Caravan 3

Traveling west through Texas we spent the night at Ft. Stockton and picked up another Country Coach to join our caravan....now we are five! I thought we'd never get out of Texas, that is one big state.

We are now near Las Cruces, New Mexico. Our four-star campground, Hacienda RV Resort is in Historic Mesilla. The first night the campground put on a Margarita party, here is our group enjoying the beverage. The party included music: a cowboy with guitar and an interesting person playing the harmonica.

Today we bicycled to the historic town center for sightseeing and all met for a wonderful Mexican lunch at La Posta.  laposta-de-mesilla.com         Famous people who have been in the building include Billy the Kid, Pancho Villa and Douglas MacArthur.

View of the Potrillo Mountains from the Rio Grande Winery. Photo by Gerry.

Caravan 2

We are near San Antonio until Thursday when we continue to head west. Today the group went their separate ways to sightsee. Jack took me 30 miles northwest to Kerrville to visit the Museum of Western Art.   museumofwesternart.org   Small museum nicely presented in a lovely building.

Back in Boerne we had a terrific tamale lunch.
Funky outdoor Texas atmosphere.
tamalesmicasa.com




A highlight of the caravan is our nightly Happy Hour at 5 pm. We gather our chairs in a circle and discuss Life. Last night was Mardi Gras and I got out the beads from New Orleans to decorate each person.

Caravan to Tucson

Our caravan formed in New Orleans and headed west on Friday....three coaches, George & Janet Sanders, Jack & Gerry Conway and ourselves.  First stop was Beaumont, Tx....intended to be one night but a horrendous thunderstorm kept us there another day. We picked up another caravaner couple at the campground, George and Gail Merrill, so now we are four.

We are now near San Antonio, note Alamo in the background. The group spent the afternoon on the River Walk, a most unique tourist attraction. thesanantonioriverwalk.com  And of course we enjoyed Mexican food overlooking the River Walk.

the Big Easy

Tuesday we arrived in New Orleans, what a great city, full of history and atomosphere! First event was lunch at Superior Seafood to check out the Mardi Gras parade route. Noisy but great food and New Orleans ambiance. superiorseafoodnola.com

We strolled the French Quarter enjoying the decorations. Note the raincoat, rain was predicted all day. The rally group went on a luncheon cruise on the Natchez Belle. steamboatnachez.com

After the cruise we were chilled to went immediately Cafe Du Monde for hot coffee and beignets.

 Of course we didn't miss a visit to our long time favorite, Pat O'Brien's piano bar. It never changes...fun as ever.
We strolled Bourbon Street and caught our share of beads.

Photos by Janet.

Our final afternoon in NOLA we took a bike tour of Creole neighborhoods....great fun. Our tour guide was a hoot,  a real comedian, He kept slinging the jokes as we pedaled with frequent stops for history lessons.  Included was a stop at a dive bar for a beer or bloody Mary.

confederacyofcruisers.com

Heading West

We left the Destin area and rolled only 50 miles to Gulf Islands National Seashore and the campground at Fort Pickens at the far western edge of a barrier island shared with Pensacola Beach. Incredible natural beauty; however, so cold and windy we could not venture far from the coach.

Now near Mobile, AL, today's sightseeing event was a visit to Bellingrath Gardens and Home, designed in the 1920's for Mobile's first CocaCola bottler.   bellingrath.org    Although the day was cold and gray one could imagine how glorious the grounds would be in Spring. There is a large greenhouse where I was able to get colorful pics.

     

Florida Gulf

We departed John Prince park on Tuesday.... a big thanks to George & Irene for being tour guides.

 After a overnight stop at Ocala we are now at Topsail State Park near Destin. Wow, this is the Mercedes of state parks....paved pads, 50 amp full hook-ups, lovely landscaping, even cable TV. We're told this used to be a luxuy RV resort; now a state park, the Crown Jewel of the Emerald Coast.  This area is famed for sparkling white sand and beautiful, clear green water.

This afternoon we biked 3.5 miles on Hwy 30A which goes into Santa Rosa Beach  The road has a wonderful bike/walk path; it was great to see the beach homes, sand, etc. We lunched on fresh seafood at the Smiling Fish, great choice, great food. Adjacent is The Artist's at Gulf Place a group of huts with original art.   artistsatgulfplace.com   A lovely afternoon!



South Florida Fun

Friday found the four of us dining at the City Diner in West Palm Beach...a very quaint place full of memorabilia from the 50's and the 60's. My favorite was Superman in the phone booth. (Photo by George)

After lunch we biked in the Northwood historic district famous for 1920's homes built in the Florida Boom era. Some were restored to former glory, some were not.

Saturday we drove to Ft. Lauderdale, we lunched waterside on the canal, viewing the sightseeing boats, yachts & the tourists. Thanks to Siri we found an ice cream shop a short hike away. We loved the public sculpture, I couldn't resist sitting in the red chair.

We attended a matinee performance of a comedy play at the Broward Center for Performing Arts....a lovely facility with gardens and terraces. A nice contrast to our days of biking.

JOHN PRINCE PARK

50 miles south we are now at John Prince county park in Lake Worth with George & Irene Harper. Our first event was planning our biking/sightseeing week in this area. The first morning we biked the seven-mile trail surrounding Lake Osborne in the park. Lovely day, lovely scenery. I can't resist sitting on rocks.

In the afternoon we visited Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. We started with a delicious lunch of Pan-Pacific cuisine at the Gardens Cafe.....then strolled the lovely gardens.  morikami.org