Today we are in Indio, CA at the Shadow Hills RV Resort to visit our ex-neighbors and wonderful friends, Donna and Bonnie.  We met at Starbucks for drinks and then went back to the Bays Bus to chat and play with the pups.  We had a personalized tour of the Palm Springs-Bermuda Dunes area including their gorgeous modern home, and saw some of the most beautiful golf courses we have ever seen.  They looked perfectly manicured, even at the edges.  There was no rough that I could see.  Gary was in heaven.  He shared his excitement about the new Wilson clubs he bought in Florida.  We had dinner at a lovely restaurant called Lavender in La Quinta, CA.  There are always good laughs and good times when we see these two.  Can't wait for them to get back to Oregon in May.

Only six more days until we get home!!

These are pictures of the Colorado River taken from the Riviera RV Resort in Blythe, CA.  That means we only have one more state to travel before we hit Oregon!!!  Only one more week! So exciting.

Today we saw a cell phone tower that was disguised as a giant palm tree.  It was surprising.  Another surprise was several signs showing silhouettes of what must be wild burros outside of Phoenix.  I'm not sure how they could possibly get to the highway (303) because of the number of fences and concrete barriers, but I guess they must.

We didn't disconnect the car from the RV tonight which will save us some time departing in the morning. 

Prescott, AZ is a lovely small town about an hour north of Phoenix and about 25 minutes from the Orchard Ranch RV Park where we are parked tonight.  We are here visiting our dear friends, Bob and Jan Baker.  We got a VIP tour of the town where we had a drink at the famous Palace Saloon which has many original architectural elements and artifacts from it's long history.  They even had some townspeople dressed as they did 100 years ago to enhance the historical feel.  Then we went to see their beautiful home which has many mementos of their world travels. Dinner was at Prescott Station and Gary had and liked buffalo meatloaf.  It is always so great when we can see each other.  It had been about 2 years since our last time.

The surrounding area is desert with boulders like the ones we saw yesterday.

We got caught in a traffic jam, the first one of the trip, on our way up into the mountains.  Our GPS, which had said we had 45 minutes to go,

suddenly said we had 2 hours and 20 minutes.  Luckily, we only lost about an hour.  We saw the SUV being towed from the place it had crashed into the guardrail.  Hope no one was hurt.

Nothing much today.  We saw some spectacular scenery on the way to the very basic Cactus Country RV Park just east of Tucson.  Giant boulders were stacked in unusual and sometimes precarious looking formations about an hour west of the Arizona border.  Both of us commented on the vast amounts of uninhabited land in the United States. 

We went through a Border Patrol checkpoint as we had on our way east.  This time we saw a Greyhound bus which had been stopped for a special search by the patrol.  A dog was going crazy there.  Later, we stopped for fuel and lunch and after we got on the road again we saw that same bus broken down by the side of I-10 with the passengers standing outside under an underpass.  I'll bet it was a long wait before another bus could be dispatched to pick them up.

We had another time zone change today and are now on Pacific Daylight time because Arizona does not recognize daylight time. 

The stars at night ARE big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas.  The sky show was unbelievable last night in Balmorhea, TX and above is a spectacular picture of the sunrise.  We left after breakfast, heading for Las Cruces, NM and the Hacienda RV and Rally Park.

I am so excited that we found this great RV park.  I have been worried ever since we were last in New Mexico about those darn goat head thorns that hurt our pups, (I had even bought them little boots) but this park has been cleaned out, cemented and graveled over until we can walk the dogs with no worries. Whew!

After we arrived here we did a little research and visited Historic Old Mesilla which is an area of adobe shops, restaurants and booths in a square that reminded me of Santa Fe.  A picture of one of the side streets is above. We wandered around there for a while and then went back to the Bays Bus so Gary could get a little rest.  He is doing all of the driving and it is tiring, especially when it is windy as it was today.

We saw lots of stockyards on our way here so decided this would be the perfect place for a steak dinner.  We were correct.

I am supposed to be the navigator, along with the GPS system but I don't have any trouble falling asleep on the road.  Gary joked with some people we met this morning that the antidote to my sleeping was to ride for a minute on the rumble strip.  I think he was only half-joking, though.  That will absolutely wake me up instantly and my adrenaline does not abate for at least a half hour.  Tricky guy, that Gary.

Balmorhea, TX is tonight's stop.  We are staying at the Saddleback RV Park, which is the only thing at this exit of I-10.   It is a parking lot with electricity, water and sewage, decorated with cactus.  Someone has painted some of them yellow and put happy faces on them.  There is no Wi-fi, no TV of any kind and nothing else here except our fellow RVers, a small cafe where we had authentic fajitas and a gas station.  We will watch some of our House of Cards DVDs and turn in early tonight.

We woke up this morning in Columbus, TX to the sight of eleven deer grazing right in front of the Bays Bus.  We watched them for a long time before they wandered away and we got on with our day.  We see deer at home but never that many at one time.

We left for Junction, TX and arrived at the North Llano River RV Park about 2:30.  We stayed here on the way to Florida and knew we would like it. 

The city of Junction has a Deer Horn tree with a star on top, which I imagine they light at Christmas time. 

We had dinner again at Lum's BBQ and gas station.  It is very basic but the food is great.

After dinner we discovered, but did not use, a drive-in beer and wine store.  I am guessing that this is a Texan phenomenon.  Has anyone seen one anywhere else?

I wasn't going to write tonight as the day was uneventful, until we stepped into Mikeshkas Bar BQ in Columbus, TX.  I have never seen so much taxidermy in one place in my life!  It was like eating dinner in front of an audience.  Poor creatures from all over the world.

We are staying at Colorado River RV Park which is part of Thousand Trails RV group.  We were given a free short-term membership when we bought our motorhome in hopes that we would eventually join.  Not going to happen.  The reservation desk told us there were no spots open in the park but we had already spoken directly to the park and knew they were wide open.  We think that they didn't want to be bothered giving us our discount. The park told us that they had pull-through spots which wasn't true. This is important to us so we don't have to unhook the car we are towing if we don't need to go anywhere. It makes our departure in the morning much quicker if we don't have to reattach it.  Very aggravating.

Imagine my personal hell today.  We were driving for three hours from Alabama through Mississippi to Louisiana with nothing but sports news on the radio.  We could not change the station AND we could not turn off the radio.  AAARRRRGGHH!  Finally, we got into range of some different stations, but not soon enough!
Now that we are driving a motorhome we have started to notice things about the ones we see on the road.  One interesting phenomenon is how many RVs have color coordinated tow vehicles.  We have even seen some that are painted with the same swirls and decorations as the RVs that are pulling them. 
As we pulled into the Lafayette KOA RV Park tonight we noticed the unusual speed limit sign above.  This is a lovely park for all ages on a lake stocked with fish and home to many ducks.  Dudley loves chasing the ducks even more than chasing squirrels.
For dinner we walked to Billy's Homemade Boudin and Cracklins to see what in the world they were selling.  They graciously let us taste some of their offerings and we bought two Boudin Balls and two Boudin Balls with Pepperjack Cheese.  The filling, which can also be inside a sausage, is a concoction of pork, liver, rice, garlic, onions and a little too much pepper for me.  Gary ended up eating three of them.  I managed one.  We also tried Cracklins which were fried pig skin, I think.  Very oily but tasty.

Son, David spent the day showing us around the Mobile area. We had some great seafood and saw the town of Foley where he lives and works.  We stopped for a Starbuck's break.  David knows what I like. 
We are staying at Johnny's Lakeside RV Park which has a big waterpark with a lazy river in the center.
The highlight of the day was an art festival in Fairhope, AL which was one of the best I've seen.  It was so big that we didn't get to see the whole thing but did end up buying a few things that we liked.  Fairhope is a lovely little southern town with an artistic flair.
One thing I love about the south is how friendly everyone is.  We sat down for a snack at a communal picnic table with a middle-aged lady and her dog.  Strangely enough, she offered us some of her fried green tomatoes as she couldn't eat them all, and even stranger, we accepted.  It seemed perfectly normal.
After that we went back to Foley to one of the best outlet malls I've seen, a Tanger Mall with a Chico's outlet and several other more upscale stores.  Then grocery shopping at the Piggly Wiggly, which advertises that it sells everything at 10% above their cost.  We stocked up to hit the road tomorrow.  We are aiming for Scott, LA in the afternoon and then we will tackle Texas once again.

Finally, we're on the road home.  With the Bays Bus functioning well and sunny skies we will be out of Florida sometime tomorrow morning.  Dove Rest is a very non-descript RV park in Marianna, FL.  It is the first one we have found that only took cash or checks.  Nothing very interesting to report except that the change of time zone really sneaked up on us.  We parked tonight just over the line and didn't know we had gained an hour until we turned on the TV.  We have two more chances to have this happen again.

Disappointed.  We got up this morning and made the Bays Bus (credit for the name to Nancy AND to Linda Emroch Leithner who had suggested BaysBus a while back.  I don't know why I didn't decide to use it then!!)

ready for travel to sister, Janis in Jacksonville.  One hitch, the slide that holds the dining booth and the sofa would not retract.  One end of it was trying to but the other end didn't move.  So we called Holiday Rambler and they weren't able to help us do it ourselves..  We are now waiting for the RV repair service to arrive.  We hope they will be able to help us retract the slide and we will just keep it retracted as we make our way back to Oregon.  We will lose a bit of space but we can have the repair made at home and won't have to check into a hotel while someone fixes it here.  It just means that I won't see Janis until November when we gather in Jacksonville for her birthday.  Hopefully tomorrow we can start west.  We are on somewhat of a deadline for Brian, Aei and Evan to arrive in Portland from Bangkok.
UPDATE:  The slide is fixed.  The rubber gasket around it had glued itself to the body of the RV in the Florida heat.  The repairman was able to break it free and put lubricant all around so it won't happen again.

Last night we ate St. Patrick's Day dinner at Bonifay near Nancy and Ken's house where they had some truly wretched live music to celebrate the day.  The dinner was very nice, though. 

Nancy decided that we should call the RV The Bays Bus and she wanted to make sure she got credit for it.  Thanks, Sister.  Lately Gary and I have been referring to it as the world's largest dog crate since part of the reason for getting it was to travel with Dudley and Baby.

Tonight we had to say goodbye to sister and husband, which was very sad.  It is hard to believe that a whole month has gone by so fast.  We celebrated at the Magical Meat Boutique again, a British Pub in Mt. Dora which has authentic pub fare.  Gary had fish and chips, sausage roll and Scotch egg.  He was very happy.  He finished with Trifle while N. and K. tried, and didn't really like, Spotted Dick.  I know, I know.  Look it up.

This was a quiet day, which was good for Gary because he has a bit of a chest cold.  I took Baby for nail clipping at a nearby veterinarian after she tried to bite me when I was doing it.  Gary and I did some paperwork and then returned some left-handed golf clubs he had borrowed while waiting for the new ones he ordered.  Then we had a quick lunch out and returned to the bus for a nap.  I started researching RV parks for our trip west, which will start at the end of this week.
We had dinner at the Hurricane Dockside Grill which is pictured above.  It sits next to a cypress grove and if you look carefully at the second picture you can see a small alligator swimming near the water lilies.
I learned two things today, one is that motorcyclists don't have to wear helmets here (!!!) and the other is that Spanish moss is not a parasite on the trees here but is an epiphyte which just benefits from the minerals that trees naturally leach.  It does not harm the tree.  Also, it is not really a moss but is a flowering air plant.

I was too tired last night to write, so this one is for Sunday, March 15.  We had a normal morning, eating breakfast on the bus and doing a bit of housecleaning and laundry.  Then we went with Ken and Nancy to the Markets of Marion, a huge flea market and marketplace that Nancy and I have visited before.  Gary and I each bought a hat, I picked up another jar of a fantastic honey-based skin cream, a surprise present for grandson, Evan and a few holiday gifts.  Those of you who know me well know that I carry a list of friends and family for whom I purchase birthday and holiday gifts in my wallet.  As I buy these presents I write them on the list so I won't forget what I have bought when the occasions arise.  This usually saves me from dealing with parking and crowds around the holidays.
After we checked on the dogs we met again for The Villages production of "Les Miserables".  It was an amateur production somewhat adapted for the venue but not bad.  They had brought in a couple of trained singers but most of them were residents of the town.  The man who played and sang Javert's part was excellent and he was a local realtor.  Cossette and Fantine were a little too old to be believable, but I guess you work with what is available.  I enjoyed it and Gary was a good sport.

Today is Saturday.  Gary and Ken started the day going to a Golf Festival to look at and try out all the newest golf toys.  They had a great time.
After lunch the four of us went to E.A.R.S., Endangered Animals Rescue Sanctuary in Citra, FL.  It is open in a limited way, to the public.  We made a donation and signed a document that absolved the society of blame if we got hurt by the wild animals there.  Everyone brought a gallon bottle of bleach to donate as well.  This was used daily to clean the animal environments.  We saw lions, tigers, bears, a liger ( mix of lion and tiger) and learned lots about the foolishness of the humans who thought they could care for these animals and discovered they could not.  Dyan Cannon was one person who donated her wild animals when she could not care for them.  This facility neuters all males as they don't want offspring to care for.  Some of the animals had been abused, some were old and some had difficult diseases like rickets.  Some were imperfect because of botched human attempts at crossbreeding or because of inbreeding.  We learned that when a lion male is neutered he loses his mane (as well as a couple of other things) because the mane needs testosterone to grow. The work they do at this facility is truly amazing.
Dinner at the Ramshackle Cafe again, this time with Nancy and Ken.

Today had an interesting beginning.  At 5:20 in the morning we heard a commotion outside, banging and someone shouting what sounded like "fire party".  Actually, fire fighters were banging on the door of the coach next to ours and shouting "fire department".  Dudley and Baby were barking their heads off.  Gary put on his pants and went out to see what was going on.  Evidently, someone found a woman wandering around the RV park who only knew that her name was Donna and that she was from Michigan.  The firefighters, with two fire trucks accompanying them, were knocking on the doors of all RVs with Michigan plates trying to find out where she belonged.  I don't know how it turned out, but they left after about half an hour.  I hope they found her family.

Nancy and I went shopping for a dresser for her home.  The first stop was a regular furniture shop but the second one was a used furniture shop housed in a former church.  It was quite bizarre to see chairs, tables and all sorts of furniture for sale in the area where the altar had been, in the pastor's former office, and all over the church and the adjoining gym/meeting room.

Gary shot a 90 today, so I guess the new clubs were worth it.  He is flying high!!

Here is a sign Gary saw on the golf course yesterday warning about poisonous snakes and alligators!  In spite of the danger, he shot a 92 and felt moved to purchase the borrowed clubs that made this score possible.  Now we have 5,843 golf clubs in our possession!  Just kidding but sometimes it feels that way.

I had to give in and color my hair this morning instead of waiting to get back to my faithful, long-time hair stylist.  I learned that when L'Oreal says "light brown" it may not necessarily apply to me.  My gray roots are covered but this is a bit darker than advertised.  It isn't bad, though.

Tonight we had dinner at a charming lakeside restaurant on Weir Lake called Eatons Beach.  We ate with friends John and Bill who we had not seen in the many years since we owned travel agencies in Portland, and had a delightful time.  They promised to visit us in Oregon soon.  During dinner we experienced one of those famous Florida downpours.  I haven't seen rain that heavy in a long time.  It was kind of fun.

When Nancy and I were driving home from Jacksonville on Sunday we saw hundreds of motorcycle riders heading the other way.  It turns out that this week is Bike Week in Daytona where thousands of cycling fans meet, race and contribute to the local economy.

Nancy and I traveled to Jacksonville to visit our sister, Janis who lives in the River Garden care facility there.  On Friday we visited and ate out at a local Italian restaurant.  It was pretty cold so we had to bundle up.  Saturday we got to River Garden in the late morning and visited together until about 3 when we went to the movies and out for dinner.  It is always nice when we can get together.  We are planning a birthday party for Janis in Jacksonville on Nov. 14 for her 65th birthday so that gave us lots to talk about. On our way back to The Villages we stopped at a very unusual roadside store that featured ceramics of every kind and every size of metallic animal or figure in an outdoor setting.  The first three pictures above show a few of the thousands that were there.
Gary shot a 96 yesterday and took a shot of the alligator above, one of about 20 he saw on the course during his round.  Last night we had dinner at the Ramshackle Cafe, a local attraction in Leesburg.

Today was a typical day for us when we go on vacations, we just got into the car and explored.  I don't have any special photos, although there was an ice cream store shaped like a cone that I should have taken, so I just decided to add pictures of our favorite grandchildren, Macy and Evan, both 5. Macy is trying on Mom's shoes and Evan is dressed in his T Ball uniform.  Can't wait to see them both at the end of this trip.  Tomorrow Nancy and I are off to Jacksonville to see sister, Janis, so no more blogging until Sunday.

Today we went to Mt. Dora, FL, one of the higher points in the state at 184 feet.  Ken and Gary, our intrepid golfers, took time off from the links to accompany Nancy and me on a shopping and eating tour of the town.  We found a Husband Daycare facility but decided to keep them with us so they wouldn't get into any trouble.  Lunch was in an authentic British pub where we had sausage rolls, Cornish pasties and a ploughman's lunch.  After lunch we went to Gary's happy place, a bakery with giant eclairs.  Nancy is showing off her prized purchase, a pretty hat with a rosette on the side.  It was in the low 80's today, perfect for walking around town.  We ate dinner, leftovers, in the motorhome and now are dealing with a clogged RV toilet, a different animal altogether than a toilet at home.  Hoping for a plumber tomorrow.

The first picture is the cute sign outside my sister's house in The Villages.  Most homes here have them.  Missy is their adorable pup.
Would you put your outgoing mail in the above unmarked slot found at the U.S. Post Office in Leesburg, FL?  I did and then I had second thoughts so I went back and checked on it today.  Phew!  It was indeed an outgoing mail slot.
Yesterday we went to the Markets of Marion which is the biggest flea market I've ever seen.  You could buy everything from alligator skulls to fine jewelry.  Nancy and I were there for a couple of hours and only saw about 1/4 of it.  We both bought some Honey Bee Cream from an excellent salesman who demonstrated it on one hand and convinced me that it really looked better than the untreated hand.  As I said, he was an excellent salesman.  I also bought some fresh fruit, really superb strawberries and regular bananas.  We will go back for some other things we liked in two weeks.
I've started noticing lots of botox around here.  We went out for dinner a few nights ago and the live singer could barely move her face.  Also, her lips were rather duck-like from injections.  You just have to wonder.
Gary shot a birdie today!!!!!!