Final Portion of the Journey back to Canada

Packing up and moving onward on Thursday was somewhat difficult.  I had become reliant on John's help with things.  He picked up on it very quickly and was a great help.  

Sever weather was in the forecast so I was looking for a safe haven from potential tornadoes and large hail.  I spent two nights at the Sumner Crest Winery, members of Harvest Hosts, in Portland, Tennessee.  They have a large selection of wines and an amazing antique and gift-ware shop. 

These are a few of the things I liked, but didn't buy:

I did buy some cheese and raspberry/jalapeno jam. 

The next stop was the golf course at the Marriott Griffin Gate Resort and Spa near Lexington, Kentucky, a member of the RV Golf Club.  I believe this is a place where my deceased friend Ted Diakun visited on business.  As I recall from his time spent at this hotel he always came back with a little gift, be it a suit bag, business card album, letter opener, shoe bag, there was always something and this was the only hotel he visited where he got this kind of stuff,  It is in the Eastern time zone so I loose an hour as I get close to it.  On this trip I spent quite a bit of time in the Mountain time zone and then the Central time zone. 

My final stop in the US is at Fulton Farms in Troy Ohio, who are members of Harvest Host.  Although their farm stand is closed at this time of the year they still offer their yard for overnight stays.  If I was a few weeks later I would have been able to pick and eat asparagus.  While I was there I had a look at their sow, turkeys, goats and cows.  This would be a great place to bring young children. 

I crossed the boarder again at Windsor/Detroit and spent my first night in Canada at the McLarty farm, where I spent my last night in Canada, 144 days ago!

This, my first winter trip as an RVer was a great experience.  I visited with old friends, met wonderful people along the way, saw some amazing sites, played lots of golf and enjoyed wonderful libations and foods.  The weather wasn't always perfect, but was better than Ontario has to offer between mid November and early April.

Yom Kippur

I guess I somehow missed posting this back in October, so now it is a little out of sequence.

With a plan to spend Yom Kippur in Hamilton and my brother being willing to let me stay at his place for a couple of nights, I was able to return the trailer to the place I bought it, Ruston RV, for a bit of service.  There wasn't anything really major, but rather a little list of small annoyances.  I have been quite pleased with the service they have provided me, so if anyone is in the market for an RV, I would recommend Ruston for both sales and service.  I dropped it off on Tuesday morning, with the plan to pick it up Thursday morning.  

While I was in Dundas I was able to pick up the items I had selected to use up my Air Miles that were going to expire at the end of the year.  Christmas or Hanukkah came early this year.  With trailer life in mind I purchased walkie talkies, a crank radio/flash light and a waterproof still/video camera.  The ax I ordered must be on back order.  

I headed back to Milton Heights for another stay.  The number of parks that remain open past Canadian Thanksgiving is quite small and the number that stay open past the end of October is even smaller.  

At this point I am biding my time until I head out for my winter trip, which is to ultimately get to Arizona.  The trip can not be longer than 5 months in order for me to stay within the rules, so I am hoping to hang out in Ontario until a bit into November.  Last year I returned from Portugal in early April and the weather wasn't very nice.  Additionally, very few campgrounds in Ontario open as early as April 1, a few open April 15th and more open May 1 or later. 

Nashville Tennessee

My trip northward began with a big driving day from Milton, Florida to Nashville Tennessee on Monday March 27th. It followed a restful final day in Milton Florida, and with John by my side we made it.  Our destination was an RV parking area, with full hook-ups at the Nashville Fairgrounds.  I knew from the online reviews that the place was nothing special, but the price and location were better than the more traditional or military campgrounds, which were a much further distance from the Downtown tourist area, but seeing as we don't tend to spend much time in the trailer during the day, it would be fine, similar to the place I parked in Philadelphia.  I also knew all the sites were back in, not something I was looking forward to after a long days drive and with a lightning storm obviously heading in our direction.  With John's help directing, we were able after many maneuvers to get the trailer onto an empty site.  (I really do need to get much better at backing the rig up!)  We did so just in time as the rain and lightning bared down on our location.  We relaxed for a while and then went out for a late dinner to the nearest restaurant, Smokin' Thighs, one we had noticed on our way in.

I was near Nashville in September of 2015, but all I had time for was the Johnny Cash Museum, and an organized Pub Crawl.  John and I had one day full day to explore the city.  We didn't get off to a very early start, but that was O.K. as we wanted to take in some night life.  Finding a parking spot for the truck was a bit more problematic than I had expected.  There is a lot of construction going on in the downtown area.  We counted no less than 7 cranes in the skyline, which likely meant fewer on grade parking lots remain.  We though we had found a good one, but then realized you could only pay by the 24 hour period and that was around $35.  At first I didn't think we would be able to fit into the Convention Center parking lot, but upon further calculation we did, just barely, only the top of the antenna was hitting a few low pipes.  The bill came to $12.

The Convention Center located across the road from the Bridgestone Arena, where the Predators play, and the Country Music Hall of Fame, our first destination.

We spent several hours at the County Music Hall of Fame.  

John is a big fan of the older country music, and I'm renewing my interest in it from days gone by when I liked Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton and a few other country musicians.  They have a new display about Brad Paisley, the singer of "our song," "Forever and Ever, Amen," which in 1987 won a Grammy for Best Country & Western Song and an Academy of Country Music award for Song of the Year.  John always selects it when we are in a bar with a jukebox and sings it to me. 

The museum is large and a bit overwhelming, so many artists are recognized, many sound bites and artifacts like, stage costumes, instruments, awards, and some cars. 
There is a little Canadian Content:

At the end of our tour we had a look around the gift shop and tried on some hats:

Afterwards we took a walk along the riverfront and went part way over a bridge that is for pedestrians only.  

All this walking around had helped us to build up a thirst so we did a little bar hopping looking for good live music.  We walked both sides of Broadway and 2nd Ave.  At one of the bars on 2nd, I noticed a tour group come in and recognized the guide as the one that had taken me on my tour about 17 months ago.  He was able to suggest a venue for us to check out that would have music John would like.  We stopped for a bite of dinner at the Rock Bottom Brewery.  Tuesday nights they have their beer sampling on special so I gave it a try:

  

Beer comes in many colors.

Tasting notes.

We had a fun day in downtown Nashville. 

This was our last full day together as Wednesday afternoon John was scheduled on a flight back to Tucson by way of Los Angeles.  We will keep in touch and meet up again, possibly in Canada, and otherwise back in Tucson is about 6 1/2 months. 

I spent one more night in Nashville.

Florida Pan Handle/Brewton Alabama

Our third base stay was at a joint Navy and Air Force base in Milton Florida, which is about a 40 minute drive to the Country Club of Brewton, Alabama.  

This is a small RV park with only 10 sites, which is why we had to wait a few extra days to get one.  They also have some tent camping sites, none of which were being used at this season of the year, due to the cool nights.  All the sites are back in and have full hook ups.  The campground is also located just outside the gate to the base but we still feel very safe as the base is pretty much in the middle of no where and the Navy police patrol it regularly.  We can only faintly hear revelry and the anthem in the mornings as there are no speakers located in the RV Park.  

Many of the people I met in Arizona have spent time in Florida and say part of the reason they go to Arizona now is that Florida has too many bugs.  I would have to agree, as there have been a few that have gotten inside the trailer and lots outside as well.  

Each day we have been making the trip to Brewton to play with the group I played with previously.  John has enjoyed the course and the fellows we have been paired with. 

The course has some pretty holes, with more trees and water for John to enjoy:

Our nearest neighbors in the campground are a couple with a 6 week old baby and two dogs.  He fellow is a pilot working at the base.  One of the dogs always barks at me when I am working on their side of the trailer, where all my utility connections are located.  They quickly hush him up.

We played every day from Saturday to Saturday, with the exception of Tuesday, when it seemed there would be a smaller than usual group and I had arranged for a local service man to come and check out a small water leak that was causing me concern.  The leak turned out to be very minor and was easily fixed. 

We continued to follow the U of A games until they lost on Thursday night in the sweet 16 to Xavier.  

Sunday we relaxed, did chores and prepared to move on.   

Next Stop Gulf Port

The next main stopping point was supposed to be in the area of Brewton, Alabama in order to see my coach and friends that play at the Country Club of Brewton, however there was not a campsite available at the nearby base for a further 4 days, and my arrival date there was flexible, so we decided to stop at the Naval Base in Gulf Port. 

On the way there we stopped to play the Diamondhead Country Club, Pine course, in Diamondhead, Mississippi, which several people from the New Orleans area recommended.  This was John's first taste of hilly, forest lined golf as we will experience in Brewton.  They had this neat carving next to the first tee:

From Diamondhead to Gulf Port the drive offered John lots more views of water and travel across causeways. 

The base has two campgrounds, the old and the new.  We were on a site on the old one, which was perfectly fine with me.  It was closer to the entrance gate and had mostly pull-through sites, whereas the new one is way into the base and has mostly back-in sites, but is next to a lake, which might have been nice.  The old campground is also bordered by two exterior roads and a cemetery, but our site was in the middle so none of those things were close enough to bother us.

Another benefit of staying on the bases is access to their grocery and department stores, which offer good pricing and no added sales tax.  I'm getting a bit spoiled with access to these.

On Tuesday we went to another nearby base that had their own golf course, as some of the better courses in the area are closed on Tuesdays.  The course was pretty flat and mostly wide open but did have a couple of holes near the gulf that were pretty:

And other holes that ran next to the runways:

On the way back we took the coastal highway, which offered great water views for John.  We stopped at a seafood bar for a snack and to watch the sunset:

On Wednesday we went to play Windance a course that was recommended to us by the starter at Diamondhead.  I really enjoyed it.  There are some really pretty holes:

I found it to be very similar to Grand Bear a course in the area I had played previously, which is more expensive.  

On Thursday we relaxed and did chores during the day, and then went to the base bar in the evening to watch the U of A Basketball game in the March madness round of 64.

Next Stop New Orleans

John is going to continue on traveling with me.  For the next campground we are going to take advantage of his past military service to utilize a campground on a military base a bit outside of New Orleans in Belle Chasse.  The Military RV park on the base has full hook-ups and is only $20 per night as compared to the commercial campgrounds I was looking at in the area, which run $50 - $65 per night.  

The drive from Lafayette to Belle Chasse isn't very far so we had time to stop at the world renowned Tabasco sauce factory on Avery Island.  It is set up starting at a museum and then a self guided tour of the plant.  At the end of the tour they give you some product samples, which makes the admission pretty much free.  

The original sauce.

Giant sized bottles of all the flavors.

Mash aging in barrels, covered with salt.

They produce a lot each day!

When I tour plants like this, distilleries and wineries, I am always mesmerized by the volume of inventory that is on hand being aged.  It is quite a waiting game.  I wouldn't have the patience for it.  This is still a family owned and run business, presently in the 5th generation.

Shortly after we arrived and were set up the couple from a site close to ours came by and introduced themselves and their rescued greyhound.  She was a retired major and nurse from the Army.  They live near Baltimore and travel part time in a very small travel trailer.

We learned the first morning on the base that we would be awakened to revelry and the National Anthem at 8:00 a.m.  It is the fastest played version of the anthem I have ever heard.  Mouthing the words to myself, they did take on new meaning while on an actual active base.

Thursday we went to play the nearby Timberlane Country Club (golf, tennis, swimming, beach volleyball), which I played when in New Orleans previously. Since I last played there they have switched the 9's around and are in the process of moving the pro shop from a separate building into the clubhouse.  The Tulane beach volleyball team had a long practice.  They were there when we arrived and still there when we were leaving!  After golf we returned to the base and went to the bowling alley (10 pin) for a few games, and then we went to the bar to watch the University of Arizona basketball game, as well as taking advantage of the free air hockey, pool table and darts.  John and I are both competitive.

Friday we had a really big day.  We started off by playing golf at Oak Harbor, another course I played at while at college.  To get there from Belle Chase we crossed Lake Pontchartrain on the causeway.  Being born and bread in Tucson, Arizona, he had never seen that much water or ridden over anything like the causeway.  For him it was HUGE!  It turned out that my former team mates were practicing/playing at Oak Harbor, while on Mardi Gras break.  Before we teed off I had a visit with a couple of the guys and at the turn I visited with several of the girls.  After golf we headed to Pascal's Manali for happy hour and raw oysters (another first for John).  After that we went to the service at the shule I attended while at Loyola, Temple Sinai (another first for John).  It was probably a good week for me to attend because the new Rabbi was away, so the service was conducted by the Cantor, who I was familiar with.  His sermon was about turning 60 recently, something John was able to relate to.  Many of the congregants I knew were in attendance, so I was able to have a brief visit with them.  We then got a ride down to the French Quarter with a couple from the synagogue who go there after the service every week for dinner.  Getting the ride helped to solve the problem of where we would park the truck in the Quarter.  We walked up and down Bourbon Street and a couple of the side streets for John to get a feel for it.  He noted it smelt bad (urine and vomit).  I think being so close to the end of Mardi Gras they hadn't washed everything away yet.  I didn't remember it smelling that bad when I have been there previously.  We stopped in at Daisy Dukes for a bite to eat.  I had the Bloody Mary, alligator sausage with a cup of gumbo, yum.  

When we were done in the quarter the rode the historic St. Charles Street Car back to the shule, where the truck was parked.

On the weekend we relaxed on the base.  After supplying us with various edible treats throughout the week, like orange bread and home cured bacon we hosted our neighbors for their final dinner in Belle Chase.  John made tacos, re-fried beans and Spanish rice.  They brought steamed asparagus with home-made mayonnaise as a starter and rice pudding for desert.  The dog was included in the visit and was well behaved, laying down by the couch while we ate.  For his good behavior he was allowed to have two tacos, which he devoured as happily as the rest of us had.

Monday we played Stonebridge Golf Club of New Orleans, another course from my college days.  They have 27 holes and we played them all.  On the way back to the base I felt like a frozen daiquiri and John wasn't, though he had never had one.  The shop we went to was not busy, despite their sale on large ones on Monday's, so the hostess was willing to give him samples to try.  He tried all 10 flavors and it turned out he, "Loved it."  He selected Mudslide for his full sized drink.  I had Pina Colada mixed with Amaretto and Pineapple. We spent some time chatting with the hostess and listening to the jukebox. 

Tuesday was my first big day visiting Loyola.  On the way to campus I stopped to visit one of my faculty friends who is recovering from cancer.  We had a nice visit at her apartment.  Her recovery is going well, but slower that she would like. She hopes to be back at work for the summer semester.  From there I went to the Mass Communications department just before a planned staff meeting.  I was able to visit with many of my former professors, adviser and the director of the department.  It wasn't until then that I learned that one of my favorite professors has go to work at National Geographic in Washington, DC full time.  Good for him, sad for the department.  They have renovated a few spaces since I left in order to provide more hands on training in the new environment.  The current students are very lucky. From there I went to the library, but I didn't see anyone I knew.  I did go up to the top floor to have a look at the current art exhibit of print making and only saw one piece I liked.  This was it:

Next I was interested in a bit of lunch and was hoping for Chinese from Tulane's food court. I was dismayed to find they had made major changes to the space and the outlet I was hoping for was no longer there.  I ended up going to a small cafe on their campus for a Muffaletta, but it wasn't totally authentic, somewhat disappointing.  After lunch, I headed to the Athletic Department.  I had a brief chat with the Director, and a longer one with the office manager.  On my way back to the car I encountered several former classmates and chatted with them. 

It rained hard on Tuesday evening, which put a kibosh on our plan to play the newly reopened Joseph M. Bartholomew Sr. Municipal Golf Course in Pontchartrain,

as they were playing cart path only.  Actually, it was kind of scary on the base as the severe weather passed by, heavy rain, thunder and lightning, with no announcements, and then later in the evening there were announcements saying to "shelter in place until the all clear was given, and to shut off your mechanical ventilation systems."  The all clear took about 90 minutes to arrive.  In hindsight we felt that message may have been part of an emergency preparedness test, because thankfully no further bad weather came our way. 

As it happened there was less rain on the opposite side of the lake so we went back and played Oak Harbor again.  On the way towards the base gate, John noticed this little guy next to the drainage ditch.  

I guess he made his way there in the rain, overnight.  This time, my friend the owner was in the Pro Shop at Oak Harbor, so we had a nice visit before we went out to play. Unfortunately, I twisted my right knee in an unusual manner during my tee shot on the 7th hole and it remained sore for the entire round, inhibiting my play. 

Thursday morning I was to play with some of my former team mates at Audubon Golf Course but my knee was too sore.  As it worked out the players didn't make it to the early morning tee time either.  At a more reasonable hour, I picked up a knee brace and went to meet the new coach as planned.  We had a nice chat about the past, present and future of the program and he presented me with my final collegiate golf award, a plaque bestowed upon my for my academic excellence as a student athlete. After that I dropped off a couple of bags of beads we didn't want at Arc:

On the way "home" I stopped by Pascal's for another dozen oysters.  

Friday the play was to meet my Religion Professor for lunch in the faculty dining room, where I eat most of my lunches my second year at Loyola.  Friday is a traditional seafood gumbo, catfish (fried and baked) and hush-puppy lunch, my favorite of the week, so it was great that she was available Friday.  The staff on duty there were the same as before and they recognized me and were happy to see me.  We had a great visit and a nice lunch.  Afterwards I met one of my former classmates, who graduated last year and is working at being a freelance photographer for coffee.  We had a good visit on Magazine Street.  Finally I stopped at Frankie & Johnny's for some chilled boiled shrimp before heading "home." 

Saturday we relaxed again while waiting for the next U of A Basketball game.  

Sunday we went to visit one of my former classmates who graduated last year at her job at a local television station.  She gave us a full tour of the station and introduced us to everyone.  There are quite a few current and former Loyola students working there.  It was interesting to see behind the scenes and to be on the set.  Afterwards we went to Rock 'n Bowl for their Zydeco show.  This was the first time I had been on a Sunday as I used to regularly go on Thursday nights.  The crowd was much smaller with fewer good dancers.  It worked for our purpose as the music was still good and there was room on the dance floor for us to shuffle around.  Afterwards we went for a bit to eat at Superior Seafood.  Even at around 8:00 on a Sunday evening there was a wait to get a table. This was where John had Char Grilled Oysters for the first time.  He prefers them to the raw ones because as he says, "anything made with butter and cheese is good."  We also created our own surf and turf, splitting a hamburger and a shrimp po boy. 

I accomplished most of what I had in mind with this visit to New Orleans, it was nice to go back after a couple of years.  The vibe of the city has a way of getting into your system. 

Mardi Gras in Lafayette Louisiana

The drive from Baytown to the KOA in Scott, La, right next to Lafayette, wasn't very far (as planned) and we arrived a day earlier than I had originally planned.  On the way there we had time to stop at a relatively new golf course, which is part of a planned community.  It is called Riverbend at Floresville, TX.

The course wasn't very busy.  We played as a twosome.  As you can see in the photo, the rough was dormant.  The front 9 was links style and the back more parkland.  I preferred the back. It was easy to get in with the trailer and there was a good parking spot for it. 

I generally don't like staying at KOA's but this one was well located.  Our site had a nice partial view of the small lake on the property.

Arriving a day early allowed us time to go golfing on Friday morning and to get the lay of the land figured out, before the nighttime parade.  We played Herbert Park Golf Course in Lafayette.  It is the municipal course.  It was in quite good condition.  It is an old course with great large trees and some ponds.  We played as a twosome again.  We were able to walk, allowing me to use my Lectronic caddy.  The green fee was astonishingly low.  After the golf we drove the parade route in order to familiarize ourselves with Lafayette. 

Friday evening we headed out for the parade.  Based on our prior reconnaissance mission, we found our way into town and found a good free parking spot, close to the route and with portable toilets nearby.  We arrived about 45 minutes before the parade passed by, during which time we chatted with some other people from close to the area.  They ended up inviting us to a crayfish boil they had planned the following day, which we decided not to attend as it was about an hours drive each way and that would cause us to miss the Saturday parades we were there for.  

Big letters spelling out a cities name are all the rage!

This was John's first Mardi Gras parade, so he wasn't sure what to expect.  From my experience in New Orleans, this one was on a smaller scale, with smaller floats, but still lots of marching bands and float riders throwing, mostly beads.  

John stands out in a crowd, with his height and abundant white hair, so was the target for lots of throws and with his long arms, big hands and athletic ability he caught most sent in his direction, some of which he shared with me.  

After the parade we went to Agave, a bar/restaurant across the road from where we had been watching the parade.  We enjoyed a snack and drink and got to know the bar tender.

Shrimps wrapped with bacon.

Saturday morning we rented a paddle boat and tootled around the small lake for about 45 minutes.  In the afternoon we decided to try the wares at the highly recommended restaurant located within a short walk of our KOA campsite in Scott, Louisianna, Billy's, which specializes in Boudin and Cracklin.  It seemed a necessary thing to do, as Scott is the "Boudin capital of the world."  I had never had Boudin before, but though I had eaten a version of Cracklin. We took out 5 items, one of each for us to try, Boudin balls, with and without pepper-jack cheese, Boudin roll-ups (like egg rolls), with and without pepper-jack cheese and 1/4 lb of cracklins.  This stuff isn't inexpensive.  I preferred the balls, John preferred the roll-ups.  We both found the cracklings a little tough and prefer regular pork rinds.  This place is a booming business with the parking lot quite full and drive-through line quite long from opening to closing every day!

Saturday evening we decided to take in the parade and concert at Le Festival de Mardi Gras at Cajun Field, where there are lots of people with RV's camping out, and there is an amusement park with rides, games and food booths set up.  We parked and then wandered around the amusement area, following which we took in the concert, until the parade came by.  We weren't really interested in catching more beads so we watched from afar.  After the parade the band played on for a while.  It was a nice evening to be outside.  Although there was some drinking involved the crowd was well behaved. 

Sunday we drove a short distance north west to the outskirts of Church Point to attend the 56th Annual Courir de Mardi Gras.  This is a more traditional celebration, which involves men on horseback, 

some chasing and catching of chickens,

and some floats with riders throwing beads.  We found a good spot to park, near the parade route and arrived in time to see all the horsemen arrive at the park where the chicken chase took place and then where the parade rolled by afterwards.  We were showered with way too many beads. 

Monday we decided to skip the parade and instead did laundry, tidying up, refilled the propane tanks and took a walk around the park. 

Tuesday we opted to miss the first of the three parades and watched the last two, close to Agave again.  John had promised the bar tender,

and waitress some of his home cooking, which we delivered before finding a spot on the street to watch the parades.  The first one we was was predominantly black people and second one was a mishmash of various independent floats. 

Enthusiastic parade watcher.

Spending Mardi Gras in Lafayette was a good decision.