Heading home

This was written en route to Golden, Co. traveling across southwestern Kansas. We haven't been this way before but decided to give it a try. Most of the route is two lane passing thru lots of small towns. Definitely a more scenic route than the interstate and while a bit longer we hope to avoid the snow and ice predicted further north along I-70. Riding along the discussion turns to our time in Coffeyville (imagine that). While there was a lot not to like we found there were some really good things too.... although not what one might expect. To begin with for a small community the library was excellent. Equally as good or better than the ones around Denver. There's a great selection of books and no (that's right...NO) waiting list ona lot of new releases (amazing). There was the usual variety of restaurants including one of best "authentic" Mexican restaurants we've found north of the border called Cielito Lindo. Their Molcajetes are as good as Toro's in San Carlos and the Carnitas and Tacos are the real deal (corn tortillas por favor). Really good BBQ at Hog Heaven where you'll find fried bologna on the menu. They were the only restaurant in town serving Thanksgiving dinner late enough for us to eat since working nights we didn't arise until early afternoon. Turky dinner with all the trimmings including real mashed potatoes and down home green bean casserole all for around $8.00 a plate. You can't beat that and cheese cake to die for although not too hard (get it Die Hard Fans). There were only two bars in town and only one was open on Sunday.  Apparently Coffeyville has a quite colorful past involving the prohibition era when liquor was made just over the line in Oklahoma and smuggled through a tunnel into Kansas then on to the bigger cities up north.
But hands down the best thing about this whole adventure is the new friends we've made. Randy and Evelyn, John and Wendy, Duane and Debbie along with so many others. Thanks so much for your friendship and an especially big hug goes out to a young man named Chris for taking such good care of our four legged family members....Lucy and Yaqui. Vaya con Dios mi amigos and remember there will always be a place at our campfire for you. 

So we started out this past Friday morning after 4 hours sleep and drove west through Wichita, Ks. It's located on the banks of the Arkansas River although the river is more like a creek here than the wild torrent we're used to in Colorado. Lots of restored historical buildings and homes along the way. We passed through towns with names like Cimarron and Dodge City where the beef packing houses dominate the skyline as they have since the great cattle drives arrived at the railhead in old west days. Too tired to push on, we decided to spend the night in Garden City, Ks. Luckily we were able to find an RV Park open as most were closed for the season (something to consider fellow full timers when traveling the northern latitudes in winter). As we proceeded to blow by our turn in the dark and were looking for a place to turn around we spotted a mexican restaurant on wheels or what's commonly called a catering truck. Since there was nothing else in sight and the neon sign was flashing "OPEN" we figured what the heck. So Becky wandered over and found to her delight that the menu was hand written in Spanish....tortas, burritos and tacos.... carnitas, al pastor, asada along with chopped onions,
cilantro and "volcanic" salsa on the side.... heaven! Never missing out on an opportunity to practice her Spanish she ordered accordingly and the proprietor was so impressed he gave her a free taco.  This morning we stopped at the truck stop west of town for breakfast. We had homemade corned beef hash with green peppers, onion and cheddar cheese...WOW. Needless to say you'll probably never see these places on Diners/Drive-Ins/ and Dives but we truly covered all three D's.   

We passed through Lamar,Co. then headed north to pick up I-70. Having successfully skirted the winter weather we'll take the interstate for the last leg into Denver. We'll be driving by the Sand Creek Massacre N.H.S. (Link) which we had no idea was in Colorado. Just goes to show how much we still have to learn about our home state let alone the rest of the world. 

So we've got the hammer down cruisin' to the music of Steve Earle which seems appropriate as we turn the page on our mid-west adventure and begin a new chapter. Hasta luego compadres......Jim and Becky 
            
"I got a job but it ain't nearly enough
A twenty thousand dollar pickup truck
Belongs to me and the bank and some funny talkin' man from Iran
I left the service and got a G.I. loan
I got married bought myself a home
Now I hang around this one horse town and do the best than I can
Gettin' tough
Just my luck
I was born in the land of plenty now there ain't enough............ (SO TRUE)
Gettin' cold
I've been told
Nowadays it just don't pay to be a good ol' boy".  

Life in Amazonia

Well, here we go again. Except that now we are finishing up here at Amazon. Next week is our last week and then we are off to Golden to spend Christmas with the kids. In spite of the long hours and the physical work it has been pretty uneventful.  Can't wait to be done with this job and go home!We have a lot of sympathy for the people that live here and are thankful to have this job...or any job. It is so sad to see where our country has come to. 

We've met some great new friends and had a chance to visit some old ones. We took a long weekend to go to and see friends from Denver that now live in Eufaula Lake in Oklahoma, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eufaula_Lake) only about 1 1/2 hours drive, south through Tulsa and Muskogee  It was a great weekend....lots of catching up and some siteseeing of the fall colors.  We took a drive on the Talimena Scenic Byway. (www.talimenascenicdrive.com) This road goes from SE Oklahoma into NW Arkansas and crosses the Ouachita Mountains, one of the highest mountain ranges between the Appalachians and the Rockies. Imagine a road sign at the start of the drive stating that the road ahead consists of 14% grades! The fall leaves were beautiful and we found this little piece of history in the form of an old pioneer cemetary. Our friends house on Eufaula Lake has some great views, too. Here is the link to pictures  (Talimena and Eufaula Lake) 

In January we are going to work for 6 weeks in Estes Park, close to Rocky Mountain National Park. We are managing a small resort, River Spruce (http://www.riverspruce.com/) while the owners go on vacation. We are really excited. Anyone wanting a wonderful winter getaway should come and see us! Homemade muffins every morning and hot tubs for the star gazing at night. Then on to Mexico the end of February. 

Well, here we are…….just finishing up our 1st full week at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Coffeyville, Kansas. We left Denver Oct 8 and made the trip in one day which was a really long trip as the wind in western Kansas was terrible ( as in Wizard of Oz terrible) It was blowing right across the interstate and when you passed a semi the break in velocity almost blew you off the road. Ditto for when you came out from under an overpass. It was a white knuckle ride at times and I swear we were passed by an old witch on a bicycle. Before leaving we checked Google maps and it showed the driving time as about nine hours but apparently it doesn't factor in the wind.  Memo to navigator always plan on the wind blowing in this part of the world generally at you rather than from behind you. 

Amazon pays for our RV space so we researched the available parks and called one for reservations. We got into town way after dark ( the trip took almost 14 hours ) and just barely managed to find the place. No, Coffeyville isn't that big; we were just really tired and it was really dark. Decided to just pull in and park in an open area and went to sleep. In the morning we found out where to park and  got set up. It is beautiful little park with 2 ponds and lots of trees around the edges. Then we took a drive around to get our bearings. Coffeyville is a pretty small town in southeast Kansas just 10 minutes north of the Oklahoma border. It has a lot of industry for its size… a big oil refinery, Amazon, John Deere and Sherwin Williams all have facilities here. 

There is an amazing amount of history here , too. The Dalton gang meet their demise here, Dalton gang info and the world’s heaviest hailstone landed here in 1970 , Hailstone history

The Amazon facility is located on the other side of town about a 10 min drive from where we are parked ( I know that sounds funny to those of you who have long commutes ) but it is worth the drive as it is so quiet where we are parked.  Both of the other big RV parks are closer (one within walking distance to work) but are located right next to the highway. Since we are working the night shift, quiet is really important! We were concerned about leaving Lucy unattended for ten hours and considered leaving her in Denver with the kids which would have broken our hearts and hers but Amazon told us we'd be working different shifts so no problem, right..... wrong. We both ended up on nights but as luck would have it  we found a dogwalker to come and let Lucy out at late in the evening. What a blessing and she digs it cause she gets out more than normal and we've the added benefit of having someone checking on the coach while we're gone.

We had 2 days of orientation. FYI, believe it or not, this building is 1.2 MILLION square feet and has 27 miles of conveyor belts. The job description told us to be prepared to walk 10 miles a day. We started our 1st night on a Monday at 5:30 pm. We just worked ½ days our 1st week, to get used to the physical requirements of the job. They call it "hardening". Thankfully we figured out that only a "picker" would walk that much (they go to the bins and "pick" items to fill orders.) We were assigned to be "stowers". We take a cart filled with an amazing variety of items and "stow" them in bins. Even so, we walk a lot, especially between sections and it's all on concrete. So yes, we are on our feet the whole time except for breaks and lunch. Then this past week we worked our first full shift, from 5:30 pm until 4 am. Four days on and three off. We get home hit the sack sleep until 1 or 2 pm and get up and do it again. 

All in all it is a good gig so far and interesting to see how things work in an enterprise like this. But no questions please cause we had to sign a non-disclosure agreement and would have to kill or be killed if in violation (just kidding). So far it's shaping up to be an okay way to make some good bucks for a couple months work and who knows; we may end up with enough funds to put the boat back in the water. Then y'all will have a place to stay when visiting us in Mexico and you gotta love that.  Kansas pictures

That's the jist of it for this time.... so Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work we go.

Vaya con Dios until the next time.....Becky and Jim

Colorado Summer

Sorry this is so delayed and spans so much time... it was just one of those summers!
We spent our summer in beautiful Cotopaxi, CO. We have really enjoyed our time at this KOA campground along the Arkansas River. I loved working in the office and Jim had a blast fishing.

We got here right before Memorial Day after spending some time in Denver with the kids. Kalyn graduated from 6th grade and had a beautiful continuation ceremony. Most of the kids had gone to school together since 6th grade so the teachers put together a slideshow; showing them growing up together through the years. One of their classmates passed away from leukemia a few weeks before graduation. They included a special tribute to him. Then they had baby pictures (before) and graduation pictures (after). They were hilarious! It was a very moving and memorable ceremony. 
We celebrated Mother’s Day together. We also went to Allie’s ballet and tap recital. She was fantastic but unfortunately, she only had 1 dance routine. Denver visit

The drive down here was really beautiful. It takes about 3 hours from Denver, south through Colorado Springs and then west to Canon City, past the Royal Gorge and through Big Horn Sheep Canyon (yes there are lots of bighorn sheep) to Cotopaxi (named after a mountain in Ecuador). US Hwy.50 one of Americas grand old roads which was kinda the way to go back in the day before interstate hywys. ( remember that ) follows the Arkansas River the whole way. The view of the mountains and thru the canyons is pretty spectacular and there is a lot of history for old west buffs like us. Cotopaxi

We’re sure you heard about the wildfires that threatened this area in June. Almost all the buildings and the tramway were destroyed at the Royal Gorge, 20 miles to the east of us. Quite a historical and financial loss but there's already plans to rebuild ( gotta love capitalism ). Wouldn't you know the fire occured before we were able to visit the Gorge and it's remained closed ever since...go figure. Then the Black Forest fire happened in Colorado Springs followed by 2 major fires to the south of us ( one within 7 miles )and a huge one to the west around Wolf Creek pass. Holy cow Andy W. it was getting a little spooky. Needless to say we were praying that they would stay away from our us and they did except for the smoke which was at times pretty irrritating. But we had lots of cancellations from people who thought all of Colorado was on fire! Considering that the media made a huge drama out of it pre-empting all other programming on all major channels for a week it's no surprise. Thank goodness for Direct TV.

When we first arrived in Cotopaxi seasonal run-off had the river running deep, fast and dirty which equals unfishable.  Since Jim was really jonesing to do some fishing he bought a tent, air mattress, took the jeep and went to Antero Lake (remember last summer?) to fish. Alisha and Billy met him there and they had a great time. Then a couple of weeks later he went with Billy to Delany Buttes (outside of Walden in northern Colorado) for a week long fishing trip to celebrtate Billy's 40th birthday. It should come as no surprise that we're calling this the Dr. Seuss summer....remember 1 Fish, 2 Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. Delaney Buttes trip

All in all the campground was pretty busy, in spite of the fires. Alisha & Jeremy and the kids came down for a weekend in August and Allie got to spend the rest of the week with us. We had a blast! She and Papa Jim swam everyday for hours and watched the Disney channels. They wanted to go fishing but the gnats were horrible. They were constantly getting into your ears, nose, mouth.... yuck! So they played a lot of Crazy 8's and Go Fish, instead. The kids at Cotopaxi

One of the best attractions at the campground was the Art Shed.  Amy (who owns the campground along with her husband Jim & their son Thunder) ) is a potter. So she remodeled an old garage to be her pottery studio and created a wonderful area for people to do arts & crafts on the weekends. They always had ceramics and depending on the weekend there was tie-dye or Domino art. Check out some of the pictures on their website, coloradocampingkoa.com

We did some exploring and 4 wheeling in the area. Up and over Hayden Pass and part of the way up on Hermit Pass, both in the Sangre de Cristos. Lots of history and great scenery. The roads were very rocky but passable. Found a beautiful waterfall on Hermit Pass thanks to our 4 wheeling guide book...most people don't even know it is there. There are so many more places we want to explore we've decided to come back next summer. So plan your vacations now and come and see us.
 4 wheel trips
We left Cotopaxi September 9th. Jim headed to Antero to fish....go figure and I went over to the western slope to visit my friends Paris (in Hotchkiss) and Jill (in Montrose). 
Trip to the Western slope)
I had a great visit with them both and joined up with Jim at the lake . We went down to Denver in a few days to visit everybody and put in a new floor in the motorhome, We got to spend a lot of  time with Allie and Kalyn and Ethan, having sleepovers, going to soccer and basketball games, the pool, 1st grade and the Zoo. Kind of a last summer hoo-rah before returning to our semi- occupied, sorta retired life style. 
School & Soccer:
Zoo
Pool
We left Denver  Oct 8th, heading out to our next job in Kansas. Yep, we are going to work in Coffeyville for Amazon.com. We'll be working in the warehouse for 2 months. Check out the next blog to see how Toto or rather we..... like Kansas. 

3 days and 7 states later, we're home!

April 26-28th

We left Georgia in the rain and just in time! The floods were right behind us. It was fun going through all the small towns along the highway…lots of Christmas stores, antique stores, lawn ornaments, chainsaw animals and BBQ. We had a laugh at a couple, Fatz Burgers and Fat Buddies BBQ. We saw an OLD Gulf Oil gas station….how long since you saw one of those? Or a Piggly Wiggly? We crossed into North Carolina at the Macon County line and traveled on the Great Smokey Mountain Expressway and the Blue Ridge Parkway into Tennessee. The mountains there may not be at the high elevations that we see in Colorado but the grades are just as steep or steeper and the curves are really extreme. We crossed the Appalachian Trail which starts in Georgia. The trees grow right up and over the tops of the mountains…there is no timberline there!

We made Nashville that night after driving past the Grand Ole Opry and stayed in a great Walmart with a beautiful view of the downtown Nashville skyline. (3458 Dickerson Pike) The next morning we headed north on I-24 into Kentucky, then Illinois and across Missouri. We crossed the Cumberland River in Kentucky, the Tennessee River in Kentucky, the Ohio River on the border between Kentucky & Illinois, the Mississippi River on the border of Missouri and the Missouri River west of St Louis.

Did you know that there is a quilt museum in Paducah, KY? www.quiltmuseum.org.

That Kentucky is the “Birthplace of Lincoln”, that Illinois is the “Land of Lincoln”, that 94% of all farms in Illinois are family farms, that in Illinois you get a $10,000 fine and 14 years in jail for hitting a traffic worker?

That there is a world auto museum (http://autoworldmuseum.com) and the National Churchill Museum (http://www.nationalchurchillmuseum.org/)  in Fulton, MO?

That there is a store in Kingdom, MO called Nostalgiaville USA, that sells everything from poodle skirts and 50’s theme decorations to famous people collectables?  (http://www.nostalgicstuffusa.com) That there is a world famous truck stop called the Midway Truckstop, as seen on the Travel Channel, (http://www.midwaytruckstopusa.com/) and the Snorty Horse Saloon (http://www.snortyhorse.com/)  in Columbia, MO?

That even Missouri has wine, http://missouriwine.com/wines/?

That Kleinschmidts Western Wear in Higgansville, MO has 19,000 pairs of boots? (http://kleinboot.com/)

That you can go online to funeralcenterkc.com and compare prices and make funeral arrangements?

That there is a museum in Kansas City about WW I. You can learn why the 1st world war was not the last. It is an interactive museum with the largest collection of WW I artifacts in the world. (http://theworldwar.org)

There are lots of great things to do in Missouri! And we learned all this from billbords…. Who knew?

We stayed for the night in a great RV park in Odessa, MO,Country Gardens RV park, (http://www.countrygardensrv.com/). They have a store that has  over 140 varieties of cheese (http://www.onegoodtaste.com/Cheese___Meat.html) and  lots of unique relishes, sauces, salsas, jams and pickles (http://www.onegoodtaste.com/Jarred_Goods.html) and here is another website for more Amish goods, ( amishwedding.com). We only had a ½ hour to shop, which is a good thing! We bought some awesome smoked Gouda and some white cheddar with blueberries….wow! they were so good.

And now for fun billboard knowledge about Kansas.

Did you know that one Kansas farmer feeds 155 people plus you?

That there is a store in Wilson and Topeka, Kansas Originals, home of the largest Czech egg and that sells foods and art made in Kansas? (http://kansasoriginals.com/)

That in Wamego, Kansas there is an Oz museum (http://visitwamego.com/Things-To-Do/Oz-Attractions/Oz-Museum/default.aspx), an Oz winery with such wines as “Witch in a ditch and “Witch gone good” (http://visitwamego.com/Things-To-Do/Oz-Attractions/Oz-Winery/default.aspx) Totos Tacoz and the Oztoberfest, (http://visitwamego.com/Things-To-Do/Oz-Attractions/OZtoberFest/default.aspx)

That the historic Midland Railroad Hotel, built in 1899, is still in operation today in Wilson, Kansas the Czech capitol of Kansas?

And finally a billboard with this statement:

Recession 101….Bill Gates started Microsoft in a recession.  

Link to pix: Last leg pictures

Georgia on my mind

We left Florida in the rain and drove north through some beautiful country, heading to Athens and Hiawassee to visit with Becky’s cousins, Kevin and Phillip and their families and her Aunt Jean. More family that Jim’s never met! Along the way we saw signs for Ginnie Springs Ginnie Springs and Scuba diving at Ginnie Springs.Definitely another dive destination someday.

Once we crossed into Georgia, we were amazed at the number of billboards along the interstate, one right after another. And what was really strange was that there were billboards on both sides of the interstate, all facing northbound traffic.

We had a wonderful visit with Becky’s family in Athens. It had been many years since she had seen her cousins and had never met their families so a great time was had by all. And the food was amazing, not to mention the flowers. Sunday afternoon we followed Aunt Jean north up into the Georgia mountains to her cabin in the woods east of Hiawassee. What a beautiful drive…the dogwoods and azaleas were in full bloom all over the hills. Pictures of Athens and Aunt Jean's.

We took a couple of days to see the local sites; notably, Hamilton Gardens in Hiawassee and the Tallulah Gorge and lots of stuff in between.  Hamilton Gardens (History of Hamilton Gardens) is known for its collection of over 400 varieties of rhododendron in addition to gardens flowering with dogwoods, magnolias, azaleas, lady slippers and trillium. It was a little early for the rhododendrons to be blooming but the rest were gorgeous. Then later in the summer, the Georgia mountain Fair celebrates gospel music, demonstrations of pioneer & traditional crafts & recipes.Georgia mountain fair

Hiawassee itself borders Lake Chatuge, a huge lake…..FYI, there are no natural lakes in Georgia….they were all created by dams, most built during the 30’s by the CCC. It is a beautiful town, surrounded by wooded hills. It also has one of the last remaining 5 & 10 stores left in America (in my opinion)…. Nobletts. Hamilton Gardens and Hiawassee

Tallulah Gorge is the deepest gorge in the eastern US. Most of you have seen parts of it as it was the location for a lot of the film “Deliverence”. It is over 2 miles long and more than a 1000 feet deep! Karl Wallenda crossed the gorge on a tightrope in 1970. You can still see the towers that anchored his gear. There are 6 waterfalls and you can walk down 531 stairs to the suspension bridge that sways 80’ off the bottom.  You get the best views from there but then you have to climb all 531 back up! Most of the river flow was cut off in 1913 by a dam for hydroelectric power. On an average day the flow is 35-40 CFs. But the kayakers come out in droves when they open it up for “whitewater” days when the flow is 500-700 CFS. Wow! 

Links:

My pictures of Tallulah Gorge

Tallulah Gorge State Park

You Tube video

We finished up our visit to this corner of paradise by visiting a local vineyard which was just across the highway from Aunt Jean’s. Hightower Creek Vineyards is just one of at least 10 vineyards in the area. They use a Norton grape in their red wines, which they said was an old American variety of grape. Very interesting flavor. Hightower Creek Vineyards Info on Georgia wines Georgiawine.com

Another bit of movie trivia from this part of the country….”Trouble with the Curve” was filmed in Hiawassee and Young Harris including a scene on the highway right by my Aunt Jean’s house.

HEADING HOME

Well, it’s finally time to head home.  Of course we could not come all the way to Florida and not dive.  We had to decide whether to head further south to the Keys or dive somewhere else on the way north. As we’ve done a lot of ocean diving we decided to opt for something different and check out the caverns and fresh water springs on the northern gulf coast around Crystal River (Link to American Pro Diving, good information). Besides, Becky wanted to snorkel with the manatees.

We stopped in St Petersburg, where Jim grew up, and looked up an old friend he went to high school with. It was strange, going home again. St Pete’s, like the rest of Florida, has grown and changed so much. We decided not to even stay the night and headed up the coast. After 50 miles of solid traffic lights and strip malls the road finally opened up into piney woods.

The area around the Crystal and Homossosa Rivers is beautiful. It is a state park and a wildlife preserve (Link to Crystal River preserve) Lots of bays and inlets, canals and ribbons of rivers, marshes and salt water. (Google earth link of the area) The water in the rivers remains fairly constant at 72’, so in the winter the Manatees migrate to the warmer fresh water. We were a little late in the season, but there is a resident pod in the Crystal River year round. There weren't as many manatees, but there weren't as many people either. (Link to pix of Crystal River, FL)

Thursday morning we watched a mandatory video on how to interact with manatees, then went out on a pontoon boat to the river and found several. One was a mother with a new calf so we stayed clear of her.  We encountered a very friendly one who came right up to us and played for 15-20 mins. Everyone had a chance to get up close and pet him and scratch his back… as our dive master said to the question” do they really like to have their back scratched?” He said if you had flippers that were only 18” long and could only reach your chest, wouldn’t you like it? The only downside was that we were in 3 ft of water and it was very mucky and the viz sucked. You had to get close to see him…forget pictures. So check out these links for pictures and info on the Manatees.  (As a side note, Florida had a red tide this spring and many Manatees died.) Here is a video of the manatees from the dive shop (Link to Manatee video)

In the afternoon we did a drift dive down the Rainbow River, which is not actually a river but a 6 mile long series of fresh water springs that create a crystal clear paradise.  There are 3 types of springs and the water stays 72’ all the time. (Link to Rainbow River) There is a great video on that web site. (Link to the video on the Rainbow River) Most of the river is under 10 ft deep but there are some caverns that you can drop into to a max depth of 23’! Crazy, right? Did not see any turtles but saw a lot of freshwater fish, best of all was the Gar. ( Link to our underwater pix on the river)

Friday we went to the “Devil’s Den” which is an opening down into the underground aquifer.  Being on the tail end of the dive shop’s busy season is a huge plus because we had 2 divemasters leading our dive group , which consisted of just the 2 of us! It is a beautiful place, has camping and a RV park. You put your gear on like you are shore diving and then walk a ways to the opening and go down 2 long flights of stairs. (Remember, you have to climb them to get out, too) The dome, when it collapsed, formed a mound in the center of this pool that is surrounded by an extensive cave system and swim thrus.  The swim thrus are not like anything we’ve dove before! It is an amazing dive. The water is crystal clear and a constant 72’. Light comes in from the opening in the ceiling of this huge cavern, but it quickly gets dark like night diving when you are going through the caves. Many are blocked off or contain warning signs as being too dangerous to navigate without special equipment and training, but we went into one anyway.  (Link to video of fresh water diving in florida ) (Our pix of the Devils Den)

We asked the locals for the best restaurant in town and they said “Peck’s Old Port Cove” , the best for seafood. After a 10 mile drive west through the piney woods and marshes we found it. They have their own crab farm and the catch of the day special was Grouper, stuffed with crab and topped with shrimp, blackened style. Pair it with calamari and pint jars of Blue Moon and we were in heaven! 

Well, hello ya’ll. We know its been a long time since we've written a new chapter in our travels, but life has been busy! We are 4 months into our workamping stint down here in Florida. It was a really long trip from Utah to here!

We got to Denver from Utah just in time to have a family pumpkin carving party and go to Halloween parties at Kalyn and Allie’s school. Kalyn is in 6^th grade this year and Allie started kindergarten. Can you believe it?! Time just flies by. We hung out in Golden for a week or so and did a major remodel on the entertainment system in the coach, replacing the 24” heavy analog TV with a new HD 32” flat screen. Jim did a beautiful job redesigning the cabinet and making the door so as a reward he got a PS3 gaming system! He has never played a video game until now…at age 64, go figure!  His 1^st game wasn’t a war game but Uncharted 3 kind of an Indiana Jones meets James Bond.  Plus he got Madden 13 for X-mas... LOL.  Our 1^st Blu Ray purchase was Avatar (amazing special effects).

We stopped at Judy’s (Jim’s sister in Dallas, TX.) on the way to Florida and had a great visit with them. They have 2 new puppies, miniature Golden Doodles!  Little balls of energy and way  too cute. We ate at an incredible burger place down there, "Mixed Up Burgers". Best new restaurant of 2012, check out their amazing menu www.mixedupburgers.com.

We  were amazed by the billboards along the way. Besides the ones you would expect from being in the Bible  Belt you saw ones like these:

·         “Out of Control Teenage Boot Camp” –“Parental involvement required” ….REALLY?

·         “Many Highway Deaths Are Caused By Hitting Trees”

·         “A Year Of Cigarettes Could Buy You A New Boat”

·         “Redneck Trailer Sales”

I kid you not! These were right up there on the highway!  Then there’s this one outside of Baton Rouge:

·         “ Baton Rouge—Murder Rate Higher Than Chicago”, why would you put that on a billboard?!

We took 3 days to drive from Dallas. We passed the biggest Bass Pro Shop I have ever seen, with a huge lake. We stopped the 1^st night in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana and ate at “Crazy ‘Bout Crawfish Cajun Café”. Do not ever judge a book (or restaurant) by its cover….WOW….great food especially if you like crawfish, (Bubba Gump eat your heart out). Then we drove the Atchafalaya Basin Causeway, an 18 mile long bridge across the largest swamp in the US. It was beautiful. (Link to Atchafalaya Basin info) We kept seeing signs for the Audubon Golf Trail, thinking it was bird watching while you play golf, but it turns out it is a group of 12 golf courses that were named for John Audubon, and are members  of  the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary for Golf Courses, a program dedicated to protecting the environment and preserving the natural heritage of the game of golf.

We finally got here to Fish Eating Creek which is located in the southern part of the state just west of Lake Okeechobee. It’s pretty rural (15 miles from gas and groceries) but a very cool place none the less! We saw an armadillo (the locals call it possum on the ½ shell) our 1^st night here and the squirrels drive Lucy nuts. She has to be on a leash all the time and doesn't understand why….she thinks she’s being punished but is finally getting used to it! She loves it when we ride our bikes with her on the leash….only took 1 crash for her and Jim to figure out how to do it.

Patty and Allen run the campground (Link to Fisheating Creek Campground), through a concessionaire’s agreement with the Florida Wildlife Commission. They also own Gatorama, (Link to Gatorama) one of the few remaining “original” Florida roadside attractions. Fish Eating Creek  is a wildlife management area and part of Big Cypress Swamp. (Link to Big Cypress Swamp info). We are really blessed to have lived and worked here thru the winter but we’d never be able to survive the summers (humidity and bugs)! The fishing is great and the paddling (canoes and kayaks) is incredible. A typical day paddling includes lots of nature and if bird watching is your passion then this is your heaven. Barr’s Owls (yes they hoot) are regularly seen along with raptors like the Red Tailed Hawk and Osprey. Cranes, Blue Heron, and Kite’s abound along with a colorful array of smaller fare. Weekends are typically busy and even more so on the long holiday weekends.  We regularly sell out every space and will have 700+ people here! 

We've found a nice church in La Belle, Florida (15 miles west) but have to drive to Ft Myers (Gulf Coast) to deposit our checks. We go there once a month or so and take Lucy to the dog beach. She won’t chase a ball but she herds all the other dogs that are chasing them! It is hysterical to watch her.  (Ft Myers Dog Beach info and pix) All the dogs get along and have a great time.  

I flew to Denver for Christmas and had a great time but missed Jim and Lucy and Yaqui something terrible. I won’t do that again! From now on we spend Christmas together.

Okay so we’re now into April and our time here is coming to a close. One of the many things we enjoy about our “gypsy life style” is having time to experience the local culture firsthand.  We were blessed in this regard with meeting a great couple the 1^st day we arrived. Tracy and his wife Emmy have lived most of their lives in this area. They fish, hunt and live off the land as much as possible.  Tracy and Jim became good friends and he’s taught Jim a lot about fishing and hunting in the swamp. There’s a large variety of fresh water game fish available both in the creek and neighboring lakes like bass, crappie, all sorts of pan fish and catfish along with soft shell turtles, gar and bullfrogs. It’s not unusual to see deer, turkey, wild hogs and of course lots of alligators during a day which are available to hunt in season. We've developed a taste for fried turtle, alligator and fish tacos are scrumptious when made with fresh caught blue gill. Oh, and don’t forget the swamp cabbage which is a cabbage like vegetable harvested from what else but “cabbage palms”. (Heart of Palm)

No time spent down here would be complete without actually being in on a gator encounter.  This generally involves “nuisance” gators (as in gators with little fear of people) often because people have thrown food to them, kind of like “Don’t Feed the Bears”.  Rather than bore you with the details involved in capturing a wild 7’ alligator check out the.  Move over Gator Boys, Grandpa and Grandma Gator have arrived.

Here are links to pictures from this amazing place:

Our 1st paddle on the creek
Reflections on the creek
Gators
Turtles
Birds on the creek
Fisheating creek campsites
Tracy and Jim
Gatorama

We plan on heading north this coming week stopping on the way to dive with the Manatee in Crystal River, Florida.  We’ll be spending the summer at a KOA on the Arkansas River in Cotopaxi, CO. We hope to see Fitz, Jack, John and anyone else with a love of fly fishing and know there’s always room at our campfire for the rest of you.

In closing we want to extend a special “thanks” to the crew at L&R Automotive in Arvada, CO. Without you we would not be able to travel with the peace of mind that comes from having a mechanic you can trust.  Also Patty, Allen, Sheri , and all our co-workers at the creek. Through your efforts a very beautiful place is made even more special.

Until next time we leave you with the words to a melody that speaks to this unique  place:

“Where the black water rolls and the saw grass sways, the eagles fly and the otter’s play, so blow, blow Seminole wind, blow across the land of the Seminole, the alligator and the gar”. Songwriter  John D. Anderson.  

Peace be with you……Jim and Becky