Focusing on family and friends in the South

We stopped for the night just below Nashville, TN at Camper's RV Park. It turned out to be a good place to stop because we ended up with a flat tire on our van the next morning, and the people at Camper's were very helpful. As I was checking out the tire, the owner stopped by and offered to help. It turns out he is a Marine and with him was a long term camper that was in the Army.  They both took an interest in helping me with the tire. The tire had gone flat and wouldn't hold any air as I tried to fill it with my portable air compressor. It looked like it must be a bead seal leak so I took the wheel off and got it rounded out enough to take some air, but it made sense to get it reseated properly. They took me to a local tire shop where it was fixed for no charge. We were back in the South and the Southern hospitality was very apparent. We have traveled to all 50 states and I have actually worked with people from all 50 states and four US Territories. There are nice and friendly people in each location, but there is a greater level of willingness to be friendly, to the point of going out of the way to be kind in the South. I like it.

Back in Sweet Home Alabama!

After repairing the tire, we drove the rest of the way in to Alabama and made it in time to watch football with family. There is no better place to be to watch college football than in the South. The primary focus for sports in the area is football, and the dedication of the fans to college football is greater than any other place. The cars all have stickers, flags, flyers, and license plates supporting their teams. The fans are wearing logos on their hats, shirts, belts, jackets, faces, etc.. It is unusual to see someone not wearing a team logo on any given game day, and the lines in the grocery stores are full of people buying junk food for the game. We had boiled peanuts - made properly and not from a can like we were forced to do a couple of times out West, ribs, chips with cheese dip, and many other kinds of good stuff. A lot of family came over and it was a great way to start our visit.

We went to dinner with a high school friend of Shelli's and Michael and John had a great time hanging out with their children at their house. John had expressed an interest in learning to play piano, and  Shelli's mom (Betsy) taught him how to play "Paper Roses". In addition to piano, John kept talking about wanting a hunting bow and his uncle Tim just happened to have an old one stored in the barn. John made out like a bandit on this part of the trip. Shelli's dad (Popa) was retiring from his position as the President of the Alabama AFL-CIO. We went to his reception near Montgomery, and it was a very nice event with a crowd of several hundred people. There was a big screen showing slides of family, friends, and co-workers and it was really neat to see.

Popa's Retirement Party (but only temporarily, he is already scheduled to go back to two part-time jobs after the holidays)

Betsy is teaching me how to play the piano. (John)

Play time at the park. Seeing them all chase the ball is pretty, especially when Beau beats all the big dogs to the ball. (Shelli)

Making Jodi's homemade doughnuts...they are really good too! This is not my real smile, I'm just being funny. (Michael)

Pulling this bow back is much harder than it looks! (John)

Maui's Birthday Party! (Shelli) From the left - Buddy, Beau, Charlie, and Maui

Maui thought the cupcake was lip smackin good!

To keep the tradition of Michael and John trick or treating with their grandmother, we went to Geneva for Halloween. After stops at a few homes along the way, we went to the Junction (a park area where the Choctawhatchee and Pea rivers join and home to what is believed to be the largest and oldest oak tree in Alabama. The city was hosting a trunk or treat event and it was very successful. There were a lot of people and a of lot stations for trick or treaters. Michael and John enjoyed time with their aunt Vickie and Gramma, who also dressed up for the occasion. They scored a large amount of candy - although someone at the Junction was handing out apparent yard sale leftovers like old dolls and stuffed animals!?!

We always try to stop in Troy, AL at Crowe's for some chicken. They have done zero improvements to the place in 20 years, but they haven't changed the recipe either, and that is okay with me. 

Ready for Halloween!

Helping Gramma garden.

Making Milky Way cake with Gramma is a tradition. It gets messy somehow.

There always seems to be a little flour and cocoa on everybody.

Even Maui got a little flour on his nose.

The tradition with Granddaddy is eating the cake.

Michael and John spent some good time with grandparents and extended family. We went to Hartford to shoot the bow John had been given by his uncle Tim. Cousins Blake and Casey had a target for the bow and guns, so we we were able to shoot pistols and a rifle as well. We all had fun.

To keep from staying too long at any one place, we went back to Childersburg to stay while we dropped off the RV for repairs to the awnings from hail damage we had in Montana. We drove about an hour to the Camping World in Anniston, AL. Should have been easy...more on this later.

Shelli's parents were planning a trip to visit her sister Cindy and her family in Flower Mound, Texas. They asked if were interested in going too. Considering our total flexibility, and our feeling that any drive now is easy compared to the one to Alaska, we were game. We loaded the people and bags that would fit into Betsy's SUV for the 10 hour drive, and Michael and I sunk into Stewart's Corvette convertible. Surprisingly, driving the Corvette was a lot like driving the RV with the van attached, only it was faster, cooler, and more fun. I discovered, if executed properly, stepping on the gas can result in the GPS flying into the passenger's lap. It was a perfect homeschooling lesson about Newton's first and second laws of motion. If not for the threat of a ticket, we could have worked on Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity.

Yeehaaw :D (Michael)

We had a very nice visit with the Jones family. There were several great meals including ribs prepared by Rex, breakfast casserole prepared by Cindy, and monkey bread prepared by the Cindy, Shelli and the kids. We also had pizza, and made a trip to BJ's Restaurant, a trip to Rosa's Tortilla Factory, and an after church lunch at Babe's Chicken.

Enjoying our fried chicken, biscuits and gravy for Sunday dinner after church. (Shelli)

On Veteran's day we all went to the DFW airport to welcome home returning troops. There was a large crowd there with signs and flags. There were many veterans and several Patriot Guard Riders (the motorcycle group that escorts our fallen during funeral processions). They allowed the veterans to go towards the front (just behind the family members of those stopping in Dallas) and be the first to welcome the troops as they came into the crowd-lined passageway. It was an honor to be there and shake the hand of each one and say "thank you" and "welcome home". We've come such a long way from when my father returned from Vietnam. I hope people continue to remember it is politicians that start and stop wars. The military personnel are just the ones who have to live or die the consequences.

This was really a fun and patriotic thing to do, especially on Veteran's Day! (Shelli)

In Texas we watched plenty of football, played several board games together, and had lots of good discussions. The world's problems were all solved while Michael and John played plenty of video games with Kelsey and Reese (Reese also solved many world problems in between games). We delayed our departure from Texas one day after checking the weather and realizing we were looking at thunderstorms and rain the entire drive back to Alabama if we left as scheduled. The next day John swapped places with Michael and rode back with me in the Corvette. To ensure John learned about Newton's laws, we demoed the GPS in the lap lesson.

Playing Apples to Apples makes for many laughs. (Shelli)

Locked and loaded. (John)

Aunt Cindy's monkey bread is a favorite! (Shelli)

This is the soap dispenser at a gas station in Texas. Crickets bodies on the top and legs on the bottom. It was safer to not wash our hands. (John) 

Vroom, vroom! (John)

Popa treated Michael and John to tickets to the Alabama vs LSU football game in Tuscaloosa. Their cousin Jodi and her boyfriend Nathan took them very early in the morning to the game. They went to ESPN's Game Day filming site and were in the crowd as the broadcast ran. After that, they met up with family friends at their RV for their first shot at tailgating. Thanks to Hap and Candy for for providing them a ton of great food!

 

Dad came up with the ideas and Jodi drew them free handed. Its good huh? (John)

Cousins having fun!

For the championship, Alabama is coming back for the win! (Michael)

It was great to have so much time during the visit. Michael and John had time to help Popa with one of many rounds of leaf and acorn clearing he will be doing this season. Maui got a chance to go to the park for some fun again with his cousins.  We got to take some fall foliage pictures at Chuck's house by the tree that turns golden yellow each year, and Chuck and Popa made a target for a BB gun range out of hay bales right in the back yard.

Nathan and Maui playing. Maui didn't like Nathan's mask..... DAARRHHH! (Maui)

Sad thing is...the leaves will all be back again tomorrow. (Shelli)

Maui collected beggars lice over and over and over. The little green seeds hang on like velcro and are a pain to remove.

Anyone up for a playdate at the park? (Shelli)

The dogs get pretty tired and have to take a break at times. (Shelli)

Michael and John couldn't wait to climb in this tree in Chuck and Pollye's yard. (Shelli)

Everyone working to build the target in shape of a Christmas Tree. They painted it green later. (Shelli)

For Thanksgiving we planned to travel back to Geneva and leave from there to go down to Florida. The idea was to have the RV with us and ready to go. BUT, we found out that Camping World had not even ordered the parts for the RV, although the insurance company had approved it and the adjuster had been there and spoken with them twice. The one person that handles insurance claims had been sick, and then still couldn't get her hands around ordering two pieces of fabric and one metal arm. That meant it wouldn't be repaired in time for us to go on our Florida leg of the trip on time. A month wasn't enough time for them to even place the order for the parts! We just picked it up and drove on without the repair.

We drove the RV down to Geneva and got ready for a big Thanksgiving.  The cooking really went into overdrive, as it should in the South. We made three pecan pies, a coconut pie, a pumpkin roll, a smoked turkey, a huge amount of collard greens, field peas, biscuits, sweet potato casserole, and cranberry sauce (both from a can & made from scratch). As if it was not enough to make a ton of food for Thanksgiving, we had a family gathering for a Thanksgiving part two a couple of days later at my grandmother's house. All of her children, almost all of her grandchildren, and great grandchildren were there. It was a very big crowd, and the first time in a very long time so many of us had been together.

John helping me make the Pumpkin Roll. (Shelli)

Mom's pecan pie is really good. (Michael)

The smoked turkey, ready to go.

We are ready for the feast to begin! (John)

We were able to get most of the family in one photo. If we had taken it before we filled up for lunch, we might have been able to fit everybody in the frame.

The visit was brief because it was the day of the Iron Bowl. This annual college football match up of Auburn and Alabama stops just about every other thing in the state of Alabama while the game is on. We all had to rush out to watch the game because it doesn't work to record it and watch it later. Someone might call, text, or yell loud enough for the result to be overheard. Regardless of which team is ranked higher, anything could happen during the Iron Bowl. With Alabama having a shot at playing for the BCS championship, we were pulling for Alabama to win. I am an Auburn fan, but having been out of the state for so many years, I will pull for either team if there is a chance at a championship. This concept is foreign to anyone that hasn't been away from the state for so long. Everyone else wants to see their team crush the dreams of the other side - every year. Two years ago I pulled for Alabama and they won the national championship. Last year I pulled for Auburn and they won the national championship. I'm hoping to be three for three when the dust settles this year.  

A friend from high school opened a coffee shop, so we stopped by to see how she was doing. It was good to see her business venture and catch up for while. The kids got slushies and she made Shelli and me her signature frozen mocha. Neither Shelli or I like coffee at all, but this frozen mocha was really good. We let Michael and John try it and they liked it so much we decided to come back and bring my mother the next day for round two. Thanks to the Hole in the Wall Coffee Shop for best frozen mochas around!

Another friend from high school and her husband stopped by to visit and check out the RV. It was really good to catch up. A couple more friends tried to meet up, but the time was so compressed with all the family Thanksgiving events for each of us, it didn't work out. Time was up, and it was time to press on with the last big adventure leg of our trip.

We are Florida bound!

Colorado Springs Evaluation - Sept to Oct

It has been a long time since our last post. Because our activities lately have been more routine than adventurous, we decided to wait until we had a summary of our time in Colorado.

On the way from Mount Rushmore down to Colorado we stopped at the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs South Dakota. We drove down through Nebraska and detoured a bit to stop at Carhenge. When the roadside stops are this weird, it's worth a bit of delay to check them out.

This is the world's largest mammoth research site.

This reminds me of the Flintstone's lodge.

There were grasshoppers everywhere around Carhenge - Michael

We came to a stop in Colorado Springs and set up a long term site at Garden of the Gods Campground, which is right by Garden of the Gods park, of course. Access to the park is free and the scenery is very beautiful. The entire area is very scenic with views of Pike's Peak and front range of the Rocky Mountains.

They are all looking at the deer on the left. There are a LOT of deer in the Western side of town. They are all over the place in residential areas and it is not uncommon to see multiple bucks just walking through neighborhoods.

We have gone to Garden of the Gods several times because it is so nice and is so close to us. The rocks are good for scrambling. With the exception of a couple of days of heavy rain, the weather has been just about perfect. Colorado Springs is known for over 300 days of sunshine a year and we believe it. Almost every morning is clear with some clouds appearing throughout the day. Each morning the sunny side of our RV heats up. The humidity is low and it is very comfortable to be here during the fall.

There are a bunch of holes where birds live in here - Michael

I was stuck in the back for a while, but I managed to get out - John

Woof - Maui

Maui looks happy. This is my bad haircut. I told the girl it was way too long, so she just pretty much cut it off.

The rock on the left is the one Michael and John climbed in.

We also went to Red Rock Canyon which is just a mile South of our Campground.

We didn't want Maui going up this one because it had steep drop-offs. We were okay with Michael and John going.

Hi- John

It was really high up here and you could see all of Colorado Springs - Michael

There was a little cave at the top - John

Shelli had a birthday while we were in Colorado Springs. Between this trip and our previous RV back in 2001-2003, all of us will have had a birthday in an RV while on the road. We always have cake and ice cream regardless, and it works out well. 

Maui pushed us over and made his own spot. Good thing Joey didn't need to get in the picture because there was no more room. - Shelli

Out for a hike after church and lunch on my birthday. It was what I wanted to do. Last year we hiked in Zion National Park on my birthday. - Shelli

Look at the clear skies. There are trails all over and I ran here a lot. One day I got lost and couldn't find my car for a while- Shelli

We have been visiting a few schools to see if they would be a good fit once we stop. There are plenty to choose from here with many public, charter, private, and home school options. In the meantime, home school has started again for Michael and John. The mornings are school time and the afternoons are used to get to know the area.

Maui wanted to join John's history lesson - Shelli

We have looked at neighborhoods all over Colorado Springs including ones to the North in Monument and to the West in Woodland Park. With most of the daily activities and stores we would probably use in the Northeast part of Colorado Springs, we think that will be the area we choose. There are plenty of older neighborhoods and new developments to choose from. Surprisingly, there are many home builders with new homes under construction to choose from. In comparison to Southern California where there are a LOT of obvious vacant foreclosure homes, there are not many eyesore homes here. However, there are a lot for sale and not that many rental homes available because like everywhere else, many people have had to get out of homes they couldn't afford and have to rent now. Rental rates are high in comparison to what a home payment could be here.

It appears as though the builders are trying to finish projects and have lowered their profit margins and prices to do so. I am doubtful the bottom has happened in the housing market and don't believe we will miss the low interest rates right away, so we are not rushing into a choice yet. We are looking at all options and will probably wait for the next couple of months to slow the pace as winter sets in. We'll see how it looks then. Most of the homes have recently lowered prices, and I think they will do it again.

We have been going to the New Life Church and think it is a good fit for us. It is a mega church with thousands of attendees each Sunday. It has a very good band and choir - I counted 119 singers and band members on the stage last Sunday. It's like being at a concert. The kids have made many friends at the church and we have gone out to dinner a couple of times with one of the families we met there.

With a population of over 400,000, Colorado Springs is the second largest city in Colorado and the 41st largest in the United States, so it has all the stores we would want. We and are happy to see the prices are not as expensive as the other places we have seen in the past year. The commissary on Peterson Air Force Base has really good food prices compared to some other ones we have been to on this trip. The Air Force Academy also has a commissary, but it isn't as big.

Our last week here we had a cold spell that lasted a couple of days. We woke up to heavy snow that was falling, but not sticking to the ground at our elevation. The mountains above us collected a lot, and it was very pretty when the snow stopped and the skies cleared to a sunny day with a bright blue sky. The sun lit up golden colored aspen trees that really stood out with the green trees topped with snow.  We took some video clips of Maui playing in the falling snow, but didn't get any pictures of the mountains right after the snow fell. Several days later we took some from one of the areas we are looking at as a potential neighborhood, and from one of our friend's home.

The view from the deck of one of the houses we looked at.

We went over to dinner at two old friend's homes.  Both had very nice homes and plenty of room for us to spread out. One was a former co-worker from the National Guard whom I have stayed in contact with, and the other was in my TBS platoon in the Marine Corps. It had been 19 years since I last saw him when I was participating in an Airshow in Kansas and he was close enough to drive over from Kansas City to meet me. After all that time we still had a lot in common.  For both visits it was a really nice escape from the space issues of the RV and to go meet with them and their families. Once we get settled in, it will be nice to have some old friends already in town.

Aspens along the roadside

Pike's Peak with some pretty fresh snow on it.

After about five weeks in Colorado Springs, we left and headed towards the Southeast to spend time with family. Once we got just past Colorado Springs and onto I-70, everything changed. We went through the flat and windy remainder of Colorado and into the flat and very windy entire length of Kansas. We pressed on past the Museum of Oz, but stopped for gas in the town that advertized the world's largest prairie dog and a live five legged cow. Unfortunately the animal freak show place was closed, so we just got our gas and left. However, we built a memory before leaving because our gas pump stuck on instead of clicking off while I was cleaning the RV windshield. Shelli was coming back from walking Maui when she saw a bunch of stuff splashing down behind the RV. I ran back and stopped it after maybe three gallons had poured down the back and onto the concrete. There went about nine dollars.

We were looking forward to stopping in St Louis on the way because we had found several really good places to eat when we went through there during our move to California about two years ago. We went to the Donut Drive-In (which is a small shack with no drive through) for some of the best donuts we have found, and to get some really good ice cream at Ted Drewes Frozen Custard which is on historic Route 66.  Both places were featured on Food Network and both really deserve the attention. We drove all day and got to the Donut Drive-In late at night as they were finishing up some of their prep for the next morning. We got a big box of our favorites and they gave us a free bag full of extra pieces that had broken during the process and couldn't be sold. At Ted Drewes there were lines at all of the three or four open windows and people were taking pictures of themselves outside the store. After our late night frozen custard and donuts, we picked up a pizza and toasted ravioli from Imo's Pizza to take back tot he RV. Imo's makes a St Louis style thin crust pizza with provel cheese, which is cheddar, Swiss and provolone mix. It's pretty good, although a bit different. After all that food, we called it a night, but made plans to go to Pappy's Smokehouse for ribs the next morning as soon as they opened.

We arrived at Pappy's just about three minutes after they opened and there was already a line wrapped through the length of the store and out the door. The place has only been open three years but it has been featured on several TV shows and has won several awards. The word is out and now it is THE place to get ribs. We had the ribs, a pulled pork sandwich, fried corn, sweet potato fries, and green beans. We have decided the ribs are the best we have had from any restaurant anywhere. That's saying a lot because we have been to 50 states and have had BBQ pretty much every where we could.  The dry rub they use cooks to a caramelized sweet topping on the meaty just right pork ribs, and their sauces are good along with it. The fried corn and sweet potato fries are good too, but the green beans were not appreciated by Michael or John. It seems as though the body may reject green vegetables once it gets used to ice cream, donuts, and sugar coated pork. Who knew? We bought a couple slabs of ribs to go, in case anyone develops withdrawal symptoms.

Outside Ted Drewes. The lines went around to the front of the store, which you can't see from this angle.

In Pappy's after rounding the corner on the home stretch of the line. The line goes on way to the left, down a length about three times as long as you can see in the picture, out a hallway, out the door, then along the building in the parking lot.

The funny thing about this leg of our adventure is that after driving all over the West Coast and up through the vast stretches of Canada into Alaska and back, the lower 48 states seem small and so easily accessible. Going over a thousand miles on fairly flat and good roads is no big deal at all. I think we also re-calibrated our scales of some other things. I completely dislike the increase in traffic, and find the scenery west of Colorado to be quite a bit less interesting. It's just hard to compete with the great views we have had of the big open spaces and towering mountains.

I should also mention I am really tired of other drivers. There must be a perception of RV's that people can't shake. Just because it's big doesn't mean it's going slow. When the road is good, I move along pretty fast and pass anyone that is going slower. When I'm in the right lane passing someone, I keep getting people that I previously passed that are now mindlessly pulling over behind me and accelerating right up on my tail, like I'm in their way. I find a spot in traffic to get back over and have to put on my brakes and drop a bunch of speed to be behind the slow lane traffic. Then I wait and wait and wait for the tail rider, who has suddenly lost their hurry,  to finally move forward. Then I get back over to pass the slower right hand traffic I'm behind, accelerate back up to speed (spending a lot of gas money to do it), and find that the tail rider mindless driver is back to going about 4 or 5 miles an hour slower than I was going before they rode right up on my tail. It happens over and over again as people blank stare at the road or talk on their phones and assume they need to get around that RV. I'm thinking about getting some big flames painted on the RV and adding a fake jet engine to the back. Maybe then people will think I'm going faster and won't assume they have to get past me. The other issue is the people that actually are in a hurry that pass and then whip right over in front of me. Given that RV's don't stop well, it's really dumb to jump into the safety space in front of an RV. A NOTE TO ANY DRIVER THAT IS NEAR AN RV: The RV driver can't stop fast and can't make fast lane changes - even with the reflexes of a fighter pilot. If they happen to be an old retired (older and more retired than me) driver with poor reflexes, it gets worse. GIVE THEM ROOM.

We will arrive in Alabama at Shelli's parents home tomorrow, Oct 15th. We will get there in time to watch SEC football and share some Pappy's ribs for lunch. We will make our next post after several weeks visiting family.