Heading North

12' 1" covered bridge just outside Tohikon Family Campground
near Quakertown, PA

Covered bridges and motorhomes are not always the best of friends. I am becoming increasingly aware that not all roads are designed for our 11' 6" high motorhome. The covered bridge on the road in front of our campground outside of Quakertown, PA says 12' 1". Hearing Pearl's objections we decided not to try going through it. Most roads post warning signs well in advance but as the number of low clearance bridges and underpasses are increasing in this area I find myself recalling the horror stories I have read about motorhomes stuck or missing vital components from its roof.

Former ICA students Joy Brokopp and her brother Andy Brokopp.

Also pictured Andy's & Erica's children Isaiah & Bella

While camped at Summit Grove Camp in New Freedom, PA we had the opportunity to reconnect with a couple of former students from our days at International Christian Academy. Andy just recently assumed a position caring for the grounds and buildings at the Christian camp. Unfortunately Andy's wife, Erica, was working and couldn't meet with us but we did get to meet their two children, Isaiah and Bella. Andy's sister, Joy, was also a student at ICA and was able to join us in worship at their church and for a meal afterwards.

As we have begun to move North in our travels we keep experiencing early spring over and over again. The redbud trees' blooms were already disappearing in South Carolina but are in full bloom here in Pennsylvania. We hadn't seen daffodils and tulips for weeks but here they are again at our current campground in Quakertown, PA. Here the hardwood trees are just beginning to leaf out while just days ago at our campground in Prince William National Park in the DC area they made such a beautiful green colored forest.

Prince William National Park located just south of DC

In our initial planning for this trip we recognized that QT was going to limit some of our options. She hates to travel in a car--abundant and persistent howling, whining, barking. Traveling in the motorhome is better but still not perfect. We are a bit envious of the typical picture of the dog almost smiling with its head out the window and ears flapping in the breeze. We are able to leave her in the motorhome with blinds drawn so she isn't distracted but not for an extended period of time. 

National Cathedral, DC

White House, DC

Union Station, DC

We knew this would especially be a problem in metropolitan areas where our campground may be an hour or two outside the city even before factoring in rush hour traffic. For Washington DC we scheduled our trip for Sunday to get rid of the commuter issue, drove to a metro station and took the metro to Union Station where we took a tour bus for a few hours. Visits to Smithsonian and other museums will have to wait for another time.

Monument at Cemetery Hill, Gettysburg

While at Summit Grove Camp in New Freedom PA we managed to squeeze in two trips.One to Gettysburg and another to Hershey. I had visited Gettysburg some 20 years before and was deeply moved by what I read and saw about the events that had taken place in the very places I was standing--especially the loss of life and limbs. This trip seemed very different. More touristy with even a sign at the fudge kiosk in the visitor's center encouraging you to take home "a taste of Gettysburg."

Tombstones at Cemetery Hill, Gettysburg

Hershey was another story. Just a fun place to be a tourist, even if it meant paying more for your chocolate bars than anywhere else in the U.S. It would have been fun to buy one of those huge candy kisses or that five pound chocolate bar.

While here at Tohikon Family Campground near Quakertown PA we initially planned to go into Philadelphia to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. Thinking of commuters, limited time, and QT we reconsidered and drove to the Lancaster area to Amish country. We spent most of our time in shops but also thoroughly enjoyed just driving for a few hours in the area to see the farms, buggies, mules & horses being used for plowing & haying--just the opportunity for a glimpse of a culture very different than mine. We even squeezed in a little time for a smorgasbord lunch featuring many of the Pennsylvania Dutch dishes.

I am continuing to enjoy having my brother Dick and his wife Shirley traveling with us in their 21 ft. camper van pulling a utility trailer. We have a little more than two weeks together before they head back to their home in South Carolina. They have a young dog that outweighs QT about 4:1 or 5:1. QT is over 13 years old while Delta is closer to a puppy at 2 years old. Interesting to see them interact. They obviously both want to be friends but size and age seem to hinder the relationship. One moment the tales are wagging and they are face to face nuzzling each other. The next moment the friendship seems to disappear into snarls, bared teeth and aggressive moves. Dick, Shirley, Elmer and Pearl seem to be maintaining a more consistent friendly relationship!

PEOPLE!

Dick & Shirley Baxter preparing to catch catfish

We managed some more zero dollar campground fees by parking in the yard of Dick & Shirley Baxter in Gaffney SC for a few days. Fun to spend time with them! We visited a historic revolutionary war battleground (Cow Pens) and museum, took in part of a rehearsal of the play Harvey in which Shirley had a role, saw the play Nunsense at Limestone College where my nephew Tim is a professor of theater arts. Tim's wife, Susan was directing the Harvey play.

I think it was the biggest catfish caught that day!

I also added an 8 foot vinyl fence post to the bottom of the motorhome. The task was made much easier with brother Dick's help. I gave the motorhome its first bath since we left Oregon. It was not just dirty but coated with yellow pollen. Within minutes of washing it was again coated with pollen :-( We picked up an air compressor that we had previously ordered to be shipped to Gaffney. Now all I need to do is figure out how to access those inner dual valve stems!

While in Gaffney we enjoyed fishing at a private pond belonging to one of Dick's golfing buddies. Dick cleaned and filleted the catfish and Pearl later cooked it with a delicious coating of a pear relish and pecans.

with Gary Nuss

Myrtle Beach SC was our next destination to meet up with Gary Nuss and Kim Zegelien. Gary recently moved to a condominium with his dad, Ike. Gary is an educator working with special needs students in the area. He had served with us at ICA in Africa. We had enjoyed many trips together in Africa and Europe during school breaks. It was great to see him again and meet his dad and Latte.

with Kim Zegelien

Kim Zegelien is an administrator, teacher,and coach at a private Christian school in North Carolina. She was in the Myrtle Beach area for a coaching workshop at the same time we were there. Kim also served at ICA with us and Gary. It was not only fun to see her again but to learn some new things about her, like her love for her Harley.

While at Myrtle Beach we enjoyed the atmosphere of this seaside resort area during spring break, seeing some of the sights, worshiping with Gary, his dad, and Kim at the United Methodist church on Palm Sunday, and enjoying again Gary's gifts and skills as a host and cook. Of course we checked out the beach and Pearl dipped her toes in the U.S. side of the Atlantic having already experienced the Africa side.

Pearl testing the Atlantic Ocean at Myrtle Beach SC

We moved on a bit north to Carolina Beach in North Carolina just south of Wilmington. We had opportunity to visit another civil war museum and battleground area at Fort Fisher just north of our campground. Interesting to see some of the Intracoastal Waterways that were so important in avoiding the Union blockades during the Civil War and still allow passage of large ships today.

While their we enjoyed a visit from another former student. Helen (Gibbons) White was one of our students at Dalat School in Malaysia. She and her husband Doug have been missionaries in Brazil for many years and are currently between church pastorates here in the U.S. Sorry we left you out of the picture, Doug! Helen and Doug had to cut their visit short as the Carolina Beach State Park campground locked its gates at 8 PM and doesn't open them again until 8 PM the next morning.

with Helen (Gibbons) White

Now we are at Arrowhead Campground on Badin Lake in North Carolina. Dick and Shirley are due to join us this afternoon and after a couple of days we will move on to Rudd's Creek Campground on Kerr Reservoir straddling the North Carolina - Virginia border. After a few days there we go to Oakridge Campground in Prince William National Forest just south of Washington DC.

On Easter Sunday we worshiped with the Atlanta First Baptist Church, enjoying a beautiful mass choir and orchestra presentation and the preaching of Charles Stanley. Unfortunately it was too far to drive to Atlanta so we participated via TV.

But we did have the opportunity later in the day to visit with a family we knew from our very first year at ICA, the Byerly's.  We had been invited to join them for a family Easter dinner. Thank you so much. Great fellowship, delicious meal, and especially enjoyed making interconnecting webs again. We were greeted by Ben Mickelson who is married to Brenda (Byerly). They have served overseas and are now in the Greensboro area. Ben is an ESL educator. Brenda is a nurse in an ER facility. They are expecting twin boys in June. We won't comment on prospective names.

L to R in back: Pearl, Bonnie Byerly, Brenda (Byerly) & Ben Mickelson, Elmer
kneeling: Becky Byerly

Becky is a math and science teacher in a public school in the Greensboro area. Bonnie works with a veterinarian and had a dog and two rabbits at the house suggesting its more than just a job. Missing were oldest son Ben, son Billy, and daughter Beth. It had been our privilege to teach all of the Byerly kids plus some of their spouses, including Ben Mickelson and to coach most if not all of the girls in basketball at ICA.

People! Definitely one of the most important benefits of this trip is getting to reconnect with people that have been such an important part of our lives.

Relaxing by the Lake

Red Bud trees blooming along the roads throughout the South

We've been enjoying the beautiful blossoms on the red bud trees and just this week are seeing the dog wood trees beginning to bloom. One of the towns nearby has advertised an azalea festival in a couple of weeks but I haven't seen a hint of an azalea bloom so far--their festival may be in anticipation of future azalea blooms.

For the last few weeks we have been camping at Corps of Engineers campgrounds--a good choice for us old people with the Golden Age pass giving us a 50% discount. The Corps of Engineers have created low dams to form shallow reservoirs all over the south. There are large, multi-fingered lakes everywhere and most of them have more than one campground to choose from.

View from our Twin Lakes campsite on Hartwell Lake
in South Carolina near Georgia border

Our current site is the Twin Lakes COE campground on Hartwell Lake on the border of Georgia and South Carolina. Our site is right on the lake. With a breeze from the lake to help us handle the 80+ temperature, the sound of the wind in the trees and the waves against the shore, the scenic views, boats in the water, kids on bikes on the roads, squirrels and birds everywhere, its not too difficult to relax!

We eat most of our meals in the motorhome but when we do eat out we often find restaurants that are going to offer food typical of the area rather than the fast food places. Lately we've been enjoying catfish. Pearl's catfish was served with a marmalade and pecan crust and she chose cheese grits as one of the sides. She liked  the grits so much that we found the cheddar cheese grits at Wal-Mart and have them w/ breakfast occasionally. We stopped at a restaurant in Alabama for lunch after church and discovered they were offering a buffet of typical southern food including some shoo fly pie (southern variety) for desert. Great meal! 

At every major highway intersection there seems to be a Waffle House. Not familiar with that in Oregon so we decided to try it and were not disappointed. A waiting line seems standard, food was good (pecan waffle) and reasonably priced.

Most of our "seeing" is just enjoying the unending variety God's creation as we travel but occasionally we check out some of the tourist attractions. In Alabama we visited the Gainesville Antebellum Mansion in Demopolis. Our tour guide was a very knowledgeable archivist / restorator who provided us with a great deal of Civil War history along with the description and history of the mansion itself. 

Gainesville Antebellum Mansion in Demopolis AL

While camped near Atlanta GA we visited the Southern Civil War and Railroad Museum. The main focus was the Great Railroad Chase during the Civil War but also included general information on the Civil War and railroads in the South. We also visited the Gone With The Wind Museum. Both of these museums' presentations as well as the mansion tour above confirm the overall sense one has that there is a very different perspective of the Civil War in the South than in Oregon. 

Dave and Betty Shady, served with us at ICA

We enjoyed meeting with Dave and Betty Shady in Toccoa. Reconnecting with friends that served with us at International Christian Academy in Cote d'Ivoire was great. Recognizing how Toccoa is such a center and focus for missions made the experience even greater. We spent a few hours creating a web of inter-connections as we talked of individual missionaries who had attended Toccoa Falls College or taught there or were currently living in the Toccoa area. 

Toccoa Falls near Toccoa GA

A highlight was viewing Toccoa Falls on the college campus and reading the names on the monument there of those who lost their lives in that 1977 flood--another interconnection as we recalled Bob Carter who had survived that flood and came to serve with us at Dalat School with his wife, Becky, only to lose his life at Dalat while saving a student from being swept over a falls.

Seeing Green

Its good to see green again! After over three months in the desert areas of CA, AZ, NM and TX we started to see green grass and trees as we traveled from Big Bend National Park to Del Rio, San Antonio, and Houston. In Baton Rouge, QT seemed to be saying, “I remember this!” as she stretched out in the green grass next to the motorhome.

Our current campsite near McComb MS is nearly void of campers and is still covered with the brown leaves of last Fall/Winter but open areas are green, there are pine and hardwood trees everywhere , and wildflowers are beginning to appear. We are enjoying watching the squirrels and a couple of large red-headed woodpeckers.

One of the ways we try to keep in touch with what's going on in the world is local TV. Near Del Rio our campsite was in Amistad National Recreation Area and we received 5 stations, surprisingly all in Spanish. In Baton Rouge we had our choice of over 20 stations but our favorite, CBS, would keep breaking up—of course that was the one with the basketball games on it. Here, near McComb MS we get three PBS channels and two of them are identical, but it does include an evening BBC news broadcast. In Benson AZ I had to go buy a TV cable as it was the first time we had ever stayed where cable TV was available. Usually we are staying in campgrounds rather than RV parks.

Jim & Ora Lee Kirkham served with us in Malaysia

For the first time on this trip we parked our motorhome in someone's driveway. Carefully maneuvering it to one side of the driveway we were able to put out the two slides, almost to the roof eaves on one side and overhanging into the neighbor's yard on the other. Thanks to Jim and Ora Lee Kirkham's hospitality we were able to add 5 nights of zero $ campsite fees to help us as we work toward an overall average of $10 per night. We had a great time together visiting the Houston Space Center, the Sea Center Texas, their Southern Baptist mega-church, and hours of catching up on each others lives since serving at Dalat School together many years ago.

Amber Marshall, former student at ICA, Cote d'Ivore

While in Houston we were able to spend a short-time with two former students. Both of them were also on basketball teams that I coached, Amber Marshall at International Christian Academy in Cote d'Ivoire and Steve Livingston at Dalat School in Malaysia. Amber lives North of Houston where she is studying to be a paramedic. Steve Livingston lives with his wife Becky in Houston. Steve is head of a Christian private school in Houston and Becky, also a former student at Dalat School, is a nurse.

Steve Livingson, former student at Dalat School, Malaysia

Some Interesting Campsites:

The Amistad National Recreation Area near Del Rio TX is a joint facility with Mexico. The large reservoir has a string of buoys that mark the international border between the two countries.

Happy Valley RV Park near San Antonio TX is a regular RV park with rates higher than we want to pay, I was surprised to see a paragraph from the management on the Internet stating that they had an area outside the park that one could stay overnight for free. It was true. The lady was friendly and helpful on the telephone, asked us to call just before we arrived, and was there to meet us and guide us to our place to park for the night.

The Farr Equestrian Park is part of the Baton Rouge park system. Its a huge area with a hundred or more electric/water hookups located just over a levee from the Mississippi River. Very reasonable price and only a handful of campers there. Immediately adjacent to the RV section is an indoor arena, outdoor exercise area, and grazing area. We thoroughly enjoyed watching the horses and riders just a few hundred feet from our campsite.

This & That in Texas

Restored officer's quarters at mid-1800's Fort Davis

Things are picking up seeing animals. Coming down from I-10 to Fort Davis, Gertrude sent us on a wild ride—beautiful scenery but narrow, winding, steep road. Gertrude is the voice on the CoPilot GPS App we use on our Nexus 7 tablet. It was a good opportunity to test climbing ability and descending procedures with the motorhome on excessively steep portions of highway. Highlight was seeing four javelinas mosey across the road right in front of us. Leaving Fort Davis TX we saw a beautiful buck with a huge rack of horns and his harem in an open yard right at the edge of town.

The desert regions are known for the roadrunner. Up until our trip to Big Bend TX we had not seen a single one (except for the Roadrunner group at the Quartzite Alliance Church). Then suddenly they were everywhere. Even one at the campground that seemed to be a campground pet.

Pearl at Hot Springs, Big Bend Nat'l Park

At Big Bend National Park there were lots of birds, especially a little one with bright red head and reddish orange breast. We were told the park is known for birds migrating north and south. We were also told how to protect food and pets from javelinas which frequent the park but we didn't see any.

This morning camped at the San Pedro campground in the Amistad National Recreation Area we saw a herd of deer and Pearl saw a red cardinal. Still looking for our first scorpion, tarantula, and rattlesnake. Still not the kind of animal populations we are used to seeing elsewhere. When the scenery is getting boring while traveling I'll suggest to Pearl that she count antelope—with tongue in cheek of course as there are no antelope or any other critters visible. In Wyoming we would often not be able to keep up as they would be appearing by the dozens everywhere we looked.

Remote community in Mexico across from campsite in Big Bend

We've been roughly following the Rio Grande and the Mexican border since Yuma AZ. It was a special treat to spend a week in and near the Big Bend National Park. Unfortunately we didn't have passports so weren't able to wade the river, ride the burros up to the Mexican community adjacent to the campground and visit with the people—much different environment than many of the border towns. Both the Mexican community and Rio Grande Village Campground are many tens of miles from anywhere!

Rio Grande just a few hundred ft from campsite at Big Bend

We have become accustomed to Border Patrols everywhere. I believe Pearl said we have now gone through 6 checkpoints. Usually we just stop and they wave us on. At the most recent one we had to wait while the officer and his dog sniffed the baggage compartments on the motorhome. Actually I think it was only the dog and not the officer who did the sniffing. Apparently the sniffing was all for naught because they waved us on after a couple of minutes.

At the edge of the Park we spend three days at Stillwell Ranch. We picked it because of its reputation for a wide variety of jasper and agate. After three or four collecting trips when we kept emphasizing to ourselves, “Only the very best! We have no room for more!” we ended up with a hundred pounds. After further sorting I paid my $0.50 per pound for 48 pounds of choice agates, jasper and petrified wood.

Still working on keeping campsite fees down: $19 (hookups) at Stillwell Ranch, $7 at Big Bend National Park, $2 at Amistad National Recreation Area, and $0 tonight near San Antonio TX on our way to Houston TX on Friday.

Hodge Podge

Pearl has always talked about her cowgirl outfit as a child. It was no surprise that she bought a leather cowgirl hat in Quartzite and promptly put her artistic skills with jewelry to work in adding a band for it. Of course when we stayed in Benson AZ one of our trips was to Tombstone, not just to see the old west buildings, the OK Corral, and to ride the stagecoach but to check out the western wear. She headed right for the boots and moccasins. She looked at boots, leather cowgirl skirts, remembered she already had a leather vest and ended up buying a pair of moccasins. She even checked out the stick horses but passed on those also. Probably a gun and holster is next.

We are always on the lookout for animals. I’ve already mentioned that we got to see a bobcat trot by our motorhome in Quartzite. At the Imperial Dam LTVA near Yuma we got to see a wild burro and its foal a short distance from our campsite. Just a couple of days ago coming to Fort Davis TX we had four javelinas cross the road in front of us. I’ve seen a couple of coyotes and we hear them frequently at night.

We’ve seen some desert tortoise holes and kept our eyes open for rattlesnakes but until recently we’ve been told its too early—not warm enough for them to be up and about. I’ve spent lots of time hiking through the desert, rarely on a trail and the only creatures I’ve seen were a garter snake and some small lizards.

Nick Pavlopoulos with me in Tucson AZ

We’ve linked up with a couple more students. We met Nick Pavlopoulos at Chile’s in Tucson. Nick was a student of mine when I was teaching at NorthStar Academy. I spent five years teaching chemistry and physics over the Internet. I have had many fine students during my teaching career. In every way Nick was one of the finest with the student quickly surpassing the knowledge of his teacher. He is currently working towards a PhD in nanochemistry at the University of Arizona in Tucson.. It was fun to see his growing teaching skills as he reversed roles to become the teacher and successfully explained to his teacher turned student the nature of his research. Of course it had to be kept simple for us.

Elmer, Mike Harner, Pearl

Mike Harner had contacted us many weeks ago saying that if we were going to be in the Tombstone area to be sure to look him up. Mike was one of the students at International Christian Academy of Cote d’Ivoire when we were there. He served several years in the U.S. Army and is now a civilian consultant teaching computer skills to military personnel at Fort Hoachuca near Sierra Vista AZ. He and his wife Kylie invited us to their home for a delicious steak dinner. Fun to spend time with them, renewing friendship with Mike and getting to know Kylie (sp?) and their two year old son, Shawn (sp?).

In less than two weeks we will be in Houston TX reconnecting with Jim and Ora Lee Kirkham, staff members with us many years ago at Dalat School in Malaysia. We are expecting that we will be able to see other friends there as well.

Can you ever see too many desert sunsets?

Where Do We Camp?

Right now we are in Fort Davis, TX at a private RV park selected from a website description. The reviews were mostly very negative but it was in the right place and had a ½ price for Passport America members. We paid about $15 per night for full hook-up. Most of the negative reviews were spot-on.

We started out staying in a church parking lot in Sublimity for $0; overnight at Humbug State Park in OR for $13; overnight at Patrick’s Point State Park in CA for $33. At Joshua Tree National Park it was $5 per night; one night at a rest stop in CA for $0 and another night on the side of a street in a small town for $0.

The bargain price was the $180 for a LTVA permit for any of several desert areas in CA and AZ. We were only there for about two months ($3 per night) but the permit covered September 15 through April 15.

View from our motorhome at Imperial Dam LTVA near Yuma

We stayed a few days in Tucson at Catalina State Park’s overflow area (big parking lot) for $15 per night; and then a week at an Escapees RV Resort in Benson AZ for $50 (a special offer to entice us to join) and that brings us to the present. Our last site was Rockhound State Park near Deming NM where we paid about $17 per night.

Our goal for the entire trip is to average $10 per night. Pearl did the math and says we are currently at about $5 per night.

Our next three nights will be about $20 per night at the Stillwell Ranch near the Big Bend National Park and then four nights in the park itself at $7 per night.

I’m hoping for lots of U.S. Forest Service, BLM, Corps of Engineers, National Parks and other campgrounds offering the 50% discount for us old people to offset the times when we have to use the more expensive state parks and private parks.

Rockhound State Park near Deming NM

Campsites don’t seem to fit the adage that, “you get what you pay for.” My favorite campsites have been those no-hookups-of-any-kind LTVA sites in the desert.  My least favorites include our current private RV park in Fort Davis and the Escapees RV Resort in Benson—both were full hook up. One had all of the amenities of a resort. One was a dusty, run-down place w/ little similarity to the promised resort of the website.

Camping often seems an inappropriate word for an outing in a motorhome. It seems even more inappropriate to describe snuggling up to another RV in a closely packed resort as camping. Even though using a motorhome I think we still like to think we are camping. We have enjoyed the dry camping in the desert so much that when we spent the week in the Escapees resort we didn’t even hook up the electricity!