TC travels, 2014 TR, Pg 904, 2015 TR pg 964

[sleepy]

Table of Contents
Our 2009 travels started here on March 1, 2009
The first pictures appeared at page 15. We couldn't get our data card to work with our new computer.

New Orleans and the Bayou country can be seen here.

Lake Charles, LA, Austin,Tx, and the LBJ Texas White House can be viewed here.

We enjoyed San Angelo TX even though we were sick part of the time... visit it with us here.

Our favorite winter hide-out...Phoenix,AZ and White horse Pass. Here.

Heading north in AZ, Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert Starts here.

Canyon de Chelly has wonderful cliff dwellings and a FREE campground.

Mesa Verde and the Lodge are breath taking in every way.

Sheepcamp, rv.net member, sheep rancher, and wildfire fighter invited us to visit.

Note: If you are scrolling from start to finish you'd see our Hawaii adventure here... I couldn't wait to post. It is really near the end of the thread and near the end of this page where it should be.

We traveled through Monument Valley and on to Page, AZ. after we left Sheepcamp and Cortiz, ColoradoTravel with us here.

We visited the Glen Canyon Dam and traveled to the North Rim of then Grand Canyon

Red Canyon Is a beautiful park on the way into Bryce Canyon.

Bryce Canyon is one of the best parks on the country... unique.

Zion NP is Grand... in scale and views. to '55"

The Reagan Presidental Library. My wife proclaims it to be the best Presidental Library.

Booking our vacation to Hawaii while were in Simi Valley.

Visiting Sacramento , boondocking, the capital, and more.

Golden gate bridge and San Francisco are always special.

Revisited 2007 boondocking visit to San Quentin Prison with Reddog1 and his wife.

At this point we interupted our truck camper travel and vacationed in Hawaii and a cruise of the islands.
Please come with us.

.....Atlantis Submarine... we went down to 127ft for more than 1 hour. Wow!

.....Ship, island travel Neat stuff

.....Movie tour For memories... this is a must.

.....La'ua no trip would be complete with out one.

Back on the mainland and heading home... from San Francisco to Tennessee... through CA, NV, UT, WY, NE, IA, KS, MO, IL, and KY. We posted pictures all along the way... some favorite spots are listed below.

... Following I-80 we stopped at Donner Pass... where a party heading west resorted to canabalism... they ate human tissue to survive...

40 mile desert

Bonneyville Salt Flats

Contintal Divide boondocking and sunsets

Land between the Lakes

We returned home on July 24, 2009
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The 2010 trip started in June. See page 123.

Home to Silversands!

Table of Contents

Page

Table of Contents for 2010

Page

123 Heading North East from TN wirh a stop at Hershey Park

124 A visit with Suds54 and Birthplace of the US Navy

125 Vermont

126 US/Canada border crossing, to visit Silversands and Dunes

130 Canada/US border crossing, southern Maine woods, Sarampus

134 Sugar Loaf Ski area

136 Baxter State Park south western area

140 my visit to the now closed Loring Air Force Base

147 Long Lake, Sinclair, Maine

149 Long Lake Lodge, site of the USAF Recreation Center 50 years ago

150 a photo tour of the inside of Long Lake Lodge and the Cabins

154 The fort at Fort Kent, Me

157 Loring Military Heritage Center (Museum)

160 US/Canada border crossing, Limestone, Me to New Brunswick

163 Grand Falls, New Brunswick

167 Saint Quentin, NB

170 Boondocking in the dense woods of northern NB

173 a visit to Campbellton, NB

177 a visit to Bathurst, NB... concert

179 Acadian Peninsula... Grande Anse Light House, Sea cliffs, historic village

187 the bridge at Miramichi, NB... we are just passing through

189 visit to home made camper

191 the bridge to Prince Edward Island

195 a visit with the Jhawk's, touring, sail boat, and Windows on the Water

205 Sally's Beach Provential Park

207 Ship Wreck Point Light House, Naufrage Harbor, Boondocking

217 Cape Egmont Light House, Harbor, boondocking

228 Bridge to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia

237 Arisaig Light House

239 Face in Rock

241 241 Cape George Point Light House

245 Cape Breto Island, canso causeway

251 Louisbourg

254 Louisbourg Light House

262 Marconi Trail

264 beach

269 Boondocking Sydney, NS

274 Broad Cove Camp Ground, Cape Breton Highlands NP

282 Bay St Lawrence

288 Skiline Trail, boondock

291 Chetticamp, NS

294 baddeck, Alexander G Bell museum

298 passing through Antigonish

302 Special boondock



We are on the road again after a year sidelined for doctors. They went to a convention or something, we escaped.

We left through Level Pebble (Flat Rock, AL) and have made it as far as the BassPro shop in Plattsburg, AL.

Hope to get to Mobile or even Biloxi, MS tomorrow. I was stationed in Biloxi at Kessler AFB 51 years ago.

We'll be heading west from there... california in a couple of months... home in August
We hope to see some of you over the next 5 months.

Don't tell anyone where we are:W

Started this thread at 707 nights... todays subject edit on July 24, 2009
adding more and more pictures finally.

To find your way in this post you might like a table of contents... me too!

After you click on a link you can scroll up and down... or go to "prev" or "next" at the top or botton of the page.

Follow our 2009 truck camper travels over a total of 141 nights ...out of the 848 nights that we have traveled in the last 6 years

================================================================
Inquirees have made me think a bit...

and to share 2012 SPRING LOOP

the general plan... miss the tornados.... be home before the first of June

We are heading south thru Jimmy Carter country to Tallassee... and he coast... getting away from the middle America E/W interstates and the tornado alleys.

We'll be heading west and then down toward Brownsville... then follow the border to NM... North as far as rocky Mtn NP and then head east thru Nashville toward the end of May... we have never been inside the State Capital.

I'll be posting some as we go...

PS... the camperport did great in the storms, no damage that I can see... best $3500 I spent last year. I highly recommend it.

Chet and Janet

[silversand]

We have one of the old grandfathered unlimited verizon plans which we use as our primary internet, on average we consume between 30-40 gigs a month with regular use of Netflix, Vudu, and Hulu.

....Matt: you guys are just watching too much TV man :B

[sleepy]

Well, Brownsville is very nice... a lot of Winter Texans are still here (most came down in October) but most will leave in the next few weeks.

We went to South Padre Island yesterday... we went north on the island to the end of the Park road... there was a lot of loose sand blown over areas of the road.

I found an area where there had been a building... after a very bad storm or hurricane the only thing left was z shaped short driveway... with a nice beech overlook... got hung up briefly in some of the sand... but finally backed into position for a view from the slide.

Being Good Thursday we knew that the weekend would start later in the afternoon... since i am no longer "child proof, idiot proof, boom box proof, etc" we decided not to stay and headed bak to Brownsville.

With one stop on the way off the island. The whole south end of the island is a County Park with 1500 or 2000 RV's... for us it meant opportunity.

To dump tanks and take on potable water... it was a couple of days early but "it's better to be tank safe during a Holiday weekend" It cost us $5 for a day pass... and instructions where the primitave dump station was located.

The beaches were all beautiful... but had sea grass blown over sections,

The area between the sand dunes and the County Park is much like any other tourist nightmare... people staying in Condos, hotels, etc and standing in line for 2 hours for cheap pancakes.

Good news for you... Janet filled a memory card with pictures... bad news for me... processing them.

Have a good Easter Holiday

Sleepy and Janet

[sleepy]

Just to touch base...

We enjoyed the Beach but we decided to head further south... we'll let the heat of spring push us back north.

We stopped breifly in Lake Jackson to reconnect with a friend from the 1990's. Frank had one of the nicest titles that I ever ran accross... he was the "Director of Discovery Development" for Dow Chemical... he was their Research Director. Big job for a regular guy... Dow had 77,000 employees. We made plans for our trip north.

Then on to Port Lavaca... NICE! when we get the pictures going you'll like this area. WE also visited Port O'Conner hile there. WE had some exteme winds and rain for a couple of days and the temps dropped from 84°F to 42°F... cause for mor snuggling. :B

I always dreamed about eating at a place called Bubba's... there was no place to eat in Port O'Conner that interested us so we extended our loop to include Seadrift, TX... Bubba's Cajun Style Steak and Seafood. Let me tell you... it ws good!

WE are now in Brownsville, TX... I imagine we'll cross the border... we have our passports.

More later

Sleepy and Janet

BTW... I think thatt you'll enjoy the full reportwhen I get to it.

[SpknTC]

Too bad you couldn't hook up with A.M. maybe next time around. Good chat with you and I'll keep you posted on solar.
Tell Janet enjoy the sunshine!!

[sleepy]

We decided to go south... jammin arranged for attachaffla man to contact me.

We drove due south on highways 14 and 27 to the Gulf. We stopped at the Cameron Prairie National wildlife Refuge

We then headed for Texas after crossinga ferry. We entered at Port Arthur.

Yesterday we followed the coast... crossing another ferry to Galviston where we reprovisioned.

We boondocked on the beach at Surfside just north of Freeport... nice... no one

else within within 5 miles.... liked it so well that we are still here

The beach is beautiful, the temps are great, the books are good, the beach is easy walking... migritory birds are flying

Good trip... pictures are great...

Sleepy

[Camper_Jeff___K]

We have ATT with 10 gig shared and includes texting for 130.00 a month. Service has been pretty reliable. Still a lot of money a month. You have to buy a phone with this plan no freebies.

[JoeChiOhki]

silversand wrote:
....mobile internet:

Doesn't Millenicom have a 4G "hotspot plan" on Verizon with 20GB/mo for the $89 range (this is the unthrottled high-speed LTE data). ? This plan used to be $69/mo, recently increased...

Yeah, that's the only one left. The Bring your own device plan and Unlimited data plans were both discontinued.

We have one of the old grandfathered unlimited verizon plans which we use as our primary internet, on average we consume between 30-40 gigs a month with regular use of Netflix, Vudu, and Hulu.

[JumboJet]

sleepy wrote:
We didn't do the gambling stuff... don't know how.

Sleepy

They will be glad to teach you, or you could just go ahead and hand them your money and say thanks!

When I look at a Casino/Hotel, I always say to myself - "They didn't build this with my winnings".

[silversand]

....on the road, we often (if interesting meteorological phenomena are imminent) use an analytical software (McIDAS-), and draw satellite and radar data (ingesting real-time satellite/radar) from myriad open ADDE etc servers (I always like to see my radar sweep view displayed in 3D), and can chew up 2 gigabytes of bandwidth A DAY. This requires a full unrestricted bandwidth Internet access difficult to find "on the road"...

[silversand]

....mobile internet:

Doesn't Millenicom have a 4G "hotspot plan" on Verizon with 20GB/mo for the $89 range (this is the unthrottled high-speed LTE data). ? This plan used to be $69/mo, recently increased...

[rmarshall]

jamminalong wrote:

sleepy wrote:


Getting pictures downloaded to Photo Bucket has been a pain... more bandwidth than I want to use on our MiFi... If I don't get a better deal from Verizon I'll be switching... the end of April our contract is up.

Thanks for viewing our pages, and for your comments, PM's, and EMails

Sleepy

Curious which way you plan to go?

We have verizon mifi also (through our son's acct.) but I don't like the data limit or having it sit for 6 months while the TC is in hibernation. Our cell phone is through T-mobile which gets better reception at our house vs verizon which is more important and overrides switching accts. However, out camping our T-mobile didn't work and this is what caused us to get the verizon mifi. Gosh I hate paying for this stuff!

Ditto here!!! I like the way my Verizon MiFi works and it is great in the TC almost anywhere, but 5GB/month is very inadequate. If anyone finds a better solution that costs around $5o/month please report it in this thread. Verizon is cramping my style badly - especially with even small videos. I need something better!!!

[SpknTC]

sleepy wrote:


Getting pictures downloaded to Photo Bucket has been a pain... more bandwidth than I want to use on our MiFi... If I don't get a better deal from Verizon I'll be switching... the end of April our contract is up.

Thanks for viewing our pages, and for your comments, PM's, and EMails

Sleepy

Curious which way you plan to go?

We have verizon mifi also (through our son's acct.) but I don't like the data limit or having it sit for 6 months while the TC is in hibernation. Our cell phone is through T-mobile which gets better reception at our house vs verizon which is more important and overrides switching accts. However, out camping our T-mobile didn't work and this is what caused us to get the verizon mifi. Gosh I hate paying for this stuff!

[sleepy]

We've been preparing to explore the areas a little further away... (yep, moving on to somewhere)

... laying in groceries, household products, last meals at favorite resturants (for a little while anyway) We just returned from Steamboat Bills...

Today we bought fuel for our truck at Murphy's (Walmart)$3.579/gallon for diesel at the Nelson Road, Lake Charles store.

We visited the L Arberge Casino... dumped tanks, filled water tank. We then actually went into the Casino and Hotel.... very nice. No tobacco smoke, very clean, and modern. We didn't do the gambling stuff... don't know how.

We are presently along the lake for what is probably our last night here for awhile.

Silver... it has been cold at night... 54°F last night... 82°F today. We are wearing out the PlatCat vented catalytic heater. I'm much too old to snuggle everynight!

Getting pictures downloaded to Photo Bucket has been a pain... more bandwidth than I want to use on our MiFi... If I don't get a better deal from Verizon I'll be switching... the end of April our contract is up.

Thanks for viewing our pages, and for your comments, PM's, and EMails

Sleepy

[silversand]

....I looked up the casino, and the L'Auberge Casino Resort is the second largest employer in the Lake Charles area...interesting.

Enjoy the humidity and generally nice weather there! It has been snowing on and off all day here.

[sleepy]

1stgenfarmboy wrote:


hope you don't mind "barging" in to your report Mr. Chet, but we pulled in to St Albans on your advice and was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was, we had a nice walk down the river and a nice nights stay, thanks again and we will be there again on our next trip east.

We are proud that you looked for and shared our wonderful night camp at the St Albans, WV "Road Side Park"... especially at the location near the boat launch about half way between highway traffic along US-60 and the barge traffic.

It makes me feel like I have been of service.

Last night we moved to the quietest place in town... The Walmart on Nelson Road and the I-10 By-Pass.

The local youth take over the Lakeside area on the weekends... motor cycles, noisy little cars, and 1/2 ton grocery getter trucks disguised as diesels (over sized exhaust pipe extensions)

There is the beautiful "L Auberge Casino Resort Park" about a 1/4 mile north of us.

We don't gamble or care for trailer parks but we have enjoyed their dumpstation and fresh water supply.

Best of all ... tonight we have a neighbor... I woke up at about 11:30 PM... looked out the window to see a nice looking Apache Truck Camper... I have no idea who... I'd hoped they would still around when we get up in the morning

Yesterday we bought propane... by the gallon... accurate weight at a U-Haul dealer: Guy Lohr, 1011 Hwy 14, Lake Charles, LA 70601 (332-436-5014)... why do I include the who? We seem to find a lot of places that don't give you credit for any propane still in your tanks.

And, I overrode Janets objection and had our laundry done... it worked out great. We have been walking the Lake front trails for exercise... been very busy... and we get pretty tired. The only way it could have worked any better is if we had got them to put them in the storage cabinates and closets.

We ate at "Steam Boat Bills" again yeaterday... OMG, they are good... they are the main reason for all of the exercising. I had a Po Boy crawdad sandwich and a cup of Crawfish Ettouffee.

We are living in the lap of luxury.... Creole and Cajun that is.

We hope that all of you are having a great weekend.

Sleepy