December 17 - 18, 2013. Fajardo.

Our flight from Atlanta to San Juan was uneventful, probably because we has prepaid for early boarding, which on Southwest Airlines is highly recommended because there is no assigned seating. Extra legroom was great to have on a 3 1/2 hour flight aboard a full plane. 

Upon arrival at the airport we picked up our rental car and drove 45 minutes to our condo in Fajardo. This two story condo is part of a large, secure complex with several pools, tennis court and fitness room. It features four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a well equipped kitchen and a balcony view of the water. 

Sleep followed a delicious meal at a local restaurant. In the morning we headed for the beach. The water was warm, the sun was bright and the beach almost deserted. Time at the beach was followed by a dip in the waterslide pool. 

The rest of the day was spent grocery shopping and sightseeing. The downtown area looks almost like a ghost town with many shops boarded up. It looks like the few bigger stores on the main highway have lured shoppers away from the downtown area.  A stop at an ice cream shop completed our day.

Tomorrow, maybe more of the same...I certainly hope so!

The view from our balcony.

December 16, Hanging Out in Auburn

              

Life in Auburn continues to be pretty laid back. We walk Jackie each day, go to yoga a few times a week, take in some basketball games and hang out with Jessica and Nolan. We did get to a "meeting" this week and enjoyed the conversation and the people. Everyone is so friendly here.

Tomorrow morning we head to Puerto Rico for three weeks! Other family members will join the four of us later in the week. Here's hoping the weather up north doesn't interfere with anyone's flights.

December 9, Football, Basketball, Yoga and Cookies

Saturday was another exciting day for Auburn Tigers football fans. They beat Missouri and will now take on Florida for the National title. Although I am not a football fan it was easy to get caught up in the excitement, especially at a football party where everyone was wearing Auburn colours and cheering on the team. 

Besides watching football, we have attended a couple of Auburn Tigers Women's basketball games. Admittance to the stadium is a mere $5. Besides good basketball, the entertainment provided by the band, mascot, cheer team, dancers and half time contests is worth the price of admission. The girls won both games which made the games even more fun to watch.   

YogaFly studio offers new students a great deal. For $12  each we get to attend as many yoga classes as we want for 12 days which is ideal for the length of our stay. We have taken in three classes so far and hope that yoga is compensating for all the party foods we have consumed.

Speaking of party foods, I went to another fun party with Jessica yesterday afternoon; a Christmas cookie decorating party. The hostess had the most festive decorations I have ever seen, along with lots of coloured frosting, easy applicators and yummy snacks. Since gingerbread cookie decorating is a family tradition it was reminiscent of fun times at the kitchen table in Bedford.

December 1, 2013. Football Frenzy in Auburn

0When we drove into Auburn on Thursday afternoon there was not only a lot of traffic, but a definite celebratory atmosphere. Most people, including children and even infants were dressed in the distinctive orange and blue Auburn University colours. Cars sported Auburn University stickers, license plates and many had AU flags flying from their car windows. Homes were decorated in Auburn colours. We knew something was up and soon found out that the biggest university football game in the country was to take place on Saturday. People had arrived as early as Tuesday to stake out their tailgate spots, RVs were parked everywhere and football fans had traveled a long way to see this game, whether live at the 87,000seat stadium, at their tailgate site set up complete with flat screen tv, generator and lots of food, or at the many private parties being held in the homes of a town staunchly behind their Auburn Tigers, who were playing the number one team in the country, and arch rivals, Alabama.

On game day we walked downtown to experience the football frenzy. The atmosphere was truly electric. There were thousands of tailgate parties happening, thousands of families dressed in orange and blue, and thousands of people chanting "War Eagle". Since we were wearing our Auburn t shirts, we fit in nicely and knew to respond to the "war eagle" greeting with "war eagle". I had my picture taken with two complete strangers who were dressed in their finest Auburn Tiger garb.

We watched the game on tv with some diehard fans. I found myself caught up in the excitement and responding to Auburn's upset win over Alabama with loud cheers and high fives. As is an Auburn tradition, much toilet paper was strewn over specially built wires at the main intersection of the town. Up until late last year the tissue was strewn over a very special tree but unfortunately an Alabama fan poisoned the tree and it had to be taken down. That guy has apparently served time for the crime.

Although much of the town partied until late into the night, I was in bed by 10, having had enough excitement for one day!

November 25 - 28, 2013. On Thr road again.

This is the third winter in a row that we will spend in the southern US, specifically Alabama and Florida. For two years we drove and camped in my 1987 Westfalia. This year,  Westy is for sale and currently is in storage for the winter. Wanting more space and more reliability I bought a 2010 Pleasure Way Excel TS.  She is 20 ft long and with a V8 engine can easily keep  up with and pass anything on the Interstate.

Since we didn't get away until Monday afternoon, Fredericton, NB was our first stop en route to Auburn, Alabama. On Tuesday we took advantage of a dry, sunny day and got as far as Connecticut. Listening to the radio during the day, we heard about storm warnings and possible travel disruptions on the busiest travel day of the year in the US:  the day before Thanksgiving. 

The forecasters were not wrong about the stormy weather. We woke up on Wednesday morning to torrential rains and strong winds. After breakfast it seemed to calm down a bit and so we decided to head out with full intentions of getting off the highway if the storm got worse. It was a white knuckle drive. It was very busy with every big truck in the nation rushing to get somewhere and every car in the nation right behind them. We seemed to be the only ones obeying the numerous signs flashing the words, "Slow down, maximum speed 45" Perhaps they couldn't see the words through the driving rain. We stopped at 4 and were fast asleep by 9. 

Today's drive was very pleasant. Although there were some trucks on the Interstate, the winds were calm, the skies were clear and all drivers were well behaved. We are in Abingdon, Virginia and will be in Auburn tomorrow.

April 3, 2013.

Home!

April 1, 2, 2013. Lots of States.

April 1: Maryland, New York, Connecticut. Spent two hours in traffic driving through Hartford. There were several accidents. Saw a fifth wheel split in half, with furniture, insulation, glass and aluminum all over the road.

April 2: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick. We made great time today and thought we would be staying in Maine for the night. After a quick stop at LL Bean and an even quicker one at the Duty Free, we landed at a friend's place in Rothesay for the night.

Today I witnessed what could have been nasty accident. A truck was coming up behind us, ready to pass, when suddenly began to slow down. A quick glance in my rear view mirror revealed the reason why: flames were shooting off one of the front wheels as it spun away from the truck. It looked like a ball of fire.

Home tomorrow.

We had such a great winter. Today's cold temperatures remind me that next winter we plan to head south earlier and stay longer.