BIG Problem and a Lesson Learned

On Sunday morning we awoke to a big problem . . . our awning was sagging under the weight of hundreds of gallons of water. We'd noticed that the bathroom door was swinging open but didn't realize it was because the entire RV was listing to starboard under the awning's weight.

What to do? I could barely squeeze out the door---the drooping awning was blocking the way. Once out, I pushed upward underneath the awning, but it was so heavy I couln't lift it. Only a few gallons spilled over the edge. I did this several times, then had Gene hand me a plastic bowl. Standing on top of the picnic table, I was able to bail a few more gallons out.

Finally, Gene squeezed his way out the door, released the side pole holding up the right side of the awning, and all the water came down in a deluge . . . and Gene landed on his butt in a pool of muddy water! We didn't laugh at the time.

Anyway, we've learned a valuable lesson in physics: always have one corner of the awning much lower for drainage purposes. Duh!?

PS: The awning has dried out and shrunk back to its original form, and nothing and nobody was bent or broken.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

This 520,000 sq. mile national park is the most visited park in the USA . . . yet there were vacancies in the RV park and tent campground. The park straddles the Great Smoky Mountains between North Carolina and Tennessee. Park land was purchased from private parties with a $5 million donation from the Rockefellers and $7 million from the people of TV and SC. Its old growth hemlock, oak and pine forests are now protected for all to enjoy. This time of year, the rhododendron are in bloom on hillsides and creek bands. The sight is just beautiful. It's also the month of the heavies rainfall, and we've had thunderstorms every afternoon.

One of the park's goals is to preserve the log buildings and Appalachian culture of the area. At 7 pm on Friday, one of the rangers gave a tolk on story telling. She wove a tall tale and got many of the younger campers involved in playing roles. The next night was music night and we gathered in front of a small stage and tapped our toes to banjo, mandolin, bass and guitar music. The six piece "Apalachian Bluegrass" played and sang for 1-1/2 hours, just before the sky opened up. It poured most of the night (see the next story).

We've driven part of the Blue Ridge Parkway and are now in Gatlinburg on the northern boundary of the park and close to Dollywood. Saw a farm in the backwood that was in use from 1883 to 1925. The chestnut wood log cabin and barn are still standing.

We leave on Wednesday for one night in a Kentucky state park and then on the John and Beth Crabb's home in Ohio for a 4th of July celebration.

From the Sea to the Mountains

Being close to the Atlantic Ocean was a treat. There are flocks of shorebirds flying overhead, miles of grassy marshes, creeks and dunes, and quaint villages of antebellum houses. But, it was getting hotter and muggier by the day . . . so we headed up the coast and inland to northwestern South Carolina and the home of Ruth and Eugene Crabb, Gene's father's cousin. They live in Inman, near Spartanburg, on several acres of land once farmed but now a manicured lawn abundant with trees.

The Crabbs are in their 80's (Eugene is 89). They divide their year between Delray Beach, FL and the farm. There are three houses on the far: the "big house" built in the 1880's which is reserved for guests; a small house they rent out; and their own one-bedroom cottage with screened in porch overlooking a pond and golf course next door. Ruth used to tend the garden, but they now hire a man to cut the lawn and trim the trees. There are apple, pear, peach, fig and lovely shade trees all around! Paula and David would love it here.

Eurgene drove us into Spartanburg (yes, he still drives quite competently), for a tour of Converse College where he once served as dean of the music dept. All of Eugene's siblings played musical instruments in their family band. His granddaughter, Susan, now assistant athletic director at Converse, greeted us at the gymn. Converse is a college for women, and Spartanburg and nearby Greensville each have serveral colleges, some with religious affiliations.

We had a great visit . . . the Genes told family stories and brought each other up to date, I gathered info for the Crabb family tree, and Ruth made homemade peach icecream. We departed feeling very welcomed and wanting to return one day.

Kings Bay and the Georgia Coast

We are now at the US Navy Submarine Base in Kings Bay, GA, at a very nice RV park surrounded by pine trees, ponds and swamp. There are lots of shore birds here, and we've seen flocks of ibis, tricolored herons, little blue herons and egrets passing overhead. Wood storks can be seen in the afternoon riding the thermals with the turkey vultures. Pretty neat.

Everything here is steeped in history. Old St. Mary's on the St. Mary's river is the launching spot for boats going to Cumberland Island Nat'l Seashore. This is an island once frequented by the wealthy, and there are ruins of mansions that the park service will walk you through. Wild horses run up and down the beach and the entire island is a preserve. John F. Kennedy, Jr. was married at a small chapel on this island.

Last week we drove down to St. Augustine, found The Fountain of Youth (a spring and historic site), had lunch at an open air treetop restaurant with a cool breeze blowing, and tried to tour the old fort on the waterfront. But it started to rain and there were a few lightning strikes, so the park service closed it up. St. Augustine is where the Spanish set up their first colony.

Patti Pratley and Tom Regan are now in Brunswick, GA with Tom's boat where they will leave it for the summer. We drove up there yesterday and they joined us for a tour of Jekyll and St. Simons Islands . . . also old, old, old buildings, plantation ruins, all amid live oaks dripping with Spanish moss. We tried to have a drink at an exclusive resort, but they wouldn't let us in! Still quite an exclusive tourist area. We did get into the Sea Turtle Preservation Center and learned all about several species of turtles. They perform surgery on the critters here and rehab them in tanks for all to see.

Tomorrow we leave for northern South Carolina (Spartanburg) to visit Eugene Crabb, a cousin of Gene's dad. They live up in the mountains where we hope it will be cooler. Then it's off to Great Smoky Nat'l Park for five nights before heading to Ohio for the 4th of July with John Crabb, Gene's son.

Attached are photos of Patti and Tom, the fort at St. Augustine and the Fountain of Youth entrance. Hope all is well with family and friends.

A Few Favorite Photos from Trip to Spain

Home Sweet Motorhome

We left Rota, Spain, last Friday morning and arrived in Dover, Delaware, that afternoon. Spent one night on the road and are now in Charleston, SC, in our "home sweet motorhome". It's good to be in our own bed again!

We had planned to do a little sightseeing on the way south, but the Dismal Swamp was burning and there was heavy smoke all through Virginia. The Outer Banks will have to be seen on another trip. We were able to stop and see the Wright Brothers National Monument in Kitty Hawk, NC. We stood on the very hill from which they launched the first manned, controlled air flight. The above photo is the life-size bronze dedicated on the 100th anniversary of the flight.

Charleston is a beautiful city with many historic buildings. The city is on a peninsula between two rivers that empty into the Atlantic. Yesterday, we drove to the Magnolia Plantation, which was disappointing. There were beautiful gardenia bushes, but most of the flowers had been ravaged by the heat. It is hot and humid here!

Tomorrow we head south to meet up with Patti Pratley and Tom who are bringing their sailboat up from Jacksonville, FL, to Brunswick, GA for the summer. We'll stay at Kings Bay where we were in May.

We're Now in Rota and Heading Home

We drove from Torremolinos to Rota. Left about 3 am. There are two flights out about 9 am and we will most likely be on one of them.

Forgot to mention that there is a Picasso museum in Malaga where he was born. Got to tour that this week. The museum is in a restored building and the basement is an archeological site with Phoenician and Roman ruins. It was very interesting.

Top Ten Reasons to Visit Spain

10. 10,000 years of Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Moors, Jews and Christians can't all be wrong.

9. Picasso, Guadi, El Greco, Cervantes

8. Wine is cheaper than bottled water.

7. Fantastic roads, roundabouts, autovias . . . Louisianna should take some notes

6. Tapas, Sangria, Paella, Seafood, Tropical Fruit

5. There's a castle on every hilltop . . . sometimes even a windmill

4. Flamenco, tango, pasodoble

3. Sometime you get to (have to) drive down a walking street

2. Bathing suits are optional!

AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON

1. Portugal's right next door.

Lost in Granada

Gene stayed at the beach while I took a tour bus to Granada. I didn't want to miss seeing the Alhambra. It's about a 1-1/2 hour drive to Granada.

The first part of the day was a walking tour around the historic part of the city. The guide spoke four languages . . . English, French, Spanish and German. After the first stop on the tour, he told the English speakers to go on ahead and wait at the next corner. I took off, waited a few minutes, took a few pictures and never the the group again. I tried. I returned back one block, walked ahead, followed another group by mistake. Panic set in. Once I realized I was forever separated from the group (until our lunch rendezvous at 2:00), I decided to make the most of it. I pulled out my Rick Steve's book on Spain (thank you Francesca) and followed his own walking tour of Granada.

I found the Cathedral and paid my entrance fee to the Royal Chapel. This is where Ferdinand and Isabella are buried. This royal couple was responsible for uniting Spain and evicting the Moors after 800 years of occupancy. Isabella was a devout Catholic, and the treasury was filled with religious paintings (Boticelli), as well as her glass encased silver crown and septer and Ferdinan's sword. A silver box, the one she filled with jewels and gave to Columbus to pay for his voyages, was also on display. Best of all, were the tombs, carved in white Italian marbel (using their death masks for a true likeness) and placed right in front of the altar. The actual caskets with their bodies were down one flight of stairs beneath the tombs for all to see.

After leaving the chapel, I happened upon a spice market where two nuns were making purchases, shops selling silk, gypsies wanting to tell my fortune (no, gracias) and finally found my way back to the hotel for lunch. No one even missed me.

Next, the bus dropped us off at the Alhambra, the settlement vacated when the Moorish king handed the keys to the city to King Ferdinand. The city is a maze of sculpted gardens, flowers, fountains and buildings with ornate Islamic carvings and intricated wood ceilings. One problem . . . in order to see it all you have to hike up and down hills and steps. By the time our guide (I didn't lose sight of him) was done, we were all exhausted and ready to collapse ont he bus.

Today (Thurs) we are relaxing, staying close to the hotel and checking on flights home. There are two to Dover from Rota tomorrow. With luck, we'll be on one.

The Real Spain

Wanting one more mountain experience, we drove away from the coast toward Granada, then east into the mountains on a steep, curvy road. The sheer cliffs and cactus reminded me of Arizona. The town we were aiming for, Lanjaron, is an old village of narrow streets perched on the side of the mountain. The town is the gateway to La Alpujarra and the Parque Natural de Sierra Nevada. The view from a city plaza, with a castle in the foreground, was breathtaking.

The hotel we selected, El Hotel Espana, is a grand old hotel built in 1917. According to their spanish language brochure, it has been visited by actors, artists, poets and bullfighters. There are pictures in the bar as proof. The hotel is filled with antiques, including an old radio and an RCA victrola. We had a two-chandelier bedroom overlooking the steps leading to the pool. Lots of roses, bougenvillea and greenery, too. We had a lunch on the front veranda, the ¨menu del dia¨ and watched as a bus unloaded a group of bicylists who were making their way thru the mountains.

The most fun came that night. We took a long nap so we could stay up for the 10 pm ¨baille¨or dance at a hotel down the street. The poster advertised a singer, keyboard player and tango music. When we arrived the ballroom was empty. Slowly couples began arriving, all ¨mature¨, none under 60 years of age. There were about 14 people all together, and the couples danced every single tango. Then they began line dancing, something like our Texas line dancing, to tango music. The ¨paloma blanca¨ or white dove seemed to be their favorite. They were truly enjoying themselves and each partner seemed to know each others moves precisely as they gazed into each others eyes. FUN!!!

We are now in Torremolinos planning our strategy for the next few days. Granada, maybe Gibraltar, more seafood, then back to Rota for the flight home:(

Vacationing in Spain

We left Sitges and headed southwest along the coast of Spain in search of a quiet fishing village. We picked Pensacola for two reasons. First, it was a small dot on the map at the end of a road on a point of land jutting into the sea, and second, because of its name . . . we´d been to Pensacola, FL. Good logic.

What we found was not small. The rocky promentory was topped with a Moorish castle and walled village of white washed houses. Stretching in a curve for 8 kilometers was a beautiful, sandy beach lined with highrise apartments and hotels . . . mostly empty. It was not yet the high season and we had our choice of rooms. We picked a small hotel with 7 floors and only 40 rooms. Our 6th floor, newly remodeled room was just 25 euros each per night, including breakfast. We stayed three days.

We awoke the first morning to a spectacular sunrise or, according to my pocket translater, ¨salida del sol¨ or ¨walk-in the sun¨. As the sun slowly reddened the sky, we could see a fleet of 18-20 fishing boats parading out to sea from their snug harbor about 5 kilometers away and hear the almost inaudible droan of their engines. What a sight (exclamation point---which I can´t find on this machine).

It reminded me of the sunrise we saw on Jan. 1, 2001, as we left Avalon on Liberty Call to head back to Dana Point from Catalina Island. Gene´s granddaughter, Crystal, propped herself in front of the mast, snuggled down into her sleeping bag and waited for the sun to come up. She didn´t want to miss it. Crystal had her own ¨salida del sol¨ this past May when her daughter Addison made her grand entrance into this world. We can´t wait to see them when we are in Nebraska in late July.

The next night was a stop in a beach town, Miramar, where it was raining, then on to Roquetas del Mar in a highrise apartment on the beach overlooking the Mediterranean. By the way, swim suits are optional all along this coast. It´s been interesting watching people ¨people watching¨.

We drove thru Valencia, which, of course, is a mass of orange groves. Then we started seeing hydroponic, white plastic covered greenhouses . . . about a hundred miles of them, erected between the sea and the mountains. They call this the vegetable gardens of Europe.

Barcelona

Our big adventure into the city began at the train station in Sitges, a 4 or 5 block walk from the hotel. It´s a 40 minute ride into the center of the city. The line for Casa Mila, a Gaudi creation, was 30 min. long, so we hopped on the Turista Bus, plugged in our earphones and started our English language trip through the city. Picked out the areas we wanted to explore on foot . . . Gene wanted to see the Maritime Museum and my choice was the Parc Gruell.

Our bus took us from the city center, over to the Olympic Stadium (1992) and down to the harbor. Here we hopped off to see the museum. The two most interesting features were the submarines (of course) built in the 1859-1875 era. Both were made of wood, had little portholes and only carried a few men. They looked like elongated footballs. The museum also had a huge oar powered barge over 200´long, highly decorated with gilt and carvings.

After changing busses downtown to the red line (there are three different circuits included in your ticket) we headed uphill to Parc Gruell. Barcelona stretches out from the sea up to the surrounding mountains and the park sits in the foothills. Gaudi created this Alice in Wonderland vision over 100 years ago. It´s hard to describe except to say there are ceramic tiled creatures and creations everywhere. Dragons, columns, entry houses with tile roofs, stairways, benches, etc., etc. I wonder if Tracy, who did the tiled wall in our backyard, has seen it in person. It makes our wall seem only a ¨little Gaudi¨. Another beautiful Gaudi creations, that is still under construction, is the Sangrada Familia church with many spires strething skyward, and ultra modern sculptures. This church I can´t described but will try to post photos when I get home.

After completing the bus ride and finding our way to the train station, we joined the crowd of workers heading home. It was standing room only on the train back to Sitges.

Today is Tuesday and we will stop being turistas for awhile and become vacationers, finding a place to stay and relax in the sun for a few days as we wind our way back down the coast toward Malaga and Torremolinos.

Sitges, Spain

Arrived at this resort area on the Mediterranean Sea on Sunday. The town is 90% residential and 10% restaurants and shops, with narrow, one-way streets, three-story condos and hotels shoulder to shoulder . . . and no place to park. We found a garage and wheeled our luggage one block to our hotel. We´ve had great hotel rooms so far, but this one was so-so. On the plus side, it had a cute balcony overlooking the street and included breakfast in a sunny salon. On the negative side, you knew what time the bars closed (3 am) by the boisterous drinkers heading home. I dug out my military issued earplugs from the flight over. Your tax dollars at work!

On Sunday we explored the beachfront, a long passeo or walkway along the waterfront, and the old town, with even narrower streets and medieval fascades. On the beach, a group of vagabonds had created a life size sand sculpture of the "Last Supper" and were accepting tips. One of the apostles donned a suit and tie. Discovered a creperie for a late snack.

The Man of La Mancha

Friday. We drove to Consuegra, state of La Mancha, and saw 11 of 13 original windmills. This is the country Cervantes had in mind when he wrote of Don Quixote in the early 17th century. Next to the windmills was a 12th century castle, now under restoration. Climbed in and around many of the rooms, down through a tower with three round floors and narrow, winding steps. A group of school children (1st and 2nd graders) were visiting the windmills at the same time. Their teachers were dressed in mideival costumes, like Merlin and a maiden. It was fun!

Saturday. We left Toledo and our country inn and drove around Madrid (we´ll save it for a separate trip) to the Valley of the Fallen, a basilica built into the side of a mountain to honor the 200,000 killed during the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939. The basilica sits high up in the mountains in a beautiful forest. A granite cross tops a hill, and beneath it is the basilica. In 1940, Franco had prisoners dig 220,000 tons of granite from this mountain and they used this granite to build the cross. The cross can be seen for miles away. We saw it through mist and fog, as it was raining the day we drove up there. The basilica is a tunnel 300 yards long and is pretty awesome. Granite carvings line the enormous hall, an arched tunnel. Mass was underway when we arrived, so the altar area was closed off to tourists. Franco was buried here in 1975, after his long fascist reign over Spain. 50,000 others are entombed here as well.

On to Segovia, a world heritage site, where we viewed the Roman aquaduct, 100 feet high and 2500 feet long. Had lunch at Meson de Candido, and we were welcomed and had photos taken with the owner. What a showman! There are photos here of heads of state (Carter, Juan Carlos, etc.) Watched Candido give a toast, cut a roast suckling pig with the edge of a plate and then smash the plate on the stone floor. More fun!

We are now in Sitges, Spain. Kathy will know this as where Jose from Fifth Ave. Travel owns a condo. Will tell about it in our next blog. Tomorrow . . . Barcelona!