In which we got a right lot of culture

Hello and welcome to the new home for the blog.

I was right in my previous blog. Louisiana is a country within a country. And, south Louisiana, Cajun Country, is a whole different world. For a start they all say y'all. Y'all the time. The accent is worlds apart having a very strong French influence. And there's no hills or mountains; it make Lincolnshire look like the Himalayas. But it has its own special mix of magic and we have just experienced some of the finest examples.

Deb found this opportunity on wwoofusa.org and we arrived with a rough idea of what to expect. What we found was slightly, actually very, daunting; there is a big old barn crammed with all sorts of stuff - furniture, tools, ornaments, crap - and in need of TLC that has to be cleared and tarted up for the arrival of a large group of Canadians who will need somewhere to eat. (It is also going to be used as a stage for a wedding on 08 February.)

So, on Saturday morning we started with some help to clear the area - this took all day and a large part of the Sunday. From Monday to the following Sunday, Deb and I set about cleaning, replacing missing panes of glass, trailing electric extension cables, trailing lights, polishing and repairing furniture, draught excluding, and tittivating.

By 1500 on Sunday it was ready and we were done in but enormously proud of what we'd achieved.

And on Monday, the Canadians arrived and we met them for an al fresco lunch in the grounds of the Tabasco sauce family's factory.

It wasn't the best of starts - the old school bus wasn't really up to the job and the weather had conspired to make everyone cold to the bone. The gas heaters in our "fabulous" dining hall

did little to raise spirits but the Gumbo

cooked on site from the freshest ingredients really hit the spot. I'll say more about the food later.

Tuesday was the first day of the four day music festival. The evening started with two young lads, Jace Goulas and Redd Patin (11 and 12)

performing traditional songs on guitar and accordion; a great start. Then T’Monde took over.

With a combined 10 GRAMMY nominations between members Drew Simon, Megan Brown, and Kelli Jones, T’Monde brings influences ranging from early Country music to ancient French and Creole ballads to present day Cajun music. They got the place rocking and dancing (We had all had a quick dance lesson from our host, Christy, so were eager to show off our skills.) Deb and I made up with enthusiasm what we lacked in finesse.

Wednesday's culture involved a trip to a living museum,

a lesson into how to make beignets

a swamp boat tour,

and more great live music in the evening. There was a duet from Jane Vidrine and Ann Savoy

to start then Jo, Jane's son, and grammy nominated fiddler, David Greely, joined Ann and Jane

to give us another opportunity to dance

(Deb and I did something approximating dancing but our main focus was avoiding bumping the other dancers on the dance floor).

These names will not mean a great deal to people outside of Louisiana but all the acts are at the top of their game in this area. Thursday night was no exception. Preston and Keith Frank (father and son) and fiddle player, Kevin Wimmer

played some fabulous tunes and the dance floor was full. Deb and I were getting bolder and tried out some bold and daring moves that, had anyone noticed, would have left them, shall we say, bewildered (or possibly worried for our mental and physical wellbeing) but again, it was done with a smile and enthusiasm.

And Friday came round too quickly. We had a trip to see a violin maker/repairer in Lafayette - owned and operated by Anya Burgess,

who also plays with Ann Savoy and Jane Vidrine. We also had a quick tour of Lafayette.

The evening entertainment was provided by the exceptionally brilliant four piece Chas Justus and The Jury.

They really did get the place rocking and the dance floor was rammed; sadly not leaving Deb and I the space to explore some radical new moves designed to shock and awe.

I've waffled on a lot more than usual because I am buzzing from such a magical week - everything combined to generate memories that will last forever. The Canadians were a welcoming friendly bunch that made our work during the week a breeze, the locals who came to see the acts were great and full of interesting stories, and our hosts, Jim and Christy, have been wonderfully kind and have made us feel part of the whole set up; they're friends for life.

I said I'd mention the food and so I will. OMG. The set-up was simply this Jo Vidrine (performed on Wednesday evening) cooked breakfast and lunch mainly for the omnivores, the Scratch Farm Kitchen were the providers of vegetarian and vegan all day and everyday, and Bruneaux prepared a hearty meaty evening meal. We had the most amazing selection of food - gumbo, jamb alaya, (but no crawfish pie), alligator, boudin (local sausage made and BBQd by Jo on site), fresh vegetables and salads aplenty, fig pie, fish tacos, avocado toast, shrimp, grits, pancakes. There's a bit (a lot) of South Louisiana sitting above proudly above my belt.

It was said to us several times during the week that we really "lucked out" with finding this opportunity and it's true; this really was one of the highlights of the trip. We'll always be grateful to Jim and Christy who have created a magical corner of South Louisiana and shared it with us with a big generous spirit.

What's next? The plan was to go to New Orleans for a couple of nights but the car didn't start this morning and went off on the back of a truck.

Apparently its new battery was a dud. The good news is that the hotel booking was changed without penalty AND the new looking was $25 cheaper. After New Orleans we will return to collect the RV and resume heading east - we've not got anything booked so will just go with the flow for now.

A la prochaine.

Hopefully you'll be able to get a flavour of the music and culture from theses videos.

New Home

Hi

Just a quick note to say that this is the new home for the blog of our travels. All the old posts are here in the Archive pages A to E below, although the pages need re-ordering to make sense; I'll get round to it one day soon.

Andrew

Archive A

The Journey Begins

Here goes.

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

On 10 April Deb and I start our gap year and we have a sketchy plan; in fact there are two plans – Plan A and Plan 2 – which to a large extent depend on USA Immigration

Plan A is that we travel around the USA in an RV (that one up there) for 12 months on a tourist visa visiting as many national parks as we can. The key requirement here is to get permission from immigration to stay for the year, but we will not know that until either we enter the USA or we apply for an extension to our original visa.

Plan 2 comes into effect if immigration only give us 6 months. In that case we will head back to Europe and spend 6 months in southern Europe.

For now, we are assuming that Plan A will be the one. and have a rough idea of a route. We will start in Manchester, NH and head south until we get to Tennessee and then turn right and wander our way to Utah where we turn right again and head for a rendezvous with the girls in Yellowstone.

The girls will be with us  for 3 weeks before we drop them off in Seattle. Then we are not sure but will probably drive down the west coast before spending winter in the south.

Whenever I can get a decent wifi signal I will add blog posts and you can see where we’ve been.

The Timeline

10 April 2018 – Fly out to Boston and meet up with Katie & Bill

14 April 2018ish – Set off in the van

05 July 2018 – Eleanor & Milly join us in Wyoming

26 July 2018 – Eleanor & Milly leave Seattle for Boston

The first steps

12 April 2018

We managed to get through immigration without a hitch and our passports are stampred with a 6 month visa. That’ll do for now and we’ll make an application at the end of July to extend it for another 6 months.

We’ve been a bit busy over the past few days starting with an appointment to register with a GP to make sure we can get care if we need it. WalMart is doing rather a good trade in RV essentials – bedding, crockery, water filters, buoyancy vests(!), and a digital tyre pressure guage.

I’ve driven the RV but not with the car attached. The first trip was out to the coastal town of Portsmouth which was like an upmarket English town. That drive went without too much hassle; the key is to remember what a massive lump you’re in without much acceleration, but sitting in the slow lane and letting everything happen around you keeps the stress levels low.

The next stage is to attach the car and have a go at towing. I just need to remember not to reverse.

We are currently in Belmont NH at Katie’s new house on the lake. It is the most spectacular location; I’m looking out onto the partially frozen lake where we watched a Bald Eagle looking for its lunch.

Once we’ve had our tutorial in all the things we need to know to keep us moving and living comfortably for the next 12 months then we will head south to some warmer weather. We need to be sure that we can get water in, water out, poop out, propane heaters to work, electric pumps to pump, levelling, batteries to charge, bbq to work, etc.

Other things that I’ve discovered in the first couple of days –

• I’m useless at playing pool – I think my eyes are wonky
• Mobile phone shops are as dull over here as they are in the US
• The amount of processed foods in WalMart is scary
• The price of standard prescription drugs can vary four-fold from one pharmacy to another but are generally cheaper.

That’s enough for now. Next post will be when I can get some free wifi, maybe somewhere down near Washington DC.

Bus bums

20 April 2018

Wednesday ended up being the longest day and the most painful. With the RV not being looked at until Friday, we decided to do a budget trip to New York – Megabus and Airbnb.

Up at 0500 and out of the house at 0520 headed for the first bus of the day, the Boston Express park’n’ride. That got us to Boston where we took the Megabus to New York and got a flavour of how efficiently the air conditioning works to cool the chill air to arctic temperatures. God it was cold.

5 hours later we were ejected on a side street and set about looking for the bus stop for a hop on-hop off bus tour; this was a breeze for a man who likes an ordered street/avenue system – 4 streets up, one avenue along. The Big Bus people gave us a lesson in how rude (direct?) the New Yorkers can be. No pleases; no thank yous and no indication of customer service.

Bus route 1 took us south or, as I now call it, “Downtown”, from the Flat Iron building. The tour guide seemed to know where all the famous people had apartments; stalker alert. We saw some whopping buildings, the Statue of Liberty, and some extremely aggressive driving. It seems the car horns are attached to the accelerator pedal. I could quite happily take an apartment in the Jenga building though.

Next bus tour took us north and there were more big buildings, more history and a great big park. Once we got off that bus, we made time for an over-priced hot dog in Times Square which was just amazing; so much for the senses to take in.

As dusk arrived, so did the night bus tour to Brooklyn. Here we got some cracking views of the sun setting behind the skyscrapers. Unfortunately the plastic roof of the bus made it impossible to take a decent photo.

A quick bit of tea and a walk to Central Station, the most stunning station, and we took the subway uptown to our cheap and cheerful room for the night and a rest from sitting down.

Thursday was more of the same except there was rain and mist. We started with a walk through Central Park, a trip up the Empire State building and a ride on the Staten Island ferry to get close to the Statue of Liberty.

And then it was time to head home. Another 6 hours on a freezing megabus and a rapid hop from Boston to the park’n’ride and we crawled into bed at midnight.

New York was not in our original plan for this trip but now I’ve been I am really glad we took the opportunity.

As for the RV; the mechanic is looking at it today. God knows when we will start this trip but there’s plenty to do until we get going.

Archive B

Down South

4 May 2018

Two weeks since I had good enough WiFi to update the blog and we’re now down in Sevierville, Tennessee – birth place of Dolly Parton – and getting set to turn right and start heading west.

It would take a long time to write what’s happened since New York but in a nutshell – electrical issue solved, puncture, hit the road on 21 May and headed to Washington DC, couple of days in the city then carried on down. We’ve “done” New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee; but not in that order.

We’ve seen mountains, hundreds of them as far as the eye can see, waterfalls, Bald Eagles, Bears, an Elk, a snake, and a lizard. On the basis that a picture is worth a thousand words, here’s quite a few thousand worth (not necessarily in chronological order, but you get the gist).

Hitting the road and our first night in the RV

Scenes from our days in DC

Modern Art in DC

Scenes from Skyline Drive, Virginia

A waterfall at the end of a hike off Skyline Drive

Memories of The Dukes of Hazzard and Boss Hogg

Charlottesville and Cider with a Rosie view

More huge views from the Blue Ridge Highway

Hiking in the Smoky Mountains National Park (and an elk)

Our first campfire

Getting up close to the locals

One foot in each camp

The Finale of the Dolly Parton Great Stampede Show. You had to be there.

A spectacular view from the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains

And a bear

Crikey

And finally, where are the other two?

That’s us up to date. Next stop is Nashville for a couple of nights and then onto Memphis as we head for Hot Springs National Park. Before we ship out tomorrow I am hoping to run a local 8km race; I’ve never run an 8k before so it’s bound to be a PB.

Just keeps getting better

25 May 2018
Utah. That’s where we are now. We’ve been away for over 6 weeks and on the road for 5; we’ve clocked up 3,600 miles in the RV and over 1,500 in the car and spent more than $1,000 dollars on gas.

As for life on the road, we’ve got a pretty good routine going – we can shower with an egg cup of water, empty the black and grey waste without mishap, and spot a gas station that will take an RV and tow car without getting blocked in . We’ve been staying in a mixture of paid-for campsites and some unbelievable free camping spots.

The main features of our trip since we were in Santa Fe has been the stunning scenery. There’s tons of it, every time you go around a corner or over the brow of the hill there’s a sight to take your breath away. Almost literally sometimes as the effects of altitude are noticeable on some of the hikes.

We’ve seen some wildlife – one snake, loads of lizards and chipmunks, a few hummingbirds and Deb saw a coyote. Oh and a roadrunner.

Talking of Roadrunners, we also stopped for a chat with a participant, Harita Davies, in the Peace Run – an organised run across the USA – who is something of a legend in NZ

Here are some of the highlights.

Early morning run at altitude at Mesa Verde

Exploring the ancient pueblo homes in the canyons

Lake Powell and kayaking in Antelope Canyon. The sheer peacefulness of the canyon was shattered by some eejit and his selfie-taking girlfriend grounded their speedboat in the shallows and then found he couldn’t turn round in the narrows. No cool points for him and a broken propellor for his boat.

Deb’s solo attempt up Angels Landing in Zion National Park. I didn’t take the photo because I was some 300ft down the mountain; I had an attack of the nerves and couldn’t face the scramble up the last bit.

Walking through the Virgin River in the narrow part of Zion

A most excellent early morning hike up to Observation Point

One of the free campsites

And finally some views from our trip into Bryce Canyon yesterday

Utah-ly Spectacular

11 June 2018

If I remember correctly, I last blogged from Bryce Canyon, Utah, nearly 3 weeks ago. After the jaw-dropping views from Zion, Bryce was on another scale; almost other-worldly. We had a couple of hikes which took us into the base of the canyon away from the main tourist spots, at times it felt like we had the place to ourselves. Like an eejit, I dropped my camera on a really dusty bit of trail and it died a slow death, so most of the photos are from an old iPhone.

Deb and I have been bowled over by Utah. As well as Zion and Bryce Canyons, there was also Capitol Reef (where we found the most amazing place to have breakfast), Arches and Canyonlands. Oh, and just for good measure there was Dead Horse Point. So many canyons, all different, all utterly spectacular.

Not to be outdone by Utah, Colorado also has a canyon. And a right deep (more than twice the size of the Empire State Building) steep one too. This one also had bears – mother bear and two cubs strolled across the road as we were heading into the base of the canyon. Deb went to a talk about Turkey Vultures given by a park ranger and is now quite the expert, for example, did you know that Turkey Vultures eat rotten meat that is over three days dead, vomit on any other animal that tries to steal its food, wees on its feet to clean them, and poohs on them to cool them down.

We are now in the Rockies and still at altitude. I’ve definitely not quite got used to the thin air – any uphill has me puffing and wheezing – but the views are worth it.

Internet access has been very thin on the ground. In fact, we’ve not had a right lot of electricity either. We tend to stay away from the big campgrounds with all the bells and whistles and hunt out the free or nearly free ones. It can be a bit hit and miss but we’ve had some real belters.

Here’s the piccies. I’ve taken hundreds so have whittled them down as best I can.

Starting with Bryce Canyon. It just shows what can be achieved with a bit of nature and a few million years.

Then there’s Capitol Reef. We got up early and were at the top of the highlighted rocks in time for breakfast and had the best view.

On our way to Arches we saw some proper cowboys

And then there was Arches. Another stunning example of what rock and weather can create.

Not forgetting Dead Horse Point and Canyonlands. Unbelievable scenery.

For something a bit different we went on a sunset ATV tour in Moab and found a novel way of parking your ATV.

One of the freebie campgrounds was really off the beaten track – there was nothing but a few ranches – and had the most amazing rock formation. This massive boulder – Miracle Rock – seemed to defy gravity.

This is Black Gunnison Canyon in Colorado. I didn’t get to my camera quickly enough to snap the bears so you’ll have to imagine that bit.

And finally to today. I went for a run first thing but kept stopping to admire the view and to take a pic of a Bald Eagle. It’s not the best pic because it is the iPhone on maximum zoom shooting through one of those free telescope things.

This is the view of the Rockies and us standing on either side of the continental divide. Oh and a moose.

That’s pretty much bang up to date. We’ve got a few more days in the Rockies before heading north to South Dakota and then heading West to meet the girls in Wyoming. I’ve had a new camera for over a week but today is the first day that we’ve had electricity to charge it up. I’ll be out snapping tomorrow.