Silver City - Cliff Dwellings

Leaving Tucson Monday morning, we headed to Silver City, NM, along with Jan and George. We arrived around noon and explored the downtown area in the afternoon and went to Pinos Altos where we had dinner at Buckhorn Saloon, former bordello, and drove around the area to see historic buildings. On Tuesday we explored the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument north of Silver City after driving 42 miles of very curving, hilly, narrow forest service roads. We took the docent led tour of the 7 natural cavities on the face of the cliff where the Mogollon Indians had built 42 rooms. The docent, a philosophy major and former teacher in Indian schools, had many theories of his own about the Mogollon culture and history. The tour included a one mile loop trail which had great views of the cliff dwellings and adjacent cliffs. We were fortunate to have a pleasant sunny day for our visit; snow remained alongside the road from a 3 inch snowfall the previous week. To see more pictures click HERE: http://picasaweb.google.com/gharpercomcast/SilverCityCliffDwellings

Country Coach Winter Rally, Tucson, AZ

We enjoyed the Country Coach rally held at Beaudry RV Park in Tucson, a nice park with lemon and orange trees and marvelous views of the mountains. The entertainment at the rally was varied – a mariachi band, Broadway tunes, and a country music band. We attended some seminars, checked out the vendors (fewer than at the Oregon rally last summer), and appreciated complimentary service on the coach from Country Coach. George attended the CC Yahoo Forum meeting and met some of the members that he had met online in the past few months. We took a day tour to Mission San Xavier del Bac in Tucson, Tubec (an artist’s community), and to Nogales, Mexico, where we had lunch and walked around the shopping area with Jan and George. Another day we went to Sabino Canyon with Glenn and Janet whom we had met on the Copper Canyon trip in 2004 and had seen at the Oregon rally last summer. Sabino Canyon was an amazing array of cactus, but the area was greener than expected because of the river flowing thru it. We took the tram as far as it could go because of damage from extreme flooding a few years ago, and then we walked back to the visitor’s center. On Sunday Jan and Irene visited a couple of the barrios in Tucson where we enjoyed seeing the brightly colored homes and businesses.

En Route to Tucson

We left San Antonio in fog and rain but finally crossed the front and had clear weather but very strong winds. We spent the night in Ft. Stockton, TX, where the wind continued to blow throughout the night. It was calmer the following day when we drove to Las Cruces where we parked overnight at Wal-Mart and ate dinner at La Posta in La Mesilla, a historical Spanish villiage, after walking around the town square and looking at shops. The following day we drove to Tucson, stopping en route at a railroad ghost town which was closed but we could see the old settlement thru the wire fence. We arrived at Baudry RV Rally Park in Tucson in the afternoon and got settled in and explored the park and rally facilties on our bicyles – much faster than walking. It was really warm when we arrived. Having awakened in Las Cruces to a chilly high 30’s temperature, we quickly changed into cooler clothes. When the sun sets, the temperature drops condsideratbly here and it is cool in the morning, but a light jacket is adequate.

San Antonio, TX

We drove to Houston the first day, stopping overnight at a Wal-Mart on the west side of Houston. The weather was stormy w/ rain, wind, and thunderstorms. Jan and George invited us to dinner in their coach, and we celebrated George S.’s birthday which was the following day (2/12), the day we arrived in San Antonio. While in San Antonio we enjoyed the food and sights, visiting the Alamo, River Walk, La Villeta (earliest settlement) , and other places. We took the narrated boat tour around the River Walk on our anniverary, Valentine’s Day, and at the outdoor “auditorium” along the way happened upon the annual wedding ceremony performed by a judge in both English and Spanish. Numerous couple of all ages accompanied by family groups repeated their vows. The area was decorated with yellow roses. Each lady on the boat tour was also given a yellow rose that day. We also visited Gruene, TX, settled by Germans in the mid 1840s near San Antonio. This charming town is home to Gruene Hall, a dance hall and saloon, Gruene Mercantile, now a well stocked antique store. We ate lunch at a delightful restaurant overlooking the Guadalupe River.

Louisiana

Heading west on I-10 we reached Louisiana and drove through Baton Rouge, shortly after reaching the 10 mile Basin Bridge which crosses bayous, rivers, and lakes – a very different view. We overnighted at the Slidell Wal-Mart and then continued to LaFayette, our base for exploring the Cajun country. Having heard on the news that former President Bill Clinton would speak at Country Cuisine Restaurant in LaFayette at 2:00 p.m. on his cross-Louisiana campaign for Hillary, we went there immediately after parking the coach. We arrived to find a crowd outside the small restaurant as well as a fire truck and police cars with an ambulance arriving shortly. (Both the fire truck and ambulance were unrelated to Clinton’s visit and soon left). Crowds continued to gather and the sun beat down as the minutes ticked by past 2:00. The secret service said 25 minutes more; after that interval passed, they said 10 minutes. That too passed and eventually, unannounced, the motorcade of Louisiana State Troopers and 2 bullet proof tan Chevy Suburbans pulled into the circular driveway in front of the restaurant. Clinton was quickly escorted inside the restaurant by the secret service, much to the disappointment of the crowd outside. His short 3 point speech, audible outdoors, made the case for why Louisianans should vote for Hillary. Then Clinton came outside, spoke with the media, and circled the perimeter of the crowd shaking hands much to the delight of the people. For quite a while, we could see only Clinton’s white hair over the throngs of people, but finally George was able to speak to him and shake his hand. George made a complimentary comment to him about his presidency. Cameras were flashing and sunglass-clad secret service agents flanked Clinton as he moved through the crowds. As soon as they could get a photo, the elated individuals pulled back reducing the crush of people. George moved to the other side of the circle to get better shots so again saw the president who spotted George and told him, “Thank you for what you said.” Having completed the circuit, Clinton and his entourage reentered the Suburbans and sped off with sirens blazing. He had come to LaFayette and he was gone. When we returned to the RV park, we met up with George and Jan from Birmingham whom George met on the Country Coach Yahoo Forum. Friday night we ate at Prejeans enjoying both Cajun food and music. Sat. we explored the surrounding area and in New Iberia toured Shadows-on-The-Teche, the 1834 home of a sugar plantation owner and his family for four generations. The gardens with their old (200 and 400 years) oaks were quite a sight. On Sunday we drove southwest and saw shrimp boats and crawfish farms and crossed the Intercoastal Waterway. We enjoyed dinner at Mulate’s, recommended by another CC Yahoo Forum member, and again enjoyed both food and music. This well-known restaurant with posts made of cypress trees from the bayou has been patronized over the years by numerous celebrities whose names are listed in the entrance. See more pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/gharpercomcast/BillClinton

Topsail Hill Preserve State Park, Santa Rosa Beach

Topsail Hill is the crème de la crème of state parks! It was formerly a commercial park and was acquired by the state along with contiguous fresh water lakes, woods, dunes, and beachfront. The sites are paved w/ concrete patios and picnic tables and full hookups (50 amps). The sites are pleasantly landscaped and offer some privacy. There’s a paved tram road to the boardwalk to the beach. We bicycled through the park and then to the boardwalk and walked down to the beach. It’s a beautiful natural beach with sizable dunes. Later in the day we returned near sunset to take photographs. Although it was quite warm during the day (low 70’s), the temp dropped quickly near sunset. We washed the coach Tues. and then went to Destin to explore the area. We spent a little time at Destin Commons, a nice outdoor shopping mall. While we were in Destin, the fog began rolling in mid-afternoon. By the time we reached the beach, the fog was quite thick – but not so thick we couldn’t see the huge condominiums and homes that have been built since we were last in the area quite a few years ago. We enjoyed dinner from a local seafood bar near the state park. George ordered fried oysters and Irene enjoyed fried shrimp, but the slaw and hushpuppies were “too funky” in George’s words. The fog was so dense that we got take out since it appeared visibility would only worsen later. Laundry and housecleaning took park of our last day here and then we headed to Sandestin Resort which we explored on our bicycles. It’s quite a large resort and we took the bike paths through many neighborhoods and also went to Bayside Wharf, an area of shops and restaurants.

Carabelle

Today’s destination, Carrabelle, is a nostalgic one as this is the town where we came early in our marriage to catch the ferry to Dog Island and later to launch our sailboats. “What a difference a day makes” barely suggests what a difference 25 years makes – this place has really changed. We explored Carrabelle on our bicycles, and much building has taken place since we were here, but the building boom has hit a bust. Many unfinished buildings and numerous For Sale signs are all over town. There are quite a few large condominiums including one beyond the previous site of the Dog Island ferry, two new marinas, and boat docks all along the river. This is no longer the sleepy fishing village it once was. But also gone was Julia Mae’s, our favorite seafood restaurant in Carrabelle. We tried Carole’s instead, but to coin a phrase, Carole is no Julia Mae!