October - November 2002 |
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We wondered what this moment would feel like, leaving our friends back home to return to our "home on wheels" and friends in Illinois. As we suspected the emotions were really quite mixed.
Our biggest concern for our return trip was being overweight (not us so much as our luggage?) but fortunately our Scottish hosts are coming over on holiday with an empty suitcase. We left some items for them to bring but we are still well overweight. Wullie's theory is that when we check in at Edinburgh at 5.30 a.m. the staff will still be half asleep, not notice and check the luggage through to Chicago or else we will be a few dollars lighter in the pocket? At last one of Wullie's theories is correct, nobody appears to notice our overweight situation. All our flights were on time but we spent longer at immigration than normal as we had filled in the incorrect form, once the correct form was submitted, we obtained a 6 month visa. Our friends
Dale and Donna Wilson were waiting to transport us and our overweight luggage to Waltham township.
Waltham Township, Illinois - This is where we had stored our RV whilst back home in Scotland. Before we left Scotland we had arranged with an RV repair company in Ottowa, Illinois, to carry out some repairs and maintenance. It seems that has been successfully carried out and we will be able to collect the RV after the weekend. As ever the Wilson family have made us more than welcome and off we go for a most enjoyable evening meal in a restaurant alongside the Illinois river.
Saturday is a day we have been looking forward to for a few months. Alan Wilson is a former student of the university of Illinois and takes 4 tickets for each of their home football games (American Football). They have approximately 6 home games per season and today they are playing Indiana. The "Fighting Illini" stadium is in Champaign, Illinois a drive of just over 2 hours. Diane, Dale & Donna's daughter, has jumped at the chance to come along , so three excited passengers and a calm driver set off for Champaign on a cool but dry day. There is plenty of parking on the university campus, we park a bit away from the stadium and walk. There are quite a few tailgate parties taking place. For those who don't know - a tailgate party is a group of people getting together in the car park and basically having a picnic, maybe a BBQ, a beer (no hard liquor) but most of all lots of fun. The stadium is very impressive and holds around 75,000 people. The Chicago Bears are using the stadium for their home games this year as their stadium in Chicago is refurbished. We know some people at home think American College sport is no big deal, but there are 65,000 spectators here today, all seated (concrete bench seating) buying food from the concessions generating a lot of revenue. (The following day I read that the attendance at Michigan State was 112,000?) The Illini are not having a great season unlike last year when they were top in their conference, but they are still much too good for Indiana. A big part of the football game is the Marching Band which play during stoppages (timeouts, TV adverts etc.). They are noisy, colourful, exciting and worth the admission fee on their own.
Picked up the RV and parked it in the Wilson's yard but found a fault with the bedroom slide so it's gotta go back, but we will get started preparing for the road. The RV repairers fix the slide problem and we get everything loaded and prepared for takeoff to Florida. We enjoyed a farewell breakfast with Dale, Donna, Mary-Lou and Twila in Ottowa and as a result did not get on the road until 11.30 a.m. We made good time to our first stopping place - Columbus, Indiana, over 300 miles on Interstate roads although we had not recognised that we would cross a time zone so we arrived in the dark.
Great Smoky Mountains NP/Pigeon Forge, Tennessee - The 300 miles to Pigeon Gorge although mainly on interstates was quite spectacular as the trees had adopted their autumn colours. Unknown to us Pigeon Forge & Gatlinburg are tourist towns very near to the Great Smoky Mountains NP which was the attraction for us. Of the two Gatlinburg looks the nicer of the towns but both have tons of entertainment and are adjacent to Dolly Parton's biggest attributes? - not those! I'm talking "Dollywood" her own theme park in the area she grew up. Apparently she makes frequent personal appearances adding to the parks attractions. We didn't partake of the loads of entertainment on offer as when returning from a day out in the mountains we got caught up in the evening road chaos. It reminded us of a trip to Myrtle Beach, many years ago, where everyone gets in their car and goes looking for a restaurant It took us 45 minutes to travel 5 miles on a dual carriageway.
It is definitely autumn here and the weather is cool and somewhat cloudy. On the best sunny day we've had so far we take a drive into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (admission free) but it seems everyone else had the same idea. Decided on a circular route which took us along Cades Cove loop road - an 11 mile single track road. When the car in front stops to take photo's, it causes a tailback. We only completed half the loop which took us over an hour before we diverted onto a much quieter road, but then it was a one way dirt track for quite a few miles and took us to the other side of the mountains. The North Carolina side of the mountains has many reservoirs and lots of trees. We continued onto Cherokee to pick up the main highway across the Great Smoky's. Cherokee was a real bottleneck and we worried the traffic was going to be like this all the way back (30 miles). Fortunately it cleared on the outskirts of Cherokee and had been caused by a custom car show. Took a 7 mile detour from Newfound Gap to the look-out tower which provided wonderful views of the mountains. Traffic was heavy as we made our way back to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge (evening meal) so it was dark by the time we got home.
Pigeon Forge to Skidaway Island State Park, Georgia - Quite a lot of rain on route which was a pity as the autumn colours would have been even nicer in the sunshine, especially through the Smoky's into North Carolina. A long trip for us, 417 miles, but passed quite quickly as it was mainly on interstate. We arrived late afternoon to a spacious site amongst trees, 10 miles southeast of Savannah.
The state park has a few miles of nature trail where we spotted lots of sapsuckers and the large Pileated woodpecker.
The beach at Savannah is actually out of town on Tybee Island and is miles of white sand. It is very much the off season when we visit with very few people on the beach. Linda cannot resist picking up the large sand dollars lying around even although she has vowed not to collect any more. Tybee Island is strict on parking and there didn't appear to be any free parking, but a lot of meters.
Gamble Rogers Memorial State Park, Flagler Beach Florida - A journey of less than 200 miles took no time at all, we enjoyed watching the thermometer rise as we travelled south. When we arrived the temperature was 79F at this beautiful site adjacent to the beach. After setting up the RV it was off with the shoes and onto the golden sands, something to be repeated often during our stay. Pelicans, Ospreys and many other birds are commonplace here but nevertheless wonderful to observe.
We needed to visit Costco in Jacksonville and to make the day more enjoyable drove up the coast on highway A1A and returned via the interstate. Drove south on A1A to Daytona Beach (very busy) & beyond.
Our Scottish hosts Margaret & Jim Graham are flying into Orlando on Wednesday to spend 3 weeks with us and the night before we experience a big electrical storm, is this some sort of omen? Set off early to pick up the Graham's from Orlando but partly because something Wullie read in the morning and road signs on the highway came to the conclusion there are two International airports around Orlando. Since we were late in meeting their flight last year in California we thought we better visit both. We called into the first one on our route and this was a strange experience, it was like a ghost town. Each time we saw anyone they disappeared down a long corridor or something. There were tour companies offices, including British companies, with the doors open but nobody there! We eventually found a "body" sitting on a golf cart but weren't sure he was alive at first. However he informed us the flight we were interested in was not arriving there today as Wednesday is their "quiet" day and British airways don't use that airport. We speculated that this airport is used by the packaged holiday trade and would be good for fly/drive as you don't need to mess with Orlando traffic at all. At the correct International airport we were told their flight was on time but it wasn't listed on the arrivals board. Don't pay any attention to that we were told it's never right. We didn't feel too secure until we spoke to the staff at the British Airways desk who assured us the flight was on time and they were checking in passengers for the return flight. Another strange message was that their baggage would arrive just over there and we could wait there for them? Apparently at Orlando you collect your luggage and pass through customs, then surrender your luggage and collect it again in the Public hall. Is your luggage secure?
Took a trip to Cape Canaveral space center. The shuttle was supposed to have taken off 3 days before but had been delayed because of the weather. The shuttle was therefore affixed to its propulsion rockets sitting on the launch pad and we could see the nose of the shuttle from one view point. To us Cape Canaveral was not as interesting as our trip to the Houston Space Center but as a consolation the Graham's
saw their first alligator in a ditch alongside the road and then another from one of the viewing platforms
Flagler Beach to Port Charlotte - We were all sorry to be leaving Flagler Beach but our $99/month + electric, Internet special awaits us on the west coast. A large RV park with lots of facilities, swimming pool, horseshoes, tennis court, basketball, Boccie Ball, dances etc. Unfortunately it is a few miles from the sea, but we knew this, as are most of the RV parks in Florida. Most beachfront land is taken up by private development and in some places it is difficult to find a public beach. Some communities have been forced to provide public access to the beach but then put no parking signs alongside the access points. One disappointing aspect of this Encore RV park is the lack of friendliness of some of the French Canadians (a large part of the clientele) compared to the Americans. Many of them do not acknowledge your presence and refuse to speak anything other than French? One wonders what happens when they go shopping or out to restaurants etc. This is not true of all of them but it is really very noticeable and is remarked upon by many of the other guests.
By a pure coincidence we are staying on an RV park which is around 10 miles from friends in Illinois daughter and her family. Mary Lou & Ronnie, the parents, are visiting and we arrange to meet up with them in Englewood for breakfast and later go home to meet Debbie, Dave & family. Due to the winter Olympics, Curling has started in Florida just north of Sarasota. Debbie & Dave are heavily involved as they curled when they lived in Illinois. We are invited to curl the next day Sunday.
Attended the Saturday evening welcoming dance, no bar so we took our own drink as did most others. We all quite enjoyed it although it was fairly sedate as most folk had been there all afternoon and were ready for bed by the time we got there.
Before going curling on Sunday at 4.00p.m. we took a trip around Longboat Key, the beach area of Sarasota & Bradenton. The beaches here are similar to those in the Englewood area with lots of private development. While we played curling, Margaret & Jim wandered around the outlet centre shops for a couple of hours but did not spend too much. The Ice was kind of twisted (memories of sheet 2 at Murrayfield) but it was a novel experience curling in Florida. The membership is very keen and eager but at the moment they have to take ice all year round which could cause some problems. They would like to get their own ice but everything in Florida is expensive so it seems unlikely unless they can get some help. After the curling we all retired to the nearby Sports bar for eats and a few pitchers of beer before making a speedy trip (following Debbie) back to the RV. We were invited to curl again on the 8th Dec, as they require some subs, so we accepted.
Ronnie & Mary Lou gave us the benefit of their local knowledge and introduced us to a few beach spots in Englewood & Boca Grande where we picked up some sharks teeth and shells. They were returning to cold Illinois in 2 days time and we were off to the hot humid Everglades & Florida Keys so we bade them a fond farewell until February when we go curling in Illinois.
Everglades NP/Florida Keys - Packed a small suitcase each, the coolbox, table & chairs for our trip. Stopped on Marco Island, south of Naples, for our lunch on the beach. Carried table, chairs & coolbox to the beach but alas we only had salad, no bread so it's crisps for Wullie's lunch. (he prefers a savoury bit anyhow) Called into the NP office in Everglades City and took the 10,000 Islands boat trip in Everglades NP. Followed a Manatee around the bay getting occasional glimpses of this rare & shy individual which is in danger of becoming extinct. Lots of water birds in evidence, all in all an enjoyable ride. Along the Tamiani trail (US 41) to a Travelodge in Homestead (a very good price). Dumped the truck outside the rooms and walked across the road to a bar/restaurant for our (Huge) evening meal and a drink or two.
Since there was a Denny's next door to the Travelodge it seemed like a good place to have breakfast before heading for the main entrance to Everglades NP. Made inquiries at the visitor center and were advised to take the Anhinga walk at Royal Palm. We followed the recommendation and saw more waterbirds up close in an hour than we had in the past three years. Anhinga's galore, Cormorants, Egrets and all types of Heron - Green, Tri Coloured, Great Blue, Yellow crowned Night. Alligators & Crocodiles were also present basking in the sun. It was great fun walking the boardwalk and seeing all the wildlife, but this park would be best enjoyed from a boat. Drove all the way out to Flamingo and had a picnic lunch overlooking Florida Bay and the Keys beyond before embarking on another boat trip into the Everglades this time. Alligators & Crocodiles lined the banks and many sightings of Herons, Ibis, Egret, Osprey and Anhinga but our highlights were sightings of Great White Heron (posing for pictures) and the White Crowned Pigeon. Returned to the Travelodge in Homestead for our excellent budget accommodation and ate our evening meal in the same Bar/restaurant - creatures of habit? Wonder where we will eat breakfast?
Denny's breakfast then set off for the keys on a somewhat dull day. Called into Theatre of the Sea to inquire about their various Dolphin experiences but Linda reckons she will never surpass the one at Seaworld, San Diego. Visited a sanctuary for injured birds which was quite interesting as lots of wild birds were availing themselves of the food that had strayed outside the cages. Decided to have lunch at Bahia Honda State Park as this is the best beach on the Keys (only one worth visiting). What had been a very cloudy day, cleared when we arrived so we started our visit off with a picnic lunch. The beach at Bahia Honda is not wide, but is quite shallow and the sea is a beautiful colour. In parts there is a sandbank so we wandered out quite a distance nearly reaching the pelicans who were fishing nearby.
Called into a tourist information center (accommodation touts) and were offered an apartment in Key West that would take all of us. It was more than we wanted to pay but decided we would have a look as it was nicely situated. It was beautiful, 2 bedrooms both with ensuite facilities, a very large lounge, big kitchen with all the appliances (including ice-maker) and a very large balcony running round two sides of the apartment overlooking Duval street in the centre of Key West. Dumped the bags and settled down with a drink watching the activity on Duval. Like any major tourist town there was lots of activity to follow and we had to push ourselves into the shower to get ready for our evening meal. Friends in Illinois, who take their annual holiday in Key West, recommended a few restaurants one of which was nearby called Duffy's. The recommendation was very good (we even had an English waitress) but when we left the rain was "hissing" down. Our tour guide (Wullie) had left his information sheets in the apartment so we grabbed a taxi and asked to be taken to the Hogs Breath (the only name he could remember). It wasn't really our scene, loud rock music, noisy clientele and no good beer but we nursed a drink waiting for the weather to clear. No such luck it was still heavy and the majority vote said lets head for the luxury of our posh apartment. We know how to live it up in tourist towns! Sat on
the balcony with a drink but all the action in the streets had moved inside for shelter from the rain.
We enjoyed a continental breakfast the following morning and set off in sunshine on our return drive up the keys. The Keys with the succession of bridges and causeways connecting them together are quite nice but not as pretty as their reputation. There are very few beaches, and limited places where you can get close to the shore. If you are a boating person then the perspective from offshore would be much more exciting we think. We stopped in Homestead for lunch (not Denny's) and took Alligator Alley (I-75) to Naples. We stayed in a Holiday Inn (good price) and walked to a nearby expensive restaurant for dinner.
Took a leisurely drive back to the RV via Bonita Beach, Estero island, Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island and Captiva Islands. Sanibel is renowned for it's shells and a lady had advised Margaret to visit Sanibel Island. We were not that impressed with the beaches although there were a lot of shells but many of them were still alive. Had lunch in an English pub on Captiva Island, good beer and food. Were quite happy to see our home after 5 days travelling and eating large meals.
Back at Encore, Port Charlotte - This is the period where Margaret is allowed to indulge her need to SHOP. Transport them to shopping malls, Walmart, Fort Myers Flea market etc. Linda's birthday is on the 27th Nov and Wullie needed to buy her a present, Jim wanted to buy a Digital camera and needed to visit Best Buy so we take a trip into Fort Myers. Wullie surprised Linda by buying her a digital camera for her birthday at Best buy, but Jim couldn't get what he wanted so called into Circuit City. The two technology junkies are happy as we make our way to Fort Myers beach. Park the truck next to the "Brewery" but its not really a brewery just a Bar/restaurant so we go on foot in search of something better. Lunched in a street restaurant just off the beach then wandered along the beach. As sunset approached we visited one of the many beach bars and enjoyed a drink or two watching a beautiful sunset developing. Fort Myers Beach is more like a European resort with bars & restaurants adjacent to the beach.
Spend a few lazy days at various local beaches, taking Grahams to the shops. Linda develops a sore throat so our plan to attend the Saturday night dance is shelved.
Texas Road License - When our mail arrived we had no road license for the truck from the Texas licensing authority and the current one expires in 5 days. When we phoned they told us they hadn't received our application and recommended we send our information again by express mail (overnight delivery) which we did after verifying our previous cheque had not been cashed. Tried to find out how long we could drive the truck after our current license expired if the new license was in the mail. Had some difficulty here as it's the Thanksgiving holiday period, but eventually a lady in AAA said don't worry you can drive for 14 days if your license is in the mail and even after that it is a minor (no endorsement of driving license) offence. Apparently she forgot about her renewal for 5 months, one time, and got fined $150 but no endorsement. It seems not having a Vehicle License does not invalidate your insurance over here? A few days later our application is returned with a note saying we do not accept "credit card checks". Someone has looked at our European style cheque, thought this isn't like ours, must be a credit card check, lets bounce it. (Is this what happened to our first cheque?). Slightly more concerned now as we will be taking Margaret & Jim to Orlando for a couple of days before their return flight and we will definitely be without road license. Back to the telephone and ask to speak to a manager. This is where we get lucky as we end up speaking to Teresa Zarate who says "don't worry, resubmit your information & cheque and I will sort it out". Its express mail again but express return this time (more expense) and Theresa lives up to her promise as license is back within 2 days. Our next lot of mail includes a renewal notice for the RV license from Texas so we send it of with a note saying "Any problems with this cheque, See Theresa Zarate".
Orlando Theme Parks/Airport - Took a leisurely drive to Orlando via the Sunshine Skyway (toll bridge) beautiful views, St Petersburg, Treasure Island, St Joes beach and Tampa. Strolled along St Joes beach and ate a lovely lunch overlooking the Intracoastal waterway near Indian Rocks beach. This is the St Petersbug/Tampa coastal/tourist area, very built up with lots of condominiums and other commercial development. Booked into a Days Inn in the Kissimee area of Orlando, nice and near to the Theme Parks and less than an hour from the airport.
Disney's Epcot Centre - This is a theme park with more interest to adults arranged around a man made lake. The entrance side of the lake is dedicated to science & technology and we visited most of those attractions. Around the other side of the lake are exhibits giving an insight into the culture of countries around the world including, Britain, Algiers, France, Canada, USA, Japan and others. Late afternoon we wandered through some of the "national" areas which are staffed by nationals of the country portrayed. Since it is close to Christmas the USA exhibit includes a massive choir, a moving sight, and we wish we had arrived earlier for a seat. Watched the colourful and athletic parade which happens twice each evening before making our way back to the motel. It was a cool day and an even cooler evening so Linda had to buy a sweatshirt at Disney!
Universal Studios, Orlando - All of us have visited Universal Studios, Los Angeles and thoroughly enjoyed the experience so we wonder can Orlando match it? A beautiful sunny, hot day seems just made for our visit to Universal Studios. Experienced a Tornado, an Earthquake, Back to the Future - Virtual reality ride through a Dinosaurs mouth, meteor infested space, the bowels of the earth and other scary places. Lunched in Universal before visiting the Alfred Hitchcock experience prior to making our way to Orlando airport. After Universal Studio's adventures a mere transatlantic Jet flight will seem tame to Margaret & Jim. We still give the California version more marks but Orlando was very good. After saying goodbye at the airport to Margaret & Jim we head for home - we will miss them!
December: Florida Keys - Key Largo.
Miles travelled this trip:
Total Miles travelled since May 1999: 80,018
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