Florida

Florida
February 16, 2010
Travel trivia:
I've put on 25,000 km since leaving Sudbury,
I've stayed with 18 couchsurfing hosts for a total of 30 nights. Total couches 5, floors 3, rest beds.
Stayed with 13 friends/relatives for a total of 44(18 in Mexico) nights...all beds.
107 travel days therefore 36 hotels/motels,
The heat and sun are not following me
I arrived in the Sunshine state on February 8th. Put shorts on 2 times, no catching any rays, no swimming, no snorkeling, no kayaking.

In Tallahassee, I stayed with a very nice East Indian couple, both IT persons, for two nights. And they also left me the key to their beautiful home while I went exploring during the day and they were at work....
I then drove to Zephyrhills and visited with Butch and Rocco, two guys I golfed with on Tuesdays at Cedar Green. They were very surprised to find me on their doorstep with no advanced warning. Both live in a mobile home(not a trailer park!!!) community of snowbirds, made up of 30% Ontarians.
Then it was off to Fort Myers where I stayed with Lori, a 74 year old CS hostess. A very nice lady full of zip and zest for life. She shared with me her love of playing the role of Mina,(a one person play)who lived in a concentration camp.

Then it was off to Hollywood driving through the Florida Everglades and "Alligator Alley", as a stretch of highway is called. I arrived at the St Onges, friends from Timmins, where I stayed for three nights. We played cards, shopped, walked the beach at Fort Lauderdale, went to a beautiful art show, and watched the Olympics. There was a internet camera on the beach; I called my daughter Julie in Montreal who was able to see us and she sent me a copy of the picture. Thanks Jo and Rob.

Then, Feb. 15 I drove to Key West. It's a nice drive, about 4 hours from Miami, going from one island to another and they are joined by a highway that runs over the ocean. Each island is loaded with all types of boats. It's expensive here. A camping site for a tent goes for $50.00 a night. Hotels run about $200.00. Meals are pretty expensive too. At happy hour, you get two beers for $5.00. Other times or places, you can get a beer for a buck. Drinking is allowed on the street as long as it's not in a bottle.
Today was Mardi Gras and there were a lot of people roaming the streets, the main one is Duval. A group of people above a bar was calling for passers-by to show skin ie. butts, boobs or more and those who did were showered with beads; it's the same thing that I saw on Bourbon Street in New Oleans only this time, I was on the balcony throwing beads with my hostess and another couch surfer. My hosts, Lori and Desi both work in the service industry, she as a waitress in a bar called "Big Uns" and Desi is a chef in a big hotel. Lori was telling me that waitresses get $4.00 per hour but the tips are very high. When Key West becomes deserted in the spring, her and Desi move to Martha's Vineyard and they work in bars. She says she makes on average $700.00 per night on tips.
The small two bedroom condo they rent is being sold for $190.000.00 . The owner paid $400.000.00 for it two years ago and put in $60,000.00 in renovations. You do the math. These are crazy times for homeowners in the states.

New Orleans

I spent a few days(Feb. 4-5) in "Nawlins". Apart from Bourbon Street, the French Quarter, the Saints going to the Super Bowl and some nice "rich" areas with beautiful estate homes, there wasn't a lot to see; maybe because the city left me a bit depressed. I had a weird CS experience and seeing the devastation caused by Katrina, I was left somewhat deflated. Mind you, a Mardi Gras Parade I attended was special and seeing all the people in the French Quarter partying it up was certainly an experience, still, I wasn't sad to leave the place.

I took a three hour guided tour of the city which was very interesting. We visited one of several cemeteries with lots of history. In this area, because of the land being saturated with water, bodies are not buried in the ground. In the past when they did this, whenever there was flooding, the bodies often came out of the ground and sometimes they were washed away. So, now they are all placed in cemented vaults. One type that we saw belonging to a religious order had close to 100 bodies intombed in it.

The damage caused by Katrina and the subsequent flooding was very devastating. Seeing all the reports and videos on TV at that time and now four and a half years later does not begin describe what really happened. 80% of New Orleans was flooded. They don't have statistics yet but our guide said that maybe up to 50% of the people had not returned. A resident told me that in one district, only one of four schools had reopened. Everywhere in the flooded areas, you see abandonned homes, homes boarded up or in some state of disrepair.

One neighourhood where our guide brought us had "Brad Pitt" homes: built on stilts and with a number of solar panels on the roofs with unique designs, colourful and eye-catching. Other areas have whole streets where all you see are for rent or for sale signs on them and no one to take them up. About the pic with my car in front of the stop sign, the flood waters got up to the sign and stayed there for four days before they receeded. Irreperable damage...mold...

The CS host that I stayed with in New Orleans owns a turn of the century home. It has 12 foot ceilings in the living room and kitchen. It was flooded up to three feet on the main floor. He replaced some of the damaged walls and put in new wiring, changed some cupboards in the kitchen and that's about it. It could be a beautiful home but it isn't, either for lack of money or lack of energy.

So, on Feb. 6th, I left for Fort Morgan, to meet up with Mike, my brother François' former co-worker. I drove through Mississippi and into Alabama where Mike rents a very nice house(and faily inexpensive) on a beautiful strip of sand, similar to Veradero, Cuba. He has just retired and decided he had enough of winter so he moved here for six months. Most of the residents here are northerners escaping the cold. We saw the Super Bowl at a local bar and celebrated the Saints vistory with everyone there. Mike was a very kind host. Good luck with the girls Mike and wish them well for me.

Mercedes (second visit) & Houston (second visit)

Back to the USA
The drive back was a long one but with a lot more to see: drove around Mexico City, 20,000,000 pop.(well, I kinda got lost 'cause roads are not well indicated), saw snow covered mountains...yes still in Mexico, went through some very scenic areas, Monterrey was something else with all its hustle and bustle, sleeping in motels that rent by the hour!!! and most of the driving was done on four lane autopistas.
It took me four days to get back to. Anyways, it was nice getting back to the USA. I told the border agent about my mom and sister Danielle driving all the way from Acapulco in my brother's motorhome, almost 30 years ago. My brother and his wife had been hospitalized after an explosion in the motorhome that eventually caused them fatal injuries. I'msure the roads my sister drove through were not like the freeways I took. My mom always tells the story of arriving at the US border and telling the agent that she was happy to be back home. The agent told her:"But ma'am, you're in the US, not Canada". and my mom replied:"It's like being back home, trust me!" That's kinda how I felt.

I arrived at the Landrys on January 26th and what a relief that was. I spent 4 relaxing days with Adèle and Rick. We golfed a couple of times, attended a quilt exhibition and generally took it easy. The quilt thing really impressed me. They are real works of art and Adèle had five entries and all very unique. I have to ask her if she won any of the awards.

The drive back to Houston was uneventful. I stayed with Christine for a few days and I finally got to meet an old friend of hers, Billy Cline, a 99 year old former lawyer, with great stories to tell. He still lives in his house in Wharton, near Houston. He talked about his life as a lawyer and some of his interesting cases and some anecdotes involving the infamous Pancho Villa. As a child, he also know Howard Hughes and they played together as 12 year olds.

His most famous case came when he represented Jackie Robinson in a court martial.
As some of you may remember(if your as old as I am), Jackie Robinson broke the colour barrier in baseball, when he became the first black man to play in the major leagues. He had been charged with behaviour unbecoming an officer when he threatened a superior officer with physical harm if he ever called him a "nigger officer" again. Billy Cline defended him very well and Jackie was found not guilty. Hollywood made a movie about the court martial. It was a very pleasant afternoon spent with an area legend.

I aslo got a chance to visit with my cousin's daughter, Adèle and her family, for a second time. It was nice to relax and enjoy a hot tub with Dennis and Adèle.

Pictures of people who hosted me

Christine in Houston






















These are just a few of my hosts. I have much more to add.


Dylan, Michlynn and Adele, Houston














Santa Cruz

Petaluma, Cal

Odile and Edgar, Albertville, Sask.

Mike, Oceanside, Cal.








Rick, Sault Ste Marie, Can












Ron, Anaheim, Cal.





Lucien And Karen, St Jean Baptiste, Man.
Indio, Cal

Tony and Crystal, Coos Bay, Ore.

Mexico

Things I've done since arriving:
-went to a Mayan ruin at Xcambo around 2,000 years old. It's small compared to others which will have to wait for my next visit(if Mars and Pete will invite me again),
-Church on Sunday: standing room only, lots of singing, a colouful celebration,
-went to Merida, a city of 750,000 or is it 1,500,000. The main plaza had tons of vendors, Mayan dancing, cold beer and lots of to see.
-went to the clinic for my hearing, got antibiotics(hearing still not better). Marcel also got attacked by bugs and his legs are covered with bites and he's been to the clinic too.
-Pete loves to cook, we've had very tasty meals.
- went kayaking yesterday against Pete's advice. I had planned on being out for 2 hours but returned after 40 minutes, soaked and tired. I hit some pretty strong waves and a few times I thought I'd have to swim to shore.
- ate some botanna which is a free appetizer with every beer 0and piscado frito(only in the Yucatan) whole fried fish.
-finding out that the Lapierre's are very competitive at crib, scrabble and Scatergories.
-lost my ATM card which caused me some consternation. Banque National staff were good enough to go and deposit money in my RBC account.
-went fishing on the ocean with Marcel and 3 other guys. Our guides baited our hooks and unhooked the tons of fish Marcel and his buddies caught. When we returned, the Mexican guides filleted the fish called "grunts" and gave us each a huge pile which Pete cooked that night. A very nice meal indeed.
-Marcel and I went for 6 km walks a few times. I've got to get rid of some Christmas fat as I'm getting a big belly from all the driving and not exercising.
-Pierrette has taken on a mission of donating supplies to one of the areas poorer schools. On this one day, she bought cake for all the students and we went to school to share it with them. It was a very nice gesture on Pete's part and the kids were very appreciative.
-on our last evening we went to a restaurant down the road 0and had a another nice dinner.
I left on Jan. 23 with a tear in my eye.

One week in Mexico
It's now Sunday, Jan. 10th. I've driven over 2,000km so far in Mexico.
I got out of Vera Cruz after some driving around; only took one bad road and lost 30 minutes. The roads were good, bad and very bad. On a freeway, I hit a stretch of 1/4 of a mile long that was worse than any road I've ever seen. It was raining and this road(I'm talking about a freeway here) was almost impassable. There were hundreds of cars going about 1 mile per hour over bumps and holes, mud was flying everywhere and drivers were weaving in and out trying to avoid the really bad holes. I took a video and will try to put it on U-tube.

When entering every hamlet, village,town, and city, speed bumps greet you. And again, once, I missed seeing one and I thought my kayak would fly out of its saddle, never mind the damage to my shocks, tires, etc... Also, you could be driving on a nice road and all of a sudden, no warning, big holes appear and trying to avoid them is next to impossible due to oncoming traffic.
I find the countryside very dirty...lots of garbage strewn everywhere and platic bags hang from every tree. I've never seen so many dead dogs along the roads. I assume they have little ministry people doing the cleanup. I hate to say it but Mexico is a third world country and has a lot of catching up to do.(Pierrette tells me I should mention that the state of Campeche is very clean) I do enjoy seeing men on horseback riding along the roads. I saw many of those.
But I'm now about 4-5 hours from my destination. I arrived on Monday, Jan. 11. Lost my hearing in the left ear.

It's now Saturday Jan. 16; been here 5 days. It's cool and cloudy for this area and apparently, it's been the worst weather in 100 years. Is it following me??? (Christine is sure to acknowledge this fact!!!!)

Jan. 19: Marcel and Pierrette have rented a beautiful home on the ocean for the past 8 years. It's very cozy with lots of charm. The pool is being filled today as the weather outlook is promising. It's really a peaceful and quiet here. A few nights ago, we went to dinner at a neighbour's with about 10 couples, many from N. Ontario.

Things I've done since arriving:
-went to a Mayan ruin at Xcambo around 2,000 years old. It's small compared to others which will have to wait for my next visit(if Mars and Pete will invite me again),
-Church on Sunday: standing room only, lots of singing, a colouful celebration,
-went to Merida, a city of 750,000 or is it 1,500,000. The main plaza had tons of vendors, Mayan dancing, cold beer and lots of to see.
-went to the clinic for my hearing, got antibiotics(hearing still not better). Marcel also got attacked by bugs and his legs are covered with bites and he's been to the clinic too.
-Pete loves to cook, we've had very tasty meals.
- went kayaking yesterday against Pete's advice. I had planned on being out for 2 hours but returned after 40 minutes, soaked and tired. I hit some pretty strong waves and a few times I thought I'd have to swim to shore.
- ate some botanna which is a free appetizer with every beer and piscado frito(only in the Yucatan) whole fried fish.
-finding out that the Lapierre's are very competitive at crib, scrabble and Scatergories.
-lost my ATM card which caused me some consternation. Banque National staff were good enough to go and deposit money in my RBC account.