Reserve Me a Bali Bed Quick

Back in New York, it was back to work. This three-day stint was for a new all-inclusive resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, called Paradisus Palma Real. Four butlers canvassed Manhattan performing random acts of kindness: holding doors, hailing cabs, handing out hot cocoa or coffee, cigars, chocolates, etc. It would have been lots of fun if it weren't for the EXTREME cold. These were the coldest three days yet this season. OUCH. We did get some air time on the Early Show and pre-game for an NBA game on ESPN.

Newport Beach Renewal

We arrived in LA on Friday December 9th. After dropping of the RV in its new temporary home, an airplane hangar at a small airport in San Fernando, we got in touch with John and Judi Zeig, very old friends who live in the area (They themselves aren't very old, I've just known them for a long time.) We drove down to visit and had a long-needed, relaxing evening of good fun and good company. Next time poker will have to be for dimes and not pennies. No photos were taken, but the memories are more than enough. We'll see if we can get together again when we're back out for the Rose Bowl. ---------Tamara

La Felinta

Even I am tired of looking at that cornuopia. Thanksgiving is long over, but it's been a whirlwind since then. This will be a quick entry. The LaQuinta in San Bernadino was home to about a half a dozen furry felines. They looked very well fed, which I guess means that if nothing else, the hotel didn't have any mice.

Our stop in San Bernadino was for repairs due to a break-in that happened in Katy, TX. We lost 2 TVs, a generator, and our sense of safety. The thieves broke a back window of the RV, too, but it doesn't look like they actually got inside. As soon as we got official word, we hightailed it on out of Texas as quickly as possible. We made it across the border into New Mexico that same day....620 miles later.

Don't Mess With It

Our last couple of events were in Texas. The pic above shows the throngs of people at the U Texas vs. Texas A&M game in College Station. The Big 12 Championship was the last official event for the fall college football season. Yipee!!! Our event was the day before the Big Game, at the Dr. Pepper fan fest in downtown Houston.



The Fairfield by Marriott and the Courtyard next door (much nicer at almost the same price) were VERY helpful in receiving large packages for us and in allowing us to park right in front since the lot was so tight. Thanks JW and friends. Here's a pic of staff with the Chik Fil A cow at the event.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The thanksgiving-traditions.com website says “The key to a Thanksgiving menu is to choose foods that will represent the idea of giving thanks for a good year, a harvesting of good fortune, and the sharing of the bounty of your efforts with friends and family. In today's world, the only limit on preparing a Thanksgiving Dinner is an individual's imagination and creativity.” I love the concept. Here in College Station, TX, we haven’t yet decided what’s on our menu for today, but we’ve got plenty to be thankful for. Hope everyone has a relaxing day with family and friends wherever you find yourself this year.

Here’s a fun Thanksgiving quiz for after dinner:

http://www.morefocused.com/surveys/thanksgiving/quiz/index.php?andiiId=71.113.232.83-1132860134¤tPage=http://www.thanksgiving-traditions.com/&tile=cta-flyingTurkey-quiz_320.swf

Take me home, country road...

Here is our route so far…just over 13,000 miles and counting. The red flag shows where we are now; the yellow flags are other stops. The little moons are supposed to be where we have spent the night, but they’re not completely accurate. We’ve been through 29 states in the past two and a half months, but the mid-west and north-west are looking pretty bare. I’m sure that will change as we head out to California in the next few weeks! We’ll do a final map at the end of the tour.

Welcome to Michigan

I guess winter is finally here. After having lucked out for the last ten weeks with the majority of work days being close to 80 degrees or more we've gotten knocked back into reality. Mid November in Michigan is cold damn it!! We arrived in East Lansing just in time, as it started to snow around 3 pm. Wish us luck for this Saturday's festivities. Maybe there will be a pic of a snowman on Sunday.

We're Not In Kansas Anymore

Just after the main coarse was served at the Edinburgh, IN Crackerbarrel, we got a visit from the manager. He politely asked us if we would mind joining the rest of the patrons in the back of the "house". What he meant was the kitchen as there were tornados sighted in the vicinity. We gladly obliged and hung out in the back while the storm blew over and resumed our meal after about 15 minutes. Above is a photo of the storm survivors thanks to Crackerbarrel.

Introducing Mandy

On our trip from Jacksonville to Blacksburg we had a pitstop in Atlanta. This is a pic of the brains of Mobile Media's operation- Mandy Loeber's desk. Wonderfully decorated I might add.

"Jack"-o-lantern

In celebration of the Last harvest and the end of the Celtic year we have carved our own pumpkin and named him Jack. Maybe it will help keep away malevolent spirits.

Traditionally the Celts carved turnips or gourds. When the early Irish settlers came to the western world they discovered the pumpkin, which is actually indigenous to the western hemisphere, to be much easier to carve.

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

The search was on for the perfect pumpkin. Unlike in
the cartoon, we didn't have to spend all night in the pumpkin patch. As a matter of fact, the evening was spent eating a delicious Japanese dinner, and later winning lots of prizes at Dave & Busters. Stay tuned for a post-carving update after the weekend.

http://petcaretips.net/charlie_brown_great_pumpkin.html

A Day at the Beach

Donny enjoys looking for shells on this Jacksonville beach. It was a very quiet afternoon, although the weather was quite nice. I plan to make a bracelet from our findings. 

Wild Caving

Inner Space Caverns Georgetown, TX just north of Austin. Not your ordinary cave tour. Tony and Wendy were our guides in this physically challenging yet amazing experience. The shirts are dirty for a reason. We never expected to squeeze thru some of the holes and crevices we encountered in the three hours we were underground. Most of the time was spent on hands and knee or elbows and knee over dirt, mud or rock. In addition to the standard formations of stalagtites, stalagmites, draperies, cave bacon and soda straws we saw coral, rimstone pools and helictites. This area used to be a sea bed thus the coral. Helictites are similar to stalagtites and stalagmites but they seem to defy gravity and grow horizontal to the ground. There were even bones of prehistoric creatures such as mammoth and sabertooth tigers.

Are they sure this is really a lake??

Lake Michigan from St Joseph, MI. Since there were no hotel rooms in South Bend, IN for our Notre Dame event, we stayed over the border in Michigan. Good thing, since this a great jumping off point for exploring the quaint town of St Joseph. After viewing the "lake" we pondered why there wasn't a new term coined just for a body of water like this. We ate dinner at restaurant called Spinnaker's. Tamara had perch from Lake Superior, while Donny had a filet mignon. Not sure if it was a white or yellow perch, and it sure is hard to find info on safe/responsible freshwater fish consumption. Ocean fish are much easier to research . . .

Where's Tam?

These lovely items are called lanyards. By the time this tour is over we will have distributed over 30K of them. Here is just a taste of what we do on our "off time." Attaching the card to the lanyard itself is time consuming and mind numbing activity. Here is roughly 600 of the 3500 we will be using this weekend. Can't wait for next weeks shipment.

ps. Thanks chicas, you know who you are.

Driving 'Til the Cows Come Home...and it doesn't look like they're heading anywhere fast... 

Fenced Fall Foliage in Pennsylvania 

O-Bye-O

The Penn State vs. OSU game was an upset. Penn won at home, and we enjoyed a rainy, cold day. The hearty soul in the pic above didn't seem to mind the weather though. Pennsylvania was otherwise very pretty. The leaves have started to change color, and much of our drive was on smaller highways (like 422) that run through colorful hills and valleys dotted with old farmhouses and barns. Favorite town name: Nanty Glo, also spelled Nant-Y-Glo.

Drive-by Arching

This was close to the half way point on our trip from Tempe to Altoona.

No time to stop, just to shoot on the fly.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Cacti

Dallas? UCLA? Even Tennessee? Nope....not so lucky....our next stop after Tempe, Arizona will be State College, PA, even further than our last trek from Blacksburg, Virginia. Streets and Trips calculates 2255 miles. It will be a little cooler, but I sure will miss the cacti. Maybe a stop at the Sky City Casino will help. I net $5 last time. HT

Cathedral Rock

Bell Rock

Red Rocks

Sedona is a hip, New Age town between Coconino and Yavapai Counties in northern Arizona. Some who practice alternative medicine feel that the earth in this area has a number of healing "energy fields" or vortices (Bell Rock, Cathedral Rock, Airport Mesa, and Boynton Canyon, for example). Whatever the case, the red sandstone formations are beautiful! The pinks and reds were caused by iron from volcanic areas moving into areas of mudstone and sandstone and oxidizing as waters from the oceans moved in and receded millions of years ago.

Hardwood

Considering you need a diamond coated blade to cut this hardwood it's probably not good firewood material.

The wood in the Petrified Forest is actually from the Late Triassic Period(225 million years ago).
Over time, trees died or perhaps were knocked over by floodwaters or wind. Rivers carried the trees into the lowlands, breaking off branches, bark, and small roots along the way. Some trees were deposited on the flood plain adjacent to the rivers and others were buried in the streams and channels. Most of the trees decomposed and disappeared. But a few trees were petrified, becoming the beautiful fossilized logs we see today. Most of the fossilized logs are from a tree called Araucarioxylon arizonicum. Two others, Woodworthia and Schilderia, occur in small quantities in the northern part of the park. All 3 species are now extinct.

Some logs were buried by sediment before they could decompose while volcanoes to the west spewed tons of ash into the atmosphere. Winds carried ash into the area where it was incorporated into the deepening layers of sediment. Ground water dissolved silica from the volcanic ash and carried it through the logs. This solution filled, or replaced cell walls, crystallizing as the mineral quartz. The process was often so exact that replacement left a fossil that shows every detail of the logs’ original surfaces and, occasionally, the internal cell structures. Iron rich minerals combined with quartz during the petrification process, creating the brilliant rainbow of colors.

Info provided by: http://www.petrified.forest.national-park.com/

What's Your Canvas?

All of the colors you see are caused by different types of rock as well as different minerals in those rocks.

Taken from within the Petrified Forest National Park which is off I-40 exit 311 from the east or 285 from the west.

Long Trip

Blacksburg, VA to Phoenix, AZ- about 2100 miles.

Day one- Blacksburg to Conway, AR-777 miles

Day two- Conway to Acoma, NM and the Sky City Casino-907 miles (See left. Between the two of us we made $5.)

Day three- Acoma to Phoenix- 440 miles via The Painted Desert and The Petrified Forest

Dixie Caverns

A dog was the first one to discover this cave, falling in a hole at the top of the hill... followed by several inquisitive farm boys. That was in 1920. In 1923, Dixie Caverns was open to the public. There have been many changes over the years in lighting and passageways, but the beauty of this cavern is unchanged. Guides take you "up" into the mountain and then "down" underground — all the while stopping to show the splendor that thousands of years has created. For more info, see http://dixiecaverns.com/. This Western Virginia attraction was our first sightseeing this tour so far. Hopefully we'll have time for lots more.

Sidenote: If you are ever in Christiansburg, VA and expect to be hungry also expect to stay that way if you order pizza from Papa John's. I took a whopping 23 hrs to get our order. No that's not a typo: it took 23 hrs not 23 minutes. It was either the best or worst pizza we ever had. It was obviously free and by the time we got it we were so hungry it was gone in about 15 minutes.

James and the Giant Peachoid

For those who don't immediately recognize this South Carolina landmark, it's known as "The Peachoid." The Board of Public Works In Gaffney, SC built this elevated water storage tank in the shape of a peach in 1981.

You may be wondering, "How Did The Peachoid Come About?"

It began late one night when the staff of the Gaffney Board of Public Works was working way too late. A water study had pointed out that the town needed a new elevated water storage tank and the staff was wondering over ways to get Uncle Sam to pay for it.The "Peachoid King" Mr. Dick Crater, who at the time was Board Manager, said the immortal words that inspired a town, "Let's build it in the shape of a Peach !" Slowly the idea grew and captured the imagination of the Board members and denizens of the town. Soon, the project started coming together. Federal funds were acquired from the Appalachian Regional Commission and the South Carolina Appalachian Council of Governments. Ref. http://www.gaffney-sc.com/Waterpeach.htm

After working the Boston College / Florida State game in Boston, we learned our next stop would be Baton Rouge, Lousiana. After a great lunch (BBQ chicken, potato salad, tortellini salad, fresh breads, tomato and basil with mozarella, etc.) and visit with Sally and Cheryl Fogerty, and the Colleran family in Boston, we head on our way. (Plus about an hour in the Harvard Square Curious George bookstore for Baby Colton) In Atlanta we will accomplish some much needed maintenance tasks and continue on our way on Thursday the 22nd of September. Since the hotels in the Baton Rouge area are being used to house displaced Katrina victims, it looks like we'll be camping out in the RV. More to follow soon.

Naked Fish

Who knew Donny would really enjoy this swordfish steak so much? The fries and platanos weren't bad either. Naked Fish is just around the corner from our hotel in Waltham, Mass. We were finally able to go there after receiving our last package of the day at 9pm. For more info on Naked Fish or fine cuban cocktails click http://nakedfish.com/home.html

Donny finally let me drive

All the excuses have been tried: "Too much traffic." "You don't like to drive at night." "Looks like rain." "I'm not tired yet." Finally I got my chance to shine. A few hundred miles across New York State. Donny even felt confident enough in my skills to catch a nap...

RV Picnic

Our first meal in the RV, ham and cheese on pumpernickel-mmmm. As you can see there were a couple of sides to go with the main course.

Columbus, OH- You thought fast food was easy, check this out.

Just in case anyone was unaware, it is possible to check into a hotel without getting out of your car. As if we weren't lazy enough. America's Best Value Inn, $35 a night.

Groundhogs

There is a groundhog living right down the street from our hotel in Greentree, PA. We're pretty sure it's not Punxsutawney Phil, since he lives quite a ways away, but perhaps an uncle or cousin. We've seen him three times...a real cutie!

From Wikipedia: "The Groundhog (Marmota monax), also called a Woodchuck or Whistlepig, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. Most marmots live in rocky and mountainous areas, but the Woodchuck is a creature of the lowlands. It is widely distributed in North America, from Alaska to Alabama and Georgia. In the west it is found only in Alaska and British Columbia and northern Washington.
Groundhogs are typically 40 to 65 cm long (including a 15 cm tail) and weigh 2 to 4 kilograms. In areas with fewer natural predators and large quantities of alfalfa, they can grow to 24 inches (80 cm) and 30 lb (14 kg). " (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog)

A Beaut Isn't She??

Halfway thru the graphic application. Big & Rich are prominently featured, sweet!

SOLD!!! Look at that proud new owner. Can't you see all his future hopes and dreams reflected in his eyes? 

Donny spreads the good word about Cingular to fellow Winnebago lovers. 

Tamara with some tailgating friends at the Pitt game