Where's Wanda (and John) Now?

Almost go time!  We’re getting ready to take off on our 2019 big adventure.  Right now we’re parked in Brandon FL where we stored the RV over the winter.  We’ve been here a few days getting set up and getting prepped for the trip.  We’ll be taking off tomorrow and heading north.  More on that below.

Here’s a quick update of what we’ve been up to since our last post in the fall of 2018.  Unfortunately this year our trip will be without our beloved Big Guy.  He was suffering from cancer when we returned last October and we had to let him go almost immediately after we got back to Florida.  We miss him so much but at least he enjoyed his big adventure with us.  RIP Biggie. We love you.

We’ve been adjusting to ‘winter’ in Florida which has confused us because it seems like it’s just been summer forever.  We had lots of visitors over the last few months and have been exploring our new home base and the surrounding area.  One of our favorite places to hang out is Fort de Soto park which is only 10 minutes south of our condo.  They have beautiful white sand beaches with sand as soft as powder and it’s never crowded.  Here’s my daughter Leah on the beach during her visit down to see us in March.

And we rented kayaks often to paddle around the park.  A few times we were lucky enough to see dolphins swimming around very close to us. That’s my niece Arielle videotaping from her paddle board.  Watch until the end.  They swim right under us almost like they want to play!

We even had a manatee came up to our kayak to say hello.  It was the first time I’ve ever seen one live and up close. It was so awesome and a little scary.  This guy was close.

We’ve also made a big update for the trip this year – John has a new baby.

We ended up going with a Ram 2500 with the Cummins Diesel engine.  So now we can pull the RV up those mountains that we couldn’t get to last year.  Can’t wait to head up the road with all that power behind us.  Needless to say –  John is in love.

And now everyone is asking us the same question “Where are you going this year?”  Here’s our plan – although as usual, it’s subject to change because we like to go where our adventures lead us on the road.  This time we are heading north out of Florida towards the northeast to visit family and friends.  We’ll be stopping in the Smoky Mountains on the way up to camp with friends of ours and then continuing north to Pennsylvania.   We’ll stay there a week or so to see my kids and then head up to NY to visit John’s girls.  Then off to upstate NY to stay in the Finger Lakes area to visit my Mom and Dad.  From there we are headed to Kentucky to see Johns sister and her family.  After Kentucky it’s out to the west.  We’ll stop at many new places along the way west and would like to get as far northwest as the state of Washington and maybe even up to Vancouver Canada to visit John’s sister and family there.  On the way back down we want to go into northern California to see Yosemite and the giant redwood forest but it depends on any fires there this year.  After that we will head back south and east.  We’ll definitely do Utah again and Arizona and continue east back to FL by sometime in October.

When we leave tomorrow I’ll start posting the map so everyone can follow our progress.  We are so excited to start out and can’t wait to see what this trip has to offer.

Stay tuned….. 🙂

 

 

 

We made it back! When we left Mississippi we stopped briefly in Alabama and then briefly in Georgia and then drove from there to Florida today.  We parked the RV at our Brandon Elks Lodge where it will be stored until we take it out again.  It was sad to say goodbye to our little home for the last 5 months but it’s really great to be back in beautiful St. Pete Beach.  We are so incredibly lucky to have been able to have our summer adventure this year and we’re already looking forward to our next big trip in the spring of next year.  In the meantime I’ll probably blog every once in a while when we have some great pictures to share.  I had a lot of time to think while driving so many miles and I’ve come up with a list of things I’ve learned on the road that I’d like to share with all of you.

1. Number one thing I’ve learned is – DO NOT eat a hot dog from a gas station food counter. Ever.  No matter how hunger you are.
2. I’ve learned – that I actually like hiking. Who knew?
3. I’ve learned – that camping in an RV is like having the same house but different backyard each week
4. I’ve learned – that when you’re camping, everything smells like the burning wood of a campfire and everyone smells like OFF insect spray.
5. I’ve learned – that public restrooms are like a box of chocolate, you never know what you’re going to get.
6. I’ve learned – that I love wearing a cowboy hat!
7. I’ve learned – that the world doesn’t end if I wear the same shirt twice
8. I’ve learned – that John and I can spend five months together in a very small space and not want kill each other 🙂
9. I’ve learned – my new motto is “Camping hair just don’t care”
10. I’ve learned – that John can figure out anything and fix everything
11. I’ve learned – where Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus are in the summer sky
12. I’ve learned – anything cooked outside on the grill taste better than anything
13. I’ve learned – that if you watch the sunset over the mountain ridge it will calm your soul and fill you with peace
14. I’ve learned – that the people across this country are interesting, caring and patriotic and that I have a new appreciation for what it means to be a proud American.
15. I’ve learned – not to fear the unknown, I am much braver than I thought I was
16. And lastly – just to repeat, DO NOT under any circumstances, eat a hotdog from a gas station food counter.  Trust me.

 

Today we toured the famous McRaven House in Vicksburg believed to be the most hunted house in Mississippi!  It was very cool.  John is a total non-believer, but I definitely had goosebumps and a few chills as we toured the house.  The oldest part of the house was built in 1797 it was added on to in the 1800’s and also served as a hospital during the Civil War.  This is directly form Wikipedia:

“Adding to the legend of McRaven being haunted, at least five occupants have died inside the house, and former owner John Bobb was murdered just outside its premises. It’s also very likely that a few Confederate soldiers died on the property during the time it was used as a field hospital. Reports of ghostly activity are said to spread throughout the house, but the center of activity seems to be the middle bedroom upstairs, the room where Mary Elizabeth Howard (age 15) died during childbirth. Her ghost is believed to be responsible for the bedside lamp in this room, which has been reported to turn on and off, seemingly at will.”

The house stayed with the family until 1960 when the last of 2 spinster sisters died there after having lived many years as hoarders and so reclusive that not many people even knew they were living there.  They hadn’t changed anything in the house since the early 1900’s and that’s how it remains today.  This tour was the absolutely best thing to do right before Halloween!  I made a quick video and then John’s shots are below of the exterior and interior.

Former owners of the house below.

These rooms look A LOT like several of the dollhouses that I’ve built. 🙂

The bed below is where Mary died in childbirth.  We looked hard at the photo for any evidence of a her spirit. 🙂

The following photos are of the original and oldest part of the house.  The brick and plaster here is the original wall from that time.

And here’s the kitchen at the back of the house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today we drove an hour south to Natchez MS.  Its a beautiful and historic town on the banks of the Mississippi.  We stopped at the visitors center and purchased tickets to three of the many historical homes in the area.  Our first stop was the gorgeous Stanton Hall.  We had lunch in the little cafe behind the main house and then joined in a tour of the interior of the house.  No photography allowed inside of this one but believe me it was resplendent! So beautifully restored and richly furnished.  It was built in 1857 and takes up one entire city block.

The second Antebellum home was Auburn.  Completed in 1812 it’s a 12 room mansion built of sold bricks which were created on site.

It’s famous for it’s free-standing main staircase.

Here are some pictures of the other rooms on the first and second floor of the house.

And finally we visited Longwood which is a really interesting octagonal “Oriental Villa”. It was started in 1861 but the construction was halted due to the Civil War and the family only lived on the finished and furnished basement floor while the top 6 floors remain unfinished to this day.

We were on the move!  From Texas we drove to Oklahoma City and spent just one night.  Then on to Arkansas (in the POURING rain) for just one night.  Then on Sunday we drove south to Mississippi. We are staying in an RV park that is part of a historical site called Grand Gulf Military Monument Park.  It’s on the banks of the Mississippi River and is located south of Vicksburg and north of Natchez.  The park has so much history and several old historical buildings located on site.  It was, at one time, a Confederate stronghold during the Civil War.  Last night John and I took a long walk around the whole park  (see pictures below) and I was teasing John that I could see the ghosts of Civil War soldiers hiding in the woods.  Mississippi is awesome at this time of year.  Still warm and a little humid with huge overhanging trees and moss everywhere.  By the time we hiked up to the old cemetery we were both a little creeped out.  John said we should go back after dark for some really cool pictures but I said ‘Uh…..NO!’  We plan on staying here until Friday and doing a few plantation home tours this week.

This is an old Catholic Church on the property.

This old house and mill is on a pond in the park.

Check out this video.  John and I dared each other to go up the stairs to the second floor but neither of us would do it.  We both chickened out! Would you have gone?

It’s a good thing the sign is there – just in case anyone was thinking of taking a dip 😉

Then we came upon this observation tower.  We were already tired but should we climb it??? Our bodies may be near 60 but in our minds we’re only about 35 or so.

So YES!!! we did it.  Here’s the view from the top.

We found another house with a scary old well.  Kinda reminded me of the movie the Ring or something.  I backed away quickly.

And finally…the cemetery!  Perfect for just before Halloween 🙂

And this is how you know that you’ve stayed too long in your RV in Mississippi 🙂

We left Winslow Arizona on Monday and drove east to a town near Albuquerque New Mexico.  We only stayed 2 nights and then yesterday we drove east again to a town just outside of Amarillo Texas called Adrian.  This RV park is right at the center point of Route 66, and has a really neat cafe across the street called the Midpoint Cafe.  The owner, Fran Houser, is famous (around here anyway) for being the inspiration for the car character of Flo in the ‘Cars’ cartoon movies.  We had breakfast there this morning and it was delicious!  Homemade pie to go of course 🙂 3 different ones because I couldn’t decide.  Apple for John, Chocolate cream and Tennessee Whisky Pecan Pie for me.  The pecan pie has Tennessee whiskey and chocolate chips in it and OH MY it’s like sin on a fork.  I think I like Texas…..Y’all should come on down!

 

After breakfast we went to Cadillac Ranch which is a public art sculpture in Amarillo.  It’s ten half-buried Cadillacs in a large field just off the highway.  It was installed in 1974 and is a big attraction for travelers on RT 66.  People are allowed to bring spray paint and add to the art and it’s very colorful and interesting in a weird kinda way.

Tomorrow we leave for Oklahoma City.  Quick stop there and then on to Arkansas.

We spent the day yesterday at the Petrified Forest National Park.  It was a beautiful day for exploring the park and John captured these great images.

These are pieces of petrified wood.

And we hiked down into this canyon. (see me on the right coming back up exhausted!)

On Friday night we went into the town of Winslow where they were having a car show.  Very cool!

And I found the world’s smallest church dedicated to US veterans.

 

 

We left Utah this morning and drove south to northeast Arizona.  Yesterday, while we were still in Utah, John took this photo with the drone of Goosenecks State Park.

And these photos are from Valley of the Gods National Park.

And John put together this video (with music) from drone footage in Valley of the Gods.  We drove though this and it was amazing!!!

While we’re here in AZ we’re planning on visiting the Petrified Forest and several Anasazi ruins.  When we got here today, John just had to run into town to get this photo. Ya know….Standing on the corner of Winslow Arizona….(if you’re younger you may not get this) But he’s Taking it Easy 🙂

Next stop after Arizona will be somewhere in New Mexico.  Not sure after that but we will be headed east for sure.

Singletree has been one of my all time favorite Campgrounds on this trip.  Take a look at this video to see the reason why.

Here’s a drone shot of the park.

At the campsite we did a very rocky and very steep hike to a nearby waterfall.  Hard work but the views were stunning and the waterfall at the end was lovely!

Yesterday we did an easy walking hike (no uphill climbs) through the Grand Wash in Capital Reef State Park.  The trail follows the dry wash bed deep into the sandstone canyon, with cliffs looming up to 800-feet high. Remarkable!

We’re leaving here tomorrow and heading for Bluff Utah.  We’re planning on seeing some Anasazi ruins there which should be really interesting.

Last night John and I went up to Goblin State Park.  Take a look at these pictures.  It was really weird in the day time and got really scary after dark!  Luckily there was a full moon that lit up the whole area so that we could go down and get these awesome night shots.  Still even the moon light made it a little creepy 🙂

This is the moon rising.