"BREATHING THAT CLEAN FINE SOUTHERN AIR..."

Wow - lots of driving these days. I am almost back in Massachusetts. I am with friends in Lancaster, PA taking a day's rest before once again doing a long drive. This will be one of the longest so I will need to take many breaks to stretch my legs and refocus my eyes and mind.

Picking up where I left off which was... the Florida Panhandle. I drove up through Alabama to Georgia making a point of stopping in Seale. I was hoping to meet Butch Anthony, outsider Junk artist but he was out of town. I did however speak at length with his dad and wander around two of Butch's creation properties. (The bottom photo is his Drive-Thru Museum.)

In Georgia I stayed two nights on a farm with couchsurfing hosts Alan and Lisa. Lisa and I had girl time as she drove me around the area checking out Callaway Gardens and antique shops. Both her and Alan are talented artists. They also are critter loving souls with a couple of pigs, goats, a funny cow and a pond where they are making special floating platforms for the visiting geese to lay their eggs safe from the area predators. What a lovely stay I had there!

Next stop Hendersonville, NC just outside of Asheville. I had long wanted to check out Asheville and I did so on my own. I don't have many photos but Chris (dad) of the Swain Family shot this one before bedtime. He has a couchsurfer photo collection. Every surfer (I think I was #22) enters into a
family portrait. I love this family!

Where next? Blacksburg, VA home of Virginia Tech and temp home of rain. Ok - not so many photos but this one is fun. This is my host Jane and one of her beloved dogs. It isn't easy taking a nap there.

And now I am in Lancaster with friends. So my course on this end of the trip has been drive all day, sleep and take a day to explore then up and do it again. Ya - I am pretty tired yet I am still online today writing this and setting up trail walks for my MEETUP group for when I get back to MA.






Will there be one more post? Yup - but not until I take a breather and unpack on familiar soil.

For now adieu to you.
And another Livingston Taylor song...
Hasta proxima.

"CRASH ON THE LEVEE, MAMA..."

Oh I am going to race through this post. I want to get to bed early so that I can go on another adventure. This time "Up the Country" from the Florida panhandle and into Alabama and then landing on a Georgia farm. Say what? What happened to Texas Patt?

YOU AIN"T GOIN' NOWHERE SON. THAT ROAD IS CLOSED.

Well, after a few days of rain - and I mean RAIN in San Antonio I went up near to Austin to an old town by the name of Bastrop. I had a great stay with a host couple and their 15 year old daughter. I never did get into Austin and was lucky to get to Bastrop as the rains and flash floods were something not to mess with at all. The entrances to the highways were blocked by police just trying to get out of San Antonio not to mention those poor people that died in Houston. When it comes to weather just know and accept Mother Nature has total control so be smart, cautious, patient and flexible.

Jullia, Tom and Abby really were great. Julia toured me around the day I arrived and the next day when everyone was busy with their lives I explored  Bastrop's streets and art scene including the foundry. Here are some pics.

During a dry moment I headed down and over to, and right on through Houston staying on the interstate the entire way. It was a long drive to north of Baton Rouge. I was heading to hosts with a home that they call Serenity Cottage. Some cottage! It has several huge rooms. I had the great privilege to be assigned to the SUNRISE ROOM.

The lads were WONDERFUL and so much fun. And so were their friends and all the critters. Brett and Darin AIRBnB out a couple of the bedrooms. Luckily (for me) no one booked the SUNRISE ROOM.

Now... let's talk about southern hospitality and LOUISIANA COOKIN'. Heaven - this must be heaven, except for my ever expanding waistline that is. GUMBO with Slap Ya Mama, craw-fish and crab pie and oh... add some cream and get cha self some pasta. And then there were those perfect half fried half poached eggs in the morning. I had to get out of there before I grew out of all my clothes. I HAD A BLAST. I wanted to hug all of them forever. If you need a place to stay in Louisiana you can find them on AIRBnB.

After Slaughter, LA I drove to New Orleans and that is another story. My friend Linda's niece heard that I needed a place and had pity on me having camped in Texas in a wind storm. She had points for hotels and booked me a hotel room. When I got the email confirmation of a comped room my mouth dropped open. The room was in the WESTIN by the French Quarter. REALLY? And when I checked in they upgraded me for no apparent reason to a river view. THANK YOU ANGELS. This was more than perfect as what I wanted to do in town was to see my friend Angela who I know from Buenos Aires. Her apartment is n the French Quarter. She gave me a lovely late afternoon tour of the area and it was fantastic to catch up on things.

THANK YOU BETHANY!!!!!!

The next day was another drive this time to the Florida panhandle where I am now typing as fast as I can. I have been staying with Joe and he too cooked for me. He is a master of smokers and he had a beef brisket waiting for me when I arrived. I don't want to take a full length photo or get on a scale for quite awhile. Tonight we went out for sushi, then pecan pie and ice cream. I AM NO LONGER TRAVELING LIGHT!

On that note I must get to sleep. I have to because all the blood from my brain has been diverted to my digestive system. I have no more cerebral power. I am done.

ABRUPT BUT NECESSARY... Here's some Dylan and THE BAND for your listening pleasure...

Crash on the levee, mama, water's gonna overflow...

“I'M GOING TO SOME PLACE WHERE I'VE NEVER BEEN BEFORE...”

San Diego – Yuma – Tucson – Bisbee – Las Cruces – Ft Stockton - San Antonio

I am sitting here in a house in San Antonio while my host and Pao from Ecuador go shopping at the Central Market. It is raining. I have had so little time alone to get a blog post written so I am rushing through this before time gets away from me and people return to the house. To recap from my last post...

I was in San Diego for two nights sleeping on a sofa in a house not too far from SDSU. I was near El Cajon Blvd which is not a great spot at all. It was my last taste of San Diego so maybe that was good. While other areas could romance me back this area was full of pawn shops, tattoo places, closed stores, and check cashing services. Uck! The rains came and I hightailed it out of there and headed to Yuma for one night. Bye Bye California.

YES IT IS A SAM ADAMS IN YUMA - THEY GET AROUND LIKE ME

I had a great host in Yuma, Dawn. I texted her when I got to town and she texted back to meet her at a golf course bar. Oh my. After a beer she got me settled at her house and then we went to a friend's birthday party at the foothills. I was fuzzy the next morning. I laughingly accused her of plying me with wine to keep me there. She so wanted me to stay the weekend for a festival on Saturday and for Sunday boating but I simply had to decline. I had made plans to be in Tucson with my former expat friends Linda and Joe. I don't have many photos from that stop which is a pity. Earlier in this trip Linda and Joe were living in Prescott and I shot some pics then but for some reason not this time. Perhaps because it was only a two night stay. They seem very happy in their new city. It was fun seeing one another again. We bored pup Supo the first night with all our talking. She went to bed early.

From Tucson, still trying to keep ahead of the rain I drove to Bisbee. Now I have plenty of photos for you. My host Darrell was a true kindred spirit and into so many of the things that I am. I found myself having a thought and then he would say out loud something about the topic. We had an awesome non-stop visit. I wanted to see the Art of Bisbee and we sure did. We went all over town and more. The second day we explored the natural areas around Bisbee. He is an active environmentalist and along with a small team have made a study aimed to save some wild areas threatened by development. I went to view those spots and wow, it would be such a shame if bulldozers came in and reshaped the washes. I am sending his team great energy and hope.

 +++

Ok what happened next? A long drive. Yikes I have been putting in long drives lately. Arizona and Texas together seem so longggggg. I start to get fuzzy and spacey after five hours so I have to break driving up and find a place to sleep. I stopped and couch surfed one night in Las Cruces. I arrived late afternoon to Brian's then his roommate Cesar and I sat around the kitchen table looking at photos and sharing stories until midnight. The next morning I got up, routed myself through El Paso and stopped to photograph Casa de Azucar, Sugar House is a labor of love by artist Rufino Loya Rivas for his wife. It is not made of sugar. It is made of cement and modeled after confections and churches he saw as a youth in Mexico. He lives there and I got a chance to chat with him before getting back on the highway.

After my quick stop in El Paso I drove and drove and drove to Fort Stockton where I had reserved a tent campsite in a RV park. Have you ever tried to pitch a tent in a Texas field in high winds? I decided to use my 30 second pop-up dome tent. 30 seconds - haaaaa - try an hour. Yes 30 seconds is true. I have done it before but not in 20 mile per hour winds. Thank goodness I have perseverance and Yankee ingenuity and several bungee cords of various sizes. It was a windy crazy night. I didn't get that much sleep. I was warm enough and the ground stayed still but the dome tent had a whole lot of noisy shaking going on. Weeeeee!

Up early and "on the road again" this time to San Antonio where I sit now catching up. I am tired. These last few drive days have been very tiring and as of this writing I am without a place to sleep on Monday night when I leave San Antonio. I didn't have the time before these moments to read references and make couch requests. I have sent a couple out for Austin and am awaiting response but I must make Plan B and C. I must go now.

Hasta Pronto - Until soon.
Adelante >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Music Video Time - Canned Heat 1968 - "Going Up the Country" - Enjoy.

"I'm going up the country, babe, don't you wanna go?
I'm going up the country, babe, don't you wanna go?
I'm going to some place where I've never been before."

"WE HEAR YOU'RE LEAVING, THAT'S OK"

"I thought our little wild time had just begun..."

Here I am sitting in my couchsurfing host's Oceanside apartment getting caught up before I leave for a place near SDSU for a few nights. I am squeezing a little bit more out of San Diego County before heading eastward. I think I chose well. The weather will be changing as I drive to Tucson. Alas....

OCEANSIDE, CA - LONGEST WOODEN PIER ON THE WEST COAST

California we had a nice run but it is time to say goodbye. I promise not to lose your number.
I arrived to the state at the end of October and I have covered a lot of territory from Mendocino country to San Diego. Certainly there is a lot more to see and do but this winter "recon" mission is finished and it is time for another "Discovery Journey Across the USA" again.

Did I find "my spot" in California to "settle into'? Well, I don't know. I will let things simmer for now. The journey is not over.

Anne returned from her trip and I relinquished the pups over to her. We had a great last day walking at the coast, drinking a bit of bubbly on the shore, Asian fusion ramen something in Sebastopol and viewing the new Sally Field "Hello my name is Doris"movie. It was a great way to finish up in Santa Rosa.

I had a long drive to get to Oceanside so I split it up into two driving days. I knew I would be grumpy by the time I hit San Luis Obispo County. I arranged for a night in the trailer again. I didn't even see my host Randy. We communicated by text. He was confident that I knew where everything was and how it worked. I brought in my coffee maker, heater and electric skillet and also a nice red lager. I needed it. The drive took longer than expected and at the five hour mark when I was in merging traffic I heard bad words come out of my mouth. I definitely needed that trailer chill spot. No being "on" with former or new hosts. No one needs my tired old grumpies. Good choice indeed.

The next morning I was up and driving to Oceanside with a side stop to Newport Beach to get the stylist that had chopped my locks five weeks earlier to do it again. The whole trip should have taken me 4.5 hours. Instead I got to Newport Beach, not even Oceanside, at the six hour mark. OUCH. Why anyone would want to live in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas I do not know. It took 2 hours to go 70 miles around LA at 1:30 pm. COME ON PEOPLE!!! Never doing that again on a Friday on the 405.

My host in Oceanside is one of THE BEST CS HOSTS EVAH. He was referred to me by an Argentine couple that had also volunteered at the Inn in Fort Bragg. Host Mike has traveled extensively on the cheap and knows what makes travelers happy. I was provided my own room and tours all weekend. Couchsurfing is not just about the free accommodation. It is about the human contact and local inside scoops.

Saturday I was invited to come along to an inland 50th birthday party in Santee. I met some great people and truly enjoyed the food and the music. It was a perfect weather day out there.

Sunday we went to the SD Safari Park. Mike is a member. JOY JOY! I had always wanted to go. I remember when it was opened. I was working for the ad agency that handled both the Wild Animal Park and the Zoo. It took me over 30 years but I finally got there thanks to Mike. "YOU BELONG IN THE ZOO, THE SAN DIEGO ZOO!" I sang and smiled all day.
After the park we went to a Vietnamese place for awesome food and then to Encinitas to a meditation garden. It was so beautiful! What a great time.

Mike worked Monday and I explored Oceanside by foot on my own. Later we went out dutch for THE BEST SUSHI IN THE WORLD. My goodness it was a FULL few days. As I wrote at the top of the post I am moving over to San Diego in an hour or so. In a few more days I will say goodbye for now to California. What a lovely last couple of weeks. I don't think it will take another few decades to get back here. Thank you everyone.

Patty don't lose that number
You don't wanna call nobody else
Send it off in a letter to yourself

Enjoy this classic from 1974. It's plugged into my MP3 player in the car.

"WON'T YOU COME AND GO..."

I am so slacking on getting this post written. I am up in Santa Rosa dog sitting again. I have been here for twelve days so far. I planned on taking the opportunity to clean a few things out of my diet which I did. I spent the first five days with throbbing in my head (luckily no pain just pressure as if my brain was going to pressure ooze out of my eye sockets), exhaustion, queasiness, and stinky odors. WOW!

What did I cut out? Sugars and all things that turn to sugar including fruits and grains. WOW AGAIN! I feel great now but it took a week and I am not someone that eats a lot of sugar. I do however eat a lot of wheat products while on the road. They are easy to grab on the go. Ritz crackers and their knock offs are my "go to" for snacks not cookies. The bloating has now disappeared. This does not happen to me in Argentina. When I return to the USA with all it's tainted and processed food I gain five pounds almost over night. I won't get onto my GMO or ED (endocrine disruption) soapbox here. Let's just say I was pretty WOWed by the reaction this time. I am really glad I had a whole week of few responsibilities to do this. I am slowly introducing foods back into my diet and yup, seeing the immediate reactions. Knowledge is power. I make my choices... onward >>>

SO....... I stopped in Benicia on my way back up to Santa Rosa. I spent the weekend with my new friend Kathryn. We met a few months ago at a trail head in SLO county and exchanged cards. She and her friends treated me to a weekend of food and wine (wine is sugar by the way). On Friday she took me to a potluck dinner with foodies. It was so much fun. And then on Saturday four of us went to Napa for lunch and wine tasting. It was a perfect last hurrah before my planned dietary restrictions. We went to several vineyards for tastings. It was raining but we all still had fun. Here are some photos...

 

VERN IN RAYMOND'S VERY SPECIAL MEMBER'S ONLY BACK ROOM

CHOCOLATE & WINE PAIRING

Prior to staying with Kathryn I spent two nights a bit off grid with a family north of Paso Robles. On the way to their place I stopped at Sculpterra Winery as I had read about their sculpture gardens. There as no tasting for me as I was driving but I did stop into the tasting room and ended up talking to the owner about art and my environmental art. She gave me her card in case I make it back this way next year.

More art and wine but only briefly because frankly the sculpture gardens at Paradise Ridge Vineyards in Santa Rosa did not float my cask. The modern art there well... I will include just one piece and leave the rest. I won't busy up this post with more shots. Check PR when in the area if you like modern art otherwise pass. Their wine may be good. I don't know. I never taste and drive.

So that's it for now. I just wanted to catch up. Oh I had a birthday on Monday. It was super quiet, cool and rainy but I had the pups nearby and gobs of cheers from across the globe to keep me busy. I have no regrets. I consider this dog sit time a blessing and an opportunity to chill in a good way before the next leg of the journey which will be south then east then north back to Massachusetts. >>>

Cheers to Spring! Although this song is not from the 60/70's the artist sure is. Here is a little springtime diddy from now SIR Van Morrison. Enjoy!

Chau 4 now from me and Mollie (the EWOK) and Quinn (the FLAKATA RUG). The sun is out. Time to put on a sweater and drive to the dog park. I am a NICE pet sitter even if I "come and go". I am supposed to do that pups. Stop with the puppy guilt eyes already! :)