Anyone for some Tabasco sauce?

Today Greg and I played tourists and went to Avery Island, Louisiana, about an hour west of New Orleans. Avery Island is the home of the original Tabasco sauce, a sauce used in many households around the world. A few months ago I saw a program about its production, and so we thought we'd pay a visit.

Even though its sold to many countries (can't remember how many), with labels in 22 different languages, every bottle is prepared and shipped from this one location. That fascinated me.

Travelling the Creole Nature Trail, Louisiana

We had a great day today, spending time with friends. A year ago, when we spent the winter in Costa Rica, we befriended a couple who lived across the street from us. For about two months, almost every day we spent some time together, getting to know each other and sharing wine, food, walks, outings, and stories. We sincerely hoped that we'd see them again, and today that happened.

Sharon and Bill, Costa Rica, 2014

Our final day in Texas

We left Houston, Texas today with the intention of going to Galveston Island, along the Gulf coast. Greg was looking forward to a few laid-back days at the beach. However, what we didn't know was that this past week was spring break for schools in Texas. Add to that congestion from lots of ladies (and some pink Cadillacs) at a Mary Kay cosmetics conference there. Now add a cruise terminal with two ships loading and unloading passengers. Although the island has miles of beachfront, there were lots of people everywhere.

The mainland skyline, with its many oil refineries

Visiting the old (city), and welcoming the new (child)

We travelled another 500 miles east on the same Texas interstate today. We're now on the outskirts of Houston. We saw many oil wells, some sheep (yeah!), horses, and cattle ... but not much else. The landscape did green up quite a bit, but apparently Texas received plenty of rain this winter, so that wasn't surprising.

We stopped for lunch at the Boerne Epicure Gourmet Market, in the small city of Boerne (population around 12,000). Foodies might enjoy the video of the store and deli. We thoroughly enjoyed the food. Nope, I didn't even check Tripadvisor; we just decided by walking in there!

Although part of the Greater San Antonio area (population 1.78 million), Boerne has retained its quaint old-town feel. It has many old, restored buildings. This particular one, with its railing work on the balcony, reminded me of New Orleans.

Texas sure is big!

Today we travelled from the just west of the New Mexico/Texas state line to about two hours west of San Antonio, Texas. We covered about 350 miles, including the distance in New Mexico, and moved into the Central time zone, so we lost an hour.

Texas is a big state, so on a state map we sure didn't get too far. Texas is almost 272,000 sq. miles, as compared to my home country of Wales, which is just over 8,000 sq. miles. Texas is just one of the 11 states we've travelled so far on this journey.

Yesterday I said I never get tired of this scenery; well today I'm not so sure. Most of the time all we saw was mountains in the distance, with lots of scrub and straight, boring roads. We did see border patrol presence in the areas when the interstate runs near the Mexican border. We went through a border patrol inspection once, but being two snowbird Canadians we were quickly waived through. 

At the Texas Travel Centre - I just love this tree

Having no houses or pets to care for, will travel ...

We don't have any house or pet sits booked now, so we decided it's time to move on. The most recent homeowners generously invited us to stay longer, or to return to their Mexico home, but we gratefully declined. So, we said goodbye to our comfy back yard, and hit the road this morning.

It sure was a lovely place to relax!

Take me out to the ballgame ...

Today, being our last full day in Phoenix, we went off to a ballgame. We are definitely not sports fans, and don't usually attend professional baseball games. If truth be told, the last (and only) other one I went to one was about 30 years ago, so it's been a while. However, it was a case of When in Rome, do as the Romans do, and almost everyone here follows baseball.

But how many miles from Niagara?

Don't give this pool boy a machete!

Today my resident pool boy, Greg, practised some new skills at our current home.

Clearing back the trunk of one of the larger palm tress

Spines of all shapes and sizes

So, the topic today is spines. After 100+ days on the road, what do we miss about home? Well, as I've mentioned before, our regular visits to the chiropractor for sure. For me, add to that regular massage therapy. While away we likely need these treatments more often, because of sleeping in different beds and being in the car more than usual.

So today, we went to a local chiropractor. It was my second visit, but for Greg it was his first visit. Greg had been impressed by this doctor's ad in a local community newspaper, so that's how I made the selection. Before deciding, I also went online to check out the options. The most advertised one was a franchise called The Joint, which was at a much lower cost, but it didn't seem a good fit for me. You couldn't make appointments, and there wouldn't be any consistency in who would treat you. I had the impression that there wouldn't be much time spent on me, and I now find out that my assumptions were correct.

A whale spine seen in a main tourist area when we visited Mexico recently

Our return to North Mountain, Phoenix

Yesterday we returned to the home of one of our earlier house sits. For those who follow this blog it's the home of ... the three dogs, the people who go fishing, the people who lent us their home in Mexico ... people who make us feel so welcome. This time they've gone skiing in Colorado. Personally, the idea of going somewhere cold just doesn't interest me!

Shiloh, Jake & Zena - the Tres Amigos

South Mountain Park, Phoenix

Today reached a high of 91F (33C) with no breeze, so it was not a day for walking. Instead, we drove around the downtown core, looking at the huge state-of-the-art sports stadiums amongst historic buildings being reinvented as housing communities. An interesting drive.

We then headed to the most southerly outskirts of the city, to the south mountain preserves area, part of South Mountain Park. Apparently, this park is the largest city park in the world. The preserves consist of wide open areas at the base of a large mountain range. It is used for recreational purposes, such as hiking and horseback riding. Because of the heat, we viewed the area by car.

A paddock next to the building below

Expanding my vocabulary

Today we enjoyed a late lunch in downtown Phoenix. Based on a referral (for once, not Tripadvisor), we went to The VIG on Fillmore. So, I wanted to know more about the name. Given that it's on Fillmore, that part was easy, but I wondered about the "VIG" part. I tried a few variations in my head, but eventually asked the bartender.

Pixabay (Geralt) - Creative Commons License

His answer was that, "of course", vig was the short form for vigorish. Well there was no "of course" about it for me. Not knowing the word it had sounded like vigorous to me, so that didn't enlighten me. Here's the Apple dictionary definition:

vigorish |ˈvigəriSH| nounUS informal 1 [ in sing. ] an excessive rate of interest on a loan, typically one from an illegal moneylender.2 the percentage deducted from a gambler's winnings by the organizers of a game.ORIGIN early 20th cent.: probably from Yiddish, from Russian vyigrysh ‘gain, winnings.’
He did go on to explain its meaning to us. When I asked if one of the properties had been linked to any such activities, he said no. I checked the website to see if there was an explanation of how the name came about, but no luck there. So, did they perhaps borrow their start-up money from a loan shark, or were they involved in gambling perhaps? I guess I'll never know!

More pretty spring blossoms

We loved our meals, and our server was just the best. We were between usual mealtimes, so the place was quiet. So, as often happens, we got into the story of our travels and, being a dog lover, she thought it was the greatest thing. Out came her phone with photos of her dog (named Bob), and her sister's dog; she was so much fun. I was about to ask how she chose her dog's name when she was called away to serve others. Yet another mystery.

The bonus at the end of our great meal was that it was happy hour, so the drink prices were really low, and Greg's meal was half price. Now that was fortuitous!

Our "one-in, one-out" rule

Many who know us can vouch for the fact that Greg and I are the opposite of hoarders; we are moving towards being minimalists. One rule we have always tried to live by is "one-in, one-out". For example, when I recently bought three new tops at my beloved TJ Maxx, I then had to donate three (in fact I sent four) to charity. As an aside, I don't think Greg's followed our rule for the many t-shirts he's bought along the way!

Now for a confession. Many people hug a pillow to help them sleep, but my pillow equivalent is a cuddly sheep. So, on this journey, it's been Kitty (bought at a cat rescue shop in Wales).

Kitty, in her prime

Take a second look!

A section of the Central Arizona Project National Recreation Canal Trail runs directly behind our neighbouring dog park. After this morning's park visit, we walked a portion of the trail.

We're two somewhat weird Canadians

Greg and I have been more successful in this adventure than we ever imagined. So, was it luck? Not really. Armed with posters to pin up everywhere, we left home ready to drum-up business. We soon set the posters aside, as we were sabotaged by those who do this for a living. So, what next?

We registered on two more house sitting websites, and I monitored all three obsessively. We subscribed to a daily email of new postings, but many were often taken within hours, so I soon began obsessively (yep, that's my personality) monitoring the site with the most traffic.

Openclips - Creative Commons License

Opulent Scottsdale

We're currently living in North Scottsdale, part of the Greater Phoenix area. Scottsdale has the reputation of being a wealthy area of Phoenix, with some of the most expensive real estate in Arizona. Today, we took a drive towards central Scottsdale, to Chaparral Park, which includes the largest dog park in Scottsdale. If you click on the map you'll see a wide range of facilities at this centre.

Looking at the map, I'm curious about the "designated free speech" area ... are there different rules outside of that small space? Hmmm, maybe I should go back to check it out, perhaps on a busy weekend day.

I was impressed by the demonstration garden, where there were examples of the use of native plants in landscaping to reduce water use.

aloe plant in bloom

What do you mean, in and out?

When you're not a local, sometimes you don't understand the local jargon. When asking for directions in California, we were told to come off the freeway and turn right at the "in and out". We thought this was some type of ramp configuration, until we saw In-N-Out Burger. Ah, from confusion comes clarity!

Happy Birthday Greg!

So, it's my husband's birthday today. I won't share his age (because that wouldn't be polite!), but I will tell you mine; I just turned 61. Greg takes great delight, from February 14th to March 7th, in telling everyone we're the same age. I'll say no more!

Happy Birthday, Dog Whisperer!

Three new cuddly housemates

Greg and I settled in today with our latest housemate, Harley. He is a Black Mouth Cur, a muscular dog originally bred in the southern USA as a hunting and cattle dog. Although he's a large dog, he's very gentle. As you can see from this photo, where Greg is fussing over him, he'll have no problems training Greg while we're here. 

An oasis in the middle of the city

Today we visited the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. The Visit Phoenix website claims it is "the world's finest collection of arid plants from deserts of the world", with "over 50,000 plants".  I can't vouch for that, but I will say that it took us a few hours to cover most of the trails, and we really enjoyed it. There were some great displays explaining not only the plants, but also the animal and bird life of the area. There were also interesting exhibits detailing the way plants and animals survive in the desert.

We stopped for lunch at the cafe. As you might guess by the photos below, Greg shared his lunch with some of the residents.

Harris's antelope squirrel

Superstition Mountains and the Apache Trail

Yeah! Today, with the help of Google, we solved my post office dilemma. We visited Apache Junction, a relatively small city in the eastern part of the Greater Phoenix area. The sub post office shared space with a gift store and bicycle shop, and was a little difficult to find, but we did it!

Not an easy sign to notice!

Are the washes awash?

I generally don't have much faith in weather forecasts, but for the past few days I've been following the Flood Watch. We've heard so much about the dry gulches (also called washes) that are essential in times of heavy rain. Greg says we should be grateful when it rains in Arizona as water becomes more scarce, but I'm not so sure Arizonans would agree with him today.

Our soggy back yard this morning

No more blind dates for me!

I decided that my photos today will be a recap of the four-legged friends we've made so far along this journey. My writing will be a personal story.

Fanci, our first and current new friend

Many years ago, when I was newly divorced, I answered a personal ad in the newspaper. We then talked on the phone for more than an hour and had a great conversation. During our conversation we figured out that we belonged to the same labour union, and had been at the same union dinner the week before. He then said "Oh, are you that redhead?". When I told him I was the blonde sitting next to her, he didn't remember me at all. No surprise there, as she was very outgoing, and I am not.

Sierra and Lilly, the Californian sisters

The reason for this story? Times have changed, and thanks to Google we no longer have to rely on blind dates. After emails back and forth with a prospective house sit, we exchanged our blog information. I am already aware that my blog has evolved into something more than my travel account, and that I've shared things about myself that surprises me. This homeowner has been blogging far longer, which allowed me to read so much about her that I felt like I was snooping around in her personal life. But hey, she wrote it for others to read, right?

Tagine, our Tucson feline

When we met yesterday, I immediately told her I felt like I already knew her ... intimately (that's what I said!). I quickly explained why, but it did feel weird to know so many personal details about someone I hadn't met. It reminded me a little of last year in Costa Rica, where our neighbour would write her blog early in the morning. I'd then read it at breakfast and then when I'd see her later in the day, and she tried to catch up on what's new, I'd say "yep, I know, I read it this morning!". I had to stop reading it early, so that she could tell me her stories herself. I miss those chats, Sharon!

Shiloh, Jake, and Zena - we'll see you again soon!

Oh, and the outcome of meeting the homeowner? Yes, we agreed on a house sit with her basset hound, Rosie. The outcome of the blind date all those years ago wasn't so good. It was the most boring date I've ever been on, mainly because in person we couldn't find anything to talk about. I couldn't wait for it to end ... and then he asked me for another date. Go figure!