We weren’t too sure about our choice to stay at Lake Kissimmee State Park.  It was easy to find a site for 5 days.  That could have been a bad sign.  Even as we were driving into the park, we had our doubts.  We went down an 8-mile-long winding road.  Meanwhile, our cell service kept getting weaker and weaker.  The tree cover along the entrance road wasn’t particularly lush. We worried that our site might not have shade.  Boy, were we wrong. This Might Work Pulling into the campground, we noticed all of these beautiful live oak trees just dripping…

We didn’t spend as much time in Alabama as we thought we would.  Once we got through Mobile, we headed south on secondary roads.  I’m not sure, but I think we’ll pass on eating here 🤔 Moving On We thought we would stop at the coast around Gulfport.  The weather wasn’t that great though.  We were also tired of taking small, slow roads.  Instead, we set our sights on reaching Pensacola before the Florida Welcome Center closed.  We did have to make this one stop though. Maria was fascinated. It’s All About the Juice The Welcome Center closes at 5:00…

Cajun Country The Louisiana Welcome Center was beautiful.  It was on a river and had a walkway that took you out over the bayou.  Dragonflies were everywhere.  They seemed to follow us as we walked.  We picked up a brochure for the Creole Nature trail.  It’s a scenic byway known as the Louisiana Outback. We decided to check it out.   We stopped at the information center at the start of the trail.  The ladies there were very helpful and informative.  They gave us information about where to stop and what to see.  And, of course, what to eat.  They suggested…

The Road Less Traveled We decided to take the road less traveled when we left Fort Stockton.  Somewhere around Ozona we headed south and got on the 90.  This took us through some very rural parts of south Texas.  Uvalde One of the towns that we went through was Uvalde.  It’s a quiet little town.  There are some beautiful old buildings that surround the town square.  You can tell that it was once thriving but has since fallen into decline.  Windows are boarded up here and there.  The town square has a fountain that serves as a focal point for…

Our Pop-Up Adventure Well, it’s like this see.  Our plan was to slowly make our way home from Santa Fe.  Stay a few weeks at home.  Then head up the pacific coast to Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, Canada.  The plan was to get out of the Arizona summer heat.  Neither of us had been north of San Francisco on the west coast, so it seemed like a perfect plan. But then, we got a call from Maria’s sister.   She and her husband had won a trip to Italy.  When they originally told us, we had offered to…

Roadside Attraction On our way to our next campground, we stopped at a little roadside geode museum called the Basin Range Volcanics Geolapidary Museum.  Thundereggs are their specialty.  They also have geodes and other minerals.  The front door to the shop looks like a mine entrance.  It is a quirky place with an extensive collection.  The Owner, Christopher Blackwell, is a very interesting guy. His knowledge of minerals is impressive.  He regaled us with stories of how he traveled around the country with his partner in a 1968 VW bus.  They were mining for thundereggs.   Thundereggs Thundereggs are geodes…

The Birthday Wish Maria’s Birthday is coming up.  Her wish this year is to go to Meow Wolf.  It is an interactive art installation.  There are locations in Las Vegas, Denver, and Santa Fe.  We decided to pack up the kitties and head to Santa Fe Last Minute Detail The night before we were supposed to leave, Maria checked the weather along our route and noticed a severe weather alert.  If we continued as planned, we would be heading right into the storm.  We decided to change our plans and head south.  Our new plan is to go down to…

North by Northwest Now it was time to travel on down the road. We left north central Florida a bit reluctantly.  The couple that we met at the Ocean Pond campground told us about some fantastic towns and springs to visit. It was tempting to spend a few more days in the area, but ultimately, we decided that we had to continue towards home.  I have family that lives in Mobile, Alabama.  I have a cousin and an aunt that I’ve kept in touch with over the years.  My aunt is 91 years old.  She’s the last remaining sibling of…

West Meets East The beaches in west Florida are beautiful. The sand is very powdery and soft. It was too cold to swim, but it still was very relaxing. there is something life affirming about being near water, particularly the ocean. It is important to remember though that water can also be incredibly destructive. We were reminded of that as we passed through Fort Myers. Hurricane Ivan swept across Florida’s west coast on September 28, 2022. Fort Myers was particularly hard hit. There wasn’t a lot of debris or other physical evidence of the devastation along our route. We did…