Heading back West to Phoenix, Arizona

Thursday 9th May - 2019

I'm headed back west across the country now, after leaving the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I'm headed for my home in the Valley of the Sun in Chandler, Phoenix, Arizona. A total journey of 1,829 miles.

My journey map home across the US is a total 
trip distance of 1,829 miles
[click to enlarge]

My journey takes me across Oklahoma, then the Texas panhandle through Amarillo, Texas and then into New Mexico. Earlier today, I called in at the public roadside attraction of the Cadillac Ranch, a collection of ten half-buried, nose first, Cadillac cars, just outside of Amarillo, Texas.

I made a leg-stretcher stop at the famous Cadillac Ranch near
Amarillo, Texas. There had been some heavy rain in Texas in the days proceeding.

Update: I have just arrived into Santa Rosa, New Mexico. I got off Interstate 40 looking for a fuel stop & have a look at what I stumbled upon. I drove up the Main Street, which is actually the old, historic Route 66 Highway looking for somewhere to lay my head down for the evening and came across this Route 66 Auto Museum.

What a great find I stumbled upon, the Route 66 Auto Museum
in Santa Rosa, New Mexico

Unfortunately it was too late to check out the Museum because they closed 1-hour ago, however, I took full advantage for an outdoor photo shoot & as you can see by these sensational photographs of this GEM of a Museum.

When open, it has over 30 cars on display and has an admission price of just $5.00. The owner also has a workshop and auto repair garage just up the street, so this would be a handy place to break down.

An unusually fitted out old '58 Ford Edsel Corsair
featuring, of all things, a Back Ho!

Today has been another great day on the road, I have driven a total of 420-miles, now leaving me only a distance of 557 miles to make it home to Phoenix.

Tomorrow, I hope to do another 400-mile day, leaving me approximately 157-miles on Saturday morning to complete my mammoth journey from the Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina to my home in the Valley of the Sun in Phoenix, Arizona one day ahead of schedule. 

A pair of rather unique looking late '58 Ford Edsels 
out the front of this Museum

I am just like Qantas. If we don’t arrive on time... we arrive ahead of time.

I also gained an hour today because of the time change, so instead of it being 2045 right now it is only 1945, I like that & I gain yet another hour before I arrive back into Phoenix. 

In the distant background you can see my RV, 
this is where I set-up camp for the night.

More useless information from this road trip:

* By the time I arrive back in Phoenix I would have driven 5,208 miles (8,341 kms) not too SHABBY for a middle-aged ex-Trolly-Dolly, and that does not include the miles we drove in the Toyota Echo while sightseeing.

In the background you can just see my Mobile Home, 
this is where I am staying this evening

* All up, I've taken in 13 Southern States: Arizona - New Mexico - Texas - Louisiana - Mississippi - Alabama - Florida - Georgia - South Carolina - North Carolina - Tennessee - Arkansas - Oklahoma and some of them twice in my 23-days away.

Doesn’t sound too scary if you say it quickly. I am exhausted just thinking about it.

Gotta go and prepare my dinner, on the menu this evening is Lobster & Caviar washed down with Moët.

Cheers for now.

Warbo.

Passing the Big Texan

Thursday 9th May - 2019

I have been clocking up the miles since leaving Oklahoma, and now I'm just passing through the Texas high plains and what they call the Texas panhandle part of the State. 

The famous roadside Big Texan Steak Ranch

Thought that you may be interested in these few photographs of the Big Texan Steak Ranch, home of the free 72oz [2.0kg] steak challenge. 

It's a kitschy, saloon-style steak house located right next to Interstate Hwy 40 here in Amarillo in the guts of the panhandle of the lone star state.

The 72oz [2.0kg] steak is free - provided you can eat the
entire meal in a specified time

With a big, wet, cold front moving across the central US, the weather is really cold here in Amarillo at just 15ºC [59ºF]. I departed Oklahoma City earlier this morning & decided to have a break from driving by stopping here at this world famous Steak House.

My GPS tells me that I have only 731-miles to drive before I arrive back in Phoenix, AZ. This afternoon I will push onto Albuquerque in New Mexico where I plan to spend the night.

All is well at this end of the globe. Cheers for now.

Warbo.

Creekwood Farm RV Park, North Carolina

Monday 7th May - 2019

After leaving the Kennedy Space Center, we headed 185-miles north on I-95 to cross over the State Line into Georgia. We over-nighted in a little town called Kingsland.

This morning we departed our overnight parking spot in a paddock in Kingsland, Georgia at 0700, we needed to cover almost 500 miles today. I said to David that we would do 3-stints of 3-hours driving periods and that should get us very close to the 500-mile mark for the day.

The entrance to the peaceful and tranquil
Creekwood Farm RV Park in Waynesville, NC.

It was another Huuuge day on the Interstate Highway 95, by far the biggest mileage day since leaving Chandler, Arizona at the start of the trip.

I was about one hour late arriving here at this beautiful RV Park called Creekwood Farm, in Waynesville, North Carolina. It is so peaceful and quiet here. There are no trains blowing their whistles or semi-trailers roaring down the Interstate Highways alongside us.

Creekwood Farm has a nice relaxed pace to it

Kicked another BIG goal as we arrived here this afternoon or as the Americans would say, "hit another home run".

Once we registered and paid the bill, I drove to my allotted space No.84. While unpacking and preparing for the evening I started talking to the chap next door to me. Not really knowing what to do or where to start here in the Great Smoky Mountains area, I started asking him a few questions as you do.

Plenty of green in this RV Park

He also wanted to know my story, so I gave a quick run down etc., etc.,

Well bugger me dead, this guy is named Dean, and he just happens to be an Indigenous Native American, none other than a Cherokee Indian. He was born and bred in Cherokee which is not all that far from here.

David, Dean and myself in front of Dean's
45ft Phaeton 'Pusher' rig with trailer.

In the photo above, there's David and myself receiving final sight-seeing instructions from my ‘Very new best friend’ Dean [in the middle], the Native Indigenous Cherokee Indian, before setting out on our exploration tour of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Check out Dean’s 45ft Phaeton ‘Pusher’ Rig as they call them over here because the 460 Cummins Diesel engine is at the rear of the vehicle, which means that the vehicle is literally pushed along. This piece of holiday magic is worth approximately US$350,000.

Our rigs on a misty North Carolina morning
in Creekwood Farm RV Park

We will probably stay here an extra day, leaving our Motor Homes here in the RV Park. Then utilising my Toyota Echo tow car to do all the sightseeing in. Dean has given me all the good oil for tomorrow, so here is the plan. 

Dean has advised us to drive west towards Bryson City on Hwy 23/74, then north-west to Cherokee. Then take Hwy 441 over the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Gatlinburg. However he has strongly suggested that we should not miss Clingmans Dome, at 6,643ft it is the highest point in Tennessee.

At some point along the way he said that we will come across many, many elk. Tomorrow looks like another fascinating day.

That’s all for now.

Cheers
KW

Terminal 10 - 9 hours and one rocket launch later

Saturday 4th May - 2019

You never know what to expect when you are on the road especially with me running the Show.

Dave and I parked in Port Canaveral's Cruise Ship Terminal 10 car park last night, you could have fired off a shotgun here in the car park until 0600 this morning and you would not have hurt anybody. However I must tell you one story first before I tell you what happened at 0600 this morning.

At 6:00am, I awoke to find a Disney Cruise Line
tour bus parked right alongside me

Being tour director, I am always trying to think ahead about our plans for the next day and beyond. Last night I decided to have an early night to re-charge the batteries. The plan was to set my alarm for 0230 in the morning after I had caught up on some sleep, so that I could plan our day at the Kennedy Space Centre. At the same time I thought that I would also catch up writing my blog.

I was sitting at my dining table typing away at 2:48am, then all of a sudden there was this almighty roar, my Mobile Home started to shake & vibrate, not only that, the ground was shaking violently.

This is the actual SpaceX launch that shook my RV
in the dead early hours of the morning, this morning

I must admit that I was scared shitless, I thought that it was either an earth quake or a HURRICANE about to wipe me out. All this business went on for I suppose 4-5 mins. Once I gathered my thoughts, I realised that NASA had launched a SpaceX rocket from next door in Cape Canaveral that we were completely unaware of.

During the day today I asked the authorities at the Kennedy Space Centre what had happened at 2:48am this morning. They informed me that yes, it was a SpaceX ISS Mission rocket launching at 2:48am.  

Tesla electronic vehicle innovator, Elon Musk's private company called SpaceX had launched the rocket with the payload cargo 'Dragon' vehicle attached in conjunction with NASA. It was their 17th mission to deliver NASA cargo to the International Space Station circumnavigating the earth. 

So that explained everything to me, how interesting is that?

One of the two huge cruise ships that arrived in the early hours of 
the morning to get our quiet car park jumping with traffic

Now back to my story of what eventuated at 0600 this morning. Once I had organised today’s events, and caught up with my blog I went back to bed as it was only 0430. I wanted to utilise those extra couple of hours shut eye.

Again, I was woken up by this constant noise of diesel engines running right outside my Mobile Home, I peeked through my blinds and to my HUGE surprise there were all these Coaches parked in the parking lot, all with their engines running to keep their A/C units running. Obviously these coaches were there to pick up passengers off the cruise ships that had arrived in the early hours.

Here we are, surrounded by large motor coaches
with their A/Cs units running at full blast

Then I looked out the other side of my Camper towards the dock area. I could not believe my eyes, during the early hours of the morning these two HUUUGE Cruise ships had arrived. And I mean “HUGE” 

These coaches were there waiting for the thousands of passengers to disembark to take them of to nearby Disney World in Orlando and of course to the Kennedy Space Centre.

The peace and quiet of our evening was disrupted by the
arrival of tour buses to pick up the cruise ship passengers at 6:00am

David and myself packed up our camp and drove on to the Kennedy Space Centre. We spent the whole day there today. A story of our time at the Space Centre will be written when I get the chance.

Remember, ‘Adventure before Dementia’.
Cheers for now Warbo.

The Kennedy Space Center

Saturday 4th May - 2019

Today we spent the whole day at the Kennedy Space Centre, which by the way is a totally mind blowing. The Kennedy Space Center (aka NASA) is a brilliant experience with lots of presentations and things to see, do and experience. Well worth the price of admission.

Our arrival into the Kennedy Space Center

Arrive early to spend a full day absorbing the incredible history and hands-on experiences. Not only the history, but the future of the space program too. A 2-day pass may be beneficial, in order to experience all the presentations and displays. 

A tour bus takes you on a drive out by the launch pads, the site where every important and significant US human space flight mission has originated from. You'll also see the newly added SpaceX area and rocket assembly hangar. 

In the early '60s, US President John F Kennedy launched 
the Americans into the Space Race

Then stop at the Apollo/Saturn center to see rockets, boosters in an amazing presentation. Sit inside the recreated 1960's era Mission Control and experience an actual countdown of a Saturn V powered Apollo series rocket launch. 

Additionally, you can see the actual returned rockets and space pods on display. Also the original countdown clocks used for all the launches.

The recreated Apollo Mission Control centre.
The whole place vibrates when the simulated launch takes place.

Return back to the main visitor's center to see the actual, retired Atlantis Shuttle Orbiter vehicle that flew 33 missions and orbited the earth 4,848 times. There are numerous theaters with 3D or Imax or interactive to visit and discover. There are cafes scattered throughout the complex and prices for food and drinks are much better than at the big theme parks in the Orlando area.

The Shuttle Orbiters quite often re-positioned to Cape Canaveral
fixed atop a specially modified B747 transport aircraft

Memories can be such a wonderful and powerful experience and today was one of those days for me. I could not help but think about the many memories in my life almost 50-years ago on the drive over here to Cape Canaveral from Fort Myers today.

On July 16th this year, 2019, it will be 50-years since Neil Armstrong and his crew blasted off from right here at this very location in Apollo 11, destined to be the first humans to land on the moon.

The size of the Saturn rockets up close is incredible

On February 14th, 1971, (48-years ago) I watched the immortal NASCAR driver, Richard Petty win the Daytona 500 in his brand new Plymouth Road Runner just up the road from where I am right now. Buddy Baker was 2nd & none other than AJ Foyt was 3rd. It was just like yesterday.

The famous NASA rocket assembly building

During the drive from coast to coast across the State of Florida earlier today I noticed a road sign that said 99 miles to Miami. My girlfriend and I lived and worked in Miami way back in the early '70s, she as a Key Punch operator & me as a motor mechanic. 

Those were the days before computers as we know them today, as I can remember visiting her at her work and she would show me this thing called a computer. It was as big as this 33’ Mobile Home that I am now driving around America.

Anyway enough of all that because it makes me feel old and I sure as hell do not want to think about getting old.

Cheers for now

Warbo

Cape Canaveral arrival

Friday 3rd May - 2019

The sun is just setting here at the busy cruise ship harbour of Port Canaveral. Port Canaveral is an inter-modal port, that handles cargo, cruise ship and naval vessels and is one of the busiest cruise ports in the world.

We tried to get space at the Jetty Park Trailer Park this evening. (9035 Camp Ground Circle, Cape Canaveral.) We did not arrive here at Canaveral until after 1900 this evening and of course they had the full house sign up. 

You know you're in Florida when there's a huge Ron Jon
Surf Shop billboard close by a busy roadway. They're everywhere in Florida.

I managed to back track to find an overnight park here at the Terminal 10 car park of the Port Canaveral Cruise Ship facility. There are no signs saying that you can’t overnight here, so I said to David if you are game, then so am I, to which he agreed to. So here we are, all set up.

David and I, side by side, settling in for the night in
the Terminal 10 Cruise Ship car park at Port Canaveral.

Today was a very busy day again for us, we departed Fort Myers on the Gulf of Mexico coast of Florida at 0830 and drove from one side of the state to other. It was 147 miles to Stuart, Florida situated right on the beaches of the Atlantic Coast of Florida. We had lunch in the Elliott Museum car park before venturing into the Museum to check out the merchandise.

Earlier today at the Elliott Museum

After a big day today, I'm going to hit the sack very shortly, as tomorrow we will spend the day here, in and around the Kennedy Space Centre. I will walk over to Dave’s rig now and organise a time for tomorrow morning.

Cheers for now.
Warbo

Elliott Museum, Stuart, Florida

Friday 3rd May - 2019

Earlier today, David & I visited the Elliott Museum in a town called Stuart, Florida, approximately 120-miles south of where we are now located in Cape Canaveral.

The Elliott Museum offers a variety of collections, including vintage cars, baseball artifacts, artwork, Americana, rotating exhibits in the Changing Exhibitions Gallery, an art studio with classes, a theater, a tribute to local philanthropists Frances Langford and Ralph Evinrude, a Museum Store, a student art exhibit, and much more.

A 1925 Springfield Rolls Royce Silver Ghost

Pall Mall Tourer

I wanted to check the Elliott Museum out because I had been advised that this Museum exhibited the best assortment of AA Ford Trucks (just like my '29 AA Ford truck - ‘Hoover’) in America, I definitely was not let down by that advice.

A ‘57 2-door Chevy Bel Air on display

Not only was I surprised about the AA Food Trucks on display, this Museum also had many other Classic vehicles on display. I was delighted to see a ‘57 2-door Chevy Bel Air [above] in the collection, almost identical to my '57 Chevy Bel Air at home in Sydney.

A great collection of Ford AA trucks

This Museum featured something that I have never seen before in any Museum anywhere else in the world.

Cars from as early as 1886 are exhibited along with early bicycles and motorcycles. Having viewed the main exhibits it was interesting to see how one could choose a car from the stacks to study at closer quarters. Your choice is brought down on a 3-storied automated lift system and arrives on a turntable for your viewing pleasure.

Cars available on the Museum's Automated

Vehicle Racking System

If you care to read the photo [above] about the ‘Automated Vehicle Racking System’ you will understand exactly what I am talking about as you can witness in my couple of photos.

Cars are retrieved by a robotic picking system
and the offered on a revolving turntable for misapply

The last time that I was here in Cape Canaveral was in 1971, I wanted to see some ‘Moon Rock’ that the Apollo 11 expedition had bought back to earth from their mission. David has never been here so, seeing that we were more or less passing by the front door of the Kennedy Space Centre here we are.

Cars are retrieved by a robotic picking system
and the offered on a revolving turntable for misapply

Tomorrow we will spend exploring this wonderful facility here at the Cape, tours start at 0900 in the morning. Tomorrow is also Kentucky Derby Day, what a pity we can’t be there, as we are headed up that way once we leave here.

Tennessee also awaits us, I am especially looking forward to the Smokey Mountains National Park.

So that’s about all from ‘Ken’s Magical Mystery Tour’ for now.

Cheers

Warbo.

Thomas Edison & Henry Ford Winter Estates

Thursday 2nd May - 2019

Where do I start. Today has been truly amazing. David and I arrived here in Fort Myers, Florida at the site of the historic Winter Estate homes of US industrial icons, Henry Ford & Thomas Edison. Because of their strong and enduring friendship, their homes were located side by side.

We arrived around 10:00am this morning because we had booked a tour that only takes place on a Thursday morning at 11:00am.

This photo is of Thomas Edison’s house - 'Seminole Lodge'

The homes encompass more than 20-acres of historical building and gardens including the 1928 Edison Botanical Research Laboratory.

Inside-the-Homes Tours: This tour is a unique opportunity to take a sneak peek inside normally-closed off areas of Thomas Edison’s 'Seminole Lodge' and Henry Ford’s 'The Mangoes' homes.

Highlights: The Museum's tour includes many Galleries interpreting the lives of Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and their families we experienced the exhibits of Edison inventions, Ford automobiles.

Interior of Thomas Edison’s house

The famous Banyan Tree is located on the property. It's world renowned because Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone were working to find a natural source of rubber that could be grown in the United States. The Banyan tree was one of the 17,000 samples that were tested for Edison’s research. 

View looking out from the balcony of one of the upper bedrooms from
Thomas Edison's Cottage, towards the Caloosahatchee River 

In a photo that I took today Historical Documents reveal this Banyan tree was planted around 1927 and is understood to be one of the largest trees in the continental United States. This type of tree, Ficus benghalenis, produces a white milky sap (latex) that can be used to create rubber.

Together with his friends, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, Thomas Edison would attempt to solve a problem impacting America’s security and economy. Within a few short years, thousands of tests would be conducted in an international search for a plant that could be grown in the United States to produce a critical product – rubber.

Other tour guests standing around Thomas Edison’s dining room table with
our tour guide Taylor, 3rd lass from the right. ‘Seminole Lodge’.

The 'Into the Wild' tour explains what these three Vagabonds (Ford/Edison/John Burroughs) & how they would explore the Florida Everglades in a Model T Ford Ute, or as the Americans would say a 'pick-up'. 

Their outings may have been a bit fancier than the average camping trip, involving dozens of staff members and even purpose-built camping vehicles, such as the 'Chuckwagon' that Ford had constructed to carry food and water for the campers, which is on display.

An Edison statue tribute beside the home's Banyan tree 
that is understood to be one of the
largest trees of its type in the continental US.

I could rave on here all day long about today’s events, however if you are interested in Henry Ford and Thomas Edison this Museum is not to be overlooked and is must to put on your ‘Bucket List’ adventures.

This Grand Piano was the one that Edison’s wife Mina
would play in their house.

Tomorrow morning we depart Fort Myers and drive 147-miles to Stuart on the Atlantic coast of Florida, the Elliott Museum is there waiting for me to discover. This museum has the reputation of being the best AA Ford Museum in all of America.

My latest acquisition, my Model AA Ford truck that I have nick-named ‘Hoover’, will be very happy that I will be paying a special visit to his brothers & sisters here in Florida.

Then the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral is next up on the road trip list for a visit on Saturday.

Cheers for now.

Warbo

Florida - Fort Myers arrival

Wednesday May 1st - 2019

Well, well, well, after a great tip from my good friend Steve Core, we sure were not disappointed when we arrived at the Pinchers Seafood Restaurant here in Fort Myers, even though it was late we managed to get all the information required for our planned BIG day tomorrow.

I spoke to the friendly staff & asked them what was the go here at the Restaurant. So tomorrow afternoon once we have finished our sightseeing tour of the Edison/Ford Winter Estates, they advised us to arrive at the restaurant at 5:30pm so that we can take advantage of their ‘Happy Hour’, that's when the food & drinks are much cheaper & before the crowds arrive a little later.

A great find from a good tip... Pinchers Restaurant
Fort Myers, Florida

We have decided to dine out side on the balcony overlooking the Marina. The sun sets here at approximately 2000 hrs. The good oil is to watch the sun set from our dining table.

As you can see by these photographs this place is truly spectacular, what a coup you have put us into Mr. Core. Even though I took these photos more or less in the dark, I can’t wait to see what eventuates in the daylight hours.

I can now see exactly why my ‘HERO’ Henry Ford & Thomas Edison choose to spend their leisure time here in Fort Myers. I can only imagine what this area was like way back in the ‘20s. This area is very much upmarket now.

On one of the walls of the Pinchers Restaurant I couldn’t help but notice a signed print of Ernest Hemingway, which bought back many memories of a trip my son, Nathaniel & I made to Paris, France a couple of years ago when we frequented the Ernest Hemingway Bar in the Ritz Hotel. Wonderful, wonderful memories came flooding back in my mind.

The colourful wall of Pinchers Restaurant in Fort Myers, 
Florida, including a signed Ernest Hemingway print.

Heavens knows what we have ahead of us tomorrow, as one of the Nation’s top ten most visited historic sites, the Edison & Ford Winter Estates is open all year-round seven days a week offering exciting tours and creative programs.

Pinchers Restaurant is located right next door to the
historic Edison/Ford Winter Estate homes.

The interpretation of the site honours the legacy of the Thomas Edison and Henry Ford families. Edison & Ford changed the world with their inventions, pioneering the automobile industry, movies and film, lighting and electricity, sound and communications. Highlights of the day no doubt will be: The Historic Homes, Tropical Gardens, Edison’s Laboratory, Museum, World famous Banyan tree.

Should be a wonderful day for photos, I am so excited.

David and I enjoying a sensational meal and
atmosphere at Pinchers Seafood Restaurant

I talked David into adding Cape Canaveral to our tour, once we depart Fort Myers here on the west coast of Florida we will drive over to the east coast which is no more than a couple of hundred miles.

My main reason for visiting Florida is three fold now that I have included Cape Canaveral.

1) I lived and worked in Miami Beach, Florida for 18-months in 1971 as a used car motor mechanic for a Jewish Gentleman, I know that you probably will not believe this. The name of his business was called ‘Mothers Used Cars’ right slap bang in the middle of Harlem. I can assure you that I sure did a lot of growing up as 24-year-old Aussie Boy from Down-under.

When I lived and worked in the early '70s in Miami Beach I used to go to Cassius Clay’s Gym to watch the Mouth from the South train. It was also after the Cuban Missile Crisis under JFK’s watch, however it was also just after all those students were massacred on the Kent State University Campus in Ohio, these were very turbulent times in the US.

2) I also want to visit the Elliott Museum in a place called Stuart, on the east coast of
Florida. Apparently this is the ‘B’ all to end all Museums for AA Ford Trucks. As you know I purchased ‘Hoover’ last year so I want to see what they have to offer me. Maybe they might want to add my ‘Hoover’ to their collection. Hah! Hah!

3) Once again I was fortunate enough to visit Cape Canaveral in the early days (1971) of the Apollo flights to the moon, I was fascinated by the whole Space program. I wanted to see some ‘Moon Rock’ that Neil Armstrong & his Apollo 11 team bought back to Mother Earth from their successful mission in 1969. So it will not hurt me to re-visit the Cape again after a lapse of only 48-years...

Lunar rock on display at Cape Canaveral
it was brought back from the Moon by Apollo 11 in 1969

Remember, ‘Adventure before dementia’ is my motto. Tomorrow should be an exciting day of ‘ADVENTURE’

Cheers for now from the West Coast of Florida.

Warbo.