December « 2018 « Randys Blog

Dec 12

Tuesday December 11, 2018

Now into December we are in our second home. Or our other home. Or our only home, since we own this condo and rent in Oshkosh? What is important is it is warm and we have had the windows and doors open the few days we have been here. 70 degree temperatures with a breeze and cool nights. We are looking forward to the next 5 months. We were starting to get anxious to get here after about a month of traveling. We started out the first day and stopped for a late lunch and museum tour in Potosi, Wisconsin. Then on to the Amana Colonies in Iowa for a couple of nights. The Amana Colonies were started in the 1800’s by German Immigrants who left religious intolerance in Germany. Originally living as a shared community it is now an area of neat shops, wineries, and restaurants. Their heritage has been maintained and we feasted on wonderful German food meals. When it was time to leave Kansas City was our next stop. Our good friends Steve and Nancee now live there and we had a chance to see their beautiful new home. We toured the National World War I museum which was fascinating. And eye opening when you read about the Nationalism and intolerance that helped lead to the war, and the terrible conditions for the boys sent to fight it. We also did a tour of the Hallmark museum which was much lighter but still very interesting. It is still a family business that does a lot for the city it calls home. Of course we managed to have some very good beer while we were there also! We had some snow while we were there and looking ahead at the weather we decided to do 2 nights in KC and then try to get some miles south. So the next day was seeing a lot of Kansas and down to Oklahoma City for a night. It was a nice sunny ride though and we had a nice new hotel in north Oklahoma City. We planned a shorter ride the next day so we took our time that Sunday morning and stopped at the National Cowboy and Western Museum in OC. That turned out to be a good choice, lots of beautiful artwork resides there and lots of history. Even an area dedicated to Western movies and TV and the iconic actors. But we did want to make Amarillo before night fall so we did not see all of the museum, a next time. A nice ride got us to Amarillo and again a fairly new hotel, and a free upgrade to a suite. That turned out to be very nice, because after a good meal near the hotel the forecasted change in weather caught up with us. That night Amarillo had 7 inches of snow and I-40 West was looking pretty bad on the New Mexico state web site. So we booked an extra night to give the road crews a chance to catch up. We did some shopping and mall walking. I finally found a new pair of US made boots (El Paso), we had another great meal, and enjoyed our large hotel room. The following day was sunny and the roads were dry. So the trip into Albuquerque was uneventful, the way we like it. We settled for a while with Marie, about 2 weeks. We had many more great meals (Chris and I love southwest cooking, although our older stomachs are not sure), helped out Marie a bit, and spent some time with her friends. MJ flew down for Thanksgiving and we did some more sightseeing, shopping, eating, drinking! MJ was to leave on Sunday but another snowstorm was headed to Chicago and her flights were canceled. So another day of eating until she could fly through Denver on Monday! Chris and I left Albuquerque the next day and started our Texas trek! The first day was Eastern New Mexico and to Lubbock Texas. A wide range of landscapes; from mountains to desert to cattle grazing to cotton. We were in a new hotel in Lubbock on the Texas Tech campus. That made it easy to find a place for a quick meal and a beer! The hotel was very nice and provided a relaxing night to prepare for the next day of Texas driving. Lubbock down to Austin is on State highways but a good ride. Through some towns but otherwise with 75mph limits and moves along easily. From the flat cotton fields to dairy farms and the hill country north of Austin. Austin was enjoyable again getting to spend time with Craig, Andria and Evelyn. Chris and I also toured our first presidential museum, the LBJ Museum in Austin. It was enjoyable and thought provoking. Well worth the trip. New Orleans was on our trip plan but the weather to the East of us was looking rainy. So rather than make the long ride to NO we took a short trip to Houston to spend a night. That was again relaxing and enjoyable. And lots of news in Houston that night as local resident George H W Bush passed away. The next day’s ride to NO was pretty easy. Traveling I-10 is interesting, from the Texas gulf through Beaumont and across Louisiana. The lengths of the Louisiana bridges across bayou’s can stretch over 10 miles. Driving into New Orleans late on a Saturday afternoon is not recommended. But a little patience and we found our hotel in the French Quarter. Since Chris does not like the smell of seafood picking out a restaurant in NO adds some complexity. But a concierge recommendation 4 blocks away was a good one. So good we went back the next night. We took a 3 hour bus tour of NO which was interesting. We saw large areas which were underwater in hurricane Katrina, the small tight neighborhoods of the city, walked a historic cemetery and a city park. A great way to get a good overview of the city. We did lots of walking the rest of the day. Seeing the French Quarter, shopping and eating. Bourbon Street is full of ‘sights’ even during the day. The nights get crazier but I would not say I felt safe at night. Besides the tourists are the homeless and druggies dealing on the street. We went, we saw, but won’t be back on our list soon. The next day was on to Defuniak Springs Florida for a meal with Gail and Larry and our last night on the road. At this time Chris was getting anxious to get to Boynton Beach so we planned an early morning up and driving through Florida. It was good to get here. Weather has been great, windows and doors open and enjoying the refreshing warm air as we unpack and settle in. Now more fun to come!