Sunday, November 20, 2011

Texas - A Tale of Two Cities

Our trip is slowly winding to a close and we are heading to Las Vegas where I will fly home to Switzerland. We had the opportunity to spend a day in San Antonio and really enjoyed ourselves. We took public transportation from our RV park to the Riverwalk area. The driver was very helpful and let us know exactly where we needed to get off the bus and where we should pick up the bus for the return trip. We visited the Alamo and had dinner at one of the Riverwalk restaurants. It was so romantic sitting outside enjoying our dinner but the cooler temperatures drove us inside for a final drink. Finding the bus for our return trip was a little complicated but a nice young man helped us out. He was on the same bus and apparently heard us discussing where we needed to get off for our RV park. Amazingly we didn't realize we were at our stop - luckily the young man asked the bus driver to wait and told us we needed to hurry up and get off! It was a really positive experience and we look forward to going there again in the future.

Unfortunately our experience in El Paso was less than positive. We had hoped to stay overnight there and had located an RV park on the Internet. Upon reaching the RV park, we realized it was located in the middle of nowhere. So we decided we would drive into the city proper and look for a dog-friendly hotel. Although it is listed as the second oldest city in the country, there was - at least in our mind - nothing appealing about the place. It is overwhelmingly industrial. Add to this the fact that there are currently US travel advisories in place due to the proximity to Juarez, Mexico. It just had a negative vibe for us so we decided to travel farther. This proved to be a good decision because as we continued to drive a perfect view of the fence along the US / Mexico border came into view. It is truly shocking when you see it for the first time. Plus, as there is a Brooks Brothers outlet almost directly across from the poverty of Juarez, it forces you to face why people continue to try and across the border - legally or illegally. Very sad indeed.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

I Guess You Can Never Really Escape Grammar School, Sadly.

The living culture is transient in most RV parks - most people stay anywhere from one day to one week. This culture really shifts, though, in the snowbird states. During a recent stay in Tampa I was able to practically time travel back to 6th grade. Joe was away in New York for a consulting job so I was alone. I decided to go into the clubhouse to write some postcards and enjoy some human interaction (Nera our dog is a great companion but not much of a conversationalist). Well I should have saved myself the trouble. I walked in and said hello to the women there. In return I received zero response or acknowledgement. Later I went to the pool and said hello to the maintenance man ( also a park resident) which earned me no response. The only time anyone paid attention to me was when the on-site RV technician came over to fix our faulty shower head. His wife conveniently decided to "stop by" - assessing the competition?!?!? So the popular crowd (aka winter regulars) don't bother with the short term visitors.

I did, though, make an interesting discovery. It seems that seniors are strongly attracted by clip art! It is virtually impossible for them to produce an announcement or flyer without clip art. Chili Cook Off - here we have the steaming bowl of chili, the ladies mystery lunch was a veritable cornucopia of question marks. Hopefully this lifestyle works for all involved but I know I wouldn't last. Although these regulars should be enjoying life, they are still engaging in territorial fights and power struggles. All the clip art in the world can't put a happy face on this.

Just wondering.....

As we have been driving through Louisiana and Texas, I have noticed the almost overwhelming number of churches along the highway not to mention billboards displaying religious messages. However, interestingly enough, there are also far more billboards for adult erotic stores and "men's only" clubs than I have seen anywhere else in the US during our trip. What is up with this? It seems so incongruous to me not to mention really just awful and gross.

Key West, The Place Where Back Fat Rules

Getting older and accepting the physical changes in one's body can be a bitter pill to swallow. Speaking from my own personal situation, I try to fight the middle-aged weight gain by counting calories and battle back fat (men, you should ask your wives about this) by purchasing a special bra which covers it. I agonize over my figure and look for creative ways to camoflage my "muffin top". I guess I was of the mis-informed opinion that all women were concerned about these issues and looked for ways to package their middle-aged bodies so the tracks of time weren't so apparent. Well, after spending some time in an RV camp in Key West, I see I was so woefully wrong.

As we were getting set-up, I saw a couple walking toward us. From a distance they looked to be about thirty. Well as they got closer I realized that they were in their early fifties. This didn't stop the gentleman from sporting his vintage 1974 pukka bead necklace, no sir. The woman however was wearing an "A" cup triangle bikini top over a "D" cup chest. The outfit was completed by a pair of low-rise Daisy Dukes that I wouldn't have worn with 20. What is surprising here is that her muffin top was on display for all to see as well as her back fat! These imperfections didn't seem to bother her in the least if you judge the way she was strutting her stuff.

As it happens we arrived in Key West during the "Fantasy Fest" celebration. This wasn't our plan as neither of us had ever even heard of "Fantasy Fest" but Key West was simply the next planned stop on our trip. Based on accounts from other RVers it sounded like a wild time but I was of the mistaken assumption that most participants were young people. Oh, how wrong I was. When we got to downtown Key West Thursday night it was apparent that most people attending were over 40 with the over 60 crowd super well represented. I don't believe I have ever seen so much naked airbrush painted skin (a true lifesaver for me where some people were concerned) in my life - the Street Parade in Zurich has nothing on these people and what they are willing to expose. It takes a little getting used to sitting at a bar next to a woman wearing nothing but pasties and a grass skirt or a man wearing only a "wet paint" sign in front of his crotch. These people do get an "A" for creativity if nothing else. I guess a lot of young people don't attend because let's face it who would want to see people your parents' age walking around like this? Also what would you do if you actually saw someone you know dressed like this?

Funny enough a lot of Americans are uncomfortable when they first move to Switzerland due to the topless sunbathing and the coed saunas where bathing suits aren't allowed (thought to be poor hygiene when sitting in a warm sauna). After Key West I would embrace these things no questions asked. The images of some people are burned into my memory - and let me say, not in a good way. As I told a friend, if gouging my own eyes out would remove these images I would gladly do it.