Van Magic (Andre)

Van Magic

In the backpacking world, there is a term called ‘trail magic’. Basically, trail magic refers to unexpected pleasures, gifts, or support that you find and receive while hiking. Once many years ago we were on a 7 day hike and passed a hiker going the other direction who alerted us that up the trail at a river crossing were cold sodas in the stream. It being a hot day we greatly appreciated that bit of trail magic. On another trip we found out about ‘the cookie lady’ who left a basket of cookies on her front steps which was a short detour off the Appalachian Trail. Then there was the time at a road crossing where a local person put up a sign offering hikers to leave their trash. These were just some of the many instances of trail magic we experienced on our backpacking trips.

So, let me share some recent ‘van magic’ we have experienced in Biloxi, Mississippi!

We found Biloxi to be a fascinating town and may post a bit later about what we learned about the town. But, for now, the ‘magic.’ It started when we found a large and mostly empty gravel parking lot right next to a casino that had a few tractor trailers parked there apparently for the night. We followed their lead and parked only to find a working plug that allowed us to power up the van for the night. The next morning we found out the casino hotel allowed public use of their rooftop resort style pool and hot tub. After enjoying a good night sleep with full electricity, a refreshing swim, we thought there might be some more magic in store.

 

Onto the next casino – a Margaritaville that offered new customers $10 in free play. Laura is more the gambler than me, so she turned our ‘free play’ into about $15 in winnings – don’t laugh, it all helps on the road. Next casino, more free play for new customers, and another $20 in winnings. Did I mention the free drinks you receive while you play the slots?

 

By this time, we knew 1: not to push our luck and 2: we were going back to the parking lot with the plug and the pool for another night! Thank you Biloxi for the van magic!

alive and well in new orleans!

On a ferry heading in to french quarter...more later

Random Alabama Musings

Okay. I’ll admit it. I may have come into the great state of Alabama with a whole lot of preconceived notions – perhaps even prejudices – about this “Sweet Home” state. First there’s the fact that I am a New England Yankee, through and through. Then, of course, there’s my long association with Neil Young’s lamenting about Alabama “coming to its senses”. And of course, Andre’s aforementioned “Alabama Ass Whoopin” reference.

Now admittedly, when we crossed the border from Florida into the part of Alabama affectionately referred to as “Florabama”, it didn’t look immediately hopeful. The state turned rural quickly and felt distinctly different from Florida; I’d say hick, but I’m not sure if that was just me projecting my expectations. Nevertheless, at the flea market we stopped at shortly after crossing over the border, we were greeted at the van by the slightly mangy resident flea-market dog that gave us pause (we haven’t met too many dogs who don’t want to take a bite out of Andre). He turned out to be mostly harmless, but the flea market was a bust. Not much to see but some folks who were overtly friendly but stared at us a bit longer than necessary, in my opinion.

This initial impression of the state was quickly reversed as we spent a fantastic 24 hours in the Gulf Shore and Orange Beach areas of coastal Alabama.  The weather was fantastic, the people friendly, and unlike back in New England, the beaches were abundant, free and fully accessible to the public. We never once paid to park or to get on to a beach, or paid a cover to get into an establishment. The beaches were beautiful white sand and folks were not blanket to blanket, piled on top of each other. That might just reflect the fact that it is technically not ‘in season’ yet here, but there sure was plenty of room.

And then there was the general attitude. Coming from the North where there is a rule for every possible thing you might even be thinking about doing, and most every sign starts with the word “NO”, the Gulf Shores area was completely relaxed, and decidedly not “in your face”.  As we are not great fans of incessant or arbitrary rule-making, this was a decided plus for us.

We spent a great afternoon lazing at the beach at Gulf Shores then got in the van and headed inland to Foley to take advantage of our buy one get one free all you can eat pizza coupon for CiCi’s Pizza Buffet. Finally, we headed down to the Orange Beach area where we spent the night and part of the morning before heading back again to Gulf Shores to walk the beach boardwalk again.

If there is an “Alabama Ass Whoopin” to be had, it hasn’t found us yet…….

Wish you were all here.

New Beginnings - Part 2 (Andre)

My last day of work for the RI Department of Education was February 22 and we left on our adventures the next day. On February 25^th, I learned that due to unexpected circumstances my office at the Department of Education temporarily was down another staff member and one who was assuming much of my work! Well, one thing led to another and yesterday, April 5^th, was my second last day of work for the RI Department of Education as I have been working remotely these last several weeks.

It has been a bit of a whirlwind working early, late, during the day, on the road while Laura drove, in McDonalds and Paneras, in campgrounds, in the van, and many other places. But, as you have seen from the blog entries, we still have managed to have lots of adventures, see new things, and visit friends and relatives along the way. I understand that my stepping in was helpful to my colleagues and kept things moving until the office returned to normal. And, while the extended income was certainly appreciated, I also realized that staying connected to work, projects, and colleagues helped in a way to smoothe the transition to this new life and lifestyle.

Now, I just need to start that transition all over again!

On the lighter side ….

 

One of our favorite bands is Drive By Truckers. If you don’t know this band, I suggest you check them out. Well, they are from northern Alabama. And, we just entered the state of Alabama today after 4 weeks (give or take a day) in the fine state of Florida. Just entering Alabama you could realize we were in a different state. If you don’t know what I mean, you’ll have to come down here and find out for yourself.

As we were driving down the road, Laura remarked that we better behave in this state or we would get an Alabama Ass Whuppin’ (a name of the Drive By Truckers live album from 1999). So, we are indeed watching our p’s and q’s!

Through Yankee Eyes

A few Southern things that struck this Yankee's funny bone as we walked around down town Pensacola yesterday...

Anyone ever heard of Hot Dogs?

Now I know I'm not in Rhode Island

These Painted Pelicans were entertaining as well - and pretty cute. As Pensacola is quite a military town, (and also home of the Blue Angels) references to the represented branches of the armed forces were everywhere, including these themed Pelicans on the street corners.

Visiting in Pensacola

Spent a great couple of days visiting Jo-Anne & Jim (Andre's sister and her husband) and their son Ethan in Pensacola for a few days. I had been to Pensacola once before, when I had joined Andre's sisters for a "sisters" weekend about 5 years ago, but Andre had never been. Enjoyed seeing their new home and the great view of Escambia Bay from their deck. Jo-Anne took the day off work and we spent a great day biking at Pensacola Beach. Well it was great for the first 8 or so miles anyway! The return ride back was straight into a strong headwind the entire ride and was quite a work out. I can't say Jo didn't warn me, but it's one of those things you have to experience to believe.  I was beat when we finally got back to the parking area - but was soon revived by the remainder of the afternoon spent at Fort Pickens, sitting out by the beach drinking and snacking and then walking around the fort.

Andre, Jim & Jo stopping for a breather after the first leg of the ride

After the bike ride, we headed back to the house where Jo-Anne cooked us a great fish dinner with two different types of fish (Amber-jack and Cobia, I believe) that Jim and the boys had caught themselves on recent Gulf fishing trips. Thanks Jo & Jim for the great dinner and the great hospitality during our visit.

Our New Yeti Cooler

Just a quick post to show the new YETI cooler we just bought from REI. We had it shipped to Pensacola where we would be visiting Andre's sister Jo-Anne and her husband Jim.  The cooler is super heavy duty, bear-proof and should be able to keep things cold for 7-8 days.  It was expensive (roughly $300) but we are REI members and were able to use our annual dividend and also a gift card we had to offset most of that.  As we are about to head into Texas and will be sitting in the Texas summer heat at Big Bend for 3 months, we thought a serious cooler was in order.  This Yeti one came highly recommended. We'll let you know how it works out after the summer. Here are some photos.