Here we go again...It's raining, it's pouring, the "ole man" has been snoring... Well what else is there to do when the rain has set in with so much intensity? Louise just raised her head from reading her book, and speaking to the rain, "come on now... give it up"... We have had a few days like this overall, but it never has been an exciting event for us. Looking for the good of the moment...well, it is getting closer to bed time...4:30 in the afternoon. I guess when I look back on the earlier part of the day, we did get a load of clothes washed and dried, and Bob and Mary joined us for a walk to the grocery store. OK, I forgot to tell you about Bob and Mary... Last night Louise and I were sitting in the van. I was doing my journal and Louise was playing a game on her computer, when Bob came up to the door and made a statement like "so are you from the states ??? All I had to do was hear his voice and we knew that they were. Boy, talk about a couple of travelers...they make us look like beginners. Now for our first time, there are 3 couples from the states camping in the same campground...OB and Kris, Bob and Mary, and us...as strange as it sounds, it was great to have some Americans around us that are living the same dream...camping and enjoying themselves through Europe. We knew it was going to rain, so it was a quick walk. We have been listening to the radio (fortunately we have a good english speaking station in Monaco) and they have been telling us that we are going into another "ORANGE" alert...we're happy to hear that... As I look out the window now, the roadway around us is completely submerged and getting deeper by the second. Unfortunately there was a landslide on the major freeway just outside of Nice. It came down yesterday afternoon and has had the only road along the Riviera from France to Italy completely blocked. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't continue onward to Italy anyway. As I look out, I see a lot of empty camp spaces...it seems that those who wanted to head north got in their rigs and took off...I hope they have found sun. Oh yes, I do have some good news....I GOT MY BATTERY !!! It was stupid that I hadn't noticed it missing, but I'm not going into that now.. If you happen to come across a couple of oars, please send them this way. Tomorrow...hope for better weather so we can move on.
8 September '05, Thursday.
Here we go again...It's raining, it's pouring, the "ole man" has been snoring... Well what else is there to do when the rain has set in with so much intensity? Louise just raised her head from reading her book, and speaking to the rain, "come on now... give it up"... We have had a few days like this overall, but it never has been an exciting event for us. Looking for the good of the moment...well, it is getting closer to bed time...4:30 in the afternoon. I guess when I look back on the earlier part of the day, we did get a load of clothes washed and dried, and Bob and Mary joined us for a walk to the grocery store. OK, I forgot to tell you about Bob and Mary... Last night Louise and I were sitting in the van. I was doing my journal and Louise was playing a game on her computer, when Bob came up to the door and made a statement like "so are you from the states ??? All I had to do was hear his voice and we knew that they were. Boy, talk about a couple of travelers...they make us look like beginners. Now for our first time, there are 3 couples from the states camping in the same campground...OB and Kris, Bob and Mary, and us...as strange as it sounds, it was great to have some Americans around us that are living the same dream...camping and enjoying themselves through Europe. We knew it was going to rain, so it was a quick walk. We have been listening to the radio (fortunately we have a good english speaking station in Monaco) and they have been telling us that we are going into another "ORANGE" alert...we're happy to hear that... As I look out the window now, the roadway around us is completely submerged and getting deeper by the second. Unfortunately there was a landslide on the major freeway just outside of Nice. It came down yesterday afternoon and has had the only road along the Riviera from France to Italy completely blocked. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't continue onward to Italy anyway. As I look out, I see a lot of empty camp spaces...it seems that those who wanted to head north got in their rigs and took off...I hope they have found sun. Oh yes, I do have some good news....I GOT MY BATTERY !!! It was stupid that I hadn't noticed it missing, but I'm not going into that now.. If you happen to come across a couple of oars, please send them this way. Tomorrow...hope for better weather so we can move on.
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6 August '05, Tuesday.
With no plans for the day, we ended up having a full schedule... This morning we decided to take "Bumble Bee" into Antebes to see what we could find at the "Farmers Market". As we were getting ready to pull out, OB and Kris (the couple from Colorado) were just getting ready to headout themselves. I'm not sure just where they had planned to go, but they opted to ride into Antibes with us. As it was, we spent the day together. After finding a parking place we headed right for one of the internet cafe. We both had some work to accomplish there so it worked out great. After a little walk through the alleyways and doing some "window shopping", we ended up at the market. I think I was the only one who actually bought something. I'm a nut for the olive vendors and I found what I was looking for...the big green and black with a special brine...mmm-good. I did find a stall that was selling socca, which I found last time we were in Nice. Socca is that pancake made of chickpea and oilve oil. Apparently this is the only place that it is readily found in the world. It was close to the time that I had to take "Bumble Bee" in to see the mechanic, so we went looking for the parking spot we had left her in...not as easily as I had thought it might have been. I know we had come as close as 1/2 block to walking directly to her, but as it turned out, it took us at least 20 minutes in a small town to finally put the key in her lock. Luckly we still had plenty of time left. OB wanted to go with me to the mechanic. Upon arriving, the mechanic told us he could only spend 30 minutes on her and hoped that would be enough...yaaaa.... Well 30 Euros and 20 minutes and we were out of the lot and finally idling just fine. Pray for us that we have left all the problems behind now. The OB wanted to go to the grocery store, so when we got back, we all piled in and went shopping. We found some very interesting and tasty meatballs at the deli that we decided to bring back for a dinner we could enjoy together. Enjoy we did. Everything was very tasty and especially the "meatballs" (which I usually don't care for) were something I would buy again. We headed off to bed about 10 and by 10:30 we were asleep. THEN, about 3 in the morning we (the whole world !!!) were woke up by one of the biggest thunder and lighting storms any of us had ever seen...the thunder and lightning was intense and constant for at least 30 to 45 minutes without a pause....the rain was steady and at sometimes very heavy, but the thunder and lightning...WOW !!! They called it an "Orange" alert...orange hell, it was "Bright Red in my mind... anyway, we all survived (at least here in this campground). The forcast is for more to the west of us for the next 2 days..."stay west".... I did make contact with the manager at the store I bought my computer from, and he is sending my battery out sometime today. Keep your fingers crossed that it arrives soon. Tomorrow...it depends on the battery delivery... 5 September '05, Monday.
Still in Antibes and I'm sure it will be at least Thursday before we will have a chance to move on. Yesterday we hungout around the pool and "Bumble Bee, did a little swimming and reading. I finally finished reading Hillary Clinton's book "Living History". Louise read it first, and seeing as how I had just finished reading "King Henry VIII", I decided I needed another big book to read. Both of these were good reading. Today being Monday, we jumped into "Bumble Bee" and went down to see the mechanic whom we used the last time we were here and had our carburator problem. One busy man...we wont be able to see him until Wednesday, and then he can only just do a little "adjusting"...better than the others we saw offered. While in town, we also got a little internet time accomplished. Louise picked up this newsletter at the internet cafe. In it we found this article that kind of fits together with one of my recent journals... An American tourist in London decides to skip his tour group and explore the city on his own. He wonders around, seeing the sights, and occasionally stops at a quaint pub to soak up the local culture, chat with the lads, and have a pint of Guinness. After a while, he finds himself in a very high-class area. Big, stately residences...no pubs, no shops, no restaurants, and worst of all...NO PUBLIC TOILETS. He really, really has to go, after all those pints of Guinness. he finds a narrow side street, with high walls surrounding the adjacent buildings and decides to use the wall to solve his problem. As he is unzipping, he is tapped on the shoulder by a London Bobbie, who says, "I say, sir, you simply con not do that here, you know". "I'm very sorry, officer", replies the American, "but I really, really, have to go, and I just can't find a public toilet". "Oh, yes," said the Bobbie, "Just follow me". He leads him to a back delivery alley, then along a wall to a gate, which he opens. "In there", points the Bobbie. "Whiz a away sir, anywhere you want." The fellow enters and finds himself in the most beautiful garden he has ever seen. Manicured grass lawns, statuary, fountains, sculptured hedges, and huge beds of gorgeous flowers, all in perfect bloom. Since he has the cop's blessing, he unburdens himself and is greatly relieved. As he goes back through the gate, he says to the Bobbie "that was really decent of you...is that what you call "British Hospitality?" "No sir", replied the Bobbie, "that is what we call the French Embassy !!!". Well it looks like we may have a night like lastnight...a thunderstorm with just a little rain to freshen things up a little....Tomorrow...No big plans yet.. 3 September '05, Saturday.
Ok, so I didn't check... The only reason that I am putting this into the "journal", is that someday as I go back and read this I will remember just how absent minded I am sometimes... Yesterday when I went into the internet cafe and asked for help, the first thing he asked me was, "where is the battery pack for your computer?"....Well, suddenly I felt silly...I hadn't noticed that it was missing. Not only missing, but it was in Nimes and now we are just 35 kim outside of Cannes (about 4-5 hours away). Not only that, what is the guarantee that they will take my word for the missing battery pack not being recieved by me in the first place? Monday morning I will call and see just what we can do and what they will do for me. Until then, the weather is still hot and showing no signs of changing. This afternoon we checked into the Antibes campground that we stayed at in February. In a funny way it is kind of like "coming home"... Our second stop was at Geant (the grocery store) and then back to get a little pool time. Louise happened to hear a couple that is parked across from us speaking, and as she came back to the van she said "I think they are from the US". Well, I just had to go right over and find out...yep, they are from Colorado and have rented a camper in Germany for 4 months. Tonight they have gone into Monaco by train to do a little gambling...I had to hold your mother back... instead we enjoyed a great crayfish salad, and a bottle of the sparkley for dinner. I can guarantee you that this great dinner didn't cost near as much as going to the casino... "Bumble Bee ran just great this morning and afternoon, except when we came up to a stop...she is still stalling damn it... Oh well, I just can't let it bother me now... Tomorrow...Sunday... 2 September '05, Friday.
Just a little catch up. We have moved onto Frejus, which is 35 km west of Cannes. Unfortunately we had a couple of unscheduled stops because of "Bumble Bee" getting caught up in a vapor lock. It wouldn't be too bad except that we have to completely unload the back, get into the HOT engine compartment, let her cool down a little and then try pouring water onto the fuel pump. All that accomplished, we arrived at our campground. Our spot is located at the very top of the hill and right next to the restaurant. Our walk to the potty is long, and with the heat of the days here now...we had better have to go... We did "treat" ourselves lastnight and went out to the restaurant for dinner. I had a Chefs Salad and Louise had a Frog Legs Salad. Yes, real legs... and it was really good... A real good dark beer for me and a glass of vino blanc for her...a banana split for me, and a dish of icecream for her. This morning we were told about this internet cafe just a couple of miles from the campground, so off we went. I was hoping that someone there might be able to help me set up this new computer. Well, let me tell you, he really has been a life-saver and has helped me a lot. Now all I have to do is remember just what he taught me. Tomorrow...on to Antibes |
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