Wish we could have stopped by Norma’s but the trailer wouldn’t fit, probably not even on her road, much less in the driveway. Seems strange to be going up I-5 and not going to Placerville...maybe next time.

 Headed north on I-5 around 9 am on June 23. Had a great lunch at the Iron Skillet on Evelyn’s recommendation. The waitress sat down with us and told us all about her divorce. Stayed in Redding at the Redding RV Park and left the next morning for Brookings, OR . Stayed in the Sea Bird RV Park near Mel and Ila. Weighed the truck and trailer: front axle - 3600 lbs, entire truck - 8150 lbs, rear axle - 4600 lbs, trailer - 4750 lbs.

 Arrived at the Hurt/Van Grinsven farm on June 25. Tried the upper meadow but decided to park in the front yard to get electricity. Tanya was there but Jim was in Missouri visiting with his ill Mom. Everything on the farm was very lush. Robin had a party for us Friday night with many nice people: Dotty, Mark and Kathy and their kids, Greta and her mom and Skye (much bigger than a couple of years ago!) and Ian. Two couples from the college made garlands from the meadow flowers. It felt good to hear Robin play and sing again (and to have Bill playing too) - I miss that.

 Tanya is driving now - stick shift and everything. And very well, too - Dotty even let her drive!

 Left June 28 for the Columbia and spent the night in Boardman, OR where we did laundry helped by a little orange and white campground kitty. It was very windy, gusts up to 50 mph per our little weather station and lots of blowing dust and sand. June 29 we drove up highway 395 through the tri cities area into Spokane . The weather was beautiful with many small puffy white clouds in a perfect blue sky, casting shadows on the rounded brown and green hills of the Palouse.

 Spent June 30 through July 3 with the Bentzen family (Dave, Cindy, Nicole (3 years) and Jake (11 months). Two tow-headed bundles of energy. Lots of truck repair including a new transmission (spent the whole trip car repair budget in the first 2 weeks - so much for planning). Stayed with Jakie while Dave and Cindy took Nicole (with red, white and blue face paint) to a fireworks show - he was great - went right to sleep. Enjoyed the dogs and horses too. Took a couple of nice walks through the local forests.

 Bill fixed the leaky front window.

 Left July 4 and drove into Idaho. Got held up by a Fourth of July parade in Sandpoint. Got rerouted through town with detours and got stopped for the Sheriff Dept’s K9 units with sirens blasting - what fun. Went past a big flea market in Bonner’s Ferry and saw a big Steal Your Face/Dancing Bear flag along with the usual Stars and Stripes, Maple Leafs and state flags. Good to see our nation represented.

 Arrived at the Canadian border a little after noon and had to give up a bag of Washington apples and some booze to the customs man. Poor planning!

 After we were allowed to proceed we drove through the incredibly beautiful Rockies - Cranbrook, Fernie and Crowsnest on the Crowsnest highway to Ft. Mcleod. Checked into the Daisy May Campground on the Oldman river. Gorgeous sunset across the river but many clouds of mosquitoes.

 July 5: Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump . Hawks, swallows, chipmunks, big marmots on the cliff face, great views across the rolling hills. The interpretive center/museum was very interesting - several rooms on several levels. We took the trail to the buffalo kill site and felt the spirit of 10,000 to 6,000 years of human habitation in harmony with nature. Well worth the trip. We had buffalo burgers for lunch in the cafeteria - pretty good. Had a nice afternoon swim back at the Daisy May.

 Drove up highway 2 through Red Deer and managed to avoid the Stampede traffic around Calgary, pretty city at least from the road. Lots of lush Alberta farmland all around (found out later the yellow blooming fields were canola .) Spent the night in the Lion’s campground at Wetaskiwin, AB - very nice except for mosquitoes. Millet has very pretty flower baskets and planters around town. Drove into Edmonton for ATM, gas, groceries and CAA stop for local maps and info and mailed notes and bills. All business taken care of for a while. Got into a tight squeeze in Thunder Lake provincial park while driving through the campground for a looksee but managed to get out without damage. The ranger cutting brush (whose truck blocking the road made it such a tight squeeze) helped direct us around the curve.

 Saw a big ostrich farm on the road to Whitecourt. Spent the night there in another Lion’s campground. Lots of mosquitoes but beautiful spruce trees throughout the camping area. Two old Manitoba fishermen showed up after 10 pm in a banged up old truck with a boat in tow - left by 8 am. They must be really serious about fishing! Had a nice picnic lunch in a rest stop near Valleyview amid fields of sweet smelling clover. Missed the campground road at Twin Lakes but got to see a little black bear wander out of the woods by the side of the road.

 Had a long drive Tuesday, July 8 - 615 km (381 miles) and finally found refuge at the Aspen Ridge campground in High Level, AB - the nicest one we saw within hundreds of miles. We stopped to check out an Alberta provincial campground but it was full of trash and mud and empty except for huge mosquitoes - had to back out onto the road due to the mud. We made friends with Ginger, the 3 legged wolf/shepherd mix Aspen Ridge guard dog and enjoyed another incredible sunset. The camp had bird houses on poles in the field behind the trailers but we couldn’t identify the inhabitants.

 Left High Level around 10 am and drove straight north on highway 35. We encountered many big flies when we stopped near the Steen River to put the can of gas into the truck. Had a picnic lunch at the 60th parallel - in the Northwest Territories!!!

 Spent Wednesday night with Art and Harriet Look in the front yard of their B&B on the Mackenzie River after crossing via ferry. It’s a beautiful spot but has the most bugs yet. Art is 82 and has been in the NWT for 75 years. He was a wildlife manager for several years and went up the Dempster Highway by dog sled before it was a highway! They trap wolf, lynx, mink, and marten in winter. They go after wolves to save the buffalo calves - wolves are not endangered in the NWT but it’s still hard to see pictures of a couple of dozen wolf pelts hanging on the porch of the B&B where we are being served coffee and homemade cookies. Saw a kingfisher bird in the trees there and ‘war canoe’ teams practicing paddling upriver.

 Turned down a first nation hitchhiker at Enterprise ( we had run out of gas in the front tank near Enterprise, NWT and found out later the fuel filter was clogged, maybe bad karma). Decided to pick up a German hitchhiker at the Fort Providence gas station; we made room in the back of the truck. He had to go to Yellowknife to mail a letter. He had been traveling around Alaska and Canada since May and needed to be in Vancouver, BC by the 18th for a ride to a job in Oregon - hope he made it, he was a very nice young man. The road was very rough due to construction but we only needed 4-wheel drive for a short time. Although we were next to a buffalo preserve for many miles we didn’t see any.

 Got into Fred Henne Park campground in Yellowknife the afternoon of July 10th just in time for Bill to make the 4 pm appointment at the Ford dealer but it turned out they didn’t have the correct fuel filter, oh well. Spent one night fighting with mosquitoes - if you close all the windows and vents they find a way in through the refrigerator and microwave vents. It was hard to sleep anyway since it never gets really dark up here in the summer time. Beautiful forest and tundra over the Canadian shield, though - the oldest rocks in the Americas. The town is on the Great Slave Lake, named for a first nation tribe.

 We went into YK and toured the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre - very impressive displays with lots of interactive exhibits for kids. One temporary exhibit was a moose hide boat built in 1987 by local natives, complete with a 16 minute film about its construction. Hooked up in anticipation of the long trip back down the Mackenzie Highway in the morning.

 July 13: got through the construction fine going south. Stayed in the Fort Providence territorial campground and there were fewer mosquitoes - maybe due to the rain. There were lots of sea gulls and other birds singing pretty songs. We went back across the Mackenzie River on the ferry Monday morning - I’ve been unemployed a month now; still feels scary. A big raven sat on the trailer roof while we were waiting for the ferry to dock. We also saw a fox trotting along by the side of the road just north of the 60th parallel and a large bird which could have been a spruce grouse (per the National Geographic field guide.) Later a big hare crossed the road in front of us - fat and sassy. A deer with her fawn also crossed in front of us - the rain brings out lots of critters. A big red-tailed hawk flew right next to our truck for a few moments - thrilling.

 July 15: Bill finally got the fuel filter changed at Wolverine Ford in High Level for only $25 Canadian when we remembered we had the old one (thanks to Diko.) He also did the shopping while I slept in - must have felt at home back in Aspen Ridge. We got started south again around noon with sandwiches and nuts and got treated to a little black bear who ambled across the road and then turned around to watch us drive past. He was just beautiful. Sun and rain were alternating and there was lots of wind. We got a brief hail storm while getting gas at Manning, AB. The Peace River valley was stunning - looks so peaceful and green from the road - rolling hills interspersed with forested sections. Got onto the Canadian Northern Woods and Water Route . Spent Tuesday night at Sawridge Recreation Area on the southeast end of the Lesser Slave Lake - just west of the town of Slave Lake. There were lots of birds and squirrels and far fewer mosquitoes - a very welcome change. More hanging baskets of flowers like in most Alberta towns. Also purple clover and tiger lilies by the road side and lots of multicolored dragonflies. We had lunch at a roadside rest just west of Athabasca with beautiful white puffy clouds all around. We heard on the radio that the canola fields were turning yellow letting us know what we had been seeing all through Alberta.

 We got into Cold Lake Provincial Park around 4:30 pm - probably our last night in Alberta. It has nice big trees and more birds and squirrels - and less mosquitoes though probably anyplace will seem like fewer after YK.

 Bill’s guitar playing attracted a squirrel who climbed the trailer steps, sniffed under the door, went over to a chair we had out with a dirty wash cloth drying on it, hopped up on the chair, left two squirrel turds, sniffed the wash cloth and started nibbling on it - then tried to steal it when I yelled! Everyone’s a critic.

 July 17: across the provincial line into Saskatchewan where the road isn’t as well maintained as Alberta. Passed a giant green concrete turtle in Turtleford and thought of Alannah - she would love it. Got into the Saskatoon KOA about 6 pm. where we did laundry - much cheaper and nicer than the laundromat in YK. Finally tried a Tim Horton’s - we’d been seeing them ever since entering Canada - turns out to be mainly a donut shop. But we did have a pretty good soup and sandwich dinner. Read in the local paper that the ‘Another Roadside Attraction’ Tour included Los Lobos this year - but it will be two days late coming to town for us.

 Had a great day in Saskatoon - got new fuel separation valve at Jubilee Ford, did some other shopping, made lots of calls, and washed the truck. We toured around Saskatoon admiring the gardens in the old residential districts near the university. There were half whiskey barrels full of multicolored flowers all through downtown. Very diverse architecture; New England traditional next to Antebellum next to Spanish. Also cruised through the university where most of the facilities are dedicated to the study of agriculture or related activities. Had a magnificent dinner at Earl’s and drove back to the KOA watching a beautiful full moon rising over the prairie. "I hate suburbia" graffiti on the sound barrier wall on the road out of town.

 July 19: headed east on highway 41 to highway 3 through more beautiful yellow canola fields and started seeing some blue flowering flax fields. Had lunch in the Great Foods parking lot in Tisdale, SK where they have the world’s largest bee (made of concrete and mounted on a rock near the tourist info booth.) Tisdale claims to be the land of ‘rape and honey’ - rapeseed, I guess. Camped for the night in the Hudson Bay Regional Park . Hudson Bay is the ‘Moose Capital of the World’ but we still haven’t seen any. Bill noticed the microwave was tearing the metal grill around it and upon investigation found yet another piece of poor workmanship - it was hung by screws to the grill, it’s feet suspended above the floor of its cabinet and its weight pulled the thin metal grill apart. He found some scrap lumber and braced it. We used the smokey joe to grill some steaks - very nice.

 July 20: First month on the road. Left the park around 11 am and drove into Manitoba and reconnected with the Northern Woods and Water Route (we lost it for a while). Had another picnic lunch by the side of the road and drove into Dauphin to a municipal campground for the night. Met a man from Saskatchewan with a 1993 5th wheel made by the same company as our Sierra. He had leaky windows, too but not the other problems we’ve had.
 

July 21: Left Dauphin, MB and went south through beautiful Riding Mountain National Park . Had lunch at a spillway on the Assiniboine River. Drove into Winnipeg and checked into Traveler’s RV park after a white-knuckle trip through town pulling the trailer along narrow crowded downtown streets during rush hour. We followed Trans Canada 1 and found out later it would have been much better to take the bypass route, 101 - live and learn. We unhooked, showered, dressed and drove into town to cruise. Had a prime rib dinner at the "Round Table" on Pembina. Watched a gorgeous sunset view on the way back to the campground.

 July 22: went to ‘Someplace’ - an internet cafe in Osborne Village to catch up on email and had lunch while connected for about an hour. Then their link went down. The guy there told us about another place across town, ‘Networx’ near the University of Winnipeg . Bill got connected and downloaded messages for another 90 minutes and I walked to an ATM and did book shopping. The sales clerk wanted to enroll me in a frequent reader club and I got stared at when I declined by saying I was just a tourist from California and wouldn’t be buying more books there. We went back to the trailer and cooked a wonderful fresh salmon dinner.

 July 23: We crossed into Ontario and camped in Kenora on the Lake of the Woods . The truck mileage was 140,750 so we’ve averaged 166 miles a day so far - we only planned about 125! We took a picture of ‘Husky the Muskie’ on the lake shore - another huge roadside attraction Alannah would love. We camped at Longbow RV Resort a few miles east of town, unhitched and went into town for dinner and a cruise on the M.S. Kenora . It took us around a bunch of islands in the Lake of the Woods where we saw a big cormorant spreading his/her wings on the dock. There were lots more on the islands. We also saw many sea gulls and some white pelicans the captain said were endangered and only lived on the Lake of the Woods, Lake Winnipeg, and Lake Manitoba. He also pointed out several bald eagles in trees along the shore and on islands. There were ducks and loons in flight and crying over the water - breathtaking in their breeding colors.

 Most of the islands in Lake of the Woods have some sort of habitation on them - ranging from the crudest little fishing shacks to huge, multi-million dollar mansions. A few looked deserted except for a couple of canoes pulled up on shore. Some of the islands are devoted to camps - YMCA (really huge with several sailboats for the kids to practice in), Boy Scouts, B’nai Brith, etc. All transportation to the islands is by boat (snowmobile in winter). The local Safeway, Holiday Inn and laundromat in Kenora all have docks as well as parking lots.

 Got some laundry done in the morning and still got out by the noon check out time. We drove along scenic highway 71 and noticed many more rock cairns by the roadside. There were a few back along the road the past few days but these were more elaborate and frequent. There were ones shaped like pyramids and several multistoried ones with windows. It was as though someone was using the rocks like blocks to build towers and things. We spent the night in Fisheries Resort a bit east of Fort Frances where Bill went swimming in the lake and we read all the wheel rounds we downloaded in Winnipeg. We stayed up till 1 am catching up on news of our friends. Lots of mosquitoes and biting flies but still not as bad as YK.

 July 24: Left around 10:30 am. It was hot and so humid it was misting - made us miss So Cal weather. Lots of big white lilies on their pads in the wetlands by the road the last few days. Also some bamboo-like stuff growing along the road - maybe wild rice??

 July 25: Spent Friday night in Thunder Bay, ON , at the Trowbridge Falls City Park. It was hot and rainy with lots of bugs - but pretty. We went into Thunder Bay and had a great Chinese dinner in a little hole in the wall place after walking around the International Peace Park. There were monuments donated by the ethnic Chinese (with two marble lions from the PRC and a huge statue of Confucius from Taiwan.) Italy, Holland, Croatia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Poland, the Philippines, Hungary, Scotland, and Finland were also represented. The gardens included a maple leaf in red flowers and two Canadian mosquito breeding ponds (CMBPs as we’ve come to call them) - they called them reflecting pools. All the displays of fellowship put us in a good mood after a long drive.

 July 26 - Saturday. We got up early, packed a lunch and drove to Wawa - where there’s a giant goose statue (Wawa means goose in Ojibway). It’s a very nice spot, few bugs, nice breeze and a bunch of ravens to greet us. We got into the campground around 4:20 pm. and went for a swim in the pool.

 July 27: Took a short drive down highway 17 to the Sault Ste. Marie KOA. We went into town for a nice dinner at the Red Lobster. Bill logged into the net from a phone hookup in the campground office but had to get off every time they needed to verify a credit card - the RV lifestyle isn’t too wired yet! The campground is very nice and well kept - swimming pool, trampoline, playground, miniature golf course, and recumbent bicycles for rent. It’s a good thing they had lots of things for kids to do because there were lots of kids.

 July 28: We got out of camp just before the 11 am checkout time and had a nice picnic lunch at a rest stop next to the Mississai River - very pretty with lots of picnic tables and benches set up to allow viewing of the river’s flow - lots of hungry sea gulls, too. We ran into a bit of road construction on the way to highway 6 and then went south to Lake Apsey Resort near Espanola, ON. It seems like a real nice spot and we were greeted by a big friendly beagle - we found out his name is Herbie and he shows up every time anyone in the park cooks anything! We saw a little gray tiger-striped cat too but it was too shy to let us get close enough to pet.

 We unhitched and spent all day Tuesday driving around Manitoulin Island - the largest island in fresh water. The only road to it is via a pivot bridge that opens up each hour to let ships and boats through the strait between Georgian Bay and North Channel (both just above Lake Huron.) We stopped at the Little Current Museum to view lots of pioneer artifacts and a local quilt show. Had lunch overlooking the Manitowaning Bay at a place called Schooners - beautiful deck over the lake with sea gulls and sailboats - and a local tattooed, long haired band also lunching.

 July 30: Got up early and drove to Mariner’s Paradise near Waubaushene. Drove through Orillia, ON the next morning where a sign said it was the home of Gordon Lightfoot. We had lunch parked on a shady street in Lindsay and drove on to Serpent Mounds Park . It is no longer a Provincial Park as indicated on the CAA map but is now owned and operated by the Hiawatha First Nation. It’s a beautiful spot on a bluff above Rice Lake . We got a campsite right next to the water, then hiked up to the mounds (which are burial mounds), to the visitor center and then back to the camp. We met Andrew, a very friendly 3 year old who was camping with his Dad, a bus driver from Toronto, who told us they left ‘the girls’ at home to get out in the wilderness.

 After dinner Bill walked back up to the mounds to see them in twilight - it’s a magnificent spot to be buried, with a gorgeous view of the lake and several islands to the southwest. It’s obvious to see why the site was attractive to its ancient inhabitants. Their main campsite was to the north of the mound area and their garbage dump (a shell midden) was on the opposite, south side. The volume of shells and the worn molars of the inhabitants suggests that gritty freshwater clams were a mainstay of their diet. Bill went back to camp along the beach trail and saw fireflies glimmering in the trees. We went to sleep early accompanied by the smell of wood smoke and the sound of waves lapping at the shore.

 The next day we had a picnic lunch in the rain at a rest stop on the North Shore of Lake Ontario between Hillier and Wellington. Curious cows came up to look in the trailer windows just like they did when we were parked in the Biaggi yard at Galt. We made a stop at the state liquor store in Odessa, ON and went on to Rideau Acres for the night. It’s near Kingston and will be our last night in Ontario.

 August 2: Got out of the campground around 11 am - again - can’t seem to make an early start. We stopped for lunch at a turnout right next to the St. Lawrence River and Bill took a picture of one of the 1000 Island cruise ships with New York State in the background.

Finally arrived at Camping Alouette after a truly hellish drive through the freeway system around Montreal. Finally in Quebec. There was construction, accidents, emergency vehicles, rain, huge machines blocking traffic lanes, poorly marked intersections, and rude and aggressive drivers all conspiring to delay and misroute us. All much worse when you’re towing a trailer. Camping Alouette is easily the weirdest campground so far this trip - and we’re there for three nights. It’s huge, maybe 2000 people, with many seasonal residents with oodles of tasteless decorations on their rigs: Christmas lights, lawn ornaments, etc. There is a Halloween Party going on - August 2! Lots of little kids in costumes are traipsing through the campground. All afternoon loud music was blasting out of huge speakers at the recreation hall - a very bizarre mix of French songs, disco, old rock’n’roll, CCR greatest hits, 40’s Big Band music, ZZ Top - and, of course, the Macarena. And this is just the first night! Too bad Allen isn’t traveling with us this time - he would love this party - probably speaks French, too.

 August 3: We went into Montreal and toured the Botanical Garden of Montreal - first through the extensive greenhouse filled with begonias, ferns and cactus and then all around the grounds. There’s a Chinese garden, a Japanese garden, and a huge arboretum with trees from all over. The guide book said allow 2 1/2 hours but we spent 5! It’s across the street from the strangely shaped Olympic Stadium so we got a good view of it too. It has a leaning curved tower that gives the sky line a very distinct shape. Monday, the next day, we went into Old Montreal and walked around the waterfront and old buildings. We saw a group of kids from the Tunisian soccer team in town for the International Games. They were having a great time wandering around. We had lunch at Cafe Electronique - great food plus we downloaded all the accumulated wheel rounds. We read them after we got back to the campground. It was much quieter than the first night - I guess they only party on Saturday night!

 We did laundry early in the morning and then drove up to Quebec City . It’s a very pretty town with much less traffic than Montreal and the people seem nicer too. We took a short drive into the city to check on the possibility of camping in Parc Saguenay at the CAA and got a map of the city. There was a little rain storm on the way back to Imperial Camping and we saw a double rainbow over the old city. We called Shell MC to get our balance due and decided it was time to review expenses - we’re way over budget due to underestimating the mileage we’d get towing plus, of course, the transmission expense in Spokane. We may go home a couple of weeks early or allow a little credit card debt to accumulate. We don’t want to let it spoil our enjoyment, though.

 August 6: We got up early (for us - 8 am) and packed both lunch and dinner sandwiches so we could sightsee all day. We spent the morning touring the Ile d’Orleans with its quaint little farming villages. There were lots of stone houses, I guess the St. Lawrence keeps bringing rocks down for building. There were fields of potatoes, corn and sunflowers as well as alfalfa and lots of different grains. Many houses have huge flower and/or vegetable gardens in their yards. In the towns there are lots of hanging baskets of begonias or impatiens or petunias - all colors - even a few fuchsias.

 We stopped to have lunch at a picnic spot with a six-story observation tower which we climbed for a great view of the river and Quebec City across the channel. We could see ski runs on the mountains east of town. We talked with a man visiting from Oklahoma. Bill took a series of pictures to form a panorama. Then we went into the city again and couldn’t find a place to park so ended up driving through old town. Finally found parking in the Parc Des Champs-de-Batalle where the English defeated the French in 1759. We walked around in yet more beautiful gardens - with cannons from lots of wars, not just the one for which the park was named. This area is also known as the Plains of Abraham, which we walked. We watched the inline skaters go round and round while we had our second picnic of the day.

 Bill got the truck an oil change and I did grocery shopping - have to do the chores! Back at the camp Bill changed his guitar strings and now needs to build up calluses again.

 August 7: We drove through Quebec City and up highway 175 to Hebertville to Camp Kenogami on Lake Kenogami. It’s a long way out of town through little farms but it’s a beautiful place once you’re here. We took a walk after dinner down to the lake where there was a gorgeous sunset with birds calling and little frogs hopping across the road. It had rained earlier and everything was crisp and clean.

 There’s a children’s English school going on here and we could hear them singing ‘BINGO’. It made Bill think of his camp experiences as a kid.

 August 8: I thought about it being Brian’s birthday - we mailed him a card a couple of weeks ago - hope he’s well. We drove around Lac Saint Jean through yet more fabulous farmland and little villages with wonderful flower gardens. Lots of lawn ornaments, like so much of Canada. More ‘black’ fishermen etc. We wonder if they seem as racist to African Canadians as they do to us - wonder why people put them in their yards. We missed the road to the campground due to a big truck blocking the road sign but got directions from another patron at a gas station. The attendant didn’t speak any English so he asked the first other customer who showed up to help us. Everyone has been great with our lack of French. We finally got to Camping de la Carriere, unhitched, had dinner, and drove into Chicoutimi . It’s a pretty little town with lots of hills - like San Francisco. There are more pretty gardens, especially along the bike path along the river through the old town. They had terrible floods in 1996 but there isn’t much visible damage left. We shopped at the Maxi supermarket. It’s like Smart and Final but with produce, great produce, and the best prices on the whole trip.

 August 9: We drove through Parc Saguenay and stopped at Petit Saguenay for lunch, after a harrowing drive down a tiny gravel road to the wharf. We had to turn around on a little pier, waiting until there were no other cars parked there. We saw a little black bear on the hillside near a big rockslide area - makes it a three bear trip (so far). We got to the St. Simeon - Riviere-du-Loup ferry by 2:30 pm but the 3:30 ferry was already full. We had to wait for the 6:30 run - at least it’s a beautiful beach town with lots of people on the beach, and cafes to watch while we wait.

 We made it onto the 6:30 ferry with inches to spare. The crossing was great - sunset over the St. Lawrence with sea gulls, ducks, loons, and cormorants. Bill took lots of pictures. We made it off the boat without incident and headed east on highway 20 and 132 to Trois-Pistoles. We’re in Gaspe. We drove through some bad construction and checked into Camping Plage de Trois-Pistoles and drove right into the middle of a monster party. It was a Christmas Party!! On August 9th!!! Another Saturday night in Quebec. Hundreds of drunk people singing, line dancing, and yodeling fit to beat Jesus. A live band with electric guitars playing Roy Orbison covers, waltzes, folk songs - everything in French. No time to mourn Jerry on the second anniversary of his death - it seemed to be the kind of party he would have liked, though.

 The management speaks no English (first time no one in the place speaks any English). We managed to get into our spot via hand signals and took a walk around. It’s another huge campground with mostly seasonal campers - all with Christmas decorations: lights, santas, angels, decorated trees, lighted reindeer, manger scenes. The recreation hall is packed full and surrounded by crowds of people at the beer tables outside - $1 for a plastic cup full - seem to have hard liquor too but we can’t get close enough to be sure. As we stroll through the park there are groups of 20 or 30 people partying - since the hall is full they gather in other places. The Quebecois reputation for having fun is well deserved.

 We watched TV amid wide fluctuations in voltage due to the party but managed to get one station - in French. They featured the Mars Pathfinder mission including a news conference from Von Karman Auditorium at JPL . That was followed by a visit to Warner Bros. studio in Burbank - small world. The party finally wound down a little while after midnight.

 August 10: We got out of camp at our usual 11 something and drove up the north shore of the Gaspe peninsula through more beautiful farmland and coastal towns. In St. Flavie there were lots of straw people, all dressed up - on lawns, in front of businesses, out on the rocks by the sea and on front porches. Pretty strange custom! We had leftover spaghetti for lunch at a rest stop near Metis-sur-Mer and watched the birds float by on the St. Lawrence. It’s too wide at this point, and too foggy, to see the other side. We camped at Ste-Anne-des-Monts in a huge nice place. There was a big horse barn but no horses (the smell told us there used to be, though.) We took a long walk around the campground - it was on gently rolling hills overlooking the gulf. The air smelled damp.

 We did some laundry but ran out of quarters before it got dry, and the office was closed. We strung up a rope and hung it up inside the trailer to dry - everything but the towels got dry by morning and we managed to not get tangled up on the way to the bathroom during the night. It was a cold and foggy morning and smelled like the sea. We drove along the north coast of the Gaspe peninsula where there were signs warning to look out for waves breaking over the road (in sign language, of course). We had lunch at an overlook watching sailboats and then took highway 197 into the town of Gaspe .

 We got a campsite and unhitched and took the truck around the tip of the peninsula through Forillon National Park . We stopped at a small park at the site of WWII fortifications where Canada was prepared to host the British Fleet if England fell to the Germans. We never learned in school that several ships were hit by German torpedoes in the St. Lawrence - one torpedo even missed its target ship and hit the shore near St.Yvon.

 We’ve now gotten to the northeast corner of our trip plan and will be heading generally south for the next leg. The last three nights have supposed to have had lots of meteors but it’s been too cloudy for us to see any. Maybe tomorrow. It started raining just as I wrote the last sentence!

 August 12: We went into town for gas and groceries. We saw lots of lobster pots sitting in front yards - waiting for the season, I guess. The houses on the bay side of the peninsula are less colorful than those on the river coast. Some there were three and four colors, usually white walls with blue, purple, lavender, green, pink, or red trim on windows and door with a third contrasting roof color or two different bright colors for the trim. We saw a sign for Douglastown and Chandler on the road just out of town; it seems strange to see two family names so far from home.

 We stopped for lunch at an overlook with a view of Perce rock - a huge island with a window near the water line and lots of nesting birds. We mailed Lee’s birthday card in Grande-Riviere. Sure hope it gets to her in time. We’ll call too, just in case it doesn’t. We hit some bad construction just before Chandler but got through it OK. I’m sure glad we discovered the trick of tucking the TP into the roll so it doesn’t unroll on bumpy roads - it’s such a drag to find it all in a big pile on the floor! We found a great little campground in New Carlisle, a mostly English speaking community on the south shore of Gaspe peninsula. We’re right next door to the Maison Hamilton - a house built in 1852 and now a museum. The basement is reportedly haunted - we’ll see. Bill saw a face in the basement window while sitting out at twilight. No one came out of the house.

 Bill grilled some codfish and potatoes for dinner and afterwards we walked down to the beach. Lots of people fishing for mackerel and drinking beer - a real festive scene even on a Tuesday night. Bill picked up a nice white red veined rock. There were lots of lights across the bay and we looked at the map to find out they were in New Brunswick.

 We built a fire when we got back to camp and Bill played guitar for a while until it got cold. I went inside to read in bed and Bill did see one meteor. While he was sitting by the dying fire to be sure no embers escaped he heard a car coming around the bend in the highway. It seemed to be going too fast so he looked up and saw it hit the curb, bounce off, sparks flying, hit the curb again, bounce again and scrape along the curb until it hit a power pole. The driver’s side hit and wrapped around the pole, trapping him. Two passengers were able to get out and call for help. Bill put out reflectors to keep other traffic from hitting the wreck and another camper, bilingual, was able to comfort the driver until the emergency crews could get him out. We talked with the other campers and townspeople and learned the driver was a 16 year old visiting from Montreal. He was driving his aunt’s car taking two girls to the movie - must have been a late show because the accident happened at 10:45 pm. The police came and took Bill’s statement later because he was a witness.

 August 13: We toured the Hamilton House and the Caldwell House (ancestors of the owners of the campground) and then drove west on around the southern end of the Gaspe Peninsula and into New Brunswick at Campbellton. We found a campground in Dalhousie, NB right on the beach. It was windy and cold and started to rain during our after dinner walk. It kept on raining all night.

 We got an early start on the 14th and drove east on the north coast of New Brunswick - the Acadian Coast. We spent three hours walking around the Acadian Heritage Village, a park recreating an Acadian town from the 1750’s - 1850’s. There was a brief film about the Acadian heritage. The area’s first Europeans were French speaking people and then the English took over. The area switched back and forth between French and English rule several times. The English wanted the Acadians to swear allegiance to England, fearing they would side with France, but they didn’t want to give an oath to either side.

 Many of the buildings are original and moved to the site. Guides are dressed in period clothing and doing traditional things like baking bread in outdoor brick ovens - we got to taste some fresh baked! It even had locally churned butter from the local cows. They spin thread from flax grown there and use hand looms to make linen towels and blankets. There is a blacksmith shop, a bar, the first French language newspaper in the area, rug hooking demonstrations and a totally water powered flour mill. There are also many replicas/restorations of tools and farms complete with chickens, ducks, geese, goats, pigs and cows. Horse-drawn wagons roam around to give you rides between buildings.

 We spoke with the young Acadian guide in the restored fishmarket and he explained how, after the English finally defeated the French, they expelled the Acadians and separated families intentionally - to break the Acadian spirit. Many ended up in Louisiana giving us the Cajuns. Many others hid in the forests and their descendants remain there today. We walked around until we got cold and went looking for a campground.

 We were able to get the last spot in a campground near Caraquet. We didn’t know but tomorrow, August 15th, is Acadian National Day. There is a big shrine to St.-Anne-du-Boage and many people were touring the churchyard cemetery there and attending services. Police were directing all the traffic as we drove out of town. Many homes fly the Acadian flag. It’s blue nearest the pole, then white, then red, with a gold star in the blue section. Many homes were decorated with red, white, blue and gold streamers and there were lots of parties going on. Acadia never had specific boundaries and never was a nation but its celebration has increased in the last couple of decades and more and more people celebrate. We saw license plates from Louisiana of people presumably tracing their roots.

 We followed the Acadian Coast Route south except for a few places where we missed the road signs. We spent the night in the Ocean Surf Trailer Park in Shediac - right on the ocean, of course. It rained some at night and again in the morning.

 August 16: We forgot to put down the TV antenna in our haste when we realized checkout time was 11 am not 1 pm and it snagged on a tree branch. We had to borrow a ladder from the park to get the tree off and the antenna down but it broke a little plastic part and we had to put it up and down by hand from then on. We had a nice hot soup lunch in Cape Tormentine just before crossing the Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island .

 We crossed the bridge, a magnificent engineering feat and still graceful and pleasing to the eye, and drove around the western end of the Island, Prince County. The roads were bad with lots of potholes and poorly marked intersections. We couldn’t find Jacques Cartier Provincial Park so we went to Mill River Provincial Park - it was rainy and cold but pretty. We checked voice mail and found out that if we could get to LA by August 18th we could each teach a class at LA City College - we had to call and decline. We told them to keep us on the list for next semester.

 August 17: Sunday morning on PEI - at least it’s not raining. We drove down highway 2 to Charlottetown and had lunch. We couldn’t buy groceries because all the markets were closed for Sunday - they had a huge flea market though so it wasn’t a religious thing. We drove on around the east end of the island and stopped at the East Point Lighthouse and bought some film and some t-shirts for our sisters. We went back to Charlottetown and had dinner at Papa Joe’s - great fish, clams, scallops, and oysters (I had the combo!) We got lost and couldn’t find our first choice campground but found Sun and Shade right near the bridge where they had free cable TV so the broken antenna mechanism didn’t matter. There are mosquitoes here but we decided to just stay in the trailer.

 August 18: We drove back across the bridge ($40 toll) where a young woman was taking a survey - all she wanted was our phone number. We drove into Nova Scotia and stopped at the welcome center to get maps. Our CAA one of the Maritimes was getting pretty frayed. We spend the night in Shubenacadie - in a very nice park on the river where Bill met a friendly little gray and white cat while out watching for the tidal bore that didn’t come.

 August 19: We drove along the Evangeline trail to Annapolis Royal where Bill temporarily fixed the TV antenna. I called Marie and the credit card companies and took care of business again. Bill researched the route south with the computer.

 August 20: We drove down route 8 through the middle of Nova Scotia past Kejimkujik Park and saw a bald eagle sitting on a nest on a high platform and another one soaring ahead a bit - more of them here than we see in the US. We had lunch at the Lunenburg information center parking lot. Lunenburg is where the Bluenose was built - the ship that is on the Canadian dime. The Bluenose II, a replica which is currently touring around Canada, was also built here. It’s a beautiful spot with an old town still serving the ship building and fishing trade.

 There was a memorial to the immigrants from the Principality of Montbeliard, who landed in Nova Scotia between 1749 and 1752. Many were among the founders of Lunenburg. Montbeliard was formerly the only French-speaking Lutheran country on earth. It is now part of France.

We drove on to Colonial Camping, the nearest campground to Halifax and got a nice spot in the trees. Bill took the truck into town to Wood Motors early Thursday (August 21) morning and got it serviced and the turn signals and flashers working again. It turns out they put in the wrong unit but we didn’t know that till we got it home to Diko. I stayed in camp and did laundry. We discovered that the antenna fix was only temporary. We bought a ladder, though, in Amherst NS, so we can put it up and down by hand.

 August 22: We drove into Halifax to explore (in the rain) and had lunch at Hogie’s Steak House - it’s a big old comfy place with great food. The weather continued to be bad and the traffic was difficult so we didn’t really see too much of town - no fun to walk around in the cold and wet.

 August 23: It’s still raining but the TV says it will clear up this afternoon so we’re off toward Cape Breton. We drove along the east shore of Nova Scotia through yet more beautiful scenery - capes, bays, islands, and charming little towns. We saw cormorants, sea gulls, and ducks. It was alternating rain and sun so everything sparkled. We got into Hyclass Camping near Linwood around 3:30 pm and discovered the right trailer brake light cover was missing - bummer. We are nowhere close to any parts houses or dealers so we’ll check in the phone book later.

 August 24: We drove up to Baddeck to the KOA, discovering on the way that the emergency flasher activates the trailer brakes - so much for flashing when you’re going under 70 km/h! Very scary going up a steep grade to put on the flashers and lose power! Another time I thought we were done traveling. We parked, getting the spot for two nights, and took what looked like, from the campground map, a little stroll on a path . It turned out to be a muddy adventure through the woods, over dead trees, under huge spider webs, and across streams. It was very pretty, though, and when we got close to the Baddeck river we saw canoeists. If Susan were here she’d want to join them. Bill called Lee to wish her happy birthday when we got back into camp.

 August 25: We unhitched and took just the truck around the Cabot Trail. The Cape Breton Highlands National Park contains some spectacular spots: seashore, woodlands, cliffs, mountain streams - all beautiful. We took the ‘bog walk’ through wetlands (via a wooden sidewalk to protect the fragile plant life) and saw carnivorous plants, little pools full of insects and fish, surrounded by very delicate tiny wild flowers (most were gone since it was getting toward Fall). There were misty clouds overhead and the air felt thin.

We also went on the walk at the ‘lone shieling’ - a reproduction of a Scottish sheep herder stone hut built to honor the person who donated the land for part of the park - another Mackenzie.

 We saw a couple with a small girl ( 2 or 3 years) who kept screaming. I saw the mother slap her legs several times while changing the lower half of her clothes. They spoke French and the father was comforting the child (maybe for my benefit since it started after I came around a curve in the path and looked appalled by the behavior). They came out of the woods later with the child in yet another outfit, from the waist down. She seemed happy enough then and was holding her father’s hand. All we could figure is that she was having problems with potty training but we were worried about child abuse. We ended up doing nothing, being in a foreign country and not being able to speak the language but still troubled. It’s so hard to know what the right thing to do is.

 August 26: Got up early to do laundry and drove back through Amherst, NS . The big Canadian Tire there didn’t have the right size tail light cover but referred us to Raymac RV supplies who did have one the same size - not the same style but it should get us home (hopefully). We camped in a beautiful lake view spot in Loch Lomond Camping near town. We enjoyed the shore birds until jet skiers and water skiers drove them away.

 August 27: We drove back into New Brunswick and west to St. Stephen. We saw the tidal bore as we drove past Reversing Falls but there was no place to park the trailer so we couldn’t stop. We spent all our remaining Canadian cash for lunch so we didn’t have the 50 cents for the toll bridge at St. John - had to use US so it cost us a few pennies more! Drove up to the customs station at Calais, ME and the guy took one look at the list of our meager Canadian purchases and just waved us through saying "have a nice day". A few minutes back in the US a bald eagle flew across the road just in front of us - seemed to be welcoming us back home. We got groceries in Ellsworth, ME and camped at Timberland Acres near Acadia National Park . We decided to not go into the park - we’re a bit burned out on sightseeing. We took a nice walk through the campground.

 August 28: Bill left a message for Cindy (Coaster) to see if she wants a visit tomorrow - hope to connect with a real person later. We tried calling a bunch of campgrounds and they’re all booked for Labor Day Weekend - dumb of us to lose track of time and not realize it’s a holiday weekend - just when we get to a real heavily populated part of the world.

 August 29: Coaster left us a message. She saved us from campground hell with the offer of her driveway for the whole weekend. Seems she is joining her husband at a cabin in Maine and needs a house and cat sitter! Sometimes things just work out. Amherst /Belchertown is lovely - and the cat, Koko, seems to like us.

 August 30: We spent most of the day reading the accumulated 69 wheel rounds and answered some email. We posted a brief trip summary so far and played with Koko. Coaster’s house is new and very welcoming - it’s so luxurious to have space - and laundry machines that don’t need loonies and quarters.

 August 31: We walked around Quabbin Reservoir for a while and then went to a BBQ at Heidi and Tim’s . We got to meet Beatrix - a wonderful, big eyed, beautiful, placid baby - and their 4 cats. We got to meet Paul and Ann Martin and Josh (moose killer) Belkin for the first time in person and Pumpkin, who we already knew from August West last year was there too. We really enjoyed fellowship with friends again after so long on the road among strangers. The drive on the Mass turnpike was fun, too, especially without the trailer. Found out about Princess Diana’s death via comments on the Wheel - too bad for her children.

 September 1: Coaster came home from the Maine cabin and we met her for dinner in Northampton. We went to a great Mexican place - pretty authentic for the northeast! We had lots of fun walking around town. We got on the phone and made reservations for the next few nights since we’re back in civilized territory again. We made plans to get us to the Washington DC area. We left email for Andrea (Begonia) and Tom Wible (Airdrummer) and called Mac. Hopefully we can connect with some of them.

 September 2: Leaving Belchertown on a foggy morning. Remembered to get Coaster to pose for a picture in front of her beautiful house - hanging baskets of fuchsias and all. We drove down to Connecticut and through a little bit of New York into Pennsylvania to the River Beach Campsites. It’s near Milford on the Delaware river. The campground is the home of the Kittatinny Canoe group and there were several canoes floating down river past the campground, which was huge and mostly empty. We took a nice walk along the river and watched butterflies on shore and families canoeing on the water.

 The TV weather people predicted rain but luckily none came our way. Pennsylvania plants the roadsides with multicolored wild flowers - very nice even this late in the year.

 September 3: Still no rain but lots of cool breezes. We drove down highway 84 to highway 81 through central Pennsylvania past more pink, red, and white daisy-like wispy flowers in the median strips. We stayed in Carlisle (just south of Harrisburg). We had to get through lots of construction to get to the park but it was very nice once we got there. Called Andrea and found out she’s planning a Wheelies of the DC Area gathering in our honor on Saturday afternoon - we’ll get to meet more people we’ve only known electronically previously. Also called Dorothy to let them know about when we’ll get to North Carolina and found out about Justin Walker Bates - he was 5 weeks early with heart problems and still in neonatal intensive care. He makes me a great-great-aunt. We’ll keep a kind thought for him, being way down in Texas. Gail went to visit him (her first grandchild) but is back home now. We told them to expect us in NC around the 9th or 10th.

 September 4: We drove down to College Park, Maryland and parked in the Cherry Hill Park - our home for 3 nights. This is a huge park and the best organized we’ve stayed in. It’s the only place near DC and is well equipped for large groups - the local bus even stops right in the park and connects with the metro for easy visiting in the city. Called Mac and he joined us for pizza - we got to town just in time since he’s leaving for a California and Hawaii vacation in a couple of days.

 Bill tried to get a wheel alignment and rear tires to try to stop road vibrations which had begun to be bothersome the last few days and went into town. He ended up getting 4 new tires. That should get us home.

 September 5: We took the bus and metro into DC and walked the few blocks to the Lincoln Memorial. Even though we had both seen it before it was still very moving. We walked over to the new Korean War memorial, not quite finished yet, and then to the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial. We looked up Richard Stewart, the only name I remember from my classmates lost over there, and there he was, April 1969 - only 3 years out of High School. What a waste of a good mind, albeit prone to conservative politics. I recall he was a member of the John Birch society - we argued a lot in World History class, he really felt he had to go save the Vietnamese from communism - and save the US, too. I tried to convince him that war never solved anything but I was unable to. He died for his folly. Very sad.

 A man waiting for the bus with us at the metro station asked if it was true Mother Teresa was dead - we hadn’t heard. Didn’t agree with her views on abortion, contraception, or control of pain for the dying but have to admire her taking care of the poor and lack of pretension.

 We went to Mac’s apartment in Cabin John that evening and downloaded wheel rounds and a message from Steve Lichtenstein - he’s in the area checking out job possibilities with EDS. I emailed him luck but he probably won’t get the message until he’s back in LA. Small world.

 Mac took us over to Arlington, Virginia for a great Vietnamese dinner - at least the US got a bunch of good restaurants out of that crazy war.

 September 6: We caught up on Wheel rounds and watched Princess Diana’s funeral on TV - more sad business. TV confirmed Mother Teresa’s death - too much sadness in the world right now.

 Got cheered up at Andrea and Marcus’ party. Really enjoyed meeting Marcus’ Dad Nick, a diplomat with the State Department after retiring from the Navy. He was visiting from Shanghai and had some very interesting stories. Also really enjoyed meeting Aidan, only 5 month old but with wise eyes, checking everything out. Great cats and dog complete the family - Andrea’s really blossomed (pun intended!) Got to meet Ahclem and his family for the first time, too, and see Airdrummer again. It should be a tradition to travel around and meet Wheelies from other areas!

 September 7: Bill writes: Sharon’s birthday! Presented the card (Boys are Stupid) and earrings. Breakfasted and left Cherry Hill RV Park and went east and then south on the beltway to get to I-95 south to Richmond, VA. Got off the interstate in Ladysmith and went south on state route 1 in search of gas and lunch. Wept along to Harry Chapin CDs most of the way. We ate lunch at a Shoney’s - not bad - and with unsweetened ice tea! It’s been months since we could get it without the sugar already in!! We camped at the South 40 KOA in Petersburg, VA and went for a swim in the somewhat buggy but refreshing pool. We had dinner at Nino’s (northern Italian cuisine) - the best Italian restaurant in a KOA we’ve ever been to.

 September 8: We left Petersburg and headed east on US 58 to Suffolk and then south on 32 into North Carolina. We took highway 64 through Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills (the Wright Brothers stomping grounds but the museum was closed for the evening). We camped in Manteo on Roanoke Island at the Cypress Cove RV Park. It’s a really cool place with many critters: 8 tame bunnies, a duck flock, a goose flock (very noisy), and a wildlife viewing platform on a tower out in the adjacent swamp. The rules say watch out for snakes but we didn’t see any. Lots of birds to watch, though.

 September 9: We toured the Orville and Wilbur Wright Memorial where we heard a very impressive talk by a park ranger. Then we drove around Bodie, Hatteras, and Pea Islands past lots of sand dunes with wild oats growing on them and shipwrecks, herons, egrets and sea gulls - also some pelicans. We had a great seafood dinner in Nags Head.

 September 10: We drove down to Gail and Dorothy’s and visited with them and Gail’s friends. Gail was surprised we could find her house since the streets in her neighborhood aren’t on any maps so we showed her the ‘Street Atlas USA’ CD with the laptop. Gail wants to get a computer so she can trade email with her old friends.

 Dorothy kept saying she wished we had put Marie in our pocket so she could be here too. It would be nice for as all to be together - maybe next time.

 September 11: Gail and Dorothy took us to Wilmington, NC along Topsail Island where we saw lots of damage left from hurricanes Bertha and Fran last year. Many houses are not rebuilt yet. There are blocks where the only way one knows there used to be houses is by the driveways - it’s all just sand now. Saw a turtle egg nest protected on the beach. We visited Aaron at the Wilmington WalMart where he’s assistant manager - seems like he’s grown into a real nice young man.

 September 12: Laundry and rest day. We did get Dorothy to use her treadmill - she hasn’t been exercising as much as when she was out in California with Greg and Marti.

 September 13: Dorothy let us take her in her Bronco to Croatan National Forest where our hiking trail book said there were several easy trails but the one’s we found were closed due to hurricane damage. There were still lots of trees down and damaged and they have only opened the campground part of the forest. We walked along the shore and saw bunches of tiny crabs plus frogs and fish in the water and a big white heron flew in and lighted in the marsh grass. It’s a very pretty place despite all the downed trees. It probably was even better before the hurricanes struck.

 September 14: Gail’s friend Mimi and her mother Katherine (originally from Bagdad, now from Oakland, CA) brought over a huge meal of great middle eastern food: home made hummus, dolmas (she has an arrangement with a California winery to pick fresh baby grape leaves), kibbe (meat loaf kind of stuff with pine nuts), basmati rice and chicken curry (really yummy - Katherine grinds her own curry spice), cucumber and yogurt salad, tabbouleh, and home made pickled olives - everything was delicious and we had leftovers for days.

 September 15: We visited the Beirut Memorial with Dorothy. The city of Jacksonville, NC has planted a pear tree for each serviceman killed (most were from Camp Lejeune , the Marine base near here) plus putting all their names on a white wall memorial surrounded by gardens. The azaleas weren’t in bloom this time of year but one can imagine the beauty when they are. it’s right next to the Marine base with young servicemen going by all the time - must make them sad.

 September 16: Finally got the paper work from Duggy for the Glendora house sale - signed in all the marked places and sent it back UPS overnight - hope it all goes well! We played Okie Rummy with Gail and Dorothy and then Farkle - lots of fun, haven’t done that kind of thing for a long time.

 September 17: Heading east on I-40 - should be home in 2 weeks. We drove west to Raleigh where we found the AAA office and got maps and camp books for the rest of the trip. The driveway was pretty steep and the stabilizing jacks scraped when we pulled out but it seems OK. We spent the night at Greensboro, NC in a former KOA. It was very crowded due to a county fair and craft show - good thing we made a reservation. Late comers were just parking in the street next to the campground office. When we took our evening walk around we saw lots of ‘carnies’ in town for the fair.

 September 18: We drove across NC to the Asheville West KOA - a nice spot. Further away from the highway than last night. We unintentionally angered a local while parked in the gas station lot briefly - just to turn off the fridge prior to gassing up - he wanted to cut through the parking lot to make a right turn and we were in the way - not in the street but where he wanted to go. He honked and yelled but we didn’t even figure out it was at us until he roared through the gas station past the pumps. So much for southern hospitality. At least he didn’t follow us to the campground! Bill checked and tightened the valve cover bolts and cleaned out the air cleaner - lots of bugs.

 September 19: We got up at 7:30 am and got on the road shortly after 9 am. We drove to Knoxville and got groceries, gas and lunch - then on to the Countryside Resort near Lebanon, Tennessee . It was a very nice campground and we saw glow worms on our evening walk - out along the road just next to the interstate. The campground had beautiful flowers planted all around. Nice country.

 September 20: We got up at 7:30 again and again out by 9 - anxious to get home. We drove across Tennessee and into Arkansas . We saw a couple of white herons as we crossed streams - and a couple of armadillos, but just road kill, not on the hoof. We camped in the Best Holiday Travel Park.

 We went for a long walk around 7 pm after watching the Allman Bros. on Austin City Limits . Out the back gate of the campground and along a long loop out through the surrounding fields. Near a lone tree on the road, in the middle of nothing but fields, we heard a loud yowling that turned out to be a possibly abandoned gray and white kitten. We couldn’t really take her so we walked back to the campground - she followed us part way down the road, still yowling loudly. We asked at the office when we got back if anyone was missing a kitten but no one was. The campground owner lady said she didn’t want a cat due to allergy and a resident Dalmatian but she said no one would molest the cat if she was left in the campground. We decided to go back and get her, so we procured a box, with paper towels in it and a small container of water. We went back out to the road and when we were almost there, we saw a car turn down the road and stop and back up near where we last saw the kitten. The interior lights came on as the door opened and stayed on for a while, and then went out as the door closed and the car pulled away. They must have taken the kitten since we went all up and down the road with the flashlight and there was no sign of her. The campground lady said local farmers like cats because they help control rodents so we hope she found a good home.

 September 21: We drove across Arkansas to Russellville and camped at Lake Dardanelle State Park . It’s a beautiful spot on a big lake and has resident ducks and geese. Herons and other shore birds are along the lake and lots of fish, too. There is a big marina and nature trail complete with wildlife viewing platforms and the whole place is beautifully landscaped. The only bad thing is the huge nuclear power generating station spewing clouds of steam across the lake - at least the prevailing winds seem to go the other way. We took another long evening walk along the lake shore and visited with some local fisherfolk on the pier - they thought we were weird because we were just looking and not fishing. When we came back to the trailer we heard meowing again! This one was a little black and white kitten but obviously not a stray. We petted him a bit until he trotted off. We saw him again the next morning following another camper and heard some people in a big motor home complaining that ‘he always runs off’.

 September 22: We got a bit later start but drove on across Oklahoma past Okemah, Woody Guthrie’s hometown , and into the Oklahoma City East KOA. It’s a nice park. It started raining around 10 pm and rained all night. It did clear up in the morning but we had to go through mud.

 September 23: We got started around 9:30 am and drove into Texas. We spent a cold, damp night in the Amarillo, TX KOA - it’s an OK park but noisy due to being close to trains and under the flight pattern of the airport. All the signs advertising it coming into town claimed it was ‘off the interstate’ but failed to mention the other attractions! The place has resident bunnies, though. More armadillo road kill - never did see any live ones.

 September 24: We drove into New Mexico and the scenery improved. it’s good to be back into the familiar desert. We spent the night in a luxury campground near Albuquerque, NM - paved sites - lots of flowers and trees - internet hook up - very nice. We watched weather reports on Hurricane Nora - didn’t expect to run into Pacific hurricanes.

September 25: We got a real early start and drove across the continental divide and into Arizona. We wanted to get parked before Nora (now just a tropical storm) hit. We stayed in a nice wooded campground just west of Flagstaff, AZ. Got parked, battened down and had a nice walk through the local woods before nightfall. We got 2.5" of rain over night but little wind. Nora turned out to be much less than the weather channel predicted - good for us.

 September 26: We drove back into California - great to be in our home state and going through familiar territory. We spent the night in the Twin Lakes RV Park in Newberry Springs - with lots of ducks. The desert smells so good.

 September 27: The Solar Two site was spectacular as we drove past. There was so much dust in the air that it reflected on both sides of the tower. Hope the pictures come out.

 We called on the cell phone but had to leave messages since Greg and Marti didn’t answer. We decided to stop by anyway and leave the pottery from Dorothy for them. We got home around 3 pm and Siren and Sheba were sure glad to see us. The house looked great and the yard overgrown. Really good to be home 3+ months on the road is enough!

 The ending mileage was 151,166.4 making the total trip 15,886 miles. That is just about 3,000 over the plan - but in less time than planned. We should have slowed down a bit, I guess.
 
 

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