Before the dust storm

We have finally arrived home after more than two months on the road. Our last several days have been marked by major climate changes. When we got up in he morning in La Junta it was 65 degrees, down from the previous day's high of 87. By the end of the day we had driven through a dust storm and a snow storm and by evening the temperature had dropped to 16 in Rawlins, WY.

Utah snow

The next day it was 13 in the morning. The roads had blowing snow and patches of glare ice. We saw a jack-knifed semi and a car on its roof. In the bad patches I would slow to twenty or less and would be  flabbergasted to be passed by cars going more than double that. Some people are so stupid they think they are immortal. Things got better for a while and then worse with more snow in western Utah. Things then warmed up and we finally spent the night Outside of Boise, ID.

The next gave us clear roads and warmer temperatures (high 30's) and then we go to La Grande when the road climbs over the Blue Mountains. The temperature dropped to the twenties and the snow resumed. Signs instructed truckers to chain up. We didn't have chains so it was pretty slow going until we got over the pass. After that the temperature again went up and the snow changed to rain. We drove all the way to Portland.

Windmill vane in transit

The next day we visited briefly with Linda's parents and then headed out on the final leg. We got home around six. John had done a great job taking care of our house and it was great to again sleep in our own bed.



The end.

River in SE Oklahoma

We drove from Louisiana to Texarkana, Arkansas. It seems like half the highways in Louisiana are causeways, they seem to go on forever. From there we drove across Oklahoma to Enid which is north of Oklahoma City. The scenery hasn't been too inspiring, but the parts of Arkansas we went through were pretty with the leaves changing color. 

Alabaster Caverns 

Alabaster Caverns

Today we left Enid and drove to Alabaster Caverns which is in the northwest corner of Oklahoma. The caves were quite interesting, They are not limestone but gypsum. This makes for some beautiful crystal formations but no stalactites. There were also lots of bats in the cave which was pretty interesting. After that we headed north into Kansas, entering the state in the town of Liberal, a great name for a town in the red state of Kansas. From there we went north and west into Colorado crossing our outbound path. We are holed up in La Junta which is jut south of Pueblo. The weather has been great, the temperature today got up to 87 degrees. All good things must end, the weather report says it may snow tomorrow (Saturday).

Liberal, Kansas

We've been putting lots of miles on these last days, I guess we are starting to smell the barn. I hope to get to around Ogden Utah tomorrow, but it will depend on the weather and the calluses on my butt.

Bourbon Street

We have been in Louisiana for several days now.The weather has taken a slight turn for the worse, cloudy and showers with temperatures in the low sixties. Our condo is in Abita Springs on the north side of Lake Pontchatrain, we are out in the tule bushes about an hour from anywhere. The condo is nice, not real new, but spacious. There is even a sauna which I have enjoyed, though Linda who is often too hot, just shakes her head. We have done two excursions, one into New Orleans and the other to  a plantation along the Mississippi River.

To get to New Orleans we traveled across Lake Pontchatrain on the twenty-four mile causeway (the longest in the world). It is strange setting out on a bridge when you cannot even see the far shore. Once in New Orleans we visited the French Quarter. The last time we had been there was in 1969 after i got out of the service. We felt we hadn't spent enough time there the last time. Truth is, the area looks pretty shabby. We walked around for several hours along Bourbon Street. The Saints were playing the Philadelphia Eagles that day, so there were lots of folks walking about in their team jerseys. We stopped for a drink in a pub that was overwhelmingly catering to Eagles fans, a little strange in the heart of New Orleans. Many of the streets were being repaved, perhaps part of Katrina's legacy. The other streets were dirty and ill kept. Overall New Orleans did not live up to our memories and we really had no desire to spend more time there.

Oak Alley

Our other excursion was to some plantations along the Mississippi southwest of New Orleans. The best of them was Oak Alley. As the name implies, there were beautiful oak trees. Three hundred year old Virginia live oaks line the property, they were incredible. unfortunately the light was not very good so my photography is only so-so. We took the tour and got the full history of the place. It was interesting and the grounds are very well maintained. 

Oak Alley roots

We have decided it is time get serious about getting home. So, even though or condo i paid through Saturday, we will be heading out on Wednesday and making tracks for the Northwest.

Happy birthday Verland!

View from our room

We've spent the last couple of days in Destin, FL. Destin is in the panhandle of Florida, not too far from Pensacola. The beaches here are amazing with sugary sand that looks like snow. The wealther has been great, but cooler than what we have gotten used to in Key West. Temperatures are in the mid to low 70's, drooping to 50's at night. We have a nice condo on the beach, we have been able to catch up on our laundry and grab a little more sun as well as touring the down town area which is by a bridge to the next island. They have a beautiful harbor with a new boardwalk along the shore.

Destin Harbor

Tomorrow we head to New Orleans. We won't be in the city, but will be across Lake Pontchartrain about thirty miles out. By taking the bridge across the lake we should be able to get into the city easily.

Destin Harbor

Alligator

Fantasy Fest has ended and we have left key West. We are now in Fort Myers on the west coast of Florida. We drove up from the keys and then headed across the state on Highway 41. We took some back roads getting there and go lost a little. Highway 41 goes trough the Big Cypress Reserve which is an extension of the Everglades. We saw some alligators along the way.

Toga Party attire

The last days of Fantasy Fest were pretty interesting. We had lots of fun at the Toga party at Sloppy Joes. Friday night features a parade through town in costume. Marreros guests adopted the theme of gangsters, and we all dressed the part as best we could. Along the march various inns along the way supplied libations for the parade participants. Saturday is the day of the big parade, lots of fancy costumes and music. Tons of beads are passed out to parade spectators. Marreros is ideally situated for parade viewing, as the parade loops around starting on Whitehead street and finishing by going down Duvall, and Marreros is in between. We got lots of beads which we will share with the grand kids.

Saturday Parade scene

On Sunday the party is over. We rented a scooter to do some exploring around the area. It was fun but hard on the backside. We are now on our way to Destin Florida on the Florida panhandle. The beaches are supposed to be beautiful. It's good to be on the way back. 

Tu-tu Tuesday

Fantasy Fest continues! The revelry here is pretty much non-stop. There are events and parties every night, most involve costumes and lots of drinking. The costumes can be fun, but we are only moderate drinkers, and we are not quite as young as we used to be. none the less we do our best to get in the swing of things. Some of the events in the last several days have been: Tu-tu Tuesday, Plaid Night, Red Night, Hippie Night, Fetish night, Rubber night and many more. We made no attempt to attend them all. Some of the events are so big they spill in to the streets to the extent that the police barricade off entire blocks. The crowds can be so thick that you literally cannot get through. Lots of folks in either elaborate or scanty costumes constantly are posing for viewers or photographers. We were a little prepared with some costumes and improvised what we could to suit the occasion. We were even asked to pose for the occasional tourist even though on the Key West outrageousness scale, we could have passed for Amish.

Steve and his gals, Tu-tu Tuesday

On Tuesday, our innkeeper at Marreros supplied everyone with tutu's so we could properly represent the house and participate in the Tu-tu Parade which wended through town stopping along the way for periodic refreshment. Marreros sponsors a happy hour on their porch every day at five and everyone was out in their tu-tu best, harassing innocent passers by. 

Body paint on the streets

Another tradition at fantasy fest is body painting. Lots of shops along Duvall, the main street, offer body painting. Shops that normally sell t-shirts, jewelry stores, restaurants, and convenience stores all set up booths along the street with resident artists to do body painting. The law says all the body painting is to be done out of public view. The law is almost universally ignored and in some cases blatantly so. If you want your face done it will be fifty dollars or so. A whole body job can go into the hundreds. You see lots of painted people on the streets at night. In some cases that is all they are wearing.

Ready for the Plaid Party

Tonight, Thursday, is Toga Night at Sloppy Joe's. We are somewhat prepared, though the local costume shops have outfits that cost into the thousands of dollars. There are parades Friday and Saturday and then things wind down and we will again hit the road. I will do one more Fantasy Fest blog before we leave Key West.

Relaxing by the pool

We've been in key West for a while now and it's been some time since I have posted a new blog. Our first week here was pretty uneventful. Lots of relaxing by the pool and seeing the sights. The time was only marred by the fact that several of the guests here at Marreros were chain smokers and Linda is pretty sensitive to tobacco smoke so we would often be driven out of the pool area in search of clear air.

Now Fantasy Fest has begun. It is a ten day festival that is held each year in Key West around Halloween. The first couple of days are relatively tame. There is what is called Goombay, an African themed street fair with lots of eats and booths. There is also a Goombay parade which we unfortunately missed.

Goombay food

After Goombay Fantasy Fest starts to get in gear. Every night most bars have special costume events. So far we have done Little Black Dress night and Pirate night. We managed to put together some passable costumes to get into the spirit of the thing. Ours were pretty tame. Others went from pretty elaborate ($1000 +) to literally nonexistent. So far I haven't been packing my camera around so I don't have much in the way of pictures. Google "Fantasy Fest" images if you want to get a taste of what it's like. I will probably add some later, though I have been trying to keep this blog PG 13 and much of what goes on in the street is R and beyond.

Pirate Night

The biggest happenings are in the last days when there is a major parade and of course lots more parties, some of which might be more out of control than we are up for.