After returning to the U.S., we took a week to get ourselves back together again. Replenished supplies, cleaned the inside and outside of the RV. Had to satisfy our craving for a big juicy cheeseburger and a crisp, fresh salad.
PHOENIX, AZ
On March 7th we met our friends from Sedona, Betty and Gene, at the Arizona Broadway Dinner Theater to see Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I have to admit that I never really knew the whole story as to why he turned into such a terrible person. His father was very old and was losing his mind. Dr. Jekyll thought this was such a terrible thing - such a brilliant man losing his mind. So, he started experimenting with various chemicals. He needed a person to test it on and the Board of the Medical School would not give him approval to proceed. That left him with only one choice. He would use himself to test the chemicals. Obviously, it all got out of hand and he could not come up with the proper anecdote. It was a wonderful musical and the acting was great.
The next morning we met Gene and Betty at their motel and we started our caravan to Florida. Gene and Betty's son recently moved to Boca Raton and they wanted to drive down to visit with him. We were also going to Florida to visit some of our friends. So we drove our RV and they drove their car.
LAS CRUCES, NM
Our first stop was in Las Cruces, New Mexico. We really hadn't spent much time there before and enjoyed our visit. We found a great Mexican restaurant for dinner our first night and a wine/bistro for lunch the next day. We found cute little shops that had all kinds of things that we just couldn't resist. In the afternoon we went to a Cowboy Festival and saw Indians perform dances, long horn cattle and a real hokey cowboy shoot out.
FORT STOCKTON & SAN ANTONIO, TX
We made stops in Fort Stockton, TX and San Antonio, TX. Didn't do much in Fort Stockton but we loved San Antonio. We toured the Alamo, took the river cruise and had a nice dinner in one of the restaurants on the river.
HOUSTON, TX
We stayed in Houston for two days. Our first day, we left our campground and drove about 5 miles to a small ferry (it was free too) that took us across to where the Battleship Texas was docked. We were able to tour the entire ship. Some of the rooms were so small it seemed impossible to think that they had 16 bunks in one room. The ship was commissioned in March 1914. It saw battle in World Wars I and II. It was decommissioned in April 1948 and was going to be used as target practice. Texans raised enough funds to save the ship and have it towed to the dock in La Porte, TX. It has been preserved really well and it has a lot of history. Across the street from the ship is the San Jacinto Monument and Museum. The monument is 567 feet tall and the star on the top is 13 feet tall. The monument honors all those who fought for Texas independence. It is the world's tallest memorial tower. Larry took an elevator (not me, I am too chicken) to the top and took pictures of the Battleship.
The second day in Houston, we went to the Nasa Johnson Space Center. Got on a tram that took us to various buildings that had the Mission Control Center, the astronaut training center, the complete mock up of the international space station and the Saturn V. The mock up of the international space station gives you an excellent feel for how large the station is and how many countries are involved.
LAFYETTE, LA
In Louisiana we went to the Tabasco Factory and store. The factory/company is owned by the McIlhenny family on Avery Island located south of Lafayette. All the peppers are hand picked 
and then ground up. The mixture is then put into big wooden barrels and sealed. On top of the barrels they put a thick layer of salt. The layer of salt keeps air from getting into the barrels. The mixture then sits in the barrels for three years. Most of their peppers are grown in other countries to try and lower the risk of losing their crop from bad weather. We went into the Tabasco store and sampled some Jalapeno ice cream and some chili. After we were finished at the store we went to the Jungle Gardens. The gardens were created by one of the sons who loved birds and wanted to preserve the big white Egrets. 
We drove through the entire park and were amazed at the beauty of the trees dripping with Spanish moss and the various wildlife. We saw a lot of alligators, turtles and birds. Half way through the gardens we came across a Buddha Temple. The Buddha was built for the Shona Temple located northeast of Peking by the order of Emperor Hui-Tsung 1101-1125. The temple was looted by a rebel General who took the statue as part of his loot and sent it to New York to be sold The statue was purchased by two friends of E. A. McIlhenny and set to him as a gift in 1936. The temple and the Buddha are beautiful and the surrounding area was so scenic.
and then ground up. The mixture is then put into big wooden barrels and sealed. On top of the barrels they put a thick layer of salt. The layer of salt keeps air from getting into the barrels. The mixture then sits in the barrels for three years. Most of their peppers are grown in other countries to try and lower the risk of losing their crop from bad weather. We went into the Tabasco store and sampled some Jalapeno ice cream and some chili. After we were finished at the store we went to the Jungle Gardens. The gardens were created by one of the sons who loved birds and wanted to preserve the big white Egrets. 
We drove through the entire park and were amazed at the beauty of the trees dripping with Spanish moss and the various wildlife. We saw a lot of alligators, turtles and birds. Half way through the gardens we came across a Buddha Temple. The Buddha was built for the Shona Temple located northeast of Peking by the order of Emperor Hui-Tsung 1101-1125. The temple was looted by a rebel General who took the statue as part of his loot and sent it to New York to be sold The statue was purchased by two friends of E. A. McIlhenny and set to him as a gift in 1936. The temple and the Buddha are beautiful and the surrounding area was so scenic.
In one area of the park, called Bird City, latticed type wooden platforms were constructed for the Egrets to nest. It was beyond belief to see that many Egrets in one place. Some were nesting, some flying around gathering twigs for their nests and others just trying to find food. They come back to this area every year to nest.
Later that night we went to Prejean's Restaurant for a Cajun dinner. The restaurant had live entertainment and we introduced Betty and Gene to fried Alligator Tail and Crayfish. The place was really busy but we had a great time.
MILTON AND HOMASASSA, FL
We finally arrived in Florida. We spent one night in Milton and drove on the next day to Homasassa. We toured Homasassa Springs State Park. This was our second time at the park. We had taken our five grandchildren there last summer.
We got there in time for the Manatee feeding. A volunteer with a wetsuit on goes into the water to feed the Manatees a supplement. There are six manatees within this pool who were injured at one time and have recovered. They cannot be released into the wild because they have been fed by humans and wouldn't survive on their own. They are graceful in spite of their size. The park also has alligators, bears, a hippo that is 48 years old 
and many different kinds of birds. We all enjoyed it a lot. After our tour we took Gene and Betty to the Yardarm. A small restaurant located on one of the rivers.
The food was terrific but the best part was watching the monkeys on Monkey Island right across from the restaurant. The monkeys performed the entire time during our lunch. After lunch we drove back to our RV park and said good by to Gene and Betty. They drove on to Boca Raton and we were heading for Fort Myers. We had a good time traveling with them.
We got there in time for the Manatee feeding. A volunteer with a wetsuit on goes into the water to feed the Manatees a supplement. There are six manatees within this pool who were injured at one time and have recovered. They cannot be released into the wild because they have been fed by humans and wouldn't survive on their own. They are graceful in spite of their size. The park also has alligators, bears, a hippo that is 48 years old 
and many different kinds of birds. We all enjoyed it a lot. After our tour we took Gene and Betty to the Yardarm. A small restaurant located on one of the rivers.
The food was terrific but the best part was watching the monkeys on Monkey Island right across from the restaurant. The monkeys performed the entire time during our lunch. After lunch we drove back to our RV park and said good by to Gene and Betty. They drove on to Boca Raton and we were heading for Fort Myers. We had a good time traveling with them.
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