2014 Summary of RovingPollocks Rovings

Many of our friends and family follow us on social media and,thus,know of our doings this past year. What follows is a brief summary for those of you clever enough to have avoided the snares of social media...

 We started our second full year of full-time RV living by spending a couple of months in Florida while the rest of the country was in the deep freeze. We visited with friends, former co-workers, former neighbors and classmates. It was a real treat to stay in touch with all these folks.We also stopped to get some work done on the Beav. We then proceeded to Georgia for re-work. We had some real repair nightmares this past year including being towed three times, once for 170 miles in Newfoundland. {We went back to Florida on our way to Arizona finally fixing the the alternator system that was started in February. Frustrating...but a normal part of the RV lifestyle.}

We made the rounds of family, doctors, dentists, etc. in North Carolina and Virginia in April. The highlight was Ann and Jake's wedding. What a joyous event that was! We then returned to Florida to pick up a transatlantic cruise to Copenhagen. That was followed by a cruise of the Baltic capitals including St. Petersburg, which was fabulous. Plus we connected with a former Cedar Springs exchange student in Stockholm. What a treat! After 23 days of cruising we spent a few days in Copenhagen and a week in Norway. All in all a great trip!

We returned to Virginia, picked up the Beav at Ann's house and headed north for our summer in Newfoundland. We hadn't even recovered from jet lag before we hit the road. Newfoundland was spectacular...icebergs, whales, history, unique culture and great travels with Tom and Jil Mohr. The horrible roads were a bit of a downer. After spending two months we returned to Nova Scotia where we reconnected with friends and met a cousin for the first time. Back in the US, we met up with friends in Maine and then raced to Albany, NY for Terri Goldrich's 60th birthday party. We then slipped back into Canada for more cousins and then on to Michigan to visit Bill's brother, Bob. That was followed by a week in Bill's hometown where he and Bob served as Honorary Grand Marshals for the 75th Red Flannel Festival.

On our way south we stopped off at Notre Dame to catch up with ND roommate Bill Sugnet and his sons. Back to Virginia for doctors, dentists, etc. followed by a month of family time with Paul, Yvette, William, Ann and Jake. We had a wonderful thanksgiving with Jake's family.
So here we are in Arizona for Christmas, California for New Years, Hawaii for St. Patricks Day, New Zeeland and Australia for our anniversary in April.

 
We had originally thought we would be buying a house at the end of 2015 however we have found that being houseless isn't all bad. We think we will continue to travel part time in our motorhome and part time renting apartments in interesting places for the next few years. In that vein we will be spending some time in Amsterdam and taking a tour of Eastern Europe in the fall..

RovingPollocks 2013 Overview

Roving Pollocks 2013 Overview

We have had a good time in our first full year as full-time RVers.  Right after celebrating New Years with our wonderful friends, Don and Kathee Larmee, we headed south and west to Arizona in search of warm weather and our many pals among the Escapee RV Club Boomers.  We did Boomerville at Quartzite, Winter Blast at Lake Havasu, driving school for Gisela in Yuma, St. Patrick's Day in Happy Trails, as well as a diversion to Borrego Springs and San Diego, California.  It was a joy to catch up with Judi St. Croix and Mark Thornton, Tom and Jil Mohr, Betty Anderson and Duane Peyton, Chuck and Jan Moore, Jim and Polly Weaver, and Chris Christiansen to name a few.  Special thanks to Chuck for detecting and helping to repair our slide-out as well and installing a new convection/microwave oven.  And to Duane for helping with the repair to the motor home's gas tank retaining strap. 

Spring found us heading east for a cherished stay at Betty's RV Park in Abbeville, LA...the best RV park in the USA.  We then headed north to Michigan to see Bill's brother, Bob, and to get into position for Bill's 50th high School reunion.  We left the Beav at Camp Opperman and drove the Jeep to Virginia for doctors, dentists, and, most importantly, kids and grandson.  We did the Gisela, Paul, and Ann's combined birthday party at Ann's new home outside Richmond.  Jake and Ann have a wonderful six acre place in the woods and it even has a 30 amp hookup!  In between all that we traded the Jeep in on a new Honda CR-V which achieved 30 MPG on our return trip to Michigan.

The weekend of June 8-10 was dedicated to Bill's reunion.  Since it was the 50th, his class was included for the first time in the all class 50+ reunion.  It was a real treat for him to reunite with several other members of the CSHS 1961 Red Hawk football team...Covell, Van Lew, the Opperman Brothers, etc.  Esther Clark graciously opened her summer home to the class.  It was especially nice to catch up with Lisa Van Someren, Pat Stone and Nancy Hanna as well as others from classes which graduated ahead of Bill.

The plan was to head east to Newfoundland, Canada immediately after the reunion...However, life intervened.  Bill was diagnosed with a partial blockage in one of the arteries in his right leg.  That led to a summer of doctor visits, tests, lifestyle changes, and ultimately, in October, the installation of a stent to open what had evolved into a complete blockage.  We became vegans, switching to a plant-based diet, re-doubled our exercise program and each dropped 30 pounds. 

In September we took another road trip.  This time we ventured to Jamestown, NY where we were honored to serve as witnesses to the wedding of Gisela's cousin, Glorianne Leck, to her long-time partner, Susan Savastuk.  What a joyous event that was!  We continued on to visit Gisela's dear friend, Terri Goldrich in Albany and made a stop in Ithica to meet another long lost cousin of Bill's, Alicia Dale Alexander. 

Other upsides to all this include spending more time with Bob and attending the award ceremony at Notre Dame for Pat Finneran, who received the Corby award at the Notre Dame-Michigan State game.  We enjoyed seeing Pat's friend, Pam, again, meeting Pat's family and catching up with Jim and Anne Barnett.

We also journeyed to the Chicago area and did some touring with Geof and Nancy Justiss.  From the Chicago area, we made a quick trip to Gisela's hometown, Merrill, WI, to visit the grave sites of her family.  We spent some more time with Geof and Nancy in Lexington, KY on our way back to Virginia in October. 

November had us stopping in Front Royal for doctors, etc.  We were able to catch up with the world's greatest neighbors, Scott and Missy White, while we were there. We spent the last two weeks of November plugged into the aforementioned 30 amp connection at Ann and Jake's.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Jake's parents, grand parents, brother, and cousin.  Spending time with family is always special.

December finds us in the Outer Banks of North Carolina near Paul, Yvette, and William.  We enjoy picking William up after school and cooking dinner for the family. Some more of that special family time.

As we approach Christmas, we are healthy and happy and looking forward to more adventures next year. We hope this finds you the same.

All the best.

Bill and Gisela

THE ROVING POLLOCKS
September - October 2011
Michigan

What the hey??? What happened to June 2010 through August 2011? Last we heard you were leaving Michigan heading west toward Iowa in June of 2010. There must be a law against jumping ahead!

Easy gang. We still plan to go back and give you all the highlights of Iowa, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico (Balloon Fiesta) Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Oregon, Utah, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the UP of Michigan. Ya, you bethcha.

But the last month in Michigan was pretty action packed…and more importantly it is recent enough that we actually remember what happened. This is a pretty detailed chronicle of the month. As such, it may be of limited interest to many. However, it may be OK for Cedar Springs High School Classmates, family, and a few select others. So here goes…

We crossed the Mackinac Bridge on September 2 headed for Leland, Michigan. We were aiming to meet up with Bill‘s ‘little’ brother, Bob who was to turn 60 on September 5 - Labor Day. We also were going to catch up with Pat Pollock and Mark Rodak in Leland…Pat being my late ‘big’ brother, Mac’s widow and Mark her ‘new’ husband. We were last in Leland for their wedding in May 1, 2010. We spent the weekend celebrating Bob’s 60th and Pat’s emancipation from the task of turning over the summer rental of Katie-Connor Cottage. It is now a long term rental. We had a lot of fun playing Farkel, enjoying good food and just enjoying being in Leland.

Bob and Mark














Tuesday, September 6 was Bill’s high school pal, Ivan Opperman’s 66th birthday so off we went to Camp Opperman…Ivan and Janis Opperman’s front yard. It is a real treat to see Ivan and Janis again. We had a wonderful steak birthday dinner for Ivan with his brother Jim his wife Louise, daughter Kara and family and Janis. We missed Ivan’s mom, Marie, who passed away earlier this year.

Gisela and Ivan

Janis and Gisela

Wednesday morning was the monthly CSHS Class of ‘63 breakfast at Arnie’s in Rockford. Saw Joyce Nelson Jones, her brother Ted, Nancy MacAnally Hanna and husband Don, Pat Dunn LaMore, Gaylen Demarest, and Ivan.

Class of ‘63

Later in the week we had a quick visit from Esther Bolthouse Clark who was in Michgan on a house hunting tour looking for a summer place. She stopped by to purchase some of Gisela’s jewelry for a friend.



The next big event was on Friday night…a fish fry! Chick Salisbury brought his traveling deep fat fryer over and cooked about 25 pounds of pan fish that Ivan, Jerry Heiss and Chick caught and Ivan and Janis, God bless them, cleaned. The fish and the onion rings were wonderful. Most of the fish were small fillets; but a few were pan fried fish with all the bones still in place. Bill apparently committed a cardinal sin by attacking it with a knife and fork rather than doing the Michigan finger food method of eating and deboning it. Ivan kindly pointed out the error of his ways…Thanks, Ivan

Chick and Bill


The first event of the Cedar Springs Red Flannel Festival was a wine tasting on Saturday, September 10. We were designated as VIPs for the event by Michele Tracy-Andres who is a real dynamo as the festival chairperson. It was great to finally meet her in person after a couple of years of online communications.

It was a real treat to catch up with Dorothy Bishop who is a real icon in the Red Flannel Festival world. She is a former parade Grand Marshal and has built more floats than you can shake a stick at.

We also met up with the parade Grand Marshal, Gary Gust and his wife. Lolly. Gary and Bill were the number 1 and 2 singles players on the CSHS tennis team in ‘62. Gary went on to play tennis for Ferris State University and Bill was the number 1 singles player at CSHS the next year and went on to Captain the Notre Dame freshman tennis team in 63/64. They met again in the Cedar Springs men’s tournament that summer. As Bill recalls, he won that match.

We spent the better part of a month in Site 1 at Camp Opperman. We did make a speed run in the car - Wally - (as in Wally and the Beav) when Gisela’s mom had an attack of atrial fibrulation that resulted in her moving to a nursing home. We left on Tuesday to make the move and got back to Michigan on Friday…just in time to go to the Notre Dame/Michigan State football game in Indiana.

Bill bought Bob and Ivan tickets to the game for their respective birthdays. Ivan and Bill left early to pick up Bob in Kalamazoo and stop at Sweetwater Bakery for APPLE FRITTERS. Unfortunately, they had run out by the time we got there. They pressed on to Indiana arriving around noon for a 3:30 kickoff. Ivan was all decked out in his MSU regalia but he was not alone. Ivan, for those who don’t know, or who have forgotten, is the guy who got four ND guys…Sugnet, Finneran, Smith, and Pollock, tickets to the Game of the Century - ND vs. MSU 1966. (I know, Weaver, you lined us up with dates, which we ignored as we headed back to ND after the disappointing tie. Sorry…)

The Golden Dome

Ivan and Bill

Ivan was a bit disappointed as the Irish beat the Spartans like a rented mule…but these things happen. 
This tells the tale

After the game they did see Tom Rhoads and Jim Ryan, two members of the 1966 National Championship team (tie notwithstanding); also saw Nick Eddy, George Geodeke, Rocky Bleier, Jim Lynch, Dave Martin, John Horney who were all there for a reunion of the ‘66 team. They and the rest of the team along with Coach Ara Parsegian were introduced before the game.


Kathie and Tom Rhoads, Mary and Jim Ryan

Bill, Bob, and Ivan made what is becoming a traditional stop in Three Rivers at the KFC on our way home. If you didn’t know, you can hit a KFC just before closing and get some real bargains…some of the stuff will just get thrown out…three piece dinners became five piece dinners. Bill doesn’t care what anyone says…KFC makes good fried chicken.

We spent a delightful evening with Gaylen and Diane Demarest who came Ivan’s for dinner. It was fun to catch up with them…even if Gaylen did admit that the help he offered on the float wasn’t gonna happen. He forgot they had plans that week. Your loss, Gaylen.

Bill also made his annual pilgrimage to the Cedar Springs Museum and visited with Betty Heiss, queen of Cedar Springs genealogy, Tanya Eldred and Sally Grannis Grayvold. It is always a treat to catch up with everyone.

We also were able to visit Cliff and Bonnie Bedore in Greenville where they were visiting Cliff’s parents. We both traveled long distances from Virginia and Maryland to get together in Michigan.

The following weekend was the kickoff of the Cedar Springs Red Flannel Festival…What the heck is that all about you ask. The full explanation can be found at http://redflannelfestival.org/wp/about-2/history/ .

On Friday, September 23, Tom and Jil Mohr arrived at Camp Opperman. It was great to see them again. We last saw them in late 2010 in Benson, Arizona. Tom and Bill headed off to the Cedar Springs Red Hawk football game. Cedar triumphed. At the end of the third quarter they had a person from the stands come on the field and try to kick a field goal. Tom thought it would be neat if I did that the next week. So he talked to some people and I was in as the ‘guy from the stands.‘ More on that later.

Saturday dawned on the Red Flannel Festival Chili Cook Off. Bill entered his Texas Red Flannel Chili that was so well received in the west. Bill learned that Ivan knew what he talking about when he said people in Michigan demand beans in their chili. The winning chili was very good and it had beans and onions and tomatoes, and big hunks of peppers. It was more like a chili stew. Lessons learned: 1. Listen to Ivan. 2. Don’t send real Texas chili up against Michigan chili in Michigan. It was a fun day even if Wild Willie and his Chili was not appreciated.

Saturday night was a double header. First, there was the traditional “Lumberjack Supper.” Salt Pork, Ham, Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Lumberjack Gravy…A real treat was seeing Bill’s first grade teacher, Marge Clark. She recognized Bill…hard to believe he hasn’t changed some since first grade.



Marge Clark on left; Royalty on right

Tom and Bill went on to the Red Flannel Queen Pageant. Bill was able to get Tom some backstage access for his photography. By the end of the pageant, he was the official photographer. Here you see him practicing his art:



Sunday brought us a reunion of Bill’s cousins on his mother’s side. We gathered in less that perfect weather at Holland State Park on Lake Michigan; eight of nine surviving cousins. The location is where all of us spent some of our summers in the 40’s and 50’s…at Grandpa and Grandma MacGregor’s cottage at Ottawa Beach on Lake Mackatawa.. It was great to catch up with everyone and meet some spouses that we didn’t know. We just kept talking and talking and talking…



Tom and Jil spent a few days taking in the sites in Grand Rapids and its Art Prize event. Tom thought he might enter his photographic art next year. We were aiming toward the weekend…the big Red Flannel Day on Saturday. The major task was to build the float. Yes indeed, we entered a Pollock’s Store Float in the Parade. Gisela continued preparing for her - Mostly Wire’s - first indoor craft show.

We also managed to squeeze in our annual golf outing at the Whitefish Lake Golf Club. Gisela drives the cart and Ivan, Janis, and Bill played. Well Ivan and Janis played. Bill did manage to chip in a thirty footer from the fringe so he’ll be back again.

Tom designed the float. Converting an 18 foot long trailer used for delivering trees into a proper float was no simple thing. A bunch of 2 X 2’s, a few 2 X 4’s and some decorative trim plus two days of work got the job done. This photo tells the story:

On Thursday, we hosted Don Koster for our annual steak fry. Don managed the Pollock’s Store men’s department from the mid-1950’s to the mid-1960’s. They had some fun, crazy times back then and never tire of reliving them.

A cold, windy and blustery night greeted us on Friday night for the Football game. The whole gang -Ivan, Janis, Tom, Jil, Gisela, and Bob turned out to watch Bill attempt his field goal. Bill was introduced as the guy who quarterbacked the Red Hawks to a 14-7 win over Fremont 50 years ago that week. The wind was threatening to blow the ball off the tee; Jeff Gust said some thing like “Hurry, we only have 45 seconds.” Long story, short - wide right. Blame it on the 25 MPH wind. Bill did make 5 out of 7 in practice.



Saturday dawned as a perfect Michigan fall day. First Tom and Jil, Bill and Gisela found the craft show venue after a few missed turns. After all, none of the school building were there when Bill went to school here. Tom and Bill set up the grids and departed to finish up on the float.

Just before the Parade Bill, Tom, and Brother Bob got our trailer in line then whipped into town to meet Michele Tracy-Andres. She wanted Bill to be interviewed by a PBS TV crew for a feature on the Festival. “Old” Bill’s job was to give them the history of Red Flannel Day, which he did. It is supposed to air in Michigan next June.


We then raced back to the lineup to finish trimming the float. All was in readiness for the 3:00 PM start. We were joined by Ivan’s daughter Kristen, her husband Anthony who drove the truck, and their six kids. Three of the kids joined Bill, Bob, Tom and Jil on the float…you gotta have some cute kids.


Bill and Bob finish decorating the float

Jil and Tom Mohr

The parade was fun. The people with grey hair smiled and waved; the younger people looked at us like we had two heads. You see, Pollock’s Store ceased to operate in 1974 so if you were under, say 50, you didn’t have any memory of it. Sue Grannis Harrison, the parade announcer put it all into perspective telling the crowd about how the Pollock and Allchin families supported the Red Flannel theme for many years as the owners of the “Original Red Flannel Store.”

Passing Pollock’s Store Location


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Passing Bill's old house

Gisela’s craft show experience wasn’t so fun. Lots of compliments on her jewelry but not many buyers. We think the economy in Michigan isn’t conducive to selling jewelry.

On Sunday, October 2, exhausted but happy we departed Camp Opperman for Virginia after having our usual goodbye breakfast with the Oppermans. This time we were also joined by Bob. Tom and Jil took of at first light after a hot breakfast compliments of Ivan and Janis. They drove the 1800 plus miles to Arizona in less than four days…

All in all it was an action packed month. We headed back to Virginia for the fall and holiday season before beginning another year of travel and adventure in 2012.

THE ROVING POLLOCKS
2010

Bill's note: Well, I guess I have really painted myself into a corner this time: I have gone over a year without writing anything about our travels. That’s no problem if I don’t ever intend to write another thing about the Pollock’s Rovings. However, since I have not made that decision and every now and then someone…today it was Penny Pelzer…says ”Are you keeping a journal?” or “You should write a book.” Or “Why don’t you do your travelogues any more?”, I have decided to draw a line in the sand and get back to it.

A few caveats: Even with Gisela’s help, I will probably forget some things and thus, fail to mention some people. For that I apologize in advance. I will also probably get some things wrong and some stuff will be made up to make the story better…that’s just the Irish in me…you know, the Blarney (Yes, I have kissed the Blarney Stone.) Last, Gisela helps me a lot with this and deserves tons of credit and none of the blame for the errors. That is mine alone and is usually caused by refusal to listen to her advice. Having said all that let’s get on with it.

The last reports of substance that we wrote and posted to the Roving Pollocks blog: http://rovingpollocks.blogspot.com - was about the fall and early winter of 2009. These included our foray to the Big Apple and our cameo with Al Roker on the Today show. Many of you, including Bill’s own children, did not even know about Al Roker and the Guy in the Lobster Hat. That’s because many of you, including Bill’s own children, won’t click on a link in an email to go to our blog. Some will go to the blog but not click on links in the blog. So for those of you who missed it, go to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?=vbb6Z0b9By5A and see our 15 seconds of fame.




We also alluded to our ‘roadside rip-off’ following another brake failure just before Thanksgiving 2009 on our way to the Chambers Farm Pow-Wow Boomerang in Florida. Again without boring you with details, we received a refund of $1000 thanks to Investigator Moon who investigates violations of the Florida Motor Vehicle Repair Act. The good news is we have not had another brake failure or fire since then thanks to Walt’s Brakes in Ocala who got us the right calipers.

Paul, Yvette and William flew to Orlando to visit Disney World and take a Disney Cruise with Brian and Judith, Yvette's Dad and Step-mom. We took the opportunity to pick them up at the airport, take them to dinner and then deliver them to their hotel. Actually, the whole thing was an excuse for Bill to buy another hat...this time it was a Mickey Mouse ears hat that he claimed was for William. In the final analysis, William did end up with the hat but Bill really wanted to keep it...he looked so good in it. Right!


We left the Beav in Florida in early December 2009 and hustled back to Virginia in Wally (our Jeep) for the Holidays – Wally and the Beav…get it? – We had to get the cabin back in shape for a stream of visitors. All was going well until about five days before Christmas when it happened. A “two-footer.” Yes, that’s right, two feet of snow. It took four two-hour shoveling sessions to clear our one hundred foot long driveway. The first three sessions, 10:00 PM, 1:00 AM, and 4:00 AM, were handled by Bill. The last at 9:00 AM was accomplished by Gisela and the best neighbors on the planet, Scott and Missy White, who are also young and fit. Yes, folks, Gisela got suited up and shoveled…mumbling ‘never again…no way…no how.’ (Other mumbles are not printable.) We did succeed in getting things clear and got Ann and Dwayne in for Christmas.












However, because the mountain was still pretty nasty with ice and snow we took our New Year’s celebration with Don and Kathee Larmee to their house in Virginia Beach. We had the usual wonderful dinner thanks to Kathee and Gisela followed by the usual idiotic lowering of the Acorn at midnight by Don and Bill. When will they ever grow up…never if we are lucky.


















We continued heading south stopping by to see Paul, Yvette and William in Kill Devil Hills, NC. We heard all about their Disney Cruise, a mixed review, and just enjoyed more family time. It was then on to Florida.

When we returned to the Beav in Orange Lake we found that the hydronic heating system was leaking diesel fuel. Sooo it was back to Wildwood for more repairs. We had previously spent a week there before we went north for the holidays…the good part of that visit was we met Johnnie Depp’s father, John. The bad part was the mucho dollars we left behind.

While we were in Wildwood we took the opportunity to visit our former High Knob neighbors, Tim and Louise Fahey at their new house in The Villages. They were pretty darn happy to have finally realized their dream.

We pretty much stayed parked at near Ocala until we started our move north in the spring. We made a circuit of Florida and actually stayed in a motel at Clearwater Beach while attending the Tampa RV show with Ron and Ginny Norton. There we ran into Boomers Mary Lane and Elaine Cannell who we had last seen in Virginia in October. We turned south to visit Liz Banta for a few days. While there we saw Bob and Francie Storey and Bob and Peggy Bloom. From there we made a run down to Marathon in the Keys to visit John and Ellen Albin and our favorite Westie, Piper. On our way and while there, we saw the impact of the freezing weather. Acres of dead tomato plants around Homestead, the devastation visited on the sea turtles in the Gulf of Florida and the massive fish kills in the Everglades…well fed ‘gators. We visited the Turtle Hospital in Marathon and heard the story of how they rescued over a hundred sea turtles that had be shocked by the cold waters of the Gulf where normal water temperatures in the seventies dropped into the forties.









There were two big events in February. Bill’s birthday which we celebrated by going on a short cruise to the Bahamas with Ron and Ginny Norton. Good food, conversation and lots of Pegs and Jokers with good friends.

The other big event was a Cedar Springs High School Class of 1963 mini-reunion at our RV park at Orange Lake, Florida. We had Ivan and Janis Opperman, Chuck and Mary Crosby, Art and Penny Pelzer and the Pollocks. We almost had Shirley Duncan but her sister broke her arm so she had to stay with her on the Gulf Coast. We were able to conjure up an online video conversation with Lisa Van Someren. What fun!


Along came March and it was time to move west to one of our favorite destinations, Betty’s RV Park in Abbeville, LA. We rendezvoused with Ron and Ginny Norton at a park on the Suwannee River…as in ‘Way down upon the …’. We proceed to the Apalachicola, Florida area where we stopped at an RV ‘resort’ that we heard about at the Tampa RV show. It was a work in progress but the owners were very friendly and accommodating. It was located in the town of Carabelle, which was a work where progress had come to an abrupt halt. Several half completed developments that had fallen on hard times. The first night we were there the owners prepared and served a whole bunch of topped oysters that were great. The next night one of the park residents prepared homemade pasta. The owners whipped up a tomato vodka sauce for the pasta…this was beginning to look like a future ‘Betty’s.’ Until the next morning that is, when we were scheduled to move on but Ginny and Bill we soooo sick they could hardly move. They both stayed in bed all day. We are not sure it was the vodka sauce since Ron and Gisela appeared to be unaffected but to this day Bill can’t even look at a jar of the stuff in the grocery store. We did get to enjoy some famous Apalachicola oysters at Papa Joe’s on the waterfront. Worth the trip to sample some of the country’s best oysters.

After a day in bed we were able to continue on to the Pensacola Elks and then on to Foley, Alabama where we went in search of an old established Elks lodge with a new RV parking area. Turns out it was a new Elks Lodge building with an old run down RV parking area. But it was just down the road from a Dodge Dealer which was good because Ron and Ginny’s drive shaft decided to give up the ghost. A high point of our Alabama stop was a visit to Fairhope and lunch in a restaurant that had been featured on the food network…OK, so it was on’ Diners, Drive-ins and Dives’ but it was still good.

From there we made a beeline to Betty’s with a brief overnight stop at a Sam’s Club in Slidell, Louisiana. At Betty’s we were meeting up with other good friends who had journeyed from the west, Tom and Jil Mohr, Geoff and Nancy Justiss, and Chris Christianson. We were gonna let the good times role in Cajun country. And we did. Being at Betty’s is always a treat. Betty goes out of her way to make sure all her visitors have a great time. We enjoyed lots of crawfish, took a great swamp tour on Lake Martin, savored the Po’ Boy sandwiches at Bon Creole in New Iberia (Dave Robicheaux and James Lee Burke’s hometown), enjoyed some great Cajun music by Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys at a Catfish festival in Washington, LA…food and music - two great themes of Cajun country.



For nearly a year before arriving at Betty’s, Gisela has been making Jewelry. It is made with sterling silver, brass and copper wire and various beads and stones. She took a few classes and enjoyed the artistry of making each pendant, necklace, bracelet, and ring. We began to be faced with the problem of what to do with the accumulating art. Our stop at Betty’s, presented the beginning of the solution. Another guest at Betty’s brought out her beading to show the group. Gisela showed some of her work and …lo and behold…people asked if she would sell a couple of pieces…which, of course, she did. That marked the beginning of what is now a budding small business: MostlyWire, Jewelry Handcrafted by Gisela. She now has an online shop on ETSY, www.mostlywire.etsy.com and she is now selling at street fairs, craft shows, farmers markets, etc., as we travel. More on that later.

With much regret we departed Betty’s and went our separate ways although Geoff and Nancy, Chris and ourselves headed for New Orleans for a few days. During our visit to Betty’s and NO, both Geoff and then Nancy were fighting some sort of malady that kept one or both in quarantine most of the time. Nevertheless Geoff and Bill were able to tour the World War II museum and Gisela and Chris took a city tour that showed the lingering devastation from Hurricane Katrina.

While in NO, we received word that Bill’s daughter, Ann’s husband, Dwayne’s mom, Ginger Carpenter passed away after a long battle with various respiratory ailments. We hit the road for Virginia in order to get to Fredericksburg for the funeral. We did arrive in time for Ginger’s funeral and we were glad to be able to express our condolences in person to Dwayne and his dad, Lee.

The only excitement on the trip north was when another motor home decided to plunge its left side into our driver’s side mirror while we were stopped at a Flying J truck stop in Alabama. Just another aspect of the RV lifestyle. Upon arrival in Front Royal, we off loaded our stuff, took the motor home to the body shop to have the mirror repainted, and then put it in storage for a whole three weeks during which we checked on Gisela’s mom who is at an Alzheimer’s facility nearby, visited Paul and Family and Ann and Dwayne before heading for Michigan for Pat Pollock’s wedding. Pat is Bill’s brother, Mac’s widow. She and Mark Rodak were married in Lake Leelanau, Michigan on May 1. We were really glad we could be there.

We then took the motor home down to Rockford to Camp Opperman, AKA Shaner Avenue Nursery where celebrated Gisela’s Birthday on May 3.

Leaving the Beav there we returned to Virginia for a few weeks of additional medical, dental and family visiting. The biggest event was Mostly Wire’s (Gisela’s) first ever craft show. It was the Front Royal Wine and Craft show. And it was a success…that is, she took in more than the entry fee.

When we returned we enjoyed visiting Ivan and Janis and their family for a week or so. After which, we headed for Kalamazoo to visit Bill’s Brother, Bob, and to join up with Geoff and Nancy again. This time they were both healthy! And we took a trip to Elkhart, IN to see the RV Museum and visited the fabulous Frederick Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids. We also were able to visit Gisela's pal Rosie Brock in Saint Joe, Michigan.

By mid June we were on the brink of our great “Summer out West.” That will be the subject of the next installment of our 2010 report.