North Fort Myers, FL

Unfortunately, we caught some kind of nasty URI while in Orlando, and when we arrived in Ft. Myers, we were both laid low. We had Christmas dinner with friends Rose, Pam, Kathy and Mary Jane, three of whom used to drive school bus with Cory. All have since relocated to this area, and all of THEM got sick after we had dinner with them. So though we spent nearly a month in town, we only saw our friends one other time after Christmas--nobody was well enough to be up and visiting!

But we did get out a few times to see some of the sights. We took an airboat ride on the EverGlades, as well as a "jungle boat tour" out of Everglades City that, mostly, consisted of riding through the no-wake zone looking at the fabulous homes build on the waterfront. And we saw all the alligators we cared to see, right off the highway!

Orlando, FL

I can't imagine a better place to be with kids for Christmas than DisneyWorld. Michael brought the boys down for five nights. Naturally, the first couple of days, Orlando was having unseasonably cold weather, with highs in the 50s. That's mighty cold when the sun goes down and the parades and fireworks start. But before the boys went home, we finally got some highs in the 70s, and they could go home bragging about how warm it was, just as we had promised. Unfortunately, we never were able to find Joey a palm tree with coconuts in it. He couldn't believe they were really palm trees unless he could see coconuts!

Of course, Disney doesn't have a monopoly on Orlando (though it feels that way). We managed to squeeze in a helicopter ride, a nice drive to the beach, and on one of our exploratory drives, we came across BigFoot!

St. Augustine, FL

This little town may be the best-kept secret in Florida. Older than the Jamestown colony by nearly 50 years, St. Augustine was held alternately by the Spanish and the British. What the two left behind is a charming oceanside community of white sand beaches, old colonial architecture, and lush hotels built by and for America's elite of the 19th century. From wandering down the narrow streets full of eclectic shops to strolling through the museums and down the beaches, we had a great time.

Savannah, GA

What a beautiful city! The streets of Savannah are canopied with live oak trees draped with Spanish moss, there's a lush city square park every few blocks, and the riverwalk area is a delight, with all kinds of shops and restaurants tucked into historic brick buildings right along the harbor. There are all these Victorian "painted lady" homes, as well as neighborhoods that feel almost like the French Quarter of New Orleans, with intricate wrought iron balconies. The College of Art and Design seems to have a campus building everywhere you look, and the whole city feels like a designer's sensibility is behind it, from the architecture to the decorating to the landscaping. We had a great time today roaming the shops on River Street and Bay Street, and we're going back to take a historic trolley tour and a ghost tour, too.


Savannah is now on our short list of cities we'd visit again at the drop of a hat. I'll bet it's magnificent in the springtime!

Charleston, SC

When we left Myrtle Beach, we fully intended to get to Savannah, GA. But just before we left, we got our mail. In our Escapees magazine, I read an article on the Holiday Festival of Lights at James Island County Park in Charleston. I started telling Cory about it as we were pulling out, and before we reached Georgetown, we decided, "Why not?" So we stopped in Charleston!

We had to drycamp the first night in the overflow area of the county park. The HFOL is a big deal and the campground fills up every weekend through the holiday season. But we were able to get into a full hookup site the next day, and we planned to stay here through Thanksgiving. As it turns out, we've both been sick all week--caught a nasty bronchitis--so we extended our stay another couple of nights. We managed a nice Thanksgiving Day dinner, turkey and all the trimmings, here at home, and got out to see the big sand sculpture across the way at the Winter Wonderland.

Myrtle Beach, SC

Over the last week, we've shared our beautiful oceanside resort with more than 900 horses! And we loved it! The event was the 23rd Annual American Heart Association Rideathon. Riders collected pledges, just like in a walkathon, then spent four days here in Myrtle Beach riding their horses on the beach to raise money for the AHA. We knew this would be something special when the long, long lines of horse trailers started arriving. The check-in system was very efficient; every horse went through a "Coggins inspection" to verify its health and vaccination history while the owners got their site assignments.

They came from everywhere--we saw plates from Texas, New York, Colorado, Wyoming, as well as lots from the Carolinas and neighboring states--and as they set up their portable corrals and started exercising the horses, you could feel the excitement spread across the campground.

We were surrounded by horses! (See us? That's the B.A.T. in center frame above.) The dogs were surprisingly calm about it all, only getting a little excited when they were outside next to a nickering neighbor. The group hosted a lot of entertainment and other events, and we were made to feel fully welcome to join right in at country music concerts, karaoke events and more.

But the best part was watching them ride on the 20+ mile stretch of beach. It's a relatively rare treat for both man and beast---to walk, trot and even gallop along the ocean surf in the company of hundreds of other horsemen. The sight is something we won't soon forget.

Myrtle Beach, SC

Just arrived, so no pics yet, but Myrtle Beach looks like fun! We decided to settle in here for a couple of weeks. That will give us time to do some beachcombing, check out the local entertainment scene, and enjoy the indoor heated pool that's within sight of our spot here.

Virginia Beach, VA

We've become part of a mini-caravan! We met Judy in Luray at the RVing Women rally, joined her and a few of the other gals again the next weekend at Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield, then found she was headed to Virginia Beach to visit her son. So we made arrangements to rendezvous again!

Judy is a solo full-timer who knows this area fairly well, so she became our guide for a visit to the Virginia Beach Aquarium. We got a late start today, so we're going back tomorrow to see more. The weather has turned cool, but we still hope to see a day warm enough to do a harbor cruise before we leave VA Beach on Saturday. No destination planned as yet...just south! Judy, on the other hand, will be heading back toward her home base in northern Virginia. But we'll stay in touch and hope for another opportunity to meet on the road.

Luray, VA

An auspicious omen for our arrival in Virginia...the most beautiful, full arc rainbow I've ever seen. Couldn't even get it all in the picture! While in Luray, we visited the caverns. We've done Mammoth and Carlsbad, but never been in caves where we literally stepped around stalagmites in our path and had to remember not to touch them as we moved by. Almost all the formations were really up close--not as huge as in the bigger caves, but a lot more accessible.

We were getting ready to leave Luray on Saturday morning, the 23rd, when I spotted a crowd of women around a campfire a few sites down. Curious (you never see 20 or 25 women together at a campsite), I went down and introduced myself and asked if they were a club. Turns out it was the MidAtlantic Chapter of RVing Women, having their fall rally. They invited us to join in, so we stayed an extra night. We learned how to play Mexican Train dominoes, then went to a potluck dinner, where two accordian players and a harmonica player led a sing-along. We had a great time. We were planning on heading down to Virginia Beach on Sunday, when a few of the gals told us they were going to be camping in Richmond the next weekend. So...we stopped in Richmond for a while! The drive down through the Blue Ridge Mountains was spectacular.

Hershey, PA

It's the sweetest place on Earth! It's true, the town smells like chocolate when the wind is right. Here in Derry Township (though the Post Office is named Hershey, the town has never officially changed its name), the main street is named Chocolate Drive and the street lamps are shaped like the famous kisses. There are no tours of the actual factory anymore, but you can tour a mockup at Chocolate World, so of course, we did!

Our plans to head for New England for the fall colors had to change when I was summoned to jury duty. But we headed east anyway, and have found that the Allegheny Mountains are beautiful this time of year. We'll be in Lancaster for a day or two, then we're off to Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley for a week. It's perfect fall weather in this part of the world, cool and sunny...most days, anyway.

Skokie, IL

We stayed in Illinois a lot longer than orginally planned--I was called to jury duty in late September, so our plans to head to New England for fall colors are on hold. But it meant we had more time to spend with friends and family there. JoAnn and Irene have a new pug puppy...now, get this right, to say her name properly, throw your head back like Marlon Brando and yell, "STELL-LLA"! She's shown here in the Halloween sweater her Aunt Cory picked out for her!

And of course, we visited with our godsons--growing like weeds, they are. We made our annual trip to Magic Waters in Rockford, where they each got tattoos...the kind that last about four days. That's Jim on the left, Joe on the right.

La Pine, OR

The snow was still blocking the road to the top of Paulina Peak the Sunday we drove out to visit "the highest flush toilet in Oregon," but we had a great day, anyway. Dad and I climbed up the obsidian field to look down over the valley while Cory and Mom stayed in the car down below. It was a steep climb, and just between us, I was considerably more winded than he was.

Our stay in LaPine extended several weeks longer than we orginally planned, while we waited for an appointment to repair our trailer's bedroom slide in Bend. But with those beautiful Cascade Mountains surrounding us, the thick, tall Ponderosa and jack pine forests all around, and our ongoing double-deck pinochle tournament with the folks to entertain us in the evenings, we had plenty of reasons to enjoy our stay.

One of our favorite haunts turned out to be a restaurant that recently opened in LaPine, Angel's Thai. Yup, we're big fans of Thai food...and Angel's serves the best we've ever tasted. It's run by two sisters (neither one is named Angel), one who cooks and one who manages the front. If you're in the area, make sure you try the Yum Nua (beef salad)--and trust us, save room for dessert. For weeks, we saw "mango and sticky rice" written on the board as the dessert special, but we didn't try it until we were leaving LaPine and the sisters gave us a serving to go as a good-bye gift. When delays on our repair took an extra day, we went back just to have more!

Piedras Blancas, CA

See that white blip, farthest to the right, out on the cliff? That was us, right on the Pacific Coast, just about 7 miles north of Hearst's Castle on CA-1. It was a totally primitive site, no water, no electric, no cable TV, no bathhouse or even outhouse, just parking. We had our portable generator, our satellite dish and a little water in the freshwater tank, though, so we were fine.

Was it a spot we'd have picked? Probably not--we whizzed right by here nearly three days earlier on our way north. But that was before we broke down for the second time this month and had to leave the trailer for several nights in a turnout at the top of a mountain road. After help from one of the really good guys (if you know Craig Isom of Cambria, CA, tell him the ladies are still saying 'thanks'), we limped down the hill to the first safe place we could find. This was it, and for three days, until we could get to the nearest repair shop...

...this was the view from our front door. Sometimes, circumstances force you to slow down a little...and listen to the surf. Lesson learned.

San Simeon, California

On this short stretch of beach on the Pacific Coast Highway, elephant seals come to mate, molt, and bath in the California sunlight.

It reminded us just a little of the Chicago beach on the 4th of July...

During our drives back and forth along CA-1, we saw a lot of these fellows.

30 miles north of Cambria, California

The Escapade over, we headed for San Francisco. On the Pacific Coast Highway, coming out of a hairpin curve headed downhill, I applied the brakes, something snapped and we were smoking again. Thank heaven there was a turnout big enough for us only 100 yards ahead.

This time, there was no way to limp, and no help was available until Monday, so we were stuck on the side of a coastal mountain road, out where the cell phones wouldn’t work and the nearest town (Cambria, only 6000 people) was 30 miles away. We stopped at a Chevron station there, where a nice young man spent almost an hour on the phone trying to find a mobile mechanic or road service that would go up on the mountain to help us. No dice. And because of height restrictions on that highway, a low-boy wasn’t an option even if we could find one! So we took a motel room in San Simeon. The thought of trying to sleep in our trailer on the side of a dark, deserted, twisty-turny mountain road made Cory too nervous, so she stayed there and manned the phone so someone could reach us. The thought of leaving our HOME 30 miles away and obviously deserted made me too nervous, so I went out there and stayed the nights with the dogs. We had purchased a small generator at the Escapade in Lancaster, so I had lights and could watch movies on the VCR and work on the computer.

Monday came and we still hadn’t found anyone to help—then on my way down the mountain, I passed the nice man from the Chevron station, going the other way. Seems he’d spent the whole weekend worrying about us, so he was going out to see if he could do anything to help. He wound up spending both Monday and Tuesday (his days off) chasing down parts to help us get rolling and get down the mountain to a repair shop 50 miles away. There, we learned that during the last repair, the last U-bolt hangers installed apparently weren't tightened down properly.

Santa Clarita, CA

Well, here was the solution to our problem. The shop and the manufacturer agreed that the original suspension design failed, so a beefier solution was installed that included welding a reinforcement to the frame and shortening the leaf brackets to stiffen them. So we're off to Lancaster, to the Spring Escapade, a week of social activity and seminars just for full-time RVers.

Los Angeles, CA

Yup, that's the B.A.T. parked on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, right in front of Lalique!

Of course, you HAVE to drive the Pacific Coast Highway when in LA. We started at Topanga, and followed it all the way to Marina Del Rey. Loved the architecture of the crowded ocean view flats in the Santa Monica/Venice areas...

We stumbled into Hollywood one evening, and I wasn't about to leave until I got a shot of the famous Chinese Theatre. OK, nobody said it was a GREAT shot....