Let the Christmas Visit Begin

Well, who wants to read a boring blog entry about driving through the rain to Spartanburg, anyway?

We did make the trip in fine fashion.  On our first night here, we enjoyed a nice dinner at Red Lobster with Raelyn, while Matt was working as the bartender.  He sat for a quick picture.

We marveled at how much Finn has grown since we were here in July . . .

and admired the Christmas decor at Chateau Chambliss.

Then it was a couple of days of last minute shopping and evenings watching football, and all too soon Christmas Day was upon us.

It was a fine day ... Raelyn's Christmas dinner was perfect.
Yumm to the max.

The thing we didn't think about too much until we got here was the cold.  Repeat ... the COLD.  Specifically, the COLD RAIN.  Sure, it's winter and all that, but it least it's not snowing.

If we hadn't seen this ourselves, we'd wouldn't have believe this could happen

Raelyn's family drove down from their home in Utica, NY, two days after Christmas and we've all partied like there's no tomorrow, lol.

After we've all had a chance to catch our breaths, I will get working on the next blog post.

Stay tuned.

Pooh and the Honda ready for their first night out together ... so cute !

Our first campground was near Orlando.  We parked between two couples who are entertainers.  On one side was Larry Clayton and his wife, who gifted us with a lovely CD of him playing and singing great old Southern Gospel songs.  On the other side was Sally Langwah and her husband. 

These two couples are fully booked providing entertainment to 55+ year old venues in the area where we live in Florida.  Sometimes they perform together, and sometimes each couple performs separately.  We're going to try and catch their acts when we get back.  We definitely fall into that audience category, doncha know.

Larry Clayton and Frank

When not chatting with our neighbors about music, history, and the general state of affairs today, we spent time admiring the local wild life.  This lovely creature was walking right outside our door.

On day two, we drove all the way to Jacksonville, a robust trip of 197 miles.  No sense in taxing ourselves.  We spent three nights going to South Carolina, smelling the roses when we can, avoiding the rain when we can, and enjoying the ride. We really didn't have to leave so early, but our neighbor directly across the driveway from our condo was moving on Saturday and we didn't want our own loading preparations to compete with their big moving van.

We spent our second night between the end of the Jacksonville Airport runway and a big flea market. 

Very interesting.  The price was right, though, and the noise wasn't nearly as bad as we had feared.  The rain showers during the night covered up the sounds of the airplanes.  It was okay for one night, but we're putting it way down on the list of favorite campgrounds.


Next stop . . . South Carolina.

Pooh Is On The Road Again

We're baaaaaaaaaaaaaack ....

As our Facebook friends know, we have taken several trips with Pooh since our last entry on Poohtracks.  That darn Facebook makes it just too easy to click a pic and post it right away.  We got lazy and didn't take the time to write more than a few cursory words.  Several of our previous readers asked if we would start the blog again so they could get more details about our excursions.  So, Poohtracks is back!

For our latest trip, we are heading to South Carolina to spend the holidays with our son Matt and his wife, Raelyn.   Her parents and brother will be joining us and we are looking forward to a nice holiday season.  It's been 3 months since our last outing in Pooh, and we're feeling the itch to get on the road again.

After putting our stuff into the motorhome, we turned to hooking up the new car.  Everything went well in that regard, despite some nervousness; the new Honda just seems a lot more serious than the old Geo Tracker.

When everything was fastened up tight, we were finally on our way, getting entangled in Friday afternoon traffic as we crossed the Howard Frankland Bridge over Tampa Bay headed toward our first campsite.

We should have left earlier

It's amazing how much we depend on electronic gear on our trips these days.  However did we travel years ago with only a map?

Rearview camera, CB radio, auxiliary brake monitor, XM radio, GPS, compass

Not much to see on the way . . . just one poor chap getting pulled over by not one, but two law enforcement officers.

. . . and the always interesting Airstream Ranch along Interstate 4.

A bit of Americana

Come back tomorrow to read about the interesting people we met in the first campground of the trip.

Frank makes friends wherever he goes

The Crescent City, The End

One evening we went to visit with Frank's friend from the Oceanside High School Class of 1962 ... John Onstott, and his wife, Eleanor.  Our readers may remember that John is a Grand Master bridge player.  The Onstotts took us to dinner, and we had a pleasant time discussing politics, bridge, and the renowned Pirate offensive line of 1961.

All smiles at Mr. Ed's Restaurant in Metarie

Can't you just imagine these two in Pirate green?

There was just one more item to be completed in New Orleans.  Pooh's pesky slideout had been giving us trouble, notwithstanding the fact that we had spent beaucoup bucks on it just prior to leaving Florida.  We nursed it along until we arrived in New Orleans, confident that Jeffery and Derrick would be able to diagnose and fix the darned thing.

Their shop was so busy during the week that it was Saturday before they could take on the challenge.

Mystery solved . . . so THAT's where the hydraulic fluid escaped from

Kudos to the shop guy who does aluminum welding

With the leak in the slideout mechanism fixed, and the freon in the Tracker air conditioner filled up, we were ready to begin the journey back home.

As always, our time in New Orleans was just wonderful.   Too soon it was time to hitch the Tracker to the rear of Pooh, and head eastward toward home.  We waited one more day until the severe thunderstorms had passed on, and then off we drove east on I-10.

Beignet . . . Done That

One day we went for a ride around town.   Frank and I come from the generation when "taking a ride" was a high form of family entertainment, especially on a Sunday afternoon.  When Dad would say, "Let's take a ride," the kids knew that they would see something interesting, get a chance to play in the back seat, and most likely be rewarded with an ice cream cone or other sweet treat at the end of the trip.

The architecture of New Orleans is fascinating to us.   We love driving through the Irish Channel, the Garden District, the French Quarter, Uptown, Carrollton, Lakeshore Drive, and seeing the unique homes.

 

 

 

 

I'd include photos of every building in the French Quarter if I could, but these few will have to do.

 

  

On our way home that night, we shopped for souvenirs.  Now, we aren't great Saints fans, and we have sworn off buying chotskies and dustables, but we had to bring something home from the Crescent City.

 

 

 

The diet can wait until the souvenirs are consumed.

BTW ... I didn't think of that clever title for this post.
I saw it on a billboard down here, and had to include it in the blog somehow.

The Crescent City, Part 1

We left Houston on Saturday morning, headed for a few days in New Orleans on our way back to Florida.

Our readers may remember that two of Frank's cousins own an auto body shop in New Orleans, and that they have a big back lot where we park the motorhome.  There are full RV hookups back there (thanks to FEMA providing trailers for the brothers to live in post-Katrina).  The price is right, and we love the music and the food in New Orleans.  We try to stop by for a few days when we're passing by on I-10.

On Tchoupatoulis Street

Their shop is always busy

Jefferey working up another repair estimate

Living large in HOLA - with full hookups, wifi and DISH network

It rained off and on for the first two days in New Orleans, and so we didn't venture out very much.  Linda, of course, had to visit The Quarter Stitch in the French Quarter to pick up some souvenir yarn. 

He really runs the store

One night we ate at Snug Harbor, a restaurant just outside the French Quarter.  Good food and good music every night.   Charmaine Neville was performing this night, but we didn't get there in time for the show.

The next night we ate at Joey K's restaurant close by on Magazine Street. 

It's good to have local knowledge of the city, courtesy of Frank's cousins.  We avoid the long lines and high prices of the places geared toward tourists, while experiencing authentic New Orleans.