Yo Yos (06/22/21)

 
These days it seems like Paul and I are yanked in one direction, then yanked back in another, before we have had time to take a breath. Such was the case with our trip to Massachusetts.

We limped into Massachusetts in early June, having broken a leaf spring on the trailer somewhere between Virginia and Mass. I am always grateful that Paul is so handy that he can diagnose and fix many issues with our vehicles.  He ordered the part we needed and had it shipped to the RV park.

Our with plans were to spend time with our son, and family and friends. However, soon after we got there, Paul’s mom in El Paso started having some issues we needed to deal with. Not being sure if we could do it from afar, we made plans to head back to Texas, just to be safe (she has since improved to the point that we don’t have to rush back). 

We gave ourselves a few days to cram in as many visits as we could, and we did pretty well.

We saw our photo-shy son a couple of times, my brother and his wife, my sister, aunt, and my childhood friends….whew. All in a few days.

After we started the trek back, his mom started doing better so we slowed the pace down a bit.

One of the RV Parks we found along the way was Dixie Caverns RV. We only spent one night there but we arrived early enough to take a tour of the cavern.

Although we have seen plenty of caverns in our travels, this one was pretty darn good.

We took a southern route, partly because RV spots would be easier to come by, but also to go through Florida, so that we could stop and say hi to our friends Mike and Julie. We never have a bad time with them and a bonus this time around is that we met their long time friends Deb and Rick.

All too soon we were on our way again, but our next stop was another happy one for me.  A few years ago we spent some time at Myrtle Beach and I fell in love with the idea of swimming in the ocean without going numb-having grown up in the northeast, I only knew about frigid water temperatures. Although Myrtle Beach wasn’t on our route, Gulf Shores, AL was.

The state park we stayed in also has bikes that you can borrow- so we did that early in the day before it got too hot.  We didn’t go very far, only about 5 miles, but it was fun, anyway.

Once we were done with our ride we headed for the beach, where I spent most of the afternoon in the water.

Continuing our slow trek westward, our next stop was New Orleans. We elected to stay at the French Quarter RV Resort- a very pricy resort but it comes with some perks.  Our site has a private outdoor bar, complete with TV, and we can walk to Bourbon Street from here.

Announcing to our family and friends that we were headed to NOLA produced a frenzy of emails, texts and phone calls. Did we know that there was a potential tropical storm headed that way? Yep, we did. That’s probably why the RV park had availability on short notice. We kept an eye on the weather, knowing we might have to hunker down. We did get a fair amount of rain, but very little wind, as the storm shifted east. It was just enough to make it fun sitting outside watching the weather channel.

Knowing the storm was coming, we spent our first night in NOLA on Bourbon Street, looking for live music and Hurricanes (the drink).

Pat O’Brien’s was our first stop (for a decent Hurricane) before heading to other venues for the live music. We found several bars with music we enjoyed, so we had a great evening flitting around from bar to bar. Apparently Bourbon Street just recently reopened, so some of the venues were short on entertainment.

The next day we figured we’d better walk off some of those drinks. so we headed to the waterfront, about a mile or so away. Along the way we stopped at Musical Legends Park for some food and live music. 

We had a lunch of typical New Orleans fare- a frozen Hurricane, Jambalaya, and beignets. I guess we didn’t really walk off the previous night’s drinks.

Next stop: Texas.

The Journey Eastward (05-29-21)

 We travel to Massachusetts quite often, which can stress out the driver, if we are trying to get there fast. It’s a Lot of miles. So, this time we built in a few extra days, so we could slow down and smell the roses. We didn’t Stop to smell them, because we didn’t want to take THAT long to get to Boston.

Planning our route took some time. The RV park in MA had availability the day AFTER Memorial Day. That meant we had to be on the road for Memorial Day weekend. Most RV parks and campgrounds have a 3 day minimum and book waaaaay in advance for that weekend. So, we looked for Elks lodges (some have RV parking) and Casinos along the way (most allow overnight RV parking)to have options. 

We also joined Harvest Hosts, a membership group that offers overnight stays at breweries, farms, museums and wineries. I am not sure we will use it, but most of our RV friends are aware that there are record numbers of RVers traveling this summer, and supposedly most places are already booked. We shall see, but it doesn’t hurt to have more options.

Our first stop along the way was in El Paso for a few days to see Paul's mom. It’s been very hard, during Covid, to spend any time with her, so now that we could, we spent 4 days taking care of paperwork, and visiting with her.

You realize how big the state of Texas is when you need to drive across it, so we broke up the journey with another stop, this time to see friends Wil and Gayle. It’s always fun to spend time with them, and it helps that their driveway is big enough for our rig! After two nights we said goodbye and continued on our way.

Our next two day stop along the way was Alabama, Fort Payne AL, to be exact. 

Every once in a while you come across a gem...this area, and specifically Desoto State park, was one of those. The park has awesome campgrounds, complete with cable and WIFI, hiking trails, waterfalls, a swimming pool, and lots of attractions in the area. We could have easily spent a week here.

The first thing we discovered is that Fort Payne is home to Alabama.....that is, the band Alabama. We realized it when we passed by life size bronze statues of the band members. There is also a museum, but we didn’t have time for it this trip.

With only one day to explore, we hit the ground running. We took a short hike to Laurel Falls, which is an unimpressive trickle right now. From there we drove to Desoto Falls, which was much more impressive.

In the 1920s, a self taught engineer, Arthur Miller, built a hydroelectric dam at Desoto Falls, which generated electricity for the nearby towns. There was a limited supply, however, so power was available from sunset until midnight. A few years later, enough women had bought electric irons that the decision was made to also “turn on” the electricity on Thursday afternoons, so the women could iron.

Beneath the falls there is a small lake, suitable for swimming.

Desoto State Park sits atop Lookout Mountain, which travels north towards Chattanooga TN. We headed in that direction to visit Ruby Falls, a 145 ft waterfall, 26 stories underground. We bought our tickets online, and our small group was taken down an elevator, into the cave. Once there, we saw the usual cave decorations, stalagmites and stalactites etc.

 After a 15 minute walk we arrived in a “room” where the dramatic music and light show showcased Ruby Falls. Pausing long enough for everyone to get their fill of pictures, we turned around and headed back. The return trip was much faster. The pathway is so narrow that when one group passes another, the group heading back has the right of way, and the other group has to pull off to the side and wait.

Riding in the elevator, we did some quick calculations. There was one more attraction we wanted to see- Rock City. Their website was unclear as to what time they close, so we just started driving there, figuring we had nothing to lose. Unfortunately, there was a detour due to a closed road, so it took us longer than expected, but no worries, we got in 5 minutes before they closed the entry gates.

We spent a pleasant hour wandering around this place. 

There were all kinds of narrow cavelike paths, gardens, gazebos, swinging bridges, huge boulders, waterfalls, and a patio from which you can see 7 states( Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia). 

As an add on, the original owners added a children’s cave experience which featured figurines from nursery rhymes. No surprise, Paul didn’t know many of them, but I did.

Both nights at this campground we were treated to a live concert from the people in the site next door. A few campers pulled up chairs to listen and enjoy the music. I did that the first night, but it’s bluegrass, not our favorite, so one night was enough.

‘Bama (06-25-18)

Our research in Alabama was a long shot, searching for a Frances Chesley, who may or may not be an ancestor of Paul’s, but we figured it was worth a stop in the Montgomery area to check it out.  We have never been here before, and we both liked the feel of the (small) city.

The architecture was interesting and the city had a clean feel to it.

We found a nearby COE  (Federal) campground, with long, level sites for our stay in Montgomery. It was the first time Paul  got to use his Old Farts Pass(senior citizen National Parks Pass) for a discount, so the site only cost us $13 a night! Dozer liked it because it had lots of grass to eat.

It didn’t take us long to realize we weren’t going to find any new information, so we went in search of other things to do. Montgomery is known for its role in our civil rights history of course, and I was interested in the Rosa Parks museum.

While looking online, we discovered that the museum was having a street party celebrating Juneteenth (the end of slavery), and there would be music and food.  As an added perk, the entrance fee to the museum was being waived for the day.

We all know why Rosa Parks is famous. After a long day of working, she refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white person. And she was arrested for it.
Her arrest and the verdict of “guilty” sparked a 13 month long protest that was the beginning of a lot of changes in this country. Shortly after the protest began, they realized they would need to be organized if they were going to achieve any results.

Martin Luther King Jr. was chosen to head the newly formed Montgomery Improvement Association. Their original goal was to boycott the city busses until the segregation laws were made more “fair”. For instance, black people paid for their bus ride by entering the front door of the bus, but then were required to exit, and enter by the rear door.

Feeling that their requests were reasonable, they were shocked when they were denied. It was then that Dr. King realized that “justice and equality would never come while segregation remained, because the basic purpose of segregation was to perpetuate injustice and inequity”.

Now the push was on to fight for desegregation itself.

For 13 months, the African Americans of Montgomery walked, carpooled, rode in makeshift taxis, and accepted rides from white people who agreed that their cause was just. What they didn’t do, is ride the bus. The protest ended when the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on city busses was unconstitutional.

A  small, but important step.

…and then there were the beaches (12-14-12)

They don’t call this the Emerald Coast for nothing!

Gulf Shores, AL

 

The sand on the beaches here is the color of granulated sugar- absolutely gorgeous.  Why?  As the granite from the southern Appalachian mountains erodes and is swept down southern bound rivers, it is weathered down into its original minerals. Quartz is the mineral that survives longest on the trip down here, so the beach sand is made up of 90% Quartz crystals.

Pensacola, FL 

 

Destin, Florida  

We stayed at Henderson Beach State Park in Destin, FL for a couple of days, home to one of the largest fleets of charter fishing boats in the country. Although Florida bears the nickname “the sunshine” state, we’ve hardly seen the sun in the few days that we’ve been here.  In fact, it’s been downright chilly.  We spent one afternoon wandering through Harbor Town, a small area on the water with restaurants and shops.  We were pleasantly surprised by the appearance of the sun, and were able to shed our jackets for a while as we sat on the deck of a restaurant, enjoying an adult beverage.

Forts and more forts(12-8-12)

Both Fort Morgan and Fort Pickens were built pre-Civil War. Fort Morgan was placed to protect Mobile  Bay and Fort Pickens guarded  Pensacola Bay.

Fort Morgan was held by the Confederacy at the beginning of the Civil War, but the Union knew that taking Mobile bay was important to the outcome of the war.  One major battle was fought there- the Battle of Mobile Bay.  Union Admiral David Farragut arrived with his fleet of wooden ships and ironclad Monitors (small warships).  As the first of the vessels entered the harbor,  the lead ship quickly sank. It turns out the harbor was littered with torpedoes.  In the 1800s a torpedo was more like what we would consider to be a mine.  They were essentially bombs, sitting beneath the surface of the water. When Farragut was informed of the torpedoes, he reportedly made the decision that taking the bay was more important than the risk and yelled out “Damn the torpedoes- full speed ahead!”. Pushing through the Confederate defenses allowed the Union to get into position to capture the fort.

Fort Pickens is located on Pensacola Bay and was held by the Union for the duration of the war.  Across the bay, Fort McRee and and Fort Barrancas were held by the Confederates.  For months the soldiers in these forts essentially had staring contests, with no movement, skirmishes or battles fought. 

 In late 1861, the Union finally started the action by bombarding the two forts with cannon fire.  Unfortunately they were so far away that the cannon balls all landed in the bay.  Most of the damage that was done to the opposing forts was accomplished by the warships that arrived to help.  After two days of bombardment, over 6000 cannonballs had been fired, and in the end, the situation was essentially the same.  The following year the Confederates decided that the forts were not worth defending, and their troops were needed elsewhere, so they abandoned Fort McRee and Fort Barrancas.

Paul and I have seen quite a few of these pre-Civil War forts across the country, and it turns out many of them either saw no action, ever, or very little.  It has boggled my mind that time after time we find out that it took 12 –30 years to build a fort, and then that fort never fired a single shot in battle.  I got my answer at Fort Pickens on the guided tour we took. At the time these forts were built, warfare hadn’t changed in any essential way in 100 years, so these forts were built solidly and painstakingly to withstand the weapons of the day and were expected to be viable for years to come.  Unfortunately, by the time of the Civil War, advances in weapons had taken place that rendered these forts vulnerable and obsolete. One of the advancements was rifled cannons, which were much more accurate and could fire a projectile that traveled much further than their smooth barreled predecessors.

In later years some of the forts were modernized, creating a fort within a fort, to keep them viable for modern warfare.

What’s wrong with this picture?  Although it was 77 degrees the day we arrived at Fort Pickens, the following day the weather took a turn for the worse and the high was only in the low 50s.  Paul and I rode our bikes to the fort from the campground wearing our winter gloves, hats and jackets!