The Last Major Voyage of the Nautivan

One of the few items I retained from my wonderfull 20 year marriage was the trusty 1995 Mercury Villager Van.  This van had seen two kids grow up in the back seat.  it was their mobile kitchen while transporting them to their sports games.  They had many a meal in it. It was also their major transportation to all their activities and the commuter vehicle to and from work.  It is now 15 years old and has almost 400,000 km on the odometer.  The only reason i got it was because noone else wanted it.  So this year i decided to drive it from British Columbia to Florida where the boat is stored.  It will transport all the items i have made and bought for outfitting the boat this year. So i loaded down the nautivan and, with a great deal of trepidation, embarked on my journey to the great state of Florida.

I stopped off in Whiterock to visit a crew member for the upcoming year and pick up some of her heavier bags.  Definitely not travelling light this year.  Then off to Seattle to visit with Anita and Dave who sailed with me last year and Anita will join me again this year for the Cuba trip.  The first leg of the journey was through Washington,  Oregon, and into Idaho where i visited with a friend in a little town called Glenn's Ferry.  It was an important crossing place on the Snake River for the Oregon Trail.  Now Idaho is quite interesting.  It is covered with flat land and dried out grass,  sage brush, and tumble weeds.  It is a huge farming area with large hay farms,  cattle ranches, lots of horses,  obviously the famous potato farms and sugar beets and the odd winery.  Irrigation has made this area very productive.  I had a fun visit with Helena in Idaho.  She is a passionate Horse lover and has 3 of her own and boards others.  I did get to go on a trail ride with her on one of her nicely mannered horses.  It was the first time on a horse for me in 50 years.  Yippee Kio  Kiyeeh.  Now i walk bow legged.  But the horse has been replaced in Idaho and Utah by horse power and ATV's.  Its the land of the pickup truck and the ATV.  And these aren't compact pickups.

The off to Utah where i picked up Jen,  my crew from Whiterock, at the Salt Lake City airport.  Then off to Bryce Canyon in south Utah. Before you arrive at Bryce canyon you pass through Red Canyon where all the cliffs and rocks are a bright red colour.

Very spectacular for us west coasters where everything is green.  You look up at all these red bluffs as you pass through and it is really nice.

  A bit farther on is Bryce Canyon.   Now to see Bryce Canyon you are on a plateau at close to 9000 ft.  Then you look down into a huge canyon  and all the cliffs are bright red and very wind carved.  It is unlike anything i had ever seen.  Very spectacular.  But it is at a high elevation and any hiking is strenuous for us sealevel dwellers.  But I did go for a nice walk down into the canyon. 

Next major stop was the beginning of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Again you are up at 12,000 ft and looking down into it.  Nice during the day but cold at night.  But it is real fantastic.  And no matter what they say,  the Americans couldn't have built it without a lot of cheap Mexican labour.  Thank goodness for all those illegal imigrants.

The next major state i passed through was the great state of Texas.  The land of hugh ranches and cattle feed lots.  Low rolling hill and plains very sparsly inhabited but good for cattle grazing.  And the odd oil well out in the middle of nowhere. Passed through El Paso but Rosa is a lot older now and Marty Robbins doesnt sing at her cantina anymore so we didnt stop.  On to San Antonio.  Besides the Spurs and one foxy Desparate Housewife,  San Antonio is famous for its river walk and also a little mission church called the Alamo.  The San Antonio River passes right through the middle of the city of San Antonio.

And the city has built up all around it.  The street level is about a story above the river level.  You wouldn't hardly know the river was there when you look at it from street level.  But the river is lined by nice walkways and lots of lovely big trees and lots of plants.  It is a small park and oasis in the middle of the city.  And the city revolves around it.  Its a major hub of activity with river cruises going on all the time and restaurants and shops lining the river front.

it is absolutely delightful and a fabulous place for a long walk or a leisurly strole.
 And the Alamo is a very interesting piece of history.  yes Davey Crocket and Jim Bowie were there.  But the Alamo and San Antonio were were actually in Mexican territory  invaded and taken over by a bunch of immigrants from the US and some expat europeans who were dissatisfied with the conditions imposed on the colony by the mexican government and Santa Anna.  They sent off to Washinton for help and reinforcements but Washinton had other things on their mind and didnt send any.  So these poor 200 strong rebels defended against Santa Anna and his 2000 plus strong army.  They fought hard and to the last man and put up such a good fight that even though Santa Anna captured the Alamo back he gave up on Texas and went back to Mexico and Texas became an independant territory and eventually joined the States.  And the Alamo is now a symbol of fighting for freedom worldwide.  I tip my coon skin hat to them all.

From San Antonio we went down to Corpus Christie and had my first swim in the gulf.  And there were only around 15 oil wells visible from shore.  Then off and through Galveston.  Some fabulous old houses and buildings in Galveston.  But Corpus Christie and Galveston are home to multitudinous oil refineries.  I think there are more refineries in those two cities than in Canada.
Ariving in Texas we were greated by Mitch Miller singing The Yellow Rose of Texas on the radio.  The waffles in the hotel were in the shape of Texas.  Yes some pickups have stear horns on the front, and its huge and flat.  Ya just gotta luve the place.

Off to Louisiana.  Just as we crossed the boarder we were greated by a real good thunder and lightning storm.  it rained so hard i was afraid to drive over 40 on the freeway and afraid to drive slower.  It was a horrendous rainfall.  but it cleared enough so I had a nice drive up the backroads to Natchez on the Missippi.  Very nice farms,  older houses and the odd plantation.  A great side trip.
Next was New Orleans.  Just had time for the French Quarter and that was wonderful.  great food with wonderful gumbo soup.  jumbalaya, catfish poboys and crawdads.  And the music was terrific.  There are so many bands playing there every night.  There is something for every taste.  And the street musisions are different and interesting as well.  loved New Orleans. 

From New Orleans I took the coastal route and saw some nice scenery.  Got down to the gulf coast area.  You could still see some of the damage done by hurricane Katrina.  Some places just didnt get repaired.  This area is a combination of affluence and poor areas,  but it is still nice.  But Florida is close and beconing so it was a quick trip through the smaller backroads to St Augustine where my boat was stored.  It was a nice drive and the Nautivan ran very reliably and well.  Averaged 11 liters/ 100 km and didnt burn a quart of oil for the whole trip