OK  for those history buffs among you here is a neat one. We were up in the park at Lake Grapevine and this unique watercraft putted by. Well ... if you are old enough you will recognize an Amphicar ... neat. This thing was made in the the 60's and could drive from the driveway right into the lake without getting out of the seat.

 

 

 

 

Look it up ... while made in Germany it is really a neat little machine ... put your fishing gear in the back seat in the burbs and then just drive over and into the lake ... what could be more simple.

 

 

 

About 500 are still in existance today around the world some 50 years later but here you can see 4 of these little water-land craft "driving" around the lake near Dallas.

 

 

 

A really neat bit of German technology that wasn't quite as popular as the designers had thought ... don't know why though today.

We are back in Bryan and one of the first events would be to celebrate the birthday of my Dad who is 96 on October 28th.

 

We booked Cenare in College Station which has been his favorite for at least 20 years if not longer. This is a nice quiet place where we can chat and enjoy each other and those places are harder to find now.

 

 

 

 

We had a couple bottles of wine and then the surprise. I had told the owner that the patriarch would be there for his 96th ... so then the 25ish waiter shows up and sings Happy Birthday in absolutely flawless Italian, a capella style, to Papa ... wow!

 

 

 

We had a beautiful evening with Mom and Dad and Rich and Kerry. We told Dad that for his 100th we would reserve the entire restaurant just for him and his friends and family ... hey I'm not kidding.

We are back in the Dallas Texas area in our favorite park in Grapevine. The picture was taken this morning at about 7 as I was eating breakfast and has the geese in the foreground and the marina in the back ... nice.

 

In the last week from Barrie, we went 1800 miles. At 8.4 miles to the gallon we used 214 gallons of diesel at an average of $4.19 for a total of about $898 for the trip.

 

 

 

As we crossed into Texas we decided to get off the Interstate and do the two-lane ... much more interesting and scenic. Here is a typical roadside park in Texas ... nicely maintained and clean.

 

 

 

And one of the residents of the roadside park. This daddy long legs(sp?) spider is great ... I love the camera.

 

 

 

OK so then we get out the book again and head for a top rated (10.10.10) park in Canton Texas called the Mill Creek Ranch. Ranch maybe, but a 7 overall park ... bad rating. Poorly maintained. It was like the Hot Springs one where they had the money to start the place and develop the infrastructure but then ran out of money and gave up ... sad ... about $30 but not worth going back.

 

 

 

And here we are in Grapevine again with the almost two years old Everett and G'Ma entertaining the restaurant at Tolberts in Grapevine.

 

 

 

On Sunday we head down to Bryan for a week and then back here around the 28th of October.

After the Elkhart area we consulted the Good Sam Trailer Life directory for a park near Indianapolis that was well regarded. Our selection ended up with a place in Anderson called Timberline Valley RV resort ... rated highly at a 9.9.9.

 

Well here it is folks, not so hot. Very narrow gravel sites and quite unkempt ... and the side by side hookup situation ... no excuse! I could hear the guy snoring in his bedroom six feet away. This place was a nice 7 but no more.

 

 

And then as we were trying to slow down our travel to about 200 miles a day we landed on the 12th of October in Cave City Kentucky, one of our favorite stops. This was at Cave Country Campground rated an 8.10.9. Better place than the last and well maintained with fairly wide sites.

 

 

 

So then, always watching the weather we headed south and then west toward Memphis. In previous years we have stayed at other places in Memphis but now tried the park on the Naval Support Facility in Millington just north of Memphis ... really great. $21 gets you a level concrete well maintained site with plenty of room. Nice place with super management ... a definite 10 by comparison.

 

 

 

 

And then we stopped in Hot Springs. We have stopped here before in the KOA but decided to try the Catherines Landing RV Resort ($36) as it was rated a 10.10.10. Don't even think about it! While it had a nice infrastructure there was no current maintenance in addition to very difficult to get to ... back to the KOA if staying in Hot Springs.

 

 

 

 

Back in the USA!

But wow it has been crazy.

 

OK, no pics right now as it has been a pretty busy time.  We departed our summer location in Barrie on the morning of the 9th ... pretty lazy, clear out of the primo park and say goodbye to friends and a super KOA management ... the absolute best. We hit the 400 expressway toward Toronto for the easy trip to Port Huron.

 

On advice from an acquaintance we hopped off the expressway for a parallel route that would lead us around Toronto more quickly ... NOT. The two lane 27 while attractive was bogged down with traffic and much slower than the main road would have been.

 

OK, now we are on the main road from Toronto to Port Huron. Oops, now it's been over an hour and buster and I have to go bad ... too many coffees. We pop off the four lane on an exit and end up in ... a ... bus terminal with parking only for cars. After one circuit we are pretty well stuck and have to unhook the car from the RV to move an inch in either direction. The local security personnel offer help but we have to detach the car to back up to get out of the bus lane. We unhook in record time ... no pressure here ... and hook up again in the bus lane.

 

OK, back rolling again. Now it's about noon and we need a place to eat. We pull into a service center ... the only one between Toronto and Sarnia. Because this is the only place for a hundred miles there are hundreds of trucks and no place to park. We pull to the curb in the middle of the roadway and let Buster do his thing ... today is not going well. After getting back on the expressway we eat sandwiches and tell each other what a great time we are having.

 

Finally we arrive at Port Huron and cross the bridge and back into the USA which takes all of about ten minutes ... best and easiest part of the day. And we arrive at the KOA where they assign us a site ... and after we get the slides out and the level jacks down we realize it is for only 30 amp service ... NOT. Unhook, unlevel, pull slides in and go to office where we get a proper site. WOW what a day!

 

OK, we are not done yet. Tonight we are in the vicinity of Indianapolis. After arriving in Elkhart yesterday we get a call saying that the dealer cannot do the propane tank replacement now. The tank is on order from the manufacturer and will be two months ... Oops.  Gotta be flexible, eh. So we spend the night there and now are moving toward getting Jo-Anne back to Texas to get a tooth extracted as her root on the tooth in question is cracked and there is no other alternative.

 

Like I said we are in Anderson, Indiana and will head south toward Cave City tomorrow.

 

We having fun!

 

 

Wow ... Fall!

 

 

 

Over the years we have done the northern route and seen the trees change in the week we went south.

 

 

But this is the first year to sit and see Fall happen. There are so many oaks and maples here with a smattering of pines that the display is awesome to watch.

 

 

 

Nothing here is Photoshop ... no effort required for brilliant color and variety.

 

 

 

And even the one above. It was shot at about 7 in the morning and the morning light made the tree trunk greenish. This whole place turns orange at this time of year ..

 

 

 

 

 

And right at the corner about a kilometer from the KOA is Dalston and the corner where we turn to go to Barrie ... and this awesome maple.

Here's a really neat shot of the kids from Texas ... smiles for all!

 

 

 

 

And Ev doing what little boys do best ... run through a puddle.

 

 

 

This is a really great and Ev is having the time of his life ... and the rest of us can really enjoy it and then Brooks has to clean up the water soaked kid ... parenthood is wonderful .. and so is being a grandparent ... nice pic, hope he cleaned up well.

Last weekend we decided to do a fall color drive north of us. We took highway 11 to the northeast of Barrie and stopped at Bracebridge for lunch. Then we cut northwest through Port Carling toward the 400 and back home ... beautiful trip on a 60's sunny day.

 

 

 

This is the view of where Bracebridge's main street ends in the river, falls and railway all in the same spot. Really cool setting.

 

 

 

And a particularly nice tree display in the park.

 

 

 

While the colors are deepening each day this photo really doesn't do justice to how neat the color contrasts were and they are getting better every day.

 

 

 

And ... of course ... those pesky ... protected? ... snakes!

 

 

Last Friday on our tour of the lakes region we went to a familiar restaurant we had visited last year in Bracebridge. This is the Old Station today. Well you can see why they call it what they do as you can see the twin columns which used to be the posts where the pumps were in this gas station of the 1920's.

 

 

 

And the way it looked almost 100 years ago.

 

 

 

 

Inside we had a wonderful lunch with some really great service ... pubish atmosphere and great sandwiches. Here's the tasters with a nice glass of Malbec to celebrate ... Friday.

 

 

 

 

In front of me is their special of the day. It was a shaved prime rib on ciabatta bread (fresh and warm). It is with mozzarella, red onions, tomato, lettuce, and a warm rosemary beef cream sauce ... wow.

 

Soup is a cream of cauliflower and cheese. Jo-Anne is enjoying a "perfect" pulled pork BBQ sandwich on a sort of pita bread (the same warm and fresh) accompanied by the same soup and some coleslaw.

 

 

 

In the center of the place is this huge tree trunk, almost bearish looking, from a stump on the property hit by lightening some 25 years ago ... cool.