Where do we start?? Well let’s start at the beginning. We hopped on a shuttle which cost us $10 per person round trip, WAY better than a $20 Uber each way! We got dropped off downtown right at Printers Alley which is a Blues music strip off of Broadway, which is the main drag. We decided to walk to Germantown first which was a bit out of the way, but we needed the exercise! We saw a great memorial, pics below, and we went into the Farmer’s Market venue and purchased some sourdough mix to make in the RV. Here are some pics of the memorial and Farmer’s Market

Next stop was downtown Nashville during the day. Big party city but much much cleaner and nicer than New Orleans in our opinion. The first 3 pics are from a massive bar we stumbled upon (not really we were not drinking, shocker) and would like to go back to listen to some music. The next 3 are from the inside of other bars on Printers Alley. Then a pic of a 3 level bar, then onto Printers Alley to take a pic of a guy who has been playing for over 35 years there and some outside shots of the Alley itself.

Blake Shelton has to have a special mention as we love the Voice! Large bar, cool merchandise and clearly a place to film not only his own Barmagedon reality game show but Love is Blind reality show on Netflix.

Now we also had to eat! So stop #1 was at Slim & Husky’s. A pizza place started by two college students. It was excellent!! I have tried to upload the pics, but not working so you will have to take our word for it that it looked as great as it tasted. The next stop after wandering around Broadway was The Stillery where we had Mac and Cheese with Hot Chicken on top. Hot Chicken is what we would call buffalo chicken. It was “so so” and while recommended by an Uber driver, we would not send our friends to have this. We were going to go to Prince’s for the Hot Chicken but the line up was WAY too long.

Tomorrow is another day

We are on day 2 and so far we have only scratched the surface, on places to eat. We still need to tour the city. The first night we were going out for dinner but decided to stay and order in as there was a storm that blew in and the animals, well really Winston as Safiya could care less, were a little nervous. We ordered Thai, cost a fortune, and was OK, not great. But it was delivery so we were not expecting stellar and we have leftovers, so that is something.

Day 2 we decided to go to a spa and have massages!! As we mentioned in an earlier blog, wind can be a huge issue when driving. After two days of fairly windy travels, we needed to de-stress, and what better way than a massage. It was a great choice of venue and well worth the cost. In fact Barb called our benefits and it seems these will be covered by Sunlife! YAY! Next on the agenda…….

Night 2 we went to a restaurant called Husk. It was incredible! It is farm to table and the menu changes daily depending on what is coming out of their garden just outside the restaurant, and what is available from local farmers. There is a list of their suppliers on the wall when you come in, clever, which shows where their ingredients are coming from. The restaurant is in a very old home, retrofitted for a two level restaurant and a bar downstairs. We tried it all!

By the way, for those of you travelling there are two more Husk locations; one in Charleston SC (seafood based menu) and another in Savannah GA (more beef based) and probably both just as outstanding as this Nashville location (more pork based).

We started with Asian inspired Beef Tartar with crawfish xo, and pigs ear lettuce wraps, along with a kohlrabi salad. Then onto the mains. I had heritage chicken with dirty rice and cara cara orange. The chicken was excellent as it had been slow cooked for 8 hours! Barb had the pork chop with squash and kale, also excellent. Dessert….we never order dessert, but when I hear butter popcorn ice cream…..well need I say more, and Barb hears chocolate in the way of sorbet with pork fat caramel………yes pork fat, OMG we ordered both and shared. We also had wine pairings with each course. THEN……a nightcap in the bar downstairs. Barb quickly made friends with two bartenders and a patron, and we had a great time with 2 custom cocktails! Wonderful evening!!! Here are some pics to enjoy.

Night photos as we were waiting for our Uber home.

Nashville day 3………….we are going to Germantown, a neighbourhood of Nashville.

We have made it into another new State, Arkansas!

Didn’t realize that one of the presidents was born in this area.

Just outside of Little Rock Arkansas is a jewel of a small town in the heart of a National Park. We decided to go a little way off the beaten path to the town of Hot Springs, to go to a Bathhouse with the natural hot springs. These bathhouses started in the early 1900’s when people were charging a penny to put your feet in these springs. What a concept and clearly something you could make money off of, so the bathhouses were born and built. There are 8 large bathhouses along bathhouse row. Only 2 remain open as bathhouses and only 1 has been open consistently since 1912. We both decided that the pools were worth the trip. The pools, there were 4, were each set at different temperatures so we were able to hop from one to another.

First pics of the Main Street of Hot Springs which is bathhouse row. Then inside the bathhouse where you can see the three hotter pools below, and then a cooler one above. Again, great stop!

Next stop on the way to Nashville was a Harvest Host just west of Jackson Tennessee. This was a working orchard called Blessed Bounty Orchard. Nice people, only cost us $20 for the night. They also had a storm shelter which was cool/scary/hope we don’t need to use it. There were/are a lot of Tornados that have hit around the areas that we have been and are still in, so being diligent on where the safe places are to hole up until the tornado passes is a must. Here are the pics of the storm shelter, and we are glad to didn’t have to use it!!

Next stop……NASHVILLE or MUSIC CITY !!!

Wind, when travelling in a 5th wheel or a Motorhome, or frankly any moving vehicle can be dangerous. Barb & I have found out the hard way. We now track wind days prior to heading out to try and time our departure. It doesn’t always work out, meaning we can’t always time things perfectly, but we are VERY conscious of the average wind speed, and gust speed of the wind on any given day. In fact we are now giving ourselves 2 options to depart Galveston this weekend as we head back north towards home.

Since being on the Island here in Galveston, we have had some serious wind. In fact one day/night I pulled in the back bedroom slide (our largest one) for fear that the awning that is attached to the top would shred off, which would be yet another expensive fix. So I slept in the loft and was rocked all night. Not rocked to sleep, but rocked awake as I was afraid something would blow off our RV or something would blow into our RV!!

When driving the rule of thumb, in a motorhome, is to avoid driving in winds that exceed 50 mph. Wind speeds approaching 60 mph are enough to overturn your RV. The larger the RV the more surface area. The more surface area the more likely it is that the wind can tip you over. Thank God our RV is on the smaller side.

Barb and I really started tracking and talking about wind after one day in particular. The wind gusts were so strong I had to use all my strength to keep the RV in our lane. In fact the steering wheel was turned as far as I could and all we could hear was squealing as the motorhome tried to comply with what we were forcing it to do. Did we stop driving?? No, we really didn’t think about that in the moment as we were too focused on staying in our lane. In hindsight….well you get the picture.

So now we track, talk, strategize and have a couple of game plans each time we are getting ready to move. This time around, given the winds off the ocean….we have a few game plans for leaving and heading out.

Currently Sunday will be average wind of 22 km with gusts of 33 km. Not bad and good to move. Monday will be 24 km with gusts of 44 km. So Sunday seems the better day. Caveat is I have a meditation class that ends at 1pm on Sunday. So while Sunday is a better day regarding lack of wind, we have less driving time. Monday we have all day, but heavier winds.

Other factors?? RAIN. While rain doesn’t sound like much of an issue. When you are driving a big rig, and you have a massive wind shield, it is a little intimidating. I remember one time ER and I had rented a RV and we were heading back to the rental place in Barrie Ontario when the windshield wiper broke. It was POURING, and I mean POURING! We now had one working wiper, and of course it was on the passenger side, not the drivers side. Needless to say ER was a trooper and got us to our destination but NOT without a lot of stress and worry on both our parts.

So again, when looking at the two days in question for leaving Galveston, I see Sunday the wind is better but there is also a 80% chance of rain. Monday is only 55% change but potentially heavier winds……

SO, we wait. We check daily and will make our decision on Saturday night whether we will move our Sunday afternoon and only drive a few hours (we don’t drive at dusk/night) or Monday where we will have a full day to drive if we want. Or if things really change for the worse, we will stay an extra day or more until it is safe to move on.

Stay tuned

Not sure where the time goes each day, but it does. I get up relatively early, well OK not that early, but it is always before 8am. I take the kids for walk, Winston trotting along and Safiya in her knapsack, around the RV park. Then back to the RV and feed them, while I either have a cup of coffee or tea. I then do wordle which doesn’t take much time, and check my email which also doesn’t take too long. I then read a few chapters in whatever book I am reading and contemplate some sort of breakfast. Walk again between 1-2, and again after 6pm. In between the first, second, and third walks I either go biking, swimming or play pickle ball.

During the week here in Galveston there are events happening most days of which I partake in the following: Monday & Wednesdays flexibility classes and I ride my bike on the beach. Tuesdays & Thursdays we have water aerobics, pickle ball, and a bike ride on the beach if I can fit it in before the water aerobics otherwise it gets too hot. Fridays – Sundays are free days for me to choose what I want to do. Most times it’s a bike ride on the beach (did 16k the other day) if the wind isn’t too bad, followed with some exercises in the pool to cool down.

Every day is a reading day and while I haven’t kept the “what are we reading now” page updated, I can assure you I read on average 2 books a week since this journey started. This equates to over 70 books in total. Not bad!

I also watch/stream a lot. Love cooking shows and really liked the new Luther movie on Netflix. The people at Jamaica Beach are really nice and there is always someone to stop and talk to when we are out and about, so don’t really get bored and never lonely.

Amazon also ships anywhere you are so I get Winston’s Canadian dog food delivered, Safiya’s food delivered. Along with books/water toys/things for the RV etc. Today I received a bath mat and a book “become a Wellness Champion”. I am looking forward to giving this a read as it came highly recommended by a couple of friends SB & NL.

So being stationary doesn’t mean you have to be stationary :). Living life in the moment each day is my mantra and it continues to plant a smile on my face. While I’ll be back in Canada in a month, I will miss being down in the U.S traveling to new places and meeting new people. Upside? I get to see my family and figure out what 6 months in Canada is going to look like this time around.

Stay tuned…

Here for a month, and what a great place to be parked! 3 pools, 1 lazy river, mini put, water exercise classes, pickle ball classes, pizza on site, and right across from the beach on the Gulf of Mexico. Need I say more?

It’s been a while since I posted about the fur babies, so thought I would update you all. They are enjoying this phase of our lives. They love it outside, they love it inside, and are exhausted at the end of each day.

Some random pics

Home of the famous RiverWalk………really? OK the walk itself was pretty and the city has done a great job of making this a real tourist attraction, but it is only restaurants and bars along the river. Well there is a bit of shopping but it is a mall at the end of one side river. We are not looking for a mall, but more local shops to visit. However we did find a GREAT Mexican restaurant and had a wonderful lunch! Then we took a river cruise, learned nothing really, but our guide was funny, so that’s something.

We can’t leave San Antonio without mentioning the Alamo. While we didn’t go on a tour inside, there are some pics from outside. What we can tell you is the Battle of the Alamo took place Feb 23 – March 6 1836. This was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13 day siege, Mexican troops reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Antonio, killing most of its occupants. San Antonio’s refusal to take prisoners during the battle inspired many Texans and Tejanos to join the Texan Army. Motivated by a desire for revenge, as well as their written desire to preserve a border open to immigration and the importation and practice of slavery, the Texans defeated the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836 ending the rebellion in favour of the newly formed Republic of Texas.

That night, given our disappointment in the river walk, lack of interest in a tour of the Alamo, we decided to go to an expensive steak house. While this was our most expensive meal to date, it lived up to the hype about the food here.

Tomorrow off to Galveston! We are avoiding the Houston area, as the roads are too busy and way too hectic for our liking. So we are taking the 10 for a bit, then the 6 east until almost the coast, then onto the 45 and onto the Island.

Only wandered a bit, but you can see from the pics it is a nice location.

We also went to NASA Space station, what an incredible place. We went on a couple of rides, one virtual reality and one in a small spacecraft that simulated travel in space. Both were cool, not sure which one I liked better. We took a lot of great pics during the day (of which I can’t seem to download at the moment) which I will display once my iCloud cooperates.

Off to San Antonio next!

This is a famous quote, and one that I’m sure we’ve all used. It also worked for us today heading to Houston, only to have our stairs stop working at a rest stop. YUP, once again stairs stuck on out so we couldn’t continue our drive. Out came the tools, and the request for help. There are ALWAYS truckers willing to help ! We started getting the stairs apart and then we couldn’t get the pin out, so a young man stepped in to help. Tied up the stairs and we are now “stair less” for the duration of the trip. We have decided to give up on fixing them until we take take the unit back to the manufacturer in Buffalo in April. So we got to the RV resort, it is beautiful! And quickly onto dinner at Flora’s.

Flora’s is a Mexican restaurant which was AMAZING!! Best dinner yet!!

Here are some pics.

There is a lot to this City, besides Mardi Gras which is a few days away. We have been here for a few days, today being the last, as we are leaving tomorrow. So lets start at the beginning, when we arrived.

We are staying at the French Quarter New Orleans RV Park, which is a 5 min walk to the French Quarter. The location from that perspective is brilliant, however we are right beside HWY 10 overpass, so it is loud. The park itself is super clean, pool, hot tub, great laundry facilities, office is really nice and the people working and staying here are all wonderful. Overall, an interesting stay. Would we stay here again, probably.

Hop on Hop off, the best way to see the sights for a reasonable amount of money. In New Orleans, they have by far the best deal we have come across. A three day pass that included 2 walking tours, one of the Garden district & the other of the French Quarter. All for under $60. We took advantage of it all, as well as it included discounts to other places like the WWII museum, which we also took advantage of. Here are some pics of the City from the bus.

One of the things you must do when in New Orleans is to try the food. They are known for King Cakes (Mardi Gras related), Moon Cakes (Mardi Gras related), and Beignet’s which New Orleans is known for and are proud of, and for good reason (according to Barb)

I am going to push this post to publish now, as we are taking too long to put our thoughts together for New Orleans, and now we are in Houston! We will get back to this one as soon as we can!