The Road Goes Ever On

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Road Trip USA, 2016

It's going to be a long road trip. We have always wanted to follow the fall foliage metamorphosis, from Nova Scotia south to where the leaves don't change. (We did this once before, but it was from Cracow to Istanbul; not so many maple trees along that route). Thus: drive from the Bay area to Nova Scotia (actually Prince Edward Island as it turned out), running a few errands en route, also seeing some loved ones, exploring Canada's Atlantic provinces, then turning back south, looking at leaves but also taking in some other sights of interest along the way; then turning back west, seeing more loved ones, family and friends, along a more southerly route, returning to Middle California sometime in December. 10,000-12,000 miles, give or take. It's a long way to Tipperary, and, candidly, what there is to see between California and New England we have seen before. We've even lived in some of those places...Montana, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts.... Besides, we are in a hurry. Time and tide, and leaf-peeping, wait for no man. So this will be the only post for the first 5,000 miles of our road trip.

The errands: we wanted to explore the possibility of installing automatic hydraulic levelers on Le Sport, and where better to do this than at the major manufacturers, HWH in Moscow, Iowa, and Bigfoot, in White Pigeon [sic], Michigan. LSS: both said it couldn't be done. :-( But we at least got to spend free nights at their factory camp sites. And White Pigeon took us through that Mecca of American RV manufacturing, Elkhart, Indiana, and...the irresistible RV/Motorhome Museum and Hall of Fame.

The loved ones were Joey and wife Jodi, and son Joseph. Joey was married to Vicki's deceased sister, Linda, and Joseph is Vicki's nephew. Jodi's work for the Sierra Club and other causes in Indiana is always interesting and admirable. We like to stay in touch.

It was Interstate 80 much of the way; here an overnight stop
at Little America, Wyoming, a landmark there; most of our
other overnight stops were savage-camping

A souvenir shot from White Pigeon, MI (in Michiana, a term
new to me)

In White Pigeon we ran into dear old friend US
Route 12, which we've driven many times in
and from Missoula; didn't know it was historic

The incredible RV/MH (motor-home) Hall of Fame will get
its own detailed post

After staying a couple nights with Joey and Jodi, we drove on
to old home Columbus, Ohio, where we lived 13 years (and 4
graduate degrees from Ohio State; 1 from Kent State); in the
third apartment to the right, above, Janet Circle Apartments,
we lived when Rebecca was born in 1974

In 1976, we bought our first house, at 2736 Bellwood Avenue,
in Bexley; but this isn't it; later owners bought the adjacent
lot next door, demolished the old house, and built a new large
house on the site; sic transit, Gloria

Bexley High, where Vicki taught English several years

Not much has changed

In 1978, we moved to Maplewood Drive, in Minerva Park, a
Columbus suburb; here we lived when Rachel was born in 1980;
subsequent owners apparently took down the crab apple trees,
the alders, and the World Ash Tree in the front yard

Maplewood Drive, Minerva Park

One of our favorite Columbus restaurants was
Schmidt's Sausage Haus in German Village; so
we had to go there for Bahama Mamas, just
one more time; we also drove High Street from
the downtown (I worked for a time in the State
Office Tower on Broad St.) to the Ohio State
campus

Our travels took us next to Unity, Pennsylvania, near
Pittsburgh, and Vicki's childhood home there; after another long
day, we would be in New England

Return To Middle California, Again, 2016

Thanks to Carole and Jim's hospitality and great food and drink, not to mention the unending entertainment of Maisey and Cooper, their two Havanese, we had a great revisit to South Florida and Ft. Lauderdale. Alas, the only photo I have of this time--I was enjoying it too much--is of the two dogs. But it is not suitable for a family website. (Carole said it was a dominance thing on Maisey's part.) We'll let it go. Anyhow, thanks again, Carole and Jim. After the Nova reunion, we flew back to Middle California and Menlo Park, to reclaim our American camper, Le Sport, from storage, to reorganize and repack, and to spend some time with grand-daughter Penelope and her parents.

Family hike: Vicki and me, Penelope, Rebecca, and Jeremy

P doing stretches after the hike; she learned about stretches at
Tu Tu Camp this summer

It's Daddy's birthday, but P is clearly
overwhelmed by the dessert options from the
kiddie menu

Ballet lesson

Strapped in, ship-shape and Bristol fashion for

a camping trip with Grandma and Grandpa

To old-friend Pinnacles National Park, the
nearest source of old-friend rhyolitic breccia

A rest stop on the trail; note rock climbers in
the background

In one of Pinnacles' caves

Our campsite at Pinnacles...and Le Sport, now ready to undertake
a big cross-country trip

Always hard to leave our little princess behind

Sunday, October 16, 2016

Nova High School, Vicki's 50th Reunion

Informal first night

2nd night, great dinner

She was in the first graduating class of this
experimental high school, funded in part by
the Ford Foundation...three years a senior

Vicki and Janice, still marching side by side Titanaires

Can't wait for the 55th!

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Figueres/Barcelona/Ft. Lauderdale

Our plan for the spring of 2017 is to do Spain and Portugal. Hence, we wanted to store Le Duc in Spain, somewhere at the beginning of the proposed trip. This turned out to be old-friend Figueres, home of the Dali museum. So, after a day's drive from the Ardeche, we checked into Camping Laguna, on the Costa Brava, to get the camper ready for storage and to pack for the trip back to the States.