January 2019 – Go West…
We all have heard that saying -“Go West Young Man…” though I guess we didn’t take it to heart until we retired this year. Part of our retirement travel plans for 2019 have us spending the months of Feb.- April in Palm Desert, CA close to my Mom, sisters and in the great weather of the Coachella Valley. The plan is to start from there as we begin our Alaska 2019 adventure.
Since the West Coast is literally 3000 miles from our Florida RV site our plan was to spend the balance of January traveling across the southern US (I-10) with hopes to arrive in California by Feb. 1st. The reason for the quick pace was we planned to meet our friends and family at the pier in Long Beach, CA to take a Mexico cruise the first week of Feb.(Feb. 2-9)
As Joanne says, I definitely try to pack way too much in no matter what we do. (you have no idea where this is heading…)
Departing Tallahasse, FL late in the day of Monday January 14th, we set out for our next stop New Orleans, LA. Since we had gotten a later start than hoped for after the toad braking install, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel in Spanish Fort, AL for the night. We have about 9 states to still get on our RV map and had hoped to pick up a few while going across the South on this trip though the weather and time really wasn’t working. We will have to come back and spend more time in the Florida panhandle and visit Pensacola, Gulf Shores Florida and Alabama, and Mississppi in the future for sure.
As you recall from my last post “Hurricane Michael” had created a problem for us back in late October when it was moving thorough Virginia and North Carolina. The panhandle area showed signs of complete devastation from that storm . I know they said beach towns were all but wiped out though we had no idea the extent of damage inland as we traveled across the panhandle on I-10 this day.
For nearly 100 miles we didn’t see a single tree or sign that had survived the Hurricane force winds of Michael. The entire day we witnessed, mile after mile, forest devastation and salvage efforts of the topography. To say we were stunned is an understatement. The power of nature can never be taken lightly. We figuratively know nature can be unforgiving, though this day gave it new meaning for us and we felt terrible for all that make this region their home and what they will have to endure to rebuild their lives following this devastating storm.
Doing a quick stop at a Cracker Barrel in Spanish Fort, AL we were only a short drive from New Orleans, LA the next day and arrived late morning at 3 Oaks & a Pine campground.
The location was not in the best area of New Orleans though with a gated entrance, on-site personnel, and the convenience to downtown we figured we would be fine for one night. We set-up quickly and then immediately launched our Uber app for a pick-up at the gate to take us to the World War II Museum in downtown. Since the cost between parking downtown with our Mini was negligible compared to the Uber, we opted for the Uber convenience. Ubering turned out to be a great decision here given the congestion of downtown. Dropping us off directly in front the of Museum worked great and we quickly bought our tickets and were in the museum. This museum is fairly new and was built after Hurricane Katrina. The main benfactor is Stephen Ambrose. For those of you that don’t know he is a famous historian who authored the book on Eisenhower and the famous “Band of Brothers” book and mini series. (Band of Brothers is one of my most favorite series and I actually make it a point to watch the 10 part series once every year…) Ambrose seems to be a favorite son of this part of the south…
WW II Museum
WW II Museum
The museum is exceptional and our 5 hours was clearly not enough time to see everything. The artifacts, presentation, and history was incredible and I’m the type of person that has to read everything. There’s no wonder why this has been called “the greatest generation”! So many thanks to those that served in this terrible war to preserve our freedoms!
We exited the museum at closing still trying to read everything we could and immediately found ourselves trying to decide what’s next in our New Orleans experience. I know everyone talks about Bourbon street, though we decided to head over to an area about a block away from there for some entertainment and dinner. We found a fun place located on Frenchman Street, just steps away from the hustle and bustle of the French Quarter, called “The Spotted Cat Music Club”.
The Spotted Cat … Jazz Bar
The Spotted Cat … Jazz Bar
Now sometimes you just luck out or stumble on the right place and this was one of those times. The music sets were outstanding, the crowd was fun (good thing we arrived early), and the bartender was entertaining and efficient. Pretty good selection of local beers and with no cover charge, though the only rule is that you have to buy another beer at the start of a new set or entertainer…
Several beverages later it was starting to get on to dinner time and we ventured out on to Frenchman street to try and decide where we would have our meal. Lots of places to choose from though after walking up and down the block we settled on a place right across from the Spotted Cat, which our Uber driver had recommended as well, called “Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro” . While they have a lot of music at this place as well, we spent our time in the Dining room. The food was great, though the gumbo was incredible… We were very happy with our selection for dining. Departing Snug Harbor we spent some time walking through an open air market and a few more shops though we cut the evening short as it was really starting to get chilly and we had definitely experienced a very full day in New Orleans. Uber dropped us right at the gate for our campground and as we reflected on the day we both agreed it was a good day…
Snug Harbor – Great Gumbo
We departed early the next morning for our next stop; Houston, TX. We arrived late in Houston which I wouldn’t recommend to others. Between the driving rain, unbelievable traffic, highways and flyovers, and after driving all day, the stress was definitely at max for both of us. We fortunately found a convenient Cracker Barrel in League City, TX just outside the city of Houston which would be convenient for the next day’s activities in Houston. Access was a little crazy though the manager introduced himself in the parking lot and was very friendly and showed us the best place to park in the lot.. (We do love Cracker Barrel…).
The next morning we departed early for a quick drive to the days objective – The Johnson Space Center/NASA Tour, I had always wanted to visit this facility and we were told to arrive early so as to avoid the crowds and get a seat on the first tram tour of the day. Tickets were $29.95 for an adult, which included the tour and entrance to most of the attractions, movies, and sections of the museum. If you are interested in the space program history and future this is the place; though be ready to read…
We toured the last remaining Apollo rocket, the space shuttle, the space shuttle transport, and an actual working lab for NASA and present day research facilities. It was definitely a walk through history of the first days of the Mercury 7 astronauts, the Apollo missions and the moon landing, the shuttle history, the international space station , and all the work going on for the next great frontier… a Mars landing….We spent most of the day here and being able to park our RV and tow car in the parking lot made it very easy.
We departed mid afternoon trying to get in front of the notorious Houston Traffic which clearly didn’t happen. Between all the toll booths, our toad electrical cable coming loose and getting destroyed and the last toll booth where we were confronted with a very narrow toll booth. (Apparently they have different width toll booths here which wasn’t clearly communicated and resulted in our breaking off the passenger side mirror. (Ouch!!!!) – That turned out to be an $800.00 toll because we had to replace the mirror… ) We both agreed we didn’t need to go back to Houston again. We have seen some pretty bad traffic in our days though Houston wins the award ” hands down”!
Next stop was San Antonio, TX. The drive was a long day which prevented us from arriving at the RV park early enough to check in. Given the weather, long day , road work, and our exhaustion we opted to stay at our first Walmart since full-timing. We asked for permission and promised to leave first thing in the morning and the night manager granted us permission. The Walmart location was North Foster Road San Antonio, TX. We weren’t far from the campground we planned to stay at; “Braunig Lake RV Resort” in Elmendorf, TX. We only had a short ride to it the next morning. This Campground was only about 20 minutes outside of San Antonio and was an easy drive to the city and River Walk area. We decided to stay in the park for 2 nights with a price of $27.00 per night, with full hook-ups, though when the weather turned cold and the serious winds hit us late on the second day we decided to extend an additional 3rd night just so we wouldn’t be driving across west Texas in that wind. This decision, in hindsight, was a really good one and it seemed like many others were doing the same given the conditions.
Our first day in the area we headed to downtown and parked close to the Alamo for a visit. Everyone that visits San Antonio always has to hit the historic mission at the Alamo. While many of the attractions and other missions were closed due to the government shutdown, most of the Alamo was open for visits, which is a must when visiting the area. The history and and story surrounding Texas and the Alamo is infamous and we are so glad we finally got to visit. The free movie, from the history channel, towards the back of the property was excellent and the huge statue at the entrance was inspiring given the highlights of Jim Bowie & Davey Crockett. We all heard the saying… “Remember the Alamo”… which now makes more sense after our visit.
The Alamo
The Statue of the heroes of the Alamo…
San Antonio, TX skyline…
After the Alamo we headed to the historic River Walk area to just walk and people watch… If you have never visited this area the River Walk is really a treat. They have done an outstanding job integrating the old and new architecture into the river that passes through the city. As much as we disliked Houston we loved San Antonio and would come back again for sure. We decided to take a late lunch/early dinner at a restaurant we had been recommended to by several family members and friends which was a bit of hike from the River Walk…
The restaurant was located in the Historic Market Square section of the city. This area is an area where you can get any TEX Mex souvenir you want including a cold serves or Margherita… In the middle of this area is a famous restaurant called “Mi Tierra Cafe Y Panaderia” . This landmark place has been operating & serving food, beverages, baked goods, along with mariachi music since 1941. Trust me on this one don’t miss this place when in San Antonio… EXCELLENT!
“Mi Tierra Cafe Y Panaderia” – Historic Market Square
“Mi Tierra Cafe Y Panaderia” – Margueritas…
Having stuffed ourselves with Tex/Mex and cocktails we decided to walk it off in Market Square and then back to the River Walk area. We actually walked several miles in the area as the sun set and then decided to sit at another restaurant on the water for one more marguerita while we watched the nightlife of this area come alive. The canal boats with the lights were fun along with some people actually enjoying a meal while motoring along the river walk area. A few notes: – although it is winter, nearly every establishment has large heaters to take the chill off so you can still enjoy the evening outside, – also apparently every person that serves in the US Air Force must go through basic training at Lackland Air Base in San Antonio which provides a constant presence of recent grads and families preparing to deploy on their first assignments. It was very refreshing to see so many young adults walking with pride in their Air Force uniforms as they prepare for deployment to represent and help protect our country… Thanks for your service!
Time for one more drink on the River Walk…
Locks of Love – San Antonio, TX
We spent the next day hungered down at our campsite given the cold weather and very high winds. We also got caught up on some bills and laundry. As we departed San Antonio the next day we both agreed we would visit here again in the future as its just a fun city…
Our drive the next day took us across west TX which is always a long day. Our goal was to reach El Paso by dark if possible. It was a long day of driving and we found ourselves pulling into a new Cabela’s parking lot in El Paso for the evening. This particular spot is a new plaza though very convenient to the highway. Lots of highway construction right now in this area.
One of the nicest parts of full time RVing is flexibility to change the schedule or direction at any time. While sitting in the Cabelas that evening we had a call with our son in Colorado whom we haven’t had a chance to visit in Colorado and after getting off the phone we looked at logistics and decided to just make it happen this week since we were already in the right time zone. Joanne & I brainstormed the most economical and timely way to make it happen and decided that if we headed to Tuscon the next day we could park the RV & Tow in a storage facility for the week and rent a car at Tuscon airport with unlimited mileage and drive from there. Are we crazy?… Probably, though we were on a mission to go see Sean.
Joanne found a place called Tuscon RV Storage which was convenient, safe, and inexpensive, which worked out perfectly. Since we had just had the solar installed earlier in the month we knew the panels could easily keep our batteries up while stored here. We parked the rig behind their gated entrance, packed our bags, and then had an uber pick us up for the short ride to Tuscon airport. Since the weather was very suspect in the Aspen Valley and the connection from Denver to the Aspen Airport have been delayed or cancelled, we opted for a weekly rental at Budget with unlimited mileage for our drive to Colorado instead. The entire rental car cost was less than $200.00 which was far cheaper than flights.
The view from Sean’s apartment – Rocky Mountain High’s…
More Rocky Mountains in Aspen Valley… Mount Sopris
Sean’s Athletic Director Office
We took turns driving the Rented SUV and surprised Sean with our arrival the next day. The trip took us South to North in Arizona and Utah while passing through the Prescott Valley and right past the Grand Canyon entrance. The drive through Utah had us passing many National Parks including right past Arches NP in Moab.
As we arrived the next morning in the Aspen valley we were greeted to spectacular snow capped mountains and some fresh powder. Good thing we brought our boots and warm clothing as we hadn’t seen a chill like this since last February in Connecticut…
Sean was able to show us his adopted home town, his school, SnowMass ski area (only minutes from his apartment), and we got to share some meals over the next few days. So glad we got to make this detour on our RV adventure and see our son.
As we departed for our return drive to Tuscon we all agreed to do this again real soon. Hope to visit again in April for a few days before our Alaska departure. On our drive back we actually got a chance to drive through Arches NP which was terrific. It was still a very cold out though we both agreed to return here soon for a proper visit…
As we returned to our stored RV we reflected on the busy week and decided everything had worked out fine and now we know how to handle temporary storage and short term travel, affordably, without the RV. Good experience/reference for sure.
Departing Tuscon we continued on our trip west. Our next stop was Yuma, AZ about 2 hours from Palm Desert, CA which put us right on schedule again. We had always planned to spend a few days in Yuma and venturing into Los Algodones. MX for a dental cleaning, possible new glasses, and a visit over the border that we had read about for years.
Crossing the border at Los Algodones, MX
We had actually booked cleanings and checkups through Dayo Clinic and appointments at Rubio Dental Group. This was all based on recommendations by other full-timers and bloggers we follow.
Rubio Dental Clinic
The cost was only $30.00 for cleaning and examinations. Joanne’s was quick and routine, though my appointment turned into several recommendations about replacing some very old crowns I have had for over 25 years. My dentist in CT had also recommended this over the last few years. With the cost at Rubio more than I wanted to spend, I ventured out to look for another professional practice that could do the work cheaper. I am usually very careful about things like this though definitely was stepping out of my comfort zone exploring other options. Rubio Clinic had recommended 4 crowns, though after removing the old crowns it was discovered I had a large cavity underneath that would require a fifth crown.
I ended up using Torres Family Dental Group across the street from Rubio which ended up working out, though I had several moments of concern over the 3 days the work was being done. The practice was clean and professional; I just had concern over having so much work done in a foreign country.
Torres Family Dental
Ultimately everything worked out and I had 5 new Zirconia crowns completed in 3 days. The cost for the crowns, complete, was nearly 40% less than Rubio and probably 80% less than my dentist in the states. The price was right, though I definitely had moments of concern and trepidation. Looking back now everything worked out great and I got 5 new crowns though not sure if I would do it same way again. Time will tell…
Eye glasses we thought would be a great deal though we didn’t find that to be the case until I happened on Professional Optical where they provided a price of $240.00 complete for progressive lenses, anti- glare, and anti- scratch along with a great frame. I had a current prescription so they were able to make the glasses in one hour in their adjacent lab which they gave me a tour of. This ended up going very well and I was very happy with my new specs. Joanne didn’t need new glasses right now.
Getting Glasses… Professional Optical
Getting Glasses… Professional Optical
Next stop was haircuts which we both got for $5.00 which turned out one be very good and a great value. With most projects completed we decided to take in a late lunch the final day there for some shrimp tacos, chips/salsa, and of course a terrific (over-sized) margaritas.
Haircuts…
Haircuts…
Time for some local fare of shrimp tacos, chips, salsa, and margaritas…
Time for some local fare of shrimp tacos, chips, salsa, and margaritas…
Traveling over the border in the morning is very easy. You park at the Quechan Tribe Parking Lot all day for $6.00 and then just walk across the border. It really is quite simple and easy. Just remember to bring your passport. They don’t look or check anything going into Mexico, though returning to the states is significantly more challenging. Usually by mid afternoon a long line begins forming to cross back into the states and probably it is the worst part of venturing into Los Algodones. Three different days we waited in line between 1.5-2.5 hours single file to get to the customs agent and be granted access back into the US. We met several interesting people each day while waiting on line. Most had come to Los Algodones for dental work. Actually one man we met on line had been there 5 days in a row for dental implant work which was costing him $14,000 US though was quoted $63,000 for the same work in the US. Yes you can save money on top quality dental work here just do your homework and be a little bold…
The line to get back into the USA…
Our campground in Yuma was “Rolles Lynda Vista RV Resort” . We were greeted by the infamous Ruth at the gate (Read the reviews and comments about Ruth…) who preceded to guide us to our site for our stay. The cost for this park was $16.00 a night with full hook-ups and all the citrus you can consume… (Passport America). They have fruit trees everywhere; including (grapefruits, oranges, and lemons) which you are welcome to pick. In fact the park owner gave us a fruit picker to use while we stayed here! In addition to the fruit trees there are chickens, donkeys, and plenty of hummingbirds roaming or flying around from nearby properties. If you like rooster- crowing this is your place! We enjoyed our time here and the location was so convenient for our days in Los Algodones. Thanks Ruth!
Departing Yuma on Thursday January 31st we were only 158 miles from Desert Shadows RV Resort in Cathedral City, CA which would be our home for the balance of the winter months… Before arriving at the camp site we had an appointment at Holland RV in Palm Desert where we had scheduled to install our new replacement side mirrors we had ordered after our Houston mishap.
We checked into our site early evening and spent the following day doing laundry and packing for our cruise, scheduled to depart on Saturday February 2nd.
Well I know everyone says to us, “you’re retired and living the dream!” though I’ve got to tell you after all we accomplished in January, the miles we covered, and the projects we completed, we were definitely ready for this cruise to allow us to rest from our January’s – Revolutionary Journey…
