Slow poking it to....

We started this adventure in Palm Springs five months ago.

And we decided to close the loop by making the desert our last stop before returning to San Diego.

Sitting by a pool under some palm trees, drinking a beer or two. Nice finale. Perfect way to end a trip that couldn't have been more perfect.

Kind of sad though.

After having such a great roll for so many months straight, you wonder if life will ever be so perfect again.

Hard to imagine. But you can hope.

PALM SPRINGS
Yeah! And it's a dry heat

*September 29-October 2

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
After Zion, this?

*September 27 and 28

KANAB, UTAH
A Mormon Sedona

*September 26

FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA
Gawd is Rt. 66 (I-40) striking

*September 25

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO
Camped here after a day trip to Santa Fe

*September 24

TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO
A sad, dying town on Route 66

*September 23

FOSS LAKE, OKLAHOMA
Camping by the water, again

*September 22

KANSAS CITY, MO.
Buying a piano

*September 21

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
Getting a blood check at the VA

*September 19 and 20

NORTH OF URBANA, ILLNOIS
On the piano prowl

*September 18

KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN
Back to the USA.........

*September 16 and 17

TORONTO, CANADA
Tom Watson in Concert at his Mom's rest home (Sept. 14)

*September 5-15

ANGELICA, NEW YORK
Looking for pianos to buy

*September 1-5

TORONTO, CANADA
Visiting Tom's Mom

*August 27-31


KINGSTON, CANADA
The land of 1000 islands

*August 26

OTTAWA, CANADA
The nation's pretty capitol

*August 24 and 25

MONTREAL, CANADA
Some nights in Pancho, some in a 3-star

*August 20, 21, 22 and 23

QUEBEC CITY, CANADA
Don't forget to say 'bonjour!'

*August 18 and 19

THE MOOSE RIVER AREA, MAINE
Gorgeous scenery. Looking for mooses...

*August 17

SKOWHEGAN, MAINE
Pretty? "Yah"

*August 15

CAMDEN, MAINE
Village by the sea; mansions on the hills

*August 14

KENNEBUNKPORT, MAINE
The lobster ain't cheap but we had to have some

*August 13

WHITE RIVER JCT, VERMONT
Enjoying mile after mile of New England countryside

*August 11

NEAR BOSTON
Searching for Steinways

*August 9 and 10

CAPE COD
Provincetown and the postcard perfect Cape

*August 4 through 8

NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND
On our best behavior ("Hooters" sticker removed)

*August 4

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT
Thunderstorm cools us down

*August 3

NEW YORK CITY
Staying at the Y. Such a deal!

*July 30 and 31, August 1 and 2

JUST NORTH OF SCRANTON, PA
Camping in beautiful, forested hills

*July 28 and 29


NEAR ALLENTOWN, PA
At a rustic RV park

* July 25, 26 and 27

ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY
Las Vegas with less class (if that's possible)

*July 24


REHOBOTH BEACH, DELAWARE
Catalina East and blessedly cool

*July 22 and 23


WASHINGTON, D.C.
For a meeting with Hillary

*July 19,20, &21

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA
A beautiful and historic place

* 7-16, 17 and 18

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
2nd time in a motel

* 7-15

WINDSOR, VIRGINIA
Blackwater RV Park, a scuzzy place

* 7-14

Barn, Oriental, N.C.

ORIENTAL, NORTH CAROLINA
Sailing with Fred, again

* 7-11, 12 and 13

SWANSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA
Just spent the night

* 7-10

HECKLED IN MYRTLE BEACH, NORTH CAROLINA
And won't return. Ever.

* 7-9

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

* 7-8

BEST WESTERN MOTEL (1st time in a motel!)
In the Historic District of Savannah, Georgia

*7-6 and 7

LUMBERJACK RV RESORT
Unadilla, Georgia

*7-4 and 5

BOBCAT RV RESORT
Quitman, Georgia

*7-1, 2, and 3

JEKYLL ISLAND CAMPGROUND
Jekyll Island, Georgia

*6-29 and 30

FLAMINGO LAKE RV PARK
Jacksonville, Florida

*6-27 and 28


BOBCAT RV RESORT
Quitman, Georgia

*6-24, 25 and 26


SPRING CREEK RV RESORT
Geneva, Alabama

*6-22 and 23

NAVARRE BEACH, FLORIDA

* 6-20 Still on a Panhandle beach

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA

*6-19 Depart $54 a nite RV park. Ugh
*6-18 Arrive on the Perdido Key

THE BIG EASY, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

*6-18 Depart this erie place
*6-16 Hello Crescent City

LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA

* 6-16 Bye to cool city RV park
* 6-15 Hello to charming Lafayette

GALVESTON, TEXAS

*6-15 Depart windy, weird Galveston
*6-14 Overnight on a Galveston beach

AUSTIN, TEXAS

*6-13 Depart Austin
*6-12 Find & buy new laptop
*6-09 Laptop fades out
*6-08 Tom returns from Toronto
*6-04 Jim returns from St. Louis
*6-01 Jim flies to St. Louis
*5-28 Tom flys to Toronto
*5-26 Arrive in Austin

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

*5-25 Remembering the Alamo

SEMINOLE CANYON, ARIZONA

* 5-24 A lonely place

FORT DAVIS, ARIZONA

* 5-23 Deer mistake Tom for relation

EL PASO, TEXAS

* 5-22 "El Paso" is Spanish for "the pit"

LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO

* 5-21 Lunch with piano customer

BISBEE, ARIZONA

* 5-20 Where Haight Asbury moved

LAKE PATAGONIA, ARIZONA

* 5-17 Depart after touring Kartchner Caves
* 5-17 Arrive and set up piano

SAN CARLOS, SEA OF CORTEZ, MEXICO

* 5-16 Depart after mucho Margaritas
* 5-12 Arrive after white knuckle drive

TUCSON, ARIZONA

* 5-12 Spend $4,000 to re-roof house

SEDONA, ARIZONA

* 5-11 Last nite in great park
* 5-08 Made "RV Mistake No. 1"

PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA

* 5-05/5-07 Vacation before vacation

SAN DIEGO, CALIFONIA
* 5-05 Good-bye!

X-RATED TEXAS. Yes, they have dirty bookstores in Austin. They just screen them with a forest so you can't see your minister getting out of his Honda.

It's easy to startle a city boy

A wrong turn off the nature trail by our camp site at Patagonia Lake, Arizona, led me into a pasture plentiful in cow patties where dozens of 1600 lb. beasts grazed. Wait! That one has horns. Uh, oh. It's looking at me.

Good thing I'm not in my red t-shirt. And just to the left, I see two others with horns. Oh my god, I've stumbled on a herd of bulls. Slowly I stepped, backwards, still being studied by the horned one who stopped grazing to glare at me. Could I out run him?

Before I challenged him to a race, I glanced around on his side to see if he was packing a pair of bullnads. Thank god! He's got an udder!

Just a docile hermorphridite.

Imagine readng this knee-deep in Katrina water

"Biscuit? No, but I could us a helicopter"

!ELAS ROF

No Toto. We're not in Kansas anymore

JFK and Frank under glass

Laundry day in Boston

A Prada Store 40 miles from Marfa, Texas?

Yup. As an "Art Installation". Opened--but not for business-2005

The Rott's dock, Oriental, North Carolina

A marina at San Carlos, Sea of Cortez, Mexico. A 'be back' place

Road notes....

WHY DO HOUSES FACE THE STREET? Pick a country road and drive down it. Invariably, the houses face the street. Why? To show off the curtains? To see what time that no-good Leroy from down the road snuck in last night? If I had an acre, I'd put my house facing the woods, not the mail box.

QUARTERS ARE GOLDEN When you're staying in places running on a Quarter Economy ("Wash $1.75, Dry $1.50...Shower $.25 per 7.5 minute") We hoard those quarters.

BATTERIES, RE-CHARGED Hitting the 60-day mark of vacation loafing, I'm thinking full-time retirement ain't for me. I need work to really enjoy not working. Thoughts of getting back to business visit my head now and then. Not in any hurry to cut this trip short. We have places we're looking forward to seeing. But by fall, it will be good to get back to chasing a buck.

"I'M OLDER THAN THAT!" When the 20-something ticket taker asks if you want the senior discount, turn to your companion and say, "17 year olds are just not a very good judge of age".

Honoring a straight shooter

THE BEST SPOT in the graveyard at Uvalde, Texas, is taken by FDR's v-p before Harry, John Nance Garner.

And what did Cactus John think of the veep job? "It ain't worth a warm bucket of spit." Dick Cheney might add: "Yeah, but there's free time to go hunting in Texas".

Austin, Texas rocks

BEST CITY SLOGAN Austin, Texas: "Keep Austin Weird".

DAMN. MISSED'EM Two signs I wish I had snapped: 1) "CORRECTIONAL FACILITY, NEXT RIGHT" and 2: "DO NOT PICK UP HITCH HIKERS!".

Myrtle Beach: Miami Beach North

Will we ever learn?

WONDER WHERE THE HIPPIES WENT? When they left the Haight they moved to Bisbee, Arizona. And they're still wearing tie die.
.

FAVORITE NAMES Flatonia, Texas; Corsicana, Texas (No, you can't); Bogalus, Louisiana; Chumuckla, Florida; Eufaula, Alabama; Tucumcari, New Mexico; Mayday, Georgia; Smut Eye, Georgia; Pantsdown, Tennessee; San Diego, California

Tom and Fred sailing the Intercoastal Waterway

ARE YOU TWO BROTHERS? "Us? Oh. You bet." People keeping asking that question. It's easier just to say yes and save them the discomfort of imagining what two unrelated men might be doing in such a small van. But I'm tempted to add: "Actually, we're fraternal twin step brothers. Same mother different fathers. Mom got wild one night on a double date when the other girl when home early."

The neighbors next door

Blackwater RV Park, near Richmond, VA. Dump.

BRING BACK THE MUMU! Jeepers, the cabooses on the balloon people in this country can be measured in yards. For the health of America, the airlines should start charging by the pound.

Pancho ferries from Galveston to Port Arthur, Tx

SLIGHTLY COOLER? Made it across 11 states before we felt a slight red neck chill. A few Florida RVers haven't been real anxious to say howdy. Phobes? Or just cautious cuz we've got California plates. ("Stay away from that van Melinda Belle!".)

THE CANADIAN ASKS Eating breakfast at the Waffle House in Port Austin, Texas: "What are grits?".

THEY DIDN'T STAND. BUT THEY APPLAUDED Tom sat in for the piano player at Charlies in Austin and got warm applause after "My Way". Hey, it ain't easy to get a bunch of gay guys to put down their glasses and clap.

RESTORED IN MEXICO Toured a piano restoration facility in Juarez, Mexico. Pleased to see the great work and cheap prices!

GALVESTON? Hey Glenn! What were you singing about? This town doesn't deserve its own tune. Windy beaches and not enough sand.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP Mexico has better highways than Louisiana. What are the Cajun crooks doing with all of the Federal highway funds?

GOOGLE IS GREAT But the local visitor center can even be better. Unknown to most travellers: The city of Layfette, Louisiana has a very private, pretty, wooded and nearly empty RV park right in the middle of town. Groundskeeper said FEMA leased it earlier this year for $90,000 a month, installed trailers...and then left'em empty.

WHAT CAN I BRING YOU ALL? In the Mexican cafe in Morgan City, Louisiana, I had to have one of them there "Burritto Enchilado"s. (With Hispanics now living all across the U.S., why didn't they bring their recipes with them?)

TOO LITTLE DIXIELAND IN DIXIE The stages in the French Quarter bars have been taken over by rockers playing stinking, loud, youngster rock. Eeekk. Do drummers get Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

Texas flamingo farm