Other folks at the dinner
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Monday, February 13, 2006
Summerdale, Alabama
What a great day of travel! We left Theodore, AL around 10:30 this morning and got to Summerdale about 11:30! What an easy day. This park is called Rainbow Plantation and it's another Escapees park. We've decided to stay here until the end of February when we'll leave to go to Palmetto, Florida. It's a two day drive to Palmetto, so we'll get on the road February 28.
Summerdale is very close to Gulf Shores so, weather permitting, we'll head down to the beach to walk along the Gulf. The weatherman says it's going to get warmer this week - 70 degrees and sunny! We also want to go down to Pensacola to look around. The park is planning a dolphin-watching trip so we're going to do that. I'm pretty excited about that! Hopefully, we'll get good pictures to share with you.
Just wanted to let you know where you can find us. Let us know what's going on in your world. Love to all.
Summerdale is very close to Gulf Shores so, weather permitting, we'll head down to the beach to walk along the Gulf. The weatherman says it's going to get warmer this week - 70 degrees and sunny! We also want to go down to Pensacola to look around. The park is planning a dolphin-watching trip so we're going to do that. I'm pretty excited about that! Hopefully, we'll get good pictures to share with you.
Just wanted to let you know where you can find us. Let us know what's going on in your world. Love to all.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Camping with the Domers
Dan & Debbie joined us in Theodore at Payne's RV Park last Friday. This was their first camping trip in their new pop-up. Randy & I were very excited they were coming because we always have a good time with Dan & Debbie. Their camper is almost identical to the last one we had, so helping them set up the pop-up brought back lots of good memories for us from our pop-up days.
Unfortunately, the weather forecast wasn't a great one. At first, they were calling for a cold, rainy Saturday (I know, I know folks on the East Coast got bombarded with snow), but thankfully, that changed to rain overnight on Friday. Saturday dawned bright and sunny, but VERY, VERY cold and windy.
Weather aside, we decided to take a road trip to Gulf Shores, AL which is about 50 miles from our campground. Dan & Debbie had been there last year and wanted to scout it out for campgrounds. Last year they saw it had sustained a lot of hurricane damage from Ivan in 2004 and were curious to see how much restoration had been done. First, we went to breakfast - Randy got to check another CB off his list! Then we stopped in Fairhope, a little town that was supposed to be picturesque. Well, we found Fairhope Park which is right on the beach of Mobile Bay, but the rest of the town looked pretty ordinary to us. Since it was so darn cold and windy, we didn't stay long at the park.
There are outlets in Foley, AL which is between Fairhope and Gulf Shores. That was a stop Debbie wanted to make. So, that was next on the list. We walked around the stores for a bit and Deb found some clothes, but we all agreed these "outlet" prices aren't as good as our WalMart and Target prices!
Then it was on down to the Gulf. There is still a lot of rebuilding going on, but many of the houses and apartments are ready for the season. We stopped by Gulf Shore State Park and it is a great campground! It's right on a river/canal and it's huge. Dan & Debbie were excited about it for the future. Randy & I are putting it in our "to be stayed at" file, too.
After we got home, we had dinner, watched the Olympics and played a cutthroat game of Dominos. I won!! But, the best part was being with good friends.
We never fail to make great memories when we are with Dan & Debbie. We laugh so much when we are together. It was sad to see them leave this morning. But, we are already making plans to meet up in April on our way to South Dakota.
Here are some fun pictures. To family and friends in the East, hope you are warm and survived snow shoveling. We sure miss you all, but not that snow! Love you!
Unfortunately, the weather forecast wasn't a great one. At first, they were calling for a cold, rainy Saturday (I know, I know folks on the East Coast got bombarded with snow), but thankfully, that changed to rain overnight on Friday. Saturday dawned bright and sunny, but VERY, VERY cold and windy.
Weather aside, we decided to take a road trip to Gulf Shores, AL which is about 50 miles from our campground. Dan & Debbie had been there last year and wanted to scout it out for campgrounds. Last year they saw it had sustained a lot of hurricane damage from Ivan in 2004 and were curious to see how much restoration had been done. First, we went to breakfast - Randy got to check another CB off his list! Then we stopped in Fairhope, a little town that was supposed to be picturesque. Well, we found Fairhope Park which is right on the beach of Mobile Bay, but the rest of the town looked pretty ordinary to us. Since it was so darn cold and windy, we didn't stay long at the park.
There are outlets in Foley, AL which is between Fairhope and Gulf Shores. That was a stop Debbie wanted to make. So, that was next on the list. We walked around the stores for a bit and Deb found some clothes, but we all agreed these "outlet" prices aren't as good as our WalMart and Target prices!
Then it was on down to the Gulf. There is still a lot of rebuilding going on, but many of the houses and apartments are ready for the season. We stopped by Gulf Shore State Park and it is a great campground! It's right on a river/canal and it's huge. Dan & Debbie were excited about it for the future. Randy & I are putting it in our "to be stayed at" file, too.
After we got home, we had dinner, watched the Olympics and played a cutthroat game of Dominos. I won!! But, the best part was being with good friends.
We never fail to make great memories when we are with Dan & Debbie. We laugh so much when we are together. It was sad to see them leave this morning. But, we are already making plans to meet up in April on our way to South Dakota.
Here are some fun pictures. To family and friends in the East, hope you are warm and survived snow shoveling. We sure miss you all, but not that snow! Love you!
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Canyon Lake, TX t o Theodore, AL
Canyon Lake to Kinder, LA
Got on the road about 9:30. Took us about 45 minutes to get to I10 and then it was just heading east for the next six hours. Our stop for the night will be in Kinder, Louisiana which is near Lake Charles. This will be a long day for us - over six hours driving - but, we would rather the first day be long and have it easier the second day.
We rolled along easily until we hit Louisiana,. The first 20 miles of LA was rough - lots of road work. We wondered if it was due to the hurricanes. Whatever the cause, it was lousy, the kind of road where you are going babump, babump, babump. Really gets on your nerves. And, we kept hoping all was well in the RV! At the 20 mile marker the road smoothed out. Unfortunately, about five miles later, we were back to babump, babump, babump! It really gets on your nerves after awhile, too.
After a couple of traffic jams and construction tie-ups, we got to our night’s stop - Quiet Oaks RV Resort in Fenton, LA. Well, that was an adventure in itself! The word “resort” is very loosely used, too. We think most of the sites are taken with FEMA trailers for those displaced during Hurricane Rita. The site we were given was on a beach! Not really, but the amount of sand on the sites made it seem like a beach. And the sites were so close, it took Randy close to 30 minutes to maneuver into the site. And that was with someone from the campground guiding him in!!! Needless to say, we will not be staying here again.
Once I was able to get into the RV to survey any damage done during our bumpy ride, I was pleased to see that only the blade was snapped off of the ceiling fan. That is usual anymore - Randy has replaced a bracket on one of the ceiling blades on almost every trip. We cannot figure out how the brackets snap off, but are grateful that it’s only the bracket and not the blade itself.
We settled down around 6:30 and got something to eat. Thankfully, we were able to get ABC & NBC on the TV, so we were able to watch Lost and Law & Order. All is right with the world. AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Kinder, LA to Theodore, AL
Got a very early (for us) start to the day. We hit the road about 7:45am. Didn’t plan it that way, we just woke up early and decided to get started. Took advantage of the early start and treated ourselves to breakfast at, - can you guess??? - I’m sure you can - yep! Cracker Barrel!!! We have now crossed off another CB, this one in Lafayette, Louisiana.
After our bellies were full, we got back on the road. It proved to be a fairly easy drive. The road was much better - asphalt instead the bumpety-bump concrete. Very easy traveling. We were on a very long bridge while we crossed the Henderson Swamp. Got a couple of pictures of it. Was very weird to see trees just growing up out of the water. Didn’t look like a swamp to me - more like a river. But, what do I know? It’s Louisiana!
We didn’t see much hurricane damage in Louisiana. Our journey took us north of that area via I20. Once we got back on I10 and into Mississippi, however, we could see lots of tree damage. We still weren’t right on the Gulf, but all along the highway there were trees down and/or split in high and bent. Lots of highway signs were down and splintered along the roadside. I’m surprised they haven’t been fixed. I’m assuming this is from the hurricane, but I guess it might not be. All of the state park signs have “Closed” signs across them. Can’t imagine what the Gulf region looks like.
Our trip ended without complication around 2:40pm. We got to Payne’s RV Park in Theodore, Alabama. It’s a nice park - family-owned. We’ll be here until Monday, then on to Summerdale, AL which is about 40 miles from here. We’ll be at another Escapees Park, Rainbow Plantation for about a week or so. We’ve just about hit our fuel budget for the month already, so we’re gonna stay put for awhile.
Don’t look for much on the blog this weekend. We’re going to veg with Dan & Debbie, so not sure there will be anything exciting to report. But, I guess you never know . . .
Got on the road about 9:30. Took us about 45 minutes to get to I10 and then it was just heading east for the next six hours. Our stop for the night will be in Kinder, Louisiana which is near Lake Charles. This will be a long day for us - over six hours driving - but, we would rather the first day be long and have it easier the second day.
We rolled along easily until we hit Louisiana,. The first 20 miles of LA was rough - lots of road work. We wondered if it was due to the hurricanes. Whatever the cause, it was lousy, the kind of road where you are going babump, babump, babump. Really gets on your nerves. And, we kept hoping all was well in the RV! At the 20 mile marker the road smoothed out. Unfortunately, about five miles later, we were back to babump, babump, babump! It really gets on your nerves after awhile, too.
After a couple of traffic jams and construction tie-ups, we got to our night’s stop - Quiet Oaks RV Resort in Fenton, LA. Well, that was an adventure in itself! The word “resort” is very loosely used, too. We think most of the sites are taken with FEMA trailers for those displaced during Hurricane Rita. The site we were given was on a beach! Not really, but the amount of sand on the sites made it seem like a beach. And the sites were so close, it took Randy close to 30 minutes to maneuver into the site. And that was with someone from the campground guiding him in!!! Needless to say, we will not be staying here again.
Once I was able to get into the RV to survey any damage done during our bumpy ride, I was pleased to see that only the blade was snapped off of the ceiling fan. That is usual anymore - Randy has replaced a bracket on one of the ceiling blades on almost every trip. We cannot figure out how the brackets snap off, but are grateful that it’s only the bracket and not the blade itself.
We settled down around 6:30 and got something to eat. Thankfully, we were able to get ABC & NBC on the TV, so we were able to watch Lost and Law & Order. All is right with the world. AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Kinder, LA to Theodore, AL
Got a very early (for us) start to the day. We hit the road about 7:45am. Didn’t plan it that way, we just woke up early and decided to get started. Took advantage of the early start and treated ourselves to breakfast at, - can you guess??? - I’m sure you can - yep! Cracker Barrel!!! We have now crossed off another CB, this one in Lafayette, Louisiana.
After our bellies were full, we got back on the road. It proved to be a fairly easy drive. The road was much better - asphalt instead the bumpety-bump concrete. Very easy traveling. We were on a very long bridge while we crossed the Henderson Swamp. Got a couple of pictures of it. Was very weird to see trees just growing up out of the water. Didn’t look like a swamp to me - more like a river. But, what do I know? It’s Louisiana!
We didn’t see much hurricane damage in Louisiana. Our journey took us north of that area via I20. Once we got back on I10 and into Mississippi, however, we could see lots of tree damage. We still weren’t right on the Gulf, but all along the highway there were trees down and/or split in high and bent. Lots of highway signs were down and splintered along the roadside. I’m surprised they haven’t been fixed. I’m assuming this is from the hurricane, but I guess it might not be. All of the state park signs have “Closed” signs across them. Can’t imagine what the Gulf region looks like.
Our trip ended without complication around 2:40pm. We got to Payne’s RV Park in Theodore, Alabama. It’s a nice park - family-owned. We’ll be here until Monday, then on to Summerdale, AL which is about 40 miles from here. We’ll be at another Escapees Park, Rainbow Plantation for about a week or so. We’ve just about hit our fuel budget for the month already, so we’re gonna stay put for awhile.
Don’t look for much on the blog this weekend. We’re going to veg with Dan & Debbie, so not sure there will be anything exciting to report. But, I guess you never know . . .
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
San Antonio Historic Area Walking Tour
Another beautiful day for being outside and taking a walking tour! I’m sure you’re tired of reading that, but I am NOT tired of saying it OR living it! We went back into San Antonio today to do a walking tour of one the King William Historic District. First, however, we stopped to check off yet another Cracker Barrel - yes, yes, it’s a sacrifice, but being the submissive wife that I am . . .
Anyway, back to our walking tour. Randy and I really enjoy looking at older architecture. Would never want to own one of those homes - too much work - but they are just so lovely to look at. The King William Historic District is located along the San Antonio River and our tour took us down along a different park of the River Walk. I really enjoyed this area - much better than the Walk we traveled yesterday. This part of the Walk is outside and meanders along between the lovely homes in this area. We took a picture of the back of one of the homes because it was so pretty.
This area’s homes date back to the early 1800s and are as different from each other as they can be. One of the homes is the Guenther Home and its founding family started the local Pioneer Flour Mills which is still a working mill today. Not sure if the family is still involved, but I think they are. At another one of the homes we took a picture of, the George Kalteyer House, the mom and baby of the family who lives there was outside. (You can see the baby in the right side of the picture.) I asked if she minded if we took a picture of the house and she said that was fine. When you look at these houses and read the histories, it seems odd to see a modern family actually living there!
It took us almost two hours to complete the tour and it was worth the time. Once again, we read about the many German families who first lived in these homes and most of them were involved in the politics and business of early San Antonio.
Oh, yeah! Randy also found his very own historical marker!! See if you agree! Hahahahaha I was taking a picture of a house and looked over and Randy was standing in front of this sign!!! We howled!!! Ain’t retirement grand?!?!?!!!
As you can tell, we’ve enjoyed our stay here in the San Antonio area and will definitely be back to do other things we were unable to fit in this time. We leave tomorrow morning for Mobile, AL. We’ll stop for the night tomorrow night in Lake Charles, LA, then we’ll get to Mobile Thursday afternoon. We’re meeting Dan & Debbie Domer in Mobile for the weekend. We’re looking forward to spending some more time with them! They will be taking their maiden camping trip with their new pop-up.
We will be incommunicado for the next couple of days. We’ll get back online sometime Thursday afternoon. If you need us sooner than that, give a shout on the cell phone, otherwise just send an e-mail and we’ll respond as soon as we get the satellite up and running.
Enjoy the pictures. Just put up a few to give you a taste of the area. Look at the Webshots website, under San Antonio TX Feb06, for more pictures. Take care of each other. Love you!
Anyway, back to our walking tour. Randy and I really enjoy looking at older architecture. Would never want to own one of those homes - too much work - but they are just so lovely to look at. The King William Historic District is located along the San Antonio River and our tour took us down along a different park of the River Walk. I really enjoyed this area - much better than the Walk we traveled yesterday. This part of the Walk is outside and meanders along between the lovely homes in this area. We took a picture of the back of one of the homes because it was so pretty.
This area’s homes date back to the early 1800s and are as different from each other as they can be. One of the homes is the Guenther Home and its founding family started the local Pioneer Flour Mills which is still a working mill today. Not sure if the family is still involved, but I think they are. At another one of the homes we took a picture of, the George Kalteyer House, the mom and baby of the family who lives there was outside. (You can see the baby in the right side of the picture.) I asked if she minded if we took a picture of the house and she said that was fine. When you look at these houses and read the histories, it seems odd to see a modern family actually living there!
It took us almost two hours to complete the tour and it was worth the time. Once again, we read about the many German families who first lived in these homes and most of them were involved in the politics and business of early San Antonio.
Oh, yeah! Randy also found his very own historical marker!! See if you agree! Hahahahaha I was taking a picture of a house and looked over and Randy was standing in front of this sign!!! We howled!!! Ain’t retirement grand?!?!?!!!
As you can tell, we’ve enjoyed our stay here in the San Antonio area and will definitely be back to do other things we were unable to fit in this time. We leave tomorrow morning for Mobile, AL. We’ll stop for the night tomorrow night in Lake Charles, LA, then we’ll get to Mobile Thursday afternoon. We’re meeting Dan & Debbie Domer in Mobile for the weekend. We’re looking forward to spending some more time with them! They will be taking their maiden camping trip with their new pop-up.
We will be incommunicado for the next couple of days. We’ll get back online sometime Thursday afternoon. If you need us sooner than that, give a shout on the cell phone, otherwise just send an e-mail and we’ll respond as soon as we get the satellite up and running.
Enjoy the pictures. Just put up a few to give you a taste of the area. Look at the Webshots website, under San Antonio TX Feb06, for more pictures. Take care of each other. Love you!
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