Christmas Cruise!

I woke up bright and early on Saturday, December 17, to head out to the bus station. I had decided to take the bus when it looked like Fran needed my car to come over and feed my cats, and besides I don't have to 1. drive in New Orleans, and 2. worry about my car parked in New Orleans while I'm gone. We got to the bus station in plenty of time, and I was second on the bus, right after the guy who had just been released from jail. I knew his prisoner status because there was a guard there with him until he got on the bus, which didn't really help my confidence in my safety. But he turned out to be a nice quiet guy, who was only going as far as Fort Walton Beach anyway. The bus was coming from parts east (I'm not sure if from Jacksonville or from Tampa/Miami), and was mostly full of sleeping people, so I sat right behind the driver, and had my own seat all the way to Mobile. It was mostly cloudy, so the temperature was nice, and it was neat to be able to look at the scenery rather than concentrate on driving myself. We stopped in Ft. Walton Beach and Pensacola before reaching Mobile. About the only excitement was the grumpy lady who kept looking for food near the bus stations (and was always disappointed, since these were more like shacks out by themselves than the bigger-city stations) and bitched about hoping to get back to “civilization” soon, plus the hypothetical ferret. So I was sitting with one leg down, and thought I felt something near my ankle, but discounted it. However the felon guy sitting across from me said “Hey, did you see that ferret?” I said I didn't, but the guy behind me said he did. Apparently someone had smuggled their pet ferret onto the bus, and it had gotten loose and was roaming free. I spent the rest of the ride to Mobile alternately worrying about the ferret and wondering if the bus driving would put the owner off at the side of the road when the ferret was discovered. It never was, and hence the term “hypothetical”. Besides, the driver was busy on his cell phone (!) and didn't notice us talking about the possible ferret. The Mobile bus station is not in too bad of a neighborhood, although it was still a longish walk to food unless you wanted to eat the station food (which didn't look too bad). I got off my bus and immediately got in line for my connection about 40 minutes ahead of time, which was good because this bus turned out to be completely full. I did get a window seat, and wound up sitting next to an overweight lady who had been on the bus with me from Panama City, and who with her son was going to Los Angeles. I was afraid to ask when they would get there, and was very glad it was them and not me. In fact, it was so crowded that when a bunch of soldiers wanted to get on in Gulfport, they wound up standing all the way to New Orleans. The most notable part of the ride from Mobile to New Orleans was going through Biloxi and Gulfport. Both of these towns got absolutely hammered by Katrina—we're talking 25-30 foot storm surge. I had been to Biloxi a few years ago (I took a casino bus trip, so it was cheap) and while walking around I was rather stunned by the number of “ghost driveways”. There were a lot of driveways and walkways that went off the road and went to nowhere—sometimes there was a cement slab where the house had been, and once or twice a real foundation (not many basements here due to the high water table), but often there was nothing but high grass and scrub. It was a bit eerie to see, and while there were still some of these ghost driveways present, many lots now had houses on them again—but usually well-elevated above the ground. Still, they are very exposed. Both downtowns were full of vacant lots, and signs that the water had been very high here. If it weren't for the casinos, I doubt there would be anything left of these towns. We didn't get into New Orleans until after dark, which was rather unfortunate since I was still interested in looking around. There was still quite a bit of damage apparent, with vacant lots and such. We got into the bus station, which is also the train station, pretty much on time, which was good because it is right next to the Superdome and there was a big football game going on that night, and our driver was worried that we'd get stuck in traffic. Nope. I got off the bus, put on my travel pack and started walking toward the hotel. I never felt in danger on this walk; because of the football game, there were people everywhere. I didn't have a map, but I pretty much knew where to go, and just walked. I ran into a marching band, which was playing some great music in an open area between two hotels, apparently ramping up for the game. They were the SD Aztecs, and to show you how I think, I was wondering why a band from South Dakota was calling themselves the Aztecs—it turns out they were from San Diego. They were playing a local team from Lafayette, and even though they eventually lost they had some great music. I decided to get dinner before going to the hotel, because I hadn't had lunch. Also, I wanted to eat at Mother's, which apparently has great po' boys. I got one with all of the fixins including what is called debris, which is the juice and bits and pieces left over after cooking the meat for the sandwich. It was delicious! And my hotel was just around the corner. I stayed at the Best Western St. Christopher, which was reasonably-priced, a block from the French Quarter, and was complete with original brick walls and a very fancy bathroom. I dropped off my bag and headed out to the French Quarter, to walk and watch. There wasn't much traffic on Bourbon Street, even though it was a Saturday night, probably because it was early and the football game was still going on. I suspect it got a lot more exciting later, but I was home and in bed by 9 or so. I did have a Hurricane drink, which was very strong (at least to me) and I figured I didn't have to drink any more. There was still some good people-watching, and I found that on the back of St. Louis Cathedral a statue was lit so that a huge shadow of Jesus was cast on the back of the cathedral. It was pretty cool, although since it kept reminding me of the logo for “Amadeus” it probably didn't have the same effect. I took a picture, but as usual it doesn't do it justice. Well, it turns out that my cool room at the hotel was also loud; I'm not sure if it was near the heater or what, but every now and again I'd have a machine start up rather loudly. I did have ear plugs, but I didn't put them in because I was sleeping pretty well anyway. I did wake up a few times, but I did get back to sleep pretty quickly. I woke up fairly early the next morning and went down for the free breakfast, which was really nice. I didn't get the waffles, but I did have cheese and poppy/lemon muffins, which were really tasty. I checked out afterwards, checked my bag at the front desk, and headed back out to the quarter. I wasn't sure what to do, but I had some time to kill. I walked along the river and sat on a step and watched the river go by for a while; it's not that wide, but it moves really fast. Then I walked to the Cathedral and went in, standing in the foyer because they were about ready to have a service and I didn't want to disturb them. I walked up and down streets looking at the architecture (I really like these older parts of town, and the iron balconies are great), and decided to take a cemetery tour. I had taken one before, but it was in August and all I remember is nearly passing out from the heat. This wasn't going to be a problem on this day, so I went to the Basin Street visitor's center. If Dad ever makes it to New Orleans, he has to come here: it's set up like an old-time train station, and has much of the history of trains in New Orleans. It's right next to the closest cemetery to the Quarter, and the tour was quite interesting. One new thing there was a pyramid crypt built by Nicholas Cage, who apparently really likes New Orleans, although he doesn't live here anymore. I asked the guide if anyone was buried in Nic Cage's tomb, and he found that very amusing (and the answer is no, not yet). After the tour I headed back to the hotel, grabbed my bag, and then started walking toward the cruise ship port. Or at least, I though I was walking there: I was on a sidewalk at the Riverwalk right on the river, and I figured there must be access somewhere. Nope. I had to walk all the way back, and then around on the other side of the streetcar tracks, and then found a sign saying “Cruise Ship Access ¾ mile”, and swore a bit. There were people coming out near I was standing, so I figured what the hell and walked that way, and found the pedestrian access—I'm glad I didn't trust the sign! It was about 1pm by then, and there was pretty much no line to get in. I waited a short bit of time to go through the metal detectors, but otherwise I just walked on. Foreshadowing: There were workers wiping down all of the handrails, and I had my hands sprayed twice on the way up the gangway with an alcohol solution. More about this later. By the time I got on board (avoiding all of the picture-taking that was going on—I'm not going to buy a picture of my embarkation, why have it taken?) I decided to see if my room was ready. It was! I quickly unpacked and then headed to the buffet for lunch. I wasn't really impressed with Norwegian's buffets; there didn't seem to be as much selection as I had seen in other buffets, and some of it just wasn't very good (I only tried the baked pasta once, for instance, because it was incredibly dry). But I found enough to eat anyway (not a problem—there was usually some sort of stirfry and fried rice, which I ate a lot, as well as sandwiches and hamburgers and salad, which were quite good). It was a sunny but cool and windy day, but I did manage to be on the upper deck by the time we left. The ship is parked right near the US 90 bridge, and wouldn't fit under it, so we went sideways a bit, then pivoted and headed down the river. I wish the sun had still been up, because the view would have been amazing of the Quarter and the other areas on both sides of the river. As it was, we did pass a number of what I guess were oil refineries, which were lit up to the point that they looked like the Emerald City (if the Emerald City has fire burning off waste gas). It was, however, really cold up there, between the wind coming from the south and the speed of the cruise ship, so I didn't stay too long. I did notice that there was another cruise ship (I think the Carnival Celebrity) behind us, winding down the river. My room turned out to also be noisy. It must have been above some machinery or something, because there was a constant sound like an engine (although I was too high up and too forward to be the ship's engines, I think); since it was constant I soon got used to it and it didn't affect my sleep at all. Being forward, it was also a bit bouncy with the waves, but I rather like this as well. It reminds me that I am indeed moving, and I find the moving around enjoyable. I doubt everyone did, but I'm lucky. In addition, the bed and the pillows were both quite hard, but I still slept well. The next morning I got up and had breakfast at the buffet (breakfast there was great—a couple of different kinds of eggs and potatoes and bagels and all sorts of great stuff), then decided to go swimming. The air temperature wasn't bad, but the water was a bit cold (I suspect they filled it in the northern Gulf, where the water temperature is about 75 offshore). I really liked the pool: it was small but deep, ranging from 5.5 feet to 7.5 feet. And when the ship was rolling the water swished around as well, which was fun. It was nominally adults-only, although “supervised” kids were allowed in. I suspect many of them were not impressed by the cold and the depth, and since there was a kids pool at the back of the ship that had slides and spray guns and such, and was probably warmer, kids tended to not stay long. I definitely stayed away from the hot tubs: they were constantly full of people and thus had enough chlorine in them to turn my hair green if I merely stood downwind. No thanks. After swimming I joined a trivia contest midway through, and was appointed to a team consisting of two teaching plus another guy. It turns out we won, and I feel good because it was my answer for one of the questions that caused us to have the most points (why yes, I know that Selene is the goddess of the moon—I read science fiction, after all), and we all won the wonderful prize of: two Norwegian key chain lights! I was hoping for a massage or something, but I guess that's for the evening contests, which I skipped. I spent much of the day reading, wandering around, watching people (there were quite a few deaf people on board, and I tried to understand what they were signing, but no go) and watching for flying fish (who would take off trying desperately to escape the ship, and were fun to watch). And eating, of course. I also took a nap, since I woke up early. I did go to the show that night, which was called “On Broadway!”. It wasn't bad, although one of the female singers was, to quote American Idol, a bit pitchy. I was mostly amused by the fact that, while the songs were relatively up-to-date (within the last four or five years, anyway) the backdrop featured the names of shows from 1997. And yes, not everyone would notice that, but I did. I also wondered why the only non-1997 show was “Crazy for You”, which was from like 1992. I suspect the backdrop was created for another show, and then reused. Also, the musicals picked were somewhat heavy on the already-known: Mamma Mia (Abba) and Movin' Out (Billy Joel), plus Wicked and In the Heights. It was also very, very loud, but given that as usual the average age of the audience was about 72, that made sense. The next morning, we were greeted with an announcement from the Captain that we had norovirus on board. He repeated over and over again that someone had brought it on board from New Orleans, but I have my doubts: I suspect, given the amount of cleaning at the beginning (which I'd never seen on other cruises), it was there before, but they didn't want people to realize that and be pissed about their cruise being ruined. What this meant is, we got our hands sprayed before we got into any restaurant, and also at the buffet we weren't allowed to serve ourselves at all. We had our plates and silverware handed to us, we indicated to servers what we wanted and they put it on our plates, and if we wanted salt or pepper or other condiments, servers had to give that to us as well, as the tables were bare. It was a bit of a nuisance, particularly the first day, but after that people stopped going to the buffet, probably because of fear of contagion or congestion and things got better. It turns out we also had the flu on board, which was also delightful. I do know that some people down the hall from me were sick, since I heard them talking about it, and also walked by while the on-board doctor exited and they cleaned the room. Ew. To end the suspense, I didn't get sick with anything; I credit my student-trained immune system, and my tendency to sterilize my hands at every opportunity (thanks OCD!). We docked at Costa Maya around 10am. It was created out of virtually nothing some years ago for the cruise industry, out of two small villages which are pretty much intact. There is infrastructure for a lot more (paved roads with lights and such), but so far, not much. I walked through the cruise port area, full of stores plus a huge pool (for those who don't like the cruise ship pool), out the somewhat-hidden exits, through the security gate, and then caught a taxi. Which was relatively scary; the driver spoke no English and drove like a banshee. Luckily it was a short drive and there was little/no traffic, and he dropped me off right next to the place I was going to. Majajual is about four blocks of stores/bars/restaurants on a sandy beach. I was going to the Tropicante, which I found online and had corresponded with the owner who had reserved a lounge chair under a tree for me. The place quickly filled up with tourists, both from my ship and from another (I think the same one that followed us from New Orleans). I went swimming, and found that although the water was comfortable, there wasn't really good snorkeling: too much human activity, from us swimmers to boats and whatnot. I did get to see some fish and a really impressive black sea urchin, and then just floated around the water for a while. I eventually got out and had some guacamole and a Coke for lunch, and I also got to deal with the peddlers. There were dozens of people wandering around with jewelry or food items (fried bananas seemed popular—no, I didn't try it), all trying to get people to buy stuff. The ages ranged from about 6 to who knows how elderly, and while I felt bad I didn't buy anything there either. Before going back to the ship I walked down the rest of the town, and had everyone asking me to see/buy their stuff, so it was with a bit of relief that I went back to the cruise ship port. I looked at the stores, although everything looked quite expensive. I was most impressed when I found some earrings identical to a pair I bought in Canada for like $5, but when I asked how much they were I was told $35. Um, no. I didn't even bother bargaining, since I doubted we would find common ground there. I also watched a guy create spray painted landscapes, with only a couple of bowls, some newspaper, and a hell of a lot of spray paint. They were really lovely, and it was indeed fascinating to watch him create them so quickly. At the same time there were some Mayan dancers, who were beating drums and jumping and dancing about dressed in fairly traditional costumes, and burning something sulfury at odd times. They actually didn't ask for money, which I thought was amazing, since I would have given them some; I suspect they were paid by the cruise port to create some “local color”. I did wind up buying a Green Bay Packers bracelet for Fran, as thanks for watching the cats, before I went back on board. No show that night; I ate, read, watched TV, and went to bed. The next day was Belize. We got there fairly early, but it took a long way to get to the mooring area, since most of the bay is very very shallow. There is an old river bed on the bottom of the bay, thousands of years old (most likely from the last ice age, when the water level was lower), which is deep enough to allow cruise ships to travel in it. But the river twists and turns, so we and two other ships were turning here and there and all around, following the river bed to the mooring area, which was itself pretty far away from the pier. We did have to tender, and since the water was a bit choppy it was rather interesting—although while waiting I did get to see a large manta ray jump out of the water nearby, which was cool. And the boat ride was fast and fun to the pier. Belize City is a lot like other ports: a nice tourist area at the pier itself, with lots of security to get in, and an extremely poor area right outside. I walked around the tourist traps a while (after a bit you don't even have to go to all of the stores, since you see the same stores time after time in each port), then went outside to a little market until I got tired of being hassled, and then went inside. There was a place offering unlimited internet access for $5, which beat hell out of the ship's rate, so I spent a couple of hours in there catching up. It was hot and humid and sunny outside, which meant it was perfect for snorkeling. It was still a bit choppy after the boat ride to the reef, which appeared to be the same snorkeling spot for everyone. There were some newbies on the boat who weren't too sure about this “jumping into the water” thing, so I jumped in right away and swam a bit while everyone else built up the nerve. I didn't have to, because the water was wonderful. I like jumping into deep water from high up (thanks Brookwood!), and this was fun. The snorkel guides were a bit less “mother hen” on this tour, or at least they were towards me (I'm thinking they could see that I knew what I was doing). I did my part by staying away from the shallow areas (both to protect the coral from me and me from the coral), and spent a lot of time on the edges of the group, checking out fish and coral. It was still quite choppy, but I had no problem with water in my snorkel or anything, and I got to stay far enough away from others that I only got kicked a few times (which is a hazard in a mob of snorkelers). I enjoyed swimming in the warm water, bobbing around in the waves, and the 45 minutes or so in the water went by far too fast. Then it was back on the boat, and I arranged to be one of the last on the boat, as I didn't want to get out at all. We then headed toward a “private” island for another hour of party. Well, the party got started on the boat, with some really strong (at least to me) rum punch; I had a cup and then switched to Coke. But people were having a great time and drinking a lot, so between them and the scenery I was quite entertained. This private island was a bust. It was obviously man-made, out of dredged material: this was mangrove-island area, and there is little/no sand in mangroves, but this island was made of sand studded with very old, sharp shells. There were low wood seawalls around all parts of the island but the beach (which had a seawall out past the swimming area), with a few mangroves planted here and there for decoration and/or seawall support. There were some huts, which included restrooms and a bar, plus a sand volleyball area (I hope they removed the sharp shells from that area) and a lot of lounges by the beach. I went into the water and was really disappointed: the water was murky, the bottom was actually mucky (which gave me Lake Erie flashbacks that weren't fun), and there was lots of odd debris on the bottom. Some girls near me were picking up (with their feet) all sorts of bits of wood, plus one foot-long metal spring that looked like an ad for tetanus. I floated a bit, but then got out and wandered around the island (which took no time at all, even including looking at the parrot in the tree that had all the people with cameras entranced) until we left. I suppose some people had fun; I would much rather have spent the time snorkeling by the reef. There were a few kayaks that could be borrowed, but they went fast. On the boatride back to the ship the drinking was really underway, including loud music and singing and dancing, which I mostly watched, along with looking at the water (I was hoping to see more wildlife) and wishing I was still snorkeling. At least everyone made it back on the boat under their own power; rumor has it that on occasion people have to be carried off the boat from too much rum punch. We left third (this time last to arrive, first to go), and I got to watch the other ships twist and turn on their way out before we joined them. I also discovered that up in the 12th floor observatory/bar, there were some computer screens showing the same maps and information that the captain and pilots had, which meant I got to watch and see just how deep this river was compared to the rest of the sea floor, how fast we were going, all sorts of cool stuff. And then there was Roatan. This is, quite possibly, my favorite cruise destination so far. It's a small island off the coast of Honduras, and it's much more like the Caribbean than Central America. The poverty didn't look as bad (what I saw of it, anyway), and there were hills! Mexico and Belize are both flat and scrubby/jungly where we dock, but this was a nice hilly island. Again, there was a nice cruise port (although it only fit one ship at a time—there was another ship but it had to dock farther away). I had arranged a ship's tour to Tabyana Beach, which I had heard had wonderful snorkeling right off the beach (there were snorkeling tours, but I had my own equipment and didn't need a guide). I sat in the front of the shuttle van (there is sometimes an advantage to traveling solo) and had a great view of the drive up and down and through the hills. The driver was a bit out of his mind but only a bit, and I never felt in danger on this drive. Tabyana Beach is a large beach area at the west end of the island, with lots of resorts (and probably time-shares) being built. Norwegian had a separate area for its guests, with restrooms, a couple of gift shops, a bar (which had Pepsi!), and an included lunch. Plus many many lounge chairs, which were by no means filled by the number of tourists here today. There were also people offering massages, plus a lot of peddlers with booths set up at the property line plus people wandering the water-line. I didn't feel too bad about leaving my things on a chair, since there were a number of security guards wandering around. The water was amazing. It sloped gradually out before the coral began, and thus was great for kids (there was also an inflatable mountain thing that the kids were climbing and sliding down and such). I swam out from the beach and was directed (by some guys—lifeguards?--in kayaks who patrolled) toward the pink buoy to see fish. I headed that way, although I had seen a few fish and some coral. It turns out the pink buoy marks not only where there is a neat “canyon” through the coral with a white sand bottom, extending from, say 6 to 15 feet deep, but where a really bored guy in a kayak was occasionally feeding the fish. So there were SWARMS of big fat fish lurking around here, that would approach everyone hopefully. I kept swimming out toward the ocean, and continued swimming over canyons of all sorts of coral, plus more varieties of fish (if not as many). It probably got about 25 feet deep by the time I found myself between this inner reef and the outer reef, over a sand bottom with coral cliffs rising up 10-15 feet toward the surface. The visibility was wonderful, and it was all lovely. I watched fish, dove down to see some coral closer, watched a few jellyfish swim, and generally had a wonderful time. I even dove down to say hi to a couple of scuba-divers; I should probably re-learn how to scuba dive, but I much prefer free-diving. Particularly if I lose more weight, so I sink easier. I could have stayed there all day, and with a few interruptions, I did. I was at that beach for 5.5 hours, and probably spent 4.5 hours of it in the water. I did get out long enough to eat lunch (it was basically hamburgers/hot dogs/BBQ chicken, so I had red beans and rice, along with a couple of bottles of Pepsi (No, I'm not back on the demon drink—I actually think I prefer the taste of tea with Splenda now; besides, I don't think my body likes all that straight sugar any more). I swam, snorkeled, floated, watched people, and even grabbed some floating bread that kids were trying to give to fish and swam out to the pink buoy where the fish were. Now I know why you're not supposed to feed the fish: I let loose a couple of nibbles, and not only was I swarmed, but a big parrot-fish type thing came up and BIT ME. Right on the finger with its big sharp beak. And not only did the bite hurt, but it bled. Yes, fish have teeth: I had five parallel scrapes on my left index finger, and was worried a bit about infection (it's fine). No fish rabies, either. It's the second time I've been bitten by a fish to the point of bleeding, and both involved food; you'd think I'd learn by now. I did swim out over the outer reef, and found that, like many islands, there's a sheer drop-off there. The coral vanished down into a deep blue blankness, and since I'm a bit freaked out when I can't see the bottom, I went back in to the outer part of the inner reef, which was prettier anyway. I wish I had taken pictures, but they probably wouldn't have turned out anyway. It's probably the most gorgeous snorkeling since the Grand Caymans, although Roatan has the advantage of hills! After I got back to the boat, I did some shopping at the port stores and just sat and watched the traffic go by for a while. It was such a nice day, at least until we left and the rain began. Well, it had to rain sometimes, and other than some showers in the distance at Costa Maya (which resulted in a pretty rainbow and one spectacular lightning flash after dark that lit up the sky) the weather had been great so far. Cozumel was next. This was my third trip to Cozumel, and since I didn't want to go snorkeling (I hadn't been impressed with the prior two trips) or go see Maya things, I decided to shop. The ship docked at the downtown pier, right at San Miguel. When you exit the boat here (down another long pier) there's yet another tourist area, although this one is huge and directly connected to the rest of the town. I walked down the harborfront drag, checking out the tourist traps and trying to avoid the barkers. I was looking for the Cariloha store, since I wanted a set of bamboo sheets. I found the store and bought the sheets, which as it turns out were shipped to me from the US so I didn't have to carry them home (I received them Friday, and it turns out they are defective, so I have to send them back and get another set—I hope they're worth it; they seem to be an interesting cross between cotton and satin, in that they are very light and a bit slippery like satin, but soft like cotton). I also got a free bamboo lei, which I immediately took off in a (futile) attempt to not look like a tourist. I walked around streets off the waterfront, which seemed safe enough, although given the number of bars on the windows and glass on top of cement walls, is probably not that nice at night. There were a couple of stores I went into, including a music store that was pretty neat, with handmade instruments. I then walked back to the main square and sat in the shade for a while, watching everything get set up. It was nearly lunch, but it didn't look like things were really up and running just yet. I decided to buy the few things I liked and headed back to the ship: it was hot, I was tired, things were crowded, and it looked like rain. Which it did, right after I got back on the ship (good timing!). But like most tropical showers, it just poured for a few minutes and then stopped and the sun came back out. I spent much of the rest of the afternoon sitting on the ship in the shade and reading, although I did try to get wifi access on my cell phone from the Starbucks on shore (nope, didn't work). I also enjoyed watching people scurry back to the ship right before we left, and I was envious of a bunch of people on a large boat near our ship, who were jumping off the boat and swimming around the harbor—even in the harbor the water was clear enough that the bottom (which was at least 40 feet down) was visible. The next day was spent traveling north, and it was almost amusing how the weather changed. It was warm and sunny in the morning, and I was sitting in the sun or watching flying-fish, but around 3pm the clouds came in, the wind grew chilly, the water turned from a luminescent blue to a dull gray, and we were no longer in the tropics. I'm not saying much about my activities on the ship, mostly because I didn't do much of note. I read a lot, either outside or in the library (which had comfy chairs and was relatively quiet), I ate far too much, I looked at people. I did watch a bit of the comedian's show, but he wasn't particularly funny, so I left. I guess I was really anti-social, but oh well, it was good for me. New Orleans the next morning was rainy and chilly—well, 50's is chilly when you've been in Central America. I got out early with my bag and took the streetcar to near my hotel. The French Market Inn was really quite nice: it's a converted warehouse on the outside, with lots of rooms on different levels around a central courtyard inside. I had reserved a room without a window, but was given a room with a window, probably because the only windowless rooms I saw had two beds, and I only needed one. It was a bit old and worn, but the only real complaint I would have is that the walls were really thin. I could hear conversations in the next room, and when the Bourbon Street partiers came home at 2:30am, I could hear them come in (not that they were trying to be quiet or anything). But for $60, with a nice room and my own bath in a nice area, I wasn't about to complain. I actually got to check in at 9am, so I dropped off the bag and headed out with my jacket and my umbrella to see the Quarter. And promptly slipped and fell; it turns out that my Teva sandals have no traction on wet New Orleans sidewalk utility covers. It still hurts a bit; I don't know if I sprained it or tore something, but it didn't slow me down much, except when I was walking on metal. I spent much of the day wandering around the Quarter, sitting where I could when it wasn't raining. I did take the St. Charles streetcar through the Garden district, and got to see lots of amazing houses complete with decorations, plus Loyola and Tulane University. I thought about going to the Audubon Zoo, but I wasn't sure if it was open and it was a mile walk from the streetcar line, so I decided to do that another trip. There wasn't much open on Christmas, so I wound up eating both lunch and dinner at the same restaurant, a place called Daisy Duke's. Despite the name, I had some wonderful jambalaya for lunch, and later took a shrimp po-boy back to the hotel for dinner. Both were very tasty. I did make sure that I was on the riverfront to see the ship leave. It was just huge, even in that large river. I waved. And on the way back to the hotel, I stopped to watch a swarm of birds (starlings?) who were flocking in a huge liquid-like mass through the air, spreading and grouping and flowing. It was amazing, and I watched for about 10 minutes with a bunch of others on the sidewalk until they had finished. Quite lovely. The next morning I was up early to head back to the bus station. It was a foggy morning, but at least not actively raining. It seemed a much longer walk back than it had been to get to town, but I made it in plenty of time, whereupon at the bus station I once again got right into line, even though it was an hour until the bus was to leave. It turns out I didn't need to; the bus was beginning there, and it was far from full. However, in Mobile, the bus was indeed full and I wasn't near the beginning of the line, so I wound up sitting next to a very heavy woman, which was a bit uncomfortable. I moved at Pensacola, where I had the window seat and a nice skinny guy sit next to me, and she had a mom with a baby in her lap; I only felt a little sorry for her. It rained pretty much all the way from Pensacola to Panama City, but we still got in pretty much on time. And there it is! The next trip will be in May (I think I'm going to get my condo painted during spring break rather than traveling, particularly if my shoulder is still not working right), so tune in then!

Back home again

August 4--Panama City Beach, FL

I didn't go to Shoneys; I went to Outback Steakhouse instead. I had a very nice shishkabob, plus a chicken and bacon quesadilla. Then I waddled back to the motel.

Sleeping didn't go well, because there was a lot of activity outside. I don't know if it was prostitution or drugs or something innocuous, but there were people talking and knocking on a door and the door opening and closing all night. Combine that with the air conditioning apparently going out for a bit and the cats escaping and going under the bed, I didn't sleep well.

We headed out about 6:15, when it was 82 outside (and 87 in the rig). I stopped to get diesel, and then stopped at McDonalds, where I let the cats out in the RV (they could use the exercise) and I got breakfast and ate it while the cats ran around. Then I began to drive to Panama City.

I took my time, because it was only a few hours and I didn't want to be too early to the campground. The weather was OK; rather sunny and hot, reaching the low 90's by the time I got to PCB.

I'm in the same campground I stayed in last summer. There's a bit of shade, but I'm hoping it's cloudy while I'm here (I may be renting an apartment tomorrow and hopefully will move in (at least to sleep) on Friday). I met with Fran to get my car and had lunch, then I visited four or five apartment places, checked in at work, bought cat food and a sandwich for me, and then looked at the new library.

Now I'm relaxing, enjoying not having to drive far anymore. And I have a new trip to think about: my mother and I are taking a cruise to the other Panama City over Thanksgiving! We're going to take an excursion to go through the canal, which ought to be great. I'm looking forward to snokeling as well, and having a room with a balcony. I'm sure I'll update this blog more then!

Thanks for reading.

SMOG!

August 3--Montgomery, AL

I slept OK last night; I kept waking up to make sure I didn't oversleep. Well, I didn't; I was up at 5:30 eastern time and out by 6:45 (subtract an hour for Central time, where I am now). I filled up with diesel, bought some McDonalds breakfast burritos and a sweet tea, and headed out.

Lots and lots of hills, for most of the day (until after Birmingham, really). It wasn't too hot for the first hour or so, and actually it was rather foggy. I did notice that my gas mileage was rather bad--I blame the hills. I stopped right over the Tennessee border to fill up, and kept going (after turning on the air conditioner, since it was 84 or so by then--8am local time!).

Nashville was rather smoggy, although the construction/traffic wasn't too bad. The temperature really ramped up when I crossed into Alabama, leading support to my idea that Alabama is a suburb of hell. We hit the 90's in Decatur, and by the time we got to Birmingham it was flirting with 100. I hate driving through Birmingham, between the traffic and the lousy roads, and this was no different. But we made it! I did lose a couple of years of life when some cars that had apparently had a bit of a fender-bender were stopped in the middle of the road, including my lane, and others were dodging around them and I slammed on my brakes and still don't know why I didn't get hit by someone driving like a maniac, since everyone drove like that all the time. But I'm feeling much better now!

I was going to stop in Birmingham, but decided to keep going to Montgomery; it's only about an hour and 15 minutes longer, and it had a pool. So I kept going, and got to the Motel 6 around 1:45pm. I'm in a handicapper room, which was the only single on the first floor. I got the cats unloaded, but not before the temperature in the RV reached 92; I shudder to think what the temperature must be now, but since I forgot to get clothes for tomorrow, I may find out soon. And I might need my umbrella as a parasol to go for dinner!

The room is nice, with a wooden floor, although when I let the cats out Nell discovered that she could indeed get under the bed, so I lifted the bed up to try to get her out, and nearly cut Puck in half when I lowered it, so after a few more misadventures they're both back in the kennel. Nell is meowing, most likely because she's hungry (too bad, so am I), and I suspect Puck is just glad he's not in that hot RV and/or cut in half.

I just went out to try the pool, but 1. it's somewhat dirty-looking, and 2. when I put my feet in I found out that the pool is about 95 degrees, and the water almost feels a bit slimy. So no pool for me. Which is probably good, because the sun is strong enough to reduce me to ashes in a very short period of time (and I'm not even a vampire!). It'd be nice if we got a thunderstorm and cooled off a bit, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm planning, when it gets cooler or I get hungrier, to walk to the Shoney's across the street. Yay Shoneys!

Only about four and a half hours to Panama City, and the weather there looks normal, which is damn hot enough--highs 90, lows 78 or so. If it doesn't get much hotter than that, we'll be fine until I can get an apartment (hopefully by this weekend).

I guess I slept well . . .

august 2--Shepherdsville, KY

. . . because sometime last night some guy decided to take a header out of the fourth floor window and smash into the sidewalk a few rooms down from mine. I headed out that way to get to the RV and saw all the broken glass and the dried red areas, and thought maybe someone had dropped wine and/or soda with a pizza or something. The broken window was then pointed out to me, and I was told the lovely story. You'd think the Motel 6 would block off that door, or that the police would, or that someone would have cleaned up the gore and broken glass, but no. Rumor has it he didn't survive. I shouldn't wonder, given it was the fourth floor and, from the glass break pattern, he went through head-first.

Eesh. The day got better. It almost had to. I checked my tires (all well), loaded up the kitties (after moving the RV so I didn't have to walk through the debris) and headed out. I got to Port Huron in about an hour and 15 minutes, and spent 40 minutes waiting to get through customs. Grrr. And then I got Mr. Wonder-Customs-Guy, who I think was trying to trip me up from my prior stories--he stated that "you have a pet" and I confirmed two cats. He asked me why I stopped in London, and I told him about the show (I should have showed him the program). He finished by asking me what year was my vehicle; I told him. I suspect he looked up my license plate to play 20 questions to see if I was Al-Qaeda or something. Given all that, he didn't bother looking through my rig, which everyone else has done.

The interstates in lower Michigan are awful. Horrible, bumpy, terrible. Even with all the construction, they stay horrible. Things improved when I reached Ohio, and got diesel and lunch (and let the cats out a bit--I told them it was going to be a long day, but I don't think they believed me). Then more driving.

I also hate I-75 in general. Whether you're in Michigan or Ohio or Kentucky (or Florida, for that matter), it's heavy traffic and wall-to-wall semi trucks. And every time a semi overtakes me I get pushed all around the road, which freaks me out, since I feel like I'm either going to be pushed into another semi on my other side or into a wall or something. I'm also a bit leery, since I almost got sideswiped by a semi in Canada, so I wasn't happy. Every city had construction: Detroit, Toledo, Dayton, Cincinnati, Louisville. And around Dayton it got above 90 degrees. The high was 97 here in Louisville, right before I stopped.

The Motel 6 here is old and tired, but clean. I got a room right on the end with a lovely efficient air conditioner, although I had to go talk to the desk to have them turn my water on (there's renovation here in the bathrooms, and apparently after they finished mine they forgot to turn the water on). I also can't let the cats out, because the bed is old and they can get up into the box spring and Nell, for one, will. I think tomorrow I'll take them out early to the rig and feed them there and let them stretch their legs. It's the real problem with going to motels with cats: they're often penned up in the fabric kennel, which is rather small. But I don't want to camp when it's 93 degrees in the shade. Oh well.

Onward south tomorrow!

And now it's over

No, nothing bad has happened, but I've thought of seeing "The Tempest" as the end of the summer vacation, and it really feels like it. Dammit.

The show was fantastic. I didn't sleep too well last night (I don't know why, but I've not been too successful sleeping in motels this trip), and I was out the door by 8:45 or so. I followed the GPS instructions to Stratford without incident (44 miles).

It turns out I was right, and there are nice shaded spots along the river--I'll remember that for next time (if there is a next time, although after looking at next season I'm tempted to spend more time here--or maybe volunteer!). I walked around Stratford, which has lots of older brick houses of two and a half stories that are just lovely. Also an old-fashioned downtown, and the park next to the river is beautiful--grass and trees and benches everywhere so you can look at the swans and ducks (very few geese, and no Canada geese, which seems odd). It appears to be the tradition to pack a big picnic lunch, eat it at this park, then go see a show. It even looks a little like Stratford-upon-Avon, although there's not nearly as much river current here, and instead of rowboats they rent pedal-boats.

The Festival theatre is huge, with a big thrust stage. I was in the orchestra, fifth row, all the way over on the side, but I could see most everything. The show was great, and Christopher Plummer is a god. But I kind of knew that before.

Due to my seat location, I got out and got to my car before most people had left the building. I know this because I had to drive through a bunch of people on the way out who needed to realize that while they had numbers, it's best to get out of the way of a 10,000-lb RV. I just went slowly and let them part around me, and got out before the worst of the traffic began. I do think some theatre-goers caught up with me on the way home, though, because there was a lot more traffic and I got passed a couple of times like I was standing still.

It's probably good that I got this room, as it is indeed hot out--84 with humidity to match. Not as hot as it is down south; I'm not looking forward to going back, for any number of reasons. Ah well. The next three days are long drives, and probably staying at motels due to the heat. I'll try to keep updated, but if you want to say hi remember that my phone will be working once I cross the border (about 10am tomorrow, I'd say).

And the award for worst showers goes to . . .

Toronto-West KOA!

Seriously, the showers frighten me. I was wondering yesterday whether taking a shower would leave me dirtier than I was before. Just ew. Hair, dirt, bugs, clogged drains, just awful.

The other thing about this campground is, they have firepits that, if the campground is full, burn about five feet away from other RVs. That's too close. The sites here are just crammed in. Luckily it hasn't been full, and I'm leaving today for a motel, where I can stash the cats while going to Stratford without worry.

I did enjoy the local harness-racing track. I watched some races, which were interesting, and did a bit of slot machine gambling, where I actually came out ahead. I also had a salad yesterday at the only walkable restaurant (other than the casino); I'm not sure my system knows what to do with healthy food!

The weather has been very nice: sunny but not too warm. It's only about 51 degrees this morning, and I had to use the blanket; the next time I need a blanket will probably be November, if we're lucky. It's been 94 with a heat index of 108 in Panama City; do I really need to go back?

Nice, though noisy

July 29--Campbellton, ON

It was fairly restful at Perry Sound, although I was grumpy for some of it. I mostly sat around and read, which was nice, although the weather didn't necessarily cooperate. It was hot on Tuesday, and I walked to the nearby boat launch and waded a bit (carefully, since there was lots of fishing going on), and then through the woods to a local trail that might have been neat except for all the ATV's on it; the campground was full of ATVs and motorbikes and such.

Wednesday it rained. Everything got muddy, and I mostly stayed inside. Internet access was erratic at best, so I again did reading and sorting things on my computer and such.

I've not been sleeping well. I've been having problems falling asleep (which may be due to the napping I've been doing), and waking up in the middle of the night. It's not that I'm obsessing about things, like I normally do when I have this type of insomnia, so I'm not sure what it is. Too many carbs, probably. I'm going to have to cut down on them, I think.

I got up this morning and walked over to the WiFi antenna to get online to check e-mail and such (I get very little access from my campsite). I took my time getting ready, dumped the tanks, and headed out a little before 10am. Lots of construction on the 400, as well as lots of traffic. I wish I could have looked at the scenery more; there were lots of those little human rock figures (inukshuks) that were the symbol of the Vancouver Olympics on all the exposed rocks, and there was a lot of exposed rock.

I stopped south of Barrie to get diesel (full serve, which was the only thing available, but at least my hands aren't smelly!) and McDonalds, and then more to the south. Traffic picked up considerably, and I could eventually see the CN tower in the distance. I turned east well before we got downtown, and things were crazy--roads everywhere, people cutting across traffic going 70 mpg, just crazy. I plodded on, and managed to get through it without too much cussing. I am glad I'm not coming into town, as that was backed up for miles.

I'm in a KOA that bills itself as "Toronto West", but we're in the back of beyond, really. True to the nature of most KOAs, the 401 Interstate is running right by this place, and I'm trying to pretend the sound of the traffic is a river or something. I was allowed to pick my own spot, and I have a nice semi-level semi-shaded campsite. It took me several tries to find it, but we're here! I chatted a bit with another View driver, and wound up lending him my instruction book, as he left his at home and has had some interesting experiences. I also went swimming--thank god there's trees in between the pool and the highway. All the pools here are interesting: they don't seem to be lined with concrete, but simply have a sturdy rubber/plastic liner over what seems to be packed dirt (it's uneven and wrinkled). One would think that they'd put in something more permanent, but maybe the weather would do it in.

So I'm sitting here enjoying both the sun and the cool breeze, reading a book and drinking ice tea. I may go to the nearby harness racing track tonight to watch the racing and/or play the slots, but I think I'll wait until tomorrow. There's also a restaurant; I plan to eat lunch there tomorrow, since I've already eaten out once today and I need to finish the perishables before Saturday, when we're staying at a motel (to give me a safe place to leave the cats while I drive to Stratford and see the play).

Ooh, a trampoline!

July 27--Parry Sound, ON

Woke up yesterday morning early as usual (Puck). Fed the cats, ate some cheese pastry I'd bought at WalMart, and decided not to dump before heading east and south. I got out of the campground (nice, but not shady) by 8:30 or so, to head down the highway. I filled up the tank (98 cents a liter!) then headed out.

The one disadvantage to driving the TransCan from the Soo to Sudbury is how little of Lake Huron you actually see. For the most part, you're a few miles inland, and can only glimpse a bit of lake here and there when going through towns. Still, the drive was lovely; the sun was out and it wasn't too hot (yet), the wind was behind me, and the traffic wasn't too bad (and when it was, on two-lane highways Canada very politely puts passing-areas every few miles, for those in a big hurry). The other nice thing was, I could actually drive the speed limit! I don't like to push the rig more than 60, maybe 65 mph, and that's about what the speed limit was.

I stopped at a little town called Espaniola for lunch (Wendy's) and to give the cats a bit of a break outside of their carriers. It took me a bit of time, but I managed to find a spot--quite the happening spot at noon. We were in full sun, and it was getting warm, but with the windows open it was OK.

Past Sudbury and south, the landscape changed dramatically. The tall forests and farmer's fields of before changed to scrub forest. I thought maybe it was due to mining stunting the trees, but rock became more and more predominant, and I figured we were on the Canadian Shield. Turns out I was right. Lots of rock (including by roadsides, often festooned with piles of rock and graffiti--my favorite was "Thelma and Louise 2007"), small trees, and wetland (probably the water can't seep away through the rock). Also lots of construction, which was a pain. Particularly to my GPS, which couldn't figure out why I was driving NEXT to the actual road--well, because there's a new actual road?

The campground here is OK. WiFi signal here is limited (if too many people are using it, I can't), it's a bit dusty (the KOA people had to go yell at some guy running his ATV around on the dirt roads for churning up dust), and I don't get TV or even a good radio signal, so I'm a bit cut off. But it's shady, the pool is cool (if crowded), there's a trampoline I'm going to try later, some trails to walk, and a Tim Hortons in walking distance, if I get hungry and desperate. Not too bad.

I'm here for three days, which will be nice resting and reading and such. Hopefully. Sun and heat today, rain tomorrow, and better Thursday for travel. If only the cats don't drive me nuts--Puck is being particularly ornery. I need to play with him, and comb both of them, and give them more hairball treats. Maybe later.

Staying in Canada for a bit

July 23--Pancake Bay, ON

I got up early yesterday--it was foggy and cool, which was nice. I checked the tires and all were well, and then did laundry. I was in no hurry to go, since I couldn't check in to the campground until after two, so I finished all the chapters I had to read (yay money while on vacation!), and left around 11:30.

I got on the truck route, so I wouldn't have to go through downtown, and wound up by the WalMart again. I needed some groceries, but decided to go to a market instead. I got some turkey, some chip dip, and more of the hairball treats! I then went to Arby's for lunch (eh) and headed north.

The bridge was rather like the old bridge in Charleston: two big humps for the ships to go under, two lanes of traffic. And there was construction, which was quite exciting (nothing like stopping on the top of a tall bridge!) The construction continued through much of town, although there were enough signs that I didn't get lost.

After we ran out of town, it was pretty much wilderness (or darn close). Up some big hills, which pissed off the people behind me (suck it up, dudes, I'm going the speed limit). Lots of "moose crossing" signs, but no moose. I also passed the midpoint of the TransCanada, which amazed me; I don't think about just how far east the road goes. Pretty damn far, if this is the midpoint. Up into Newfoundland and everything. It's weird when I think that I'm only a bit west of Temperance (and much farther north) and yet it's the midpoint of a transcontinental road.

Pancake Bay Provincial Park is a relatively narrow strip between the highway and the lake. I pulled in and talked to some poor guy who sits out front (under an umbrella) and gets to talk to everyone arriving. He asked if I had firewood--no. Then he asked if I had a pet--I said I had two cats. He looked puzzled and said "Um, we don't have a cat policy, so I guess they're OK". I reassured him that they don't leave the RV, and headed to the office to get my official paperwork.

My spot is indeed the equivalent of the one at Kalaloch, except I don't have any view at all. I also am not next to the dumpsters, so that's something. I'm supposed to have electric, but I found that my cord isn't long enough to reach the outlet, so I'm boondocking it. Other than not being able to use my microwave (and being careful about things like computers and the radio), it's fine.

There is indeed a long narrow beach, and it was full of bathers (well, full enough). I walked a bit, and then put my feet in the water which felt really good. So I went back to the RV, put on my bathing suit and went swimming! No, I didn't stay in long, but I did get in all the way, and even swam underwater a bit. It was quite refreshing, and felt good after the rather hot drive. I will say that when I got out, I was cold for a couple of hours--it's how I used to stay cool in Missoula without air conditioning: go swimming in the river, get cold, warm up gradually. I eventually went for a walk to warm up.

The spots are rather far apart, which is nice (nobody is directly across from me, and those on either side are screened by trees). The traffic on the TransCanada is quite loud, and I'm surprised that some people who are here for the season are right on the road by me. I mean, if you're going to be camping somewhere for the summer, don't you want it a bit quieter than a busy highway? I guess not. There are seasonal spots that are closer to the water (and away from the road), which would be better.

I slept well, despite the noise (and that there was little breeze so the RV didn't cool down much). Puck woke me up, I fed them, ate a sandwich, read a bit, and then napped for two hours (which apparently included some serious snoring, since I included it in my dreams!). After this, I tried to call home a couple of times, but kept getting busy signals, so I'll try later.

There's a big tourist trap just down the road a mile or so, so I walked there today. It was still cloudy and cool and drizzly, so not a bad walk. I did have to walk in the gravel next to the TransCanada, which was a bit disconcerting when huge trucks went by. The tourist trap itself was a bit disappointing; I was hoping for a restaurant, but only a grocery, a wood-carving place, and an Indian trinket/leather/fur place (which included wolf pelts, which made me nauseous). I lurked a bit, bought an iced tea, a beef stick, and an ice-cream sandwich for lunch (I really wanted something else, but there was nothing), then walked back.

So now I'm in the RV, resting a bit before walking more, I think. It's not quite warm enough to go swimming, although it's gotten warmer and it's VERY humid, so I might walk along the beach or something. Exercise is good!

July 25--Sault Ste. Marie, ON

I don't think I did much of note on Friday. I did go to the movie they showed at the ampitheatre, which was a quick history of Lake Superior since the Europeans showed up, and would have been much more interesting if 1. I could have seen it better (it was still quite light) and 2. the kids would have shut up. People brought their kids, who got bored (can't blame them, really, particularly the smaller ones) and talked or ran about or whatever.

Yesterday I decided to do the 3.5km nature walk. It was quite a nice walk, except that I had forgotten to put on bug spray, since there weren't many bugs by the beach. So I spent a lot of time waving my arms around and smacking my legs and walking as fast as I could trying to avoid the tall grass (ticks!) and the mud churned up by illegal bicyclists. I did enjoy walking through the fen (a fen is a bog with water circulation), although I didn't see any pitcher plants. I think I actually made it through without any bites! Maybe I'm just not tasty. And then I read and relaxed and walked more through the campground.

This morning I got out early to do the Edmund Fitzgerald lookout walk. I had heard about a shortcut to the top, avoiding most of the trail through the woods (been there, done that) and walked up an access road for most of the way, then cut up an illegal trail to the base of the stairs. Lots and lots of stairs, some of which reminded me of the metal stairs at the ravine near Grandma's house, which were always freaky to me because I couldn't tell how far away they were. But I trudged up them and reached the top platforms. Which did give a great view, but weren't labeled at all, so I wasn't always sure what I was looking at. Oh well. I headed back down and took the same illegal trail, which required walking around a locked gate. Luckily, I was past the gate and into the "legal" part of the road before two official trucks drove by (past the locked gate is not only the illegal trail, but a couple of cell phone towers that these guys were apparently servicing on Sunday morning). I waved at them and tried to look innocent, although the mud on my shoes and the fact I had sweated enough to make me look as if I'd had a bucket of water dumped on my head was probably suspicious! I also had to walk waving my hand above my head for a while, because while the citronella lotion I had put on was reasonably effective for mosquitoes, the biting flies weren't deterred. I hate biting flies almost as much as ticks.

When I got back I was footsore and (as mentioned before) covered in sweat, so I put on my bathing suit and jumped into the lake one last time. It was quite cool, and I did feel quite invigorated afterwards; maybe that's why those crazy Scandinavians roll around in snow after being in the sauna? I still think I'll pass.

I had realized that I could stay at the KOA at the Soo for less money than I was paying at the state park and with a lot more amenities, so I left a day early (got a refund!) and headed south. I overshot the park and went to the WalMart for kitty litter and McDonalds lunch (I was going to buy supplies, but I couldn't bring myself to pay the Canada prices--I guess I'll eat out of my larder for the next week or so).

I'm in a small spot that isn't gravelled and seems to be an afterthought. It's relatively level, but has almost no shade. I do have nice speedy WiFi and I can get a couple of channels on the TV (yay no digital TV in Canada!). The pool is hysterical; the shallow end is 3 feet, and the deep is 3 feet 10 inches! Oh no, get the life ring!

I plan on moving on tomorrow, south and east toward Stratford, where I have a ticket to see Christopher Plummer in "The Tempest" next Sunday. I should have e-mail everywhere I stop, so I'll keep you posted!

Ahoy!

July 21--Not moved yet

So the thunderstorm was a doozy. Not only did I think I saw a funnel cloud dissapate in the distance before it hit, but the storm itself was nasty. The frequent lightning should have given that away, but I was hoping it would go to the north. Well, it did, but we got enough to be scary.

The rain and wind hit at the same time. All of a sudden I could barely see across the parking lot to the trees that were nearly bent double, and my RV was listing like a leaking boat. I actually moved to the other side of the RV, the way you do in a boat, to try to keep it from tipping. I didn't think it actually would, but it was freaky enough to scare Nell, and she doesn't scare. Puck had wedged himself into the foot well of the driver's door, which may have been the safest place in the rig. It poured and blew for about 20 minutes, which felt a lot longer, and then passed by. All is well, but wow.

I didn't do much today--well, I read a couple of chapters for work, but otherwise I just futzed about. I did walk to a restaurant called Antlers for lunch. This place is a taxidermist's dream: I saw everything from a couple of African lions to a tiny owl stuffed and mounted on the walls. A mouse-deer, a wolverine with a Michigan hat on it, a rhino, and more ungulates than you could shake a stick at. The food was OK, but I was rather creeped out by the end of lunch; all these dead animals. Eesh.

I did get to see several tall ships go by. There are on their way from a get-together in Bay City last weekend to one in Duluth this weekend. None of them were under sail, so while they were interesting, they weren't amazing. There were also a lot of freighters; probably at least 8 if not more. Much busier day than yesterday!

Tomorrow I'm off to a Canadian provincial park, so don't expect an update for a bit. And it's a good thing, since a big-ass trailer pulled in next to me and cut off my breeze, which could make the next few days rather warm. Time to rest on a beach, with fresh water and warmer temperatures than Washington. Good thing I have a lot of books to read!

tick, tick, ACK!

July 20--Still the Soo

I slept pretty well, and Puck didn't wake me up, for some reason. Maybe the tapeworm, being dead, didn't make them hungry? I don't know. But I slept in a bit, and then fed the cats, and headed out on the town around 9am.

The campground is about a mile or so from town, so I got to see a bit of the place on the way. Including a HUGE very old hydroelectric plant, run on water from a canal (? maybe a stream) that runs from the Superior side to the Huron side, which means it drops 21 feet on the way, which makes quite a current, and which also makes downtown Sault Ste. Marie an island. I also walked by a couple of churches, plus a big tower that was made to commemorate missionaries, but now commemorates all the early explorers, and also gives people a great view of the land. Not me, since I'm afraid of heights and didn't want to pay money to be afraid.

Downtown I stopped in some of the small shops. The town itself appears to be dying; there are "For Rent/Sale" signs everywhere. However, they are also tearing up nearly all of the streets by the water, and I'm not sure why.

I hit some tourist traps (which are a bit higher-class crap than the usual traps), bought a couple of cheap books at the Salvation Army (I really need to get rid of some of the books I've read), and then headed to the locks.

What with security everywhere these days, you can't get anywhere near the locks or the canals except in the official (fenced-off) visitor area, and they searched my bag before they let me in. I did get to see a big freighter go through the locks, which was neat to watch. Seeing a huge ship looming over the canal walls, and then watching that ship sink to where you can't really see the deck. Very impressive.

Walking back, I tried to see the historic area, but that was what they were tearing up. So I did some bushwhacking and (probably) illegal cutting across construction zones with overgrown grass (more about that later), and managed to see most everything.

I also stopped at the public fishing pier, which gave me a great look at another freighter slowly making its way to the locks. Pretty damn big. And then I walked home, where I found the RV a bit warmer than I might like (the sun came out quite a bit) but the cats were fine.

I had been home an hour or so and was sitting on the dinette seat when I suddenly felt a tickle on my shoulder. So I went to scratch it, good primate that I am, and I felt something! I screeched a bit and grabbed it enough to fling it on the table, and found a big black tick! I suspect I picked it up while walking through the long grass, it got off on the dinette when I first came in, and then got back on me when I sat down again. I tried to squish it, but the damn thing kept coming back like some sort of zombie, so I flushed it down the toilet. Let it try to get back from there! I checked myself pretty thoroughly in the shower I just took, and I'll check my hair again as well as the cats a bit later (I doubt they have anything, unless it jumped off me and onto them). I'm also a bit jumpy now; I keep feeling that tick!

It did motivate me to do a cleaning, so now we have clean (well, clean-ish) floors and a clean litter box and I did the dishes. I also vacuumed the dinette seat. Damn ticks.

And we're going to have a nice thunderstorm now. We has a severe one go just to the south of us earlier; hopefully this one won't be too bad.

Rollin' down the river . . . well, not really

July 19--Sault Ste. Marie, MI

I spent most of the past day or two hanging out with my family, before they all left for Lethbridge this morning. It rained much of yesterday, and I'm glad I wasn't in a tent! Serious ponding on the ground. Luckily, the church group in tents left right before it got bad.

The family left around 9:30 today, and I was out a few minutes later (I did stop to fill up on some water, since I was a bit low). I headed north on I-75, through thick woods at first, then some fields. Very little traffic, which was a nice change.

I exited at the second-to-last exit in the US and went to WalMart, where I did a bit of shopping for necessities (which apparently includes Faygo Redpop--yum!), then I went to the local vet. I had discovered back in Maumee Bay Park that Nell had a tapeworm (you really don't want to know how I discovered this, trust me), and it was my first real chance to stop at a vet. We had to weigh her (which she didn't like), and I bought anti-tapeworm meds for both her and Puck. Unfortunately, she wouldn't take them as a treat, so I had to force-pill both of them. Luckily, no damage to anyone.

I'm at a campground right on the river between Lakes Superior and Huron, with Canada right across the way. It's a nice campground, although a bit of shade would be nice (the long-termers appear to have bogarted the shady spots), and I do have a view (through other RVs) of the river. I might take my chair and go sit next to the river for a while; there's an area for people who don't border the river to have access. There are boats of all kinds going by, from tour boats (whose spiels I can overhear) to big lake freighters (which blow their horn, which is a bit loud but luckily doesn't happen often).

I'm going to walk to town tomorrow for tourist purposes, since it's going to be cloudy and maybe rainy, and that way I can make sure the RV doesn't overheat on Wednesday, when it's hot(ish) again. If I keep the big windows open, there's a great breeze through, which helps counteract the heat from the blacktop that makes up most of this campground--but it's way too easy to break into the big windows. At any rate, I took a great nap this afternoon, and I foresee several more!

Very good family reunion/party

After six days in Troll-country (i.e. below the bridge--it's a Yooper joke), I'm back in St. Ignace. It was hotter than billy hell in Toledo--upper 80's and 90's, rather like the Florida weather I bought this RV to escape. Despite the weather, it was a good time (other than the horsefly bites I got--ow): lots of eating, swimming, laughing, playing cards and dominos, and catching up with everyone. My dad's 80th birthday party went beautifully--we had it in a park right by where we used to live in South Toledo. Plenty of his old friends came, we barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs and had pasta salad and chips and soda and beer (yay great caterer!) and there were no major disasters and I think everyone had a great time. One of the better get-togethers we've had.

So I was thinking, where should I go once the party broke up? I have three weeks before I have to be back in Florida, and I'm in no hurry to return to that weather. I thought about New England, but it's been hot there, it remains hot, it's high season (particularly because it's so hot and I'd want to be by/on the beach like everyone else), and it's far away (driving back to Florida would take several days, plus having to bypass several major cities). So I decided to go back to the Upper Peninsula.

Driving up yesterday (the only thing worse than driving south through Michigan on a summer Sunday is driving north on a Saturday! Traffic galore), the temperature literally dropped 10 degrees from 9am in Dundee MI to 3pm in St. Ignace. My parents and my sister and her family are here until Monday, to go to Mackinac Island. I, having been there last year and with work to do, will be resting today--well, other than the work. There's good reliable Internet (I have to proof a couple of chapters of a text book) and I really really need to sweep the floor (the cat hair is beginning to form small tumbleweeds in the aisle, which even I as a very indifferent housekeeper don't much like). It's a cool cloudy rainy day--my kind of weather!

(We're in the same campground I was in a week ago, and the youth group is still here! Must be a long trip)

Rested!

July 11 (morning)--St. Ignace

Well, I'm rested! My ankles are unpuffed (for the moment), the laundry is done, I did some swimming, I did more reading, and the cats really want to eat a seagull. Nell was so in hunter mode she was making little noises while staring at the gulls. I didn't have the heart to tell her that the gull could eat her for an hors d'oeurve. I also got to tell off the little maggots from the prior post: they were chucking rocks around about 10 feet from my rig, and I told them they needed to stop or there would be problems (in a very reasonable voice) and I haven't seen them since. There was also a huge (well, maybe 20 people) youth group that arrived, set up a half-dozen big tents, a dining tent, and a kitchen. They seem to be here for a while. They're also pretty well-behaved; I saw that they're a church group, which probably explains it.

I'm off to the south today. Not looking forward to the weather, but the company should be worth it. It's been in the upper 50's for lows here; very very nice.

Puck got me up at 4:30 this morning; needless to say, he spent the next two hours in the kennel. I'd love to be able to sleep more, but I want to get started before everyone else starts leaving the UP: it's Sunday, and everyone has to be back to work tomorrow, and the Interstate should be loaded in a few hours.

I'm tired . . .

July 8--Odanah, WI

I slept OK, although Puck got me up REALLY early--as in, the sun wasn't up and the sky was barely light. So he got put in the kennel, which he didn't like, while I tried to sleep in a bit. We were up and gone by 7:45.

I wanted to go to International Falls and see (at least a bit) of the Minnesota north woods, so we headed northeast. The landscape went from trees and fields to just trees, from a mixed forest to just conifers, as we went north. The road also deteriorated; some of it resembled the infamous Minnesota highway 60 from last year, though it never reached that level of awfulness.

International Falls itself is a nice little northern town, pretty much indistinguishable except for a huge plant of some sort (maybe lumber or mining?). I did stop to look at some bikes, though they were expensive, and I should have stopped at the giant statue of Smokey the bear (with two little bears at his feet looking scared--hell, if I were that close to a giant Smokey, I'd be scared too!). There's something about this area and giant statues; I counted no fewer than three giant statues of fish before I reached Duluth, one of which you could climb on into a convenient saddle for pictures.

I stopped outside of town to get gas (by the aforementioned ridable fish) (and of course later passed lots of stations with cheaper gas) and headed back southeast. I got a Subway sandwich in Cook, and let the cats out for a pit stop while I ate it, then continued.

More woods, four-lane here on out. Through Duluth (the transition from Minnesota to Wisconsin was a bit terrifying, with one-lane bridges and unexpected traffic lights and hills), then along route 2.

It is a really lovely day, although it's definitely warm. Sunny, a very good breeze. I stopped in Ashland at the municipal campground, only to find that my rig wouldn't fit into any of the remaining campsites (and when I tried, it was so tilted I never would have levelled it). Which is a shame, since it was on the lake and would have made a nice stop.

So I'm at the Bad River Casino, in Odanah. There are a dozen or so free RV spots, with electric and water, which is the best deal ever. I'm on the end (after unnecessarily freaking out another guy who thought I was going to ram into him--I wasn't anywhere near him), next to a very nice guy who helped me back into the spots (which makes me feel better about being here). The casino is small by Vegas standards, but is full of machines and a few tables, as well as cigarette smoke (it didn't seem too bad when I was in there, but I can still smell the smoke on my clothes). Plus, free Pepsi! You just walk up, grab a cup, and fill up at the pop fountain. There's also a gas station, a post office, and an IGA (where I bought kleenex and cheese). If it weren't so damn hot, it would be great. Thank god for the breeze. According to my thermostat, it's 90, but it's a dry heat and the breeze keeps things manageable. I won't be staying here tomorrow, though.

The cats are actually happy about the heat--at least Nell is. I'm not sure about Puck; he's like me. However, he was chasing flies earlier (he loves to eat some flies!) and now he's on the floor with his head pillowed on the tribble cat toy; he can't be too unhappy. Besides, both of them ate like starving wolves. When it cools down a bit and I feel more confident about closing a window or two (it's too damn easy to break into this thing, since the screens just slide open), I'm going into the cafe for their meatloaf dinner, I think. The cafe closes at 9pm, but I think the casino is open later. I may have to blow some money there as well.


July 9--St. Ignace, MI

Damn, it got hot. That parking lot was like being in a frying pan. I eventually figured it wasn't going to cool down anytime soon (and the breeze began to die!) so I shut everything up and put on the air conditioning full blast. Which was like spitting on a forest fire; my A/C is just not impressive. This worries me, because it's going to be hot this week. Anyway, after 45 minutes or so, the temperature had dropped a whole 4 degrees inside, and I was hungry, so I abandoned the cats and went into the casino and had dinner. A big overcooked chopped steak, some overcooked carrots, a tasty baked potato with roll (trust the starches to be tasty!) and an iceberg-lettuce salad. I've had worse. I then gambled a dollar or so, before heading back to the RV. The sun had gone down, and it was 84 in the rig, so I gave up (it was 79 outside), turned off the A/C, opened all the windows (the breeze had completely died, which was no help), and didn't sleep well.

Puck woke me up early, I put him in the kennel and slept another hour. Then I got up, read a bit, fed the cats, and ate breakfast in the casino--other than overdone (for me) toast, the eggs and ham and potatoes and tea was very yummy, and cheap! I packed up and used the (free!) dump station for my tanks, which was rather disgusting; I think some people didn't use a hose, they just opened their tank in the general vicinity of the dump. Ew. Afterwards, I went back to the casino, washed my hands thoroughly (I wanted to scour my entire body at that point), grabbed a free Pepsi for the road, and headed east.

I got gas in Ironwood, MI, and kept driving. The weather was nice, although the wind began to blow--behind us, yay! I drove and drove and drove, and the scenery was pretty (I remember at one point marveling at the pastures, wondering how they got here in this north woods, then found out that the place had been logged to bare ground 100 years ago--that'll do it), and drove some more. I stopped east of Marquette to put my feet in Lake Superior, and damn did that feel good. The lake didn't seem that cold, and my ankles aren't happy with me; I've been eating too many carbs and not exercising enough and been sitting too long, and my ankles are puffy. I stopped in Munising to get pasties for dinner (and tomorrow's lunch!), then kept driving. I was tired then, and I'm exhausted now. I should have stopped, but I kept going.

I'm in St. Ignace, in the KOA, in the same spot I was in last year (shaded and relatively flat--since the place is mostly empty, I could pick my own spot). I thought about trying a new campground; there are a few that are nearer the lakeshore, but they don't have internet or they aren't flat and I'm too tired to be disappointed. So I came here. Besides, I hope to use the pool, which none of the others have.

I'm here for two nights. I don't plan on doing anything tomorrow--well, I'm going to do laundry, and sweep the rig, but I'm also going to nap and read and let my ankles unpuff and go swimming and pet the cats and drink a lot of water and try not to eat too much. I don't think this coming week, as much fun as it's going to be, is going to be very restful. So, I'm taking tomorrow off. Unless I get really bored, then I'll go to Mackinaw Island, but I was there last year and don't have a burning urge to go back. I can always take the free shuttle bus to downtown St. Ignace, and then just walk around town--that might work.

I think I'm going to not do the pool tonight, just shower and read and go to bed early. I'm so tired I'm dizzy--way too much driving. There are a couple of little kids running around like banshees--I'm tempted to set up a cord to trip the little buggers. They're about 8 or 10; they should know better. Their parents are letting them run wild; tire them out, I guess. Ah well, just call me Dr. Evil!

From the plains to the forests

June 7--Bemidji, MN

I slept really well last night, and woke up this morning with a sore throat. Well, if I'm coming down with something, that would explain a lot. Still, the sun was out, the air smelled fresh and wonderful, and it was a good morning. I fed the cats and we were out on the road by 7:50am.

I drove through the construction in Minot (lots of construction in ND--one place east of Devils Lake they had taken the road out right down to the dirt, which made driving fun) to Rugby, where I had to stop to get a picture of the Geographic Center of North America. Well, no, it isn't really, the actual center is a few miles away in the middle of basically an empty field, so Rugby had usurped the honor, but still. The monument is in a restaurant's parking lot, and it does amaze me: Canada must just be huge, if the distance from the Panamanian border with Columbia to Rugby is the same distance as that from Rugby to the northernmost part of Canada. I mean, we're not only in North Dakota, but northern North Dakota!

The land had changed from rangeland to farmland right about at Minot, and most of the hills went away as well. So we cruised through the farmland past Devils Lake (which was indeed really high) to Grand Forks, where I stopped and got diesel. Over the Red River (not too high at the moment, even though Grand Forks gets seriously flooded every year, seems like) to Crookston, MN, where I got lunch. The sky had begun completely clear, but by the time I got to MN we'd caught up with the clouds.

The plains changed over to forest right about Fosston, and it was rather abrupt. I turned south at Bagley, because I wanted to see the source of the Mississippi. Well, to get to the actual source, I would have to pay $5, and there weren't any parking spots since the RV spots were full of cars, so instead I stopped right outside the park, at a canoe launch. The Mighty Mississippi was about the size of a good creek--about the size of the creek at the entrance to Seneca Trail after some really good rain. Not too impressive.

It had begun to spit rain off and on, so I continued on. I was going to stay at a particular campground, but I couldn't get the usual discount and it was out of the way, so I lacked imagination and am at the Bemidji KOA. I have electricity and cable and Internet access (obviously) and plan to use all of them. The sun just came out, the cats have been fed, and I'm about ready to read and/or watch TV. Just another evening in paradise!

Not much to say

June 6--Minot, ND

The trains didn't wake me last night, although I did wake up for the 4am worry (yay cable again--distraction!). We got out on the road by 7:50, and I drove for what seemed a very long time. For the most part the wind was behind us, which not only gave us great mileage, but kept me from going mad: we were perpendicular to the wind for about 13 miles, and given the tilt of the RV and the veering we were doing with gusts, I was incredibly glad that was only about 13 miles. Rolling land, ranging from pasture to cultivation, with no mountains visible.

Most of the day it was cloudy, with more dramatic clouds and spits of rain. I decided to stop in Minot, since there's not much past this and I'm tired (I do hope to sleep tonight). I'm at the usual campground, though there's someone in my old spot! This one is better: it just has electric, so with my discount it cost less than $20. The sun has come out, the wind is now not an enemy but a friend fumigating the RV through all the windows which I've opened, and the cats are laying in the sun making vitamin D. No cable, alas, and no hot tub, but otherwise near perfect. I may have to take a nap in the sun myself!

Big Sky country--for real

July 5--Malta, MT

It amazes me how much mobility there was in the campground this weekend. I thought the place would be full and everyone would stay for the weekend. Well, the place was full each night (give or take a few tent sites), but a third to half of the campground left and was replaced each night. Sometimes very late--people would pull in at 9pm and out at 6:30am. Hell, you might as well just stay in a parking lot!

I continued doing nothing last night, and enjoying it immensely. This morning I woke early (or rather I got up early, after Puck woke me up around 6am), and was out on the road by 8:15. The cats weren't happy, but they knew what was up. I hope they enjoyed their peace, because we're going at least four (and maybe more) one-night stands.

I got gas (and of course spotted diesel for less money pretty much everywhere today) and headed through Hellgate Canyon, to Highway 200. It was fairly deserted, although since I don't go much over 60mph, lots of people passed me (when they could). There was low fog here and there, which was very pretty, but the odd deer trying to cross the road (and one confused German Shepherd in Lincoln) made things a bit hairy. It wasn't actively raining, for the most part, but it was very cloudy. When I got to Lincoln I stopped at the Hi Country Beef Jerky Trading Post, and got some jerky (it's damn tasty--I'm trying not to eat all of it today) before heading over the pass. Luckily it wasn't too cold--Rogers Pass (this one, not the one I went through in Canada) has the record low temperature for the lower 48: -70 F. Now that's cold.

Once down in the (relative) flatlands, I could drive a bit more consistently (I've been getting 18 to 20mpg lately--I don't know why I wasn't doing this well before; maybe the tires?). I drove through Great Falls to get to Fort Benton, which was a big-time steamship port. This was the farther you could get up the Missouri (upstream are the Great Falls of the Missouri, which tends to put a crimp in boat travel). for about 20 years, this was quite the boom town/hellhole. Everyone coming up the river stopped here, and several trails (like the Mullen trail, to Walla Walla, and the Whoop-up Trail, to Ft. McLeod) began here. I walked up and down the riverfront, reading all the signs. There was yet another heroic Lewis/Clark/Sacajawea statue (why is it that it's always Lewis, Clark, and either Sacajawea or the dog?), plus a full-sized keelboat--big and shallow-draft. There's also the Shep statue (for those who don't know, Shep was the dog of a sheepherder who died and was shipped off on the railroad--afterwards, Shep met every train apparently hoping to meet his master--he was killed six years into his vigil). I also found Veteran's park, which had a monument to the military dogs in Vietnam, which apparently were left behind when the troops left, which is sadder than Shep.

Headed north and east, the clouds were amazing. Montana lived up to its Big Sky Country billing, because the clouds were incredibly dramatic. Dark, light, rain falling or not, near and far, really cool. It wasn't quite as cool when I had to drive through the rain, but still, pretty cool.

Nothing much else happened until I stopped at Malta--oh, wait, I saw the Empire Builder headed west, just east of Chinook (I think it was only about half an hour late). I'm at a campground recommended by AAA, which is literally a stone's throw from the railroad. Those other campgrounds where I said the trains were near? Nothing compared to this. The rig shakes when the trains go by. Luckily there's no whistles, but I'm likely to think it's an earthquake. The cats don't seem to mind, so I'm sure I'll sleep through it OK. I just did laundry (had to dry everything twice--weeny dryers) and ate bean burritos. I suspect it'll be early to bed, if I don't find something good on TV (yay cable! I am SO not into roughing it.)

My parents, my sister and her husband and her kids, and both family's dogs are going to be headed to Billings tomorrow to pick up a 31-foot RV to drive to Toledo--I believe I've started a fashion! I'm trying to get them to write a blog as well,b ut no takers.

Missoula!

July 4--Missoula, MT

So day before yesterday I got up early--the trains that went right by the campground helped! It was a bit cloudy and rainy, but we got off by 8:10. I stopped to get gas in Post Falls, which was a mistake: the person ahead of me at the diesel pumps didn't follow the rule of gas stations, which is pull up to the first available pump. Since I couldn't pull in ahead of him, I sat and sat and sat while he took his time. Then the pump wouldn't take my credit card, so I took cash in, and then it took the card after all . . . it took a while. The rest of the drive to Wallace was uneventful.

I wanted to go to the Bordello Museum in Wallace, since I hadn't been. Even with all the hassle, I was still early, so I had a chance to walk around Wallace. This town is known for three things, in no particular order: 1. it was the sight of the last stoplight on I-90, which existed until around 1991; 2. they filmed the movie "Dante's Peak" here (of the several "Volcanos wreak havoc" movies that came out around then, it was the one with Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton), and 3. the Bordello Museum. Well, there's also a sign stating that the intersection of 6th street and Bank Street is the Center of the Universe, but that's unofficial.

It was always rumored that prostitution was legal in Wallace; it wasn't, but the sheriff was given enough "donations" that they didn't get busted (in fact, there was a "panic button" in each of the four bordellos that would get the police there quickly). The last whorehouse went out of business in 1988, when the madam was warned that the Feds were coming, and everyone grabbed a few changes of clothing and left. The building (complete with everything that was left, which included a bag of groceries on the counter) was locked up and undisturbed until 1993, when Ginger sold the building and it was made into a museum by simply cleaning out the garbage and rotted food (except for ashtrays, which were covered with saran and left), dressing a few dummies in the clothing left behind, and opening the doors. The place looks just like the inhabitants just left for lunch--there are books out, makeup, toiletries in the one bathroom, food in the kitchen, liquor in the cabinets, everything. I got my own tour, since I was the only person who had signed up, and it was fascinating.

After the tour I stopped at a bakery where I bought a HUGE roast beef sandwich, as well as a pepperoni-and-cheese roll (which I had for breakfast the next day), and headed out. It rained off and on the rest of the drive, which made the narrow twisty sections of I-90 even more fun.

The skies cleared when I hit Missoula, and I headed through the traffic (I think the whole town was trying to get on the Interstate) to the KOA. Believe it or not, I was given the EXACT SAME SPOT I had last JUly! 150 spaces to choose from, and I get the exact same spot! Which was nice, because it was a damn good location. I set the RV up, sat with the cats for a bit, then headed downtown on the bus.

I walked around downtown, glad to be here. I watched the kayakers surfing Brennan's Wave off Caras Park--apparently there was a big competition there that day, but it was cleared by the time I got there. I walked in and out of stores, and then ate a double Mo-burger with pepper cheese. Huge, greasy, and wonderful. I had some time before the bus I needed, so I walked to Safeway to buy groceries, where I discovered a miracle: Friskies Hairball Control treats! I've used those with my cats since I got them, and they work great, much better than any other product I've tried, but I haven't been able to find them for months! I bought enough to last until their expiration date, and hopefully I'll be able to find them after that.

Yesterday I tried to sleep in as much as possible (not much, with these cats), then walked over to catch the other bus (the one that stops at the KOA driveway doesn't run Saturdays). I stopped in the PetSmart and the Barnes and Noble, just browsing, and then headed downtown. I went to the Farmer's Market, then the People's Market, then the Caras Park market (Missoula is such a crunchy granola place that it can support so many markets) and got an organic breakfast burrito, which I ate while listening to a really good guitar player. Then I walked over the Higgins bridge down to University (the Munster House is looking a bit ragged--looks like student housing now), then down University to the campus. There are a LOT of new buildings I haven't seen: the Native American building (which is complete with place for bonfires), the Journalism building, the Education building, lots of new ones. Then over the Clark Fork footbridge (Goldsmith's doesn't have ice cream anymore--the restaurant is a bike shop) to the library, where I bought a tea, then to the Bagels on Broadway for dinner bagels, then back to the bus.

Today I did very little. I watched TV (yay KOA cable!), read the paper (yay KOA again!), took a nap, did some proofreading, and goofed around on the Internet. It's now cloudy (it was sunny earlier), so I might go sit in the hot tub. Ah, relaxation. It's back on the road tomorrow; the weather looks like it will cooperate by not being hotter than hell, which is great. I may not be able to stop for more than one night until I get to Toledo, which will be a haul. We'll see what sort of progress I make.

Hmm. In completely random news, I'm currently watching "Yankee Doodle Dandy" ("1776" was on earlier), and in the "Wow I never thought of it that way", I'm watching James Cagny doing George Cohen doing FDR, dancing away, when FDR could actually barely walk. Hmm. I wonder if Cagney dances on his toes because he has high heels on because he was kinda short?

Headed east again

July 1--Spokane Valley, WA

The mountain came out! I got some great looks at Rainier in the late afternoon yesterday, when the clouds went away for a little while . . . so they could come back in force today. But I get ahead of myself.

I got into Seattle a bit earlier than I had planned; taking the bus that stopped right across the street got me moving a bit faster to catch it. I then had a bagel with cream cheese while I read the local alternative papers, and began to walk toward Tom's office. I knew I was early, but the big REI flagship store (complete with a mountain path to test bikes and a climbing wall) is right across the street from his office, so I figured I could linger there.

The REI store was lovely, and full of stuff. I did notice, however, that there seemed to be very few overweight people there. Granted, there aren't that many overweight people in Seattle, but at least when the salespeople asked if they could help me (which they did constantly) they did nicely, without the "what on earth are YOU doing here, tubby?" vibe I've gotten from other places. I almost bought an all-purpose head bandanna/scarf/whatever, but I didn't. And they also had socks without toes, for doing yoga, which intrigued me enough I almost bought them as well. Then when I was done shopping, I sat outside and read my book until 11:30.

I called Tom and he met me outside the building. We walked to a sushi place (that I had passed on my way to his office), where the sushi was OK (I was disappointed by almost every meal I had in Seattle; I guess I'm expecting too much). Then he showed me his offices, which were huge and well-lit and full of people and computers and papers. It was great to see him again!

After I left Tom I wandered over to the Seattle Center, where the Space Needle is. No, I didn't go up the Space Needle (although if I'd known that the clouds were breaking, I might have done so to see the skyline). I didn't go to the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame either; I expect that will be my next trip. Instead, I decided on the spur of the moment to take a Duck tour! Yes, the same sort of boats that we took in the Wisconsin Dells.

I got into the Duck late, but managed to get a window. I wound up with a little kid next to me, who didn't speak English and who luckily was more interested in the food his mom kept handing out than in the view. I enjoyed the trip quite a bit, even though the driver was really quite obnoxious. He told bad jokes, laughed harder at them than anyone else did, and never stopped basically shilling for other attractions in the area (I wonder how much they pay him?). Still, it was cool to ride so high above Seattle, and then we went into Lake Union.

Seattle is built all around water, and Lake Union is a freshwater lake between Puget Sound and Lake Washington. What's cooler is, there are float planes that are constantly taking off and landing, and this is also the home of the house barges. If you saw "Sleepless in Seattle", we cruised by the barge where they filmed (and if you want to buy it, it's only $2.5 million!). I loved looking at those house barges; I'd like to live on one someday, although it'd need to be somewhere I could afford.

After we got back, I took the monorail downtown (mostly to say that I had done it) and then wandered back down to the waterfront near the Pike Place Market to stare at Mt. Rainier for a while. After I caught the bus, I found that I could stare at the mountain on the way home as well. There something about these volcanoes here, that just loom in the distance and don't look real, that fascinates me. Unfortunately, once I got back to the RV I couldn't see the mountain anymore, unless I walked to a nearby bird sanctuary. Which I did. The campground is along the Green River, and that sucker must flood bigtime; not only are there advisories on the bus routes that flooding may cause problems, but there's a big temporary levee along the road made of straw bales and plastic bags. Wow.

It got cloudy overnight, and began to rain when I started to pack up to leave (of course!). I got out by 8:10, then ran into traffic so it took me over a half an hour to go about 10 miles, but things sped up more once I got on I-90--yay reverse commute!

We went up to Snoqualmie pass, and then back down the other side. I got off at Roslyn, because I wanted to say hi to Cicely, Alaska. The series "Northern Exposure" was filmed there, and I wound up parking right under the big moose painting on the Roslyn Cafe. I wandered a bit, bought a Brick Tavern T-shirt and a KBHR bumpersticker, then bought a cup of tea at Cicely's Cafe. The lady in there was telling me that she needed to fix the sink in the ladies' room, because someone had sat on it and broken it! Who the hell sits on a sink in a restaurant bathroom? Neither of us could believe it.

Most of the rest of the day was driving, which isn't very interesting. Central Washington, having been scraped by Glacial Lake Missoula, is pretty featureless. At least it stopped raining, though the sun didn't come out. It did get up into the 70's, which was nice.

I'm in the Spokane Valley KOA. It's small and a bit dusty, but we have a nice spot on the end (no cable TV at this spot, alas, but I do have NPR) and Nell enjoyed the sun shining in. Puck is now looking out the window and entertaining people walking by, who can't believe there's a cat in the RV! Oh, and the next-door neighbors just pulled in! Never a dull moment. I'm off to Missoula for a few days tomorrow--yay Msla!