2010 Year In Review…

Jim says:

2010 was a great RVing year for me. Here’s some on the places I visited, things I did and people met along the way in the about 17,500 miles…

* Arizona
Yuma with a walk-in to San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora Mexico
Apache Junction
Old Tucson Film Studios in Tucson
Biosphere 2, in Oracle
Chiricahua National Monument deep in Apache Country for three days

* New Mexico
Deming with a walk-in to Palomas, Mexico

* Texas
Big Bend National Park for three days
Judge Roy Bean Museum in Langtry
National Museum of the World War II Pacific War Museum at Fredericksburg
Luckenback, population 3
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park at Stonewall

* Louisana
Fred’s Lounge in Eunice
Jean LaFitte National Preserve at Barataria
Mardi Gras in New Orleans for two weeks
Battle of New Orleans site at Chalmette
The mouth of the Mississippi River at Venice
Pilot Town, an island ten miles into the Gulf of Mexico
Bayou Terrbonne to Houma marshlands
Mandalay National Wildlife Preserve and Bayou Black Swamp tour
Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center at Thibodaux
Mr. Charlie Oil Rig Museum at Morgan City
The Oldest Rice Mill and Birthpace of Cajun Country at New Iberia
Tabasco factory and the Annual great Gator Race at New Iberia
Rice and Crawfish country in Crowley
Jean LaFitte Nation Historic Park at Lafayette
Martin Accordion Factory at Lafayette
Saints Football Team Parade at Opelousas
Historic Town of Washington
A visit at the home Greg Girard, famous Louisiana Author at Catahoula
The Great Atchafaylaya Swamp
Louisiana’s Angloa Maximum Security Prison 25 miles from St. Francisville
Civil War Battlefield at Port Hudson
State Capital Building at Baton Rouge
The Last Wilderness Ultimate Swamp Tour
Nottaway Plantation at White Castle
Laura Plantation at Vacherie
Bayou Segnette State Park at Westwego

* Mississippi
Beauvoir – Last Home Of Jefferson Davis, Biloxi,
U.S. Highway 90 and Hurricane Katrina Ground Zero damage area

* Florida
National Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola for three days
Blue Angels Precision Flaying Team at Pensacola
Historical Museum at Pensacola
Fort Barrancas at Pensacola
Gulf Islands National Seashore

* South Carolina
A week-long visit with my friends Bob and Judy Michaud at Summerton
Santee National Wildlife Refuge at Summerton

* North Carolina
Asheville
Cherokee Indian Museum at Cherokee

* North Carolina and Tennessee
Great Smoky Mountains National Park

* North Carolina and Virginia
Blue Ridge Parkway

* Virginia
Skyline drive
A visit with Mary’s stepdaughter and her family at Front Royal

* West Virginia
Harpers Ferry National Park

* Pennsylvania
Gettysburg National Military Historic Park
Hershey Chocolate Factory at Hershey
Dutch/Amish Country in Lancaster County
The Covered Bridge Tour of Lehigh County

* New Jersey
A visit with my friends Jim and Ginnie Palumbo in Wayne
Thomas Edison National Historical Park at west Orange
A visit with my cousin Simone and her husband Pat in Bergenfield

* Connecticut
A visit with my cousin Diane and her husband Bob at Hebron
A visit with my son Jim and his family at Ivoryton
Katherine Hepburn Museum at Old Saybrook
Nuclear Submarine Nautilus and U.S, Navy Submarine Museum at Groton
United States Coast Guard academy at New London
Ivoryton Playhouse and The Buddy Holly Story
The largest casino in the United States at Foxwood
Mystic Seaport
Amistad Exhibit at New London

* Rhode Island
Millionaire “Summer Cottages” at Newport

* Massachusetts
A visit with several different cousins and their families at New Bedford
Whaling Museum at New Bedford
The Island of Martha’s Vineyard for one week
Chappaquiddick Island
A week on Cape Cod including Hyannisport and Provincetown
Sandwich Glass Museum at Sandwich
A visit with old school friends at Revere
The first public beach in the United States at Revere
97th Annual Portuguese Feast/Festival
Lowell’s Boat Shop at Amesbury
Newburyport
Manchester
Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center and Fisherman’s Memorial
Rockport

* New Hampshire
Portsmouth

* New York
U. S. Army West Point Military Academy

* Michigan
Henry Ford Museum at Dearborn
Motown Music Museum and Ford F150 Pickup Assembly Plant Tour in Detroit

* Indiana
RV Museum at Elkhart
Fleetwood Motorhome Factory at Decatur
Workhorse Chassis Factory at Union City
Little Italy Festival in Clinton

* Nebraska
High Plains Museum at McCook

* Colorado
Rocky Mountain National Park
Museum of Northwest Colorado at Craig

* Nevada
National Automobile Museum at Reno

In addition those identified there were many other smaller museums, numerous restaurants and other experiences during the about 17,500 miles of 2010.
Whew! It was quite a year!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
For more information about my three books, click this link:

http://www.panamaorbust.com

RV Trip Favorite Photos #344-355

Jim says:

While Mary and I are taking care of business here at her home…there is little “new stuff” to Blog about daily. So I’ve decided to share with you some of my favorite photos from our recent 298 day, 16,000+ mile RV trip around the United States.

Since scenery and people snapshot-type photos require little special photography skills…and being limited by the abilities of my digital camera…I none the less took some photos that I really liked. They are presented in no special order of favoritism. If you desire to see more associated photos and information about this area, you will need to find this date in the archive files of this Blog.

Today’s photos were taken at West Point Military Academy, New York on August 15, 2010……

In other news…
58 degrees, partly cloudy during the day and rain/snow showers and 31 degrees at night. In the below photo you can see my Bronco in the far background with a light coating of snow on the roof. Time for me to get out of here!

Departure date for me is Monday, November 29th. Mary will join me in Phoenix, Arizona on January 5th, 2001.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
My three books may be purchased at http://www.lulu.com
Just enter Jim Jaillet in the search box.

New Windsor, New York

Jim says:

Yesterday I inadvertently reported we had just finished spending 48 days in New England…ooops, my mistake, I meant 78 days. After which my nine-year-old grand-daughter really didn’t want us to leave. While I was hitching the Bronco to the motorhome she laid on the driveway in front of the Bronco. In the below photo you can see her dad gently trying to pull her out of our way.

He finally got her moved and we said our last farewells. Three hours and about 150 miles later we arrived at American Legion Post #1796 where we parked for the evening. Our friends Ginnie and Jim Palumbo drove up from their home in Wayne, New Jersey to spend the remainder of the afternoon with us. On a recommendation from a local American Legion member, we found a great smaller Italian restaurant only about a mile away. We enjoyed a great meal of freshly made pasta. That’s the only downside of the full-time RVing lifestyle…long separations from family and good friends.

Today Mary and I will go on a two-hour tour of the West Point Military Academy about 12 miles distant.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
My three books may be purchased at
http://www.lulu.com

Just enter Jim Jaillet in the search box.

Mystic Seaport, Connecticut

Jim says:

Yesterday Mary and I spent our last full day in New England at a most appropriate place. Mystic Seaport may be New England’s largest tourist attraction. It all began back in 1851. Mystic Seaport, founded in 1929, actively pursues the collection, preservation and exhibition of artifacts and skills related to maritime history and its influence on American life. It is a privately operated, non-profit institution.

It functions as a living history museum consisting of a village, ships and 19 acres of exhibits depicting coastal life in New England in the 19th century. We spent five hours here and did not come close to seeing all the exhibits. It’s a most interesting place.

Here are 11 photos I took while there…

First is a picture of me with my new hat. I lost my trademark white floppy hat in Salem, Massachusetts a couple of weeks ago. I really like my new hat because it’s lightweight, keeps my head cool and the wide brim shields the sun from my eyes. Now all I have to do is lose 30 pounds, grow a scraggly beard, put a stogy cigar in my mouth and I’ll look just like Clint Eastwood!

To see the other 86 photos I took, click this link…

http://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver/MysticSeaport081310#

Here’s the official Mystic Seaport link…

http://www.mysticseaport.org/

Here’s a Wikipedia informational link…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystic_Seaport

Today we depart New England after being here for 48 days. Our destination for tonight is planned to be New Windsor, New York>

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
My three books may be purchased at
http://www.lulu.com

Just enter Jim Jaillet in the search box.

We’re In New England…Just Barely!

Jim says:

Yesterday we drove about 75 miles and just barely made it into New England. We’re about two miles into Connecticut where we spent the night at a large Connecticut Welcome Center Parking lot. As a general statement, in comparison to the western states…New England is not RV friendly.

By that I mean…
* the roads are narrower and used by lots more vehicles,
* there are fewer campgrounds and they are much more expensive. A Connecticut State Park Campground will cost a non-resident $40 a night,
* RV dump stations are fewer in number and harder to find.
* because the area is older, the American Legion, VFW, Moose and Eagles parking lots which I use a lot are generally located near the center of cities/towns with little to no parking room for an RV.

We spent the night here because there’s an RV dump station and it has a large RV parking area separate from the trucks and it is located well away from Interstate Highway 84, so it has a low traffic-noise.

Here’s four photos…
Along the west bank of the Hudson River in New York, I took this photo of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Station where I worked as a Mechanical Quality Control Engineer 1969 -1971. It’s located just South of Peekskill, New York.

We crossed the Hudson River on the Bear Mountain Bridge…

Since there was no convenient place to photograph the bridge…here’s a photo I took in the winter of 1978…

Here’s our parking spot as seen this morning…

Yesterday it was hot and humid…88 degrees and 95% humidity. Today’s forecast is 91 degrees with intermittent thunder storms. The Weather Wimp…that’s the name Mary has given me…says YUK!

Today we continue our journey in an Easterly direction.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
For more information about my three books, click this link:

http://www.panamaorbust.com