June 10--Fairmont Hot Springs, BC
It was really great relaxing at home the past few weeks. I ate too much, which is good (sort of). Nell and Puck had mixed results with getting along with their new dog; Puck had no fear, but Nell wanted to kill her. Carly would charge Puck, who might or might not run, but it seemed all in good fun (Puck didn't seem worred after the first day or so). Nell, on the other hand, didn't apprecitate how Carly was treating Puck, and on a couple of occasions offered to kill her through the gate. Hissing and spitting and swatting and general mayhem. Carly wisely stayed out of reach.
I finally decided to leave yesterday, and after loading the RV and checking the tires and whatnot, we got on the road by 9:30. The weather was drab and got worse; the mountain view is lovely, but all I could see was low clouds and the occasional hill (usually with a wind turbine on top--it's nearly always windy here, and turbines work quite well).
People here in Canada really like their golf. I was driving through Crowsnest Pass, and found golfers out on the links. The temperature was 44 degrees and it was raining something fierce, not to mention the wind. But there they were, teeing off. There were also several bicyclists making their way to the top of the pass on the west side, again through the wind and rain and hills. I spotted one poor guy walking his bike up a particularly steep wet slope.
I turned north up the Kootenay valley in British Columbia and the skies began to clear. There were patches of sun here and there, and the rain slacked off. It was still in the 40's, so still cold, but better. The RV does well in rain, so other than slowing down on some of the more hairpin turns, we made good time.
I had decided to stop at Fairmont Hot Springs for a couple of days. It's up a hill in what is probably also a lovely valley (I hope it clears enough tomorrow that I can see it). I decided to splurge and got a Deluxe site with paved spot and cable and close to the path to the hot springs, but the first site they gave me was really long and not level; I could either level the rig (so the refrigerator would work) or have power/cable. I went back and they gave me another site, which is better. It backs up to a cliff (going up to more campsites above me), and I've mostly levelled the rig.
Both cats were glad to be free. Nell had not only vomited a bit of her breakfast (I don't know how, since I fed them almost three hours before we left), she apparently also urinated. So I'm now down one towel. Luckily it was an old towel, but I should stop someplace and get another cheap towel for her to rest on. Puck was fine, if loud.
I walked around to see the place. The pools are HUGE. There's a huge swimming pool, a big diving pool (with a high dive--lawsuits must be less common here) and a large soaking pool. I didn't go in, but I plan to today. I also walked around the rest of the complex. The lodge looks nice, the restaurants are expensive, and the spa prices are astronomical.
I came back and relaxed, and showered around 10:30, because it was still light and I lost track of what time it was. I got to sleep OK, but woke up at 2:30 to worry. Back to sleep by 3:15, and the cats let me sleep in until 6:30 or so. I just fed them, which made them happy; it's cold in the RV (only about 54 degrees), and I think they burn more calories than usual. I'll be sure to give them some treats. I bet I find Nell under the covers in my bed at some point; she's smart enough to know it's warmer there. Puck hasn't quite figured that out, but he does have longer fur.
I plan to spend the day in the hot springs. It's in the low 40's and raining outside, but the hot pool is 102 degrees, and the swimming pool is 88!
Later---
The heat works! Yes, it was cold enough this morning that I tried the heat. It took a while to kick in, but now it's working fine. I was worried about the hair/dust/etc being blown up out of the floor vents, but there wasn't much of a breeze there. They appear now to be intake vents, with most of the heat coming down from the ceiling, like the air conditioning (the same unit does both--maybe the propane heat uses the floor ducts). Which means when I stand up, my head is warm while my feet are cold. But still, it works.
I was lazy this morning, and didn't get over to the hot pool until around 10am. There are three pools (all big): a 10-foot deep diving pool with a low and high board, which is about 85 degrees (which feels damn warm when you've been standing in 45-degree rain), a very large pool (ranging from 18 inches to about 4.5 feet) that's about 87 degrees, and a hot pool (1 to four feet deep) that's about 102. There's also a very small very shallow pool that's about 107 that I stuck my hand in, which was enough.
I swam some laps, jumped off the boards a few times (I don't think I'm streamlined enough to do so now without some pain from my boobs being dragged to my waist and/or up around my ears). I also soaked a bit in the hot tub, enjoying sitting there in the cold rain. There was pretty much no view, unfortunately. I suspect it's spectacular when it's not foggy.
I got out around 11:30 to find some lunch. I had a craving for a big burger with fries, and I went to the lodge restaurant. Which was all healthy stuff, except for the pub, which didn't open until 2 (and offers a "hamburger" with all sorts of crap that has a knife stuck through it to keep it together--thanks, but no). I finally went to the snack bar at the pool, where I got exactly what I wanted: a big juicy burger (on a kaiser role!) with thick fries and a Pepsi! For $6.75! Absolutely wonderful--oh, me of little faith! I went back to the pool afterwards to soak for another hour or so (I'd bought an all-day pass), and then I went back to the RV to watch some TV and nap with the cats. It's strange to nap to Mythbusters and a cat sleeping on your chest; somewhat disconcerting to wake up and wonder what the hell is going on.
It stopped raining around 4--well, probably it stopped a bit before, but I was napping. I went out to walk around the place. It's big, and includes original bathhouses up the hill, which are small concrete rooms with rough bathtub-sized bits that some hot water still trickles into and out of. I stuck my hand it, and it's warm, but I prefer the big pool. It did have a great view of the valley, and I can almost see mountains!
I walked around the rest of the RV spots, which look really nice. One RV is apparently here until October! I hope they got a good deal. I've also been watching a lot of the RVs come in; lots of rentals. CruiseAmerica and CruiseCanada are very big here--heck, one just pulled in next to me. Plus some very very big RVs, complete with towed cars and everything including the kitchen sink. I like my little RV, thanks! It lets me park anywhere.
I got back from the walk (and found that I had a Missoula channel on the cable! I'm very glad I got this cable) just in time for it to begin raining again. So I fed the cats and ate and got caught up here and read about where I'm going to go and enjoyed the sound of the rain on the roof with the sun still shining.
I plan a bit later to go hop in the pool one more time. Lots of kids show up when school is out for the day, and I'd rather avoid the place being overrun. I figure I'll swim and shower and go to bed a bit earlier; it's moving day tomorrow!
Oh--and I don't need to buy more towels after all. I was digging under my couch in my linen cache for a swim towel, and found I had brought several extras. So Nell should be cushioned when we travel. Hopefully, this one will last a bit longer.
June 11--Canyon Hot Springs, BC
Note a pattern? There are several hot springs in this area, all fairly close to one another, and I'm going to visit most of them. I should be quite water-wrinkled by the end!
I woke up this morning and found that the rooftop heater only works if the temperature isn't that cold. There's a propane heater I can use, but I didn't want to crawl under the rig to turn the propane on in the cold and wet (yes, it's still raining). So we all bundled up on the couch until it warmed up a bit.
I dumped the tanks, loaded everything, put everyone in their place, and headed out. There were fewer clouds, and the rain soon stopped (for the moment). I got to see some of the mountains, but there were still puffy clouds obscuring some of the peaks. I had decided not to stay at Radium Hot Springs, because I heard that the pools were crowded and over-chlorinated, and it was the right decision. The campground I was going to stay at was in a deep valley, and there was just about no way I'd be able to get to the hot springs from there without driving, which would be a pain. So I kept going down the Columbia River valley. Yes, that Columbia.
I was still worried about my right rear tire, even after the tire guy in Panama City told me it was normal--it just wasn't. So I stopped in Golden, before I went over the mountains, to have them look at it. Not only was it not normal, it had a screw and a piece of wire in it that were causing the problems. The wonderful guys at Kal-Tire fixed it and checked out the rest of the tires (all look fine), all for free! Apparently it's a service they're reimbursed for as a public good, or something. It's also possible they saw how freaked-out I was and took pity on a woman travelling alone so far from home. Either way, thanks, guys! Elated, I stopped at a Subway for lunch and then headed up the mountain.
Canada has a Glacier National Park too, which might just have more glaciers than Montana's. Not that I could tell, because the rain came back. This is not unusual; the best joke I heard was "It only rains twice a week in Glacier: once for three days, and once for four." It was one of the rainy days. Two lane road (although with copious passing lanes), quite a lot of traffic, at least half of it RVs or trucks. The road was also steep and had construction, so it was rather a triple whammy. Still, we plugged along, although I did wish on several occasions that this rig had a manual transmission; I wanted to shift down when I wanted to, not when the transmission thought I should. Still, we made it without incident through the rain and several snow sheds; the railroad originally went through the pass, but it kept being taken out by avalanches with great loss of life, so they DUG A NINE-MILE TUNNEL THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE MOUNTAIN to bypass it. In the 1910's. They must've been desperate.
The mountains were amazing--at least, what I could see of them. They literally go straight up from the valley, and at times the valley doesn't seem wide enough for both the creek, the railroad, and the road. I can see why avalanches were/are a problem. I can't think of a place in Glacier that has such straight up on both sides; no real cliffs on this drive, so not as scenic as Going-to-the-sun, particularly for the driver.
I stopped at Rogers Pass--and yes, Montana has one of those too. There's a lodge and a visitor's center and some big parking lots, and that's it (there's a sign in Golden that says "Next Services 140 km", and they weren't kidding). I stopped to see the visitor's center (and cool my nerves a bit), and looked at some of the displays, which included a small stuffed cougar sprawled on an end table like a big house cat. By the way, the cats rode fine today; no excretions, although Puck wasn't happy with me and kept giving me the eye. The actual pass was a bit down the road; I stopped and took a picture of the weird monument there--it's like a square suspended inthe air from arches, with information on it. Weird. This may have been the last part of the Trans-Canada completed, in 1962, if I was reading it correctly.
Down the hill we went. The rain mostly stopped by this time, which was good, because going down the hill is scary enough without rain. It was no time at all until we reached the hot springs.
Canyon Hot Springs is located between Glacier National Park and Mt. Revelstoke National Park; I suspect we can see Mt. Revelstoke from the hot pool, as there's a huge glaciated peak at about the right spot. We're actually surrounded by glaciated/snowcapped peaks, pretty much in all directions. Very beautiful, if a bit noisy: both the TransCanada and the railroad are nearby (the railroad close enough to see), and neither is quiet. Oh well, noise never bothered me. It does seem to bother Puck; at least the trains going downhill do, with the screecy brakes. He's been hiding a lot as they come by, but I think he's better now. At least I know if there's ever a tornado (which is supposed to sound like a train) he'll go hide!
I stopped at the office, which required some driving up steep hills to reach. This place is spread out over 200 acres, and it's like a rabbit warren with campsites carved out of everywhere. The RV sites are in the open, while the non-serviced sites (RV's can stay there, but they don't get water or electricity, or the one cable channel (sports) I can get--no radio stations either, and no WiFi, alas). I've got a truly level site (yay, I stuck my leveller back on the window!) backing up to a creek, which is very nice. It's in the sun, which will warm up the rig nicely (hopefully not too warm, as it's supposed to be 25 tomorrow; somehow I doubt we'll reach, that, what with the wind coming off the snowfields and all).
The pools are nice, if not as big as Fairmont's. I spent much of the afternoon in the swimming pool, which is 87 degrees F and quite comfy. There are a few hummingbird feeders, and I spent much of the time watching up to eight (!) hummingbirds fighting over the food. I don't think I've seen eight hummingbirds in my life to date, and there was a damn swarm of them here. The hot pool is really freaking hot. It says 104 degrees, but I think it's lying. I can only be in it for a few minutes before I have to get out. I do think I'll appreciate it in the morning though; I'm sure it gets cold here, what with the altitude and the snow.
June 12
It was very cold this morning; 49 inside, 40 outside. Unfortunately, my electric heat isn't that robust and won't try to warm the place up that much, and the propane heat would require me to crawl under the rig in the cold, so we huddled under blankets until the sun warmed things up enough for the delicate heater to kick in. I did go and get in the hot hot tub at 9, when it opened; it actually felt really good for a while, although my feet were so cold that it burned.
The place was pretty full this morning, and had nearly cleared out by afternoon. I guess most people (like I am most of the time) are of the "stay here a day and move on" variety. The weather was great for moving: sunny, almost no clouds, and it got into the 70's. After swimming for a bit I walked around (between the reading and eating and napping, which rather goes without saying on rest days). There is very little here, other than the campground: a house or two (one neat-looking house by the railroad tracks is for sale, but I suspect it's only a summer house). The trains go right around the campground, and so there's either lots of noise from the engines trying to get up the hill, or lots of noise from the brakes slowing them down the hill. I did get a picture of a train coming through--action shot!
Late this afternoon a convoy of RVs arrived. There are at least 15-20, mostly huge and towing cars, all headed to Alaska. I talked to one, and in the conversation asked her if she was going to the hot springs. She said no, they're going to Laird Hot Springs. Well, that's about a week away in northern BC, and I still don't understand how that would prevent them from walking up the hill about five minutes and going to the springs here. The mind boggles.
The other high point yesterday was the rental RV next to me. When they decided to leave, they forgot to unplug their electric, so when they pulled out the plug (luckily) detached from the outlet and dragged behind them. They stopped almost immediately to retrieve it, which was good, but it's why I always try to walk all around the RV, checking everything, before I pull out. Safer that way. Of course, now that I've found jocularity in their mistake, I'll probably do something equally bone-headed myself. Ah well.
June 13--Halcyon Hot Springs, BC
I discovered how to have heat when it's cold: don't turn the heat off. Yeah, I know, it's not exactly going to win me "Genius of the year" or anything, but when I went to sleep last night I set the heat to 58 and turned it on (it was about 72 at the time inside). This morning around 3am the heat kicked in, and since heat rises the overcab bed was nice and toasty. It was cold on the floor, but that's OK.
I woke up early--5am. I dozed for a while, but finally got up and down into the cold main room. I actually got back in bed for a bit, but the cats let me know they wanted me up.
The convoy began leaving at 6:30am. They must not all drive together, but get together at the end of the day at the same campground or something. To me, that kind of defeats the purpose of travelling in a group: having someone around to help if you have a problem. Then again, with cell phones, they can just call and I'm sure someone would stop. Those were some big-ass rigs there.
I left around 8:30, and got to Revelstoke by 9. Wow--radio stations! Houses! Stores! I stopped at a gas station to fill up the diesel tank as well as my own; I'd been seeing commercials for Tim Horton's, so I got a very tasty sandwich with a tea. Then I headed "downtown" (I don't know if the town actually has a downtown, but I seemed to be on the main drag) to a grocery, to buy a few things (Pepsi, salsa, and Kleenex--I've had a "reverse cold" that began with a sore throat, which went away for the most part before the nose kinda kicked in; I'm still coughing up gunk at times, but it doesn't seem to be in my lungs). Then back to the road. I did not go to the Railway Museum, which was in an old railway station--next trip.
The road south of Revelstoke is virtually void of civilization. Trees, trees, and more trees. A couple of parks, maybe a few homes, a logging road or two (I saw my first confirmed clear cut), and that's it. I had read that the ferry across the columbia/Arrow Lake left on the hour, and I was going to be quite early, so I took my time. And I got passed by people in a real damn hurry. As it turns out, they were in a hurry for a reason: there's also a ferry that runs on the half hour in the summer and on weekends, and I was the last vehicle on it. The RV's (a different manufacturer's version of my rig, as well as a fifth wheel and me) were taking up the two middle lanes (we were in the middle of them), with cars on either side. It was a nice little trip; there was no wind so no waves. The water in fact looked like it had lots of debris in it at first, branches and such. We got to the other side and it was quite a haul up the hill to the road.
Halcyon Hot Springs is only about 8 miles south of the ferry, and it was about 11:30 when I got to the office (i.e. too damn early). The front desk people were nice and gave me a map of the campground with the ones which were to leave marked, so I could pick my spot. It's a very small campground with quite small spots (no big-ass rigs here); I've got an average-sized spot and I fill it completely with my 24' RV. There are some bigger, but not many. No real trees, although I did get one with a bush that shaded part of the rig in the later afternoon. I walked back down after parking and registered, and also gave the front desk a list of who had left and who was still here, which they appreciated.
I sat for a while to air out the vehicle, then closed the larger windows and went to lunch. I had an interesting hamburger (there were marinated onions that were indeed interesting), plus fries (the Coke was flat and I returned it--yay for grocery Pepsi!). The restaurant had a great view of the lake and the hot pools, which are carved out of a rather sheer cliff.
After lunch I went down for a quick dip. The largest pool was about 87 degrees, and quite comfortable to swim in. I suspect it had a diving board at one time, since it had a deep end that went rather abruptly to 9 feet, but no board anymore. There are three other, much smaller pools on the upper level: one warm (100 degrees, which was nice as it had a bit of a current around a center island and you can just float around and around), one 105 degrees (I stuck my feet in, but no more) and a very small cold plunge that's 55 degrees (yikes!). I'm planning on going back, although now it's gone from sunny to sprinkling off and on. Well, it's nicer to swim in a hot tub when it's not 85 degrees out. Besides, I don't think I get a channel that will show the Tony Awards. Oh well. If the Internet begins to work, I can at least get the results tonight.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Stationary for a while
May 19--Lethbridge, AB
I woke up very early again--like 4:45. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I got dressed and walked over to the nearby Denny's and had breakfast. Then back to the room to watch a bit of TV. I didn't want to leave too early, as I wanted to avoid rush hour traffic (I had to drive smack through downtown Edmonton). I did nap a bit, and fed the cats (who weren't particularly happy to still be in the kennel). We got on the road around 9:15, and the traffic wasn't too bad. I do have to say, the air in Edmonton smelled wonderful: fresh and cool, with hints of pine.
The drive down wasn't bad either. There was quite a bit of wind between Edmonton and Red Deer, and again between Claresholm and Lethbridge, but otherwise the sky ranged from cloudy to almost full sun. I also had a great view of the mountains in the distance--don't worry, I'll get there! Other than a jam caused by a traffic accident in Calgary, I had pretty much no trouble.
I'm now at my parents' house, and will be here for about the next two weeks. The cats have adjusted well, although I'm not sure my parents' new dog will leave them alone. There's some barking and chasing, and after Nell hissed at Carly, Carly growled, but things have calmed down considerably. There's a barrier between my bedroom and bath and the rest of the house that the cats can jump easily, but the dog can't manage. Nell is spending most of her time in the bedroom, but Puck is following me around, as usual. He did spend a bit of time under the bed at the beginning, but now he's much braver. I think he's figured that he's not only faster than her, but he can jump much better. Not to mention they are pretty much the same size! I'm not worried; I'm sure they'll adapt.
I probably won't be posting again until I leave, which won't be until after June 1, so you may want to chack in then.
I woke up very early again--like 4:45. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I got dressed and walked over to the nearby Denny's and had breakfast. Then back to the room to watch a bit of TV. I didn't want to leave too early, as I wanted to avoid rush hour traffic (I had to drive smack through downtown Edmonton). I did nap a bit, and fed the cats (who weren't particularly happy to still be in the kennel). We got on the road around 9:15, and the traffic wasn't too bad. I do have to say, the air in Edmonton smelled wonderful: fresh and cool, with hints of pine.
The drive down wasn't bad either. There was quite a bit of wind between Edmonton and Red Deer, and again between Claresholm and Lethbridge, but otherwise the sky ranged from cloudy to almost full sun. I also had a great view of the mountains in the distance--don't worry, I'll get there! Other than a jam caused by a traffic accident in Calgary, I had pretty much no trouble.
I'm now at my parents' house, and will be here for about the next two weeks. The cats have adjusted well, although I'm not sure my parents' new dog will leave them alone. There's some barking and chasing, and after Nell hissed at Carly, Carly growled, but things have calmed down considerably. There's a barrier between my bedroom and bath and the rest of the house that the cats can jump easily, but the dog can't manage. Nell is spending most of her time in the bedroom, but Puck is following me around, as usual. He did spend a bit of time under the bed at the beginning, but now he's much braver. I think he's figured that he's not only faster than her, but he can jump much better. Not to mention they are pretty much the same size! I'm not worried; I'm sure they'll adapt.
I probably won't be posting again until I leave, which won't be until after June 1, so you may want to chack in then.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Changes
May 18--Edmonton, AB
I got up VERY early--the sun rises at 4:45am MDT in Saskatoon,and I was up with it. I fed the cats, decided to do another rinse of the water tanks, since the water there was really tasty, and got on the road about 7:15. I decided, since the weather was going to be really hot, and there is a possibility of thunderstorms, and the Edmonton campgrounds are fairly awful, to stay in a hotel. So I found a Comfort Inn that allowed pets, a mile or so from the West Edmonton Mall, and made a reservation.
Most of the drive today was very flat, although the Saskatchewan River carves a nice wooded valley through the area, and the highway tends to follow it on one side or another. I wanted to get started early because it was going to get near 90, and it did indeed warm up fast. It was sunny too, and luckily the wind was behind me, because it was whipping something fierce (I had to drive into it for a bit, and thought I'd blown the turbo in the engine again!).
There were intervals of woods, most notably a national park just to the east of Edmonton called Elk Island National Park, which is aspen forest. Supposedly it has lots of animals, but I didn't see any. I did see a couple of pronghorn earlier; luckily they were headed away from the road!
Edmonton traffic was awful. The road I was on had exits off both sides of the road, and I was in middle lane when with no warning my exit came up, and I almost came to a halt on the expressway before someone let me in. The same thing happened at the next intersection; luckily, it was a less-traveled area, and I could get in the correct lane to get to the hotel without much problem. The room I'm in is very nice and cool. The cats aren't sure they're happy, since they're back in the kennel, but I fed them and now they're asleep.
I decided to walk to the West Edmonton Mall. It's about a mile, and I had a bottle of water so I was fine, even though it was quite sunny. The mall is massive and has a huge number of things all under one roof, like miniature golf, a submarine ride around a copy of the Santa Maria, a sea lion show, a huge waterpark with slides and wave pool, an ice skating rink, an amusement park, an Imax theatre, and more stores and restaurants than you can believe. I walked around the whole thing, ate some sushi (from the Chinese grocery), and walked back. Luckily it was cloudier--I think it's raining outside, but it's too dry to reach the ground right now.
Well, as I said above, things change. I was looking at the Milepost last night, and realized that I'm only a bit over halfway to Alaska. I also realized that I really can't face driving another 8 days to get to Alaska, and then driving around there, and then driving back, and then driving to Ohio . . . the RV is just not fun or easy to drive, and I don't really trust it anymore. I drive in a state of fearful anticipation, worrying that something will go wrong. And I don't feel right about dragging the cats into possible danger in the wilds of Alaska in a vehicle I don't trust. So I'm going to put that trip on hold, and change mid-vacation (which isn't the first time!). I'm hoping to go visit my parents for a bit, and then explore southern BC and Washington State. That should be lots of pretty things to see, mountains and oceans and such, without having to drive another 1800 miles to get to it. It won't be Alaska, but it will hopefully be wonderful!
I got up VERY early--the sun rises at 4:45am MDT in Saskatoon,and I was up with it. I fed the cats, decided to do another rinse of the water tanks, since the water there was really tasty, and got on the road about 7:15. I decided, since the weather was going to be really hot, and there is a possibility of thunderstorms, and the Edmonton campgrounds are fairly awful, to stay in a hotel. So I found a Comfort Inn that allowed pets, a mile or so from the West Edmonton Mall, and made a reservation.
Most of the drive today was very flat, although the Saskatchewan River carves a nice wooded valley through the area, and the highway tends to follow it on one side or another. I wanted to get started early because it was going to get near 90, and it did indeed warm up fast. It was sunny too, and luckily the wind was behind me, because it was whipping something fierce (I had to drive into it for a bit, and thought I'd blown the turbo in the engine again!).
There were intervals of woods, most notably a national park just to the east of Edmonton called Elk Island National Park, which is aspen forest. Supposedly it has lots of animals, but I didn't see any. I did see a couple of pronghorn earlier; luckily they were headed away from the road!
Edmonton traffic was awful. The road I was on had exits off both sides of the road, and I was in middle lane when with no warning my exit came up, and I almost came to a halt on the expressway before someone let me in. The same thing happened at the next intersection; luckily, it was a less-traveled area, and I could get in the correct lane to get to the hotel without much problem. The room I'm in is very nice and cool. The cats aren't sure they're happy, since they're back in the kennel, but I fed them and now they're asleep.
I decided to walk to the West Edmonton Mall. It's about a mile, and I had a bottle of water so I was fine, even though it was quite sunny. The mall is massive and has a huge number of things all under one roof, like miniature golf, a submarine ride around a copy of the Santa Maria, a sea lion show, a huge waterpark with slides and wave pool, an ice skating rink, an amusement park, an Imax theatre, and more stores and restaurants than you can believe. I walked around the whole thing, ate some sushi (from the Chinese grocery), and walked back. Luckily it was cloudier--I think it's raining outside, but it's too dry to reach the ground right now.
Well, as I said above, things change. I was looking at the Milepost last night, and realized that I'm only a bit over halfway to Alaska. I also realized that I really can't face driving another 8 days to get to Alaska, and then driving around there, and then driving back, and then driving to Ohio . . . the RV is just not fun or easy to drive, and I don't really trust it anymore. I drive in a state of fearful anticipation, worrying that something will go wrong. And I don't feel right about dragging the cats into possible danger in the wilds of Alaska in a vehicle I don't trust. So I'm going to put that trip on hold, and change mid-vacation (which isn't the first time!). I'm hoping to go visit my parents for a bit, and then explore southern BC and Washington State. That should be lots of pretty things to see, mountains and oceans and such, without having to drive another 1800 miles to get to it. It won't be Alaska, but it will hopefully be wonderful!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Oh, Canada!
May 17--Saskatoon, SK
I did indeed get a lot done: I organized everything, tidied up, swept and vacuumed, and sanitized the water tank. I also read for a while, and enjoyed the good weather. It really is a nice place, although I'll bet it gets hot in the summer.
I slept in just a bit, I suspect because the sun rose a bit later since I'm farther west, and also I found what diverts Puck when he's trying to wake me up: an open window. If you've seen the movie "Up", you know the deal: Puck comes and starts licking my hair/etc saying "I LOOOVE you Mom!" I open the window, he says "I LOOOOVE--BIRD!" and spends five minutes staring out the window. He remembers me, says "I love you Mom! I loooooove--" and I point him toward the window "y--BIRD!" and more staring. I'll have to try it again tonight.
We started out around 8:20 central time, and drove through relatively flat and empty country to the Canadian border at Portal. I did stop at Bowbells to fill up my tank, figuring that diesel would be more expensive north of the border (and it is, but it's less than regular gas, which blunts the sting a little). Crossing the border was relatively painless, although I couldn't really hear what the woman was saying, and I don't think she believed that I could be from Florida and not have any firearms. She also wanted to know why I kept going to Calgary, and I mentioned that I had relatives in Lethbridge and didn't like to fly the puddlejumper. She agreed, and waved me through; she did look at my passport, but not the cats' papers. I'm sure I'll need them to get back into the States.
In Canada, the scenery was incredibly repetitive, and a bit boring. Flat, gently rolling, very few trees. In NoDak at least I had begun to see a bit of badlands in the distance, but this was all flat farms. I did go through the town that recorded the record high temperature for Canada: 114 degrees, in July of 1937. Yep, that's warm. I also wonder what kids in these tiny towns without schools (or apparently without schools) do when the roads are closed in winter.
I don't have a very good Canada map (my atlas is lovely for the US but has zilch for Canada), and the tourist information station at the border was closed for the season. I'm winging it with a little atlas, which is fine except I didn't realize that Regina had a bypass road and wound up driving right through downtown. I stopped at McD's to get a couple of hamburgers, and then continued on up to Saskatoon.
I did have a sort of map for Saskatoon, provided in the brochure for the campground I'm in now. It's a bit dusty (there's construction going on across the road, and when the wind picks up it's a bit gritty), but otherwise it seems quite nice. The site is level enough without blocks, and now that I'm out of the US my non-digital TV is picking up two channels! Probably won't be anything to watch. I also bought myself an ice cream, since it's damn hot. I'd say the lower 80's, which is way too warm for this time of year. Two weeks ago it was snowing. This is better than snow, but I do wish it would cool down a bit.
The cats are fine; Puck's on the bed, napping, and Nell's on the dashboard looking at everything. I'm happy that we're not moving anymore today, that tomorrow will be a shorter day, and that I had ice cream! Also, that I caught that Visa had put a fraud hold on my card before it became an emergency, and fixed it! And ice cream! Yay!
I did indeed get a lot done: I organized everything, tidied up, swept and vacuumed, and sanitized the water tank. I also read for a while, and enjoyed the good weather. It really is a nice place, although I'll bet it gets hot in the summer.
I slept in just a bit, I suspect because the sun rose a bit later since I'm farther west, and also I found what diverts Puck when he's trying to wake me up: an open window. If you've seen the movie "Up", you know the deal: Puck comes and starts licking my hair/etc saying "I LOOOVE you Mom!" I open the window, he says "I LOOOOVE--BIRD!" and spends five minutes staring out the window. He remembers me, says "I love you Mom! I loooooove--" and I point him toward the window "y--BIRD!" and more staring. I'll have to try it again tonight.
We started out around 8:20 central time, and drove through relatively flat and empty country to the Canadian border at Portal. I did stop at Bowbells to fill up my tank, figuring that diesel would be more expensive north of the border (and it is, but it's less than regular gas, which blunts the sting a little). Crossing the border was relatively painless, although I couldn't really hear what the woman was saying, and I don't think she believed that I could be from Florida and not have any firearms. She also wanted to know why I kept going to Calgary, and I mentioned that I had relatives in Lethbridge and didn't like to fly the puddlejumper. She agreed, and waved me through; she did look at my passport, but not the cats' papers. I'm sure I'll need them to get back into the States.
In Canada, the scenery was incredibly repetitive, and a bit boring. Flat, gently rolling, very few trees. In NoDak at least I had begun to see a bit of badlands in the distance, but this was all flat farms. I did go through the town that recorded the record high temperature for Canada: 114 degrees, in July of 1937. Yep, that's warm. I also wonder what kids in these tiny towns without schools (or apparently without schools) do when the roads are closed in winter.
I don't have a very good Canada map (my atlas is lovely for the US but has zilch for Canada), and the tourist information station at the border was closed for the season. I'm winging it with a little atlas, which is fine except I didn't realize that Regina had a bypass road and wound up driving right through downtown. I stopped at McD's to get a couple of hamburgers, and then continued on up to Saskatoon.
I did have a sort of map for Saskatoon, provided in the brochure for the campground I'm in now. It's a bit dusty (there's construction going on across the road, and when the wind picks up it's a bit gritty), but otherwise it seems quite nice. The site is level enough without blocks, and now that I'm out of the US my non-digital TV is picking up two channels! Probably won't be anything to watch. I also bought myself an ice cream, since it's damn hot. I'd say the lower 80's, which is way too warm for this time of year. Two weeks ago it was snowing. This is better than snow, but I do wish it would cool down a bit.
The cats are fine; Puck's on the bed, napping, and Nell's on the dashboard looking at everything. I'm happy that we're not moving anymore today, that tomorrow will be a shorter day, and that I had ice cream! Also, that I caught that Visa had put a fraud hold on my card before it became an emergency, and fixed it! And ice cream! Yay!
Saturday, May 15, 2010
An Oasis
May 15--Minot, ND
The shower was just about as bad as I thought. It wasn't very sulfur-y, but it was very iron-y. It was rather like taking a shower in liquid iron. And the water was so soft I don't think I got all the soap out of my hair, and could hardly tell when I was rinsed. But I did sleep well--or at least, well enough.
Puck woke me up before 5am, and I ignored him for a while before I got up to go to the toilet. When I got back, he bothered me a while longer before I finally locked him in the kennel. I got about another hour of sleep before Nell woke me very politely, and I got up and fed both of them. Before I left I checked the tires; they weren't as inflated as they could have been, which might be why I'm not getting the mileage I got last year. Things are looking better since.
I bounced out of the KOA and headed west. I got through Fargo and stopped at a truck stop to get an egg and cheese sandwich from Subway, which was quite tasty. I headed off-interstate at Jamestown and wound through lots of little prairie towns on the way to Minot. I do wonder what some of these very tiny towns do for schooling; do they send students to a consolidated school, and if so do what do they do when blizzards hit? There's not much shelter out here.
They've obviously gotten a lot of rain here; many of the fields are flooded, and the "seasonal lakes" are full. I saw a lot of ducks (including one that had been hit by a car, which I don't think I've ever seen before), and almost hit a mama duck with a train of ducklings who decided to cross the road. I missed them, and the road was empty long enough that I suspect they are fine. I also saw some birds that I would swear were loons, but I'll have to look them up to be sure. They were definitely diving birds, though. Plus lots of dead deer.
I got to Minot and hoped to stay at a campground that got lots of good press; unfortunately, they are now only renting long-term (a week or more), presumably to oil workers who can't find an apartment (North Dakota is I think the only state that was never in a recession, and it's so full of people wanting to work in/around the oil fields that there simply isn't enough housing for everyone, and maybe not even enough campgrounds, since people are living in their cars, weather permitting). I didn't want to go to the KOA, which didn't impress me when I drove past it. So I'm at the same campground I stayed at last year, and it's just as nice as I remember. I got a truly level site that's not flooded, the water tastes great, and the weather is perfect (warm with a cool breeze); it's just barely spring here, I guess, since the trees are just barely in leaf. Whatever it is, it's great.
I'll be here through Monday morning, when I expect to take on Canada. I probably won't post tomorrow, since I won't be doing anything exciting (bleaching the water tanks/reading/napping/eating/cleaning the rig), so tune in then!
The shower was just about as bad as I thought. It wasn't very sulfur-y, but it was very iron-y. It was rather like taking a shower in liquid iron. And the water was so soft I don't think I got all the soap out of my hair, and could hardly tell when I was rinsed. But I did sleep well--or at least, well enough.
Puck woke me up before 5am, and I ignored him for a while before I got up to go to the toilet. When I got back, he bothered me a while longer before I finally locked him in the kennel. I got about another hour of sleep before Nell woke me very politely, and I got up and fed both of them. Before I left I checked the tires; they weren't as inflated as they could have been, which might be why I'm not getting the mileage I got last year. Things are looking better since.
I bounced out of the KOA and headed west. I got through Fargo and stopped at a truck stop to get an egg and cheese sandwich from Subway, which was quite tasty. I headed off-interstate at Jamestown and wound through lots of little prairie towns on the way to Minot. I do wonder what some of these very tiny towns do for schooling; do they send students to a consolidated school, and if so do what do they do when blizzards hit? There's not much shelter out here.
They've obviously gotten a lot of rain here; many of the fields are flooded, and the "seasonal lakes" are full. I saw a lot of ducks (including one that had been hit by a car, which I don't think I've ever seen before), and almost hit a mama duck with a train of ducklings who decided to cross the road. I missed them, and the road was empty long enough that I suspect they are fine. I also saw some birds that I would swear were loons, but I'll have to look them up to be sure. They were definitely diving birds, though. Plus lots of dead deer.
I got to Minot and hoped to stay at a campground that got lots of good press; unfortunately, they are now only renting long-term (a week or more), presumably to oil workers who can't find an apartment (North Dakota is I think the only state that was never in a recession, and it's so full of people wanting to work in/around the oil fields that there simply isn't enough housing for everyone, and maybe not even enough campgrounds, since people are living in their cars, weather permitting). I didn't want to go to the KOA, which didn't impress me when I drove past it. So I'm at the same campground I stayed at last year, and it's just as nice as I remember. I got a truly level site that's not flooded, the water tastes great, and the weather is perfect (warm with a cool breeze); it's just barely spring here, I guess, since the trees are just barely in leaf. Whatever it is, it's great.
I'll be here through Monday morning, when I expect to take on Canada. I probably won't post tomorrow, since I won't be doing anything exciting (bleaching the water tanks/reading/napping/eating/cleaning the rig), so tune in then!
Friday, May 14, 2010
It figures
May 14--Moorhead, MN
Puck woke me up at 5am, the rotten little creature. I got up myself at 5:30--it was 45 outside, and 54 inside! It's amazing how warm I am with my rather-thin comforter. Nell cuddles under it, but Puck just toughs it out--no wonder he woke me up! Actually, he was hungry. I fed them around 6, and we left at 7:15. I stopped at the local Lewis and Clark museum, which wasn't open, but I did get a look at a reproduction of the keel boat that they sailed up the Missouri to the Hidatsa/Mandan villages in NoDak. It sure seemed narrow!
Today was mostly a driving day, because I wanted to get to the KOA in Moorhead to relax and sanitize the water system. There were bluffs on either side of the Missouri river valley throughout Iowa, and once in South Dakota it got much flatter, and the wind picked up. It was hitting us broadside, and made driving a lot more tiring, as did all the road work and the general roughness of the road itself. Living in Florida without frosts has made me forget how badly winter beats up roads.
I set up my GPS, and it worked quite well, except that it died right before I got to the KOA (where I really could have used it). It won't turn on now, and I'm not sure what's up with it. I'll have to look online to see if it's something I can fix.
I got to Moorhead, finally, and began to follow the directions. This area is one of the few places that is still in a building boom, and the directions didn't work. I followed some signs, which ended in a one-lane dirt road, and I stopped and called the KOA. Yep, it was down the one-lane dirt road. And it didn't get better.
The KOA, once I got down the rutted dirt road, is also half-flooded. The first spot they gave me, the electric was being used by an adjacent site, so I moved to another site. Then I found that the water is cloudy and smells of sulfur, and so I'm not going to clean the system. Worse, I don't have any water to drink; I drank the last of my Panama City water last night, and I don't want to drink the sulfur water and I won't give it to the cats. So I bought a very expensive small bottle of water (no stores around here, and I'm not taking the rig back out until we leave) and gave it to the cats. I'm currently drinking a bottle of sparkling grape juice I'd been saving, but I'll probably finish the water before I go to bed tonight.
I'm not looking forward to showering in the egg water, but I really need a shower. Ick. At least the cats are entertained watching the neighbors--well, Puck is entertained; Nell thinks they're going to break in and eat her for dinner. She's a non-trusting soul. I haven't told them that we're moving on tomorrow; oh well. If the next place I'm in is nice, we'll stay two nights there, because I'm tired.
Puck woke me up at 5am, the rotten little creature. I got up myself at 5:30--it was 45 outside, and 54 inside! It's amazing how warm I am with my rather-thin comforter. Nell cuddles under it, but Puck just toughs it out--no wonder he woke me up! Actually, he was hungry. I fed them around 6, and we left at 7:15. I stopped at the local Lewis and Clark museum, which wasn't open, but I did get a look at a reproduction of the keel boat that they sailed up the Missouri to the Hidatsa/Mandan villages in NoDak. It sure seemed narrow!
Today was mostly a driving day, because I wanted to get to the KOA in Moorhead to relax and sanitize the water system. There were bluffs on either side of the Missouri river valley throughout Iowa, and once in South Dakota it got much flatter, and the wind picked up. It was hitting us broadside, and made driving a lot more tiring, as did all the road work and the general roughness of the road itself. Living in Florida without frosts has made me forget how badly winter beats up roads.
I set up my GPS, and it worked quite well, except that it died right before I got to the KOA (where I really could have used it). It won't turn on now, and I'm not sure what's up with it. I'll have to look online to see if it's something I can fix.
I got to Moorhead, finally, and began to follow the directions. This area is one of the few places that is still in a building boom, and the directions didn't work. I followed some signs, which ended in a one-lane dirt road, and I stopped and called the KOA. Yep, it was down the one-lane dirt road. And it didn't get better.
The KOA, once I got down the rutted dirt road, is also half-flooded. The first spot they gave me, the electric was being used by an adjacent site, so I moved to another site. Then I found that the water is cloudy and smells of sulfur, and so I'm not going to clean the system. Worse, I don't have any water to drink; I drank the last of my Panama City water last night, and I don't want to drink the sulfur water and I won't give it to the cats. So I bought a very expensive small bottle of water (no stores around here, and I'm not taking the rig back out until we leave) and gave it to the cats. I'm currently drinking a bottle of sparkling grape juice I'd been saving, but I'll probably finish the water before I go to bed tonight.
I'm not looking forward to showering in the egg water, but I really need a shower. Ick. At least the cats are entertained watching the neighbors--well, Puck is entertained; Nell thinks they're going to break in and eat her for dinner. She's a non-trusting soul. I haven't told them that we're moving on tomorrow; oh well. If the next place I'm in is nice, we'll stay two nights there, because I'm tired.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Discretion is the better part of valor
May 12--Springfield, MO
I slept OK last night; I thought it was going to rain so I had most of the windows closed, and it got stuffy. I did wake up for a while and open the top hatch, which helped. It was also very humid.
I knew I wasn't in a hurry, so I spent most of the morning reading and on the internet and cleaning and tidying the rig (it's amazing how much clutter can accumulate in just two days in such a small space). I also walked around the RV park, and found that many (if not most) of the 20 or so rigs were at least semi-permanent. I packed up and left around 10:30, and plodded to the Dodge dealer. I was told that the part had just come in, and as soon as the engine had cooled (they opened the hood) and there was space, they'd do the work.
So I sat in the parking lot with the windows open, and it was surprisingly comfortable. It was about 78 but cloudy with a VERY brisk wind, and the temperature never got above 80 in the rig, which was just fine. They pulled just the front end into the garage, changed out the part, then someone took the rig for a test drive (while I rode in the back, which was a new experience) and revved it the hell up various hills with the diagnostic computer attached, and all was well. So I thanked them (it was under warranty, so was free!) and headed north around noon.
I know I didn't want to get too far, because there was/is a severe weather outbreak predicted for all of north Missouri. I decided not to camp tonight; we haven't gone through a thunderstorm in the rig, and I didn't want to start with a storm that might require evacuation. So I figured I could go to Springfield and stay at the Motel 6. Once I decided that, I headed for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home in Mansfield, MO.
It's a damn good thing that I stopped to get the rig fixed in West Plains, because I would never have made it much farther. Lots of hills, heavily wooded, with streams and houses--really quite a lovely area. I stopped just before Mansfield to eat (McDonalds!), since I'd had almost nothing for breakfast.
Mansfield is a little midwestern town, with a tiny downtown fixated around the Wilders (I spotted Ma and Pa's Kettle, for instance, and the Little House Motel, among others). The house itself is about a mile outside of town, and the parking lot actually had a bit of shade. I headed up the hill to the museum, which was full of really interesting memorabilia, from original drafts of the books (she wrote in longhand in pencil on tablets) to Pa's fiddle! Plus lots of information about both Laura's and Almanzo's families.
The house itself was great. Almanzo built most of it himself, when they had enough money they'd add a room. Everything was rather low, the counters and the ceilings, possibly because both of them were short (Laura was 4 foot 11 inches, and Almanzo was only 5 foot 4 inches--watching that TV show with the REALLY tall actor playing Almanzo is deceptive!). It eventually was seven rooms downstairs (including a small library, a music room, and a writing room) with a guest bedroom and Rose's loft (reached by a very steep, very narrow "ladder stairway") upstairs. It's built on the edge of a ravine, and just would be a lovely place to live.
After buying a T-shirt and a couple of postcards, I headed back to the rig. All was well with the cats so I drove to the cemetery, which is NOT labeled very well at all. My little map said it was on Lincoln Street, but I turned on Lincoln Avenue, which turned out to be the correct choice. The cemetery is right next to the middle school, and Almanzo, Laura, and Rose are all buried there with nice headstones. I then headed back to the highway.
The hills started leveling out a bit west of Mansfield, and we went through an Amish area (complete with signs showing a horse-and-buggy and saying "Share the road"), and I did pass a man in his buggy, trotting the horse down the edge of the highway (I pulled over to the other lane to give him plenty of room). The hills continued to die down; I'm not sure why Springfield says that it's part of the Ozarks, as there aren't many hills here at all--unless they've been torn down and paved over, which given what I've seen of the town so far is likely.
We then headed to the Motel 6, which is off the highway with lots of other motels. The lady at the desk was really nice, and gave me the last single room on the first floor, complete with parking for the RV across the way; It's nice to be able to see the RV from my window. Apparently other people also wanted the first floor; if we do have a tornado (which at this point seems unlikely, but who knows) we're headed into the bathroom, and should be OK. The cats were not happy to go into the large mesh kennel in the room. Nell in particular was meowing piteously, and I felt very sorry for her, until I fed her and she shut up completely. Now they're both sleeping; Nell has her whole body on the small bed in there, while Puck can only fit his front half. It'll be very interesting to see if they actually begin to curl up together, but it's not happening yet. They have water and a litter box, and seem fine.
I did laundry (might as well take advantage of being here--and I don't think I'll be needing the tank tops much for a while) and then went to Ruby Tuesday for dinner--salad bar and two "slider" hamburgers, and I'm very full. I just took a shower and I'm going to watch "Mythbusters"--this is the life! I do miss my RV, because it's mine and I'm used to the bed and like the fresh air, but we're definitely safer here--another BIG fifth-wheel trailer has pulled in front of me, and there are semi trucks without trailers everywhere--I think everyone's holing up. There are severe storms to the west and north, and I suspect we'll get hammered between midnight and tomorrow morning. Well, checkout time isn't until noon and I have plenty of books to read--I traded in three books I'd read and/or lost interest in and got two new nice light and fluffy novels just right for stormy mornings.
May 13--Nebraska City, Nebraska
I slept OK, although I did wake up at 3am to watch the weather for a while. Then I slept until 6:40am (the cats were caged and couldn't wake me up!) just in time for the severe thunderstorms. We also had a tornado warning, although the possible tornadoes all were south of where we were (yay TV stations with good radar!), so I didn't hide in the bathroom. I was VERY glad that I was in the Motel 6 and not the RV, though! It all died down around 8:30am, and I went next door to the Bob Evans and had a bit of breakfast before leaving around 9:20.
It wasn't raining, although it was cloudy for most of the day. I headed north and stopped in Osceola at the Cheese store, and tried lots of cheeses (the cheese with sausage already in it was quite tasty, although if I had bought even the smallest amount I suspect I would have gotten sick on it). I did buy some cheese curds.
I wanted to go to Butler, where the author Robert Heinlein was born, but the "major" road I took west was still quite narrow and not level and then there was a detour onto a road that was even less level and more narrow. Meanwhile, the weather had deteriorated; I saw a "shelf" cloud, which I had seen described on the Weather Channel, which means a wind shift. And they were right: as soon as I got under the cloud the wind shifted from south to north (thus blowing the rig in a different, equally difficult direction) and the temperature dropped 10 degrees almost immediately. It also began to rain lightly, which it did off and on for most of the afternoon.
I did eventually get to Butler, and I followed a sign, but never did find the house. I aborted the mission early when I found that tree limbs were rubbing the top of the RV, which can't be good. I did drive through "downtown" Butler, and found my favorite shop: a combination pet/live bait store. If you want to buy a goldfish, guppy, rat, or mouse, they don't care if it's as a pet or as a meal--it was called "Pet ur Bait". I took a picture, and will post it sometime.
I then headed north, through Kansas City, past St. Joseph. Here the land really started to flatten out; Butler had been the last of what I'd call "hilly" country, but much of I-29 here is down a river valley between two bluffs far apart. I wanted to stop at the KOA in Rock Port, but it was under renovation/construction and didn't have water. So I drove on a bit more and stopped at a campground here. Very nice, even if their definition of "level" again isn't mine. Everyone must travel with automatic levelers or something, because I had a hell of a time leveling the thing. I think it's OK now. And then I found that I had forgotten the frozen berry mix in my freezer, which had thawed and was now flowing all over the freezer. So I cleaned that up (I don't think I got any juice on my white T-shirt, which will be a miracle if true). I just fed the cats (who are grateful to not be confined in the carrier), and I'm going to eat some cheese curds and salsa and corn chips for dinner. Not very nutritious, but very tasty!
I slept OK last night; I thought it was going to rain so I had most of the windows closed, and it got stuffy. I did wake up for a while and open the top hatch, which helped. It was also very humid.
I knew I wasn't in a hurry, so I spent most of the morning reading and on the internet and cleaning and tidying the rig (it's amazing how much clutter can accumulate in just two days in such a small space). I also walked around the RV park, and found that many (if not most) of the 20 or so rigs were at least semi-permanent. I packed up and left around 10:30, and plodded to the Dodge dealer. I was told that the part had just come in, and as soon as the engine had cooled (they opened the hood) and there was space, they'd do the work.
So I sat in the parking lot with the windows open, and it was surprisingly comfortable. It was about 78 but cloudy with a VERY brisk wind, and the temperature never got above 80 in the rig, which was just fine. They pulled just the front end into the garage, changed out the part, then someone took the rig for a test drive (while I rode in the back, which was a new experience) and revved it the hell up various hills with the diagnostic computer attached, and all was well. So I thanked them (it was under warranty, so was free!) and headed north around noon.
I know I didn't want to get too far, because there was/is a severe weather outbreak predicted for all of north Missouri. I decided not to camp tonight; we haven't gone through a thunderstorm in the rig, and I didn't want to start with a storm that might require evacuation. So I figured I could go to Springfield and stay at the Motel 6. Once I decided that, I headed for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home in Mansfield, MO.
It's a damn good thing that I stopped to get the rig fixed in West Plains, because I would never have made it much farther. Lots of hills, heavily wooded, with streams and houses--really quite a lovely area. I stopped just before Mansfield to eat (McDonalds!), since I'd had almost nothing for breakfast.
Mansfield is a little midwestern town, with a tiny downtown fixated around the Wilders (I spotted Ma and Pa's Kettle, for instance, and the Little House Motel, among others). The house itself is about a mile outside of town, and the parking lot actually had a bit of shade. I headed up the hill to the museum, which was full of really interesting memorabilia, from original drafts of the books (she wrote in longhand in pencil on tablets) to Pa's fiddle! Plus lots of information about both Laura's and Almanzo's families.
The house itself was great. Almanzo built most of it himself, when they had enough money they'd add a room. Everything was rather low, the counters and the ceilings, possibly because both of them were short (Laura was 4 foot 11 inches, and Almanzo was only 5 foot 4 inches--watching that TV show with the REALLY tall actor playing Almanzo is deceptive!). It eventually was seven rooms downstairs (including a small library, a music room, and a writing room) with a guest bedroom and Rose's loft (reached by a very steep, very narrow "ladder stairway") upstairs. It's built on the edge of a ravine, and just would be a lovely place to live.
After buying a T-shirt and a couple of postcards, I headed back to the rig. All was well with the cats so I drove to the cemetery, which is NOT labeled very well at all. My little map said it was on Lincoln Street, but I turned on Lincoln Avenue, which turned out to be the correct choice. The cemetery is right next to the middle school, and Almanzo, Laura, and Rose are all buried there with nice headstones. I then headed back to the highway.
The hills started leveling out a bit west of Mansfield, and we went through an Amish area (complete with signs showing a horse-and-buggy and saying "Share the road"), and I did pass a man in his buggy, trotting the horse down the edge of the highway (I pulled over to the other lane to give him plenty of room). The hills continued to die down; I'm not sure why Springfield says that it's part of the Ozarks, as there aren't many hills here at all--unless they've been torn down and paved over, which given what I've seen of the town so far is likely.
We then headed to the Motel 6, which is off the highway with lots of other motels. The lady at the desk was really nice, and gave me the last single room on the first floor, complete with parking for the RV across the way; It's nice to be able to see the RV from my window. Apparently other people also wanted the first floor; if we do have a tornado (which at this point seems unlikely, but who knows) we're headed into the bathroom, and should be OK. The cats were not happy to go into the large mesh kennel in the room. Nell in particular was meowing piteously, and I felt very sorry for her, until I fed her and she shut up completely. Now they're both sleeping; Nell has her whole body on the small bed in there, while Puck can only fit his front half. It'll be very interesting to see if they actually begin to curl up together, but it's not happening yet. They have water and a litter box, and seem fine.
I did laundry (might as well take advantage of being here--and I don't think I'll be needing the tank tops much for a while) and then went to Ruby Tuesday for dinner--salad bar and two "slider" hamburgers, and I'm very full. I just took a shower and I'm going to watch "Mythbusters"--this is the life! I do miss my RV, because it's mine and I'm used to the bed and like the fresh air, but we're definitely safer here--another BIG fifth-wheel trailer has pulled in front of me, and there are semi trucks without trailers everywhere--I think everyone's holing up. There are severe storms to the west and north, and I suspect we'll get hammered between midnight and tomorrow morning. Well, checkout time isn't until noon and I have plenty of books to read--I traded in three books I'd read and/or lost interest in and got two new nice light and fluffy novels just right for stormy mornings.
May 13--Nebraska City, Nebraska
I slept OK, although I did wake up at 3am to watch the weather for a while. Then I slept until 6:40am (the cats were caged and couldn't wake me up!) just in time for the severe thunderstorms. We also had a tornado warning, although the possible tornadoes all were south of where we were (yay TV stations with good radar!), so I didn't hide in the bathroom. I was VERY glad that I was in the Motel 6 and not the RV, though! It all died down around 8:30am, and I went next door to the Bob Evans and had a bit of breakfast before leaving around 9:20.
It wasn't raining, although it was cloudy for most of the day. I headed north and stopped in Osceola at the Cheese store, and tried lots of cheeses (the cheese with sausage already in it was quite tasty, although if I had bought even the smallest amount I suspect I would have gotten sick on it). I did buy some cheese curds.
I wanted to go to Butler, where the author Robert Heinlein was born, but the "major" road I took west was still quite narrow and not level and then there was a detour onto a road that was even less level and more narrow. Meanwhile, the weather had deteriorated; I saw a "shelf" cloud, which I had seen described on the Weather Channel, which means a wind shift. And they were right: as soon as I got under the cloud the wind shifted from south to north (thus blowing the rig in a different, equally difficult direction) and the temperature dropped 10 degrees almost immediately. It also began to rain lightly, which it did off and on for most of the afternoon.
I did eventually get to Butler, and I followed a sign, but never did find the house. I aborted the mission early when I found that tree limbs were rubbing the top of the RV, which can't be good. I did drive through "downtown" Butler, and found my favorite shop: a combination pet/live bait store. If you want to buy a goldfish, guppy, rat, or mouse, they don't care if it's as a pet or as a meal--it was called "Pet ur Bait". I took a picture, and will post it sometime.
I then headed north, through Kansas City, past St. Joseph. Here the land really started to flatten out; Butler had been the last of what I'd call "hilly" country, but much of I-29 here is down a river valley between two bluffs far apart. I wanted to stop at the KOA in Rock Port, but it was under renovation/construction and didn't have water. So I drove on a bit more and stopped at a campground here. Very nice, even if their definition of "level" again isn't mine. Everyone must travel with automatic levelers or something, because I had a hell of a time leveling the thing. I think it's OK now. And then I found that I had forgotten the frozen berry mix in my freezer, which had thawed and was now flowing all over the freezer. So I cleaned that up (I don't think I got any juice on my white T-shirt, which will be a miracle if true). I just fed the cats (who are grateful to not be confined in the carrier), and I'm going to eat some cheese curds and salsa and corn chips for dinner. Not very nutritious, but very tasty!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Well, it could be worse.
May 11--West Plains, MO
I neglected to mention that last night, while trying to connect my electric and water, I scratched the hell out of my left shoulderblade with a corner of the panel cover. I thought it was just a welt, but I found this morning that I had broken the skin and that it looked rather nasty. Given the copious amount of dirt on the cover, and that I hadn't had a tetanus booster in 10 years, I decided to take care of that. So I packed up early (I had actually slept quite well; I didn't have the 3am wakeup I usually have) and tried to find an urgent care that I had looked up on the Internet. Which wasn't where the map said it would be, but I saw a billboard for another place and got the shot (plus a suggestion I put some Neosporin on the scrape) in about 50 minutes. And found my blood pressure, even though I was about to get a shot, was in the "high normal" range, which is pretty good for me under stress. Yay not teaching!
I got back in the RV and drove for about 40 minutes before stopping at a WalMart to get supplies (condiments, tortilla chips and salsa, a sandwich for brunch). The rig was running fine, so I headed out.
Right before I got to Memphis, we hit the Delta. Flat as a pancake, which continued through much of Arkansas. The weather was cloudy and only about 75, so quite comfortable. Until the hills came back.
The rig had been a trooper, but about 2:30 we hit the same wall: the damn thing just didn't want to go up hills. This was more of a problem than it had been yesterday, because I was on a two-lane road with little room for passing. At one point I was relatively sure that I was going to wind up not only not being able to climb the hill, but actually going backwards!
I stopped for a few minutes, to see if this would help. It did for a bit, but then not only did I lose power, but the "Check Engine" light came on. I kept on driving, mostly because I was in the middle of nowhere and I figured I probably wasn't hurting the engine too badly. While passing through West Plains I saw a Dodge dealership and stopped.
The mechanics pulled it in, did a lot of head scratching, revved the engine like crazy (I have no idea, by the way, what the cats in their carriers in the back thought of this), then said my turbo booster was bad. This is a not-uncommon thing in Dodge Sprinters, like mine; I'm just glad it decided to give out now and not, say, in the Yukon. They ordered the part, and it should be in tomorrow.
I drove the rig a couple of miles down the road to a very nice campground, even if it is just off the busy road and by a railroad track. There's a pool, which is very cold, a nice common room off the office with books, and a storm shelter right up the hill, which everyone apparently used two days ago when the tornadoes came through. We may have storms tonight; I do hope we don't need to evacuate to the shelter.
I'm going to take the rig back tomorrow; the part should be in about noon, and I'd like the engine to be nice and cold so they can transfer it right away. I'm not sure if I'll go any farther tomorrow; there is a big tornado outbreak predicted just north of here, and I'm in no hurry to get into that. I'll just play it by ear and check the storm prediction tomorrow.
But I'm well (not even a welt where the shot was--the Benadryl I took apparently worked), the rig is fine even if it can't climb hills (and I'm in the middle of the Ozarks--there are hills everywhere), and the cats are quite happy. Lots of eating, no more barfing, although Puck needs to realize he can't sharpen his claws on the carpet-covered walls above my bed. For a day that began in an emergency room and ended in a car repair center, it really could have been much worse.
I neglected to mention that last night, while trying to connect my electric and water, I scratched the hell out of my left shoulderblade with a corner of the panel cover. I thought it was just a welt, but I found this morning that I had broken the skin and that it looked rather nasty. Given the copious amount of dirt on the cover, and that I hadn't had a tetanus booster in 10 years, I decided to take care of that. So I packed up early (I had actually slept quite well; I didn't have the 3am wakeup I usually have) and tried to find an urgent care that I had looked up on the Internet. Which wasn't where the map said it would be, but I saw a billboard for another place and got the shot (plus a suggestion I put some Neosporin on the scrape) in about 50 minutes. And found my blood pressure, even though I was about to get a shot, was in the "high normal" range, which is pretty good for me under stress. Yay not teaching!
I got back in the RV and drove for about 40 minutes before stopping at a WalMart to get supplies (condiments, tortilla chips and salsa, a sandwich for brunch). The rig was running fine, so I headed out.
Right before I got to Memphis, we hit the Delta. Flat as a pancake, which continued through much of Arkansas. The weather was cloudy and only about 75, so quite comfortable. Until the hills came back.
The rig had been a trooper, but about 2:30 we hit the same wall: the damn thing just didn't want to go up hills. This was more of a problem than it had been yesterday, because I was on a two-lane road with little room for passing. At one point I was relatively sure that I was going to wind up not only not being able to climb the hill, but actually going backwards!
I stopped for a few minutes, to see if this would help. It did for a bit, but then not only did I lose power, but the "Check Engine" light came on. I kept on driving, mostly because I was in the middle of nowhere and I figured I probably wasn't hurting the engine too badly. While passing through West Plains I saw a Dodge dealership and stopped.
The mechanics pulled it in, did a lot of head scratching, revved the engine like crazy (I have no idea, by the way, what the cats in their carriers in the back thought of this), then said my turbo booster was bad. This is a not-uncommon thing in Dodge Sprinters, like mine; I'm just glad it decided to give out now and not, say, in the Yukon. They ordered the part, and it should be in tomorrow.
I drove the rig a couple of miles down the road to a very nice campground, even if it is just off the busy road and by a railroad track. There's a pool, which is very cold, a nice common room off the office with books, and a storm shelter right up the hill, which everyone apparently used two days ago when the tornadoes came through. We may have storms tonight; I do hope we don't need to evacuate to the shelter.
I'm going to take the rig back tomorrow; the part should be in about noon, and I'd like the engine to be nice and cold so they can transfer it right away. I'm not sure if I'll go any farther tomorrow; there is a big tornado outbreak predicted just north of here, and I'm in no hurry to get into that. I'll just play it by ear and check the storm prediction tomorrow.
But I'm well (not even a welt where the shot was--the Benadryl I took apparently worked), the rig is fine even if it can't climb hills (and I'm in the middle of the Ozarks--there are hills everywhere), and the cats are quite happy. Lots of eating, no more barfing, although Puck needs to realize he can't sharpen his claws on the carpet-covered walls above my bed. For a day that began in an emergency room and ended in a car repair center, it really could have been much worse.
And they're off!
May 10--Tupelo, MS
I got started a bit later than I thought; I drove the RV to my apartment last night around six, got most everything loaded (but not put away), and this morning I had to clean and finish the loading. I was up by 6am, and at work by 6:30, but I still hadn't finished and dropped the last of the stuff off at the storage unit until 9:20. So I headed north.
The RV was driving fine, but Nell decided to christen the trip by vomiting her breakfast all over the carrier. I discovered this in Dothan, when I stopped for lunch. So I moved her to Puck's pen (they got along fine), dumped the worst of the vomit off in the bushes (sorry, Dothan Taco Bell!) and got my lunch.
The weather was fine: sunny and a bit windy. However, it changed completely between Montgomery and Birmingham, which is only about 90 miles. In Montgomery it was 82 and sunny; in Birmingham it was 52 and raining. I got diesel just past Birmingham and nearly froze standing outside the rig in my tank top and shorts, but I didn't want to dig through the stuff to get a coat.
The Birmingham roads weren't too bad, by the way; there's been construction and many of the bumps have been smoothed out.
Unfortunately, I think I got a bad batch of diesel; the RV lost most of the power it has at speeds above 40 mph. We'd be cruising at 65mph down the hill, and then struggle to make it up the hill. I'm going to get new gas today, and hopefully that will fix it.
I stopped at a campground in Tupelo. It's nearly full, which is surprising to me, but I got the "only here for one night" spot right next to the pet walking area, without a picnic table or other amenities. Oh well, it's cold and damp. I got the electric hooked up, let the cats out, then had to put them back to put out the slide (I don't want to catch a cat in the slide!). They recovered fast; both ate like maniacs about an hour after we parked, and seem to be in good shape. We'll see how well they travel today.
I also unfortunately got dirt into my water tank from a dirty hose, because I'm an idiot. I'll be cleaning that out later anyway, and I do know where the filter is. Then I put everything away, watched some of the tornado destruction in Oklahoma on the cable TV, and then went to bed and slept quite well, considering. I sure did bring a lot less stuff on this trip, or else I'm just better at putting it away.
Cloudy but a bit warmer this morning; we'll see what the day brings!
I got started a bit later than I thought; I drove the RV to my apartment last night around six, got most everything loaded (but not put away), and this morning I had to clean and finish the loading. I was up by 6am, and at work by 6:30, but I still hadn't finished and dropped the last of the stuff off at the storage unit until 9:20. So I headed north.
The RV was driving fine, but Nell decided to christen the trip by vomiting her breakfast all over the carrier. I discovered this in Dothan, when I stopped for lunch. So I moved her to Puck's pen (they got along fine), dumped the worst of the vomit off in the bushes (sorry, Dothan Taco Bell!) and got my lunch.
The weather was fine: sunny and a bit windy. However, it changed completely between Montgomery and Birmingham, which is only about 90 miles. In Montgomery it was 82 and sunny; in Birmingham it was 52 and raining. I got diesel just past Birmingham and nearly froze standing outside the rig in my tank top and shorts, but I didn't want to dig through the stuff to get a coat.
The Birmingham roads weren't too bad, by the way; there's been construction and many of the bumps have been smoothed out.
Unfortunately, I think I got a bad batch of diesel; the RV lost most of the power it has at speeds above 40 mph. We'd be cruising at 65mph down the hill, and then struggle to make it up the hill. I'm going to get new gas today, and hopefully that will fix it.
I stopped at a campground in Tupelo. It's nearly full, which is surprising to me, but I got the "only here for one night" spot right next to the pet walking area, without a picnic table or other amenities. Oh well, it's cold and damp. I got the electric hooked up, let the cats out, then had to put them back to put out the slide (I don't want to catch a cat in the slide!). They recovered fast; both ate like maniacs about an hour after we parked, and seem to be in good shape. We'll see how well they travel today.
I also unfortunately got dirt into my water tank from a dirty hose, because I'm an idiot. I'll be cleaning that out later anyway, and I do know where the filter is. Then I put everything away, watched some of the tornado destruction in Oklahoma on the cable TV, and then went to bed and slept quite well, considering. I sure did bring a lot less stuff on this trip, or else I'm just better at putting it away.
Cloudy but a bit warmer this morning; we'll see what the day brings!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
April 2--Driving . . .
I woke up around 6:30am—or rather, that’s when Puck woke me up. The cats tend to let me sleep a whole half hour longer on the weekends, before they let me know that they are about to starve to death. I fed them, watched a bit of TV with Puck on my chest, got online to check my classes (dear student: you’re doing poorly because you can’t put a noun and verb together to save your life, and if you do manage that you spell at least one of them wrong), then loaded up the car, which didn’t take long. I hated to leave the cats (I always do), but I’m sure they’ll be fine.
I stopped for breakfast at McDonalds, and headed north into the fog. Not bad fog, granted, and it was actually nice to keep the sun out of my eyes. I stopped in Blountstown to buy a gallon of water, then again south of Tallahassee (I cut down on 267 to catch 98 south of Wakulla) to pee. I bought lunch east of Perry, since I decided to head over instead of taking the rest of the scenic route, which I should have done.
I got a bit lost in High Springs and then finally got to I-75 at Gainesville, ready to get away from the stoplights and speed limits of the small towns I drove through, and then I ran into traffic.
I don’t know why I didn’t think that driving through Orlando on Good Friday might be a bit heavy traffic-wise, but I ran into nasty nasty traffic between Gainesville and Ocala. Normally it’s a really busy stretch of road (I mean, everything headed west of Atlanta drains out of South Florida this way—not just Orlando but Miami and Tampa as well), but this was ridiculous. Stop-and-go with three lanes of traffic; it took about 40 minutes to go 15 miles. I escaped off as soon as I could, got gas, and headed around east of Ocala to catch the Turnpike. Well, here there wasn’t as much traffic, but there was construction. And then I went by The Villages, where I think the median age is 82 and everyone drives well under the speed limit, and basically I spent about two hours being really unhappy.
Once I hit the turnpike, all was well. The traffic moved quickly, it wasn’t too heavy, and I got through the construction/rush hour in Orlando with little problems. In the empty stretch around Yeehaw Junction (no, really, that’s the name—look it up!) I almost hit a bald eagle that was eating roadkill (well, no, I didn’t almost hit him, but he did startle me when he took off), and happily exited at Ft. Pierce.
Where I couldn’t find the Motel 6. I mean, usually, you trip over the damn things, but I turned onto the road I was supposed to, which dead-ended into the sun. I turned around, pulled into another place’s parking lot, and called the motel. I managed to dial the fax number first, then I made a mistake and got “this number has been disconnected”, which made me really cheerful, then redialed and found I was supposed to turn right onto a side road that looked more like an access road to an abandoned strip mall, but which eventually led to the Motel 6 (which was quite visible from the Interstate—just not the Turnpike).
The first room I was given looked like it had been through the war. Clean, but VERY well-used. I went back to the office to pay for WiFi, and found that they had to move me to another room, since the WiFi only works in select rooms. The good news is, this room was in much better shape, with the possible exception of the bed, which has all the support of a hammock. Luckily I have a good back!
I stopped for breakfast at McDonalds, and headed north into the fog. Not bad fog, granted, and it was actually nice to keep the sun out of my eyes. I stopped in Blountstown to buy a gallon of water, then again south of Tallahassee (I cut down on 267 to catch 98 south of Wakulla) to pee. I bought lunch east of Perry, since I decided to head over instead of taking the rest of the scenic route, which I should have done.
I got a bit lost in High Springs and then finally got to I-75 at Gainesville, ready to get away from the stoplights and speed limits of the small towns I drove through, and then I ran into traffic.
I don’t know why I didn’t think that driving through Orlando on Good Friday might be a bit heavy traffic-wise, but I ran into nasty nasty traffic between Gainesville and Ocala. Normally it’s a really busy stretch of road (I mean, everything headed west of Atlanta drains out of South Florida this way—not just Orlando but Miami and Tampa as well), but this was ridiculous. Stop-and-go with three lanes of traffic; it took about 40 minutes to go 15 miles. I escaped off as soon as I could, got gas, and headed around east of Ocala to catch the Turnpike. Well, here there wasn’t as much traffic, but there was construction. And then I went by The Villages, where I think the median age is 82 and everyone drives well under the speed limit, and basically I spent about two hours being really unhappy.
Once I hit the turnpike, all was well. The traffic moved quickly, it wasn’t too heavy, and I got through the construction/rush hour in Orlando with little problems. In the empty stretch around Yeehaw Junction (no, really, that’s the name—look it up!) I almost hit a bald eagle that was eating roadkill (well, no, I didn’t almost hit him, but he did startle me when he took off), and happily exited at Ft. Pierce.
Where I couldn’t find the Motel 6. I mean, usually, you trip over the damn things, but I turned onto the road I was supposed to, which dead-ended into the sun. I turned around, pulled into another place’s parking lot, and called the motel. I managed to dial the fax number first, then I made a mistake and got “this number has been disconnected”, which made me really cheerful, then redialed and found I was supposed to turn right onto a side road that looked more like an access road to an abandoned strip mall, but which eventually led to the Motel 6 (which was quite visible from the Interstate—just not the Turnpike).
The first room I was given looked like it had been through the war. Clean, but VERY well-used. I went back to the office to pay for WiFi, and found that they had to move me to another room, since the WiFi only works in select rooms. The good news is, this room was in much better shape, with the possible exception of the bed, which has all the support of a hammock. Luckily I have a good back!
April 3--To The Ship!
I’m on the ship!
I slept OK, although I woke up a lot. The room was remarkably quiet, given the location between the interstate and the turnpike. I woke up very early (5am my time) and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I watched Law and Order for a bit, then drove to McDonalds (stopping on the way to get some of the bug juice off my windshield—the Apalachicola National Forest is missing a lot of bugs today) for breakfast, which I ate in the room. I checked my online class one more time, then headed out.
I had decided to take the scenic route again, going through downtown Ft. Pierce and then driving down AIA to Stuart before getting back on the interstate. Downtown Ft. Pierce is very cute, although a lot of the rest of the town is pretty run-down. There was a flea/farmers/artists market, but I didn’t stop.
The island was nice, with not much traffic and a well-kept two-lane road much of the way. I didn’t see the ocean much, not because there were condos in the way (at least at first, there wasn’t) but apparently this island has a healthy dune system that I couldn’t see over! Much of the island was park, although in the middle of the park there was apparently (and I’ll have to check this) a nuclear power plant! Somehow, a barrier island off Florida isn’t quite where I’d think to put a nuke plant.
Right about the time I got impatient I got back on the interstate, but not before someone almost took me out by turning right in front of me. Luckily I was watching and got to honk my horn at her several times, which made me feel better if nothing else. Driving the Interstate was also fun; I decided at one point to just go along with traffic, which meant I was breaking the speed limit by a not insignificant amount. But since everyone else was going faster, oh well!
I turned onto 595 at Ft. Lauderdale, and realized that I could see several cruise ships from there—these suckers are big! The park-n-go place I parked at was very nice—I got picked up at my car, dropped off right at the cruise ship “gate”, and given a phone number to call when I got through customs. Not bad! Although I am parked right by a bunch of gas storage tanks—then again, if those blow, the whole area will go up, and I suspect we’ll be docking in Miami! (I don’t know why I’m so negative today, but I am—poor Mom had to listen to me make Bermuda Triangle jokes, which she didn’t appreciate at all)
After being turned around a bit (and after riding to the port with a couple that had been on at least 60 cruises, and more than 25 on Princess Cruises alone!), I got in line. Everyone had been told to arrive at 2pm, and in fact there were still lots of people leaving the ship, but it only took me about half an hour to go through security, get processed, walk on the ship, and park myself at the pool (we couldn’t get into our rooms until 1pm). I then called Mom to gloat.
A bit after one to went to my room, even though it wasn’t quite done, unpacked, and headed out with my camera to take pictures of everything, which I’ll probably post later. We’re parked along the shore in the Intercoastal Waterway, which runs from Virginia to the Keys, so there was lots of traffic, particularly since it was a lovely day—warm and breezy. There were seven cruise ships, that I could see: two Princess ships, one MSC ship, one Holland America ship, one I didn’t get to identify, us (Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas) and Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas, which is friggin’ huge. It’s the largest cruise ship, like, ever, and although I didn’t really have any good basis for comparison, I can’t argue.
After the lifeboat drill (for which I had to congregate in the lounge, without life jackets—they’re getting slack!) I headed to the bow to watch the boat traffic. There were small ships of all kinds—power, sail, little Zodiacs and huge yachts—and it was fun to watch. Then the police boats started zipping around, because it was time for everyone to leave.
I got a great view of three ships leaving, right in front of me, to head out the inlet into the ocean. Then the Oasis began drifting out a bit, but it would need to turn around, and we left first. On either side of the inlet people gather to blow horns and whistles and wave flags and everything else as we leave, which is nice of them! I suspect a lot of this was for the Oasis, and not us, but oh well! The Oasis followed us closely, and about a half-hour later pulled right beside us while a helicopter zipped around; I suspect they were filming a commercial or something, although I couldn’t tell because I was at dinner.
Ah, dinner. It turns out I’m seated at a table with six other people, all members of the same family. Given that I’m not necessarily that social anyway, it was rather like one of the circles of Hell for me (and I’m not sure it was that much better for everyone else!). I left after the dinner course, found that the same food (or much of it) was available at the buffet, and vowed that I wouldn’t go back. I suspect they won’t miss me. Besides, I’m too impatient to wait for food, and I missed all kinds out cool things outside (boats and such) by sitting inside.
After I bolted, I changed into my bathing suit and headed for the pool. The pool has a nice area for adults only, with a small pool (that is deep at one end—I suspect it’s where they do the scuba diving tests they tout here) and seats at a bar that I might commandeer to read at. There are also hot tubs that extend out over the side of the ship, so you can look all the way down to the water. I sat in one and watched the sun set over Florida (which was very far away at the time). I did go into the larger pool, although the wind is blowing like mad and I didn’t stay long—it may be a warm wind, but still. I then wandered a bit more, had a snack (since I didn’t have dessert at dinner) and then came back to the room to shower and write this.
I was thinking about going to bed, but it looks like we’re going to go THROUGH the Bahama banks, which I thought was pretty damn shallow. I love the map on the TV that tells us where we are! And yeah, we seem to be going to cut through the Bahamas, which I may have to be up on deck to see (even if it is dark). The ship is kind of shimmying now a bit, not enough to be uncomfortable, but I wonder if that’s coming from the banks? The water depth (which the TV also tells us) is all over the map, so that may not be it. We could be leaving the Gulf Stream, which might be enough for some jostling—we seemed to tilt a bit when we entered it, although since I was stuck at dinner it was hard to tell. Hmmm. At any rate, it’s been a good start!
I slept OK, although I woke up a lot. The room was remarkably quiet, given the location between the interstate and the turnpike. I woke up very early (5am my time) and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I watched Law and Order for a bit, then drove to McDonalds (stopping on the way to get some of the bug juice off my windshield—the Apalachicola National Forest is missing a lot of bugs today) for breakfast, which I ate in the room. I checked my online class one more time, then headed out.
I had decided to take the scenic route again, going through downtown Ft. Pierce and then driving down AIA to Stuart before getting back on the interstate. Downtown Ft. Pierce is very cute, although a lot of the rest of the town is pretty run-down. There was a flea/farmers/artists market, but I didn’t stop.
The island was nice, with not much traffic and a well-kept two-lane road much of the way. I didn’t see the ocean much, not because there were condos in the way (at least at first, there wasn’t) but apparently this island has a healthy dune system that I couldn’t see over! Much of the island was park, although in the middle of the park there was apparently (and I’ll have to check this) a nuclear power plant! Somehow, a barrier island off Florida isn’t quite where I’d think to put a nuke plant.
Right about the time I got impatient I got back on the interstate, but not before someone almost took me out by turning right in front of me. Luckily I was watching and got to honk my horn at her several times, which made me feel better if nothing else. Driving the Interstate was also fun; I decided at one point to just go along with traffic, which meant I was breaking the speed limit by a not insignificant amount. But since everyone else was going faster, oh well!
I turned onto 595 at Ft. Lauderdale, and realized that I could see several cruise ships from there—these suckers are big! The park-n-go place I parked at was very nice—I got picked up at my car, dropped off right at the cruise ship “gate”, and given a phone number to call when I got through customs. Not bad! Although I am parked right by a bunch of gas storage tanks—then again, if those blow, the whole area will go up, and I suspect we’ll be docking in Miami! (I don’t know why I’m so negative today, but I am—poor Mom had to listen to me make Bermuda Triangle jokes, which she didn’t appreciate at all)
After being turned around a bit (and after riding to the port with a couple that had been on at least 60 cruises, and more than 25 on Princess Cruises alone!), I got in line. Everyone had been told to arrive at 2pm, and in fact there were still lots of people leaving the ship, but it only took me about half an hour to go through security, get processed, walk on the ship, and park myself at the pool (we couldn’t get into our rooms until 1pm). I then called Mom to gloat.
A bit after one to went to my room, even though it wasn’t quite done, unpacked, and headed out with my camera to take pictures of everything, which I’ll probably post later. We’re parked along the shore in the Intercoastal Waterway, which runs from Virginia to the Keys, so there was lots of traffic, particularly since it was a lovely day—warm and breezy. There were seven cruise ships, that I could see: two Princess ships, one MSC ship, one Holland America ship, one I didn’t get to identify, us (Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas) and Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas, which is friggin’ huge. It’s the largest cruise ship, like, ever, and although I didn’t really have any good basis for comparison, I can’t argue.
After the lifeboat drill (for which I had to congregate in the lounge, without life jackets—they’re getting slack!) I headed to the bow to watch the boat traffic. There were small ships of all kinds—power, sail, little Zodiacs and huge yachts—and it was fun to watch. Then the police boats started zipping around, because it was time for everyone to leave.
I got a great view of three ships leaving, right in front of me, to head out the inlet into the ocean. Then the Oasis began drifting out a bit, but it would need to turn around, and we left first. On either side of the inlet people gather to blow horns and whistles and wave flags and everything else as we leave, which is nice of them! I suspect a lot of this was for the Oasis, and not us, but oh well! The Oasis followed us closely, and about a half-hour later pulled right beside us while a helicopter zipped around; I suspect they were filming a commercial or something, although I couldn’t tell because I was at dinner.
Ah, dinner. It turns out I’m seated at a table with six other people, all members of the same family. Given that I’m not necessarily that social anyway, it was rather like one of the circles of Hell for me (and I’m not sure it was that much better for everyone else!). I left after the dinner course, found that the same food (or much of it) was available at the buffet, and vowed that I wouldn’t go back. I suspect they won’t miss me. Besides, I’m too impatient to wait for food, and I missed all kinds out cool things outside (boats and such) by sitting inside.
After I bolted, I changed into my bathing suit and headed for the pool. The pool has a nice area for adults only, with a small pool (that is deep at one end—I suspect it’s where they do the scuba diving tests they tout here) and seats at a bar that I might commandeer to read at. There are also hot tubs that extend out over the side of the ship, so you can look all the way down to the water. I sat in one and watched the sun set over Florida (which was very far away at the time). I did go into the larger pool, although the wind is blowing like mad and I didn’t stay long—it may be a warm wind, but still. I then wandered a bit more, had a snack (since I didn’t have dessert at dinner) and then came back to the room to shower and write this.
I was thinking about going to bed, but it looks like we’re going to go THROUGH the Bahama banks, which I thought was pretty damn shallow. I love the map on the TV that tells us where we are! And yeah, we seem to be going to cut through the Bahamas, which I may have to be up on deck to see (even if it is dark). The ship is kind of shimmying now a bit, not enough to be uncomfortable, but I wonder if that’s coming from the banks? The water depth (which the TV also tells us) is all over the map, so that may not be it. We could be leaving the Gulf Stream, which might be enough for some jostling—we seemed to tilt a bit when we entered it, although since I was stuck at dinner it was hard to tell. Hmmm. At any rate, it’s been a good start!
April 4--Sea Day
Some things I’ve learned today:
1. If your bed is made up of two twin beds put together, don’t sleep in the middle. There’s a big crack there that became obvious during the night.
2. The “Adults Only” pool in Royal Caribbean isn’t actually “Adults Only”, it’s “No Unsupervised Children”, which is really quite annoying.
3. Lights on cruise ships are too bright to see the stars with any clarity. I have yet to see the Bahamas, but I did see the lights of one of the islands reflecting off clouds in the distance
4. The current crop of people on American Idol are not nearly talented enough to do cruise ship shows, which are very well done even if they are cringingly cheesy.
5. Always bring a jacket or sweater or flannel, even to the tropics; it’s been really, really windy out (between the speed of the ship and the ambient wind, the winds have been around 35-40mph since we left port, and even when it’s warm out, that’s chilling.
6. I prefer salt-water pools to fresh-water; the salt water is nicer to my skin. I’ve been drinking water like a fish but my skin is still dry.
7. The TCM feed to South America is not the same as that to the US; I’ve yet to see “Police Academy” or “Lethal Weapon” or “Fantasy Island” on my TCM. I kind of like it. And the coming-attractions commercials have writing in both Spanish and Portuguese.
Otherwise, nothing interesting (to anyone other than me, anyway). I sat outside and read, ate and read, walked around the ship to refill my water bottle, watched people try to surf the Flow Rider and pretty much fail, sat in the hot tub and swam in the pool, and didn’t get too badly sunburned. I also bought tickets for a couple of snorkeling expeditions and bought a “water safe” that’s big enough for my ID and cruise key, which makes me feel better about going snorkeling. I may also do one more snorkel, if I’m up to it; I’m going to wait to see if I burn myself to a crisp and/or get sick of snorkeling before I commit.
1. If your bed is made up of two twin beds put together, don’t sleep in the middle. There’s a big crack there that became obvious during the night.
2. The “Adults Only” pool in Royal Caribbean isn’t actually “Adults Only”, it’s “No Unsupervised Children”, which is really quite annoying.
3. Lights on cruise ships are too bright to see the stars with any clarity. I have yet to see the Bahamas, but I did see the lights of one of the islands reflecting off clouds in the distance
4. The current crop of people on American Idol are not nearly talented enough to do cruise ship shows, which are very well done even if they are cringingly cheesy.
5. Always bring a jacket or sweater or flannel, even to the tropics; it’s been really, really windy out (between the speed of the ship and the ambient wind, the winds have been around 35-40mph since we left port, and even when it’s warm out, that’s chilling.
6. I prefer salt-water pools to fresh-water; the salt water is nicer to my skin. I’ve been drinking water like a fish but my skin is still dry.
7. The TCM feed to South America is not the same as that to the US; I’ve yet to see “Police Academy” or “Lethal Weapon” or “Fantasy Island” on my TCM. I kind of like it. And the coming-attractions commercials have writing in both Spanish and Portuguese.
Otherwise, nothing interesting (to anyone other than me, anyway). I sat outside and read, ate and read, walked around the ship to refill my water bottle, watched people try to surf the Flow Rider and pretty much fail, sat in the hot tub and swam in the pool, and didn’t get too badly sunburned. I also bought tickets for a couple of snorkeling expeditions and bought a “water safe” that’s big enough for my ID and cruise key, which makes me feel better about going snorkeling. I may also do one more snorkel, if I’m up to it; I’m going to wait to see if I burn myself to a crisp and/or get sick of snorkeling before I commit.
April 7--At Sea, St. Maarten, St. Thomas
Yeah, I kind of skipped yesterday. And the day before, too—but during sea days I mostly eat, drink, read, walk around, and watch people. Not too exciting.
Yesterday I was exhausted from the snorkeling and the walking, so now it’s Wednesday noon, I just got back from shopping in St. Thomas, and I’ve about a half hour before I need to go eat so I can be do my next snorkeling adventure.
Yesterday we got to St. Maarten around eight am. I had gotten up early to eat and be ready, and to see us get into port. St. Maarten is a mountainous island; when I first got to the observation deck I saw a low mangrove island and thought that was it (it turned out to be Anguilla), until I saw the mountainous island up ahead. I thought the islands might be volcanic, but the bit of rock I saw looked very sedimentary. I guess it could be both, with ash/lava flows being laid down over centuries, but it might also have been limestone. Something else for me to look up when I get a chance.
I got off at the stroke of 8am to look for my group (which wasn’t to meet until 8:15, but you know me) and wandered around for 20 minutes until I found my group. It turns out that two groups got merged into one big one, so we all marched off to the water taxi dock to get onto the boat.
I was only a bit pushy and wound up at the front of the right-hand side of the catamaran; I thought about going into the netting, but it looked like it had a weight limit, it was full of kids, and I was happy playing figurehead where I was.
We took off (no sailing this trip) to the snorkeling place two bays over. I hopped into the water at the other end of the boat (no ladder for me!) and the water was wonderful! Just cool enough to be refreshing, and the color of the water was astonishing. Just lovely blues and greens (I still have never seen a color like that of the ocean far out at sea—a royal purple that is just mindblowing to me), although the coral underneath had been beaten to hell. There was some live coral here and there, brain coral and some softer corals, and there were some fish. I have to say, I’ve seen better around Key West, although I suspect this place gets enough traffic that it’s better to keep the crowds (who will be impressed by anything) here and keep the other pristine places more pristine. We did see a turtle, and our guide grabbed him for a closer look; he was about the size of a dinner plate, and not happy at all—when the guide turned him loose, he took off for the territories at a high rate. There were also two wrecks: one with little left other than the engine and some beams, and the other a near-complete sailboat (plus two truck chassis that somehow ended up nearby). Both were in about 15 feet of water, and I could dive down close enough to touch them (although I didn’t—I didn’t want to disturb any coral or anything). I spent more time bobbing happily in the water on my own than I did following the guide around, and I really didn’t want to get out of the boat. But I did.
Then the rum punch was handed out (I didn’t want any) and we took off for a short trip around the south coast of St. Maarten. West past the industrial bay (where the island’s diesel (I think) generator was located) to another more populated bay, around the boats anchored there (ranging from megayachts to small catamarans) and back. The guides were trying their best to be happy and get everyone singing and such, but we were a bunch of party-poopers and most didn’t go along. We didn't get near the airport--you want to see something amazing, go to YouTube and watch the videos of the planes landing at the St. Maarten airport--they literally are just feet above the beach on approach. People get knocked over by the exhaust. Not that we got that close, but still.
After we got back, I showered, grabbed a quick burger, and caught a water taxi to Philipsburg (since I didn't want to walk through the construction). I wanted to go to Marigot, on the French side (the island is peacefully divided between the Netherlands Antilles and France), and caught a very scary private van. There’s legions of these things, and you just wave them down wherever, pay your fare (I paid $2, although I think St. Martaan natives paid a dollar—everything is in American currency on the Dutch side), and hang on. I was sitting next to the driver, and saw a part of the island that I don’t think tourists necessarily see. Although, since there’s only one road, maybe they do. It’s a scrubby island, not forested or jungled or anything, and whatever was level had houses on it, in various states of disrepair.
The French side was little different, although the houses had more of a “New Orleans/Key West” vibe, and everyone spoke French and the prices were in Euros (none of which I had). The “high” point was probably when I went into a VERY small store a block off the waterfront looking for a Pepsi. I didn’t find one, but I did find some incredibly old cans of fruit cocktail that were swollen to the point of explosion. Just think, all the botulism you can ever want for 1.49 euros! I wandered a bit around the port (it was hot and people drive like maniacs—which is true all over the island), and then caught a more bus-like bus to go back, in which I believe a group of French-speaking schoolgirls kind of made fun of me a bit, since I don’t think tourists much take these things. They were talking in French, and then one started saying “Ooh, the dump, beautiful! Ooh, the Home Depot, beautiful!” I ignored them, and they stopped. Eventually. I was tempted to say something back to them in French, but I thought discretion was the better point of valor. And I thought my accent would just make them laugh more.
After I got off the van back in Phillipsburg, I tried shopping. Very hard sell, very expensive, and other then some free “sunset topazes” and two Cokes I bought nothing. Then back to the ship to watch for late-comers, where I talked to a pool attendant who was VERY unhappy that the Independence was going to be based in Southampton permanently after this trip. Between simply not being in the Caribbean anymore, and the fact that they get paid in dollars so they get to lose money on the exchange rate, people aren’t happy. I was exhausted, so I watched St. Maarten vanish into the dark (along with another island, the name of which I don’t know, but which I called Bali Hai because that’s what it looked like—I’ll have to look it up later), then ate, and then went to sleep. I didn’t sleep well, for whatever reason; I kept dreaming that the ship was really pitching and tossing and then bad dreams and oh well. Hopefully I’ll sleep better tonight.
I woke up early again this morning to St. Thomas. Not as mountainy, but otherwise it looks similar. And when I took a group taxi to Charlotte Amalie, the shopping district was very much the same. I got there before everything opened, which gave me time to find a Pepsi and an Internet café and check my mail (I had tried to check it on the ship, but between the program hanging and the huge delay, I wound up paying lots of money for almost no access—grr. ). Then I dodged barkers trying very hard to drag me into their shop and did a bit of buying—I now have ammolite earrings, a lammonite necklace, two rainbow topazes (I think), a shell and bead necklace, a pearl pendant, and a whale tail pendant (other than the first two and the last, these were free—trying to get me to buy something in their store by giving away free stuff—yeah, that’ll work), plus a headache and a hatred of barkers. I figure getting out of here for $50 isn’t bad. I am upset that they didn’t have bamboo sheets in full size, since they felt amazing. I’ll have to look online. Another taxi back, a bit more shopping, and now I’m going to get dressed, grab another hamburger, then off to snorkel again!
And now it’s later. I was a bit tired before the snorkeling, but we all trooped down the (very hot) dock and sidewalk to the catamaran. It was run by three guys in their 20’s (who all looked exactly like stereotypical California beach bums) and one older guy. We headed out, after I parked myself in roughly the same place in the boat. The wind had picked up (it seems to be calmish in the morning, blow like bloody hell around noon, die down again later in the afternoon, and then pick up again after dark—it’s done that both yesterday and today) and since they’d put both sails up we were moving right along, and I was only a bit concerned about flipping. We also had some serious swells, that hit us sideways and didn’t help my fear of the pitching. But we got to a little island off the coast just fine, and pulled into a sheltered bay (I was worried, and quite glad that I didn’t take the other tours I was considering, since both would be open to the wind and probably didn’t go well). I got to jump into the water from higher up (whee!) and saw, among other things, another shipwreck, a few fish, and a bunch of squid about a foot long that stopped when they saw me (I was wondering whether little squid ever attacked everyone), then turned purple and fled. They really did turn purple—it was cool! I didn’t want to get out of the water (again); I think in Labadee I won’t go on the snorkeling, since it’s not supposed to be that good anyway, and just float in the water like a seal. And if I burn myself to a crisp, hey, it’s the last shore day.
On the way back things weren’t nearly as windy and wavy, and I could look at the island. Lots of houses on the scrubby hills, which all cost more than I’ve made in my whole life. And I finally saw a flying fish! I’ve been looking for them while we were cruising, since last year they were jumping all over the place to get away, and haven’t seen any—maybe we’re too big, or they just don’t hang out in this water. It’s good to see one. And I also spent a lot of time staring at the water as it went by—again, I just can’t believe the color.
I got back on the ship, showered, and then headed to the top deck to look at the harbor. It had filled up with anchored sailboats, and the sun was setting and lighting up the hills and the whitewashed houses, and it’s good that I didn’t discover this place before I got cats or I’d be moving here. Oh well. It’s lovely, but too far away, like Hawaii was. When the ship pulled out, we kicked up a lot of sand, which made me wonder just how deep the water was that we were in (our draft appears to be around 90 feet, if I’m reading the marking correctly—which I may not be, because that sounds like way too much). We also got perilously close to some sailboats when we were backing up—yes, backing up to turn around like an incredibly huge bus.
And then I went to the spa. I had made an appointment for a “Happy Hour”, which included a back/shoulder rub, a facial mask, a foot massage, and a scalp massage. It was lovely, particularly the backrub, well worth the hard-product-sell that my therapist tried to do. I looked fascinated and nodded and then threw out the list after I left. It was interesting that she told me, among other things, that people with type O blood should stay away from dairy and wheat and ham (?) but that we can eat all the meat we want. That’s actually sort of what I’ve figured out myself is best for me—hmmmm.
Then I ate dinner, watched the lights of St. Thomas a bit as they receded slowly—very slowly; I don’t know how we’re going to stall getting to Puerto Rico—hell, you can practically throw a rock from St. Thomas and if the wind is right you can hit PR with it—but we’re just meandering along with about eight hours to kill and not far to go at all. Some serious swells, but luckily I don’t get motion sick. I’m trying to decide if I want to go to the Adult Dance Party or just go to sleep. It’s a tough choice.
Yesterday I was exhausted from the snorkeling and the walking, so now it’s Wednesday noon, I just got back from shopping in St. Thomas, and I’ve about a half hour before I need to go eat so I can be do my next snorkeling adventure.
Yesterday we got to St. Maarten around eight am. I had gotten up early to eat and be ready, and to see us get into port. St. Maarten is a mountainous island; when I first got to the observation deck I saw a low mangrove island and thought that was it (it turned out to be Anguilla), until I saw the mountainous island up ahead. I thought the islands might be volcanic, but the bit of rock I saw looked very sedimentary. I guess it could be both, with ash/lava flows being laid down over centuries, but it might also have been limestone. Something else for me to look up when I get a chance.
I got off at the stroke of 8am to look for my group (which wasn’t to meet until 8:15, but you know me) and wandered around for 20 minutes until I found my group. It turns out that two groups got merged into one big one, so we all marched off to the water taxi dock to get onto the boat.
I was only a bit pushy and wound up at the front of the right-hand side of the catamaran; I thought about going into the netting, but it looked like it had a weight limit, it was full of kids, and I was happy playing figurehead where I was.
We took off (no sailing this trip) to the snorkeling place two bays over. I hopped into the water at the other end of the boat (no ladder for me!) and the water was wonderful! Just cool enough to be refreshing, and the color of the water was astonishing. Just lovely blues and greens (I still have never seen a color like that of the ocean far out at sea—a royal purple that is just mindblowing to me), although the coral underneath had been beaten to hell. There was some live coral here and there, brain coral and some softer corals, and there were some fish. I have to say, I’ve seen better around Key West, although I suspect this place gets enough traffic that it’s better to keep the crowds (who will be impressed by anything) here and keep the other pristine places more pristine. We did see a turtle, and our guide grabbed him for a closer look; he was about the size of a dinner plate, and not happy at all—when the guide turned him loose, he took off for the territories at a high rate. There were also two wrecks: one with little left other than the engine and some beams, and the other a near-complete sailboat (plus two truck chassis that somehow ended up nearby). Both were in about 15 feet of water, and I could dive down close enough to touch them (although I didn’t—I didn’t want to disturb any coral or anything). I spent more time bobbing happily in the water on my own than I did following the guide around, and I really didn’t want to get out of the boat. But I did.
Then the rum punch was handed out (I didn’t want any) and we took off for a short trip around the south coast of St. Maarten. West past the industrial bay (where the island’s diesel (I think) generator was located) to another more populated bay, around the boats anchored there (ranging from megayachts to small catamarans) and back. The guides were trying their best to be happy and get everyone singing and such, but we were a bunch of party-poopers and most didn’t go along. We didn't get near the airport--you want to see something amazing, go to YouTube and watch the videos of the planes landing at the St. Maarten airport--they literally are just feet above the beach on approach. People get knocked over by the exhaust. Not that we got that close, but still.
After we got back, I showered, grabbed a quick burger, and caught a water taxi to Philipsburg (since I didn't want to walk through the construction). I wanted to go to Marigot, on the French side (the island is peacefully divided between the Netherlands Antilles and France), and caught a very scary private van. There’s legions of these things, and you just wave them down wherever, pay your fare (I paid $2, although I think St. Martaan natives paid a dollar—everything is in American currency on the Dutch side), and hang on. I was sitting next to the driver, and saw a part of the island that I don’t think tourists necessarily see. Although, since there’s only one road, maybe they do. It’s a scrubby island, not forested or jungled or anything, and whatever was level had houses on it, in various states of disrepair.
The French side was little different, although the houses had more of a “New Orleans/Key West” vibe, and everyone spoke French and the prices were in Euros (none of which I had). The “high” point was probably when I went into a VERY small store a block off the waterfront looking for a Pepsi. I didn’t find one, but I did find some incredibly old cans of fruit cocktail that were swollen to the point of explosion. Just think, all the botulism you can ever want for 1.49 euros! I wandered a bit around the port (it was hot and people drive like maniacs—which is true all over the island), and then caught a more bus-like bus to go back, in which I believe a group of French-speaking schoolgirls kind of made fun of me a bit, since I don’t think tourists much take these things. They were talking in French, and then one started saying “Ooh, the dump, beautiful! Ooh, the Home Depot, beautiful!” I ignored them, and they stopped. Eventually. I was tempted to say something back to them in French, but I thought discretion was the better point of valor. And I thought my accent would just make them laugh more.
After I got off the van back in Phillipsburg, I tried shopping. Very hard sell, very expensive, and other then some free “sunset topazes” and two Cokes I bought nothing. Then back to the ship to watch for late-comers, where I talked to a pool attendant who was VERY unhappy that the Independence was going to be based in Southampton permanently after this trip. Between simply not being in the Caribbean anymore, and the fact that they get paid in dollars so they get to lose money on the exchange rate, people aren’t happy. I was exhausted, so I watched St. Maarten vanish into the dark (along with another island, the name of which I don’t know, but which I called Bali Hai because that’s what it looked like—I’ll have to look it up later), then ate, and then went to sleep. I didn’t sleep well, for whatever reason; I kept dreaming that the ship was really pitching and tossing and then bad dreams and oh well. Hopefully I’ll sleep better tonight.
I woke up early again this morning to St. Thomas. Not as mountainy, but otherwise it looks similar. And when I took a group taxi to Charlotte Amalie, the shopping district was very much the same. I got there before everything opened, which gave me time to find a Pepsi and an Internet café and check my mail (I had tried to check it on the ship, but between the program hanging and the huge delay, I wound up paying lots of money for almost no access—grr. ). Then I dodged barkers trying very hard to drag me into their shop and did a bit of buying—I now have ammolite earrings, a lammonite necklace, two rainbow topazes (I think), a shell and bead necklace, a pearl pendant, and a whale tail pendant (other than the first two and the last, these were free—trying to get me to buy something in their store by giving away free stuff—yeah, that’ll work), plus a headache and a hatred of barkers. I figure getting out of here for $50 isn’t bad. I am upset that they didn’t have bamboo sheets in full size, since they felt amazing. I’ll have to look online. Another taxi back, a bit more shopping, and now I’m going to get dressed, grab another hamburger, then off to snorkel again!
And now it’s later. I was a bit tired before the snorkeling, but we all trooped down the (very hot) dock and sidewalk to the catamaran. It was run by three guys in their 20’s (who all looked exactly like stereotypical California beach bums) and one older guy. We headed out, after I parked myself in roughly the same place in the boat. The wind had picked up (it seems to be calmish in the morning, blow like bloody hell around noon, die down again later in the afternoon, and then pick up again after dark—it’s done that both yesterday and today) and since they’d put both sails up we were moving right along, and I was only a bit concerned about flipping. We also had some serious swells, that hit us sideways and didn’t help my fear of the pitching. But we got to a little island off the coast just fine, and pulled into a sheltered bay (I was worried, and quite glad that I didn’t take the other tours I was considering, since both would be open to the wind and probably didn’t go well). I got to jump into the water from higher up (whee!) and saw, among other things, another shipwreck, a few fish, and a bunch of squid about a foot long that stopped when they saw me (I was wondering whether little squid ever attacked everyone), then turned purple and fled. They really did turn purple—it was cool! I didn’t want to get out of the water (again); I think in Labadee I won’t go on the snorkeling, since it’s not supposed to be that good anyway, and just float in the water like a seal. And if I burn myself to a crisp, hey, it’s the last shore day.
On the way back things weren’t nearly as windy and wavy, and I could look at the island. Lots of houses on the scrubby hills, which all cost more than I’ve made in my whole life. And I finally saw a flying fish! I’ve been looking for them while we were cruising, since last year they were jumping all over the place to get away, and haven’t seen any—maybe we’re too big, or they just don’t hang out in this water. It’s good to see one. And I also spent a lot of time staring at the water as it went by—again, I just can’t believe the color.
I got back on the ship, showered, and then headed to the top deck to look at the harbor. It had filled up with anchored sailboats, and the sun was setting and lighting up the hills and the whitewashed houses, and it’s good that I didn’t discover this place before I got cats or I’d be moving here. Oh well. It’s lovely, but too far away, like Hawaii was. When the ship pulled out, we kicked up a lot of sand, which made me wonder just how deep the water was that we were in (our draft appears to be around 90 feet, if I’m reading the marking correctly—which I may not be, because that sounds like way too much). We also got perilously close to some sailboats when we were backing up—yes, backing up to turn around like an incredibly huge bus.
And then I went to the spa. I had made an appointment for a “Happy Hour”, which included a back/shoulder rub, a facial mask, a foot massage, and a scalp massage. It was lovely, particularly the backrub, well worth the hard-product-sell that my therapist tried to do. I looked fascinated and nodded and then threw out the list after I left. It was interesting that she told me, among other things, that people with type O blood should stay away from dairy and wheat and ham (?) but that we can eat all the meat we want. That’s actually sort of what I’ve figured out myself is best for me—hmmmm.
Then I ate dinner, watched the lights of St. Thomas a bit as they receded slowly—very slowly; I don’t know how we’re going to stall getting to Puerto Rico—hell, you can practically throw a rock from St. Thomas and if the wind is right you can hit PR with it—but we’re just meandering along with about eight hours to kill and not far to go at all. Some serious swells, but luckily I don’t get motion sick. I’m trying to decide if I want to go to the Adult Dance Party or just go to sleep. It’s a tough choice.
April 8--San Juan, Puerto Rico
I chose sleep. And slept until 7am, give or take—I did have some more bad dreams, but other than that, all was well.
We were already parked at San Jose by the time I got up. I ate breakfast, put suntan lotion on my arms and nose, and headed out. It was mostly cloudy, and in fact it rained (lightly) twice during the day, but I only needed to duck under an awning once when the rain got too hard. I had torn out the AAA guide’s walking map, which turned out to be well worth it, particularly since the tourist office was closed when I first got off the ship.
San Jose has more statues than any other place I’ve been, I think. I took pictures of most of them, so we’ll have to see if they come out (I did drop my camera on some concrete and buckled the case a tiny bit, but it still seems to be working).
I headed west outside the city walls, which are high and pretty imposing. I walked around underneath (well, sort of—it was above me behind the walls) the Presidential palace, and to the main gate, then up a hill past a lot of feral cats to the big Fort. I didn’t walk to the fort, because I’ve seen forts elsewhere, but I did walk over to one of the walls to see a very ornate cemetery below. I then took a short rest sitting on a building that turned out to be the first mental asylum (how appropriate!), then past the second oldest church in the Western hemisphere, then down narrow roads paved with blue glass-like bricks to the Cathedral. I had heard that Ponce de Leon was buried there, but I looked and couldn’t find it. I then wandered to the Presidential palace, which is damn big and very fortified, then to a shrine built to hopefully prevent deaths via horseracing (some guy raced his horse right off the cliff) which also housed a plaza dedicated to pigeons—I didn’t feed them, because it apparently is like something out of “The Birds”.
A lot of the buildings looked similar to those in New Orleans and Key West: built for ventilation with lots of windows/doors on all the walls (most of which were now glassed in, presumably due to air conditioning and exhaust fumes from the constant traffic). I walked to City Hall plaza and sat there for quite some time, enjoying the shade and watching people go by. I used the restroom at a Starbucks (I had to wait until someone left, since the door locked, but I did get to read the local paper while I was waiting), then headed east.
I stopped again at a plaza or two, plus another church (I went down into the crypt, but it was a bit too creepy for me so I turned and fled), then to Columbus Plaza (with a big statue of guess-who), where I bought a ocarina carved out of a caroda (spelling?) nut. I didn’t want to go back to the ship and still had a couple of hours, so I walked back to City Hall plaza and watched a couple of kids run the pigeons all over the place. Then back to the ship, where I ate and watched for the “running of the tourists”, since the captain had said that he wouldn’t wait for stragglers. I did see a couple run, but nobody at the absolute last minute. We then left and headed out past the fort (which is why the fort was put there) and headed east toward Haiti.
And this is when I saw the ice skating show. Yes, ice skating. Independence of the Seas has a tiny rink low and centered on the ship, but it’s large enough that the dozen skaters (that I think double as the dancers on days they’re not skating—one Canadian, three or four American, the rest Russian) could get up some good speed. There were a number of jumps that I would swear were triples, but they were doubles at least. And I got the answer to: what do skaters do when the ice has moved since they went up into the air: they fall down. We were rolling pretty well, and a couple of skaters wound up on their butts. They then got up and continued like nothing had happened; I suspect it’s not uncommon. A nice show with music throughout the ages, ranging from Mozart to Charlie Daniels (there was a violin/fiddle motif); my favorite was when they played “I go to Rio” from the Broadway recording of “The Boy from Oz”—gotta love Hugh Jackman singing! I wonder how much royalties he makes from this? They put another voice singing along with him to make it less obvious, but it was him! I have no idea, by the way, what they were skating on; it was cool but not cold in there. I enjoyed the show very much—more than the stage show, I think.
When I went back on deck, for the first time, really, it was hot. I don’t think it was the contrast from the ice rink; before, there was always a wind, which makes it bearable, but at times after we left the wind died down (we’re now headed the same direction as the wind, which cuts down the breeze considerably) and it felt very humid and warm. So I found a nice spot in the shade with a view of the ocean (another flying fish spotting!) until dinner, where I went back to my room, showered, and sat to write this. I’m tired again, so it’s going to be another early night. Not a bunch of fun, am I! But it is restful. And I may need it tomorrow, where I will likely burn to a crisp. I thought seriously about buying a jug of aloe, and didn’t; I may regret that.
Lots of rocking and rolling of the ship! I’m glad I don’t get motion-sick.
We were already parked at San Jose by the time I got up. I ate breakfast, put suntan lotion on my arms and nose, and headed out. It was mostly cloudy, and in fact it rained (lightly) twice during the day, but I only needed to duck under an awning once when the rain got too hard. I had torn out the AAA guide’s walking map, which turned out to be well worth it, particularly since the tourist office was closed when I first got off the ship.
San Jose has more statues than any other place I’ve been, I think. I took pictures of most of them, so we’ll have to see if they come out (I did drop my camera on some concrete and buckled the case a tiny bit, but it still seems to be working).
I headed west outside the city walls, which are high and pretty imposing. I walked around underneath (well, sort of—it was above me behind the walls) the Presidential palace, and to the main gate, then up a hill past a lot of feral cats to the big Fort. I didn’t walk to the fort, because I’ve seen forts elsewhere, but I did walk over to one of the walls to see a very ornate cemetery below. I then took a short rest sitting on a building that turned out to be the first mental asylum (how appropriate!), then past the second oldest church in the Western hemisphere, then down narrow roads paved with blue glass-like bricks to the Cathedral. I had heard that Ponce de Leon was buried there, but I looked and couldn’t find it. I then wandered to the Presidential palace, which is damn big and very fortified, then to a shrine built to hopefully prevent deaths via horseracing (some guy raced his horse right off the cliff) which also housed a plaza dedicated to pigeons—I didn’t feed them, because it apparently is like something out of “The Birds”.
A lot of the buildings looked similar to those in New Orleans and Key West: built for ventilation with lots of windows/doors on all the walls (most of which were now glassed in, presumably due to air conditioning and exhaust fumes from the constant traffic). I walked to City Hall plaza and sat there for quite some time, enjoying the shade and watching people go by. I used the restroom at a Starbucks (I had to wait until someone left, since the door locked, but I did get to read the local paper while I was waiting), then headed east.
I stopped again at a plaza or two, plus another church (I went down into the crypt, but it was a bit too creepy for me so I turned and fled), then to Columbus Plaza (with a big statue of guess-who), where I bought a ocarina carved out of a caroda (spelling?) nut. I didn’t want to go back to the ship and still had a couple of hours, so I walked back to City Hall plaza and watched a couple of kids run the pigeons all over the place. Then back to the ship, where I ate and watched for the “running of the tourists”, since the captain had said that he wouldn’t wait for stragglers. I did see a couple run, but nobody at the absolute last minute. We then left and headed out past the fort (which is why the fort was put there) and headed east toward Haiti.
And this is when I saw the ice skating show. Yes, ice skating. Independence of the Seas has a tiny rink low and centered on the ship, but it’s large enough that the dozen skaters (that I think double as the dancers on days they’re not skating—one Canadian, three or four American, the rest Russian) could get up some good speed. There were a number of jumps that I would swear were triples, but they were doubles at least. And I got the answer to: what do skaters do when the ice has moved since they went up into the air: they fall down. We were rolling pretty well, and a couple of skaters wound up on their butts. They then got up and continued like nothing had happened; I suspect it’s not uncommon. A nice show with music throughout the ages, ranging from Mozart to Charlie Daniels (there was a violin/fiddle motif); my favorite was when they played “I go to Rio” from the Broadway recording of “The Boy from Oz”—gotta love Hugh Jackman singing! I wonder how much royalties he makes from this? They put another voice singing along with him to make it less obvious, but it was him! I have no idea, by the way, what they were skating on; it was cool but not cold in there. I enjoyed the show very much—more than the stage show, I think.
When I went back on deck, for the first time, really, it was hot. I don’t think it was the contrast from the ice rink; before, there was always a wind, which makes it bearable, but at times after we left the wind died down (we’re now headed the same direction as the wind, which cuts down the breeze considerably) and it felt very humid and warm. So I found a nice spot in the shade with a view of the ocean (another flying fish spotting!) until dinner, where I went back to my room, showered, and sat to write this. I’m tired again, so it’s going to be another early night. Not a bunch of fun, am I! But it is restful. And I may need it tomorrow, where I will likely burn to a crisp. I thought seriously about buying a jug of aloe, and didn’t; I may regret that.
Lots of rocking and rolling of the ship! I’m glad I don’t get motion-sick.
April 9--Labadee, Haiti
I got up at 7am, ate quickly, and was ready to go about a half hour before the doors opened. Labadee is a small peninsula west of Cap-Haitien, and it looks like there are no roads leading to it—big mountains cutting it off. I headed to Nellie’s beach, named after a woman who used to live there who ran a trading post—there are still ruins of stone buildings standing, which are theoretically hers. The water was fairly clear and warm, and I went out and floated in about seven feet of water for at least an hour. There weren’t many fish, although two tiny fish decided I was something interesting and hung around me for a while; I think they were using me as cover. They were cute; they’d swim right up to my mask without apparent fear. They did occasionally check out other people who came near, and eventually they joined two people on a raft, who did make a much better cover. I then went snorkeling along a rock wall, and actually there was a lot more there than I thought there would be—hard and soft corals, lots of urchins, and a few fish.
After two hours in the water I got out and wandered over to the artisan area, which is full of Haitians doing a seriously hard-sell on all sorts of crafts and such. There was some neat stuff, although apparently the wood items might be full of worms, and the woven bags were incredibly rough. I did buy an anklet that was woven from an incredibly non-natural material, with a couple of beads. Then I found a hammock in the shade, read for a while, and then sort of napped. The cruise ship had set up a cookout, and I grabbed a hamburger and some pasta salad, and then went snorkeling again, at a different beach. This one was rougher, and had a zip line running over it (which was a bit disconcerting, having people zipping overhead, even if it was far up), but lots and lots of coral and urchins, and not a few fish. Some of the coral was spectacular, considering how much use this area must have from the cruise passengers. I also found some sea urchin tests, and took a small one with me, along with a little piece of dead coral (both probably illegal, but oh well).
I got tired of worrying about swimming in shallow water over coral, so I headed back over to Nellie’s beach and again spent an hour and a half or so just floating around. It was very restful, and very nice. I got back to the ship around 3:30pm, showered, and went up on deck to watch us sail off and take lots of pictures.
I also saw another show, with pretty much everyone on stage. It was nice, except for the little girl in my row who coughed until she vomited partway through, which wasn’t much fun. Now I’m continuing my party-pooper reputation by getting ready for bed at 9:45. I’m tired, I’m on vacation, and I don’t want to do all the cruise stuff. Maybe tomorrow
After two hours in the water I got out and wandered over to the artisan area, which is full of Haitians doing a seriously hard-sell on all sorts of crafts and such. There was some neat stuff, although apparently the wood items might be full of worms, and the woven bags were incredibly rough. I did buy an anklet that was woven from an incredibly non-natural material, with a couple of beads. Then I found a hammock in the shade, read for a while, and then sort of napped. The cruise ship had set up a cookout, and I grabbed a hamburger and some pasta salad, and then went snorkeling again, at a different beach. This one was rougher, and had a zip line running over it (which was a bit disconcerting, having people zipping overhead, even if it was far up), but lots and lots of coral and urchins, and not a few fish. Some of the coral was spectacular, considering how much use this area must have from the cruise passengers. I also found some sea urchin tests, and took a small one with me, along with a little piece of dead coral (both probably illegal, but oh well).
I got tired of worrying about swimming in shallow water over coral, so I headed back over to Nellie’s beach and again spent an hour and a half or so just floating around. It was very restful, and very nice. I got back to the ship around 3:30pm, showered, and went up on deck to watch us sail off and take lots of pictures.
I also saw another show, with pretty much everyone on stage. It was nice, except for the little girl in my row who coughed until she vomited partway through, which wasn’t much fun. Now I’m continuing my party-pooper reputation by getting ready for bed at 9:45. I’m tired, I’m on vacation, and I don’t want to do all the cruise stuff. Maybe tomorrow
April 10--A Quiet Day at Sea
We began by paralleling the coast of Cuba pretty closely, but late this afternoon we pointed more toward Florida. I swam in the morning, without sunscreen, although after I showered I did put some on my face. This was a good thing, because I spent about half an hour up on deck at noon watching us being overtaken by a Celebrity cruise ship, and now I’m quite toasted about the shoulders. The rest of me is OK though.
I did got on a tour through the backstage of the theatre, which was all right—it was more fun listening to the dancers and techies talk about how the shows run. I was going to play bingo, since the jackpot was around $6500, but they wanted $48 dollars for a sheet of six cards, and no way was I going to lose that much for fun, so I read for a while instead.
The sea was flat today, and there wasn’t much wind, so I did spend a lot of time on deck reading in the shade. And I began eating more realistic portions at meals—just in time to leave!
I did got on a tour through the backstage of the theatre, which was all right—it was more fun listening to the dancers and techies talk about how the shows run. I was going to play bingo, since the jackpot was around $6500, but they wanted $48 dollars for a sheet of six cards, and no way was I going to lose that much for fun, so I read for a while instead.
The sea was flat today, and there wasn’t much wind, so I did spend a lot of time on deck reading in the shade. And I began eating more realistic portions at meals—just in time to leave!
April 11--Headed Home
I woke up early this morning--really early, like 4am. I went outside to see if I could see anything, and saw the lights of South Florida up ahead--maybe Key Largo, most likely Biscayne Bay and such. I went back to my room but couldn't fall asleep, and wound up back on deck around 6am. The sun wasn't coming up yet, but the sky to the west was lit up from Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. I also saw a few other cruise ships waiting to come in, including (I think) the one that passed us yesterday in the Old Bahamas Channel off Cuba.
I ate a hearty breakfast at 6:30, when the buffet opened, then went back to watch the pilot boat come in. I didn't watch us be guided into harbor (although it probably would have been cool; there's not a lot of room in Port Everglades for these big ships), perhaps because I didn't want the trip to end. I finished packing and tidying and made sure everything was done, and then began to wait.
Those of us who were unloading our own luggage were supposed to meet at 8:30, but I got bored and went down at 8. Which was good, because I found people already lined up at the elevators to leave. I went down the stairs and walked right off the ship, walked right up to customs, said hi to the customs guy and was waved through, and called the ParknGo people. It took a while for them to get here, and I was getting hot (it was cloudy but about 76 degrees and humid--hi, South Florida!) and a bit grumpy, but all was forgiven when I got to my car.
Which was FILTHY. Dirt and pollen and sand and (probably) salt all crusted on the car so badly I could barely tell what color it was. I checked the tire pressure (which was fine), cleaned the windshield as best I could, paid the attendant, and headed out.
I got right onto 595 and then 95; very little traffic. I wanted to get past Orlando as quickly as possible, but wound up stopping at Ft. Pierce (the same place I had stayed at a week ago) when transferring from the Interstate to the Turnpike, to use the restroom, get a drink, and call Dad to tell him all was well. I then kept driving.
Very little traffic; much less than I thought there would be. I did run into a bit of a jam after joining I-75, and I immediately thought "oh damn, it's the same thing I ran into coming down!" but it turned out to be a temporary gaper delay of people looking at an accident, and then it was smooth sailing pretty much all the way home.
It took me 9 hours and 10 minutes to drive 584 miles--not bad, particularly considering the last 100 miles was non-interstate. Yeah, I kind of drove fast, but not too fast, and the car performed beautifully. I was very happy to get home, and I think the cats were happy too. Puck was fine, but Nell has some hair loss on her ears; I'm not sure if it's allergies (the pollen here is thick enough that it's forming its own clouds), or stress, or not getting the lysine I normally put in their food (for the herpes eye infection that both have--but it also works on the immune system and the skin). She seems to be better now; maybe she missed me!
All in all, a very good vacation. Although we seem to have gone from early spring to mid-summer in one week; the tree outside my window that was barely in leaf when I left is now fully fledged, and the temperatures have gone from the 60's to the 80's. So much for spring!
At this moment (although things of course change) I'm planning a trip to Alaska this summer, beginning around May 9. So stay tuned!
I ate a hearty breakfast at 6:30, when the buffet opened, then went back to watch the pilot boat come in. I didn't watch us be guided into harbor (although it probably would have been cool; there's not a lot of room in Port Everglades for these big ships), perhaps because I didn't want the trip to end. I finished packing and tidying and made sure everything was done, and then began to wait.
Those of us who were unloading our own luggage were supposed to meet at 8:30, but I got bored and went down at 8. Which was good, because I found people already lined up at the elevators to leave. I went down the stairs and walked right off the ship, walked right up to customs, said hi to the customs guy and was waved through, and called the ParknGo people. It took a while for them to get here, and I was getting hot (it was cloudy but about 76 degrees and humid--hi, South Florida!) and a bit grumpy, but all was forgiven when I got to my car.
Which was FILTHY. Dirt and pollen and sand and (probably) salt all crusted on the car so badly I could barely tell what color it was. I checked the tire pressure (which was fine), cleaned the windshield as best I could, paid the attendant, and headed out.
I got right onto 595 and then 95; very little traffic. I wanted to get past Orlando as quickly as possible, but wound up stopping at Ft. Pierce (the same place I had stayed at a week ago) when transferring from the Interstate to the Turnpike, to use the restroom, get a drink, and call Dad to tell him all was well. I then kept driving.
Very little traffic; much less than I thought there would be. I did run into a bit of a jam after joining I-75, and I immediately thought "oh damn, it's the same thing I ran into coming down!" but it turned out to be a temporary gaper delay of people looking at an accident, and then it was smooth sailing pretty much all the way home.
It took me 9 hours and 10 minutes to drive 584 miles--not bad, particularly considering the last 100 miles was non-interstate. Yeah, I kind of drove fast, but not too fast, and the car performed beautifully. I was very happy to get home, and I think the cats were happy too. Puck was fine, but Nell has some hair loss on her ears; I'm not sure if it's allergies (the pollen here is thick enough that it's forming its own clouds), or stress, or not getting the lysine I normally put in their food (for the herpes eye infection that both have--but it also works on the immune system and the skin). She seems to be better now; maybe she missed me!
All in all, a very good vacation. Although we seem to have gone from early spring to mid-summer in one week; the tree outside my window that was barely in leaf when I left is now fully fledged, and the temperatures have gone from the 60's to the 80's. So much for spring!
At this moment (although things of course change) I'm planning a trip to Alaska this summer, beginning around May 9. So stay tuned!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Battening down the hatches
The good news is, I found an apartment in a complex that I've admired since I moved here--in fact, I thought about buying there, and actually the unit I'm renting is also for sale! Hmmm.
The bad news is, we just had a tropical depression form off the coast and take aim here. It may well be a tropical storm by the time it gets here. And I won't be signing the lease to my apartment until tomorrow. So we are going to ride it out here. I'm not worried about the rain (other than it will be really loud) or the wind too much, since we're in a campground surrounded by high pines that should serve as a nice windbreak. I am a bit worried that it might spin up some waterspouts or tornadoes, but if it makes landfall east of here (which it seems to be doing) there should be a really low probability of that. I am going to be ready to evacuate to the restrooms if necessary, and also will have the car packed in case something happens to the RV, but I suspect it will be fine.
In a way, I'm in better shape than people in real houses: if we lose power, I can run lights and TV and computer off my battery and run the generator if necessary for air conditioning. My refrigerator can run off propane. If we don't get hit too hard, it should be fine. And if we do get hit hard, I'll go stay with a friend tonight. Feel free to call and say hi!
The bad news is, we just had a tropical depression form off the coast and take aim here. It may well be a tropical storm by the time it gets here. And I won't be signing the lease to my apartment until tomorrow. So we are going to ride it out here. I'm not worried about the rain (other than it will be really loud) or the wind too much, since we're in a campground surrounded by high pines that should serve as a nice windbreak. I am a bit worried that it might spin up some waterspouts or tornadoes, but if it makes landfall east of here (which it seems to be doing) there should be a really low probability of that. I am going to be ready to evacuate to the restrooms if necessary, and also will have the car packed in case something happens to the RV, but I suspect it will be fine.
In a way, I'm in better shape than people in real houses: if we lose power, I can run lights and TV and computer off my battery and run the generator if necessary for air conditioning. My refrigerator can run off propane. If we don't get hit too hard, it should be fine. And if we do get hit hard, I'll go stay with a friend tonight. Feel free to call and say hi!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
And now, we're back
August 5 Panama City Beach, FL
I kept the windows closed and the A/C on all night--except for a few minutes where I thought I'd see if it was cool enough for me to sleep comfy. It wasn't, mostly because there wasn't a hint of breeze. It's not as much fun staying in the RV when you can't have a window open; it really cuts me off from the outdoors, which is rather the point.
I woke up just before dawn, fed the cats, watched a bit of news, then headed out. I stopped at a gas station down the road a bit for diesel and to check my tires--a bit of air and I was off.
There was supposed to be storms, but I had hoped to be on the road early enough to miss most of them, and it looks like I was correct. No storms (heck, no clouds!) until I hit Florida. I stopped at Ponce de Leon for a Subway sandwich, and finished it right before I hit the rain. I had seen the rain for a while up ahead, and between Red Bay and Ebro it rained like crazy. I slowed down and took it easy (this RV handles rain beautifully), and while it looked threatening the little rest of the way, it held off.
I'm at a small RV park right off Back Beach, in a site right next to a little fishing pond. Not too shady, but pretty. I'm a bit afraid to go near the pond, since there's a resident alligator that is a bit too friendly. So I had to go shower while it was still light, because I was a bit worried I'd step on the damn thing in the dark.
After I checked in and set up (the site is mostly level, although the water from the tap tastes of dirt--and in the shower, it SMELLS of dirt--must add bottled water to the list), I walked over to the Paddock Club--um, I mean the Club--over on Beckrich--um, I mean Jackson Blvd--oh hell, whatever--and picked up my car. It was damn weird trying to drive it after a month in the RV; it felt like I was lying down, and I was too low to the ground, and the power steering was so easy to use I kept turning it with too much force and too far, and shifting took me to the entrance of the subdivision to get right. I went and filled up the tires (the front right was really low--I suspect it has a leak, but since I'm going to get new tires Real Soon Now it shouldn't matter), then got my mail and sorted through it, cashed a bunch of unexpected checks for various things at the bank, then drove a bit before coming back and parking behind my RV. A cheese omelette for dinner, and I'm set. I'm off to look at apartments tomorrow. If the severe thunderstorms we expect tonight allow--damn, can't I have a nice quiet night here before hell breaks loose?
Part of me rather wants to just find a place to park the RV and go with it, the way I had planned. Today wasn't too bad temperature-wise inside, but it was also cloudy and rainy and thus very temperate. It is nice how quickly the fresh air can get in here, but I think I need a larger more secure place if I'm going to work and not worry about the cats. That, and the condo complex I want to move into is right on the bay, is walking distance to lots of things, and is pretty damn sturdy (concrete block stands up to a lot). That, and Nell is still beating up on Puck! And when the A/C isn't running and the windows are closed, it's pretty damn airless up in the bunk. It turns out I can store the RV here for $30/month, and I may well do that.
I'll let y'all know what happens tomorrow, or until I'm settled. Thanks for reading!
I kept the windows closed and the A/C on all night--except for a few minutes where I thought I'd see if it was cool enough for me to sleep comfy. It wasn't, mostly because there wasn't a hint of breeze. It's not as much fun staying in the RV when you can't have a window open; it really cuts me off from the outdoors, which is rather the point.
I woke up just before dawn, fed the cats, watched a bit of news, then headed out. I stopped at a gas station down the road a bit for diesel and to check my tires--a bit of air and I was off.
There was supposed to be storms, but I had hoped to be on the road early enough to miss most of them, and it looks like I was correct. No storms (heck, no clouds!) until I hit Florida. I stopped at Ponce de Leon for a Subway sandwich, and finished it right before I hit the rain. I had seen the rain for a while up ahead, and between Red Bay and Ebro it rained like crazy. I slowed down and took it easy (this RV handles rain beautifully), and while it looked threatening the little rest of the way, it held off.
I'm at a small RV park right off Back Beach, in a site right next to a little fishing pond. Not too shady, but pretty. I'm a bit afraid to go near the pond, since there's a resident alligator that is a bit too friendly. So I had to go shower while it was still light, because I was a bit worried I'd step on the damn thing in the dark.
After I checked in and set up (the site is mostly level, although the water from the tap tastes of dirt--and in the shower, it SMELLS of dirt--must add bottled water to the list), I walked over to the Paddock Club--um, I mean the Club--over on Beckrich--um, I mean Jackson Blvd--oh hell, whatever--and picked up my car. It was damn weird trying to drive it after a month in the RV; it felt like I was lying down, and I was too low to the ground, and the power steering was so easy to use I kept turning it with too much force and too far, and shifting took me to the entrance of the subdivision to get right. I went and filled up the tires (the front right was really low--I suspect it has a leak, but since I'm going to get new tires Real Soon Now it shouldn't matter), then got my mail and sorted through it, cashed a bunch of unexpected checks for various things at the bank, then drove a bit before coming back and parking behind my RV. A cheese omelette for dinner, and I'm set. I'm off to look at apartments tomorrow. If the severe thunderstorms we expect tonight allow--damn, can't I have a nice quiet night here before hell breaks loose?
Part of me rather wants to just find a place to park the RV and go with it, the way I had planned. Today wasn't too bad temperature-wise inside, but it was also cloudy and rainy and thus very temperate. It is nice how quickly the fresh air can get in here, but I think I need a larger more secure place if I'm going to work and not worry about the cats. That, and the condo complex I want to move into is right on the bay, is walking distance to lots of things, and is pretty damn sturdy (concrete block stands up to a lot). That, and Nell is still beating up on Puck! And when the A/C isn't running and the windows are closed, it's pretty damn airless up in the bunk. It turns out I can store the RV here for $30/month, and I may well do that.
I'll let y'all know what happens tomorrow, or until I'm settled. Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Missed the rain (yay!)
August 4 Birmingham, AL
I went to bed relatively early and slept pretty well, particularly considering I didn't have the air conditioning on and it was fairly warm--there was a nice "cool" breeze coming in the window by my pillow, and that helped. I did wake up earlier than usual--just before dawn, around 6am EDT, and it was 75 in and 73 out.
I knew it was supposed to storm and checked the radar, and saw a nasty storm north of Louisville. I did take my time getting ready and such, but it never really got light out and about 7:45 I not only saw the storm get closer on the radar, but I heard some far-off thunder. So I put it in gear and left by 8am.
Which is good, because Louisville got pasted. Six inches of rain in a little over an hour, roads flooded, cars floating around, the whole nine yards. I don't know if anything that bad happened where I was camped, but I'm glad I got out. I do wonder--at the same time I left, a huge motorhome towing a car left also, but went north into the storm instead of south away from it; I wonder how they did?
It stayed cloudy (but no rain) until I hit the KY/TN line, and then it got hot. Really hot. By the time I hit AL, it was in the 90's. I took it easy, driving a bit slower than I needed to, to make sure the tires didn't get too hot. My van air conditioning was a trooper, keeping the temperature in the back of the RV at about 80, which was quite satisfactory, for both me and the cats.
Other than the heat, and a huge mess of traffic through Birmingham (what the bloody hell is everyone doing on the road at 2pm on a Tuesday?), it was a much better day. I'm at a former KOA just south of Birmingham, in a fairly shady spot right by the pool and store and restroom. I don't know why it's a former KOA (the A-frame shape of the office is unmistakeable, not to mention the KOA logos that all have "Good Sam" stickers inexpertly covering them), but there are sure a bunch of people here long-term. Very long term, in at least one case: it takes a while for moss to grow on an RV. Maybe the head office didn't like that? Anyway, I don't have a problem. Everyone was nice, I traded in some books I've read for new ones, I went swimming, and I have TV for the first time since Wyoming. I made an omlette for dinner (cheese and salsa), and I have yet to decide if I'm going to keep the A/C on all night. It's really loud, but it does keep everything (relatively) comfortable (83 with no humidity is better than 95 with humidity), and outside it's still 80 degrees, even though it's almost 9pm.
It looks like I'll be back in Panama City tomorrow; I have a reservation at a campground out at the beach, and hopefully I can find a place to stay before we all get driven crazy by the noise of the A/C. I think the cats will be glad to stop moving around; they don't much like the moving part, and both are stressed: Nell has been beating up on Puck for no good reason, and as soon as Puck gets out of his kennel when we're stopped for the night, he goes to his scratching post and gives it hell!
I went to bed relatively early and slept pretty well, particularly considering I didn't have the air conditioning on and it was fairly warm--there was a nice "cool" breeze coming in the window by my pillow, and that helped. I did wake up earlier than usual--just before dawn, around 6am EDT, and it was 75 in and 73 out.
I knew it was supposed to storm and checked the radar, and saw a nasty storm north of Louisville. I did take my time getting ready and such, but it never really got light out and about 7:45 I not only saw the storm get closer on the radar, but I heard some far-off thunder. So I put it in gear and left by 8am.
Which is good, because Louisville got pasted. Six inches of rain in a little over an hour, roads flooded, cars floating around, the whole nine yards. I don't know if anything that bad happened where I was camped, but I'm glad I got out. I do wonder--at the same time I left, a huge motorhome towing a car left also, but went north into the storm instead of south away from it; I wonder how they did?
It stayed cloudy (but no rain) until I hit the KY/TN line, and then it got hot. Really hot. By the time I hit AL, it was in the 90's. I took it easy, driving a bit slower than I needed to, to make sure the tires didn't get too hot. My van air conditioning was a trooper, keeping the temperature in the back of the RV at about 80, which was quite satisfactory, for both me and the cats.
Other than the heat, and a huge mess of traffic through Birmingham (what the bloody hell is everyone doing on the road at 2pm on a Tuesday?), it was a much better day. I'm at a former KOA just south of Birmingham, in a fairly shady spot right by the pool and store and restroom. I don't know why it's a former KOA (the A-frame shape of the office is unmistakeable, not to mention the KOA logos that all have "Good Sam" stickers inexpertly covering them), but there are sure a bunch of people here long-term. Very long term, in at least one case: it takes a while for moss to grow on an RV. Maybe the head office didn't like that? Anyway, I don't have a problem. Everyone was nice, I traded in some books I've read for new ones, I went swimming, and I have TV for the first time since Wyoming. I made an omlette for dinner (cheese and salsa), and I have yet to decide if I'm going to keep the A/C on all night. It's really loud, but it does keep everything (relatively) comfortable (83 with no humidity is better than 95 with humidity), and outside it's still 80 degrees, even though it's almost 9pm.
It looks like I'll be back in Panama City tomorrow; I have a reservation at a campground out at the beach, and hopefully I can find a place to stay before we all get driven crazy by the noise of the A/C. I think the cats will be glad to stop moving around; they don't much like the moving part, and both are stressed: Nell has been beating up on Puck for no good reason, and as soon as Puck gets out of his kennel when we're stopped for the night, he goes to his scratching post and gives it hell!
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