Back & Forth - The holidays

It seems like we just arrived in France and we're leaving. Jan. 6 we take off from Marseille and after a short layover in Frankfurt we expect to arrive in Dallas approx. 15 hours later. Our previous trip in Oct.-Nov. was exceptional with Gisele becoming a naturalized US citizen and then Bill driving like a maniac for 1500 miles to arrive at Yellowstone Park in Wyoming before the first snowfall and then being back to Houston in time for the ceremony Nov. 10. The entire trip turned into about 4200 miles over 5 weeks but it was a part of the US neither of us had been to before and well worth the effort.

Our time in France was also well spent with numerous parties, dinners and get togethers with friends and family. Despite unusually cold weather we were able to collect 180 Kilos (about 400 lbs) of olives from our trees which were crushed and strained into 25 Liters (approx. 6.5 gallons) of our own olive oil.

Our olives being crushed at the mill

Fireplace decorated for the holidays

The holidays seemed to arrive from out of nowhere. We managed to put up some decorations and host friends Giselle(G2) and Marco from Calgary, Canada.

 Giselle(G2), Marco, Gisele(G1), Claudette and Betty

Pierre (87 years old), Irene (101), Therese (90)

Gisele's(G1) family arrived a week before the holiday and stayed with us. Our brother-in-law Patrick made a delicious foie gras of which there is never enough and Bill made four fougasse (a regional specialty from his cooking class).

Branson, Missouri - The live music capital of the USA

Marty Haggard, son of Merle

Our campsite in Branson

Us with the cast from Top 10 Rock 'n Roll

It's now Sunday in Branson and we've already seen 5 shows. All were very good and some we considered excellent. The best in our opinion were a show called "Top 10 Rock n' Roll" and "SIX". We bought the DVD from both but are not sure you can get close to the same feeling as from a live show. Tonight we will go to a country music show starring Marty Haggard who is Merle's son. We'll let you know.

Us with 2 cast members from SIX

The Rankinettes from the Rankin Brothers variety show

Elvis impression from Rankin Brothers show

Penny Gilley and Jeff Brandt from her show

Heading south to Branson

We left Cody, Wyoming for Omaha, Nebraska via Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The country is noticeably flatter in this area and not very interesting.  We stayed in Omaha for a few days seeing friends and having some very nice meals as well as visiting the zoo. We basically relaxed after our frantic driving schedule over the previous 2 weeks. We head towards Kansas City, Missouri today and then on to Branson, Missouri.

Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse in South Dakota

MOUNT RUSHMORE

Another well know National Park in the USA is Mount Rushmore. Most Americans are familiar with it but relatively few have visited. It's very patriotic as well as inspiring with its 4 president's heads carved in granite at 5500 feet above sea level.

CRAZY HORSE MEMORIAL

There is another memorial about 17 miles from Mount Rushmore to memorialize an American Indian hero named Crazy Horse. It's a work still in progress after being started in 1948 and nobody at the site will give a completion date.

Yellowstone Park

geyser at Yellowstone

We left Jackson Hole, Wyoming for Yellowstone Park at the northwest corner of Wyoming. Traveling through this huge & magnificent park is something you've heard about your entire life. It seems like the hype would be impossible to live up to. Untrue! We spent 2 days and could have easily spent 2 weeks. The views are constantly changing and the geology is like nowhere else on earth.

geyser at Yellowstone

   Hot water vents at Yellowstone

temporary road block at Yellowstone

Old Faithful geyser at Yellowstone Park

After leaving Yellowstone we traveled north into Montana. Beautiful scenic drive with wide open spaces.

From Montana, traveled west to the cowboy city of Cody, Wyoming

Our trip north

The Grand Teton mountain range in Wyoming

 

We arrived in Dallas October 2 and after a 2 day car trip to Houston where all went well, we started out on our trip north. After traveling thru Oklahoma, Colorado and most of Wyoming and after about 1300 miles and 5 days we arrived in Jackson Hole, Wyoming a very nice upscale western town in Grand Teton National Park. The weather was nice for most of the trip except for the last couple of days which were cold with some snow in the mountain passes. 

Entrance to park in Jackson Hole, Wyoming made from elk horns



Back to the Grind

We're now in France and back to taking care of the house and enjoying some time with friends.  We've had or been invited to several enjoyable parties or get togethers as well as an afternoon of croquet with a crowd mostly from the UK. Sad to say that I didn't make it past the second round but Gisele was carried to the championship by her partner Geoff (He was last year's winner as well). Gisele brought home the trophy and I refused all demands to polish it.

I've also been taking a course in French cooking since last October. I continued on our return in April and graduated w/ diploma Sat. June 19 at an evening dinner party. It was a very enjoyable experience and I hope to continue.

Bill receiving his diploma

Salade Nicoise

Bill with his Professor de Cuisine Jacques Nicolini

Birthday dinner at Table de Julian in May for Regina, Jacques and Gisele

Return to Dallas

The RV in storage in Texas

Gisele with our friend Margaret in new Mexico

The Big Texan Restaurant in Amarillo, TX

 After we left our group in Las Vegas, we left our camping at Circus Circus KOA and headed east. We made several stops along the way with the first being in Rio Rancho, New Mexico to visit with our friend Margarita in her new home. We had a very nice time and spent the night, a nice change from the RV. 

Heading east again we stopped Amarillo, Texas and went to dinner at a well known local restaurant called The Big Texan. This is the place where they will give you a 72 ounce (2 Kg) steak for free. These only condition is that you finish it within 60 minutes along with a salad, roll, shrimp cocktail and baked potato.  Perhaps in my 20s I would have considered it but those years have passed and a 4.5 lb. steak probably wouldn't so I declined the glory of being listed amongst the biggest gluttons in the USA. While we were there 2 gentlemen attempted the feat but were denied, with one running from the table in obvious distress. We tried their BBQ ribs, which were excellent, as well as a small order of Rocky Mountain Oysters.

Two hungry guys attempting a free steak

The rest of the trip was fortunately uneventful and we made it back to Dallas on April 1 to prepare the RV for storage and pack for the trip to France.

The next chapter of the trip

We held sad goodbyes this morning in Las Vegas as all the RVs in the "French Caravan" were returned to El Monte RV and we all went our separate ways. A group of six left by van for a trip thru California, a group of four is staying in town until Monday, another four will be leaving for France this afternoon. We head back with several stops along the way, expecting to be back in Dallas, Texas by April 1. After a final shopping we'll be in Uzes by April 6.

(It was very, very windy)

Days on the road

We've been through several National Parks and campgrounds without wifi access which accounts for the lack of blog updates. I've attached several photos of The Petrified Forest, Canyon de Chelly, Monument Valley,  Lake Powell, Bryce & Zion National Parks under mostly sunny skies. We've been truly very fortunate with the weather.