Not the Usual Course

Magnolia Farms, Waco, Texas 2025

It’s been eight months since the beginning of our new Journey and though we consider ourselves seasoned travelers, it almost feels as though we are traversing into the unknown. Thanks for sticking with us since our last entry. It has just been that unusual that we can’t seem to get a moment to put thoughts to the keyboard.

When we left you last, we had been enjoying an extended stay in Tennessee scouting the area for property to possibly purchase and use as a new home base. We have been speaking at length to transition from the full-time gig to part time travelers trekking out for months at a time instead of years. Un fortunately, no East Tennessee property really spoke to us. The area is beautiful and offers picturesque views. In some cases, it reminded us of our home state of New York with slightly higher mountains. So, with a month as Tennessee residents under our belt, we packed up to continue our travel plans. Meanwhile, two states away, hurricane Helene had made landfall in Florida. As it happened, what was left of Helene was tracking north. We were eager to get out to the coast of South Carolina as previous experience with hurricane remnants were usually soggy and slow moving. Unbeknownst to us, this was no usual storm. We arrived in Myrtle Beach with high winds and grey skies. Helene’s reach was extensive. But we made the best of it as we assumed it wouldn’t last as she would surely fall apart and drift off into the New England states. But Friday would prove devastating for the communities around our previous campground in Roan Mountain as well as bordering North Carolina residents. The sheer magnitude of rain produced and the stalling weather system parked itself over the border of East Tennessee and western North Carolina. The rows of mountains there acted like a funnel and delivered the rain to the streams and rivers in the valleys below. Swollen rivers were the understatement of the century as rivers and creeks began to carve out at their banks. Residents had seen their waterways fill dramatically before but the waters, they felt, would recede as they always had.

The storm’s length of stay and intensity would prove deadly for many. We moved through our Friday, and the days that followed, watching via social media and news coverage of towns being swept away. Literally, rivers were swallowing up businesses and roads that had been there for a hundred years. The roads that we had traveled in the past weeks were impassable. Our campground was cut off from the main roads and the whole world was cut off from these communities as trees swiped at homes and rushing waters swept people away. We had notions of going back. People will obviously need help. How could we just sit by and watch these little towns, that we had become acquainted with, fend for themselves. It was a bit of survivors guilt and we thought we could surely help. But in the end, we decided that we would just be in the way. My limited mobility and Tez’s obligations just seemed like too little for so many. So we carried on with a watchful eye.

This time out had somewhat of a theme in mind. We had started going to music concerts while in New York and that theme continued. From the Little River Band to Pink; from Collective Soul to Dwight Yoakam, we were revisiting one of our favorite activities together and catching some pretty cool acts across the country.

The Keys finally made it to our travel plans and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Christmas! It was like a little gift to us. Yay, us! It had been some time since I had been to the Keys and a first for Tez. We stayed on Big Pine Key and had some great trips down to Key West. Much of Key West is the same as it was fifteen years ago with only some slight gimmicky tourist traps, but the feel is just the same. You can walk around for hours and really feel the historic cultural vibe that has made the Conch Republic a destination imperative. The drive alone is worth the trip. When you dive into the history of how the Keys came to be and one man’s quest to connect the Keys to the mainland you’ll fall in love with the story that brought catastrophe and liberation to these small islands. Our fun fact discovery… the hens and roosters that are common everywhere in Key West are descendants of the cock fighting fowl brought here hundreds of years ago. They walk the streets and perch themselves on everything. They are beautiful birds with their iridescent colored feathers and they are captured in the local art work. Of course, cock fighting was outlawed years ago and these birds are protected mascots of the city. No feeding or malicious harm of the birds. Just enjoy their quirky habits and charm.

Hurricane Helene was on our radar, again, when we visited our favorite Gulf Coast campground in Keaton Beach. Old Pavilion is another one of those quaint places with a rich history and a well guarded charm. We met Lyn, the owner, back in 2020 when we made our first stop here in Perry, Florida. She was a genuine heart of gold and cared deeply for her family, her guests and her little slice of heaven called Old Pavilion. She had so many stories and loved stopping to talk with everyone. It was hard not to fall in love with every aspect of this campground and when she had told us of the devastation that had impacted the campground when Helene made landfall nineteen miles to the south, we knew we had to jump in this time. We made sure to stay in touch with Lyn as we made plans to visit and help where we could. But before we would make our way through the heartbreaking ruins of this quiet community, we learned that Lyn had passed away. The Gulf of Mexico became that much sweeter with the memory of Lyn. We met with her son, and then later her daughter, and did what we could to pitch in around the campground. Only five of about forty sites were operating and we decided to extend our stay to a month to pick up small debris around the campground and from the marsh. We welcomed guests when Spy and Dianthe couldn’t be there on the grounds and did our best to make ourselves available where needed. Many homes in the area were destroyed. In fact, local authorities had estimated that 90% of the homes in the area were destroyed. While we were there, many had returned to rebuild. This quiet little beach community hadn’t lost everything. They still had that little piece of paradise, untouched by the greed and perversion of commercial development. That is the great thing about Keaton Beach. It is a great little piece of paradise tucked away discreetly in the Florida coast. And we enjoyed nearly a month’s worth of the most beautiful and always changing sunsets. Before we left we made a sign for the campground out of a discarded palette. We hope to get back soon to see it and all of the wonderful charm that Lyn loved so much.

You could say that we’ve had our fill of Texas, but as long as son, Ryan, and his wife Jami are held up there in Plano, you can bet your hard earned spurs that we’re gonna stop a while in Texas. And stop, we did. We got to see more of the Dallas area than we had before. From Brazilian barbeque to psychedelic Meow Wolf, we had a crazy fun time with Ryan. Asian cuisine on a conveyor belt was also on the menu. A unique experience of cooking your own meal at your table by way of boiling or grilling and half of the menu glides by your table on a conveyor belt much like you would see your luggage gliding by at Dulles International Airport. It was truly an experience and one we’ll have to do again now that we know how to do it right. We also did a little time traveling via the Video Gaming Museum. Just like the vintage candy store takes you back to your childhood sweet tooth, you can relive your hand/eye coordination through the interactive museum that catalogs the progress of the video gaming industry. And before we knew it, our time with Ryan was over as he had some basketball madness to attend in Kentucky with his in-laws. No worries, though. We also found a lot of time to visit Waco and all it had to offer through the creative constructs of Joann and Chip Gaines. Farmers markets, baked goods and a whole lotta’ Magnolia goin’ on in Waco. The lure of simple country living was on our minds for remainder of our time orbiting the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and as an added bonus… one last dinner with Ryan and Jami, fondue style.

It is now May and we have made it out of Texas without too much bruising. There were low points: Gracie had a sleep over at the vet hospital, Winne blew a tire on New Year’s Day, Starlink increased their monthly subscription pricing, the truck has a relentless check engine light that not even GM can figure out, Midland, Texas has a bad stain on it and most of the dirt ended up all over Winne and Ken’s breathing thing is becoming an issue, again. It’s just an odd unusual feeling these last few months like we don’t know what we’re doing, but we do … know what we’re doing. We’ve met some people, a great guy and talented musician, James, formerly of Florida and new resident of North Carolina. We met some Canadians who don’t hate us, Kevin and JoAnna from New Brunswick and some potentially newbie RVers Larry and Julie from Ohio…. Whoo hoo! RV-ing is fun!

We met Julie and Larry while exploring in Mesilla, NM. Our brightly decorated truck drew them in for conversation, which can happen often. They are excited about jumping into our RV community and were eager to consume any knowledge we had. As we move across Arizona, our conversation has turned more to the idea of moving from full time traveling to getting ourselves settled into a property and traveling when the desire arises; a part time gig that gives us the chance to hold on to that exploration spirit, while giving us a place to regroup and recover as necessary. Of course, we’ll let you know how that unfolds, but for now, we can see the California state line from our position here in Lake Havasu, AZ. This will mark another new state for us to add to the collection of experiences that we hold onto.

Thanks again for putting up with our lengthy tardiness and we look forward to blogging with you, again. Oh and check out our dining recommendations across the U.S. We’ve added another from our New Mexico visit. Hasta la vista, amigos!