Misc blooming flowers

Ocatillo cactus

Yellow cactus bloom

Barrel cactus

Plant at the Las Cruces KOA

Red blooming cactus at White Sands

5/10 & 11 - Las Cruces, NM

Our view of the sunset at the KOA in Las Cruces, NM

A huge agave plant at the KOA

Guess who sledding -not on snow, but on sand!

Trying to climb the sand dune in order to slide back down. It was also very windy at the top of the dune

Mike on his one slide down the dune

A field trip - sledding down the dunes! Do we do that kind on Bainbridge?

We left Junction, TX and headed for Las Cruces where we stayed in another KOA with a wonderful view and a functioning swimming pool. From this campground we went to White Sands National Monument. We did not have time to go to the White Sands military facility. This is where the 1st atomic bomb was tested. You can only see that sight on the 1st Saturday of the month, so we missed that also. We went to a quilt shop and did their Wednesday a.m. farmer's market before heading out to the next stop over.

May 7th, 8th & 9th - Junction, TX & a wonderful experience

I forgot one very important worker. This is Theresa. She is headed for college after she graduates this month.

LtoR Work campers Sharon & Joe, and KOA owners Dusty & Bebe at the BBQ

The prayer & National Anthem to start the rodeo

Sunset in Junction, TX at the KOA

On Friday, 5/7, we were trying to see how far we could get into Texas when we realized that we weren't going to get home for either Brandon's or Sammy's birthdays. We decided that we had never really spent any time traveling by ourselves so we only went as far as Junction, TX. and what an experience that turned out to be! The only campground around was a KOA just off the highway. we called and they had room and seemed very friendly on the phone. They also had a swimming pool that was in use. I need to add here that that was one of the 1st questions we asked when we were staying in a private campground - do you have a pool? The answer most times was yes, but upon arriving we would be told that it hadn't been cleaned, chemicals had just been added or it wasn't open until after Memorial Day. Most days it was hot and we just wanted to go for a quick swim before dinner. Anyway, the camp workers came out to greet us and then guided us to our site. We headed for the pool and the owner came by to say hi. Mike has been curious about work camping and/or running a campground so he began to ask Dusty questions. I had read that there was a rodeo that night so asked where it was. The next thing we knew here came Dusty w/2 box seats to the rodeo. Up to that point, we hadn't decided if we were going to unhook the car or not. Dusty and his wife, Bebe, were judges for the rodeo queen contest. We went to the rodeo, Dusty bought us refreshments. Prior to going to the rodeo, when Mike was asking his questions, Dusty told him he could stay and work for a day, a month, or 6 months and we wouldn't have to pay for our camp site. I suggested that Mike give it a try. The only problem was that when he told Dusty he'd try it, Dusty signed me up to work in the office. It was a fun experience. We learned a lot. When I got off work on Saturday, I headed for the river in hopes of photoing a turtle. Instead I found a rather large snake coiled in the water at the edge of the river. I went to the office to ask what kind of snakes they had there and Dusty immediately headed for the river. Long story shorter - he killed the snake. It was a water moccasin! On Sunday he bought the other work campers and us a BBQ brisket lunch. He drove up the street of the town on his Kabota tractor to pick them up. He then announced that they were having a going away BBQ for us that night at their motor home. We were sad to leave there so soon.

May 6th - Robertsdale, Alabama to Beaumont, TX

Not much to report except that we left Alabama, drove thru Louisiana to Beaumont, TX. What we realized on this drive was what you miss if you only drive the freeway from one place to another as opposed to driving thru the smaller towns and seeingonly we/visiting w/the people. On the bike ride we only went thru small towns and on back roads. What a difference. The freeway is really boring.

May 5th - Mobile Bay, Alabama

George the heron w/ his super glued neck

Mobile Bay Alabama below the town of Fairhope

While Bruce worked on the motor home we took the car to a wonderful town called Fairhope just above Mobile Bay. We toured the shops and yes we did buy a few things here. We then went down to the bay where they have a dock that is a mile long. We watched as 3 men threw their nets from the dock and caught some kind of white fish. I forget the name. There was a blue heron standing on the railing waiting for a fish small enough to eat. Another man standing there told me that "George" the heron was rescued only 2 days before. His neck was nearly severed because he got caught in fishing line. The vet super glued his neck back on and here he was waiting for something to eat. The homes along the bluff were wonderful old homes, most w/big front porches and large oak trees around them. It was a fun place to spend the day. We loved Alabama!

5/1 - 4 St. Augustine - Then on the road again

Oldest wooden school house in the US

Sat. May 1st we decided to take in downtown St. Augustine. We looked at the old buildings, including the oldest wooden school house in the US and an old cobble stone road. We went thru many shops, but didn't buy anything. On Tim's advice we did visit the A1A Brew Pub and had a great BLC (bacon, lettuce & crab) sandwich. It was delicious as was their summer beer. On the 2nd we visited Russ and then spent the day at the beach. Blinding white sand and beautiful blue water, but I don't think I took any pictures. On the 3rd, Mike decided that the 2 thermo pane windows on the front sides of the motor home needed to be replaced because visibility was so bad - keep in mind that Denise and I had just driven w/them that way for almost 2 months. We dropped the motor home off and once again headed for the beach.
We left St. Augustine on the 4th of May and while Mike was driving the cruise control didn't seem to want to work and we didn't seem to have full power. We pulled into a rest stop and Called B&D Auto in Robertsdale, Alabama. If you have been following the blog, you'll remember that Bruce was the one that got the motor home out of park and fixed some electrical problems when we were staying at Gulf Shores, Alabama.
I took over the driving and drove thru a down pour, the likes of which I have never seen. 0% visibility! We spent the night at a campground in Foley, Alabama and then took the motor home to Bruce on the 5th.

More pictures from St. Augustine/NASA 4/29 - 30

Tortoises at the alligator farm

White egret w/chicks at the alligator farm

Alligators being fed

Us in front of the Explorer

Atlantis being readied for launch on 5/14. This is all going to be outsourced so there are only a few launches left to happen at the Kennedy Space Center

Alligator Farm - St. Augustine/NASA 4/29 - 30

Scott and Mike and myself at the space center

Mike and myself at the entry to NASA

Albino alligator at the alligator farm

Some of the many alligators

The day after Russ' accident we visited him in the hospital and then went to the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine. They have hundreds of crocks and alligators. We watched them be fed and looked at all the different species and saw which ones are endangered and which are not. The next day we drove to the Kennedy Space Center/NASA and took one of their tours. Thanks to our astronaut friend John Fabian, we met a shuttle astronaut, Scott Parazynski and had our picture taken w/him. He has flown 5 missions, one of which was the shuttle w/John Glenn. He 1st met him when he was 5 and all these years later he was John Glenn's physician when he went up for NASA to study the effects of space on older people. Scott has also scaled Mt. Everest. Our tour guide told us John was her favorite so we called him on one of the stops and she and John had a brief conversation.

4/28 Day of Rest and sightseeing!

I guess it's all part of the adventure! Our famous saying as things happened along the way, but we didn't expect it to be something like this!

Russ & Denise at the Atlantic Ocean

Mike & Dawn and the tandem at the Atlantic Ocean

We headed out to the local farmer's market in the morning. Mike and I had to find a place to receive a fax as we had a $14,000+ charge on our credit card we had to deal with. Russ and Denise headed to town to see the lighthouse and the Castillo de San Marcos. We took care of the fax and headed for the lighthouse. Denise wanted to go to the Alligator Farm w/us as Russ didn't want to go so she kept in touch. She called from the Castillo to say she had fallen and messed up her gearing so was riding in a very low gear, but was OK. We were at the light house headed for the Castillo. She headed for the Alligator Farm w/o Russ. We went to the Castillo and were not quite finished seeing it when she called to say that Russ had fallen at Lions Bridge and was hurt. We headed that direction, but didn't see Russ. The bridge opened for 2 sailboats and when it closed we saw Denise on the other side. She headed for Russ and we peddled our you know whats off to get the car. We convinced them to call an aid car to take Russ to the hospital. Mike headed out in the car and picked up Denise and their bikes. After a few xrays, etc. it turned out that Russ had two compound fractures on the hip he had had replaced a few years ago from a different bicycle accident, but didn't need surgery. Denise got a motel room and rented a car. Russ gets discharged on Monday, 5/3 and they will fly home to Yakima on May 5th.

4/27 - THE FINAL DAY - Hawthorne to St. Augustine, FL

Mike & Russ in the Atlantic Ocean. Mike is drinking the cider.

The 4 of us at the end of the journey!

The view from Lions Bridge

Heading over Lions Bridge to the finish at Anastasia State Park, St. Augustine, FL.

The day started out great! We drove back to Hawthorne and Mike, Denise & Russ started the ride from there with Mike Yahooing along the way. They rode thru Hawthorne, Melrose, Putnam Hill, Grandin, Florahome, Carraway, to Palatka. I was to drive to Palatka, Fla. After they took off I noticed that the turn indicators didn't work if you were stepping on the brake. I got to Palatka w/o incident, but was looking for a WalMart and took a wrong turn. It turned out that I had to go at least 25 miles before I could safely turn around. I did pass one spot at about mile 15, but had a vehicle so close that if I stepped on the brake to turn in they wouldn't see the turn indicator. All I saw on this adventure was one wild turkey and lots of people hand harvesting cabbage. Mike called and they were almost to Palatka and I wasn't. They directed me to where they were and we then had to deal with the turn indicators. This dampened Mike's spirit somewhat, but the nice people at a Goodyear shop took us right in and fixed yet another problem caused by the person who hooked up our braking system. Denise took over the driving and we rode from Palatka thru Hastings, Racy Point which had very nice homes along the St. Johns River, Riverdale and to Molasses Junction which was where we were to call Denise so she could head back from the state park to meet us so we could all ride to Anastasia State Park and the beach at St. Augustine together. Molasses Junction consisted of one small store with a very friendly cat that greeted us. As we left the store we had the best, almost the only, tail wind of the entire trip! Denise reported that she couldn't check in to the state park as the reservations were in Mike's name and she didn't have picture ID so she parked in the day use parking lot and headed our way. We met up w/Denise and rode over Lions Bridge to the Atlantic Ocean at Anastasia State Park together. We had champagne and sparkling cider as we took pictures of the end of a great adventure! 50 total days of riding and over 3,100 miles for Mike and Russ. I had approximately 1,354 miles. This, unfortunately is not the end of the story!

4/26 Oleno SP, High Springs to Hawthorne, FLA

I rode the first 40 miles and then traded w/Denise. High Springs, Gainsville, Fla. We were to stay in a camp ground near Hawthorne that was basically a fishing destination. We were told they had showers and bathrooms. I arrived, paid and set up camp, then went to the office to buy ice and find out where the bathroom/showers were. I was told that they were torn up/under repair and that all they had were port-a-potties! It's hot in Florida at this time of year and I can only imagine what they were like - I didn't check them out. I called Mike to report the situation. They were in Hawthorne and checked on another place that I had passed. They were told that "we didn't want to stay there as it was full of drug addicts and pedifiles(sp)"! Russ, Denise & Mike arrived and I had located a few other choices thanks to "Passport America" which Galusha's had signed us up for when we were in Mesa, AZ. Thank you Dick and Elaine. Mike called to make sure they had room and then went to get our money back - no easy task, but he did manage to get the refund. We then drove about a half hour to our final destination. We passed several other parks on the way and wondered if we should have stopped, but it turned out that the place we had chosen had a great swimming pool which we all enjoyed. There were even 8 frogs enjoying the pool w/us. They also had a good laundry and showers!

4/25 Lee's to Oleno SP - High Springs

The miniature pony & her colt

Another one of the miniature pony & colt

Mike holding the corn snake while we waited for Russ

The snake on the side of the road

The only town that we rode thru today was Wellborn. I rode the last 45 of the 71 miles. Denise rode 1st and then drove the motor home to the state park. We rode thru some pretty country roads where the live oak trees formed a canopy over the road. Lots of horse ranches. While riding we saw a copper colored snake in almost perfect condition. We waited for Russ to catch up to see if he wanted another snake skin. It was a different colored corn snake. As we left him, he was skinning it. we passed a miniature pony farm and spotted a colt w/it's mother. Denise had to leave the motor home in the day use parking as they wouldn't let us check in until 3 p.m. She rode out to meet us. After seeing her, we headed for the SP so we could unhook the car and I could go shopping for food. Shortly after Mike and I arrived at the SP, it started to rain. By the time I got back, Russ and Denise were there. They rode the last part of the ride in a down pour and it was now thundering and lightening. We went to see the town of High Springs and while having a milk shake, the rain really came down!