The Escapee

This very odd fellow pulled into the campground last night, directly across from us, driving a brand new, sparkly clean and detailed, $65k Cadillac. 

CAMPING REVIEW: Nine Nights On and Around Siesta Key

CURRENT LOCATION: Turtle Beach Campground, Siesta Key, FL, USA

We broke camp early this morning ... all in preparation for service on the Ford’s power steering system. We got in to AutoNation in St. Petersburg by 10:30 and we were out by 12:30 with repairs completed (a new high pressure, power steering hose installed), then lunch at the PoFolks franchise (don’t bother, everythng is deep fried, soggy veggies, tasteless breads), then groceries & supplies and on the road to the Turtle Beach Campground by 1:30. Our camp set-up was completed by 4:00 pm, a quick beach recon, some happiness hour at a pub across the street from the CG and then back at our camper by 5:00 pm. All, just in time for a simply superb SUNSET, on the beach.

 I KNOW we’ll be content here for the next nine nights ... obviously WRY will!

I Wonder If MAE Will Ever ... Pass Herself ?

CURRENT LOCATION: Turtle Beach Campground, Siesta Key, FL, USA

MAE has been a welcome companion in several adventures in our lives and she also features prominently in this travel blog.  

We were fortunate to travel with her and 'The Duke' to Canada's Atlantic provinces, to northern Canada a couple of times and into Alaska and also to the southern USA. Here, on our blog, you can find her in About / MAE and also in Maps / MAEandering 

Arctic Circle, Dempster Highway, YT

CAMPING REVIEW: Fort De Soto County Park, FL

CURRENT LOCATION: Fort De Soto County Park, Tierra Verde, FL, USA

We leave here in two days, so I suppose it's time for a review of the area. 

We’ve camped here a few times now, over a number of trips to Florida in the winter months ... it has a lot to offer. The community of Tierra Verde is just north of the park by a few kilometres. Tierra Verde features medium to high end condominium complexes and several residential neigbourhoods with multi-million dollar waterfront and canal homes. However, Ft De Soto CP is far enough away from these residential areas to still maintain (by Florida standards) a reasonable amount of quiet. Just north of Tierra Verde are the beachfront communities of St. Petersburg, Madeira Beach, Indian Shores, Treasure Island and Pasa Grille ... all very busy. Several local, nearby restaurants specialize in fresh-caught, local fish ... there are many, but ... food at the Salt Rock Grill is exceptional & Billy’s Stonecrab, Seafood & Steaks offers good food for reasonable prices.

OPINION: Less Stuff, More Life

YOU'VE ALL SEEN US ...

We're the Travellers, the Campers and the Road Trippers, we're the RV'ers and the Overlanders ... 

We drive slowly and we change lanes slowly ... 'cause we hafta'. We're big, long, high and heavy. We're difficult to manoeuver and hard to corner, we're slow to climb hills and slower still to descend them, we're often over-loaded and ... we all trailer or haul TOYS!

This Sure Beats The Snow

Well, Florida is busy BUT it's warm and offers an endless array of outdoor activities - in November!  

We've decided that this life is 'pretty good', living in LOAF - 5 minutes of house cleaning, cozy, music, DVDs, good food, good wine, everything we absolutely need. 

Travelling With Raisins

Our travel companions have provided us with yet another FIRST for this adventure.  

This is the first time we've traveled with Raisins.  For those of you not familiar with the word, it's used here, as a term of endearment referring to people of an, um, ... 'certain age'. Now, okay! - before everyone gets 'politically correct' on me and moves me to their do-not-call (text, Facebook) lists, I did not come up with the term.  My beloved father and his lovely new bride refer to themselves as The Raisins, because, apparently they're under the impression younger people refer to them as such.  First time I've heard it, but what the heck, it is rather catchy and looks cute on them.

To the Sun

Well, this just might be the FIRST winter we completely escape the snow ... as true Sunbirds! 

Heather (ROVN TOAD Navigator & Co-pilot) baked us some very comfy looking LOAFin Around slippers for this trip! ... dontya think?

I've never liked using the word 'Snowbird', to describe folks travelling from snowy to sunny climates. That term should be reserved for Californians and Europeans that travel to the Canadian Rockies in the winter to ski. 'Sunbird' describes what we are heading towards, not from ... and for us, that's a more positive motive. Besides, I'm writing this post, so I can call myself whatever the heck I want to. 

GEAR REVIEW: Garmin RV 760 MLT GPS

My Navigator got some new gear for this trip ... the Garmin RV 760 MLT GPS.

Helen does everything from the truck cab while I  J U S T drive ... my job is actually quite simple ... I keep us between the ditches, dirty side down, that's all of it! She researches our daily route, tracks fuel economy using Fuelly.com, monitors upcoming weather and road conditions, searches for the quietest and most economical camping spots and the best places to eat and is always on the lookout for any available wine tours. 

BASECAMP 11.06.14 ... " We Must Be Crazy "

I've always felt the path our lives follow is defined by the decisions we take at critical junctions. 

And, we all make those same decisions. You know what I mean ... like, where would we be now if I had chosen to take that marine surveying job off Seal Island on Canada's East Coast when I was 24 ... but instead, stayed in Ottawa, didn't find work until several months later and stayed at that same job for 30 years. Where would we be if Helen's father hadn't strongly encouraged us to stay at our jobs when we talked about quitting and tried to justify leaving at age 40 or so ... not sure what our plan was in hind-sight, but I'm sure glad now that we stuck it out - Thanks! Earl. Do we take the right fork or the left fork? 

Three Girlfriends Gone Wild ... A 180 Year Celebration

Viva Las Vegas!  Three 'old' friends meet in Vegas to celebrate a major life event - entering into a new decade and collecting our CPP.  Chris flies in from Whitehorse, Yukon, I flew from Ottawa, Ontario and Stella is now a Vegas resident.

Actually, we didn't go too wild, although we did manage to set personal bests for 'hours without sleep'! Since Stella lives in Vegas, she didn't join us for our late late night escapades, which usually involved an interactive slot machine and lots of laughs.

Chris arrives at our hotel.                                                                  Girls - Night 1

A Garden Stroll

We spent the day at the North Carolina Arboretum, a wonderful 400 + acre teaching facility that allows free access to their gardens and hiking trails.  They have some very innovative plantings, water saving techniques that allow one garden's water to flow down to the next, a creative bonsai garden and many, many, eco friendly designs.  Of course they have the hot, humid, long North Carolina spring/summer/fall season that allows everything to bloom to it's fullest.  

OMG, There Was An Explosion At The Canada / USA Border Today!

This day starts out pleasant enough ... La de da de dadeda ...

Autumn is now on it's way to a full colour explosion in our part of southern Ontario but it still needs a couple of weeks yet to reach full bloom. The leaves on our mixed forest property are at about 25% colour now and I imagine when we return will be closer to their peak. 

At Six Tons, You'd Sag & Sway Too !

NO!, I'm not referring to us in this posts title, we're not that fat or worn out. 

I'm referring to LOAF, our travel rig ... driven hard & put away dirty!

We'll be off-line for awhile. 

Adventure Journal TRIP #133: NO bad stuff happened, 2 provinces, 19 states, 60 days, 12000+ kilometres driven. 

We're home now and as is our usual post-trip regime, we'll take a couple of days to do mostly nothing, take many soaks in a hot bath tub, sleep in a king-sized bed and watch some movies on a big screen TV. It's now time for some rest, some rig service and maintenance and several more planned modifications to the truck and camper. 

HIKING REPORT: The 'Badlands' of North Dakota

Lovely day spent in Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.  Not as spectacular as Zion, Arches or Bryce - but it has it's appeal.  The main thing was the quiet, no crowds, no noise.  We walked the trails and saw maybe 2 or 3 other people.  Saw a prairie rattlesnake on the trail - no time for a picture.   All together a simply wonderful day.

Prairie Dogs - "OK - you go first"

Wry & Crusty Visit Jellystone National Park

Ok, Ok, OK, OweKay! so it's NOT JELLYSTONE, in fact it's called YELLOWSTONE National Park - who knew?  Being children of the 50's that grew up with Yogi Bear - (hey BooBoo!), we must admit to a certain prejudice against Yellowstone. We fully expected a tacky statue of Yogi to greet us at the entrance and for that theme to be carried throughout the park.  Sooooo, with great trepidation we made our way in.

This is a park for scenic driving, lookouts and overviews, museums and wildlife viewing.

Most travelers will only ever see views from the roadside.

HIKING REPORT: Bryce Canyon National Park

Well Utah continues to amaze!  Just when you think it couldn't get any better - it does! While you spend your time looking up to the magnificent peaks in Zion National Park, you can actually spend your time looking down in Bryce Canyon National Park - or hiking down into the canyon floor and back up to the rim.

Bryce Canyon is not really a canyon but a collection of huge amphitheaters overlooking giant hoodoos that were formed by frost weathering and stream erosion. The red, orange and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular vistas.

We were fortunate enough to share these hikes and views with our new found California friends Bill and Deborah.

I'll let the photos speak for themselves.  Hope you enjoy the show.

                 

HIKING REPORT: We Went for A Walk

in ............ ZION    NATIONAL    PARK

TRAILS: Emerald Pools (Lower & Upper),  Kayenta, Temple of Sinawave

           We did a few of the easier to moderate trails in ZION during our first hiking day.

At the main gate to ZION National Park at opening time, us and at least 100 other vehicles. It took 15 minutes to pass through the gate at that time and load us all onto the waiting shuttle buses. This is the ONLY way to access most of the trailheads if you are staying outside ZION. We were at the Emerald Ponds trailhead by 9:00 am. The shuttle service in Zion is superb ... buses run every 10 minutes or so.

Get here early .......    I mean, R E A L   early!    .... as    E A R L Y   as possible  ... set the alarm ... get a wakeup call .... just get here E A R L Y !!!. 

We had the route to ourselves up until 10:30 or so and then the trail filled quickly.

Above Lower Emerald Pond

HIKING REPORT: Part 2 - Exploring National and State Parks

May 13, 2014 - Dead Horse Point State Park and Canyonlands National Park

Another wonderful day to hike.  A side trip to Dead Horse Point State Park lead to one of the most beautiful hikes we've ever been on.  We hiked along the rim of a canyon with amazing vistas, enjoyed a picnic lunch with a never ending view, and concluded the day with a quick trip to Canyonlands National Park to view the Green River from above.

Dann On Top Of The World

HIKING REPORT: Part 1 - Exploring National and State Parks

May 11-12, Mesa Verde National Park

On June 29, 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt established Mesa Verde National Park to "preserve the works of man," the first national park of its kind.

Ancestral Puebloans made Mesa Verde their home from about A.D. 550 to 1300.  For more than 700 years they and their descendants lived and flourished here, eventually building elaborate stone communities in the sheltered alcoves of the canyon walls.  In the late A.D. 1200, in the span of a generation or two, they left their homes and moved away.  Today the park contains over 4,000 archaeological sites including cliff dwellings and the mesa top sites of pit-houses, pueblos, masonry towers and farming structures.  It is a truly magical place that tests your imagination trying to picture the ancient people living and thriving in such an environment.

The Cliff Palace – Contained approximately 150 rooms and 23 kivas (a subterranean structure used primarily for ceremonial or political gatherings).  Experts estimate that it was home to over 100 people.