Camp Cloverleaf

Leaving the Gulf coast early this morning we again headed south and east. Zipped through Fanning Springs, the "Gateway to the Swanee". (John of course broke into song with multiple verses even but we didn't stop.) Next came horse country - BIG money somewhere! Then into the heart of Florida where there are still mile after mile of orange groves although it's obvious many of them are being wiped out to put in developments. Enjoy that US orange juice while you can! We kept thinking we'd pass a fruit stand on OUR side of the road, but guess they only cater to folks going north. Tomorrow we'll take a field trip and acquire some fresh fruit. (In case you're wondering, the fine is VERY steep for helping yourself, so even though there's an orange grove across the road, we'll acquire ours legally.)

There are 18 of us working on this Habitat build. Alan, the guy at the left on his "Sunday" motorcycle, is our site supervisor. They have all the materials ready for us to get most of a house done before we leave in two weeks. It sounds like this site is very well organized so building a house does seem possible.

As usual we have a real mix of folks - Michigan, Maine, Vermont, Minnesota, (looking to escape winter in the north) as well as folks from Washington, South Carolina, Texas. As far as camping, we're enjoying the 4-H camp owned by the U. of Florida. It is absolutely beautiful plus we have the run of the place. John & I took kayaks out this evening - couldn't have been more pleasant as the temp here was in the 80's. There's fishing from the dock, a game room with pool table, a complete kitchen, BBQ, great showers. And because New Year's is coming up, we have Monday afternoon and Tuesday off to do some sightseeing. Talk about a plum place to volunteer!

The Roads Less Traveled...

Rather than taking the most direct route to central Florida, Joe sent us on the scenic route to give us a taste of what Florida "used to look like". Of course we also got a taste of what much of the coast is turning into with its high rise condos on the beach, outlet stores, and general tourist shops. Passed through Destin that advertises itself as the "World's Luckiest Fishing Village" (the fishing part I can't speak to, but with at least 15 high rise buildings in site, when does it cease to be a village?!)

Next was Panama City Beach which advertises itself as having the "World's Most Beautiful Beaches" (which were hidden from view by all the high rises so I can only take their word for it).

However, once you passed through Panama City, you can take a lovely coastal route with miles of white sand beaches (yes, that's sand - not snow in the photo). When the beach and ocean isn't in view you drive through pine forests that are lovely (for the first 10, 20, even 30 miles but eventually get a little boring to be quite honest).

However, these roads are also what take you to wonderful little out of the way villages such as Apalachicola which is supposed to have the "Best Oysters in Florida" (and they were mighty good!) It is also the home of the Apalachicola Sponge Company that just reopened after 75 years. Sponges (the kind that live in the sea) were almost "wiped out" years ago by a red tide but have made a recovery. Unfortunately we didn't discover the little bit of info about the sponge company until well after we had left the town - otherwise we would visited it for sure.

Always on the lookout for boats in need of a little tender loving care, John thought this one had great possibilities (lucky for me Rambo is far too small to tow something like that home!). A name I saw on another boat which I thought might apply to this one (and a good many others...) is "Centsless"...

Tonight we're in Steinhatchee where an uncle & aunt of mine used to come for the winter. Steinhatchee, too, is way off the beaten track (24 miles to the nearest grocery) and is obviously a fisherman's paradise. Had wonderful mullet for dinner fresh off the boat. Did as the man said, fried up the backbone (the best part) and ate it like corn on the cob. He was right - it was the best part!

A lazy day in Florida...

As luck would have it (at least for John...) the local marine supply was going out of business so first stop was a "foraging" trip for John to look for bargains for the sailboat he's building. Two plus hours and many dollars later (WAAAAAAAAAAY after my fun meter had run out!) we could go on to something far more exciting.

Like Brian's Poboys - absolutely, hands down, the best oyster poboys I have ever eaten. Joe took us there a couple of years ago, and it was still just as good.

After a little sightseeing (and all that shopping excitement), we headed back to Joe's so John could take an afternoon nap. And then it was time for happy hour in Joe's back yard with neighbors Delores & Jerry. They're on "winter hours" so happy hour starts at 3:30... Need I say more?

It's quite warm here - note the green grass, sandals on my feet, the guys have on short sleeves (my long sleeve shirt is mainly to protect my arms from the mosquitoes of all things!). There was a short article in the "things to do" section of the newspaper this morning about the "Polar Bear Club". If you want to participate in taking a dip in the chilly Gulf (I doubt they will have to remove the ice here before jumping in...) on New Year's Day you'll be rewarded when you emerge with a hot bowl of black eyed peas (a traditional way to bring good luck to you in the coming year). To ensure that Rambo makes it back to NY in January, I planned ahead and bought my black eyed peas today. Have you got yours?

Florida at last...

Woke up this morning in Louisiana to the morning news. Lumberton just voted to make their county "dry" again. Suddenly there's a big outcry about not being able to buy beer and wine locally. They're protesting the vote in court saying the proposition wasn't presented correctly or something like that (it was early after all...) The town clerk in another town has gone on record as saying "they will only allow elections required by law" (did they have other types?!) When John's waffle got "stuck" in the waffle machine we decided it was time to head east again.

The Atchafalaya (try to say that 3 times without sneezing...) Swamp has to be crossed if you're heading to Florida but it is really neat as swamps go. Plus it is comforting to cross it this time of year when you know the alligators and snakes are hibernating. In case your geography is as bad as mine, this is the largest river swamp in North America and filled with all sorts of birds, plants and critters. The educational center is DEFINITELY worth a stop.

Then it was on to Mississippi, Alabama and finally Florida where seafood rules. Joe was waiting for us with a bin of Joe Patti's famous oysters. Joe & John couldn't decide what photo they liked the best so wanted me to post both. Guess raw oysters must make men...

Goodbye Texas...

Rambo started! meaning we have started too, this time heading east toward Florida. Just in case I haven't mentioned it before, Texas is a VERY big state. And, when you start in the heart of the state, it takes most of the day to leave it especially when it's windy and you're driving something like Rambo (although if we were driving Tillie the VW we'd probably still be in Texas).

The sign is from the County Line BBQ in Austin (their version of "Sweeney Todd" I imagine). Their ribs are particularly good but it does make you wonder...

As were passing Austin I began thinking I was about due for a haircut. However, the "Cut 'N Shoot" salon, rather changed my mind.

The BIG news is that finally, finally, finally all the pieces are together AND working... the little MP3 player, the cassette connection from the radio that enables us to play the MP3 over the radio's speakers, the books on tape recorded on the player on loan from the library. We passed through much of eastern Texas Houston listening to "Dangerous Boys" which made the time go much faster!

Now a plug for local libraries... Even though our Earlville library is very small, the new books on tape they're adding to the collection are recorded on their own MP3 players. Just add earphones or speakers and listen away. No need for a CD or cassette player. In addition, they and the library system they belong to now offer books on tape that can be downloaded directly to your computer. No need to even be in the state when you do it which make it perfect if you happen to be "away" as we are now. You can listen to them from your computer or transfer them to your MP3 player. It's an absolutely GREAT service. So check with your library to see, or hear, what's new for you!

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve and we wish you a very happy holiday season! In case you didn't get one of our cards this year, the one at the right will have to do (painted by yours truly). Subconscious really must be a part of our lives... it was only after I had mailed the bulk of the cards that I realized it really would only be the cat and deer at the house for Christmas Day.

Before we leave on Wednesday heading east to Florida (John confident that Rambo will run like a top; me with my fingers crossed so John doesn't see them - he tends to think I'm negative when it comes to Rambo. I think I'm just being realistic...). Anyway, we passed this sign yesterday and all I saw was a bucking bronco and the word "massage". Close up, I'm not sure I'm any closer to understanding what the logo is supposed to convey.

Next bit of trivia. Farmers/ranchers all over Texas are always looking for ways to turn what looks like barren land into income producing property. If it's not an oil well then perhaps a pipe line. Or an electric line. Or a cell tower. Or a wind generator. Just outside Brady they discovered near the surface some of the finest round silica sand there is. (It was news to me but apparently most sand is angular.) And, as luck would have it for the folks whose land it is on, the oil industry needs a lot of it. If I understand it correctly, the sand is forced at high pressure down oil wells to "open" the fractures in the bedrock. This allows more oil to be released. (That is probably a VERY simplistic description, but if you're interested I'm sure you can find out more.)

And back to pecans... We took 24 pounds of pecans over for cracking this morning (25 cents a pound - a bargain!) It turns out the pecan "picker-outer" I pictured a couple of days ago is really called a "goodie gitter". It also turns out the company that made the one I showed (a one person operation) went out of business about 5 years ago. Another company makes a new type with a plastic handle, but the "cracker" owner who's 83 and should know about these things, says they're not nearly as good since they don't have the loop that slips over your pinkie, the key to a great "goodie gitter"!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Texas Christmas trees...

Thought you might enjoy this Texas "tree". The ground was littered with Christmas balls blown off by the wind. (One can appreciate why Texas now has more wind generators than any other state.)

This morning it was in the low 20's - colder than NY or Ohio or Indiana or just about any place where Mother keeps an eye on the weather. That probably means "watch out folks - it's comin' your way!"

Just down the road from this Christmas tree is Cafe 87 next to the "Mexican Colony". The owner of the cafe is of Mexican heritage and makes wonderful food from homemade chips and salsa to huge hamburgers like I remember as a kid before those preformed patties became the norm. The hamburgers come with the works wrapped in paper. They also serve menudo (spicy tripe soup) which we haven't tried yet but perhaps next time. The guys at the table next to us got it and really seemed to be enjoying it. (When I reading about menudo, it's reported to be a great cure for a hangover...)

Back at Mother's we're also being fed well (with no hangovers..). From homemade chicken and noodles (the kind made with eggs and flour and hand rolled) to apple pie. And a friend dropped off homemade tamales that can't be beat. She and her mother had started making tamales at 7:30 a.m. and finished around 4:00 p.m. When I asked how many they'd made, she said 36. (How labor intensive is that?! Later my sister informed me 36 was 36 DOZEN!!! Wow!!!!)

This afternoon we're going to the movies. Big deal, right? Well, here it is. You have to drive over an hour to get to the movie theater. An adventure!

Catching up...

It's always amazing to me that there are folks out there who actually READ this blog! But it seems to be true.

A friend wanted to know what that special little pecan "picker-outer" looked like. So that's the picture of one (with freshly shelled pecans, by yours truly and her mother you might note, in the background). The tool is just short of 5 inches long and is made by J.C. Baker Tool Co. in Victoria, Texas (thank heavens China doesn't make everything!). You hold it in the palm of your hand, hooking the ring end over your little pinkie. The bigger hook on the bottom helps pull the broken shell off. The flat end helps pry out the pecan in one piece (works MUCH better than a round nut pick). Those extra little hooks? I have no idea! If any of you know, please add a comment and let the rest of know.

Speaking of comments... If you go back to the blog from a few days ago... "A DAH Day", you'll find a comment there (just click on the comments and you should be able to read it). Some nice person (even I don't know who submitted the comment unless they're in my email list) who lives in Dahlonega, GA added several places we should have visited when we were there. Sounds like it's worth another trip back. Thanks!

And a friend called when he read about John working on Rambo's leaks to make a couple of suggestions about helpful products (has anyone invented a plastic bubble that just covers the whole works?). John is making progress on patching the leak in the back although I think Duck tape (if there were anything "firm" enough on Rambo to stick it to) might be a cheaper solution. Anyway, thank you Don.

Comments are welcome so please feel free....

The land of the white pickup...

In walking around this morning John & I made note of some differences between Texas and upstate NY...
- White pickups... except for my brother-in-law's red pickup (JA has always had a mind of his own), all the others seem to be white. (Perhaps because of the heat? Where we live they'd just get lost in the snow!)
- In the grocery, you find BIG bags of prepared masa ready to be formed into tortillas...
- And BIG bags of corn husks and dried peppers...
- Texas raises lots of sheep but lamb isn't readily available in the local stores...
- The BIG grocery store (50 miles from here) advertised leg of lamb for $4.99 lb. right next to hog's head for $.49 lb. (the choices one has to make!)
- We went to the local meat processing house in search of lamb and was able to obtain two small packages of chops. He couldn't get us any more today because all their butchers were working on goat... (filling a BIG order from the Muslims in Houston)
- We could, however, have gotten goat's head, beef head, pig's head or feet or tail...
- EVERY store in town sells deer corn... (in NY it's illegal to feed the deer)
- You find displays of "Wild Beast Food" complete with big, scary pictures of hogs (used by hunters as bait for wild hogs)...
- The temperature is in the 70's today while our friends back home are still shoveling snow...
- However, the snowmen in Texas are fake (surprise!) and the ones in NY are real...

Slinky on a stick?

Sorry folks, I got out of the habit of carrying my camera so missed the perfect shot for the blog... There was a big SUV, black, new, & shiny, parked in the local Walmart parking lot with official lettering across the back window reading "Texas Paranormal Research Team, Shhhhh, Be Quiet... We're Looking for Ghosts" and a phone number (Texas ghost busters?!!!) When I mentioned it to my sister, she thought they were probably here to "investigate" the ghost/s in the courthouse. Apparently it's not unusual for staff to leave papers arranged on their desks at night only to find them in disarray when they return the next day. Investigators have been there before. I did take a quick walk around the courthouse later in the day with my camera but failed to spot either the investigators or the ghosts...

So, since I didn't get a photo of that for you, you'll have to put up with one of me. Nope. That's not a new type of toy. For those of you who don't have pecan trees (like those of us from the north), that's a pecan "picker-up-er". When you spy a pecan you pounce on it and the pecan pushes up between the wire coils. When the coil if full of pecans you empty it into the basket. Works pretty neat. Luckily, there's a local guy who has a commercial pecan cracker that does a great job. The result is endless hours of "entertainment" picking them out of the shells (there's even a special tool for that). The end product is well worth the effort!

About Rambo's noises... As you know, Texas roads are straight. Just point your vehicle in the right direction and go. Hardly any steering involved. It's a good thing too since Rambo was completely out of power steering fluid. It's amazing what a little fluid can do to take away front end screeches. Now for the noise in the back but first a little history... John noticed before we left that 2 of the 3 straps holding on the gas tank were broken so replaced them. The third was fine a.k.a. John, and so it was for about 1700 miles (why replace something before it's completely worn out?!). It was at that point the third strap broke, dragging on the payment for the last few hundred miles. John is now replacing that. He just wanted a project to keep him busy in Texas, or perhaps he's studying to be a substitute on the Click & Clack show...

End of the shortcut...

Before leaving Natchez we took a quick driving tour to peek at the mansions in the daylight. Very, very beautiful. One of the old Mississippi paddle boats, the American Queen, was parked at the dock - another thing that might be fun to take at some point in our lives. (It's probably a toss up which is cheaper - taking the boat or filling the gas tank on Rambo!)

And then we were off heading west once again on our "shortcut" to Florida as my mother in Texas says. To tell you the truth the scenery doesn't give one much to write home about and one doesn't even want to think about the traffic around Dallas/Fort Worth or those "peculiar" noises Rambo decided to start making. And with poor radio reception and a "missing" MP3 player with lots of books on tape to listen to (it has now been found - in John's coat pocket hanging on the hook in NY - and is on it's way to Texas thanks to the US mail & Jeff!) - anyway with not much else to do we think of food and look for interesting places to eat.

Saturday we had lunch at Twinkles (the name itself should have warned us off!). Sunday it was lunch at Squealer's (need I say more?). Yesterday it was lunch at the New Cafe of Waslow (established in 1928 - when does it become old?). One thing Jane & Michael Stern don't seem to mention in their road food books is that "home cookin'" doesn't necessarily mean "from scratch" these days. Many times it's the creative use of canned goods put together with care in the kitchen. However, they're always interesting and they aren't franchises.

The Texas tourism guide is, hands down, the best guide any state has to offer. Almost every town in the state is listed along with a bit of history and what there is to see and do. These tidbits I relate to John as we tour along. John was anxious to get to our final destination so we didn't take any side trips, but I do want to go to Eastland sometime. Eastland is the home of "Old Rip", the horned toad. Apparently (and the guide says it's true so it must be true...) when they built their courthouse in 1897 they sealed a live horned toad into the cornerstone (nice folks...). In 1928 they decided to build a new courthouse but wanted to use the same cornerstone. Wouldn't you know it? That old horned toad was still alive! So they took him on a national tour where he caught pneumonia and died a year later. However, they put him in a little glass casket and he's on display in the courthouse. Now wouldn't you want to make a stop too?

But we and Rambo (complete with an ever increasing volume of noise) were on to Brady where we made it safely last night (and where we know we can get "from scratch" good home cooking!) Stay tuned...

Mississippi...

First, another note about yesterday... I forgot to mention that near Dahlonega is the highest waterfall east of the Mississippi (although I cannot personnally attest to this since it was raining so hard we didn't want to go looking for it). The other bit of info... the start of the Appalachian Trail is near there. Again, the rain kept us away. However, we DID get plenty of "hiking" last night in Douglasville. John thought it might be a good time to find a replacement for his glass French coffee press that got "separated" into several pieces during the "relocation" part of the drive to Vicki & George's. Sounds easy enough except John had remembered he'd only spent $20 for his (he conveniently forgot it was also on closeout sale) so insisted we keep looking until we found one that was comparable in price. Two malls and at least nine stores later... (I was about ready to send out a call for one of you to please ship him one and I'd reimburse you on the sly!)

I apologize to Alabama (especially to the northern part that's very beautiful) for having breezed right through today. George had recommended we drive part of the Natchez Trace that runs between Nashville & (you guessed it) Natchez and we wanted to get there while we still had daylight. (We started the parkway drive in Jackson, MS.) For those of you who aren't familiar with the Natchez Trace, it was first used by Native Americans as they moved from the north to the south and back. Later, the trail was used by boatmen who took boats down to Natchez, sold them, and walked back to their homes in the north. Some walked for six months or more. Now the National Park Service maintains it as a scenic parkway. There are numerous points of historical interest along the way and several places where you can still see and/or walk the trail (including the section in the photo). We could have camped there (for free this time of year) but it was a brisk day, they had no hookups (electric or water) and the back of the van is at the moment not much neater than the rooms of some teenagers. But the real truth was, the thought of a real bed in a warm room with running water and a shower was worth the price (even John didn't complain).

Tonight we're in Natchez. For being the oldest permanent settlement on the Mississippi and as wealthy as NYC at one time, it's much smaller than we expected. We didn't make reservations at the historic hotel downtown because they didn't mention parking in their ad and we assumed Rambo would be a problem. Next time we'll know better, get a room there and stay a couple of days. Turns out parking would NOT have been a problem plus the hotel is right in the middle of the city. Everywhere is walkable from there with lots of interesting shops and many, many historical buildings. Perhaps next trip.

Tomorrow? Still heading west...

A "Dah" Day....

Waving goodbye to Vicki & George we headed south, well below the ice storm coming. It was only then, when driving was a bit more leisurely, that I thought to ask John what he thought those Methodists shouted through their bull horns. He "politely" educated me that folks in the 1800's didn't have access to electronic bull horns (DAH!) but rather just blew through horns from bulls like a horn. Now why on earth would they think that sounded better than church bells?!

Zipping out of North Carolina, through South Carolina, we arrived in no time at the Welcome station in Georgia where we picked up some tourist info to help in our search for lunch. Back on the road, I began reading about this little town of Dahlonega. It was 5o miles off the main road, but suddenly it occurred to me that we were no longer racing to get away from the ice storm (DAH!), so why not take a side trip?

If you are like us, you may not have realized that Dahlonega was the site of the first gold rush in the US in the early 1800's. In fact they mined so much gold they even put one of the US mints there. It was abandoned during the Civil War (no surprise there...). Even though some gold is still mined there today, their major gold digging appears to be from tourists. All the shops in their very pretty downtown have now been redone into quaint little shops for tourists. John & I aren't much into shopping, opting to go through their gold museum instead - not a whole lot on display but what they had was interesting (and their movie gave John a chance for a brief nap).

But the real reason (other than lunch which was nothing to write home about) I wanted to come to Dahlonega was to go to the "Funky Chicken Art Project" described as art in an old chicken coup. It was about 10 miles out of town. Some interesting garden type art but with prices waaaaay above my price point.

So it was on to Atlanta - we brought them driving rain which I'm sure they were only too happy to have. (Rambo & I were less than enthusiastic! - we haven't dared look in the back for leaks yet...) Past Atlanta, we're now in Douglasville, GA. Who knows what today will bring? (DAH!)

And we're off....

4:30 a.m. - kitty alarm goes off (deaf cats are like deaf people - the deafer they get the louder they talk... plus we have a cat who feels the need to relate how every morsel of his "Dad's Gourmet Cat Food" tasted.) At any rate, we were up dressed, breakfasted, showered (not necessarily in that order but at that time of morning who knows for sure?), last minute furnace repair, Rambo started (amazing!) and made it out of the garage, the truck unstuck from where it had frozen in the driveway and put in the garage. At 5:30 (A.M.!) we're ready to go. I think even the road crew who were doing their early morning snow plowing and sanding were amazed. We must admit it was rather touch and go whether or not Rambo would actually make it up our little road (even the road crew waited at the top of the road to see if we made it) but finally all cylinders clicked in and we were off.

On to points south. The roads were clear. Once it got light enough to see (Pennsylvania by that time) the surrounding area looked beautiful with snow. Then, further south, ice on trees. And further south SUN, SUN, SUN!!! We stopped for lunch in Martinsburg, WV, a lovely little city. We had obviously arrived in the south where fried catfish, green beans with ham & onions & even lima beans appear on your plate. Next trip to NC I'd like to stay a night here (my butt seems to think a 15 hour drive is too much to do in a day). Martinsburg has lots of historic buildings including an old Methodist church (now used as an office building) built in the 1700's without a bell tower. Turned out they didn't believe in the noise bells made so used a bull horn instead to call folks to workship. (Any suggestions on what exactly they might have called? The brochure didn't say.)

Driving on, Rambo was happier by the moment and rolled over 250,000 miles. Just as we were within 40 miles of where we take the interstate south the sign that says "If the yellow lights are flashing, tune to 1620 am" was doing just that - flashing. Now the thing about Rambo's radio is that the dial doesn't light so it's impossible to tell what frequency you're on not to mention it doesn't get very good reception (and in this case 1620 was not to be found). The emergency windup radio was way out of reach somewhere in the back. And the new little MP3 player we recorded books on to listen to on the the trip that also has a radio has gone "missing" (don't ask). Soooooo... 10 miles later we run into miles of bumper to bumper traffic almost stopped. Luckily we were at a exit which we quick took. Hauling out the map and consulting with Miss Garmin (our GPS unit) we headed across country to pick up the interstate further south. It was a beautiful little (as in LITTLE) road, very windy (as in WINDY - hairpin turns etc), and up (as in UP), up, up. The way Rambo had been packed (as in hurriedly) things were very secure on the smooth interstate. However, on this road a lot of items (which will go unnamed), decided to relocate themselves - some multiple times. (John has already spent time this morning picking up bits of broken glass and putting things back into more secure locations.)

But, finally we got to George & Vicki's who welcomed us with open arms and martini's. Only rain predicted for today for points south. Atlanta here we come!

Here Piggy, Piggy...

Thanks to a friend, a friendly pig sculpture "protects" our parsley bed. He does look rather cute peeking out of the snow. That was yesterday and oh what a difference a day makes. Today that little pig is no where to be seen - he's hiding out under another foot of snow.

I like snow. I also like not having to deal with snow. And John REALLY likes not having to deal with snow especially when he goes out to start the snow blower and finds the front tire on the tractor (to which the snow blower is attached) flat. (It's had a slooooow leak for several months but husbands do not always listen to their wives about getting things fixed...) Thanks to a portable compressor (and a few choice thoughts, I'm sure) the tire now has air (for a day or two) and the snow has been blown away from the driveway and walkway.

While the radio was merrily playing "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow", John & I were merrily packing up rusty old Rambo in preparation for going south tomorrow (no snow, short sleeves... you get the picture). In addition to seeing my Mom & sister & brother-in-law & nephew & his wife & who knows how many other crazy Texans, we'll be going over to Florida for another Habitat build. This one starts on Dec. 30th so one wonders what we'll be doing for New Year's Eve. Sleeping the night away after a hard day's work? Uncorking champagne bottles with our hammers? Will Rambo even make it there? Ah, the suspense...

Keep checking the blog. I'm refreshed, renewed and ready to keep you updated (if you're interested) in the amazing un-adventures of two ordinary folks.