home again

Well the crossing into Ontario at the border was uneventfull. A few questions and proof that the rig was really mine and on my way. I arrived home in good order and took the weekend to unpack, unwind and catch up with Sue. On Monday morning I headed into the Bank to get some canadian funds and deposit the remnants of my US funds, then off next door to visit (or gloat to my former work collegues) unfortunately I received bad news when I arrived.......... a dear friend, my former secretary had passed away just yesterday from Cancer. My next stop was going to be to see her and give her the frog I picked up in Texas..........what a shock to learn she was gone. Life certainly is fragile and not to be taken lightly. I will miss Pat........but will remenber her sense of humour and dedication.
Doug.

The long long road home

I left Nashville very early this morning after getting a Neighbour (who was also up) to help me back out of my site. A tree, the utilities pole and a parked truck blocked my drive out. Once on the highway all the mud on my tires flew off onto my nice clean trailer augghhhh. I will have to wash the trailer again when I get home. I hadn't planned on driving so far today but once on the road and getting closer to Sue I just kept going. I ended up just north of Findley Ohio.... soooooooo will probably be home tomorrow. The area all the way from Natchez, Mississippi to Findley has been soaked with rain for the last few weeks........creeks and rivers overflowing with ponds of water in the fields. Needless to say the campground I'm in is muddy and of course its colder than I've experienced in quite a while so I have a 50 amp site to run my heaters. I will head north to cross at Sarnia (Detroit has construction and is not "trailer" friendly) then on home. pics here http://picasaweb.google.ca/collindo99

I have enjoyed my adventure but did miss Sue greatly so will have to think long and hard about what to do next winter. I will go back to the Rio Grande Valley at some time in the future. The people are friendly, there is lots to do and the weather is great.
Doug.

I'm a little bit country not

Finished the natchez trace today and it was like travelling back in ....... seasons...... down at the south end everything is fully out but as I drove north I was travelling back into early spring the leaves became fewer and the flowers not as plentiful. Lots of wild turkeys all along the trace however. The outside temp. guage on the truck also went down as I went north. I left Tupelo wearing sandles and a light shirt......give your head a shake Doug. it is still cold up north and I had to stop to put on warmer footware and a jacket. I am staying at the Nashville country RV park for the night and they had to squeeze me into a small site as that was all that was left and because of all the rain they have had in the last few weeks lots of mud..... no concrete pads here. I'm glad it's just for one night. I will go into Nashville this evening to visit a camping world and see the grand old opry...... hey I'm here might as well check it out...... but I am still more rock and roll. Will try to get a long days drive in tomorrow and then have to decide whether to winterize the trailer before I get home????? Are we going to have any more hard freezes in Ont.??????? might have some pics to post tonight but none right now.
Doug.

What a light show

Well I made it to Natchez State Park in Mississippi. Three nights here but no internet at all. Peaceful execpt for Sunday. The skies went dark Sunday afternoon and my weather alert radio kept sounding alarms every 30 minutes.....severe thunderstorm warnings, tornado warnings and flash flood warnings. We got lots of rain very heavy downpours but the winds weren't as bad as predicted where I was. They did get damage north of where I was. The campground was full as the easter weekend is like our May 24th weekend the first big camping weekend. Got some hiking in and finished another book. I left Natchez early Monday morning and followed the natchez trace a parkway going north east to Nashville. Commercial traffic is banned this parkway is limited to 50 miles per hour and is for bikers and tourists. No stops for the entire length. I made it just over halfway to Tupelo Elvis Presley's birthplace and am spending the night. Nice campground with good WiFi so I can get this on and check e-mail. I'm only here for one night then further north to just north of Nashville. Should be home by the weekend if the weather is warmer up there :-)
I have posted new pics check them out at http://picasaweb.google.ca/collindo99
Doug.

gamblin

I finally broke down and went into the Casino today as the weather, although warm was cloudy and windy. They are calling for severe thunderstorms tonight. I will have my weather alert radio on to warn of any watches and warnings. Oh I donated to the casino :-( was up $10.00 at one point but that's as far as I got into the good and ended up donating to the cause. The park here is starting to fill up with campers from Louisiana and Texas. This is there big first camping weekend of the year, the easter weekend. I will be leaving here in the morning and am going to a State park in Mississippi for 3 nights. From the pictures I have seen this is a lovely state park with lots of hiking trails. I posted pics yesterday of Paragon RV park at http://picasaweb.google.ca/collindo99 I washed the RV and truck .... hopefully for the last time till I'm home. Everything is now shiny again. There are lots of Titaniums here and I get lots of comments about my rig. as it is the only Titanium Mystic here. There are lots of Quebecers here as well. Some heading north from Texas but some who spent the winter here in south Louisiana where there are a lot of french speaking people.
Doug.

Paragon Casino

Boy there are a lot of Casinos in Louisiana. I am at the Paragon Casino RV resort for the next three days. Again nice campground concrete pads full hookups pool and all the other amenities plus that casino. Got to remind myself set a limit and stay within it :-) This park is in the town of Marksville and so has some stores, restaurants etc. unlike the last place I was at. I need to get to a grocery store to replenish my supplies. After a cool night got down to 38 degrees last night once the sun came out the temps have been rising and at noon it is in the hight sixties and rising. The trip here was interesting..... I took the cross country route (IE off the interstates) and went through some really neat places swamps, poor areas and really rich areas and some really old towns. They also seem to have a lot of prisons here or at least I seem to drive past a lot of them. Well going to make lunch then do some exploring. I have posted pics at http://picasaweb.google.ca/collindo99

Red Shoes

I haven't been able to get on for a while soooo I'll bring you up to date. First I am feeling much better the antibiotics have done the trick. I left Houston West RV yesterday and did get to stop into Camping world, Bass Pro and Costco. Got a few bargains at Bass Pro where I used some gift cards I got from the Guidance Heads for my retirment. Thanks guys. I am now in Louisiana at the Coushatta Casino RV resort ......this is for Sherri It is run by the Sovereign nation of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana. This territory was started by a Coushatta leader known as Red Shoes "King of the Alabamas and Coosades" The nice thing about this RV park is....it is inexpensive they figure they'll get your money in the Casino. Well I donated $20.00 to them so far. I leave here tomorrow and head further north to the Parragon Casino resort...costs for the night there are $8.50 and it is a first class resort , full hookups and all the facilities pool etc. It was cooler last night getting down to the low 40's after a day in the 80's and it is only going up into the 70's for the next few days but glorious sunshine. Well off for my morning walk then to the pool. I will try to post pics.

what again?

I have had a sore throat for the last couple of days and when I woke up this morning........it was terrible can't swallow even liquids. got the shakes and a temp. and achy all over. ..........so when I got to the Houston West campground I decided to go to the hospital and see the doc. only took 20 minutes to get in and see the doc. (got a bad sore throat) then off to Walmart for some meds. well 3 hours later to get the precription filled......... I'm back at the trailer and going to take drugs, see if I can keep some food down and crash.... If I don't improve I may stay here an extra day don't want to be driving in the state I'm in.
Doug.

dairy queen

Left Bensen palm village bright and early this morning......well early anyway it was overcast but did not rain and travelled north thru the dead horse desert to Goose Island State park on the coast. I have a site right on the water acutually I'm only about 10 feet from the water. Tomorrow is suppose to be clear and warm again. I spent the day exploring the park, took pictures of the "big tree" That's an old live oak tree that is over 1000 years old. This park is suppose to have WiFi but it isn't working...... when I asked the staff where the nearest hot spot was they said you have to go to the Dairy Queen about 6 miles away ............ so tomorrow it's off to Dairy Queen so I can post this on the blog.....and try out one of there new blizzard flavours ....... I just gotta :-) I will also try to post some pics as well. I am here for two days then off to west Houston RV park for a couple of days....going to do some shopping...yup found out that this location is near a Bass Pro, Camping world, costco and a large outlet mall. Well got to keep this short as not sure what the connection will be like at Dairy Queen. I'll let the sound of the waves crashing on the beach lull me to sleep.Doug.
PS. I'm obviously at Dairy Queen heading in to try there new blizzard. very windy and warm today will try to post pics