Journey Ends, my final thoughts

My favourite picture that I thought says it all. Spectacular!!!!!!!

Well, it is finally here after 7 1/2 months we have completed the circle and arrived home last night. The drive from Maryland was excellent, nice sunny days but chilly. We ended up doing it in 2 days as sleeping in the cold is not so much fun!!!!

Words cannot describe how amazing the journey was and the wonderful people we have visited and met on the way. All of you made such an impact on us and you will always have a special place in our hearts. To our newest grandson, Ben, meeting you for the first time was such a joy and I enjoyed every minute I spent with you and I miss you so much.

I could not find words to explain how I feel but this quote I love:

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intentions of arriving safely in a pretty well-preserved body but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and proudly proclaiming "WOW, What a Ride!!"

Maryland

We are near Wendy in Annapolis Maryland in Lothian at Duncan Campgrounds. The last long stop before our journey ends. Spent a week with Wendy, Scott and Xavier. Xav for 2 1/2 years old is very smart. Talking 90 miles a minute and you should see him with an Ipad. He knows his folder and can get to his movies, games and books in it and me at 61 can even shut it off....Very Sad!!!!! Hahaha. So cute he calls me "Gammie" and so polite. Of Course, he loves his Papa!!! Took a side trip to Colonial Beach Virginia so picturesque and of course, the cherry blossoms in bloom. So nice to see spring coming. Wendy and I went Wedding Dress Shopping and it bought back memories when I did it with Tracey. So cool to have shared this with my daughters. I am so blessed. Today we visited the site for the wedding ceremony which is an old plantation belonging to Scott's stepdad family. What a beautiful site!! We got to meet his sister Kim and her 2 sons, Tyler and Ryan. Scott's mum (Carol) and Tom had a great dinner for us and we so enjoyed their company. Tomorrow we will begin the final phase of our journey home.

Picture 1 : Gammie and Xavier

Picture 2: Mar 19 SuperMoon
Picture 3: Colonial Beach, VA

Picture 4: Cherry Blossoms in bloom

Picture 5: Drury Plantation(Site of wedding)

Picture 6: Scott, Wendy & Xavier

Charleston & SC

Picture 1: Famous St Philips Church
Picture 2: First sign of spring....Dogwood in full bloom

Picture 3:Stately Home with Copola on top used to cool the house

Picture 4:Gary petting the Palomino Horse before our tour

Picture 5: Another Stately home....see the detail
Charleston is an amazing city. It was founded in 1670 and is known as a living museum. Homes built centuries ago still stand. On April 12 this year it will be 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. The first shot was fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbour. The stately homes are beautiful and I learned that it is not called Verandas but Piazzas. They were built to offer breezes during the hot summers. They were closed in on the sides to offer privacy as the gentlemen would sit and sip their mint julip in their shirts. If the unmarried ladies saw them in their undress they would have to swoon and faint or they would be unworthy to marry and could not be part of Charleston society. Some of the smaller piazzas were designed to accomodate their hoop dresses. We took a carriage tour with mules through the city. Charleston was known for cotton and rice which fueled its economy. Amazing!! On our way home we stopped at Carolina Cidar Company and bought a bag of southern pecans(yummy), Cherry Cider, bottle of pickled garlic, cornmeal and of course the most delicious pecan pie. We had it for dessert. We stopped at Frampton Plantation which is right beside our RV park. Tomorrow we head towards to North Carolina on our way to Wendy's

Savannah

Yesterday we left Florida and went as far as Pointsouth, South Carolina at the KOA for 3 nights. Today we drove to Savannah and before we crossed the suspension bridge(see photo) into Savannah Georgia as this is the dividing point between the 2 states I bought a basket of fresh peaches(size of grapefruit)....Yummy!!!

When we arrived in Savannah, we parked our vehicle and the guide told us we could take Colby with us and we took a 90 minute trolley tour of Savannah. It was awesome and I have to pick 4 pictures from all of them....Decisions!!!! We drove around the historic district, including the lovely squares(there are 22 left of the original 24), River Street and City Market. Picture 2: Savannah style with the balconies. Picture 3: Pirate house on the waterfront. Picture 4: Savannah style built in 1806. At the end of the tour, we drove to the Savannah Visitors Center and had lunch at the old train coach called the Whistlestop Cafe....Very good. We left at 9am this morning and arrived back at 5pm. We stopped in Beaufort SC. Very beautiful place on our way to Savannah.

Our Last Day in Florida

Well, it is finally here. Two weeks went by so quickly and tomorrow morning we head towards Savannah. It has been a great time with Gerry, Amy, Evan and Ashley(see photo). We will miss them very much and we are looking forward to returning to Florida next fall, hopefully for 6 months. Yes, I think I can handle that!!!!! Also, having family near by is going to be great. Today, we helped Amy plant a Pygmy Palm tree in her front year(see picture)....Took pictures of the pool area and how the patio doors open up . Love the concept of the house. Tonight we finish up with shish kabobs BBQ with Steak, chicken, shrimp and scallops...Yummy and I made my apple torte for dessert....Definitely ended the day very well!!! Now our journey will continue to Wendy's in Annapolis Maryland next stop. Hard to believe only 3 weeks left to complete our journey. Wow!!!

Florida

Visited Bradenton beach(see picture) and they took us to Manatee Park but the manatees were in the gulf waters where it was warm but we did see Pelicans(picture). Janet Comeau Perkins(see picture) came over for a visit for the day and we plan on going to visit her place this week. It was great seeing her and we got to catch up since she left Maritime Travel to move to States with her husband. She is such a lovely person.

We left for Miami on Saturday to visit with Maria del Pilar from Breezes Varadero and now in Miami Florida since 2005. We were very excited to see her again(see picture). We have known her for 15 years. We had a great day with awesome food(Cuban) her roommate cooked for us and good company. We are making plans for next year to spend more time together. We drove thru alligator alley(US75) and realized that almost 40 years ago we were on the same road when we were in Miami for our honeymoon. Wow....time does travel fast!!!!! It was a great first week in Florida with Gerry and Amy.

Bradenton

Arrived at my brother, Gerry on Saturday morning. They have an awesome place and all rooms open out into the pool. Love it. Amy(msister-in-law) my niece, Ashley and I have been spending time in the pool. We were able to park our trailer beside the house. The weather has been great around 83 degrees. Colby has a friend with Pogo, their beagle mix...So cute together

Baton Rouge to Tallahassee

We crossed 4 states today, Louisanna, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida making it 7 states we have travelled thru since Sunday. It has been amazing so far and we are now 3/4 thru our trip. Wow!!!! The scenery has changed this week. now we are seeing a lot more greenery. We stopped in at Alabama Welcome center and they had a christmas tree decorated for Mardi Gras(see picture) and also a wreath(see picture). They told us the Mardi Gras originated in Alabama and not New Orleans. Big parade in Mobile and New Orleans is this weekend. As we were leaving Baton Rouge...highway into New Orleans was closed due to a float stuck in a overpass!!! Can you say, "Whoops!!"....When we drove thru Mobile, I took this picture of Battleship Park. The last picture is the causeway thru Pensacola. It has been a great trip and tomorrow we drive to my brother, Gerry in Bradenton Florida for a visit.

New Orleans

We headed into New Orleans and we drove on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway which is approx 24 miles long. It is unbelievable how big the Lake is (see picture above)and the waterways that connect to it have houses on stilts(see picture above) and they need a boat to get to it as there are no roads.....As we were driving into New Orleans and saw the Dome, we remembered during Hurricane Katrina people were housed there. Wow!! We drove around the French Quarter and down Bourbon Street not all as part of it was blocked off. They are decorating for Mardi Gras and the decorations were awesome(see picture above). Had a hard time to find a place to park but did get some masks for Bryanna, Sophie and Ryan....With Mardi Gras just over a week away, it is very busy there. Very much enjoyed our day there...

Weimar Texas to Baton Rouge Louisana

We left at 7:30am and hit Houston at 9am. Whew!! Traffic instead of taking one of the ring roads around the city, we ended up taking 10 thru the center as traffic was heavier on those roads. It was a beautiful drive, saw an armadillo on the side of the road. Going thru La Fayette, Louisana I got a picture of steamboats. We went thru Henderson Swamp and the bridge thru it is 15 miles long. Unbelievable!! We arrived at Baton Rouge and low and behold, the mighty Mississippi River. We unhooked and headed out to Dinner to try their seafood. It was delicious and we got to try Crawfish Gumbo. Yummy!!!

Arizona to Texas

Well, Feb 20 we woke up to rain but started to get the trailer ready to leave and it started to hail. Thanks goodness it did not last long. Kevin and Gary finished up outside on the trailer and we ended up departing at 9:40am instead of the 8am we were hoping for.It was sad to leave our good friends that we made there. They have made our stay so enjoyable and they will not be forgotten. We had 2 hrs of steady to very heavy rain but we were out of it before Tucson. We decided to detour to Tombstone to see it and it was awesome but sadly we could not stop. Holiday weekend and it was so busy and nowhere to park. With our truck and fifth wheel we were kind of limited. Pretty Cool though...Part of it looks like a old western town from the old movies. We went by Bisbee which had a copper and gold mine in the center of town....It looks like a big hole in the ground...Wow!!! We were close to the mexican border in Douglas via 80 and crossed into New Mexico and stayed overnight at Lordsburg . Next day we continued on I10 and crossed into Texas at El Peso which is right on the Mexican border....if fact I got pictures of Mexico from the center of town....amazing. There was tons of stockade of cattle along I10 amazing the number of cattle. So decided to take a picture and opened the window and near died from the smell. Gag City!!!! I could not imagine working there if that was the odor I was getting. We had to go thru border control outside of El Peso....Checking to see if we had any illegal mexicans with us. We continued on to Fort Stockton Texas where we overnighted. Today we drove by San Antonio and when as far as Weimar Texas. We were amazed at how many dead skunks and deer that we saw on the side of the road. Vegetation become more colorful as compared with the desert gray we were used to. All in all it has been an amazing trip.

Leaving Arizona

It is hard to believe we have been here 4 months tomorrow. We were planning on leaving early in the morning but it is rain and windy so we might delay it by a day. We are sad to be leaving our friends that we have made here. They have made our stay so enjoyable and they will not be forgotten. This quote I found says it all:

"Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away they are meant to be there". We will be staying in touch.

They had a farewell dinner for us last night Sharry, Mandy, Danny, Denise and Dan did an awesome job, we had mexican food and it was delicious...Yummy! and dessert was to die for. I got the recipe!!

Sharry Kitzman is next door to us and it is like I have known her all my life.

Danny & Mandy Wessels are from Texas along with their kids Tyler (9) and Blake (7) are a great family and we have enjoyed our time with them. It is like having my family with me. We will miss our Crantini Time and I know they will miss Gary's cooking....He was always sending samples for them to try.

Virgil who works here at Leaf Verde is such a sweet man. Always, stopped in to see how we are doing. Now our journey continues across the United States on our way to Florida forour first break. It will take us a week or 10 days to get their and I will be posting in my blog along the way.

Las Vegas

We left for Vegas on Sunday morning and arrived at 10:30am. Got checked in but had to wait until 2pm as our room was not ready. We went over at the Imperial to get the half price tickets for Jersey Boys for the 7pm show....You know the expression "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" Well, Marilyn can say it and mean it as she lost her wallet in Vegas. Had to cancel all her cards. Thank Goodness her money was in another wallet. If you ever get a chance to see the Jersey Boys, do not miss it. Our daughter, Tracey, told us to go and I called to thank her as it was awesome. It is based on Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons. Fantastic!!

The next night we bought tickets to the last of the Vegas Showgirls extravaganza, "Jubilee" The costumes were spectacular. It was a great show. We also went to the Premium Outlet Mall and decided to take Fred, Marilyn and Bill to Hoover Dam as they have never been. It was a great day and we left early on Feb 1 as they were predicting a storm across USA. We decided to go down 95 into part of California before heading to Lake Havasu City and home. We took Fred and Marilyn to a u-pick farm and they got to pick oranges. They departed this morning for home and we will miss them. It was a great 11 days.