Upon awakening Wednesday, I noticed that my calf muscles were VERY angry with me! It truly took Rich’s help and a lot of practice before I was up to walking. It was quite an interesting experience!
We stayed local this morning, and made our way to the hotel’s rooftop sitting area that overlooks the water. It’s beautiful! There was plenty of sunshine as well as shade for me. We had a very nice morning.
We walked into town for lunch at “Mas Pan” – a kosher dairy restaurant. Guacamole on toast and pizza with olives and mushrooms absolutely hit the spot! It was perfect, and a close walk to get there.
We were meeting our tour rep, Ruben, at 2:45. Ruben is José’s brother. José was stuck in Cancun – so Ruben came instead. He was very nice. We walked to our pickup location, which was a little farther than the past 2 days – and a bit off the beaten path. Since we would be returning around 10 p.m., Ruben suggested changing to a drop off point closer to our hotel. We agreed. The van rep Ivan agreed.The van driver Josué agreed. Ivan made several phone calls, setting things in place. Uh huh.
Today’s adventure is called “Xcaret by night”. Xcaret is an ecological park that represents the jungle, the beach, ancient ruins, water sports, natural and cultural centers, Broadway, and Restaurant Row all rolled up in one place! It’s.. a lot. We explored some art installments, historic sites, mayan ruins,natural jungle and rainforest flora and fauna, and sea turtles, manatees, sharks,dolfins, mackinaw, horses and way more. There was SO much to see! We definitely needed more than a few hours , but we weren’t up to a 3rd full day of exploration. If you are planning a visit to Xcaret, do your homework first to decide what you want to see.
A quick positive word – the bathrooms at Xcaret certainly were nothing like those of the past 2 days. The bathrooms were spotless, with toilet seats, biodegradable toilet paper, private stalls, running sink water, hand soap AND limitless paper towels!!!! I can’t believe I had to write that last sentence – but you need to know! They even smelled fantastic! It was almost worth the price of admission alone!!!
The main event of our trip was the nightly “espectáculo” (show) from 7 to 9 p.m. Espectáculo was definitely the correct word – 2 full hours of Mexican history through song, dance, musical instruments, costumes, real birds and animals, and death defying acts. It was unlike anything I have ever seen. The audience was absolutely enthralled. What a fabulous show in a very comfortable open air arena. We loved it. A 10 out of 10.
We left and followed explicit directions on how to get home. Let’s just say, Mexico had their own ideas. No one was listening to a blond “gringa” and her esposo about where they were promised to disembark. We were dropped with the rest of the bus back at our starting point. We POWER WALKED back through some dark streets to our hotel. I was frightened. Rich says he wasn’t. 🤷♀️
Maybe it’s my age, but these things really get to me. I wasn’t able to fall asleep for hours. I guess years of RV vacations, planning every move we made, put me in control of every situation. Here, I had almost no control. And, if you know me, that’s just not gonna fly. I would strongly recommend a visit to Xcaret if you’re here. It was quite something. Just study a map of what there is to see, and make a plan. There’s too much to just wing it.
With 1 more full day to go, we will just be chilling near the hotel. We’ll catch ya later. The photos below are all from Xcaret. Enjoy.
Tuesday was a long, long day. We were met at the front door of our hotel by José, who walked us to our bus stop. There we met Rodolfo, who walked us to a second stop. This was unexpected, but the bus waiting there looked comfy. It was then explained that this wasn’t “our” bus – it was merely taking us to “ our” transportation. Thus, the shuffling began.
15 minutes later or so, we found ourselves standing in the back of a shady gas station, with only Rodolfo’s instructions of “Pablo will meet you here.” Questions were swimming in my head – but there was no one to ask. Rodolfo had left on his nice bus. An hour later, Pablo arrived. 6 other tourists, and Rich and I boarded a van and headed to Tulum. The ride was long and rough. The infrastructure here needs some TLC. But we met a nice man and made pleasant small talk. The ruins at Tulum are quite amazing. The history is so well preserved, and the area is pretty. Pablo knew everything about Tulum, the Mayans, and more. He was an excellent guide. We were really impressed at the Mayan architecture. They were highly intelligent people. We had a few moments of free time, and we headed towards the coastline – right on site. The Caribbean Sea was beautiful. It was blue-green and changed color with the sun as it peaked out from behind the clouds. There is a problem I ran into yesterday at the cenotes that was a problem again today. It was, forgive me, the bathrooms. Ladies, apparently, the Mayans did not believe in toilet SEATS. What?? Yes. No seats. Not in Casa Tortuga, and not in Tulum. There was just the bowl. Additionally, here in Tulum, you could only get toilet paper with a tip. Yes, toilet paper was not in the stall. The ONLY thing I can say is that the Tulum bathrooms were very clean. I could not say the same for Casa Tortuga. Oh, and ladies, since knowledge is power, toilet paper is NOT thrown in the toilet. It is thrown in a garbage can next to the seatless toilet. I hope you can imagine my reaction at all that. I am sure there’s a reasonable explanation about the septic system, etc. But used toilet paper just leads me to imagine all sorts of health horrors…so take all that into consideration.
I left Tulum having learned so much about the Mayans and confirming that which I learned – and taught – long ago. We got back on the bus with no shocks and headed to Cobá. Cobá is another site of ruins. The drive to the parking lot was very, very hot and uncomfortable. Thankfully, it wasn’t all that long. Cobá required lots of walking. I was already tired from the Tulum excursion. We splurged on a “Mayan limousine “ – a tricycle pedaled by a young man. That saved my legs. He was great and pointed out interesting things along the way. Pablo pointed out interesting things as well. The 2 main highlights at Cobá for me were the ball court and Nohoch Mul, the giant pyramid. These are both similar to structures at Chichen Itza – which we visited on our honeymoon. I was very preoccupied with deciding to climb (or not) the 123 step pyramid. I decided not. My decision was not a simple one; it did not come to me easily. I have surgically repaired knees and feet and a chronically challenging spine. I didn’t think that many steps were smart. Rich made it up and down seemingly easily. He took great pictures for me to enjoy. A trip to the bathroom (no seat still but toilet paper included), a free sample of tequila for Rich, and we were back on the bus. I think I blacked out during this stretch – as the ride was a series of bumps, bangs, bruises, and gasps from horrible roads and risky driving. I need to share an opinion here. This is mine alone; take it or leave it. The Yucatan is filled with strong Mayan descendants. They are a proud people- as they should be. These wondrous Mayan historic sites are very popular tourist destinations. The guides and employees all say how happy they are to welcome people from all over to their world. But I don’t think they really are. If they were, they would work on the infrastructure to enter and exit, the cleanliness of the facilities, and their general very stern, unyielding, and frankly scary dispositions. That’s just my take. I think they see us as invasive to their privacy. Our last stop was an authentic Mayan village. This was composed of 4 main parts. First, a cultural ceremony performed by a Shaman. I was totally on board. It was powerful and interesting. Second, time to peruse their handmade souvenirs- with a salesperson following everyone around, every second, pushing and pressuring everyone to buy these very expensive items. A high-pressure pitch does not do anything for me – except annoy me. Spoiler alert: I bought nothing. Third: our typical Mayan lunch – for which I had booked a vegetarian meal and confirmed its existence with 3 different tour employees. Guess what ? No vegetarian meal. ‘No one knew nothing.’ There were shoulder shrugs all around. I had a boiled carrot, a boiled potato, boiled rice, and plain lettuce. Yum. Fourth, a swim in a cenote. Rich went; he had a nice time. I was done. I took pictures and met a peacock. A final trip to the bathroom – DON’T ASK!! – and we were back on the Vomit Comet Bus for the 90-minute ride home. We returned, ate leftovers, showered (a lot!), and decided to venture out for a little nightlife. I could barely walk; my calves were burning. 27,500 steps will do that to an old lady. We passed out after midnight. It was an interesting, frustrating, memorable, action-packed day today. A little bit of everything. Hope your day was a good one. More tomorrow. Marla and Rich
Tulum.El Mar Caribe🧡Cobà – he’s at the top!And back down.Cenote for today.Mi amigaPlaya del Carmen, all lit up
I have to backtrack a bit; the past 2 days were too long to include blogging.
Monday morning, we woke up and had some fruit and toast and headed out to the local ‘supermercado’ for a couple of items. We mostly needed drinks – water, soda, etc – because we are only using bottled water. The directions were clear, and we navigated the store with ease. (How did I exist before Google Maps?) My Spanish is flooding back to me, I am happy to say. My mantra to my students was always “ If you don’t use it, you lose it.” I am living proof of the accuracy of that statement! Not having spoken, read, or heard Spanish regularly since October 30, 2019, has wreaked havoc on my proficiency. But, my receptive language (listening/reading) is good here. I am so tentative about speaking (can you believe it? Me?!) But, I have found my voice, at times.
After the leftovers from last night’s dinner, we changed clothes and headed out to today’s adventure – ¡Cenotes! By definition, a cenote is a natural pit or sinkhole, resulting when a collapse of the limestone bedrock exposes water. The Mayans commonly used cenotes for water supplies and occasionally for cultural ceremonies. People of the Jewish religion – does it sound like a Mikvah? If it does, that’s what I thought! Our tour rep, José (a nice man), met us at our hotel and walked us about 5 minutes to a pick-up location. There,we met a van. I believe “luxury bus” was what we were told; but “van without shocks or struts” is more precise. The ride was an incredibly bumpy 45 minutes or so. There was little communication from the driver, and we were entertained by the conversations on the van. (Actually, I believe the correct Spanish term for this vehicle is ‘colectivo’.) We arrived at Casa Tortuga (house of the turtle) and were directed where to go/what to do/how to do it. I found it sort of gruff. It seemed like we weren’t really welcomed to be there- but that’s just my inner voice speaking. After changing, taking a mandatory shower (twice, because they didn’t think I was wet enough the first time! True story), we went to an area to…wait. Since our tour was “on the clock” I was concerned about time. There were several spots just waiting. We met our guide, Sessi. She was excellent. She was funny, knowledgeable, completely bilingual, and so personable. She gets 4 stars. We went to 4 distinct cenotes in the park. One was partially underground, one was completely underground, one was totally open, and one was open and long – like a very Olympic sized pool. They were all refreshing and beautiful. Rich, of course, went in all 4. I did anything that wasn’t underground. Claustrophobia is NOT my friend – and these underground cenotes were very narrow with very close ceilings. The water was about 70 degrees – truly refreshing. The water sources, we were told, were the ocean, rain water, and the underground river system connecting all cenotes throughout the Yucatan peninsula. The information and experience were fascinating for us. I LOVED listening and understanding Sessi’s Spanish explanations. She also has a Mayan background; she is a valuable asset to that park.
The first cenote was partially open. I entered that one but did not go into the ‘caverna’ with Rich. A couple of others stayed outside the cave as well. Rich took pictures – I was fine with that. The water was clear and not very deep – and the little fish kept bumping into me! It was cool and refreshing. We exited and walked to cenote dos. This one was huge and completely open. We both enjoyed this one. It was deeper than the first – but everyone was required to wear a life jacket, so there were no issues. We did enjoy watching crazy people JUMP into the cenote from 2, 3, or 4 meter rock formations. Not us – for sure!Cenote 3 was completely open, long, deep, and perfect for some swimming. We enjoyed that activity, while, again, watching the insane jump from 5 meters above. NUTS! I felt good about myself WALKING into the water! Cenote 4 was completely covered. I accompanied Rich down the stairs, and then turned around. Time was flying by, so I got our stuff out of a locker (extra fee for that) and waited. Rich loved the last cenote. We quickly changed and met the van. We had dinner reservations for 7:30. It was 5:45, and the ride back was an hour. (We were told we’d be back at 6. Another untruth.) The driver took the long way home. We walked into the hotel at 7 p.m. We raced, changed, tried to look presentable, and were out the door at…7:15. I DESERVE AN AWARD!! We went to Platinum, a nice kosher restaurant. The food was yummy and plentiful. Prices were high, but, again, the leftovers gave us a second dinner Tuesday night. We again walked around Playa, and the evening, even with some rain, was just lovely. Catch ya later, Marla and Rich
Start of the day.
End of the day.
Open cenote numero 1. Bonita!Exiting the closed cenote.
Greetings from Mexico! No, we didn’t buy another RV. We are on a vacation of a different type this time.
November 19th was our 30th wedding anniversary. (And they said it wouldn’t last! A LOT of them said that!!!) For our honeymoon way back then, we went to Cancun. So a trip back to Mexico was in order. Our friends recently purchased a place in Playa del Carmen – and that’s what led us to this moment.
We began a LONG Sunday yesterday at 7 a.m. Our good friends gave us a ride to the tri-rail in Delray Beach. For $5.00 each, the tri-rail train took us to the Ft. Lauderdale station, near the airport. A jump off the train, and a 2 minute walk – and we were on the shuttle to the airport. There was no wait at all. The shuttle was PACKED – a clear sign of things to come. The ride was maybe 10 minutes – and we were at the airport. I don’t have a load of experience, but I don’t remember seeing an airport as FRENETIC as Ft. Lauderdale yesterday morning. It was NUTS! We definitely needed to read carefully and be pushy in order to know what to do. The plane (Jet Blue) took off at 11 a.m. It was relatively fine, and my anxiety was relatively low – until the last 10 minutes. There was a bit of turbulence- and Rich’s face went from normal color to grey. He was, as we say, no bueno. With my constant talking (cause that’s what I do best) he held things together. Of course, I might have needed a Xanex by then.
We maneuvered through the Cancun Airport very well, and easily met our driver Marco (aka Mordechai). One expert hint: when you are leaving the airport, everyone and his brother tries to get you a taxi. If you just keep saying “familia” – they stop talking. It was amazing!
Marco expertly drove us the 45 minutes to our condo in the ‘Acanto’ Hotel – right in the heart of Playa. The staff were wonderful. The condo is very, very nice. We found everything we needed. The ‘coutyard’ (patio, actually)right outside our room, in the center of the Acanto is SO lovely. There’s a pool, lounge chairs, and tables at which to sit. It’s beautiful.
It was suggested to us to meet with Jose – a man who sells tours and works out of our hotel, among others. We easily lined up our excursions for the week – and made some dinner reservations as well. We changed clothes and headed out to dinner.
Everything is very walkable here. The main road is a pedestrian mall. It’s filled with restaurants, stores, vendors, souvenirs – and everything else imaginable. We dined at “Two Smokers” – a DELICIOUS kosher restaurant. We split a huge appetizer of Arancini Rice Balls. They were the BEST I’ve had since St. Louis, in 2019. And our main dishes of a grilled chicken breast (me) and a Brisket sandwich on challah (Rich) were unbelievable. We are currently eating the leftovers for lunch! It was a bit pricey – but not unreasonable. We spent the next hour just walking amongst the heavy crowds of tourists and locals – and dogs! SO many dogs!! We made it back to our hotel, and I instantly collapsed. I slept like a rock for the first time in awhile.
Today, we have lots of adventures in store. Catch ya later!
This is not a sad post. It is a happy, important post.
We have finally finished our prep work, and have put our Z3 RV up for sale. It is posted on my Facebook page, on Rich’s Facebook page, on Facebook Marketplace, and here. We’ve loved it, we’ve taken good care of it, and we would love someone else to love it as well. It lives in New Jersey; but we can probably make arrangements to get it somewhere else in the country. I’m adding Rich’s ad here – feel free to share with those you know. Thanks.
This Thor Freedom Elite 28H has just over 39,000 miles on its Ford E450 chasis. It features a full bedroom in the back with ample storage, a full bathroom with shower, toilet, sink and full vanity. The kitchen features a 3 burner stove top and oven, double sink, microwave, and fridge/freezer. The entire kitchen area slides out creating ample living space. This RV will comfortably sleep 6 adults, or a family of up to 8. It has an above cab queen size sleeping area, a fold out couch, and the table collapses into a bed as well. The generator provides an extra level of comfort when parking where there are no hookups. One family owned and maintained! A 9 minute video tour is in this Youtube link https://youtu.be/iX3V6nyKB4A?si=yAhICbfjbAKGk81E
We’ve traveled to 48 states, and we’ve seen amazing things – and had some “close encounters”!! You can, too!Driving cabin – new seat covers (just for design – actual seats are in excellent condition).Still plenty of miles left to roam.Above cab sleeping area/storage area. Sleeps 2 adults.In sleeping mode.Couch with new cover folds out to a double bed. Plenty of storage underneath.Dinette area with new snazzy covers; breaks down to a bed for 2.Just another stop along the road. Adventure awaits!Awning set up with lights, chairs, and decorations for a celebratory July. SO much fun!Huge storage area under the bedroom. The grey rectangles hide more storage underneath.
Home safe and sound. We left Pennsylvania at 6:50 on Thursday morning. We made a quick bathroom stop along the way at a very clean WAWA and made it home by 10:25. Rich parked the RV and headed to the dentist. Good news, his pain is gone. Bad news – it was just a partial root canal. More permanent fun comes in August. And while Rich was in a Novocane fog, I started emptying the RV. I took my time, made many trips, rested and hydrated, and got my steps in! Rich got home about 90 minutes later, and we finished the task. We unloaded our house – into our house! So you can imagine the clutter.
We got the motorhome back to its home base and then tried to reaclimate ourselves to our condo. We’re making progress. 4 loads of laundry down, a few to go. We’re comfortable, tired, thankful- all of it.
Rob D. actually got the trivia question answer – our very first campground was in Clarion, PA. Nice detective work, Rob!
So, we’ll leave it here. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Well, if you’re still reading these entries, thank you for sticking with us until the end. We left Ohio this morning, and got back on I-80 East for a couple of hours. We found a cute little cafe in Du Bois (pronounced, apparently, “due boys”), Pennsylvania, and had our traditional, end of the trip brunch treat. It was very cute and yummy. We’ve been listening to our last audio book – “The Museum of Lost Quilts”. This was one of my picks, and, once again, Rich is far more invested and involved in the story than I am. It’s official – an auditory learner I am not. We drove another 2 hours – 4 altogether – and stopped for water, corn, Tylenol, and to fill our gas tank. We landed at the Williamsport South/Nittany Mountain KOA, in New Columbia, Pennsylvania. It’s our very last campground. It would be very nice here for a family with children – there are many things here for kids to do. I thought tonight would be so nice – we would sit outside, under the stars, make a fire, and just reflect. Instead, it’s stifling hot, humid and pouring – sometimes with thunder as a side of excitement. The bugs are biting, the humidity is climbing – so I’m writing on my bed, in the air conditioning. We aren’t complaining; it was clear skies for the entire drive. So, instead of relaxing, we are cleaning up and packing out. Rich and I have packed up all the clothes, food, towels, sheets, and meds, so unpacking will be a bit easier. There are items that have lived in this RV for years that don’t have a home back in New Jersey – like towels, for example. But, it just so happens that an animal shelter near us lost everything in the recent storms – and we can donate there.
This trip has been more than I ever could have wished. Of course, there were weather and traveling dilemmas. But that’s just par for the course when driving literally cross country. On the plus side, we got to wear many of the sweat shirts, pants and long sleeve tees in the cold weather on the way out west – and we got to wear tanks and shorts on the way home. That’s a bonus!
We will have lots of “stuff” sitting in our “Florida room” for a while – as we work to incorporate it into our home, find a place to ‘rehome’ it – or toss it in the trash. I hate when things don’t have a home – I need to work on paring down this stuff in real time.
The RV will be up for sale soon – once again – if you are thinking about purchasing an RV, or know someone who’s thinking about it – reach out to Rich or I. I want it to go to a good home – someone should love it as much as we did.
Last night’s trivia question was attempted by Andrea and Lew. They both got two thirds of the answer correct. Yesterday we visited the RV/MH HOF. The other 3 Halls Of Fame that we have visited were the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY (back in 96!), the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio in 2017, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio – also in 2017. They were all very cool places to visit.
Last Z3 trivia question – not forever, just in an RV: Our very first Z3 cross country trip was in 2009 in our travel trailer. We took a trial weekend run with some RV pros to Triplebrook Campground in Blairstown, NJ on Memorial Day Weekend, and then, armed with belief, desire and duct tape, we drove 10,000 miles out to California and back, in 6 and a half weeks. Our very first stop on that epic experience was in Pennsylvania – as is our very last stop. On that first trip, however, we drove about 350 miles that first day. For tonight’s trivia (if you know how to access the previous years’ blogs, this is easy) – name the city in which we spent our first night on the road – back on June 29, 2009.
Deep thanks from the bottom of my heart – whether you read along with us for one night, for a few, or for all. Writing is my guilty pleasure. And, receiving the feedback brings me such joy! Thank you!!! I will try and touch base tomorrow night, just to say that we’ve landed safely back home. Rich’s tooth has been very cooperative the past 24 hours – we are hoping to arrive at the dentist’s office early tomorrow morning for an appointment for some relief – even if it’s temporary. After that, we have to drop off the audio books at the library. And then the thousand trips into the house – and we’re back in business.
Hoping you all have a good night. Enjoy the last couple of pics from the road.
Marla and Rich
Z3 Cross Country
The horse and buggy outside Walmart in PA. Very strange. Our ending brunch stop.First day/Last day – I’ll take it.
Something I never mentioned. We brought this photo with Roxy’s tags and collar with us. It sat on our table whenever we stopped. It was our way of taking her along physically, even if she’s always with us in every other way.
Hey there, everyone. We are in Mogadore, Ohio – another place of which I have never heard. We are close to Akron, I believe – or so the signs say. Two more driving days, and we will have completed our road trip. And, to be very honest, I am feeling all sorts of ways about that fact.
Yesterday’s trivia question asked when did Indiana Dunes National Park become a national park. Lew had some solid reasoning behind his thoughtful response. Unfortunately, he was mistaken. It became a park in 2019 – the 3rd youngest national park.
This morning we overslept. That certainly doesn’t happen often – either sleep or oversleeping! I guess we were tired. We left our campground, drove to 3 different gas stations for gas (Rich is tired of paying more than he has to – even if we use up gas looking for cheaper gas! It must be a guy thing.) By late morning we headed to today’s adventure – and one that I have been looking forward to for awhile. We went to the RV/MH Hall of Fame, 10 minutes away in Elkhart, Indiana.
We spent about 2 hours in the museum, in self-guided tours of trailers, travel trailers, RVs, motorhomes, mobile homes – and various combinations of all. We certainly saw the history of the trailer – from back in the 1920’s. There were pop ups, travel trailers, airstreams, vans – and all were interesting to me. They were also pretty small – I don’t know if I would have been able to travel in one of those early models – I believe claustrophobia would set in pretty quickly.
I started to think about where my fascination with the RV began. It could be from reruns of the “Long, Long Trailer” that I saw in my childhood. It could be from seeing “The Brady Bunch” take a road trip to the Grand Canyon. It could be from seeing “The Partridge Family” travel around the country (on their TV Show) in their multi-colored bus. I’m not sure. What I do know for certain is that when I was in High School, my girlfriend Sue S. and I would spend long hours dreaming of going cross country in a Winnebago when we graduated high school. I don’t know HOW we thought that would happen; both of us were college bound, and neither of us (nor our families) had any money to cover that dream. We also both came from very strict households – so it was a done deal before it could ever start. But we were so serious. My desire to travel by RV never waned; it was only in deep, serious discussions with Rich in 2008 that it became a reality. Just an aside: I did try to contact Sue many times over the years. I located her and was even in her neighborhood on a trip years ago. My requests for us to see each other went unanswered. I suppose that door closed, probably a long, long time ago.
Back to the museum. I think my favorite vehicles on display were the ones from the late 60s and early 70s – with all the decor to match. The early Airstreams were also interesting. The museum went back to the past, showed current assembly line displays of the creation of today’s vehicles, and even had a feature of mobile homes “on the moon”. You must know by now that the futuristic stuff gets lost on me. There were also hundreds of miniature models of RV’s, trailers, pop ups, etc. This visit was fun. This museum allows dogs to visit as well as people – as long as they are on a leash. This was another destination that was supposed to include Roxy. Oh, well.
We returned to the road and our trip, heading eastward. The roads continue to be filled with construction projects and horrible truck drivers. We reached our destination at 6 p.m. tonight – later than I would prefer. But the park “host” who met us was super nice, and gave us an escort to our spot. It’s only a one nighter – but it’s ok.
I spent some time wondering if my family, growing up, could have been a travel-trailer kind of family. My Dad loved to drive, anywhere, in any vehicle. So the driving part was covered for sure. He was handy also, so I think on-the-road issues would not have thrown him into a tail spin. My Mom loved to cook and clean and wash and dry dishes – seriously, she was a little nuts – so cooking on the road would probably not have bothered her. My Nana, who lived with us, travelled everywhere. And when I was a teenager, she went away to a rustic sleep away camp for Grandmas and Pop Pops in upstate Pennsylvania. So I don’t think camping would have been a problem. As far as I am concerned, this would have been a dream come true. There is only one member of my family that I believe would have hated the entire concept. And, if that family member wasn’t on board with the idea, it wasn’t going to happen. Anyone wanna take a guess who that would be? That’s right…it was our parakeet, Jingles. And we’ll leave this topic right here.
We don’t have anything special planned for the next two days. Of course, we never know what we might find – but there’s nothing on the schedule. When it gets this close to the end of the trip, I am stuck between feeling really, really sad – and just wanting to get home already. There is SO much work to be done at the end of this journey. We have to empty everything out, clean it up, and put it up for sale. Anybody wanna buy an RV??!!! Seriously – let me know.
Tonight’s trivia question: This was the 4th Hall of Fame that we have visited in our lives. Name the other 3. (This is not a hard question at all.)
Enjoy the pictures below. Will touch base tomorrow night. Thank you so much for reading along. Take good care.
Marla and Rich
Z3Crosscountry
Old, old model. New paint job.The Little Prince – 1958.1958 – inside.1958 – outside.A Mustang!Custom built Cadillac motorhome. 1970’s luxury motorhome. Hey – I know how to MAKE these pillows!!!This style would have been my choice.
Good Monday to you all. We are currently in Elkhart, Indiana, heading due east. We are back in the Eastern Time Zone, having lost our last hour this afternoon. It’s been a great couple of days; let me catch up.
The trivia question about “Field of Dreams” was answered correctly by Debra (from Europe!), Lew, Nancy and Phil. The main character was Ray Consella, and Ray Liotta played Shoeless Joe Jackson. Thanks for playing along!
We are currently sitting at the Elkhart Campground. We stayed at this same park on our third night out. We were much more energetic then! When last I left you, I was in Bellevue, Iowa, not far from the Illinois border. Sunday morning we awoke early, packed up and left. Our GPS took us through tiny towns, old streets, cornfields – real rural America. It seemed to be taking us too long to get to our destination – when I realized why. In Seattle, I set our GPS to avoid tolls – and never changed the setting. Rich never caught that, either. And that makes us kinda stupid! When I changed that setting, our destination got much closer! Duh! I’m not totally disgusted with myself – we probably had some awesome rides because of that setting.
When we bought our condo in Delray Beach, Florida in 2023, we opened a world to some fabulous new friends from all over the country. They, like us, wanted some snowbird time in a warm, beautiful climate. 2 of these people are Janice and Rick, who spend their summers in the Chicago area. When they heard about our trip, they asked if we wanted to stop by and spend a night out of the RV and in their beautiful, welcoming home. They twisted our arms (not at all) – and that’s where we were on Sunday.
J and R (for brevity) live VERY CLOSE to Highland Park, Illinois. Having lived in Highland Park, New Jersey for over 40 years, I have always been curious about the western H.P. Suffice it to say, it is much bigger! They arranged to meet us at a local synagogue, which gave us permission to park our motorhome in its secured lot for 24 hours (many thanks for that!). They then gave us a wonderful tour of the area (of which we knew nothing). We might have stopped for a Chicago area delicacy (for Rich), and we got a general feel of the beauty of Lake Michigan’s shores.
Our friends thought it would be interesting to take us to tour the famous Baha’i Temple in Wilmette, Il. I admittedly know nothing about the Baha’i faith. Rich knows maybe a thimble more than I do. What a beautiful and interesting Temple. The intricate artwork and the beautiful outdoor gardens make it quite a location to visit. I am so glad they shared that with us. There are only 9 Baha’i Temples in the world, and the one in Illinois is the only one (I believe) in North America. So beautiful. Today’s title is from the song “Love is the answer” by England Dan and John Ford Coley. From what I’ve read, they were involved in the Baha’i Faith – and literally, that is the extent of my knowledge. I was impressed that symbols from many of today’s major religions adorn their temple pillars.
Now here, the story gets complicated – but shows that some friends are friends for life. 2 weeks ago, Rich bit down on something and was in some pain. Perhaps, he thought, a filling needs to be replaced. In the Kosher Deli last Thursday, he bit into his pastrami-turkey sandwich, and must have hit a seed from the rye bread – and he literally saw stars. He called our NJ Dentist and made an appointment for Thursday, when we arrive home. Since last Thursday, unfortunately, he’s been in significant pain. Late Saturday evening, he called our son in NJ, and asked him to call his childhood friend Josh, who is now a dentist in the Chicago area. The phone rang instantly, and “little” Josh – who came to our home all the time for play dates and ball games and barbecues, and was a great kid – was making arrangements to get Rich into his office on Sunday. It brought tears to my eyes that his knee jerk reaction was to give up part of his Sunday family time for us. J and R drove Rich to Josh’s home, and after his consultation, Josh drove Rich back to J and R’s home! Chicago really excels in hospitality!!!
Unfortunately for Rich, what he needs definitively is a root canal. That could not happen for certain in Chicago. Also, unfortunately, Rich can’t take the kind of painkillers needed for this throbbing pain. And so, we play each day by ear. He’s a very tough cookie, this husband of mine.
Back at J and R’s home, we were treated to a SCRUMPTIOUS homemade dinner of brisket, wild rice, broccoli, salad and some pumpkin bread. Wow! I could have eaten the whole thing! Both before and after dinner, we caught up on each other’s lives, as we haven’t seen each other since early April. We played a fabulous game called, for lack of a better name, “cards and marbles”. It’s a great game. We laughed a lot – which is exactly what we did over the winter in Delray.
This morning, Monday, we awoke after a good night’s sleep with plans for the day. Rick had a work obligation, and headed into the city. However, Janice, Rich and I made our way to Indiana Dunes National Park. It was about a 90 minute drive from Chicago. So Janice ‘hitched’ a ride with us in the RV, and then she was taking a train back to Chicago (from the Dunes) and would meet Rick later in the evening. It was a genius plan!
Indiana Dunes National Park is a strange park. It’s broken up by industry, the port of Indiana, Gary, Indiana – it’s in many different settings. It sort of reminds me of Acadia, which is all over the Bal Harbor area in Maine. We could have just worn bathing suits and used the day to go to the beach. The dunes are made of sand – and there’s plenty of sand on the shore of Lake Michigan. I mean, why didn’t we plan a day of sitting on a chair, watching the water? For some reason, I missed that memo! We were heading to the park to hike.
The majority of the dunes hikes were ‘medium to rugged’. I shot Rich a look of death, and we agreed that ‘rugged’ wasn’t in our vocabulary. So we did one hike that started on the beach, went up through the dunes, and followed through a series of steps that went up and down and up and down – – and repeat. I think it was…20 million steps! Not really, but there were many. And it was very, very hot today.
We went back to the RV and had lunch – with the generator on, and the a.c. blasting. That revived us. We drove to one more location and did a walk – not a hike – along the water’s edge in a different area. It was a nice walk (although, still quite hot) in this very different kind of national park.
J had to catch a train in mid afternoon, and we still had an hour plus to drive to our campground. We gave hugs goodbye and drove Janice to the train. We configured our gps, and got back on the road. It had been a nice 24 hour break from RVing; spending time with good friends was golden.
We arrived in Elkhart after 4, but with the time change, it was really after 5. We are exhausted. Thankfully, there’s a smorgasbord of leftovers in the fridge, and that’s what we had. It is astounding that I had the energy to write this, as I was ready for bed around 8. But I wanted to catch you all up – and that I did.
Today’s trivia question: When did Indiana Dunes become a National Park? It is the third youngest national park. But, without googling, give a year. Answer tomorrow.
Here’s some pics of Sunday and Monday. Thanks for reading. I know Jersey has some serious storms tonight – stay safe. Catch you tomorrow.
Marla and Rich
Z3Crosscountry
It’s Highland Park, Illinois!Good friends at the Baha’i.Look at how intricate this is.One of the 9 gardens at the Temple.A view at Indiana Dunes.Steps. Enough said. We made it.Hot! (Not us, the weather!)
This is the shortest entry of the summer. The rain Friday night lasted for HOURS – it lasted until it was no longer Friday. Luckily, Saturday was a rain free day. We spent every minute outside – Rich in the sun, me in the shade. Guess which one of us got sunburned?! Me – but only a little. We didn’t read as we have been doing; we just rested. It was lovely.
There are a million kids, dogs, and motorized ‘transportation toys’ here. Motorized scooters, e-bikes, hoverboards,golf carts, ATV’s, and motorcycles rode past us all day long. It’s always fun when the drivers of said toys are still in elementary school! If anyone believes that RV enthusiasts are ‘riff raff’ , you need to think again. There are millions of dollars of equipment here. WE are the riff raff!
I will deal with the trivia question in the next blog – just too tired now. I may not touch base again until Monday- we are visiting friends tomorrow evening, and that will be my focus. Thanks for reading, be well.
Marla and Rich
Z3Crosscountry
Here’s a shot of the aquatics center that we never even visited. The rest was far too important.
Z3 Cross Country 