that used to cover the piers, but all we saw were endless swarms of people, everywhere. We did a couple of tourist things, like Lombard street, which took us almost an hour to get down the one way crookedest
street in the world. We did see some great sights and towns north of the City, in Marin
County. Lots of small, quaint little places. Places where an old tiny cottage would run about $600,000! Lots of places with $14.00 burgers and $2.00 (each) oysters. I told Steve when we get home I will NEVER EVER complain about the prices in restaurants!

On our last trip into San Francisco, we attempted to go see some sights in Golden Gate Park. This was on a Wednesday, so we thought we'd be able to avoid the crowds. Not so. Couldn't find a place to park anywhere near anything in the park we wanted to see. So, we took off for the
beach, and the famous Cliff House. Got some great pics there and then we decided to pack it in and head back up north.

Just goes to show, you just really can't go back again. It had been 27 years since I'd been there. I guess I thought things wouldn't change. I never thought of SF as dirty, but it was. By compare, NYC is SO SO much cleaner, believe it or not. Anyway, my two cents worth. We drove off and I pretty much knew that I will probably not visit SF again. Well, never say never, but that's how I felt that week.

Monterey Bay, Cannery Row, 17 Mile Drive

So, here we are along the gorgeous coastline of Monterey Bay. We are staying in Gilroy, about 30 miles away. It's the Garlic Capital of the World as well as near the Artichoke Capital of the World
so today we are going to get some baked garlic and deep fried artichoke. I'll be sleeping in the living room tonight ya' betcha!!!

Everything was just so beautiful along Pacific Coast Highway; oh, yeah, until we started climbing, climbing, and more climbing along a road with NO guardrails. I could only peek up occasionally to look at the view. Even Steve was a bit nervous. We were in the car with Elvis, not stupid enough (almost, but not quite stupid enough) to even think about taking the RV on the road. Anyway, didn't get a lot of pics as I was cowering in the back seat and Elvis doesn't have opposable thumbs, so all we got was this "borrowed picture" of Bixby Bridge. I went over it twice and didn't like it coming or going!

Yeah, tomorrow we are off to San Francisco for a full week.......................will send around new pics then.

Someday, I hope to be on flat, level, beach and streets. Someplace, like say, oh, Jacksonville, FL? I hear there aren't many mountains there. I'm almost, not quite, but almost DONE with mountains!!!!!

Enjoy the pics, thanks for staying in touch. If you want to view them large screen, I guess you would know to click on the picture. This is for my sister, who I am trying to get to learn to use this new machine, called the PC.

Miss you all,

Kathy

Morro Bay & Hearst Castle, CA

Hey to all!! Finally some really cool new pics to send out. We are still at Morro Bay, which is right across the street from the beach, and you'll see the HUGE rock in the slide show. It's a town kind of like Amelia Island, but larger. Has one of the last remaining fishing fleets on the California coast, so we are getting some AWESOME fresh seafood here!
Went to Hearst Castle yesterday. All I can say is "WOW"!! It's just simply incredible. So was the bus ride going up there! You know me and heights. Anyhow, here are two slide shows if you want to see the area. The weather is perfect; seems we finally found what we have been searching for. Will be here for a few more days then head up to the Monterey/Carmel area and Big Sur. Looking forward to that......................then off to San Francisco for a week so I can show Steve all the places I lived there back from 1973 to 1981.
Hope everyone is well and we miss you guys........ see you in late fall!!

The Pacific Ocean...

Ahhhh. The cool breezes of the Pacific Ocean are a welcome change from the 104° temps we had just yesterday in Indio, CA. We're here in the area visiting my Dad & sister for about 10 days and then we start our trip north via Hwy 101. We're so GLAD to get out of the heat!
I did make a serious driving error on my way here from Indio yesterday: I followed my GPS directions and drove Hwy 74 from Lake Elsinore to the coast. Huge mistake. Narrow road, nice twisties with no guard rails. had to peel my hands off the steering wheel when I finally got over the dam# mountain! Here's a view from a turnout:http://www.efgh.com/trans/c74a.jpg Whew. Here's another picture: http://www.efgh.com/trans/c74f.jpg. Here's a great picture of what we drove over: http://www.pashnit.com/maps/Highway74map.htm ( scroll down to the middle picture!)

This is the first state park we've stayed in because it's so hard to find a state park that can hold a 40' RV , have 50 amps AND water and sewer. This place has it all. It even had a pull-through for us! It's very nice.

Surviving Our First Year On The Road

This May 9th will be the day that we have been full timing for a year and it's been a great experience for us. We've learned a lot, seen a lot of places that we never would have seen and still have a lot of places to visit. Personally, I could live this way for years, but sometimes my darling wife (DW), Kathy seems to yearn for a "home base" place to return to, so when she gets tired of this lifestyle, we'll sell the RV and move back into a "sticks & brick" APARTMENT somewhere in Jax. We are done buying and selling property (good move we hope!)

In looking back on our travels we both now know that we definitely are NOT desert people! We have spent 4 months in the south west part of the country and between the weather ( it's going to be 104°F here in Indio, CA today and that's HOT!), sand burrs in the feet and the dust, we prefer to be in a more woody or tropical type of climate. But that's just us, even though we have seen some great places along the way.

What We've Learned:

• This lifestyle is more work than one might think. You're constantly cleaning, walking, going up & down steps, crawling into the basement area to get stuff, driving, etc. I'm glad we did this now instead of waiting until I was 65 or so. I really respect RV'ers who are in their 70's or older and are still going strong! We figure out we spend more time going up and down the steps when we grill out and are worn out by dinnertime!
• You and your traveling companion better be best friends. There's not much privacy living in 500 Square Feet.... or less. That's all I'm going to say about this subject!
• This is not for everybody. When we tell people that we "live in a RV" they all ( well, mostly all) say that this would be something that they'd like to do too. I mean, come on - when I saw a big RV going down the highway, I thought to myself, "Boy, I wish I could do THAT!" But to be honest - it's glorified camping. Most of the time our parking spot is just a rock filled (gravel) area and we have to put out the "outdoor carpet" so we don't drag dirt/sand into the RV. You have to "set up" and "tear down" every time you move. Going to the local grocery store can be a 20 mile drive. If you're used to big houses with big bathrooms, you'd better be ready for a change!
• There's are TENS of 1000's of people who do this. I was surprised of the number of people who live in 5th wheels or a motor home while working. The biggest number whould have to be construction workers who travel from place to place building roads, erecting bridges, wind turbines, etc.
  Everyone is friendly. Oh sure, you might occasionally meet someone a little grouchy ( who doesn't get grouchy once in awhile?), but I have yet to meet someone I didn't like while staying in a campground. There's a comardery that's shared among us and we all watch out for each other. Heck, I could live next door to someone in a house for year and never talk to them. Living like this, we're all friends!
• We needed a budget. Oh sure, there are lot's of people out there who have million dollar plus RV's, but not us. When we started, the cost of fuel ( $5.00 a gallon for diesel) and the cost of camp sites ( average of around $30-$35 a night I would guess) caught us by surprise. We quickly learned to slow down our traveling and stay longer at RV parks (a week at a time) because the rates are cheaper by the week compared to the daily rate. Kathy has turned into a "coupon queen." She LOVES to go to different web sites, download coupons for groceries and restaurants so we can save some money. I LOVE that!
• There's SO much to see and do in this country. There's a seemingly endless number of places to go and things to do in this country. There's something for everyone no matter what you like to do!

So far, I'm loving the way I'm living. I have a GREAT wife who puts up with my "stupid stuff," we don't have to worry about falling house prices, we don't have to get up and go to work, etc. Yep - I'm living the dream baby! It's just on a budget! HA!

LOTS OF GREAT PICTURES!!!!!!!

I JUST REALIZED THAT STEVE WASN'T PUTTING OUR SLIDESHOWS ON THE BLOG, SO I "POLITELY" ASKED HIM TO SHOW ME HOW TO MAKE THESE LINKS. THEY ARE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS NEW POST. HOPE YOU ALL TAKE A LOOK WHEN YOU CAN. SEDONA, AZ, LAS VEGAS, DEATH VALLEY AND A GREAT PLACE CALLED "OATMAN" AZ, RIGHT ACROSS FROM LAUGHLIN, NV. I'M GOING TO PARTICIPATE MORE IN PUTTING ON THE PICS NOW THAT I KNOW HOW. Kathy

Since we were done gambling, which didn't take long, there wasn't a whole lot more to do here. Our new park is very nice and we staked out a great spot right across from the pool and hot tub. No one but us uses the hot tub, and we've been taking our Pina Coladas over there in the evening. Lots of palm trees and nice tropical weather, that with just enough rum, you can sort of close your eyes and think you are in the tropics! Almost, not quite. Anyway, it's also a good way for me to help heal my back as I was playing Yoga the other night and hurt it pretty badly.

So, we've been taking it pretty easy and decided on a road trip to Death Valley, 50 miles yonder' up the road. I really didn't want to ride because I was in pain, but I am so glad I went. I hope you take a look at the slide show. We got some great pics; it's just hard to describe. We went from our RV Park, at Pahrump, NV, about 2500 feet above sea level to Furnace Creek at the bottom of Death Valley at MINUS 230 FEET SEA LEVEL!!!!! Also, the temperature went from a "cool" 84° in Pahrump to 105° at Furnace Creek. We only walked around a bit; there is one beautiful hotel there, the Furnace Creek Inn, and campground/hotel/RV Park a but further. It had little tourist shops and a couple of restaurants there. Tourist buses in and out. So, there is another place on our list to be crossed off........................so glad I didn't miss it. Hope you like the pictures.

Oh, sidebar................Parhump, NV is the ONLY place (that we know of) in the United States where prostitution is legal!!! Really; they have "cat" houses here. We saw a sign for a "Brothel Museum" and we thought, what the heck; then Steve researched it on the Internet and it's NOT a museum.........................!!!!!! So, we WON'T have any pictures for that.

http://picasaweb.google.com/steve11352/DeathValley?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/steve11352/LasVegas?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/steve11352/OatmanAZ?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/steve11352/SedonaAZ?feat=directlink

We are off Tuesday for 18 days in Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs and Palm Springs, CA. Probably won't do a lot there but work on my tan and use the hot springs for my back. If you don't hear from us, don't worry, we'll be in the springs having a cold one for you!!!!

Kathy and Steve

Las Vegas and Pahrump,NV

OK, we got to Las Vegas and stayed at the Main Street Casino RV Park right in the old downtown area of Sin City. We lost $140, saw the Fremont St. Experience and took a tour of the strip to see all the new hotels. To say that Vegas has changed since I was last there ( in the 1970's the 1st time and in 1985 the 2nd time) would be an understatement. What a zoo. WAY too many people in Vegas now days! We were going to stay for a week, but after loosing $140 on day two, Kathy had a fit ( neither one of us are gamblers, but Kathy HATES to waste money!) and we left early for Pahrump,NV, which was our next scheduled stop for a week using our C2C membership.

We found a park in Pahrum called Terribles in Pahrump and it had great reviews so we made a reservation and got in yesterday. OMG! What a beautiful place in the middle of no where! For the 1st time since Jan. 2009 we have GRASS... and TREES! SWEET! There's a HUGE lake we can walk around, it's just so relaxing!
We're going to hang out here for a week, and then we have to move to another park down the road because this place is full, and we didn't make reservations in time. The bad part is we have a space for one day, then have to move to another space for a day, then have to move AGAIN where we'll be able to stay for 5 days. Sigh. Oh well, at least I'll be able to break out the grill on day three!

We leave this park and move to another down the road for another week. The weather is beautiful so this aint bad!

Laughlin, NV

Wow! What a great little town.... we had reservations in Bullhead City, AZ, as it had an RV Park in our "club system", which means certain places we stay for $10.00 per night. So, we needed to chill for a week, and off we went!

We were 1/2 mile off the Colorado River and right across the bridge to Laughlin, NV. My uncle and aunt used to go there lots. I'd never been and Steve and I didn't even know it was nearby. But, it was, and we did little (really, very little gambling) and took advantage of the buffets, which were good, but not like Vegas!

We took Elvis on a day trip south to Lake Havasu, where the London Bridge is, and it was beautiful. The water is just turquoise blue, and it's so tropical...............too bad the water temp is only in the 60's!

Other than that, we took a river boat trip and then just hung out. We were in the very back of the RV park; it was like a private spot...............no neighbors, little noise. We could see the casino lights at night from the "veranda" during happy hour.

Now, we are in an RV Park believe it or not, in the middle of Vegas. Just staying 2 days to see Fremont St., the Venetian, Bellagio and a day trip to Hoover Dam. The bummer is that the high temps are in the low 60's and there is lots of wind! Gusts up to 40 mph YUCK! Oh well, we couldn't go right by Vegas and not stop. I haven't been here on over 30 years so it's changed just a bit.

Off to a place called "Pahrump" NV and a resort that's like a little oasis in the desert. It's got it's own beach, and spa. Will send pics later.

I hope you take the time to look at the slideshow below. We take tons of pics, but we do try and keep them to a minimum on the blog.

So, off to California soon, to see Steve's family. We are meeting his sister and brother in law in Palm Springs in 2 weeks so that should be fun, even though it's just for a short weekend.

Enough for now gotta walk the dog!

Take care,

Kathy, Steve and Elvis

The Grand Canyon Video???

This is a test video that I took at the Grand Canyon. I have a Flip Video I bought for our Rv trips, but haven't used it until today. It's not great, but it's my first :) The 1st part is the "Singing Cowboy" that sang songs to us when we rode the train from Williams, AZ to the Crand Canyon. Click on the bottom left arrow to play! Justin, for you, the Cowboy Singer was doing his Bob Dylan impression!!!! Thought you might like it son.

The Grand Canyon

We arrived in Williams, AZ yesterday at http://www.thetrain.com/rvpark/ where we had scheduled a day trip to see the canyon via the grand Canyon Railroad. Williams, AZ is a little desert town that still has parts of the original Route 66 street AND stores as their downtown. It was pretty cool to see what things used to look like! the elevation os this place is 6200 feet, so it was COLD here at night: 17°F to be exact.

This was Kathy's first trip ever to see the Canyon, and my 2nd visit since sometime in the 1960's when I was about 11 years old and we took a family vacation. Boy, have things changed! We're glad we rode the train because the traffic at the canyon was unbelievable. Cars everywhere. As you can see, Kathy had a nice, relaxing ride back to the RV park after spending 3 hours walking around viewing the CG. Poor thing - all this traveling just wears her out. hehehe

We took a butt load of pictures and if you want to see them, click on the slide show below.

Visiting The Warings ( Sister and Mother) in Phoenix,AZ

My sister, Linda and my "bio Mom", Marty, live in the Phoenix area. I haven't seen either of them in years, so of course we had to stop by for a visit.

While we were there, we visited a tourist attraction called the Mystery Castle. It was built by Boyce Luther Gulley, who abandoned his wife and daughter in 1930 after learning that he had tuberculosis. He travelled to Phoenix and started building a "castle" for the little girl he'd left behind.

Mary Lou Gulley ( this is a picture of her today) was a toddler when her father unexpectedly left and never returned. Boyce Gulley's daughter, Mary Lou, still gives half the tour (the main house section) at the Mystery Castle when she feel up to it.

I can't believe she still lives here! No AC. Yikes! After Gulley's death in 1945, his wife and child inherited the castle and promptly moved in. His daughter still lives there and today conducts the tours herself. Depression glass dishes form doorway transoms, and an upside-down bathtub serves as the exhaust vent over the kitchen stove. In one room, windows are formed from the wheels of Gulley's Stutz Bearcat, the windshield of which is used as a glass panel in a terrace wall. To get from the parlor to the bedroom, a flight of stairs goes up over a boulder and down the other side so that he wouldn't have to disturb the surrounding landscape. He hauled rocks from over one mile away so the surrounding landscape wouldn't be disturbed too! This place is the original "green house."

There are a bunch of pictures below. Just click on the pic to see bigger!

Jasmine, this picture is for you! Nice shoes huh? They held weddings at the Mystery Castle and brides would leave at least one shoe behind at the chapel because it was rumored that the "groom would be true forever..." if they did. Needless to say - there are lot's of shoes there! This was one of them. Here are some more >>

Ameriplan - a great dental plan.

Las Cruces, New Mexico

Ahhhh, here we are in Las Cruces, NM in one of the best "camping" spots we've seen. There's a little hedge next to us and it's like having our own private patio! Sweet! Of course this was taken before I set out the table and lounge chairs AND my grill! After sitting in dusty and windy Texas for almost two months trying to sell advertising spots on RV Site maps to businesses that can't pay the electric bill, it's nice to sit here and just do - NOTHING.



Here's Kathy sitting at a little place called Pebbles Restaurant in Melissa, NM which is kind of like Saint Augustine, FL . Historic downtown, lot's of bars and shops... and expensive! You can see more pics of Las Cruces here . We're here for two weeks because we want to sit here and relax. Movies, TV, perhaps a couple of day trips to do some site seeing. Nothing strenuous for sure! Cocktails everyday at 4:30pm sharp.

See ya in a couple of weeks after we have some pictures of the Grand Canyon which is our next stop after visiting some family in Phoenix, AZ

Carlsbad Caverns & New Mexico

So, we finally left Texas heading west. This trip had been on our agenda since we first started thinking about doing this, so I am glad it's one of the goals we met. I say that because, I know there are lots of folks who love the desert, but we are finding out that we are really "Florida folks". I miss the green, humid August days (NOT!!). We're just not used to such flat land. Plus, the winds have been relentless. Anyway, we are happy that we got to visit the Caverns; they are really awesome.

We are going to Roswell, NM tomorrow to visit some aliens, then off to a really nice place in Las Cruses for a week.

We tried our best to get good pics in the cave; it's pretty dark but it's really an amazing sight to see. Click here to see our pics.

Take care everyone; it's really good when I hear back from you guys after reading the blog.

Kathy, Steve and of course, Elvis.

A Little Fun With Texas...

If you love Texas or live here, let me apologize in advance. I'm just having a little fun here OK?

We will wrap up our visit to Texas this Friday, March 6, 2009. To be honest - I'm glad. While we haven't seen anything but the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas, and the San Antonio/San Marcos area, there's just too much wind, too much dust and too many sand burrs around here. We need to get to a greener place.

I thought I'd share a few pictures with you!

This here is the famous Texas Pride BBQ, (San Antonio) place that was featured on Diners, Dive-ins and Drives. The Brisket was good, but I found a better place in Lockhart, TX! I would recommend a visit to either one of these places if you're in the area, but I'd eat at ANY BBQ place, so that really means noting I guess. hehee.

Now THIS place is the famous Black's BBQ located in Lockhart, TX and it's the oldest BBQ place in the whole state! I HAD to eat at this place, so one day while Kathy was sick and wanted me to get out of her face, I snuck away from San Marcos, drove 20 miles and ordered me some brisket and ribs. I was the BEST brisket AND ribs I ever had. I was SOOO happy! I even brought my darling wife some back to the RV to share with her. Good thing I bought a pound of meat too cause even Kathy loved it and she's not a big meat person like I am.

San Antonio and DDD....

DDD stands for Diner's, Drive-Ins and Dives which is a show on FoodTV.com. I love the show and whenever we are close to a restaurant that has been featured on the show I try and get there! That's ONE reason I'm getting so fat :)

Today we went to Texas Pride BBQ where I pigged out on the best Brisket I've ever had. The rest of the experience was OK. Not great - just OK. It was worth the trip though :))) I'm such a HAPPY guy when I gets me beef!

Our time in San Antonio has come to an end and we head to San Marcos ( just 60 miles north) to once again try and sell some ads for a RV park site map. After San Marcos, we'll head towards Dallas to visit a friend and then onward west to eventually end up in CA!

Here are some pictures of San Antonio:

ameriplan dental plan : Is a great way to save money on your dental needs. Visit today.

Mexico and The RGV

Geesh! We've been in Texas for 2 weeks now and the freaking wind is RELENTLESS! How windy is it?

1. It's so windy I can't grill because the wind blows the flame out.
2. It's so windy that I had to pull in one of my slides last night because I thought the plastic rain cover over the slide was going to tear due to all the flopping around.
3. It's so windy that everyone around here has their clothes line ( I know - some people actually still dry their clothes outside...) tied down!
4. It's so windy that I have to SIT in my patio chair to keep it from blowing away.
5. It's so windy I can't even smell my own farts.

And last but not least: We have a 2'x2' fold-up metal table that we put in between our chairs to sit our drinks on. I put a rock on it the other day to keep it from blowing over. Kathy comes out of the RV, feels the wind, looks at the table and says, "You're going to need a bigger rock."

I don't care what people say, that right thar was FUNNY!
We are staying at Tropic Winds RV Resort in Harlingen, TX which is about 15 miles from the border town of Progreso Mexico. We went there today to buy prescription drugs! And liquor!  Wasn't worth the trip after we had to pay all the taxes to get back into the U.S.
Reminded me of my old Navy days and trips to Tijuana. Same stuff was there I think. Mexico is a little different today though. I could tell because there was about 10 guys from the Mexican army sitting around the border crossing with machine guns. Apparently there's a small drug problem in Mexico now days. HA!



As you can see, it's a lot of fun in Mexico now!  Not.
We did get a good buy on 2 bottles of Crown Royal though. That's our favorite refreshment you know.
Anyway, here's some more pics...

Winter Texans We Are :)

Well, we've been in Texas for a little over a week now. We're currently in Port Aransas, TX at Marina Beach RV Resort trying to get our 1st RV site map job done. It ain't looking good here either. We really thought that because of all the tourist activity here we would have no trouble selling ad space for $350 a YEAR to businesses in this town. Wrong. No one has any money. This place was hit a little by Hurricane Ike several months ago and that doesn't help anything. But the fact is - it's the economy. Businesses all over America are hurting. I would guess that about 25% of the stores, restaurants, etc. around here have a "For Sale" sign on the door.


It's just sad. I hate to see this everywhere we go. I really feel bad for business owners now. They are scrambling to try and just get the bills paid. Ameriplan

Port Aransas is a little beach town on an island just north of Corpus Christi. There are about 40 restaurants, dozens of small hotels and about 5 large RV parks. That means there are 1000's of RV's here and they are referred to as "Winter Texans." It seems that half of them are from Canada too! They come down here for 6 months and then head back home in the spring. Gotta keep that health insurance active eh?

Kathy & I are scrambling to find businesses willing to pop a couple of hundred bucks to advertise in the RV map we're working on. It's tough. In 2 days we have done 39 presentations or "drop-offs" to 39 different businesses in the area and only made one sale. We need about 15 more in the next few days or we're not going to be able to get the map done for this RV park either.

We've heard everything:

1. I don't advertise - get OUT!
   
2. I'd like to, but I don't have the money
3. The business owner is out of town for 2 weeks
4. This is a franchise business ( like Subways and even the local liquor store!) so you'll have to call the corporate office. "OK, do have a number?" NO! Go away!
5. I MAY be interested, come back in 3 days. You go back in 3 days and the decision maker is no where to be found. So much for appointments!
   

Sigh. This job is "not so much fun."

My thoughts (Kathy here) I fully agree with everything Steve said. I think I was really made to be retired. In fact, I'm sure of it. I'm also looking into doing some writing for a website. You write articles and get paid when they put them online. It would be something to do and I could get to tell people everything I know! Which is everything.........I KNOW IT ALL, just ask my husband!!!!

In any case, we are going to finish our commitments and then head to New Mexico, then Arizona and California. It should be an interesting year.

Lastly, HOW ABOUT THOSE STEELERS, huh???????

I Love My Job, I Love My Job, I Love My Job.......

Wow, am I glad it's Sunday already! We worked 2 entire days.............in a row!! I just forgot how really really fun sales is. NOT!!!!

It's really not that bad. Steve and I have hit almost 40 vendors, and have about 8 be backs for Monday and Tuesday. We have to figure out the system. Friday and Saturday are not good days to catch up with owners or managers. But, we think this will work.

We walked and walked, which was good. We'll park at one end of a shopping center and walk all the way around, hitting up everyone who is a potential advertiser. Lot of businesses are in a hurt. But, we think we can make this work. Steve wants me to "dig back into my mind" to remember all my Beazer Sales Training. My answer is, dig into what brain?

Other than all that, we are happy to be back on the road. We are especially looking forward to the Gulf Coast in southern Texas. We have 2 jobs on the way there, and then we are going to look for a nice place to stay and take a week off to explore that area. It seems like a great place to winter and the rates are about half of what they are in Florida. Gotta have an exit clause in case this job doesn't work out. Now that Steve knows I CAN work, no telling what he'll come up with next.

All for now. I hope everyone is out of the cold by now. It's been in the 30°'s at night even here in Tampa!

Everyone take care, God Bless, and most importantly of all:

'"GO STEELERS"!!!!!!