When you get to a certain age the last thing you really need in life is more stuff. I like to keep things simple. So it was that when Ben asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I told him I wanted to go away in the RV for the weekend—to Hocking Hills State... Continue Reading →
She Loved Dogs
After extended time on the road we stop here and there on the way home for maintenance on our RV. That is how we came to be in Tuscumbia Alabama, where there is an excellent generator service business. Tuscumbia is also the birthplace of Helen Keller. Her childhood home and scene of the famous water... Continue Reading →
Poop Deck Pappy
The glossy magazines and slick manufacturer brochures make the RV life look glamorous and easy. Push a button and voila! What was an 8 foot wide bus converts into a spacious 400-square foot condo complete with a jetted tub and a fireplace. It has a dishwasher! It has a 50-inch TV! It looks like an... Continue Reading →
Gumbo
It happens all the time. Someone will ask “what’s your dog’s name?” I make sure to enunciate clearly. “Gumbo,” I say. I know in seconds if I have been misunderstood. Their eyebrows peak. “Oh, that’s an interesting name,” they say. I sigh. “GUM-BO. Like the stew, not Dumbo the elephant.” Gumbo is our second red dog.... Continue Reading →
Domestic and Foreign Aid
We’ve been wintering in our usual haunts of Port St Joe and Apalachicola Florida. Winters in Northern Florida are nothing like sunny Southern Florida, but it’s usually lovely. This season weather has followed two patterns—sunny and windy (I’m talking sustained 12 mph with 20 mph gusts) or rainy and dreary. I’m not complaining, because it’s... Continue Reading →
Mexico Beach
We decided we should see Mexico Beach, a few miles west of Port St. Joe. To get there you cross over a bridge and a short causeway on Hwy 98. The Gulf is a few hundred yards to the south. For those of you who have never been, Mexico Beach is a quintessential Florida beach... Continue Reading →
Saving Port St. Joe
We love the Florida Panhandle. The tourism industry has lots of labels for it: “The Forgotten Coast”, “Old Florida,” “Florida as it Was,” and so on. The panhandle is populated by generations of oystermen and shrimpers, ship builders, fishing charters and shopkeepers who live in small costal towns, among them Mexico Beach and Port St.... Continue Reading →
Portland Times Two
We got a later than usual start on on our annual escape from winter. If the weather broadcasters were to be believed, after several days of really cold weather we were going to find ourselves trapped in a “Day After Tomorrow” type polar vortex. (I am a huge fan of cheesey disaster/action films. DAT is... Continue Reading →
Most Loyal Reader
Prologue: I’ve written before about how traveling for extended periods puts you at risk for missing important family events and milestones. We have been at our home base and after Thanksgiving I was inspired to write about just such an event. It took me a while to get it posted. My sister is 11 years... Continue Reading →
College in the Park
Group travel in Yellowstone usually conjures up visions of busloads of elderly tourists decked out with floppy hats, fanny packs and cameras or disaffected teenagers who stand in front of the mountain vistas and text as their chaperones try to motivate them. There are other groups trekking through the park, though you have to be... Continue Reading →