The end is nigh!

For some reason the last week of our trips always sees a big gap in our blog.
Whether the pace of life hots up and we don't have time, or the relevance of the blog diminishes, I think possibly the latter.
However here we are sat in a Post-Christmas haze and I feel the need to round off our most recent trip to the States.
The last blog entry shows us arriving at Sertoma for the Thanksgiving Meet.
Well, we had a very pleasant Thanksgiving. The weather was very cold, so there was not as much sitting out as usual. The Thanksgiving Feast was as good as ever. The concerts were very good. There was an excellent line up. Bluegrass Brothers, James King, Gary Waldrop, Goldwing Express, Nothin' Fancy to name but a few.
We enjoyed a new band Tomorrow's News very much.
All too soon Sunday came round and we made our way back to Connie and Jim's house to clean and close up the Trailer.
We flew home on the Wednesday evening and arrived home safely on the Thursday lunch time.
Thus ended our 6th trip to the United States, titled From Bluegrass to Blue Sea, as we intended to explre the area from Kentucky south to the Gulf Of Mexico. We did see the sea, but only as we crossed the estuary to the west of Pensacola and did not get a picture of it. We can only assume that it was Blue.
We have once more managed to cover a lot of ground, about 5000 miles. Of which 2500 were towing our trailer. We have travelled through 12 States, if only briefly for some of them. We have seen three mighty rivers, The Tennessee, The Ohio and The Mississippi. We have made new friends and visited old ones. Been through floods, but thankfully not encountered hurricanes. Highlights have been a trip on a stern wheeler on the Ohio, staying with the West's in Amish Country, seeing Gracelands, visiting the Lorraine Motel, following the Natchez Trace Trail and exploring New Orleans. We have attended bluegrass festivals at Raccoon Valley, Waldo and Sertoma. We have explored several important Civil war sites including Vicksburg, Shiloh. We have of course done much more than this, but to find out you will have to read the rest of the blog.
Our next trip will be in 2010 sometime. The blog address is roadblog60.blogspot.com, we hope that you have enjoyed following us on this trip and may want to drop in on us during our next trip, during which we hope to cross the Mid West Plains and see the Rocky Mountains.

Blood In The Aisles!

Well, we survived a great Soggy Bottom Weekend, and a couple of days with Marilee.
We then returned to Connie and Jim's on the Tuesday. We have spent the last 8 days relaxing and shopping, clearing and shopping, cleaning and SHOPPING. We have used this time to buy our Christmas presents.
On Sunday it looked like rain and it did rain. I tink about 2 inches in about an hour. The trailer was standing in about 3 inches of water. When the rain stopped the water disappeared within about 2 hours. Florida is built on one giant sand pit, so water just soaks away.
On Monday we went to Beals Outlet. This is because Monday is Senior Day - over 50's get 15% reduction, as well as this Sally had a 20% discount coupon which was burning a hole in her purse. The only problem with Seniors Day is that The Villages, where we shopped, is a purpose built community for retired people, so there are 100,000 retired people who live within 5 miles of Beal's Outlet Store and most of them were there on Monday. There was blood in the aisles! Little old ladies wielding machetes and sweeping people out of the way, using their trolley's like snowplough's. It took 20 minutes to stand in line to get to the check out. Mayhem! Now add in that it is Thanksgiving week and everyone was out getting their food sorted. Driving was crazy, parking was impossible, Walmart was gridlocked, and that was in the food aisle, not the carpark.
We have survived, though my arms are at least 6inches longer from carrying heavy bags.
We have now got to pack this stuff into 2 small suitcases. I talked over, with the checkout lady at Walmart, the possiblility of buying a suitcase at Walmart and returning it to ASDA when we got home. She thought this was a great idea.
So today is Wednesday and we have returned to Sertoma for our last Bluegrass concert for this trip. We have tucked ourselves away nicely on our site and are settling down for a quick nap before going out for a meal tonight.

In which I get a Touch Up at Sleepy Hollow

On the Wednesday, we moved down to Sertoma and had a very pleasant weekend. Connie’s cousin from California was visiting and we were able to meet them. As part of showing them around, on a perfect Friday morning, we went back to Sleepy Hollow, where we had a $5 breakfast (steak and eggs) by the lake and Jim, Don and Barbara took an airboat ride, just as Sally and I had done in February. They were very pleased that they not only survived the airboat ride but also saw a Water Moccasin snake (also known as a Cottonmouth) and Alligator. It was here that I came across another of those great examples of how our common language divides us as the very nice young waitress returned to our table (admittedly with a coffee jug) and asked, very personally as she leaned across the table in front of me “Would I like a touch up”. I could scarcely contain myself; until my friends pointed out that she merely wanted to top up my coffee cup.
Saturday was the day of the memorial for Larry Gibson. He was one of the founding fathers of Soggy Bottom and also Sertoma Youth ranch, as well as the manager for 17 years, though we did not know him.
We went to the memorial and watched as they performed a ‘Masons Funeral’, which was interesting. This was followed by speeches or informal comments by friends and family. This was quite moving, even though we didn’t know the man. In particular, a grandson spoke fondly of how they had frequently gone fishing and hunting together. There were many tears. We were then encouraged to go and jam together into the afternoon and night with Larry’s favourite description of playing, which was ‘to rip the tits off this one’ (one being the tune that was being played). Which, with some enthusiasm, we complied with.
Sunday. We have come to see Marilee for a couple of days before returning to Connie and Jim’s, where the van will have major surgery as we hopefully get running boards fitted, which I hope will make it much easier for Sally to get in and out of the van.

Connie and Jim's

Waldo was a great success - we really enjoyed it. We are parked on Connie's Back Lot. Today we did the washing, phew!! It was a big wash, at a launderette called Casa Da Lava. This afternoon we went over and hung out with Paula and Walt, at Brenny's brothers pastures(?) and Paula does look so well. Brand new curly hair and a tan. She has a nice new horse called Abby (Abigail).
Tomorrow we will go and look at Running Boards for the chevy. Ooh! just like Christmas!

From Hot Rod to Custom Cool Car

There comes a time when you have to try and get the best from your wheels. Now is the moment for our Chevy.
I am going to modify it. However I do not want to turn it into a Hot Rod, rather I want to turn it into a Custom Cool Car. While we have been away on a couple occasions the van has started to overheat. Now if we plan to take it to the Rockies, where the hills are steep and long and the weather is often hot then we do not want to spend a lot of tme at the roadside admiring the scenary while the van’s engine cools down. So I have been spending some time researching the best way to uprate the cooling system to cope with the extra load put on it by the weight of the trailer. Back in February someone recommended a guy in Palatka as being good with radiators (not difficult you would think). However, in the intervening months I have found out from GM that there is no way to upgrade the sytem without going to specialist (and expensive) parts. Waldo is only a bout 38,9 miles from Palatka, so I called the guy and he said to bring it over and he would look at it. His advice was to remove the radiator, physically check it was OK and then work from there.
So at 8.00 of Friday I took the van back over. He let the engine cool and then removed the radiator, it was only a thin one called a ‘single core’. He decided that he could find a fatter radiator core and rebuild the radiator, using my original radiator end pieces (which have the hose connections and fixings that hold it on to the body). He eventually found that a super heavy duty upgrade radiator for a 1994 Chevy Pick Up would fit. He managed to order it, have it delivered, dismantle both radiators, rebuild and re-fit to the car and have me on my way back to the trailer by 1.30. I thought that was pretty impressive. Of course the proof will be when we are on the long, lonely, hot, hill-climbs of the Rockies next year. I just hope that I can remain impressed.
The waiting time for the job gave me a chance to go and have a further look at Palatka, which we have passed through a couple of times and visited the ‘Famous Ravine Garden’. Previously documented,it is a bit like Saltburn back in England, though it is not by the sea. I found the historic district and the St Johns River. The most impressive architecture seemed to be a nice railway station. Which looked like it was once the centre of the booming tourist industry in the 20’s and 30’s.

Waldo

OK, I have now realized that we have been at Waldo now for 6 days, without updating the blog. It is funny how time just sort of runs along once you get to a place of routine. Our routine at a festival is to get up when we want, have breakfast, sit outside if it is warm, or visit, or just sit. Have lunch, then do something energetic like go to Walmart, or go to the concert, or visit, or sit. The evening is taken up by jamming, sometimes just a couple of hours, sometimes well into the early hours. Because Sally has not been so good this week there has been a lot of the ‘just sitting’ activity. As is Connie’s Way, we have eaten together all this week. We are so grateful because it makes a wonderful focal point to met with people and talk and sing together. The concerts have followed the traditional pattern of a Bluegrass Festival with concerts on Friday and Saturday afternoon and evening. There are a number of bands of differing popularity. Each band will perform one set in the afternoon and another in the evening. There have been some very good local bands, like The Palmetto’s and The Wilson Family as well as some nationally known bands. We have enjoyed Special Consensus, The Gary Waldrop Band and The Grascals who are probably one of the top bluegrass bands in the States at the moment, having won awards at the Bluegrass equivalent to the Oscars. The mix makes for a very enjoyable, but long, show, so you inevitably have to choose who you see. Pickin’ takes place around these concerts, Finding others who would rather pick than watch the bands (Grinnin’ it is called here) isn’t usually to difficult, but much Pickin’ goes on after the concerts have finished, which is about 10.30.
Connie always invites the bands to eat with her. At this festival we have had the pleasure of having The Gary Waldrop Band eating with us. They are very nice people from further north, Alabama and Georgia mostly. They joined us for food and then came on over and picked a bit after the concert on Saturday night, which was a lot of fun. They also have their bus parked right next to us, so we have been chatting a bit to them, and listening to them warming up before the concerts.
There is a Gospel day today with concerts up until 3.00, when we all pack up and go home.
The only extra this time has been to get the van souped up and modified! As you will read later

Blackwater for Halloween

(Retrospective from our visit to Blackwater in 2010). We have arrived at Blackwater River State Park and have managed to get one of the last sites available. The new sites are quite big, however not big enough that I could leave the van on the trailer. It was here that we realised that it was Saturday night and Halloween. The place was swarming with kids! But it was a lovely atmosphere. many people had decortd their sites with lights and pumpkins, and even pumpkin lanterns. I zoomed out to the 'local' shop (only 5 miles away) to buy some 'ket' (as the kids in Middlesbrough schools used to say) to hand out as treats for the kids as they wandered round. As darkness fell so the campsite lit up with the decorations and there was a continuous background noise of distant shouting and laughing, every now and then a group of kids (usually with parents) would come round past the site and we handed out sweets, though we had a bag of eyeballs (grapes) and fingers (baby carrots) to dare the kids to put their hand in to collect one. Then Sally and I had a wander round the campground to look at all the decorations, saying 'hi' to most and visiting with some to be offered the snacks/buffet they had put out for people. It was a very pleasant and friendly evening deep in the middle of the forest (which a lot of parents obviously used to their advantage for ghost stories).
Next morning we hitched up the wagon and moved on to Three Rivers State Park and spent a couple of nights there before moving on to Connie and Jim's for the Waldo Festival.

Where's that Squirrel?

Yes its a Pascagoula Day. We travelled along I10 to the grand metropolis of Pascaguoula, the very same town made famous by Ray Stevens in his record, which can be seen on You Tube . This song was the basis for Connie's Skit at her party in 2008, which still makes me laugh. Oh dear, that has set me off looking at all those other Ray Stevens videos that are on YouTube: The streak, Bridget the Midget, Gitarzan, Ahab the Arab. Then there are at least a dozen more, oh my goodness. AND he is still going, The New Battle of New Orleans is particularly poignant, as we have just been there, and Katrina is still the biggest thing in Louisiana (The reliability of the Canal Street Ferry and the Pascagoula Squirrel Revival [even though that is Mississippi] excepted). This is just a quick overnighter though and we plan to move on to Blackwater State Park later this morning (Saturday).

Trains, Planes and Automobiles AND FERRIES

So,the reccomendation of the helpful ranger in the State Park is to drive to Algiers Pier on what is called the West Side of New Orleans (even though, because of a bend in the river it is to the south of New Orleans) (across the river) and take the Ferry, leaving your car in a car park which is very cheap, as opposed to paying a lot for parking in New Orleans.
So, Sally and I thought we would try this, it would be a great adventure.
Bear in mind that it is actually quicker to go acros the river on the freeway than it is to find your way through the backstreets to the ferry. Well, we eventually found the ferry terminal, called Algiers Pier, just in time to miss the 11.00 ferry, so we had to wait until 11.30. We could not board the ferry because we were told that a rope was caught round the propellor and they were sending down a driver. I thought he was called the captain, but never mind. Fortunately the ferry left quite quickly afterwards. It took about 10 minutes to cross the Mississippi to New Orleans (New Orleans proper is called the East Side, even though because of the the river bend it is actually to the north of the the West Side). In fact, when you look on the map, because of the the bend in the river the ferry route actually goes in a westerly direction to get from the West Side (which is to the south) to the East Side (which is to the north).

Any way, we then had a good time in New Orleans. Today we were going to do Bourbon Street, perhaps the most famous of the the French Quarter streets. What a let down. It was completly full of 'Kiss Me Quick' gift shops, bars (sleezy) and expensive poor quality food. Just like Blackpool, or Atlantic city. However, when we turned off Bourbon Street, we were once more enchanted by the houses with their pretty balconies, many of them decorated for Halloween, or with plants. We had a very pleasant lunch in a little French cafe.

The main event of the afternoon was going to the museum on Jackson Square to see an exhibition about Mardi Gras parades and in particular the Zulu Krewe. It was fascinating. The Krewes are very complex social networks, with all sorts of formalised ritual (social activities, not religious rituals). The parade participants have all sorts of specific roles, again heavily ritualised, from lamp holders up to the Kings (Rexes). They have fascinating histories. The Zulu's were the first Black Krewe to be accepted on the main parade route, I think in about 1967, though they are celebrating their centenery year. Their history reflects the slow changes in Civil Rights. Louis Armstrong was the Zulu King in 1949, the year in which I was born.
Every aspect of carnival seems to interweave to create a complete social experience, quite fascinating (yes I know I have used that word three times). They had several costumes on show - they were absolutely brilliant.
Incidently it was in New Orleans in 1892 that Homer Plessy carried out the first act of civil disobedience by sitting in the white only area of a street car (way before Rosa Parks). There was a famous court case: Plessy v. Ferguson, unfortunately he lost, the result was that the doctine of 'Separate but equal' became accepted, setting back civil rights 40 years and determining the pattern for the treatment of blacks for the next 50 years.

We now started back towards the ferry, this time walking along Royal Street, between Bourbon and Chartres. We found that this road had been closed to vehicles so that street musicians could perform. We stood amazed as we listened to a an unamed band play and sing real jazz, while a couple did some brilliant Lindy Hop dancing (we think it was Lindy Hop). We thoroughly enjoyed this, excllent entertainment.
We eventually arrived back at the Canal Street Ferry Terminal, having just missed the 4.00 ferry.
NOW THIS IS WHERE IT ALL GOES PEAR SHAPED
Only to be told, by rumour, as because as there is no charge for the ferry there are no personnel there, that the ferry had broken down and had not turned up. There was no sign to say, it will be coming in an hour, or tomorrow or whatever, it just stopped. So we had no idea if it would arrive in five minutes, or never run again.
So we waited for a bit, getting cold, getting hungry and no information - all these things lead to stress.
So we made the decision that we would have to get a taxi to take us to the other ferry terminal where our car was.
We went to find a taxi, spoke to a hustler we had talked to the day before. "What, the ferry is not running" with incredulity. He suggested a hotel to get a taxi. (now 5.00)
We went to the Double Tree and explained to the porter why we needed a taxi, his response was "What, the Ferry is not running" and then he explained this to the House Manager who exclaimed "What, the ferry is not running" with incredulity. They phoned for a taxi. Yes, of course he asked for a taxi with a lift, which could carry an electric wheelchair.
Taxi arrived. Yes, of course was an ordinary cab. Now here we ran into the French mode of the New Orleanians, which had been threatening for some time, but not actually reared its ugly head. When asked how he would put the chair in the car the taxi driver quite naturally, as though he had been doing it for generations lifted his shoulders and arms in the true Gallic way to express his total incompetence in the situation. He looked from Sally's chair to his trunk and back again. He then radioed for a bigger taxi, though he said that the bigger taxi did not have a lift, but it was big enough to take the chair! We mentioned we needed the taxi because the ferry was not working. "What, the Fairry ees not running" he said with incredulity. He then made noises with his radio and told us that dispatch had another job for him, but the bigger van would be coming. He then, somewhat comically, said "I must go now" and made to exit very quickly from the hotel forecourt, only he did not move. He then had to get out rather sheepishly and explain that it was stuck in Park and he had to rock the car backwards and forwards to unstick it. A bit of a Clouseau Moment.
By now it was obvious that there are no taxi's in New Orleans that are able to transport an electric wheelchair, So plan B - I would take a taxi back across to the Algiers Pier ferry terminal, then I would drive back in our car and collect Sally. So I left Sally in the hotel lobby and hailed an ordinary cab saying that I wanted him to take me to Algiers Pier, wherepon he very helpfully said that I could take the ferry, so I told him that though this was a good plan, which I had thought of already, unfortunately the ferry was not working, which was why I was now having to take taxicab to collect my car which was at the Algiers Ferry Terminal. "Mon Duiex, What, the fairry ees not running?" he said with incredulity. I wearily repeated that was why I needed to take a cab.
With a bit of help on directions we crossed the mighty bridge over the Mighty Mississippi, which I have now found out is called the CCC bridge and I retrieved our car. Now of course I was at the terminal on the other side of the river. I spied a couple of people waiting for the ferry and said I was going back to the other terminal to pick up my wife, would they like a lift round. They very gratefully accepted, because they worked in New Orleans and would be late, because the ferry was not running. Though it actually took some time for them to understand why I would be driving my car from one ferry terminal to the other, when I could catch the ferry (except that it wasn't working).
I now returned from the West Side, to the East Side (which is north of the West Side)along Route 90 East, though I was travelling westwards across the CCC bridge (which I now remember stands for Crescent City Connection). I must admit that the girls I was giving a lift to paid the toll fee. I collected Sally from the hotel and we drove home without further adventure (apart from following an armadillo through the campground).
Now the car park in New Orleans on Chartre is $10 for all day parking. The Ferry would save us a lot of inconvenience and be much cheaper, as it was free, though you need to leave your car in the car park at the ferry because it is not safe to leave it on the road there.
So, to save $10, plus $1 bridge toll ($11)
We paid $5 to park at Algiers Pier
$20 for a taxi
$2 for the toll for the taxi
Total $27 and three extra hours travelling time
To save us $10 parking fee and the hassle of parking in New Orleans.

Today I mentioned to the park ranger who had made the original recommendation that the ferry had been out of action. "What, the ferry was not running?" she said with incredulity.
In all of this we have learned
1. Don't use public transport if you don't really need to, it probably won't work.
2. The New Orleans Ferry has an impregnable reputation for always running.

New Orleans on Tuesday.

Because we now have up to five days here, we want to take things gently. So we decided that we would just drive in to New Orleans, check out the lie of the land, drop into the Convention/visitor center, have a coffee or a light lunch and then come back and relax at the trailer. Ha! Had spent a lot of time online looking to see what New Orleans had to offer. They had a production of Cats going on. Ooh, an orchestral version of Star Wars, with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Anthony Daniels (C3PO) narrating as well as lights and action, sounded great, only problem, Minimum $50. No not for us.
We drove successfully into New Orleans across the Miss Bridge, right to the Convention center. It is HUGE, there was no way that we would find a visitor center in there, so we parked the van ($12 for up to 4 hours) and started walking.
I really love those little incidents that just happen in the States, ‘Vignettes of Serendipity’ I think I shall call them. Well today we had three of them.
Incident number one. We started by walking up Convention Center Boulevard and then onto Poydras St, which is parallel to Canal St. The street crossings are a bit tricky here, so we were waiting on a little traffic island for a break in the traffic, when this female stands in the middle of the street, pretending to blow a whistle, stops the traffic and ushers us across. We are all laughing. There are three of them and us two. Well we started walking up Poydras St and before you know it we feel like we are old friends with these people. We are swapping family histories and Betty was telling us she has just bought a property in Natchez and we had a great time. They worked in the courthouse on Poydras St, so they told us a good place for lunch – the Commerce. These people were so nice, it was just lovely to meet them in the middle of New Orleans.
We duly found the Commerce. Well you would have missed it if you didn’t know exactly what you were looking for. It was a good old fashioned diner (not the right architecture, but the atmosphere was there), Sally and I shared a beef Po Boy and coffee. It was a great place, full of local people.
We continued our exploration and crossed over Canal St (I always remember Canal St as it was the place where the news interviewers stood and watched the flood waters coming up the street during Katrina). We walked along Chartres Ave, right into the middle of the French Quarter, a narrow street full of old houses, all with their characteristic wrought iron balcony, lots of cafes and restaurants. Lots of side streets, again with the houses having balconies. We continued until we got to Jackson Square, where the street opens out into a small park. Here there was a typical New Orleans jazz band playing, sax, trombone, suzaphone (like a tuba, but it wraps round you) and an assortment of percussion. It was great just to stand and watch them. We moved on. We looked at the street artists.
Incident number two. I noticed that there were a number of people who sat at card tables, covered with ornaments, a bit like a table top sale, so I started looking at some of them. One lady had a number of very nice rocks and crystals. She was heavily tattooed. I started talking to her, only to find that in fact she was a Tarot Card reader, who would read my future in her cards (apparently the standard charge is $20.00). She was not at all pushy, so I stood and we talked a bit more. She told me that the things on the table sort of said something about the person doing the reading. She obviously felt that these stones and crystals said something about her. I noticed one polished rock had an ammonite embedded in it. So I pointed it out to her saying how much I liked it. She asked what an ammonite was, so I explained about it being a fossil many millions of years old. I also pointed out a belemnite which was in the same rock. She was amazed, she had had this rock for years and never noticed the fossils! She wanted to know how old they were, so I started explaining how the fossils got there. I then talked about her other crystals, she had some nice calcite, a big black quartz crystal and some hornblende. So I said that having read her rocks that would be $20.00 and we all had a good laugh.
We moved on round Jackson Square, feeling that it was time for a coffee, when we saw Café Du Monde in front of us. Large building, looked like a one time market (slave market perhaps?), open on three sides, lots of small tables crammed in, lots of people, lots of white powder. That could only mean one thing – Beignets. Oh Yes. This café only sold one item of food – beignets, fresh with piles of icing sugar. Sally had coffee, I had hot chocolate, so that I could dunk them in the chocolate, then back into the icing sugar, then into my mouth. Oh they were scrummy.
Incident number three. Lady at the next table, sophisticated looking, perhaps Japanese, sitting alone. We start talking and amazingly she plays the clarinet in the Philedelphia Orchestra – she is on a break from rehearsals as she is performing in the Star Wars extravaganza. She was fascinating. I never cease to be amazed at who we meet in America.
After our excellent afternoon coffee we walk back to the car. Our short, quiet introduction to New Orleans turned out to be a really good day. Our impression of New Orleans is that it is an exciting place, lots of things happening. It doesn’t seem to depend on tourism for its existence (which I felt Nashville and parts of Memphis did).
Looking forward to going again tomorrow. This time we will take the Ferry! And look at Bourbon Street.