Apalachicola, Florida

OOhhhhh, it's sooo nice to be warm!! We made it to Florida and are heading out to St George Island to camp for New Years....We decided that instead of boondocking and living in parking lots we would fork out the dough and sleep in beautiful places...so we stayed at St Andrew Bay in NW Florida the last 2 nights. It was super relaxing, except that it's kind of like RV suburbia with huge RV's and crying babies, but they all have southern accents so it's cute!. Anywhoo...we are in a rush to get out to our new spot. Still having a tough time posting pics for some reason:( Just wanted to say how much we love you all and to have a happy new year... good things are surely in store!!!

Down to the south...

We have been heating up the highway!! From Taos we went to Ojo Caliente hot springs, where we bathed in sulfur, soda, arsenic, and iron pools that varied in temp from 96 to 106 degrees. We also drank lithia water, said to be good for digestion and mood disorders. Jaycie drank the most and was notably less gassy and more even tempered! We soaked in the pools for hours and were truly spiritually and physically recharged. Jason even received a mysterious red spiritual marking between his eyebrows that lasted for days after we left. It was there that we felt that we had gotten adjusted to life on the road, and when we left the next day, we were relaxed and very much in the flow of traveling.
The pilgramage to Houston, Texas to be with Brian O'donell and family for Christmas took us through the desert of southern NM and west Texas. We went to the Alien Museum in Roswell (Two words: COVER UP!!) and the road was long, but the desert scenery beautiful and the trip went by quickly...except for the portion when we were battling 60 MPH winds gusting at our side. We even stopped by the Alamo in San Antonio on the way. We got to Houston in the evening and were greeted by a neighborhood ablaze with Christmas lights!!! The subdivision has prizes for best decorations and they really go all out...it was a wonderful welcome. The best house had people tune to a radio station and their lights kept time with the songs that were playing. In keeping up with the Jonses, we pulled over and donned our DC powered Christmas lights and showed up in style. It was a great Christmas, with game playing (rummi cube), delicious food, and a really fun family. It was tempting to stay a couple extra days but we felt the tug of the road and left early the next day and made it to Louisiana. Not much going on in Louisiana the day after Christmas, we found. We couldn't even get ahold of any gumbo!! So we pushed on through Baton Rouge and stayed in a Hampton Inn parking lot. We've found that the Hampton really does a great job of selecting quiet locations and attracting well behaved guests that don't tip the employees off that there are vagrents sleeping in the parking lot, so we stay with them any chance we get...sometimes we can even freeload a continental breakfast! Just kidding...we are actually into teff these days, an ethopian grain for breakfast. So at this moment we are in a 4 star rest area in Mississippi with freeWiFi and an RV dump and water filling station. We should be in Pensacola, Florida by this afternoon sipping umbrella drinks and swatting mosqitos! Sorry we don't have picutures...the intenet connetion in the bayou isn't quite strong enough!!! Happy Holidays!!
pictures are coming as soon as we get to a better wi-fi spot.

jason testing the ropes before jaycie tackles her first ascent

Beautiful view from the bathroom window



Jason enjoying the freedom that nature providesWe filled the house with firewood we found on the side of the road.

Left to die in the desert

So, sorry we have been so bad at keeping up the blog. We have been surprisingly busy considering we have no jobs and no real commitments, aside from being in D.C. for inauguration.

The truck has been running great since we left Joshua Tree. We are still missing 5th gear but over drive is something you rarely use driving a 4 cylinder RV anyway.

Joshua Tree needs to be put on the "must visit" list for anyone living in the vicinity, or anyone who wants an incredible desert experience. While we were there the temps were in the high 60's, the wind calm, skies clear, people scant, and the snakes hibernating. Most of the people at Joshua Tree were there to rock climb and were super friendly. W e met some pros and got to do a little climbing ourselves...fantastic! The rocks/boulders are big, round, sticky, and everywhere, having been moved off the top of the mountains ages ago by flash floods. After five days of being removed from the buzz of trailer life in the city we really found our groove in the desert and plan on spending no more that 1 full day in any city if possible in the future. We also have learned that while snow on the ground and below freezing temps are one thing, camping in blizzards are another.

After leaving Joshua Tree, we headed north to Sedona. We climbed up out of the canyon on a 4 mile(round trip) straight up hike to get a good look at the river canyon and surrounding forests. Once again, we didn't see a single person on the trail. At the end of the hike we braved the frigid water to get a quick bath before heading north to Flagstaff for a much anticipated sushi dinner.

In Flagstaff, we restocked the pantry with tons of food and headed north to cross the Grand Canyon at Lee's Ferry heading for Zion N.P. Lee's ferry is the access point for canyon river trips so you can drive right down to the river and witness its power as it starts to cut its way down into the earth. We made it to the east entrance of Zion at sunset as the full moon had already risen into sight. The east entrance is the higher elevation so as we got to drive down through the entire park as the sun set and the moon rose. Once again, the park was about 5% occupancy so we had the campground and all the trails to ourselves. We braced for the upcoming cold front by getting plugged into the grid for light/heat, drove into St. George to buy a bunch of movies and then settled into the park campground right next to our new friends the Yaks. The Yaks are a father-daughter-son threesome from Connecticut. They are taking the year to travel around the states in the deluxe mega trailer. What an inspiration they were. The kids were homeschooling and dad was obviously taking full advantage of his last bits of time with his kids before they fly the coop.

Snow in Zion is a rare sight so we eagerly awaited its arrival and arrive it did. What it didn't do was leave. The storm came through and then started to circle back for another round of white out conditions, dangerous hiking trails and bad road conditions. So we came to the conclusion that we would be best off if we saved the rest of southern Utah for next summer and head south to the warmth. Right now we are in Taos, New Mexico loving the clear cold skies and indulgent southwestern food. We are making a beeline for Texas now to spend Christmas with Brian O'Donnell and his family in Houston..

Hi, we're in Temecula...

Site of the Cahuilla Curse
Bling Bling on Rodeo Drive

Freakishly Long Dog Tongue; Good for Annoying Keta

Richard and his Buddy Paul, Enjoying a the Morning Coffee Mission

Before we left SoCal I wanted to crooze for celebrities, so I boned up on some current "US" and "People" magazines and we headed into Beverley Hills and Rodeo Drive to see if we could catch a peek at Jennifer Anniston (Jason's wish) or Hugh Jackman (eye candy for Jaycie). We did not see any movie stars, but we stuck out like movie stars ourselves in our big 'ol rig!! Of note, that GPS we bought last week is the most awesome display of technology on the market!!! We were able to punch in "Rodeo Drive" and it navigated us straight there through the maze of LA freeways. Now if only Brittany Spears' address was in there!!!

Although we were unsuccessful in our search, we kept our eyes peeled through the thick smog and motored down the 5 to San Diego to visit Zack, Jason's stepbrother. He took us to the restaurant his wife works at. She was lovely and so was the food...I'll just mention that we had banana lollipops, banana chunks on a stick dipped in dark chocolate, drizzled with carmel for dessert. It was a great visit and we spent that night parked next to Balboa Park.

With visions of the desert, we left San Diego for Joshua Tree. We let a book we have guide us to Cahuilla Hotsprings on the way, but when we got there it was actually full of tall marsh grass and was cold and uninviting. Instead of bathing we had a resourceful lunch of home canned tuna (thanks mom) and cranberry sauce on tortillas and watched a great blue heron land and soar again and again. As we were wrapping up, we were briskly questioned and then asked to leave by a local native. Politely driving away, a clicking/electrical malfunctioning sound became audible from the steering column, followed by the transmission running through the gears without cause. The Cauhilla Curse had struck!!!! Were we being punished for unknowingly disrespecting the hotsprings and being run out of town to cleanse our filthy souls? We found a mechanic (The GPS has earned it's spot on the dash many times over already!) and isolated the "transmission relay" as the culprit. To get the part we had to drive back from Anza to Temecula, about an hour away with the tranny doing funky things, but we had no choice. Miraculously, the problem cleared up about 10 minutes into the drive and we made it to town and were able to order the part without problems. We parked in a shopping center to sleep and received our first harsh knock on the door as an alarm clock at about 7 this morning. You are aware that we have multiple implements for self defense on board that Jason has been bragging about using. But when the time came to use them, he used his best weapon: silence!! I swear, fear froze both of us we said nothing for an entire minute after the knock until I whispered harshly "Say something!!" Luckily, diplomacy was all that was needed, and for the second day in a row, we scuttled off in peace.

The dolphin is drivable while we wait for the part, so we are having mud and snow tires put on today as we are planning on enjoying the snow of the Rockies soon. If all goes according to plan, we will be in Joshua Tree tomorrow.