The first dawn of this final year of the 20th century found us still at Gamble Rogers State Park at Flagler Beach, FL. After seeing Tom's brother and his wife off at the airport on New Years days, we spent a couple more quiet days of walking the beach and laughing at the antics of the seabirds. One day we headed up to Amelia Island to visit with our friends, the Seaberts. Sally took us exploring on the beach where we found four fossilized sharks teeth--millions of years old and shiny jet-black! What treasures we find on the beach! Sally fixed us a finger-licking-good meal of shrimp and ribs--yum, yum! Thanks, Sal.
Our last day at Flagler Beach was the first anniversary of our life on the road. When we had reached the 14-day time limit, we ended up moving 20 miles away to the Sunshine Holiday Travel Park at Ormond Beach for another week while we waited for a priority mail package (which was delayed for 2 weeks!) to arrive. We took a short trip down to Oak Hill, FL, to visit my cousins, Jack and Bobbie Kalstad, at their new home. We saw the house last year in its early stages of construction, and it was nice to see how beautifully it had turned out. Once our mail finally arrived, we started our westward trek by heading to north central Florida. Our next neighborhood was Suwannee River State Park near Live Oak, FL. (Yes, that is the same Suwannee River from the old song.) It was a quiet, wooded campground with some really nice new friends to meet (as always). There were some neat hiking trails with rather pre-historic landscapes to view. We especially liked the Lime Sink Run Trail along a pretty creek lined with huge cypress tress (with huge cypress knees), live oak trees draped in moss and limestone outcroppings.
There were also some longleaf pine trees-rather small, skinny trees with one large tuft of very long pine needles only on the top. They looked like mop heads--so comical!
Before leaving Suwannee River, we got a call from my friend, Jeanine saying she would be in Tampa on business for ten days and could we possibly join her? One of the really nice things about our lifestyle is our flexibility. We were able to change our plans, found a campground in Clearwater and made the connection with Jeanine. We got together during the evenings and on the weekend for some exploring, talking and lots of laughter. We investigated a wonderful Peruvian exhibit at the Florida International Museum called "Empires of Mystery--The Incas, the Andes and Lost Civilizations." The exhibits included mummies, tools, pottery, gold artifacts, and colorful woven cloth, along with tales and photos of Machu Picchu. Fascinating! Later that day we drove a long section of coastal highway and checked out Honeymoon Island State Park.
While I headed to Phoenix on another business trip, Tom moved the APPLE to Gulf State Park near Gulf Shores, AL (just over the border from Florida). This very popular state park includes ocean beaches, two lakes and many hiking trails. Many people winter here for 1-2 months which is unusual for a state park. It was a beautiful place to return 'home' to!
Not far from the park there was a lot of damage from the recent tornadoes that had ripped through this area. Many apartment and condo complexes were devastated and in need of major repairs. Luckily, the park had been spared. We stayed there until the end of the January. Then, it was time to pull up our jacks and mosey west.
The next leg of our journey took us across the rest of Alabama and then Mississippi. Then came the rugged frontier…one of the very worst roads in all of the country--I-10 across Louisiana! For hours we bumped and jostled our way westward. (I think I'm about 2" shorter from all the bouncing compressing my spine--and you know I can't afford that!) We crossed lots of swamps and bayous. I think the roadbed must be unstable, contributing to the washboard, bone-jarring ride. It kind of reminded me of what the pioneers must have experienced when they came west by covered wagon. When we crossed the border into Texas, thankfully the road improved.
We are now making our home in the Great State of Texas. Did y'all know that Texas comes from an Indian word meaning "friends"? Darn tootin' it does. And, sure as shootin', we've made some more wonderful friends!
To start with we settled in at Rainbows End, the Escapee home-park in Livingston, TX about an hour northeast of Houston. (Yes, it's the same Livingston, TX as our mailing address. The headquarters for the Escapees Club and our mail service is there.)
This park is frequented by other full-timers and RVers who travel extensively, so we all have a lot in common. One of the really fun things for us is that we have had a chance to meet five other couples who also own New Horizon rigs. One of those couples, Sandy and Ron Hunter, have become very special friends. We know we'll connect up with them again. (We hope they'll even visit us in MN this summer!)
Besides making many new friends, activities in February have included:
While exploring this area of Texas, we discovered beautiful Lake Livingston State Park. Since we are concerned about pulling the rig too many extra miles before getting complete repairs done on our frame and hitch, we've decided to stay in the area instead of heading for the Gulf Coast. We have just moved to a beautiful wooded site on the shores of Lake Livingston and will be making our home here at the State Park for the next 2-3 weeks.
In late March we'll begin to head back to Kansas for complete repairs at the Horizons factory on our way back to Minnesota.
We'll tell more about this area of Texas in our next travelogue. Until then...
