Category Archives: Uncategorized

10 Jun 2015 AL Gadsden River Country Campground 

I checked the weather in Gadsden driving off the interstate after a 20-minute delay on I-59 for road work – cloudy o rain for three days. Then I noticed the rainbow, which seemed out of place for the situation. Then it started to rain a bit. And by the time we got to the campground, it was heavy. We donned rain coats and ran into the office to register. Just as we got there, the lights went out. And the hail started. How to get into the gated park with no electricity? Umbrellas flying, plants knocked over, trees uprooted – a real doozy. 

We went to dinner at Top O’ the River – catfish! – to wait out the storm. Then back to River Country for a riverside site. Very pretty and quiet even though close to I-59. 

A quiet night awakened by birds other than Tico. And, of course, Tico. I checked on my current options trade (QQQ iron condor) and made a reservation at Crosby campground in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. John checked his mail and answered an rv yahoo group question about battery meters. Eventually we got it together to head out and get lunch at the Courtyard Cafe (meat and four) in quaint downtown Gadsden & next to  dinosaur and art museums! It looked like everyone in town was there. Fried green tomatoes!

08 Jun 2015 Breaux Bridge LA breakfast at Chez Jacqueline

Best beignets!

05 – 07 June 2015 Breaux Bridge LA Pioneer RV Park

this is the heart of Cajun country. On Friday, we ate at Pont Breaux restaurant. The food was OK but the music – Lee Benoit – and dancing was great!

04 Jun 2015 Desoto TX 

We stayed at the home of our friend and my Antioch classmate Penny. She came here from Brookhaven to work on the magnets for the Superconducting Super Collider. She has six cats – some friendly, some not.

03 Jun 2015 Mesalands Dinosaur Museum, Tucumcari NM

We had to stop in Tucumcari – what a name! I just finished reading The dinosaur feather so the dinosaur museum was a natural especially for John, reader of the science Times.

03 Jun 2015 Amarillo TX Amarillo Ranch RV Park

On our way to Desoto TX. Special of the park – walk to water park with free tickets for guests of the RV Park.

26 April 2015 WIT State Meeting at Jackson Rancherias, Amador County

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Back in Bangkok (briefly)

We traveled from Chiang Mai on the night train. We left Chiang Mai at 5 pm, arrived Bangkok at 7 am. All in all, a pretty pleasant experience. A supper on the train (not as spicey as we are used to but Kasma could not convince them to spice it up for us) and an upper and lower bunk in a sleeping car.

Chiang Mai was great. A lot of shopping … The Shan market on Friday had some unusual snacks (sticky-rice-flour donuts and pancakes, both sweet, savory turnovers (one with chickpeas, one with chicken), samosas, red-bean cakes). Also notable was the wood carving museum on Thursday.

Today when we arrived Bangkok, we walked the Chinese market (largest China town outside of China) and tried to get into a dim sum place (opened too late for us), saw a 5.5 ton solid gold Buddha, took a long-tail boat ride on a canal, visited the Royal Barge Museum, a village making special bronze bowls (last one in Thailand), and a temple being built in the shape of a royal barge.

In the evening, we met Amber and Aron from Mountain View, who will journey to the south with us. Tomorrow we leave at 5:30 am (yawn) for Ranong, where we’ll stay one night on our way down to Krabi.

I want to give a special shout-out to my neighbor Trudy who has been caring for our sweet orange cat Petey who suddenly went blind on Wed (Dec 5th). He’s pretty distressed by it (who wouldn’t be?) but Trudy seems to be helping him through it. Thank you so much, Trudy.

Mae Hong Song to Pai

We are currently in the outskirts of Pai at a charming resort. It is raining here, which is very unusual this time of year, the cool dry season. We stopped at a fish cave, a Lisu village, and another cave (reached by bamboo raft).

Yesterday, we tasted tea in the Yunnan village and bought some “milk” tea, which both of us liked. It is made by soaking the tea leaves in milk before drying them.

Truckee here we come