Week 4 - Alabama

I've gotten way behind due to lack of WiFi, so two weeks are coming at you quickly.  The weather is finally hot and sunny, and Alabama has been great.  Unfortunately for those that live here, the tornadoes have been devastating.  We drove through 2 different towns and couldn't believe the disaster.  It is one thing seeing it on TV, but another witnessing it.

We arrived in Double Springs, Alabama to a fabulous campsite along a lake and enjoyed our traditional Friday night martini.

Our goal here was to spend 5 days hiking through Bankhead National Park.  Unfortunately a tornado had gone through the Park and many of the trails were closed.  We found enough to satisfy us, but the experience was definitely a little different than we expected.  It seems that natural disasters are following us.

Dismals Canyon, was a gorgeous area where we hiked.



Crazy bridge we had to cross built on fallen tree



We then went to another area with a great waterfall and then to the Natural Bridge.  This Bridge is the longest natural bridge east of the Rockies and was pretty cool.  There was a really nice nature trail along a babbling brook.

Natural Bridge - maybe hard to tell that it's natural



View from directly underneath

















We stumbled upon the Ava Maria Grotto, which is a site where a Monk named Joseph built miniature buildings, mostly religious, but some just whimsical.  They are in a park like setting, with natural rock all around..  It was amazing and beautiful.  Here a few samples of his work.

Everyone here has been so friendly and it's making us miss home less.  Alabama is beautiful and definitely a place to return as bluegrass is plentiful.  Our next week will be spent at a different location, and we will be attending several festivals. 

We had to see the latest super heroes movie -Thor, and found a funky little theatre in a neighboring town.  It's fun to do normal every day living in towns and not pass through as a tourist.

A month has passed way too quickly.  I miss my dishwasher as the one named Greg is often not available!

Week 3 - Still in Memphis

This flooding is crazy as I'm sure you have all seen on the news.  The Mississippi is now 3 miles wide, when it is usually 1 mile.

This has been a busy week for us.  We took a boat ride on the Mississippi River which was eerie.  The river is now a huge lake, so you can't tell what's underneath you, and you are riding beside the tops of the trees.

wow

high waters on the Mississippi

Greg ready for the boat ride

We spent a day at the Memphis Zoo, which was a great zoo (we are zoo people).  Lots of nice cages for all the animals and we got to see them feeding the polar bears and the panda bears which was cool.  Never saw grey wolves in a zoo, but they had four.  Fun day.

Spent another day at a Greek Festival.  Let's say it was interesting food, although the pastries were to die for so we had to buy a sampler package to take with us.  Lots of fun music and dance.  Who would have thought Greek in Memphis.
We drove down to Clarksdale Mississippi which is a small town with big blues.  Spent the day at a small blues festival with some great bands.  If we lived here, we would be attending these festivals which occur every weekend - amazing.

We didn't have Graceland on our list, but when in Memphis........   Turned out to be an interesting stop.  The mansion isn't a mansion by today's standards, but the rooms were decorated nice and the grounds were pretty.  Nice museums giving a lot of Elvis history which was good for us since we never followed his life.

Living room - peacock stained glass - beautiful

Guess who?

TV room - great colors

Gravesite - right on Graceland property

We went to the Memphis Redbirds AAA baseball game since the stadium is right in town and a few blocks from Beale Street.  Awesome stadium - even served Yuengling beer.  Great seats right behind home team dugout.  We even brought them a winner.  Here are some pictures of Beale Street at night.

 
Jackson Browne was in town at a local theatre, so we went there after first sampling some great southern fried chicken.  We love this town!  The good music and food are never ending.

Last day here was spent at the BBQ Festival which was what we were waiting for.  It was moved to the fairgrounds because of flooding and was huge - biggest one we ever attended, but very different from those at home. Unless you knew the folks BBQing, you couldn't sample anything.  We had to walk around watching everyone partying.  We did join the Peoples Choice and sampled many kinds and then cast our vote.  I am addicted to BBQ pork nachos.  All the booths had great names like "Pigfather", "Pig Fiction", "Pigapaloosa" and many more.  Here are a few pictures.

Our Favorite

Week 2 - Memphis

Wow, the worst storms and flooding in 80 years and we managed to get in the thick of it.  We arrived to a sunny day in Memphis and spent the afternoon and evening on Beale Street.  Very mini Bourbon Street for those of you that have been to New Orleans.  Great bars and music, so good times.  The Beale Street Music Festival was held the next 3 days and fortunately the first 2 days were sunny and nice. There were 3 Major stages, one tent and one very small stage all in a park that is beside the Mississippi River.  The river is so high it is frightening.  We are staying here so long because the Barbecue Festival is in 2 weeks, but they now know the river will be flooding the park and will have to relocate or cancel the festival.   Grrr



Greg in front of one of the major stages



Really small stage, but great band




A new group we really liked - Amy Levere



On Sunday, the last day of the festival, we showed up in the afternoon since the rain had stopped.  We had just gone through security when the tornado warning sirens started wailing and we had to leave.  Sat in the parking garage for awhile and then since it was still raining, headed back to our campground.  Major winds had gone through and limbs and branches were everywhere.  Tents were ripped to shreds and laying all over the place.  The wind was so strong that it blew the braces we place in front of our tires out from under the tires.  We lost our electricity for about 6 hours and the storms kept coming.  We had to move our campsite the next day as ours was underwater by about 3 inches.   Fortunately only one more day of storms and then hot, sunny weather.

Week 1 - Ohio and Kentucky

Hopefully the next 16 weeks will be nothing like the first, because this one has been a nightmare.  When we left our house, all excited about the trip, we had no idea we would encounter the horrendous thunderstorms and tornado occurrences that we have.  It’s been a stressful week to say the least and we hope that when we get to Memphis, where we are staying for 17 days, things will get a little better (although radar tells us differently).



Saying good-bye to our house

We’ve spent hours sitting in restrooms at campgrounds since they are the only sturdy buildings available when tornado warning whistles go off.  At our present campground (we’re on our third) the owner invited us to his basement, which felt very safe.   There was another couple who lived with them and I came to find out from the wife that I grew up in the same neighborhood, went to the same church and high school and actually graduated with her sister.  Amazingly small world.

Fortunately we’ve only had a few small issues with the RV which we were able to fix on our own.  Driving has been interesting with the high winds, but we've taken our time and haven't gotten stressed.

We’ve been able to see a few of the things we had on our list, such as the International Bluegrass Museum and hiking throughout Land Between the Lakes (LBL).  The Bluegrass Festival in Owensboro was canceled which was a big disappointment.  LBL is a great area for those that like to hike, fish, or just relax near the water.  They have an elk/bison area where we got to see some bison fighting and a planetarium with some cool shows.  Yes, it’s been wet, but we brought all the appropriate clothing so we’re managing.  The storms have been at night, so at least we have had the days to visit various areas.  There has been down time spent going to the movies, reading and sewing.  Things can only get better.



Celebrating a dry night in Owensboro KY




Land Between the Lakes, KY




Fighting Bison



Las Vegas and more

Hello Friends and Family!

We just returned from 10 days in Las Vegas with our pockets a little emptier than when we started.  Obviously Vegas wasn't built by winners so we're just contributing our share so that the world can have a place to vacation.  March Madness in Vegas has been a staple of ours for many years, but this year was particularly crazy with college men.  Loads of excitement in all casinos, so Greg was in his glory.  We saw Don Rickles, who is now 85, and still does a really funny show.

This trip was very different for us because we only stayed on the Strip for 3 nights and then in a timeshare about 6 miles off the Strip for the remaining week.  We had never driven a car there before, but it was actually quite easy and we drove to the mountains which was a first, and now wonder what took us so long.  Red Rock Canyon and the Valley of Fire were both amazing areas, and not all that far out of town.  I finally dragged Greg to the Hoover Dam as I felt it was a must see.  After the long drive and sitting in lots of traffic to park, we learned that the Dam tour was sold out - what's with that????  Anyway, he got to see the outside, which is impressive.  Lake Mead's water level is down amazingly low as can be seen by one of the pictures below, so you have to wonder what that means to the future of the city.  We stopped at many of the small, local casinos and got to spend time with "the locals", which was fun.

Home for 3 1/2 weeks and then off on our 4 month RV trip.  Lots to do in the interim.  Best wishes to everyone, and yes......we are still enjoying retirement!



Red Rock Canyon




The "Beehive" at Red Rock



Mr. Cool



"The Elephant"



Fire Canyon




Petroglyphs




Those of us who are height challenged weren't happy about this




Hoover Dam




Lake Mead - check out the drop in water level



Mexico

Hola Amigos

It's been 2 months since we returned from Australia and life has been hectic and enjoyable.  The  holidays were great and we were able to escape for my birthday for a few days at year end and then the first week of January we left for a 3 week trip with Florida as a destination.  We were able to have some down time in Myrtle Beach, and although it wasn't beach weather, it wasn't snowy and cold.  We visited with family and friends along the way and fortunately it was sunny and warm in Florida so we were extremely happy.

We left for Puerta Vallarta Mexico the first week of February and will be returning this Friday.  The resort we are staying has grown tremendously since we were here 3 years ago.  They have added more buildings, and therefore more pools and restaurants.  The grounds are gorgeous and the foliage spectacular.  This is the first time we've stayed for 2 weeks and it is amazingly relaxing.  Plenty of time at the pool and beach and trips into town.  Below are some pictures of the the resort, us, the beach and a sunset.  Sunsets are much like Key West where you see the sun drop right into the ocean.

So all in all, we are thoroughly enjoying retirement, although it really feels like we are on a perpetual vacation.  The final piece of our RV trip was completed today by our purchasing Bonnaroo tickets which just went on sale.  Time is going by way too fast and we hope it soon slows down.

Adios



Could he be more relaxed?