Monday, February 21, 2011

Life in the RV

We have been at this for almost 9 months now! One would think that we have it all down pat and all the wrinkles ironed out...well some days yes, but we still have some issues...




Storage space is the biggest issue, places to stow the stuff while we are parked is easy; things can go up front in the drivers and passengers seats, like all of Mike's school books.  The toaster takes up residence on the dash and the drinking water jugs can all go outside under the RV.  When we are driving, storage is much more harder to find!  The toaster fits in the microwave, all of Mikes school books fit behind one chair, the golf clubs fit in the shower stall, etc etc.


 Terry still can't find some things, like the cheese grater, wedged up top of the fridge with all of our bowls and containers, and the peanut butter which always shifts to the very back of the cupboard when we drive.  I however can walk through the motorhome blindfolded, be asked to retrieve a certain item and will have it with one minute, blind...but don't ask me to get anything from the outside storage container!


 I asked Terry today where the extension cord was and if he could get it for me...he almost fainted...he told me that it was buried in the very back of the storage box, which meant that he would have to pull everything out to get it.  Oh well, maybe next stop we will leave it at the front, hopefully...


Most days we wake up around 7:30 am, Michael is always the 1st one awake.  He usually takes Sampson out for a walk right away but some days he will just stay in bed until we get up 1st.
Terry is usually the 2nd one up around 8 am, he turns on the hot water for me and will start the kettle for the coffee and tea.  I lounge around as long as possible, usually I get up by 8:30 or 9, depending on the weather :-)


After we are all up and had showers and eaten breakfast I decide what to do for Mike's schoolwork.  He only does school work on weekdays and not more than 2 hours per day.  Math, social studies, science and english get worked on the most.  Mike is learning about Canadian History as part of his BC curriculum I am teaching him, but we are also learning about every US state we pass through as well.  He also has an excellent grasp on decimals just by using money as a starting point...that kids loves money! We really tried hard to do the French work with Mike but since I am not fluent in it, I decided that it was too hard to teach...hopefully when Mike returns to his francophone school he isn't too far behind.  Some days we opt out of regular school in the RV and do field trips;  Wonderworks was one we went to in Panama City; or the beach; or a museum.  There are learning opportunities everywhere!


math in the RV
math on the beach!


Some times we go weeks without an internet connection and emails are not as easy as I though they would be.  We did buy a tracfone from Walmart last month for $15 and thought that we had enough minutes for several months....nope...we used 270 minutes in 3 weeks...we are now phoneless until we can get to another Walmart to recharge the minutes..




Last week when we departed Florida we knew that our general direction was going to be Mission Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley.  We didn't know that we would find the coast and stop for 2 weeks!  That is the beauty of not having reservations ahead of time...we were able to pull into this RV park, stay for one night and then request 2 additional weeks....next stop will be Mission and if we like it we will stay for a month or so...
getting ready to go outside for a long beach walk



Terry doing what he does best



watching the waves


the forces of the tides at work


rented a golf cart in Port A, as the locals call it....driving on the beach was awesome!



Thursday, February 17, 2011

Michael's blog

Well, we did a lot in Florida, at Lake Rousseau we went to restaurants like Reds, where they served huge breakfasts, and Cody’s, where foods is really big.  We did fun things and I got a lot of new things like at Christmas time a lot of new magic the gathering cards, and a new play sword.  I did the Prerelease of Mirrodin Besieged, and we did the manatee festival, and even Dave and Lorna, my parents friends came to see us for ten days.  Once we left Lake Rousseau, we went to cedar key where we explore the town and beach, and rented a golf cart to drive around in. Then from cedar key we went to a Bestwestern inn, which had a big room and a connection to the room where Dave and Lorna were.  From the inn, we went to cabin called, old saltworks cabin, and spent a few nights, the cabin was like a house.  While we were there, My Mom, me, and Lorna watched Titanic 2.  Then from there we went to Panama city beach.


So we did a lot in florida, once Dave and Lorna left when we were in Panama city beach, we left for Texas, and that’s where we are now.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Galveston to Port Aransas

The view from my kitchen where we stopped on the beach to make lunch. 
 Miles and miles of endless sandy beaches.  I think we managed to drive every road along the gulf coast from Florida to Texas.

The pier at Pass Aransas was filled with people fishing.

We had to take another ferry over to Port Aransas on Mustang Island.  These are free ferries and only take a few minutes to cross.

Our RV park is just down the road from Port Aransas, near Corpus Christi

The beach in front of Pioneer RV park, we lucked out finding this spot.

The boardwalk back to our RV park.

Monday, February 14, 2011

LaFayette, LA to Galveston, TX

We filled up the RV in LaFayette with our "free" money, thanks to Deuce's Casino!

Traveled on Interstate-10 for a few hours and then veered south and took the backroads towards Galveston.   3 hours and a ferry later we were driving on a quiet beach road again...we have now followed 75% of the Gulf of Mexico...

Galveston is a very clean and neat looking city, population only 56,000.  We followed the coast until we hit Jamaica Beach and found a great little RV spot right next to the beach.  We should be able to hit Padre Island tomorrow and find a place to camp there...once we leave the coast we won't see an ocean again until we hit BC!  I will be saying soon enough "Where da ocean?"

Texas, the Lone Star State

welcome to Texas

seagulls chasing the ferry to Galveston



Galveston 



the never-ending beach in Galveston

Sunday, February 13, 2011

down South




We departed Florida yesterday morning after Dave and Lorna were dropped off at the airport.  We drove through Alabama, through Mobile and right past Bayou La Batre where Forrest Gump was from!

We crossed over into Mississippi and stopped in Biloxi and Gulfport.  The beaches went on for miles and miles, similar to the ones we had in Florida.  We spent the night in Bay St. Louis which was the epicenter when Hurricane Katrina hit 5 years ago.  Very sad to see the devastation, so many empty lots with just foundations left where the houses once sat.

Today we drove into Louisiana and crossed Lake Pontchartrain into New Orleans, or N'Awlins as they say down here in the South.  A very dirty city, not quite what we expected.  A lot more of the devastation, and so much garbage...

The traffic was very busy for a Sunday morning, we were glad to get off the Interstate and traveled the back roads through parts of the bayou through Houma.  Stopped for lunch in Morgan City and continued on to Lafayette...a "Good Sam RV Park" right beside a casino!  Life is good! 


**update..just got back from the casino next door..WON $750...life is great!




Mobile, Alabama




crossing Lake Pontchartrain into New Orleans

downtown N'Awlins

The Mississippi River


in the bayou

Friday, February 11, 2011

heading West!

We have had 4 fantastic days in Panama City Beach with Dave and Lorna.  They are flying back to Terrace, BC tomorrow morning and we are heading west through Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana to Texas.


The weather was not 100% perfect while our friends were visiting, I would say that they had 50% nice weather, but then again my cup is always half full...it was so nice to finally have a girl friend to visit with, I have been surrounded by only boys since August!  We will miss our friends but look forward to seeing them in May when we return home.






Lorna and I walked 6 km's today down the beach from our condo to the west end where the beach turned into a State park...man, are our feet ever killing us from walking barefoot in the sand for so far...



soaking up the sun in front of our condo

our condo, the Whispering Seas in Panama City Beach, Florida

renowned to be the most beautiful beaches in the world, white sugary sand...


Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Cape San Blas to Panama City Beach

St George Island - The Forgotten Coast

St George Island - The Forgotten Coast

our "rustic" cabin - The Old Salt Works Cabin, Cape San Blas

view from The Old Salt Works Cabin

our balcony at the Whispering Seas condo in Panama City Beach

beautiful sunset view from our balcony

Lorna on Panama City Beach

on Panama City Beach, the most incredible sand!

Lorna and Kelly on Panama City Beach, such a beautiful day!


the end of a fabulous day!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Cedar Key

We spent 2 nights with Dave and Lorna in Cedar Key at the Faraway Inn.  We each had one bedroom kitchenette cottages right near the water, perfect!  The weather cleared up on the 2nd day and we rented a golf cart to explore the island.  We bought 1/2 a bushel of oysters and some blue crabs for our seafood feast...we invited the owners and some of the other guests to come and join us too....