During our stay, we have walked a lot. Found some WSU fans here for the football game tonight against Notra Dame. Looks like more ND fans than WSU. Joe was impressed with the iron lizard.

My hip has decided to play with me and cause some spasms, I have to be careful when I stand up mostly.
Moving today from the Sheraton to the Westin on the Riverwalk. Have our costumes ready,, so we should have a riot blast of fun tonight ;D

We have been enjoying San Antonio to the fullest.

Staying at the same place as with the sisters last November. Mailed 4 postcards from the 12th floor mail slot with the hopes they will make it to their destinations. Visited the river walk and went to the Hyatt Lobby Bar for a morning drink only to find the bartender didn't know how to make Tequila Sunrises, so she had to call the manager who came up and mixed them "on the house" because we had to wait. The manager then said she had never made this drink. Surprisingly and lucky for us, they were excellent and exactly as they should have been.

Walking, drinking and eating seems to be the way of the riverwalk. We enjoyed the market today eating at the same place the sisters did. It hasn't been as crowded as then though. We took the time to actually map out our trip since we let in August and feel so luck to have had the time and money to do such a trip. It is so amazing to have seen such beautiful land. I only hope everyone who wants to travel as we have, has the opportunity to do so. Tomorrow we'll investigate a few other attractions here in San Antonio. XXOO

Our first day in San Antonio, TX. We walked the river walk and enjoyed seeing so much of what they have improved.

Joe was checking out the trees that are so big here trying to figure out the species. Where are our friends with the knowledge to assist with the identification of the tree. Joe got a few cones from the tree in hopes to grow them at home?

We seen the Alamo without so many people as last year.

Then ended up eating excellent food for lunch and continued to walk it off then decided to stop and do a great big siesta before going out for the night time entertainment

Our travels from Carney's in the rain heading SW with the hopes of sunshine. Mike is raising wild pigs and took a few pictures for us. This is the mama sow.
We enjoyed a wonder meal cooked by Debra's son Mark - Cajun food. that he brought back from Baton Rouge. He went to the LSU Auburn game and was happy on the outcome, but I told him ....... wrong day for Auburn. ;D
We had great food and wonderful conversation. Joe & I learned quite a bit about the mining for natural gas. We had such a wonderful time visiting and getting such education. "who'd a thunk Eastern Texas" Traveled to Austin, TX on Monday and had a wonderful visit to the capital and University of Texas. Awoke to Sunshine this morning :D
Drove through Johnson City and went to where Johnson grew up and the ranch.








From there we headed to San Antonio, TX for a few days of rest and enjoyment. We will be here for Halloween, so we hope to be apart of some exciting celebrations. We'll be working on our travels from here to San Diego while here. It will really depend on the weather. 4DATUDE hates snow. "":D

We had such a wonderful day yesterday. Debra's son Jason is married to the most lovely lady Sarah who's family was having a family reunion at the family farm which was part of the Mimosa plantation settled in 1765. 8,000 acres originally. Sarah's Great grandmother stayed there all her 97 years and passed away not to many years ago.. Needless to say, there was a lot of history and collections of everything you could think of including political campaign buttons. Match boxes, clocks, color bottles and much much more. There is a log cabin on the property that is full of so many different things.

Also included was a trapped posses m which was being fed corn to take the rat taste out of the meat before cooking it, at least that's what Lee was telling us. Mike said that armadillos were just possemums on a half shell.
On the plantation is a cemetery where family members are buried included are two slaves who from the story told were given the privilege of being buried with the family after the man slave "Henry" saved one of the family and his request was just that he and his wife be buried with the family. The rest of the slaves were buried out in the back outside the cemetery grounds.
There is one white headstone which is kind of a marker for the other slave graves which are marked only with a brick.

Here we are in Kilgore Texas visiting the Carney's who moved here two years ago after retiring from Mt. Rainier. Our trip yesterday was pretty uneventful making good time.

Seen quite a few dogs, some puppies too, along the road way and wonder if they are ruminates from Katrina 5 years ago? Just realized we hadn't seen any tent caterpillars since Virginia until now in northern Louisiana. Stopped for a late breakfast at a small country dinner, Joe ordered oatmeal with brown sugar and the lady said, " we don't have any brown sugar only white sugar". Oh well. You can see that there has been a lot of rain in this area. Fields are covered with water and they haven't harvested to cotton yet because it's been so wet.

SMART CAR WILL TRAVEL

First thing this morning, Joe heard a lot of talking outside our room so he went out to find three men looking at 4DATUDE. They were very curious and were surprised to hear it had a Mercedes tractor engine in it. Joe was talking with his hands as you can see but I think the fellow standing in front of the car is missing most of that but then it is a small car.

While driving down the parkway, we had a chestnut drop onto the top of the car. WOW, that woke us up. D,) Stopped at a Swamp where we took a few pictures. I of course, got more than a few bites from our LOVELY mosquito's. We reached the end of the Natchez Trace Parkway in Natchez, Mississippi then over the Mississippi River to Louisiana where we were flagged over by a police car after we had stopped at the visitor center to get a map. The cop had been in front of us, so immediately, I thought we must have a light out but I looked over to see - - they were not on as Joe was turning them on... The cop flagged us to go up to the side of the cop car, I rolled down my window and she said " I have few questions to ask . . . ....... . . . "How economical is your Smart car?" "Do you like your car?" Smiling I told her we averaged around 45 mpg on this trip and love the car. Then someone came up behind us, she turned her police car lights on and continued to discuss the car for another 10 minutes. I told her we were going to Jonesville, Louisiana to get out of the rain that was just starting and stay the night there. She suggested we stay at Edwards Inn and eat at Jackie's Restaurant which we did. Nice room and it was down home cooking. Catfish buffet tonight. Hope to get to our friends in Kilgore, TX sometime tomorrow. Still without cell coverage all day. I think it's the nextel coverage because we can still use the Internet through Verizon. Buttoning down the hatches tonight with the hopes of avoiding most of the rain storm in this area.

Our morning started out at the General Cafe in Nohenwald, Tenn. for breakfast and conversation. A well known local hangout and Norman Rockwell pictures displayed throughout the place. Our waitress was nice but her high pitched voice was almost hilarious to listen to. I know I wouldn't want to listen to that all day. Made the drive on the Natchez Trace Parkway - enjoying the serenity we felt, with such beautiful landscapes - the fall colors are beginning to show and becoming more distinctive. Crossing the Tennessee River we looked north and seen the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway lock. It was so tall and massive. With this lock, it makes 459 miles of navigable between the Gulf of Mexico and the Tennessee River. Traffic is sparse, it's nice to travel without commercial vehicles and all the 18 wheelers you'd have on the highways. Talked to a few park service employees - very pleased with their friendliness and eager to assist with directions or suggestions. The parkway looks great with safety corridor that allows for sighting deer, turkeys or those darn turkey vultures (buzzards as they are known here locally). We found a place to rest our heads tonight in Kosciusko, Mississippi at the Americas Best Value Inn by Vantage. Really Nice place. Had dinner at the Mexican restaurant next door and are now getting ready for the bed rest we need before hitting the streets for the party down the street tonight. ;D

Headed to Nashville this morning after a sunny day in Huntsville. Here's a picture of Joe and great nephew Tyler coming back from their walk yesterday morning. We had so much fun visiting & relaxing with family, but time to get back on the road and head towards home.

Seen a few "Harry Twitter" Grocery stores and wonder if he twitters all the time?
Visited the Parthenon replica in Nashville first built in 1898. What a structure and wonderful park where it's located, of course the weather helps when it's sunny. After a very creative and different lunch at Bricktop's, we headed out to the Natchez Trace Parkway heading southwest stopping for the night in Hohenwald, TN staying at the Embassy Inn. Good accommodations.

At one stop along the parkway, we turned around to go back to our car, to see a couple taking pictures of it - as we approached they asked if we were the owners. They were so excited. From Texas and RVing for a few weeks.

When we told them about our trip and Joe's retirement, they thanked us for our service in protecting the treasures. They had some good stories and continued to thank us for our service and thanked us for traveling in such an economical way. Always nice to have people appreciate our "Travel dry Motorcycle".

During our travels we have seen a lot of Kudzu vine growing along the road sides. This picture shows how it can take over everything. It is covering trees and anything else it finds.

We are enjoying our visit in Huntsville and had a great day with our great niece and nephew. Joe was giving Tyler a massage the night before as you can see. Tyler really loved that.

Then we spent a few hours carving pumpkins with Tyler and Kyra. Tyler will be 3 in January and Kyra will be 5 in January. Needless to say, we had lots of fun and lots of laughs.

Our travels today from Prattville to Huntsville took us through Cullman, AL where Ava Maria Grotto is located and celebrating it's 75th year.

Here is Joe beside a shrine for St. Joseph - Told him he need to be in the picture.

There are hundreds of miniature buildings constructed by Brother Joseph Zoetl, who gathering ideas for his creations from extensive readings of history and the Bible. Some ideas were from postcards.

Here is the great wall of china. It is amazing how beautiful these are.

He worked on these during his spare time over a period of 40 years.

Had a country lunch at a small cafe. Salmon patty, garden peas and vegi casserole.

Arrived in Huntsville and plan to spend a few days visiting my sister Teresa and her family.

We went to Selma today and found that it is the butterfly capital of Alabama. Joe looks so good with one of those butterflies they have decorated in town.
They have these butterflies around town where people of created some wonderful exhibits.


We also stopped at a cotton gin on the way back to Prattville and got the tour from the owner. WOW, had no idea of the work the cotton gin does before cotton is ready to go to market. We still wonder -- where did cotton seeds come from originally?
Here's a pic of the cotton bulb and one of the pieces of cotton off the plant.

And we loved looking at all the older beautiful homes in Selma. It was surely an educational day for us.
Our car looks so small compared to the columns on this house.

Here we are in Prattville, AL - That's me and our 18 month old great niece Rylie. As you can see it's still warm - wearing shorts. We're planning to head to Huntsville on Thursday to visit family there and then to Nashville, Natches Trace Parkway and then to the Carney's in Texas.
It's really been warm and humid, so needless to say, we sweat a lot even if we are just sitting. Wish that meant I was loosing weight also, but alas not. Guess I'm not just full of water. There is a new exercise out where you can not only sit but actually work the arms and legs while sweating. It hasn't worked much for me yet but I'm hoping the legs and arms will show up smaller one morning. I don't plan to stay in this humidity though just to get those quads that everyone wants. Plan to hit Montgomery today for a little site seeing after laundry is done. Hope to have pictures tomorrow.

Here's a couple of pictures: Guess what they are???? If you guessed boiled peanuts and being tattooed you're correct.

I guess you can't visit the south without trying boiled peanuts. My preference is to have them roasted and they crunch when you chew them. Had wonderful alder plank BBQ salmon last night for dinner along with corn on the cob that was roasted on the BBQ then slathered in garlic butter and feta cheese. May not sound really good, but it was great. Watching Auburn University football game now and hear lots of screams coming from the other side of the room so we have quite a group watching and they are wild about Auburn.

We have learning so much about the Park Service on this trip visiting many of the different sites that the park service takes care of. Here we were stopped at Gulf Island National Seashore site in Mississippi.
We traveled thru the back road of Alabama yesterday and it was such a fun time. We got so many laughs watching people when they seen our car. One construction worker on a roof almost fell off turning around to watch us drive by. We also stopped at a Southeast Gas company customer appreciation day and tried boiled peanuts for the first time. Those are different. Traveling through Troy, AL where there are some massive homes in great need of repair but it was nice to see that someone has taken on the task and was working on one house and it looked like a few of the others would be next, so hopefully these beautiful homes will be preserved.
Got to Auburn and met up with my sister Cathy. This morning we came over to Prattsville for the balance of the weekend and then will head north to Huntsville.
We stopped at Tuskegee University and the Tuskegee Airmen's National Historic sites. Enjoyed talking to the Chief of Interp who was very informative of the areas history. The university is beautiful but it was SO warm yesterday and the humidity was very high. Needless to say, we sweat a lot without even trying.

Here we are on the road to Auburn,Alabama and since I haven't blogged for a few days, thought I'd better get this done while Joe drives knowing tonight will be busy. We spent 5 days in Spanish Fort, AL where our nephews Nick and Todd live. We really enjoyed seeing them both. Took time to drive over to Biloxi, Mississippi and visited a few casinos and gave them some of our money. Aren't we nice?:D
Seen some of the damage Katrina did around the Biloxi & Mobile area. Even after 4 years there's still signs of the distruction. Took a tour of downtown Mobile. I'm inpressed, some really old beautiful buildings and some new beautiful buildings. Got new tires for the front of our car yesterday. Had 37,000 miles on the other ones, so it was time.
Traveling hwy 29 to Auburn, on the back roads of Alabama so we get to see cotton fields and soy bean field. will write later.

Made it to Alabama yesterday. Easy drive and got here before noon. Nick & Todd took 4DATUDE for a drive. The found the car to be lots of fun and had lots of power. Of course, we already know that and love the car.

Nick lives in a new developement with houses being built close by. Joe & I walked this morning and had a chance to look inside a few being constructed. Nice construction and quality work.

It wasn't to long ago when John drove over a rattlesnake that was in the driveway. Here's a picture of the skin.
It's really a site to see. The rattler had at least 12 rings, so not only a big snake, but an old snake too. Lots of woods behind the house, so I'm sure there's others out there and I'm not going looking for any of them thank you :D

Smart car will travel.... "On the road again" as our favorite singer, Willy, would sing or as Shaba use to say. She and Joe traveled from Florida to Washington back in 1989 when we went back home after living in Sarasota for 1 1/2 years. I flew home to work and Joe drove with furniture in tow along with Shaba our African Gray Parrot. She was with us for over 20 years and as Joe has said many time, "It's really something to have a pet that can speak the same language as we do." She was a trouper and we miss her.
After a nice two mile walk this morning, we packed and headed WEST. No longer will we be going any further east on this trip. Nice to see the sun behind us in the morning instead of in front. Drove mostly the interstate Toll roads to Midway, FL. Staying at the Howard Johnson (HOJO for short) which is part of a chain of other accommodations. Very clean and nice plus the price was right on. We now have traveled over 7,000 miles and today seemed like a really short day. Guess we must be rested well. Looking forward to getting to Mobile, AL tomorrow around noon. Hoping the weather stays the way it is and rain stays away.

Our vacation week is coming to an end and we have commented several times on how we should be heading back to work, but alas, Joe is retired and I'm on my sabbatical, so we will continue our travels. What we have seen so far has been beyond our wildest expectations. It has been wonderful visiting with family and friends along the way and meeting new friends too. We surely are blessed.
We have pride in the park service. Our visit to other national parks has been so eye opening. We thought we know what the park service represented until we visited the small "Minuteman National Historic Site and the North Bridge" in Massachusetts. History is so important to preserve along with our natural histories as well.
It makes my heart swell with pride when talking to people who have visited the Pacific Northwest and say how beautiful it is. I love the Pacific Northwest too but find such beauty in many of the places we have visited and roads we have traveled.
I've decided to add to our blog some information on the hotels we stay at. We have had many different conditions at our stays thus far that after our last stay in St. Augustine I must write about them all in order for them to be a part of our travels in later years when we read this blog again.