Grandma's recess

All the way to see LBJ (Ranch)

2012-02-11T18:30:00.000-08:00

Me at the ranch

Temperatures plunged overnight to the low 40s and instead of hanging around the inside of the trailer all day we made a last minute decision to head north to the Hill Country and visit the LBJ Ranch and the Texas White House of Lyndon Baines Johnson.

We left the park about noon and it took about 90 minutes to drive the 70 miles to Johnson City, Texas, the hometown of the 36^th President.

When Jan and Norm were here and were traveling around San Antonio we kept wondering where the “good” neighborhoods were. Today we found them. About 10-15 miles north of San Antonio we drove past some beautiful subdivisions with what could only be described as McMansions.

Joan at the farm

In addition we passed by beautiful homes built on top of the high ground along Highway 281.

We expected large crowds and were pleasantly surprised when we discovered the LBJ was not heavily populated on Saturday.

First we stopped at the Visitor’s Center in Johnson City and watched a 30-minute movie on LBJ’s time as President. No one our age can forget the terrible events that brought Johnson into the White House.

With just a few hours, we opted to skip much of the Johnson City part of the National Park and head to the Texas White House, which is about 15 miles west of Johnson City.

Lady Bird and LBJ resting place

As a Vietnam veteran, and one from the beginning of the war, I remember LBJ as my one and only Commander-in-Chief. Obviously, that comes with mixed feelings, but I recall hearing about the Texas White House and seeing it reported in news reels and newspaper accounts of the day.

I also remember a day when I was still in high school during the 1964 Presidential campaign that my friends Drew and Paul went with me to a campaign rally with Johnson in Los Angeles. We moved our way through the crowd until we were about 100 yards from him when one of us, with plans to take a picture, said “we can get a good shot of him from here.” We realized, all things considered, that using the phrase that included the word “shot” might not have been appropriate.

Joan at the LBJ birthplace

At the visitor’s center near the LBJ Ranch we picked up a free CD to play in the car for a self-guided audio driving tour of the ranch.

First stop was the 1800s farm that was home to the midwife who delivered the future President in a nearby modest home in 1908. The original birth house is gone, but Lady Bird and her husband built a replica of the home on the same spot in the 1950s for use as a guest house.

Many famous people stayed there over the years. We saw a nice photo of a young Billy Graham walking with the then President out of the small house.

LBJ cow and her calf

Across the street we visited the Johnson family cemetery and saw the grave markers for both the President and Lady Bird, which are in the center of the cemetery. Lady Bird’s has an engraving of a special wildflower and LBJ’s has the Presidential Seal.

From there we took a leisurely drive through the farm, including driving through fields populated by Hereford cattle of the same lineage of the ones that were raised by the President. There are few fences and the only thing that separates our Tahoe from the cattle is the grass they are grazing on.

Next stop was the President’s show barn where we got a close up of a mother Hereford cow and her calf as well as pretty large bull.

Joan at the Prez's podium

From there we finished driving through the ranch and ended up at what was once the airplane hangar on the ranch but now serves as the launch point for the ranger guided tours of the LBJ home.

Our ranger guide was very good and informative and led us through the President’s office, which included all the furnishings that were at the ranch during the time of his Presidency. He talked about the important meetings that were held in that office that focused on the Vietnam War and LBJ’s push for the Great Society.

Jim at the podium

From there we walked through the kitchen, which was obviously set up for big cooking and then into the Johnson’s modest sized living room with windows overlooking the Pedernales River. The ranger showed us the gifts in the room that came from world leaders who also spent time at the ranch.

The dining room presented an interesting story as President Johnson preferred a large cushioned office chair instead of the wooden chairs that came with the dining room table. The ranger told us that when the President was at the ranch, his preferred chair was at the head of the table so he could see through a hallway into the living room where he could watch the three television sets.

But when President Johnson was not at the ranch, Lady Bird had the chair put back in his office and had the regular chair put in its place.

Joan and LBJ swimming pool

Because LBJ often worked late into the night and was frequently awakened in the middle of the night, the couple had separate bedrooms that were across the hall from each other. The President’s room was modestly furnished, including a couple crayon drawings by two of his grandchildren.

We saw the bed that he was laying in when he had his fatal heart attack in 1973.

Across from the house was a modest guest house where the Secret Service stayed when the President was at the ranch. For the most part they did not stay in the main house, but made daily walk throughs and maintained a perimeter around the house and property.

Me and the Prez's plane

The current visitor’s parking lot is on the taxiway for the aircraft from the property’s 6,200-foot runway. In his trips from Washington, D.C. , the President would fly on the larger aircraft to either San Antonio or Austin and then transfer to a smaller jet aircraft for the trip to the ranch.

That aircraft is still on static display outside the hangar. It is a Lockheed Jet Star VC-140. (I had to put that in there for my Dad).

Augie's Barbeque

A beautiful swimming pool was added the home later for the President and the First Lady to get some exercise.

Some of the barbeques held on the homes lawn next to the Pedernales River were legendary at the time and there were many great photos at the ranch of those events.

With the tour complete Joan and I started the trek back to San Antonio and as the hour got late, we decided to stop and try Augie’s Barbeque again. If you recall we tried to go there with Jan and Norm, but on the day we were there the restaurant closed at 2 p.m.

Actually, she is not drunk it's just her first Lone Star beer

Tonight, it was open. It was an interesting place that served barbeque brisket and pulled pork. They also had some pretty good looking ribs, but we went for the brisket and pulled pork. It was very good and Joan enjoyed her first Lone Star beer.

This morning on my walk through the park yet another state arrived overnight – South Carolina.

Quiet day on the Ponderosa

2012-02-11T06:40:00.000-08:00

Not much to say about Friday. Our friends have left to return to California and we were at loose ends today.

Joan decided to go and have a manicure and a pedicure, so while I waited for her I filled up the car and did a small grocery shop so we would have stuff for Happy Hour at the park.

It was took cold to sit outside and read so I sat inside and watched Bonanza on TV Land.

Did get in a good work out at the exercise room, so that was good.

Not even any new state license plates showed up in the park today. Yawn.

As a matter of fact, this is our first rodeo

2012-02-10T09:05:00.000-08:00

Norm doesn't miss a bite in the food court

A classic cliché you often hear is “This is not my first rodeo,” referring to some great experience in your life, but truly you can only literally say this once in your life: “This was my first rodeo.”

(To enlarge the photos simply click on them)

So last night was the one and only rodeo experience for Joan and me. Along with our friends from California, we attended the opening night of the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo at the ATT Center. And until the music started about 9:30 p.m. it was a great experience. This was not their first rodeo and they enjoy professional bull riding competitions in the west.

Sadly, this was our last day with Jan and Norm as they are heading back to California as I write this Friday morning. Joan and I know that we will miss them and have only each other to stare at until her sister Diane, and brother-in-law Denny, join us in Houston in a couple weeks. You should feel sorry for Joan.

Opening ceremonies

The day Thursday was spent doing chores around the trailer, waiting for 5 p.m. when Jan and Norm would arrive and we would head to the rodeo.

Joan did laundry while I cleaned up the barbeque grill which we used the other night. I also went to the post office to mail some new moccasins to my son William. It was also cleaning day for the inside of the trailer.

As I was sorting my clean clothes, I noticed that half my undershirts and underwear were missing. All of Joan’s clothes were present and accounted for, but half of mine were gone. I made a quick walking trip back to the RV park Laundromat and found the rest of my clothes in one of the dryers.

Keep this between us and don’t mention it to Joan, but that is why I like doing my own laundry. Her lame excuse was that she had checked that dryer, noticed a cloth bag in it that she didn’t think was part of our laundry and decided she didn’t want to rummage through some other man’s underwear to determine if it was ours.

The cloth bag was ours, but she said she didn’t put it in the laundry basket, so it was probably “my (Jim’s) fault” that she didn’t check further. The three most important words a man can tell his wife: “I was wrong.” They work even if you weren’t wrong.

Youth calf scramble

OK, with the missing underwear mystery solved we waited for the rodeo.

At 5 p.m. Jan and Norm arrived and we drove to the AT&T Center. With a couple hours to spare we looked around the grounds. They had countless vendors with mostly cowboy apparel and ranch items, a carnival midway and a food court with lots of offerings.

For dinner we all went to a Fajita and rib tent that was raising money for college scholarships for young cowboys and cowgirls. It was very good and we enjoyed the music of a country trio “The April Hall” band. April had a very nice voice and we listened until the chill of the air drove us inside to the vendors building.

Team calf roping

After shopping for a while we headed over to the ATT Center for the rodeo.

There was a time in my life I was deeply involved in horses. Even owned and took care of a couple on a little farm in Oxford, but this was the first time I had been to an honest-to-goodness rodeo.

It was fun.

The opening laser light show was pretty cool, the horseback drill team carrying Texas flags was pretty impressive and the color guard was equally amazing. There was a very nice prayer and then the Star Spangled Banner with the flags of Texas and America all presented on horseback.

The two-hour rodeo was a lot of fun. Of course I had seen bits and pieces of rodeos on television, but never watched an entire rodeo in one sitting even on the idiot tube.

barrel racing

Those cowboys who ride the bareback bucking broncos must run up a pretty big bill at the chiropractor as that event looks like it should be named “guaranteed whiplash riding.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen a person so violently shaken back and forth for that long a time.

We enjoyed watching the little kids riding sheep in the “Mutton Bustin’” event and then the “Calf Scramble,” which included a heavyweight wrestling match between a young boy and a pretty tough calf.

There was bull roping and team roping, which is a pretty interesting event. In team roping, one cowboy has to rope a steer’s head and then the other cowboy has to lasso both hind legs of the same steer. It doesn’t sound easy and apparently it is not because a couple of cowboys only got one leg which cost them a five-second penalty which put them out of the money. Everything is timed and the winner is determined by the lowest time.

Laser light show

Steer tying was fun to watch as the cowboy must chase a fleeing steer, grab it by the horns, wrestle it to the ground and tie three of its legs to make it immobile. It was another timed event.

Saddle bronc riding was not quite as violent as the bareback riding, but my favorite, and the crowds favorite, was the bull riding.

We were in section 201, which was high above the floor of the arena and with those nasty animals that still seemed a little too close for comfort. I have a lot of respect for those cowboy clowns who stand right in front of the bulls to keep them from attacking the riders after they fall off, which all but one of the ten riders did. Only one cowboy made the entire 8-seconds. The rest all met an early end to the ride.

Joan and her latest celebrity

Finally it was time for the entertainment which was Chris Young, a rising country star. It took about a half hour to set up a stage, musical equipment and chairs for the high-priced, front row customers, who I eventually felt sorry for. We had planned to stay for about an hour of the entertainment, but that was not to be.

When the music started it was loud. Not just loud, but standing-behind-a-jetliner-engine loud. The ear splitting deafening sound drove us out after just three songs.

My friend Norm is a long time country music fan, but he told me that Nashville has ruined country music with the over emphasis on loudness. We might as well have been at a Mega Death or heavy metal concert considering the noise. It’s too bad because through the din you could almost make out a nice voice on Mr. Young.

So it was a quick exit from the parking lot and a short trip home for our final good-byes with our friends. The time, as it always does when you are having a good time, flew by. But our visit with Jan and Norm, who I have known for about 46 years, proved something to me.

No matter the distance in time and space, good friends are just that forever. Since we have reconnected with Jan and Norm, and I have seen them occasionally over the years, it was like we were never separated.

I just wish we lived closer so there would be more times like these. We’re hoping to get them to Michigan some day and we will certainly see them on one of our nearly annual trips to California.

The rain held off today until we got home from the rodeo, so we were thankful for that. Godspeed home Jan and Norm. Thanks for coming to visit. We miss you already.

As bright as the lights are, the sound was much, much louder

One new state showed up in the park: Joan’s home state of New York pulled in yesterday afternoon. The man had a trailer about the length of ours and from what I could see at a distance was struggling mightily to back it into a spot like ours. He had plenty of help from neighboring campers.

My new rule is that I only need help from one person. Two’s definitely a crowd when you are trying to back a trailer as everyone has a different opinion of what is close and which way you should turn.

Sorry, no post tonight

2012-02-09T21:12:00.000-08:00

We went to the rodeo and it was really great,
but we got home late, so you'll have to wait.

(Until tomorrow)

A day that will live in our memories and not in infamy

2012-02-08T20:32:00.000-08:00

Norm photographs a World War II sub tower

Our time with our California friends is racing by at NASCAR speed. As much fun as we are having, Joan and I know that when Friday rolls around we will suffer a letdown with their departure, but today was another great day in Texas.

Joan and I picked up Norm and Jan in downtown San Antonio at 11 a.m. and headed north to Fredericksburg and a day of shopping, wine tasting and museum visiting.

While Joan and Jan took in the wonderful shops in Fredericksburg, Norm and I toured the Pacific War Museum. Formerly called the Nimitz War Museum, the various exhibits and buildings take up about six acres of downtown Fredericksburg.

Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Chief of Naval Operations in World War II, was born and raised in Fredericksburg living for a time in a hotel built by his grandfather, which is now the site of the Nimitz Museum and Foundation.

The bridge of a World War II cruiser

Norm and I spent about three hours in the George H.W. Bush gallery which is an extensive collection of artifacts, war material and history of the Pacific War in World War II. There was way more than we could possibly take in during one visit.

The amount of information became overwhelming and we certainly did not cover even half of it.

One artifact that really hit home with me was a ship’s door cut from the superstructure of the USS Arizona which was sunk in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. You can still see the oil line on the door (see photo in post below along with other photos from the day).

I was also particularly interested in the room dedicated the Sullivan brothers. The brothers, who were serving together aboard the same ship, were lost during a Japanese attack. Their deaths created a new policy restricting brothers from serving together on the same ship.

There were news reels and other archival films and just many historic artifacts that I had never seen before.

Grape Creek Winery

Donations from veterans have made this collection very unique, including an oil spattered white Navy uniform from a sailor who was involved in the Dec. 7^th attack. Pieces of a Japanese bomber shot down on Ford Island and many Japanese uniforms, swords are included in the collection.

Incredible aerial views of Nagasaki and Hiroshima both before and after the atomic bomb blasts were interesting.

Following the women shopping in downtown Fredericksburg and our museum tour we headed out of town to visit some of the area wineries. We stopped at Grape Creek Winery where Joan sampled some of the Texas wines. Me, the permanent designated driver, did not take part.

An afternoon wine tasting

With a hearty recommendation from the winery owner we headed to the nearby Cabernet Grill for dinner. We arrived there about 40 minutes before the restaurant was open so we headed a couple miles back to town where Joan and Jan sampled some more wines at the Fredericksburg Winery.

At 5 p.m. we headed back to the restaurant and when it was all said and eaten, we all agreed this was the best dining experience in Texas, so far. Three of us had different shrimp dishes and Norm had an Eggplant dish, which he proclaimed the best Eggplant dish he had eaten.

Truly a wonderful dining experience.

Friends and a great dinner.

After dinner we headed home.

During my morning walk today I found several new license plates in the park: Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky and Aruba. Yes, a motorhome with an Aruba license plate is in the park.

While I was out for my morning walk today it was 47 degrees outside and as is my custom I wore my thin work out shorts. I passed a lady all bundled up in a winter coat walking her dog.

“Aren’t you cold?”, she asked.

“No, ma’am, I’m from Michigan,” I replied proudly.

“Well, I’m freezing,” she said.

“That’s because you’re not from Michigan,” I said. Maybe you had to be there.

Tomorrow we end our time with Jan and Norm with a trip to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo at the AT&T Center. More then.

More photos from Fredericksburg, Texas

2012-02-08T19:59:00.000-08:00

Joan and Jan waiting for me and Norm at the Pacific War Museum

Story of a homemade POW flag

A flag made by American POWs of the Japanese

A Japanese float plane

A plane of the type used in the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo

an oil spattered Navy uniform and pieces of a Japanese bomber from Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941

A door taken from the USS Arizona after the Japanese attack

Another World War II aircraft relic recovered from the South Pacific

They have a whole room on the Sullivan brothers.

Another aircraft relic from the South Pacific

Shopping and a dinner

2012-02-07T18:18:00.000-08:00

Joan and Jan at Happy Hour

Another great day in the San Antonio neighborhood.

After a morning workout I watched as the 25 Quebec RV units pulled out of the park, five at a time.

When we got cleaned up we drove into downtown San Antonio and picked up Jan and Norm for an afternoon of shopping and fun. We had planned to have dinner at Augie’s Barbeque Restaurant, but when we got there it was as closed as a trap.

Another false start at a restaurant that didn’t seem to exist in another part of town, we headed back to the Hungry Farmer where Joan and I ate the first night we were here.

William's moccassins

Following dinner we drove back to the hotel and went inside and sat with our friends at the manager’s reception until about 7:30 p.m.

We left about 8 p.m. and headed home. Tomorrow we are going on a wine tasting tour in the Hill Country. We're also going to tour the World War II Naval Pacific War Museum in Fredericksburg, Texas.

Joan picked up a new pair of moccasins for my son William at the North Star Shopping Center north of San Antonio during the afternoon shopping spree. (See photo).

Remember the Alamo! At 1 o'clock in the afternoon

2012-02-06T20:09:00.000-08:00

Rain, and more rain today. The drought busting continues. This morning I got in an early work out and discovered a new license plate in the park: Nevada.

Joan and I used the city bus service that picks up and drops off right in front of the RV park to head to downtown San Antonio and meet our friends Jan and Norm in front of the Alamo at 1 p.m.
As we departed last night, Jan said “Remember the Alamo – 1 o’clock.”

At the Alamo

It is always good to be with long time friends and Jan and Norm are the best. We had a lot of laughs and spent time talking about the old days and the new days. And we toured the Alamo and went to the IMAX theater for a showing of the Alamo: The Price of Freedom.

Funny story about the movie: When we arrived at a couple minutes after 1 p.m. we couldn’t get into the movie because it had already started. So we planned to go back at 2 p.m. and see that showing. When we arrived back at 1:45 p.m. we discovered that the 2 p.m. showing was going to include 150 public middle school students.

The noise level in the lobby was somewhat akin to an aircraft carrier deck during launch operations. Joan, a former middle school teacher, opined that it could go one of two ways: Either the students would be noisy and rowdy, or some competent teachers would threaten the students with harm and they would be well behaved.

Jan, Joan and Norm (and a Alamo Ranger in back)

Norm and I betted the former and we changed plans again and came back for the 3 p.m. showing after the mob of students was gone.

Instead we walked across the street to the Alamo and did our touring first. The Alamo itself is small and much of what was the compound in 1836 is now the site of sidewalks, streets and buildings, but the original Alamo, extensively restored, remains.

For me it was kind of surreal to be standing on a site that I heard and read so much about as a boy. As we travel, there are times that I kind of pinch myself that I am where I am at particular times. Looking out over the current San Antonio it takes a little imagination to remember that at one time a great battle was fought there.

Jan and Norm had one of those old time black and white photos taken and I’ve got to say, Jan looked great in her 1800s dress, but Norm looked really authentic in his duster and cowboy hat. If I didn’t know better I would have believed he was Doc Holliday.

IMAX Mexican soldier

Probably a lot of the Alamo story is legend and myth, but it is still pretty incredible to stand on that ground and remember.

After the movie, which was quite good (I love IMAX movies) we walked back to Jan and Norm’s hotel (The Embassy Suites River Walk) where we sat and enjoyed each other’s company in the very nice restaurant in the hotel.

The food was great, but the company was better. We sat in the lobby for a while and then it was time for Joan and I to catch our city bus back to the RV park.

It was incredibly cold (for San Antonio) today and waiting the bus seemed a lot longer than the 15 minutes we had to wait in the cold. Jan and Norm offered to drive us back, but the bus service here is very reliable and cheap.

Back at the trailer we arrived in time to watch the third period of the Detroit Red Wings and Phoenix Coyote hockey teams, which unfortunately the Red Wings lost.

Dinner with friends, tomorrow the Alamo

2012-02-05T19:32:00.000-08:00

Jan and Norm

It was an exciting day for us. For only the second time in our travels we had visitors from afar to our little home away from home.

Jan and Norm drove all the way from Northern California to join us here in San Antonio and they joined us for a steak dinner here at our trailer. We had fun catching up on each other’s family and then watched a pretty good Super Bowl game, which New York eventually won.

Tomorrow we will meet Jan and Norm at the Alamo and do a little touring in downtown San Antonio.

This was the kind of trip and event we dreamed about when we purchased the trailer four years ago. A chance to meet and tour wonderful places with old friends.

More tomorrow.

A day full of French Canadians

2012-02-04T14:46:00.001-08:00

With our friends due in San Antonio sometime tonight we spent the day around the trailer spiffing things up and watching old cowboy movies.

In addition to more rain, San Antonio also experienced a minor earthquake overnight. A 3.0 trembler, which we did not feel, hit in the early morning hours. So we've had a little bit of everything here.

One of my all-time favorites was on today, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” which Joan had never seen. Then we watched “Cowboys” with Robert Duvall as we washed indoor windows and reorganized the trailer.

I spent some time on the computer investigating wineries in the Texas Hill Country for a possible visit there this week.

About 4 p.m. we took our daily walk around the park and noted that the next wave of Quebec RVs has arrived. A total of 24 new rigs, some of them quite luxurious, showed up this afternoon all from Quebec. Oh, there were a couple other stragglers, including new license plates from Maine and North Carolina. So we have now had 37 states show up since we have been here.

As we walked we waved to a couple of the new French Canadian arrivals and got the usual no response back. I don’t think you have to understand English to understand a simply wave of “hello.”

Anyway, we had Taco Salad for dinner and we are in for the night. Sorry no photos today.

Happy Hour and hockey, another great day

2012-02-03T21:04:00.000-08:00

Pink in the Rink hockey game tonight

The drought busting continues. Rain last night and as I write this at 10:30 p.m. Friday night (after the hockey game) there is a good old Michigan thunderstorm going on right now here in San Antonio. It rained last night as well. More rain is predicted for tomorrow.

Today we got a few chores done and we watched as the 10 Quebec big rigs pulled out of the park today. Don’t know where they are going, but a few of the Ontario Canadians were quite glad they were gone when I talked to them tonight at Happy Hour.

“They are French, they aren’t Canadians,” one Toronto man told me. He said the Quebec residents are as rude to English speaking Canadians as they are to Americans, which I guess made me feel better.

Nice lady took our photo in our nose bleed seats

I worked out in the recreation room again today and then did a couple laps around the park. After we got cleaned up we went out and did a couple chores and laid in some groceries for the next few days, including some snacks that we picked up so we could bring something to Happy Hour tonight.

Happy Hour here at the park is a bring-your-own affair and everyone brings a little snack to pass.

I met a couple new folks at the “men’s” table and had a good time.

After Happy Hour we headed again to the AT&T Center for the “Pink in the Rink” fund-raiser for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure hockey game. The San Antonio Rampage squared off against the Lake Erie Monsters from Canada and it was the first ever sell out for the local hockey team. More than 16,000 fans were on hand for the game so it was nice to be part of history. They also dye the ice a light pink shade and the players wear jerseys trimmed in pink which are auctioned off after the game.

A pink headed mascot "T-Bone" at the puck drop

Many of my friends were upset this week about the Komen controversy, but sorry I just couldn’t get too worked up over it. It seems like everything has become a political issue and a big controversy and I just don’t see it. So forgive me if I don’t look for a controversy behind ever issue. Besides it would take more than a political flare up to get me to miss a hockey game.

We had a good time and met some really nice folks in the section (nose bleed) where we sat for the game. Oh, the home team lost by a 3-1 score, so the sell out crowd went home unhappy.

One note: Only one new license plate in the park today – New Brunswick in Canada.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Yes, I do windows

2012-02-02T15:50:00.001-08:00

A photo from our park walk today

Again, we woke up to rain in this drought starved state. By the time we leave here the reservoirs will be full, the aquifer will be full and everyone will be able to wash their cars at home again. And, there’s more rain in the forecast. You’re welcome, Texas.

One more state showed up in the park yesterday, New Hampshire. While I was at the office I asked the lady if they had ever had anyone from Hawaii. She pointed to a world map and there have been three visitors here from Hawaii, so I guess it is more than just possible we might see one.

Joan and her urnotguilty.com t-shirt

Actually, there are pins from all over the world, including China.

This morning the folks from Quebec took over the exercise room (after I was finished) to hold one of their “Rally” meetings. The French was flying around and I left. Most are nice folks though. A few live up to the French stereotype, but they aren’t bothering us so all is good.

As they were packing up to leave the park I finally got a chance to talk to a couple of folks from Michigan. They are from Mt. Clemens and are heading to a final destination of San Diego. Very nice folks and we are sorry we didn’t get a chance to meet them earlier.

Me and my book

I did some lubrication under the trailer and washed all the windows on the outside. Joan worked on the inside of the trailer and then this afternoon we took a quick walk around the park.

After our return I spent some time in the sun reading my book and Joan made one of my favorite dinners, Shrimp Louie.

Need rain? Call Joan and Jim, the drought busters

2012-02-01T16:51:00.000-08:00

Next time Texas has a drought all they need to do is call Joan and I and have us drive down. In the past two weeks since we have been in Texas it has rained almost every other day, including some real gully washers, including one that dropped 4-inches overnight.

The aquifer is up nearly 10-feet since we arrived and dire water restrictions have been postponed due to the recent rains.

When I got up this morning, it had rained again overnight and the golf course behind our trailer is greener than green.

This afternoon, with the skies gloomy and overcast we decided to catch another movie we had been hoping to see – “War Horse.” It was a good story, supposedly based on a true story although I can only imagine that it was exaggerated just a little.

After the movie I decided it was time to get a hair and beard trim and we stopped at a salon in the same shopping center (Quarry Shopping Center) where the movie theater was located. The woman who did my hair was an immigrant from Russia, her name was Natasha (naturally), and turns out she moved her five years ago to join her American husband.

She did a fine job on my hair and Joan and I moved on to the AT&T store to replace her worn out cellphone (remember when phones lasted decades?). No sign of a poor economy at the phone store. It is more complicated to pick out a new phone than a new car.

We had a salesman who quickly understood we were only interested in a utilitarian phone that would make and receive phone calls. No texting, Internet or other services need, thank you very much. Joan was well overdue for a new phone and 45 minutes later we walked out with a new phone for Joan.

The problem with her ‘old’ phone was that the battery would no longer hold a charge, so she was constantly having to put it on the charger. Hopefully that will no longer be necessary.

Back at the park, Joan took an hour to wash the towels and sheets and I spent an hour on the phone with the Internet provider trying to have them find out why my Internet connection was going up and down like a yo-yo. Hopefully that has been resolved.

For dinner we had breakfast (eggs, pancakes, bacons and toast) and we settled in for a New York Rangers versus Buffalo Sabres NHL game. (I love breakfast for dinner).

OK, I was joking with Joan the other day that while we have seen plates in the park from 33 states, we will likely never see one from Hawaii as it would likely not be possible for someone to drive an RV from Oahu to the United States. See how smart I am?

Well, today I went for my daily license plate walk and found a new camper from the Netherlands. At first I thought maybe it was a plate from Newfoundland, but I checked online and the license plate NL ******* is from the Netherlands.

As a result I am not giving up hope of seeing a Hawaii plate now or in the future. Stay tuned.
Sometime yesterday a fleet of beautiful motorhomes and fifth wheels, all from Quebec, Canada, arrived in the park yesterday. Lots of French words flying around the park today.

A local attorney, who advertises on TV here, calls himself “The Hammer.” His ads have the slogan: “The Hammer doesn’t bark, he bites.” He says this slogan with a growl. It just makes me laugh every time I hear it.

No pictures today, but I’ve posted one of my favorite lawyer commercials below this entry if you scroll down. This attorney makes me laugh every time he comes on the air. “He doesn’t bark, he bites!”

The Hammer: "He doesn't bark, he bites!"

2012-02-01T16:37:00.001-08:00

Finally, a trip downtown to San Antonio

2012-01-31T17:49:00.000-08:00

The weather warmed up a tad today and we got out and took a little adventure downtown San Antonio.

(Scroll down after this post for more photos.)

We’ve been here for 10 days and this is the first time we actually made it downtown. Part of the reason is that our good friends, Jan and Norm, from California are currently enroute here and we have plans to hit the high spots in San Antonio with them when they arrive here next week.

Joan on a bridge over River Walk

The other is we sometimes get so busy that we don’t really relax and enjoy our trailer and RV park. So this trip we are trying to do a little of both.

We’ve enjoyed taking part in some of the park activities and communal dinners and had a chance to meet many of our RV neighbors, which is something we don’t always get a chance to do.

But the city bus stops right in front of the RV Park and several people told us that the $1.10 bus fare is cheap compared to driving downtown and paying to park. So we wanted to try it before Jan and Norm arrived.

The people were right, the bus service was great and we probably saved a few dollars in gas and parking by leaving the Tahoe at home today.

Me in front of the Alamo

Once downtown we walked around to get the lay of the land and stayed long enough to have dinner, but still get home before dark. We did a little souvenir shopping, but didn’t buy anything yet. My favorite t-shirt so far is the one that shows a mean looking Texan pointing a gun with the words: “Texans don’t call 911.”

Once again I tried to talk Joan into getting grandson Griffen a child’s bow and arrow set or a pocket knife, but ran into a stone wall. She did not think John and Nicole would appreciate such fine toys for a young man.

One time my step grandmother, Wheat, bought my brother and I real switchblade knives, which we thought were great, but which came with a lot of rules laid down by my parents. Not sure they fully appreciated what a great gift the knives were for two young boys.

After walking by the Alamo, but not going in, we took a couple photos and then headed to the River Walk, which was all that it was advertised to be. What an amazing attraction and it made me wonder why Flint didn’t think to do more with its riverfront property so many years ago.

The RV Park gave us a free coupon book and we stopped at one restaurant so Joan could enjoy a Margarita and then we ate dinner at a Tex Mex place call Rio Rio Cantinas. We had the enchiladas and left very, very full.

A decorative tile downtown

The ducks and birds were everywhere and all I could think was how my late mother would have freaked out at having ducks and birds flitting around her head while she ate dinner. My mother was not fond of birds, especially when they were in the same zip code as she was.

After dinner we headed back to the bus stop and caught the southbound No. 42 bus and were home about four hours after we left. A very nice man, who apparently rode the northbound bus with us early in the day pulled the bell cord for us so we would get off at the right stop on the way home.

It looks like there will be plenty to do when our friends get here on Saturday.

This morning it looked like a minor park evacuation as many folks pulled out and went on their way today. By the time we arrived home tonight we noted three new states, Vermont, Pennsylvania and Nebraska had checked in since yesterday. That brings it to 33 states that have been in the park, or in the park since we arrived.

More photos of San Antonio

2012-01-31T17:35:00.000-08:00

Joan pointing out the historical marker

River boat tours on the River Walk

Joan in the Alama courtyard

River Walk

River Walk Fountain

Joan enjoying her Margarita

Downtown office building with Texas flag.

Our dinner table view of the River Walk

A sad day at home, and here

2012-01-30T18:21:00.000-08:00

Today was a bitter sweet one for Joan and I. A good, good friend, Rocky C. died early today. Rocky is one of the nicest people we know and while he has been struggling for some time and we knew this day was coming we still grieve for his loss.

Rest in Peace Rocky

It is hard to be so far from home when something like this happens, but we know that Sue and his family will be surrounded by many, many close friends and family so we feel comforted by that.

Rocky was the first to teach me and mentor me as a follower of Jesus and I will always be grateful to him for that. Also, there are dozens of young children in Malawi who in part owe their better circumstances to the work that Rocky did on their behalf in this country.

Rest in Peace, pal.

Today was kind of a catch up day in which we got our laundry done and then made a quick trip to the AT&T Center to pick up rodeo tickets for next week when our friends Jan and Norm are here with us.

We also stopped in the fan store at the arena to look for souvenirs of our San Antonio Rampage game last week and discovered that the prices were pretty high. The game jerseys were $125, which is the same you would pay for a Detroit Red Wings jersey. Even a small child’s t-shirt was $28.

We left empty-handed.

Joan cooked up a meatball crock pot dish, which we took to the RV park potluck dinner tonight. Joan also did our laundry so the closet and drawers are full of clean clothes again.

It rained hard again today, which means we have been here for both significant rainfalls in San Antonio for the past four months.

Took my daily walking tour of the park and found two new states have checked in since my last walk. Virginia and New Jersey showed up since Saturday (we didn’t take a walk on Sunday) and we were once the only visitors from Michigan, today there are four RV’s with Michigan plates.

Three of our Canadian neighbors have packed up and moved on this morning. It appears that about half the park are folks here for the winter and the other half are stopping for a day or two, or four, and then moving on. We’re somewhere in the middle.

There are probably nearly as many Canadians here as Americans. (One of them told me they love our beer prices, so I guess they have their priorities).

An All-Star day in San Antonio

2012-01-29T15:52:00.000-08:00

Just because you have to have a photo

Church, grocery shopping and two All-Star games about sums up what we did today.

Like last week we attended Holy Trinity Anglican Church, whose pastor is a long time friend of our pastor in Flint. It was another wonderful worship service which included two powerful testimonies from members of their congregation. We are so glad we went.

After church we headed back to our park, but stopped at the nearby Walmart grocery store before coming home so we will have food in house for another week.

We soaked up a little sunshine after putting the groceries away and did some reading. At 3 p.m. we watched the National Hockey League’s All-Star game, which is pretty useless as far as good hockey, but is good theater and fun.

Following that we checked in on the National Football League’s All-Star game which is equally worthless as a sporting contest. Less so now that the two best teams in the league don’t send representatives because they are getting ready for next week’s SuperBowl.

We had a COR dinner, which stands for Clean Out the Refrigerator, and ate up the odds and ends left over from last week.

It was chilly in the old trailer last night as temperatures dipped into the 30s, but got back up to 68 this afternoon.

A crazy bird and a little hockey made this day just about perfect

2012-01-28T20:55:00.000-08:00

Joan and I are on completely different sleep schedules. She is the night owl and I’m the early bird. We’ve worked it out in our own way and most of the time I am up and at ‘em a couple hours before she opens her eyelids for good.

This morning was a good example, although I actually slept in until 7 a.m., which is about 30 minutes later than usual. My routine is to get up, check my e-mail and blogs and then I go for a little walk and work out at the park fitness center.

By the time I get back to the trailer, about 9:30 a.m., there is a slight stirring from the bedroom and within a few minutes Joan is up and ready to start the day.

The AT&T Center in San Antonio

Just the opposite is true at night. While I am drifting off to sleep about 10 a.m. in my chair, Joan is ready for another couple hours of television (which includes shopping channels after I am asleep). Somehow it works.

After a quiet day around the trailer we headed to the San Antonio Rampage hockey game at the AT&T Center which was sponsoring a “Faith and Family Night” promotion for the game. Each ticket purchased for $15 had $5 go toward a local Christian food pantry, so it was for a good cause.

The hockey wasn’t bad either. The game reminded me a little of a hockey game my Dad took me to as a boy at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. I think that team was called the San Francisco or Golden State Seals, can’t remember exactly.

Tonight’s game was a cross state rivalry between the San Antonio Rampage and the Houston Aeros. The Rampage team is a farm club for the Florida Panthers. The game ended with a 5-2 Rampage win so the crowd, and we, were happy.

Late in the third period, the score was 3-2 in favor of the home team and people started chanting “We want chicken!” “We want chicken!” We were totally confused thinking they must be looking for a player with a nickname of “chicken.”

When the Rampage scored the fourth goal we learned why people were chanting. Whenever the home team scores four goals, the local sponsor, Chick-Fil-A, gives away a coupon for a chicken sandwich to every fan at the game. So we left the game armed with our coupon for a free sandwich.

Representing the Red Wings in San Antonio

During one of the intermissions, someone in the rafters of the beautiful AT&T Center (it’s also where the San Antonio Spurs play) dropped toy cows attached to parachutes, which was another Chick-Fil-A promotion. We were not lucky enough to catch one.

There were plenty of nifty goals and one good fight in the game, so everyone went home happy. The locals here seem to love to pound on the glass. The folks with front row seats pound on the glass when the referees are nearby, when the opposing players are nearby, when no one is nearby and just about any time they want to. Bizarre, really.

We also have tickets for next Friday’s game against the Lake Erie Monsters, which is also a fund-raiser for the Susan G. Komen Cancer group and the local players will wear pink jerseys and they promise that they will dye the ice pink, which should be different. I represented tonight wearing my Detroit Red Wings hoodie.

T-Bone the Rampage mascot.

Love the Rampage mascot, which is a angry looking bull with a jersey with the name “T-Bone” on the back. Only thing missing was my buddy Greg and his friend Pam, or Red Wings companions back in Michigan.

Today was a little cooler than yesterday, with tonight expected to be down in the 30s, with no chance of freezing, which is a good thing because otherwise I would have to take some precautions with the trailer.

We took another walking tour of the RV park and we sat outside and read this afternoon, but slightly more bundled up than usual. I began my newest Master and Commander book,” Treason’s Harbour,” which is book nine in the series.

Since my post with the states represented in the park I have discovered seven more out-of-state license plates, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming, and one new Canadian province, Saskatchewan. More than half of the states are represented here and I won’t even pretend to know how many Canadian provinces there are.

Our free sandwich coupon.

In my post on Thursday I forgot to mention a minor annoyance that occurred when we stopped at Dairy Queen for a little after dinner treat. We both ordered medium Blizzards (me: Snickers, Joan: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup) and the young clerk automatically tacked on a 10 percent senior discount.

Joan and I had a small disagreement over the automatic discount being added. Joan was happy and grateful, but I was a little put out that the young woman assumed (correctly, by the way) that I qualify for the 62 and over discount for the restaurant.

To be clear, I’m not unhappy about getting the discount, but it would have been nice, and polite, for the woman to ask me first if I qualify instead of looking at me and making the assumption that I’m old.

Joan doing the "booga-booga"

One of the highlights of my day has become the time in the morning that we are bombarded by a young male Cardinal who insists on bashing into our back picture window. Apparently he sees his own reflection and believes that his area is being violated by another young male Cardinal.

The highlight isn’t the bird hitting the window, but Joan’s interaction with the bird in which she looks back at the bird and cries loudly “booga-booga,” which I guess is a word meant to tell the Cardinal to go away.

I’m not sure which is more annoying, the bird hitting the window or Joan’s continual “booga-boogas.” I’ll keep you posted. Church in the morning and shopping the afternoon tomorrow.

Our Mission for today: Mission San Jose

2012-01-27T17:47:00.000-08:00

After a week of camp chores and hanging around the trailer we decided that we should do a little minor exploring and sightseeing today.

The entrance to Mission San Jose

On a couple of our recent runs out of the park we noticed Mission San Jose, a National Park site, just about a mile from our RV park. From Roosevelt Avenue we could only see a high stone wall, but decided that we should stop by and check it out.

So after lunch (and Joan’s soap opera) we headed to Mission San Jose. Arriving about 2:15 p.m. we got there in time to see an interesting documentary film on the several missions along the San Antonio River and how they were interconnected.

As a Californian, I am very familiar with the Spanish missions in that State. Those were roughly placed a day’s ride from each other to facilitate travel in the early days of California. Not so in Texas. The five missions in the San Antonio area were placed in close proximity along the river for protection of the native people who sought protection from hostile Apaches from the Spanish.

The Rose Window, part of the original mission.

After the movie there was an announcement for a one-hour tour by a park ranger. That sounded pretty good to us, so we formed up outside the Visitor Center and ended up the only ones on the tour. Our guide, Park Ranger Tatum, happily agreed to give us a personalized tour of the mission as long as we agreed to ask lots of questions so she wouldn’t feel ridiculous giving her speech to just two people.

Over 100 years the former mission had fallen into disrepair and the former occupants, the Native Americans, stripped much of the former masonry and stones for use in building houses near the site. In the 1930s, workers hired by the government during the Depression rebuilt the mission based on old paintings and drawings. Only about 30 percent of the San Jose site is the original construction.

Many of the foundations were still in place so workers and designers knew pretty much where the old walls and rooms were, Tatum told us.

Nearby Mission Concepcion, which we plan to visit next week, was not stripped and is about 90 percent of it is original construction.

While the walls and rooms around the mission are part of the National Park Service, the church building is the property of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Antonio and is still an active church. Tatum said there are five Sunday masses and all are completely packed each week.

The church is currently making renovations and improvements to the interior and exterior of the church and the outside original statuary is beautiful. One of the current fixes is a statue St. Joachim, the father of the Virgin Mary. A decade ago a young boy not being watched closely enough by his parents climbed up on the statue and ended up getting trapped which resulted in masonry arm of Joachim being broken.

Recently the broken arm was located in a diocesan storage area and an artist was working on it today to reattach and fasten the arm to the statue.

Inside the church some amazing gold leaf and other work has been done to the altar to enhance the color of the interior.

The cactus is quite hardy.

The site has a working grist mill which we enjoyed watch grind some flour. Tatum turned us loose to tour some of the out buildings, but we dropped by the visitor’s center to put in a good comment card on our ranger.

Back at the trailer, Joan put together her homemade cheese ball and crackers and we took that to the 5 p.m. Happy Hour at the park recreation hall.

The ladies sit at one table and the men sit at another table and I met a number of nice men, mostly from Canada. One of the men was from the Toronto area and with all of our travels through Ontario and a mutual interest in hockey the hour went quickly.

Most of these folks have been coming to this park for a dozen or more years, which makes Joan and I the newcomers.

After happy hour we turned into our trailer for a quiet night in front of the television. To see more photos of today’s adventure, simply scroll down a little for some more photos. On tap tomorrow: San Antonio Rampage hockey!

More photos of Mission San Jose

2012-01-27T17:39:00.000-08:00

Ranger Joan

The Mission Church

Restoration work on church

Ongoing interior work

Ranger Tatum shows us part of the defenses of the mission

It's a very old mission.

Garden cross.

Junior Ranger Jim.

A tour of the States in one small RV park

2012-01-26T18:06:00.000-08:00

After yesterday’s monsoon I spent part of the morning re-cleaning the car inside and out. Washed all the windows on the Tahoe and found later that one of those noisy birds found its target right on my clean windshield.

But the weather today was beautiful and after a cool morning we moved outside and basked in the warm afternoon sunshine. I finished Book 8 “The Ionian Mission” of the Master and Commander series and Joan read her Good Housekeeping.

We took a walk around the park and enjoyed a nice pork roast for dinner.

During our stroll around the park we noted license plates from the following states and Canadian provinces: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington, and West Virginia; Canadian Provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec.

We might have missed a state or two and we’ll add them when we find them.

Rain: Too much of a good thing

2012-01-25T15:31:00.001-08:00

Remember that rain I told you about yesterday. Well, it turned into a monsoon overnight.

What we woke up to this morning. Lake Traveler's World

During our travels we’ve encountered numerous weather challenges, like our trip last winter to Florida, our Kentucky snow and tornado warning, the gale winds in Ludington, but the gully washer we had last night was pretty incredible here in San Antonio.

Several lines of thunderstorms moved through the area during the middle of the night dumping several inches of rain and leaving the trailer half high and dry, but the road in and out of our space underwater.

Both of us were awakened by the cracks of thunder, the flashes of lightning and the sound of the rain pounding on the trailer. With the potential for a tornado Joan asked me what we should do or where we would go before we went to bed

Well, without a basement or other viable option I suggested we pray.

My plans to go work out this morning in the recreation center were swept away in the flood and I just hunkered down in the trailer waiting for the water to dry up or absorb into the ground. Gone with the wind today was the Internet so we spent the morning without it.

The view out our dinette window.

We tuned into the Weather Channel this morning and watched for any possible repeats.

The evening news was filled with stories of damage and a tornado touchdown, but folks here are pretty happy to get the significant rain as they were facing some severe water restrictions if they didn’t get rain soon.

Most of the rain had dried up this afternoon in the park, except for a couple low spots where fifth wheels and trailers were still surrounded by about 4-inches of water.

Tonight the aquifer report showed that more than a half of foot had been added to the local aquifer from the recent rains with more water still filtering down with expectations that it would increase by tomorrow.

We pretty much hung around the house today, but we did take a quick break so Joan could get her nails done and I could get the car fueled. When we arrived home we did our daily trip around the park noting license plates from many states and provinces in Canada. More on that later.

Joan cooked a dinner of hot dogs and salad and we are settled in to watch some Detroit Red Wings versus Montreal Canadiens hockey on Versus tonight.

Much need rain doesn't dampen our day in San Antonio

2012-01-24T16:39:00.000-08:00

Into every life a little rain must fall and today was our day. Yes, folks, it rained in Texas which to the folks down here is a very welcome thing. More rain is on the way tonight along with hail and other scary stuff.

Texas soaker today

If you read yesterday’s posting you could have predicted the rain because I took a couple hours to wash, vacuum and detail my car which is like cloud sprinkling. I’m glad they got the rain they need, but it would be nice if the Texas folk would refund the $5 worth of quarters I used to wash my car. Just sayin’.

Before the rain fell this morning, I took a couple laps around the park and then moved inside to use the treadmill and stationary bicycle in the game room here at the RV park. Always like to get a little exercise in each day.

Joan attended the ladies’ work out class at 10 a.m. and had a great time.

This afternoon we drove to a nearby Cineplex and took in the movie “Red Tails.” The movie is the story of the Tuskegee Airman in World War II and was pretty good. I know my father would love the airplanes, both the real ones and the computer generated ones. The special effects in this movie were outstanding.

We, well, I, was also excited to see in the previews that someone has finally had the good sense to make a new “Three Stooges Movie” which I will look forward to in a couple months. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk. Joan is not as geeked as I am about the new Stooges movie.

As we watched the local news tonight we were struck that during the weather reports each day the meteorologist reports the current depth of the local aquifer and whether it has gained or lost any depth over the past 24 hours. I told you they need rain. Today the aquifer was up .2 inches.

Joan fixed us the perfect cool, wet evening meal: Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup (made with milk, only).

The President is to speak tonight, but fortunately we have Versus, so instead of listening to that we’ll be watching hockey. Talk to y’all tomorrow.

Cleaning, cleaning, more cleaning, potluck and hockey. All in a day's work

2012-01-23T19:04:00.000-08:00

Another quiet day in San Antonio, although we both got a lot of work done. With the trailer now in its third year, the condition of the awning has been bugging me a little. So today was the day for pulling out the awning and employing a little elbow grease to get it clean.

Moisture gets into the fabric and it has a tendency to start mold growing. So with a little mixture of bleach and water I set to work to clean it up. At one point Joan saw me working hard and suggested I try her “Magic Eraser” sponge, which worked really well.

With only water, the sponge did a better job than the bleach mixture and with a lot less effort. “So how long have you been hiding this little miracle of household cleaning from me?,” I asked. Anyway, if you have a tough scrub job, I highly recommend the “Magic Eraser.”

It took about two hours to complete the job, but both sides of the awning look almost like new.

With that project done, I looked sideways at my car and decided this was a good day to get it washed. A u-wash place is just a block away and I drove the Tahoe there, vacuumed the inside and washed the outside. I really like this wash because you can operate it with just two quarters at a time, which meant it cost considerably less to wash my car here than at home.

While I was doing my cleaning, Joan was hard at work washing the towels and linens which we have been using for a week. She also was preparing a large meal of beef stew for the potluck dinner in the park tonight. I wore a cool airplane Hawaiian shirt my father recently sent to me.

I was hoping for leftover beef stew for dinner on Tuesday, but apparently the folks here liked the stew and devoured the whole thing.

So at 6 p.m. we headed to the recreation hall where we joined a few dozen other park visitors for the weekly pot luck. We had to introduce ourselves because this was our first visit. Folks were very friendly (we sat with a lady who originally came from Ferndale, Michigan) a couple from Illinois and another couple who come all the way from San Antonio, Texas.

Back at the trailer, I found that Versus was carrying the Detroit Red Wings vs. St. Louis Blues game so life is good. Especially since the Red Wings won in a feisty contest by a 3-1 score. Go Wings. Also we bought tickets to the San Antonio Rampage hockey game, which is Faith and Family Night which we heard about at church on Sunday.

Something ironic about going to a fight filled hockey game on Faith and Family Night.

Tomorrow Joan is going to the ladies’ morning exercise class and I plan to do, well, nothing.

The picture accompanying this post was sent to me by my father in sympathy for the noisy bird than continues to assail us.

Church, shopping, football and the patter of really little feet

2012-01-22T19:40:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed another quiet, but football rich, day here in Alamo town.

Joan outside the church in San Antonio

The patter of little feet, the four-legged variety, has been entertaining us all day. A squirrel or very big bird has been doing a tap dance most of the day on the roof of the trailer. Between that noise, a man working on remodeling a small trailer in the space next to us has created a symphony of pounding noises.

This afternoon while we watched the Ravens vs. Patriots game a female Cardinal drove us crazy flying into our rear picture window on the trailer. Joan thought by opening the shades the bird would have less of a chance of seeing its reflection, but alas, no. After bouncing off the window a dozen or more times, he gave up.

At the suggestion of our home pastor we attended Holy Trinity Anglican Church here in San Antonio. It was a spirit and music filled experience one we hope to enjoy two or three more times while we are here. The church is also having a family trip to the local San Antonio Rampage hockey team game next Saturday and we are planning to attend. One can never get enough hockey.

The church is located in the penthouse of a beautiful office building and like our church at home uses simply outside signs to alert people to the location. The praise music was very familiar to us and the nice folks there made us feel welcome and at home.

Lobby church sign

After briefly meeting with Father Chuck Collins and giving him greetings from Rev. Dave Kulchar we headed to a local farmer’s market to check out the offerings. It was a pretty small market, but Joan found a couple Butternut Squash she couldn’t live without.

Enroute we drove by the world headquarters for Whataburger, which we didn’t even know existed and also cruised next to a place called “Piranha Killer Sushi,” which sounds like a really bad name for a sushi place.

Then it was off to a Walmart Superstore for some grocery shopping and we arrived home just as Steven Tyler was choking out the National Anthem for the start of the first championship game.

Dinner was a picnic type meal, hot dogs (or as my father would call them “tube steaks”), some baked beans and vegetables. Except that only Joan ate the vegetables.

After dinner we settled in to watch the 49ers vs. New York Giants game. Another quiet, light work day around the trailer, is on tap for tomorrow. Sorry to say my old favorite team the Niners lost in a heart breaker in overtime.

A quiet beautiful day in the San Antonio neighborhood

2012-01-21T15:56:00.000-08:00

Today was all about organization and clean-up. With all the traveling there has been little time to clean, organize and spruce up the trailer, so today was the day.

With light winds and temperatures in the low 70s, it was a good day to clean out the storage area under the trailer and reorganize and clean out three years of dust and clutter.

Joan worked on the inside of the trailer and did our laundry after a week of travel.

With all the chores done we pulled out the trailer awning and enjoyed the warm sunshine outdoors. I picked up “The Ionian Mission,” which is book 8 of the 21-volume “Master and Commander” series by Patrick O’Brian. This is a volume I started last spring in Florida, continued in Arizona and will likely finish tomorrow.

Annoying bird

I save the books for our trips and don’t read them at home so I have many more years of reading ahead.

While we were sitting outside a local bird resident, we believe a Great Tail Grackle, that has not been happy with us since we landed yesterday began making its weird noises and letting us know again that he is not happy we are here.

We were also visited by a small woodpecker to be identified and named later. Joan didn’t get her bird book out in time to identify it.

New bonnet

Oh, and Joan decided today was the day to debut her new bonnet.

About 3 p.m. as we do nearly every day we are in a park we took a walking tour and waved to our many neighbors. Jim met a man – Tony – who is from Minnesota who said he and his wife came here on a short visit 12 years ago, loved the place and have come back for 12 consecutive winters.

For dinner we enjoyed leftovers from “The Hungry Farmer” last night and enjoyed a day with no driving.

After pulling out the awning I noticed it needs some attention and will likely clean it on Monday. Tomorrow promises to be another quiet day with church in the morning, grocery shopping after and then home to watch football.

When it came time to put the awning up (we don't leave it down because it is vulnerable to winds and that is something they have in abundance here) I decided to leave the tie down rods in the ground. The tie down roads are used to anchor the awning so if a sudden wind came up the awning won't rip off the trailer.

Within 30 seconds of unhooking the tie downs and putting up the awning I tripped over one of the rods and fell flat on my face (sorry, no photos) and nearly broke my glasses and nose. I hurt my pride more than my face although I skinned up my nose and forehead just slightly.

After that I pulled the rods out of the ground and put them away.

The back roads of Texas, "Now this is what I thought Texas would look like"

2012-01-20T17:46:00.000-08:00

The Eagle has landed! After a year of planning, months of preparation and logistics that would make the Army proud we have reached our first winter destination of 2012.

Our San Antonio park

Our leisurely trek south through the center of Texas was pretty uneventful and stress free. The last 12 miles, through the heart of San Antonio and its crazy Friday afternoon traffic, made up for all the stress free driving early in the day.

Good grief there was crazy traffic and the drivers were blocking lanes and trying late merges onto crowded off ramps that made me break out in beads of sweat because I was trying to maneuver a large trailer through it all.

But let’s start at the beginning. We got up early, took our showers and made a quick exit from Buck Creek RV Park and began the trek to San Antonio. As is my custom I always claim that Joan has made us an hour late in leaving. The joke is I always tell her the night before we’re not in a hurry, but then kind of push the envelope for an early departure in the morning. Joke is probably the wrong word as Joan doesn’t think it is very funny.

Space 112 - our little piece of San Antonio

This was a rare driving day for us and most of our travel was along small two-lane and four lane state highways with only interstate driving for the first 13 miles and the last 40 miles of the trip. With light traffic we didn’t impede traffic much and more than once I heard Joan say: “This is what I imagined Texas would look like.”

We say beautiful ranches and not-so-beautiful ranches and plenty of cattle. If you closed your eyes, which would have been a really bad idea for me because I was driving, you might imagine cowboys driving cattle across the wide open plains 150 years ago. Today everything is pretty much fenced.

My only concern today was whether I would find a gas station large enough to receive our large rig on those back country roads. Fortunately in Brady Texas, about 100 miles into the trip, we found a two-pump shell station that was next to the highway with pumps in just the perfect position for an easy entry and easy departure after fueling.

The Hungry Farmer Steakhouse

With a full tank of gas I knew we had plenty for the remainder of the trip. Fueling was a lesson I learned the hard way on our first ever trip with the trailer when I pulled into a small gas station and blocked a street with the trailer while I got gas. I’ve been much more diligent in planning my stops since.

We did pass through a Texas town with a name I never expected to see here: Santa Anna, Texas. From my history I thought that Santa Anna pretty much wore out his welcome here when he slaughtered the defenders of the Alamo.

We arrived in San Antonio in the middle of the afternoon and we had a few anxious moments as I had to back the trailer into a tight spot in the back of the Traveler’s World RV Resort. But with a little help from Joan we didn’t knock down any power poles or run into any fences and were set up in about an hour.

The weather was warm and humid and I quickly changed out of my jeans into shorts, so my winter retreat has officially begun. We’ve already been welcomed to the park by a number of “winter Texans” and are looking forward to a good month here in San Antonio.

After the long drive we decided to eat out tonight and when most of the familiar restaurants we like (Logan’s Roadhouse, Olive Garden, etc.) were too far away we played a little OnStar roulette and let the advisor send us to the nearest steakhouse they could find.

The Hungry Farmer turned out to be an excellent choice and we both enjoyed a T-bone steak at a very reasonable price. (I could only imagine one of those cattle we saw grazing along the way today as my current meal).

Hungry Farmer sign

We at early, so we were back at the trailer about 6:30 p.m. in time to catch the national news and then take an exploration walk around the RV park. It turned out we missed the Friday night “Happy Hour” and several people invited us to come back next Friday.

Tomorrow morning is a breakfast and sometime next week is the Chili Cook off so it appears there will be plenty to do here. Adjacent to the park is an 8-mile hike and bike trail that runs along the San Antonio River that I plan to explore tomorrow.

Life is good.

We love church signs and we spotted these two gems today:

“Do you keep your Bible as close as you do your cell phone?” and

“Where will you spend eternity? Smoking or Non-smoking?”

Mileage out: 4914

Time out: 8:30 a.m.

Mileage in: 5166

Time in: 2:20 p.m.

Today was a blast from the past

2012-01-19T16:43:00.000-08:00

Today was all about the past, Abilene’s past and America’s past.

Entrance to Buffalo Gap Village

Getting the best value out of our $15 Abilene ‘passports’ we visited two more local attractions today and took full advantage of not just the bargain tickets, but of the gorgeous weather. Today’s high was 75 and we have not seen one cloud in the sky. With what is happening back home, I’ll not mention the weather again in this post.

As usual I was up bright and early (6:30 a.m.) and got cleaned up and then patiently waited for Joan to arise. Joan loves to hug her pillow as long as she can and whenever I can I try not to schedule things too early.

But we were on the road by 10 a.m. with our first stop at Buffalo Gap Historic Village. Buffalo Gap, Texas got its name from a cut in the mountains through which buffalo hunters, both Native American and cowboys used to hunt the gigantic herds here in the 1800s.

When we were doing research on Abilene we found the Buffalo Gap Historic Village and it looked like something we would be interested in. So grabbing our picnic lunch we headed to the village. When we arrived there I realized that I left my camera at home. So all the photos you see on this post were borrowed from the Internet. The lady at the reception desk told me to use them, so I did get permission.

The old Texaco station at Buffalo Gap

The Historic Village is similar to Crossroads Village back in Flint, but with a decidedly Texas flavor. But all the buildings from the Sheriff Tom Hill’s turn-of-the-century single family home, to the courthouse and two-room schoolhouse (they always do things one better in Texas) were wonderfully furnished and appointed with appropriate period furniture and knick knacks.

Using the self-guided radios we spent more than three hours touring the 18 buildings on the site. I especially enjoyed the old fashioned Texaco gas station and the print/newspaper office. The only other visitors to the village were a couple outdoor cats who annoyed us endlessly when we tried to eat our small lunch.

And for all the Joan bonnet fans, she found yet another Amish bonnet, this one made in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, that she had to have. So look for the new bonnet in coming photos.

After exhausting all the village had to offer we headed back to Abilene to visit the U.S. Army’s 12^th Armored Division Museum in downtown Abilene.

Courthouse at Buffalo Gap

Expecting to spend an hour or so we were enthralled with all the exhibits, photos and displays at this very good World War II museum. We stayed so long that I ran downstairs to make sure I hadn’t gotten a ticket at the two-hour parking spot that I left the car in. The nice young woman at the reception desk said she would keep an eye out of the meter man and make sure I didn’t get a ticket.

I got to play with a World War II M-1 rifle and just as I do every month at the National Cemetery had nothing but trouble closing the slide without busting my knuckles. Actually I couldn’t get this one to close and I told the young woman to tell some old soldier to fix it and blame it on a Navy man who didn’t know what he was doing.

We learned that the 12^th Armored Division was one of the many Army groups that liberated German concentration camps and the display section of the museum for that history was profoundly disturbing.

In addition to the U.S. exhibits, the museum includes a very extensive section of German army memorabilia. A volunteer at the museum told us that none of the items were purchased, but that all the German souvenirs were confiscated from dead or captured German soldiers as the 12^th Armored Division pursued the German Army across Germany.

Some of the German officer uniforms and hats looked in incredibly good condition and we were told that movie makers had visited the museum to study their collection in order to replicate German uniforms for films.

They had the uniform of a German colonel who had served as a concentration camp commander and who tried to disguise himself as a civilian when the American troops arrived. Camp prisoners pointed him out as the former camp commander and when he denied that he was the leader the soldiers decided to take it a step further. The soldiers of the 12^th forced the man to try on a uniform they found in the commandant’s office and when it fit perfectly they arrested him.

12th Armored Division Museum

Later the man was hanged for war crimes related to his operation of the concentration camp.

At one point, we learned, the 12^th Armored Division was ‘borrowed’ by General George Patton and actually supported the Third Army which meant that for a time they were part of the same assault force that Joan’s father, who was in the 75^th Division, was involved in.

The 12^th Armored Division received the nickname “The Mystery Division” as they were ordered to remove any patches that identified them with their former division so the Germans wouldn’t realize that they had left their former position and joined Patton’s soldiers.

One of the many 12th Armored displays

Outside the museum is a small, but growing exhibit, of World War II era vehicles, including a tank and a well restored Jeep.

We highly recommend this museum to folks with any interest in World War II if you are in the Abilene area.

On the way back to the trailer we topped off the gas tank and while Joan prepared dinner I got the truck and trailer ready to hook up first thing in the morning for our trip to San Antonio.

Favorite line of the day: "Come back and enjoy the best barbeque you'll ever dip a lip in."

Again the photos with this post are not my own.

Lions, tigers and bears, oh my!

2012-01-18T18:29:00.000-08:00

Our virtual trail guide at Frontier Texas!

One of Joan’s frequent comments is that we don’t spend enough time just sitting around the trailer enjoying some peace and quiet. It’s usually my fault because I try to find interesting, and inexpensive, things to do when we are visiting a city for the first time.

So when we pulled into Abilene, Texas yesterday my plans were to have no plans. I was thinking we would Just have some down time for a few days before we head to San Antonio.

Imagine my surprise when Joan asked me indignantly what my plans were for our short stay in Abilene. I had to first admit I wasn’t planning any excursions until our departure Friday. But with her sudden interest in discovering Abilene I hit the Internet and found a number of local attractions that sounded interesting.

Looking down on a giraffe at the Abilene Zoo

The local Chamber or business organization offers a one-time-pass to six local attractions for $15 a person. If you just visit two of the attractions you break even and a third and fourth just increases your value.

So today after a short walk to a nearby RV parts and service center where I picked up a new water filter and spare parts I hooked up the water to the trailer and about 11 a.m. we set off to the Abilene Visitor’s Center in downtown Abilene.

(I made the water hookup sound much easier than it was because for some odd reason it took a long time for the hot water to warm up today than it usually does. My theory is that some residual water was frozen in the tank and it took a considerable time to thaw that water out. But anytime I get to use my drill driver and several of my tools is a good day.)

Looking for love in all the wrong places

The visitor’s center is located within one of the attractions, Frontier Texas!, which was one of the places we expressed an interest in seeing. We were met at the front desk by some nice local Texas folk who sold us the $15 pass and we immediately cashed one of the tickets in to see Frontier Texas!

This was a really cool exhibit that included projected actors talking directly to you about Texas history. The story of Texas 1775-1880 was told through the stories of a few historic Texas figures. Some of the interactive displays put you in the middle of a buffalo stampede, a poker game shootout and in the middle of a bar room discussion about a very bad man.

The trip's first bonnet photo

There was a lot of difficult history about the treatment of Native Americans who were here long before the Spanish, Mexican, buffalo hunters or Texas settlers arrived. The exhibits included weapons and other interesting displays and we thoroughly enjoyed Frontier Texas for about two hours. Pretty much we were the only people there.

Following that experience we headed to the Abilene Zoo where we again joined an intimate group of folks in a tour of the small, but interesting zoo. Going there cashed in a second ticket on our attractions list, so we are already even on our purchase.

Joan and I enjoyed a close encounter with a couple zebras and were within a few feet of a Lion female and male. The male lion was trying his best to romance the female lion, but she was having none of it. Eventually the two got into a loud and sometimes frighteningly sounding roaring argument.

The “Creepy Crawler” building housed a number of venomous snakes and reptiles and with the cooler temperatures of the day at least a few of the usually nocturnal animals were out and about, or at least visible.

After visiting the zoo we headed home to the trailer about 3:40 p.m. Joan fixed cold cut sandwiches for dinner and we took a short walk around the RV park after dinner. Temperatures are supposed to reach into the 70s tomorrow and stay above freezing overnight.

(Scroll down to see more photos of today's adventure.)

Tomorrow we plan to cash in a couple more of our fun pass tickets. Stay tuned.

More from Abilene, Texas

2012-01-18T16:30:00.000-08:00

Me and my furry friend

This stage was driven by Paul Newman in "Hondo"

Joan and her touching things

One of our virtual Native American guides

Entrance to Abilene Zoo

The insurance lizard.

Joan's always the short one.

He got a little too close.

Joan and a friend.

Flamingos

Deep in the "cold" heart of Texas

2012-01-17T17:31:00.000-08:00

Some days Joan and I are real senior citizens. Like the other day when we specifically went to Red Lobster in Oklahoma City because we had a $4 off coupon.

Today we are staying in a primitive RV park because it was much cheaper than some others nearby. Of course, we are roughing it because of it as this park does not offer cable television, so we are at the mercy of whatever signal is coming through the air. It’s like being back in the 1950s.

The high tech sign for our RV park.

The park is basic and with a severe freeze warning tonight we are also roughing it without water as the trailer is still winterized and I don’t want to take the chance of freezing the pipes before we get started. It is supposed to warm into the 70s tomorrow with no more overnight freezing temperatures, at least for a while. We’ll hook up the water tomorrow after it warms a little.

After much adjusting, I was able to find three television stations that we can watch on our little flat screen TV. Our other TV, the one that came with the trailer is really old school and does not work with a digital, over-the-air signal. But don’t lose any sleep we are happy to be in Abilene tonight after a journey through the Heart of Texas.

After leaving Amarillo, we traveled for more than two hours along I-27 which is a beautiful and for today, a nearly deserted freeway.

Our departure was delayed a little when we had a minor, but annoying and time consuming trailer wiring problem that had to be resolved before we could hook up and get on the road. Complicating the work was a wind chill about 10 degrees and a real temperature of 22 degrees as we did the work.

Note the old school TV antenna deployed

I have trouble doing manual work in gloves so much of the time my hands were exposed with the predictable results. They should thaw out by tomorrow and Joan has threatened that if I come with a foot of her with these hands she will slug me.

At 9:31 a.m. with the wiring problem resolved, with the help of Stater’s Acres RV, I jumped back into the Tahoe and looked at Joan and said: “It’s always something.”

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, although a local Texas cowboy jumped out of his truck and said “Howdy,” to me which kind of cracked me up.

During a visit to a Texas rest stop on I-20 near Roscoe, Texas I was using the facilities when a man standing at a nearby urinal was seemingly talking to the wall, but was apparently carrying on a business conversation while doing his business.

One of the startling things I heard him tell whoever he was talking to on his Blue Tooth was that he could provide insurance coverage for a number of circumstances including kidnapping and ransom demands. I’m wondering what business the person on the other end of the line is involved in.

Oh, and Joan wanted me to mention that the bathrooms at the Texas rest stop were beautiful and included Native American tile work and were far above anything she had ever seen on the road. Take that Oklahoma and your pit toilets.

We passed an exit off I-20 that was labeled “Stink Creek Road.” That would be a great address, would it not?

We went shopping at Walmart where we bought one of those already cooked store chickens and packaged potato salad so we wouldn’t have to wash dishes tonight. Tomorrow, after the water is turned on, we’ll use the good plastic dishes.

We plan on exploring the wild west tomorrow here in Abilene.

Mileage out: 4527

Time out: 8:08 a.m. (From hotel. Time out from RV place 9:31 a.m.)

Mileage in: 4826

Time in: 3:20 p.m.

Amarillo: The read Windy City

2012-01-16T16:45:00.000-08:00

What we thought was wind yesterday was a mild breeze in comparison to what we had today driving from Oklahoma City to Amarillo. A stiff head wind across the wide open prairie battled us all day along I-40.

A huge, beautiful cross just outside Amarillo

When we left Oklahoma City it was a balmy 56 degrees with a high temperature today of 72 as we approached Amarillo.

At one stop just inside Texas the wind was so strong I literally had to stand against Joan’s passenger door so that it wouldn’t blow off its hinges as she was getting in and out of the car. When I say literally, I mean literally.

My father chimed in with this comment today: “Ah yes, good ol' Amarillo, the garden spot where I took basic training in the summer of 1943. (Amarillo is) the only place on the face of the earth were you can stand up to your knees in mud and get dust in your eyes; the only thing to stop the wind is a barbed wire fence. Give my regards to Amarillo.”

A leaning water tower only the picture doesn't show it

Despite the wind we arrived in Amarillo about 2 p.m. and headed straight to Strater’s Acres RV storage lot and found our Laredo in good order and all maintenance done as required. The folks at Strater’s are very nice and the cost was extremely reasonable.

To save some time tomorrow when we hook up and head to Abilene, Texas we unloaded the trailer stuff from the Tahoe and put it away in the trailer.

Following that, we headed to our hotel – Baymont Inn and Suites in Amarillo – and put our feet up for a little while. The desk clerk – Zach – was very friendly and gave us a suggestion for a local Mexican restaurant for dinner.

Double rainbow in Amarillo

On the way to the hotel, Joan spotted a double rainbow and did her best to digitally capture it. She really gets upset when I try to take photos and drive at the same time. Someday I’d like to try and take a photo, drink my water and talk on the phone while cruising on the highway. I’m just kidding.

Before that, I took the Tahoe to a local car wash and scrubbed all the Michigan slop off the car.

After that I returned to our room and picked up my bride and we headed to Jorge’s Tacos Garcia’s where we had a really good and filling meal of Fajitas.

Jorge's Tacos Garcia - we highly recommend it.

Back at the hotel room we settled in for an evening of hockey as the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues are on TV here. (Why they aren’t showing the Red Wings versus Buffalo instead of Dallas is beyond me).

Two fun things we noticed today: A large RV unit had a painted graphic on the back that said: “Roughing it smoothly.”

Another one was an Oklahoma traffic sign that pointed out that “Damaged Guard Rail Ahead.” And, yes, there was a damaged guard rail, but why you would take the time to put up the sign and not fix the guard rail left me scratching my head.

Mileage out: 4227

Time out: 9:55 a.m.

Mileage in: 4489

Time in: 1:55 p.m.

Meet me, a serial Oklahoma toll evader

2012-01-15T17:31:00.000-08:00

Today was about dead animals, dead lobsters and dead toll plazas. Don’t worry, I’ll explain.

When we left Staunton, Illinois this morning I had to scrape the windows. That’s a first for the season. Part of the reason for that is that our car is usually in a garage, but the unseasonably warm weather has also contributed to the lack of need for window clearing.

The temperature was 26 when we left the hotel and was 59 when we arrived at our next stop in Oklahoma City. We crossed over the Mississippi River about 8:40 a.m. and took a gander at the Arch. We have an affection for St. Louis because that was where Joan and I became engaged about 14 years ago.

As the temperatures steadily rose out of the freezing range we crossed Missouri on our way to Texas.

Missouri and Oklahoma presented us with those famous "winds come sweepin' down the plains" weather today. A stiff cross wind made me very glad I was not pulling the Laredo behind me today.

We’ve been through this state several times and Joan always mentions that she would like to stop at Ft. Leonard Wood to see the base where her father trained during World War II. Today was that day. Unfortunately, today was Sunday and none of the base museums were open, but we did stop long enough to take a picture at the front of the base.

It took a little effort to find the base entrance, partly because we had trouble finding the visitor’s center. I’m being kind because I asked Joan to help me follow the little blue signs for the center that started on the freeway off ramp.

As we came off the freeway I followed the directions on the signs, but Joan couldn’t find the Visitor’s Center. She began complaining that the local Chamber had deliberately misled folks with the signs so they would pass by every restaurant and store near the freeway.

Finally, I called OnStar to help. She directed us back to the same spot where we got off the freeway and we again followed the same signs but with the OnStar directions to the exact address Joan realized that she had missed a 30-foot lighted neon sign that said “Visitor’s Center – Chamber of Commerce.”

I promised I wouldn’t make her pay for that for more than a month or more. With help from a map at the center we headed to the Army base.

A nice soldier at the gate told us it would be OK to take a photo of the sign, but we nearly triggered a terrorism alert when I started taking pictures. A civilian police sergeant hustled out to our location and asked us what we were doing and he wanted to make sure we didn’t take pictures of the entrance gate.

I explained to the sergeant that Joan’s father was trained at the base during World War II and he was satisfied with the explanation and declined my offer to show him all the photos I had taken. Glad not to be in custody we drove off with our photos and continued our journey.

As we continued through western Missouri we saw a freshly killed coyote on the side of I-44 and just a few miles later a deer with a huge rack dead in the median and then just to complete the collection a large dead hawk. I would have loved to have those antlers for my living room.

Joan brought her iPod along on this trip and instead of listening to the radio we listened to her collection of music, which is mostly Michael McDonald and Michael Bolton.

The way I tell the difference between the two Michaels is that the only one who pronounces the words that I can understand is Mr. Bolton. Pretty much Michael McDonald sounds like every word is in a slurred foreign language. I have fun mimicking McDonald. I’ve gotten pretty good at it too.

We were remembering a previous trip we made through Arkansas and how we listened to a local radio show called “Tradio” during that trip. Maybe some of the funniest radio I have ever heard. People would call in to sell or trade items and some of the offerings were priceless.

Both of us recalled our favorite item: One man called in to offer a five-gallon bucket of “pig slop” to the first person who came to his house to pick it up. The other thing we both recalled was that the host of the show kept telling people that they could sell just about anything, except automobiles, on the show.

At least every other caller phoned in trying to sell a car. We figured that they weren’t selling cars because the sponsor of the show was a local car dealer. In Ft. Leonard Wood we spotted a sign that said “Pre-owned cars,” which to me is a stupid way to try and avoid saying “Used Cars.” Who does the dealer think he’s fooling. Pre-owed is simply “used.”

One other sign spotted during the trip was a billboard from Hudson’s Jewelers with my motto on it: “Happy Wife, Happy Life.”

We crossed into Oklahoma and my recent frustration with the state’s turnpike system reached a new level. Following is my open letter to the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority:

Dear Oklahoma Turnpike Authority:

My wife and I have been visitors to your state twice in the past six months. We are normally law-abiding friendly folks who try to do the right thing. You are turning us into wanted fugitives.

Back in October we drove through your state pulling our 33-foot trailer. We suddenly found ourselves unexpectedly on a turnpike. There was little warning and certainly no warning that many of the toll plazas were unattended and that we would need boatloads of coins and exact cash to feed your machines.

Eventually we ran out of cash and I ended up having to pass through one of your toll plazas without paying. I even pulled my car and trailer to the side of the road – in the rain, by the way – and walked back to the little building next to the toll plaza to try and find someone to give my large bill to without success. There was a car parked outside, but no one answered my knock at the door. Honestly, all I wanted to do was pay you.

Giving up I continued through your state feeling guilty about not having paid my toll.

So today, January 15, we were driving on the Turner Turnpike and got off to have dinner. When we got back on we pulled up to one of your unattended toll baskets (what do you have against hiring people?) and dropped in the 35 cents you wanted for a two-axle vehicle.

The red stop sign never turned green. I swear – and my wife swears – that we put three dimes and a nickel into the basket. Not sure what currency you are used to in Oklahoma, but that adds up to 35 cents in Michigan. With no more change I had no choice but to pull through and continue on my way. That set off your camera and bell system, but really, what else could I do?

Now, I guess, I’m a serial toll evader in your State. I’m pleading not guilty, just to let you know.

This could all have been avoided if you would have sold me a Pike Pass at the Welcome Center we stopped at as soon as we got into your State a couple hours earlier. A nice man at the Welcome Center said that we could only buy one of those Pike Pass transponders near Tulsa, but probably not on a Sunday.

The man thought that maybe next month you might start selling the transponders at the Welcome Center, but not yet. Really, what kind of a Welcome Center is it when can’t buy the stuff you need to operate legally through your toll road system.

Sincerely,

Jim & Joan Smith

p.s. By the way, if you are going to charge people $4 to drive a car 70 miles you should at least offer flush toilets at your rest areas. Pit toilets, really? (End of open letter)

Anyway, we made it to our hotel after dinner at Red Lobster (you thought I forgot about the Dead lobster comment didn’t you?) and watched the surprising ending to the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants game.

All in all, an interesting day.

Mileage out: 3664

Time out: 8:14 a.m.

Mileage in: 4227

Time in: 6:08 p.m. (Includes an hour stop for dinner)

On the road again, smoother sailing than last year

2012-01-14T16:11:00.000-08:00

For a few minutes this morning I was sure I made a big mistake by not leaving on Wednesday as we originally planned. I was also questioning my decision to delay the trip again on Friday when the weather went to heck again yesterday.

Grimy car

Today was supposed to be clean and green all the way through Chicago, but when we arrived in Flint about 8:30 a.m. the snow was coming down at a pretty good clip. The snow continued through Lansing, but the roads were wet and as we traveled south, conditions improved.

In fact the area I expected problems, the section of I-94 near Benton Harbor, was clear and dry. That is usually where we find lake effect snow, but not today. The further we drove, the better the conditions became.

I was very glad that we left the trailer in Amarillo as I was not looking forward to another snowy adventure on the trip south like we had last year.

Chicago was a breeze (it was Saturday morning after all) and the Detroit Red Wings versus the Chicago Blackhawk game came on at 12:30 p.m. (eastern time) which gave me the game to listen to almost the entire second half of today’s trip. The fact the Red Wings won in overtime just added a little icing to the cake.

Salt mud

This trip, at least through Amarillo, Texas, will be the mirror image of the one we just made in October when we returned from Arizona. Tonight we are staying in the same motel we stayed in on the way home and tomorrow night we will stay in the same place we stayed in Oklahoma City. We liked both places and so didn’t see a need to seek a new one.

Tonight we ate at the same restaurant, Cavataio’s that we ate at last October with equally satisfying results. Joan had the Chicken Parmesan and I had the mostaccioli. It came with a nice soup and salad bar.

The car is a mess from all the salt spray on the roads, but by the time I thought to take a photo it was dark so I'll shoot a photo in the morning and add the photo tomorrow night.

With two NFL playoff games to watch we’ll be happy in our room tonight. Tomorrow we’ll get up at a normal hour and head to Oklahoma City.

Mileage out: 3135

Time out: 8 a.m.

Mileage in: 3660

Time in: 3:05 p.m. (Central time – travel time 8 hours and 5 minutes)

Heading to the Lone Star State

2012-01-14T09:29:00.000-08:00

The first real cold snap of the season has arrived and We Are Out of Here! Joan and I are headed to San Antonio and later to Houston for a couple months escape from winter.

The rough itinerary for the journey is: Day One: St. Louis area. Day Two: Oklahoma City, OK. Day Three: Amarillo, TX. Day Four: (Pick up trailer in Amarillo) head to Abilene, TX. Day Five & Six: Rest in Abilene. Day Seven: Arrive in San Antonio.

Home Sweet Home to Lapeer

2011-10-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

Philip and Laura in the kitchen

This is the final chapter of Fall Trip 2011. When I last left the blog hanging we were in Staunton, Illinois enjoying a homemade pizza.

On Friday we rose early and started the second to the last leg of our trip, this time to North Aurora (near Chicago) for a visit with my sister Laura and her husband, Philip.

The trip was easy and the last part drove us through a number of cities south of Aurora that we had never gone through before. We arrived in North Aurora about 1:10 p.m. and Laura greeted us warmly.

Walking Bailey

That evening we had pork tenderloin, a Brussels sprout dish that I actually liked, Caprese, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie for dessert. So much for my diet. We retired early as we had big plans for Saturday morning in Chicago.

On Saturday, we rose early, got ready and headed for the “Windy City” and an architectural walking tour of many of the downtown art deco buildings from the 20s-30s-40s and some of the newer buildings that continue the art deco influence. (I’ve included some photos in an entry below this one with some of the photos from that tour)

The River walk with Bailey

The tour was fun and it is always nice to be downtown in Chicago. We arrived home and watched a little college football in the afternoon and then headed to Mary’s house for a scrumptious meatball dinner that included salad, pasta and a great pumpkin cake that Laura made. Again my diet took a hit.

We arrived home in time to watch the entire MSU versus Wisconsin game on Laura and Philip’s big screen, high definition television. An exciting game with an equally exciting and successful finish for MSU. A great day all the way around.

Sunday morning we rose and waited for another house guest, a canine named Bailey. Once Bailey, a border collie, arrived to the house Laura, Philip and I took the dog for a walk along a nearby river while Joan stayed home and rested.

Joan, Philip, Laura and Bailey

After the walk I got cleaned up and Laura, Joan and I went to see a movie “Munger Road” a horror movie that was locally produced and shot near Laura and Philip’s house. In fact the night we went to Mary’s house for meatballs we drove right on “Munger Road.” After seeing the movie I probably won’t be anxious to drive on that road ever again.

For dinner Sunday night Laura made chicken picata, real mashed potatoes and green beans. We also finished up the pumpkin pie from Friday, so it was a good thing that was my last meal or I would be well off my food wagon.

With Laura and Philip both up and working from home Monday morning we slipped out about 8 a.m. and started the final leg of the trip home. We arrived home about 2:10 p.m. (Eastern time) and temperatures in the high 50s.

Jim, Philip, Laura & Bailey

We were greeted by Elin and Rizzo and prepared to have a dinner out with our friends Greg and Pam who we have not seen for some time. It is true what they say, there is no place like home.

So once again, Grandma’s Recess will go dark until January when, God willing, we will be heading out to pick up our trailer in Amarillo and then drag it from there to San Antonio.

Here’s some fun statistics from the trip:

Total miles on the Tahoe from start to finish: 7,650

Total miles on the trailer: 3,047

Total miles to date on the Tahoe: 82,635

Total miles to date on the trailer: 12,499

Photos from the Art Deco tour

2011-10-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

Model of Chicago

Art deco building

Chicago Board of Trade

Occupy Chicago protesters

Art deco hallway

Art deco bank

Art deco elevator doors

Art deco building

Art deco at Hard Rock Hotel

Art deco Tribune building

Moving slowly, but steadily home

2011-10-20T17:32:00.000-07:00

Closer to home are we. We stayed in Governors Suites in Oklahoma City, which was a nice place, but not very occupied. We had a very nice room and it was only $60 on Hotels.com.

Joan at Missouri rest stop

We left Oklahoma City about 8:30 a.m. and anticipating some heavy morning commute traffic, but we really never hit any traffic. I was also anticipating heavy traffic in St. Louis, but with much of the way offering a speed limit of 75 mph we arrived in St. Louis shortly before 4 p.m. which allowed us to escape both afternoon commute and evening World Series traffic.

In Missouri we stopped at a rest area that had a pretty nice Route 66 theme to it. We took each other’s picture and Joan didn’t leave me out of focus so I have posted it here to blunt her criticism of how I only post photos of her.

We arrived in Staunton, Illinois about 4:30 p.m. and checked into our hotel. Staunton is a German word that I believe means, “Nothing happens here.”

Both of us had a taste for pizza and the hotel manager suggested a downtown restaurant – Cavataio’s. We headed to town and found a downtown a lot like Lapeer, Michigan.

The restaurant was pretty empty when we came in about 5:15 p.m., but quickly filled up with a party of 25 expected in at 6:30 p.m. So a pretty happening place. The pizza took awhile, but was well worth the wait as it was a very good pizza.

There was a young child in the restaurant who screamed at the top of his lungs several times. He finally quieted down when the food arrived. But I have the urge when a screaming child is ignored more than three times by his parents to walk over and start using sign language. When they ask why I’m ‘signing’ I would say “Obviously, you must not be able to hear your child screaming and I just wanted to let you know.”

Me - in focus

Of course I don’t do that for two reasons. One, I wouldn’t want to cause a scene and two, Joan would kill me. Actually, the last reason is the real one.

For a change today we listened to “Radio Classics” on our XM radio. These are old radio serials, some that I remember and others that I’ve only heard about. Some of them are remarkably good and have stood the test of time, while others, not so much. Today there were a couple episodes of “Suspense” and one of the “Whisperer.”

I’m also a big fan of the “Life of Riley” and other comedies they frequently play on the channel.

Fibber McGee and a comedy variety show were also featured, but my favorite line of the day came from one of my favorite radio classics – Boston Blackie. At one point one of the gangsters on the show is talking about his antagonist who plays the harmonica and says: “If he keeps this up he won’t be playing a harmonica, he’ll be strumming a harp.” That is a great line.

We can tell we are no longer in Tucson as the daytime temperatures today through Oklahoma, Missouri and Illinois never got above 59 degrees.

Tomorrow we are off to my sister Laura’s house near Chicago. A weekend with Laura and Philip and then we head home on Monday.

Remembering those lost in Oklahoma City

2011-10-20T05:13:00.000-07:00

Where we left the trailer, in case I forget

First I must apologize to my car. Yes, apologize to my car. For several days I have been concerned about the Tahoe’s ability to climb out of Albuquerque pulling our trailer from 5,000-feet to 7,300-feet in a distance of about five miles.

This morning we got up early and continued our journey east. When I headed to the shower I realized I had done an RV camp “no-no.” Last night I turned on our outside ‘porch’ light and then when I came back inside I forgot to turn it off. That’s considered bad behavior in an RV park as the light may shine into someone’s bedroom, which is likely not more than 15-feet away.

Other than feeling badly about that, there wasn’t much I could do and besides I realized in about 30 minutes Joan and I would be pulling out of the park and would likely never see any of these folks again.

Each 'chair' represents a bombing victim

With the trailer already attached to the Tahoe, it took just a short time to break camp, flush the water and sewer tanks, turn off the water and disconnect the power cord from the park to the trailer.

We headed out of the park and immediately started our climb out of Albuquerque. The grades were steep and long, but the Tahoe never missed a beat, maintained a speed of about 55 mph at 3,300 rpms and we climbed out of the city with no problems. The transmission fluid temperature never got above 150 degrees, which is pretty much normal running temperature on the flat and straight.

We were no doubt aided in the temperature department by low air temperatures in the mid-30s at the time we left. Still, with each subsequent trip I gain more and more confidence in the Tahoe, trailer and my ability to control and operate them.

A longer view of the memorial chairs

Today’s trip came in two parts. Part I included the trailer. After cresting the highest point we spent most, but not all, of the remaining first part of the trip heading downhill. The travel between Albuquerque and Amarillo was just long enough that I needed to fill up the Tahoe one more time with the trailer attached.

So we headed to the same Love’s Travel Center where we had filled up on our way west in Tucumcari. When we arrived there it was like a zoo. There were semi-trucks and trailers, RVs, and plenty of private cars waiting and jockey for pump position. At one point Joan mentioned they needed either a control tower or some form of traffic control to sort everything out.

But even without my “end cap” pump available I was able to pull to an interior pump, fill up and still maneuver my way out of the gas station into the line of trucks and vehicles merging back onto I-40 west.

One of the many memorials left on the fence

The rest of the first half of the trip was uneventful and we made it to Strater’s Acres RV business in Amarillo early in the afternoon. I visited with the service manager and Joan visited with his wife, the office manager, in the Sales office.

I left him a short list of things I would like done to the trailer, not the least and most important was the immediate winterizing of the Laredo. Temperatures are already dipping into the freezing level in Amarillo and freezing in a trailer can do very expensive damage.

The trailer was dropped (softly and appropriately) at the door of the service center and Joan and I cleaned out the trailer and packed the Tahoe with the liquids, dirty laundry, trailer battery, luggage with clothes we will need at home, the computer printer, exercise weights and anything else that needed to come back to Michigan.

It took about an hour to accomplish all we needed to do, but then we bid ‘adios’ (we are in Texas after all) to the Laredo and continued on our way to Oklahoma City.

Outside the memorial

That part of the trip was fairly long, but again uneventful. With the Tahoe liberated from its 33-foot anchor we made much better time and the gas mileage improved considerably, which always messes with the vehicle information computer for the first couple days. The computer is calculating our range based on recent gas usage so when we drop the trailer it takes awhile for the computer to adjust to the extra gas mileage we get without the dragging wagon.

Joan was threatening to take a bite out of my driving arm, so instead of going straight to our hotel, we stopped at a Texas Roadhouse Restaurant about a mile from our hotel where we had dinner.

After dinner we headed to the hotel and checked in, but we had decided earlier in the day that we wanted to drive to downtown Oklahoma City and see the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

Back in 1995 when the Oklahoma City bombing occurred I was working at the Flint Journal as a reporter and within days came the news that one or more of them suspects in the horrific bombing had connections to our subscription area. Because of some personal issues in my life at the time, my editor was kind enough to keep me at arm’s length from the story as it broke in April 1995.

Not the least of those reasons was I was leaving for a two-week, much needed vacation to Maui on April 30^th. Later on I would do stories on the local connection to the bombing but I will be forever grateful to my editor Julie for realizing I was not mentally prepared to work on the story at that time.

Anyway, we arrived at the memorial after dark. There were only a few visitors there and it was a very solemn and emotional place. Both Joan and I were overwhelmed at spots at the magnitude of the tragedy, reflected in the individual chairs which each represent one of the 168 victims.

What really got to Joan was the placement of many smaller chairs, representing the children in the daycare center in the building who were killed on the second floor that day. The chairs are arranged in rows, which correspond with the floor the person was on when killed.

Joan couldn’t help but think of all the grieving parents, grandparents and children who were left behind due to the senseless bombing. A chain link fence on the outside of the memorial is covered with remembrances left hanging on it.

Jesus, weeping

At the two entrances to the Memorial there are two times “9:01” and “9:03” which represent the minute before and the minute after the bomb was detonated. The first time represents the old “innocent” Oklahoma City and the second time represents how the city was changed forever in a moment. Very powerful stuff.

Across the street, at the site of St. Josephs Catholic Church was a statue of Jesus, with his back turned to the memorial with his head in his hands weeping.

It was a very powerful monument that left us quite moved.

On our way back to the hotel we were caught in traffic due to a traffic accident on the freeway and the idiots who kept trying to sneak into the one-lane of traffic being allowed to go around the wreck were making things much slower.

When motorists realize it is time to merge into a single lane, the quicker they do that, the quicker everyone gets through. But when people keep driving down to the point of the merge and then force their way in it just slows up everyone, but them of course.

It’s as if they are telling everyone else that their time is so much more valuable and important than anyone else’s. Just a little pet peeve of mine.

A couple other non-connected observations: We have been surprised at the number of homeless (or people saying they are homeless) that occupy nearly every major intersection from Tucson to Oklahoma City. If you gave just $1 to every one of them you would be broke in a day. Of course we feel badly for them, but it is very unsafe the way they hamper traffic and panhandle in the intersections. It is very widespread here.

We have also observed that wherever we receive “free” Internet service that most of the time it is really crappy Internet service. The old adage, you get what you pay for, seems very true in this instance and should explain why I could not post this item last night using our “free” Internet service at the hotel. It never worked, not even for a minute. Obviously, it was fixed overnight or you wouldn't be reading this.

Due to my great planning our trip tomorrow should land us in St. Louis either in the middle of rush hour commute traffic or in World Series traffic, so bully for me.

Mileage out: 80961

Time out: 7:20 a.m. (Mountain time)

Mileage in: (Trailer to Amarillo) 81245

Time in: (Trailer to Amarillo) 1:10 p.m. (Central time)

While we climbed, the temperatures fell

2011-10-18T18:30:00.000-07:00

Our campsite in Albuquerque

Today we did some major climbing. We left Tucson at elevation 2,400-feet and arrived in Albuquerque at 5,000-feet. Tomorrow we’ll arrive at 7,300-feet and then start down. The hills and grades were bad enough, but combined with a pretty stiff head and crosswind, the gas gauge got a workout.

When the road is flat and the air is calm, we average about 11-12 miles per gallon. But on days like today, we’re lucky to average 7-8 miles per gallon. As it was we averaged a little over 8 miles per gallon and made three gas stops between Tucson and here.

The scenery, as it has been most of this trip, was always changing and usually spectacular. New Mexico is a beautiful, if empty, state. We drove for miles on end without seeing a house or any sign of human life off the freeway. It’s at those moments that I pray we don’t break down.

Campground office

It was headed into the 90s when we left Tucson, but as we climbed higher and moved east the temperatures dropped into the high 60s and low 70s through New Mexico.

As we crossed the New Mexico border we lost an hour, which put us in later than I had planned to the KOA along I-40 just east of Albuquerque. We thought about contacting our friends who we visited previously, but because of the short notice and late hour decided it would not be in good taste.

Besides, we are not unhooking from the trailer so we can make an early escape tomorrow.

Tonight we are roughing it – no cable television in the park. Obviously, we do have Internet and I hooked up the small television to the exterior television antenna so we are getting a few local network stations.

The park is packed and although our trailer is pretty long, we once again look like the 5-foot-7 guard on a basketball team full of 6-footers. Some of these rigs are huge, like Greyhound bus huge.

After setting up, Joan cooked up everything left in the refrigerator and now that is pretty well cleaned out. Hot dogs, hamburgers, deli cole slaw and potato salad from Tucson made up our dinner tonight.

Tomorrow we have about a 3-4 hour run to Amarillo where we will drop the trailer and then head on to Oklahoma City for the night.

Mileage out: 80514
Time out: 8:11 a.m. (Pacific time)

Mileage in: 80961
Time in: 5:30 p.m. (Mountain time)

Packing up, ready to go home

2011-10-17T17:17:00.000-07:00

The extended mirrors are in place. The hitch is attached to the car. The stabilizers are ready to connect. We will be off and running early tomorrow for home.

Today was quiet. We met with the park sales folks and visited a couple park models that are for sale to get an idea what they look like inside. Steve was not hard sell and we enjoyed looking at a couple different models and have a lot to think about down the road.

We are no where near ready to plant ourselves in Tucson, but when the time comes and we are ready for a big move and an end to the trailer travel, this place will be high on our list.

After the visit to the park models we headed back to the trailer to continue the process of figuring out what is going back to Michigan and what is staying aboard the trailer in Amarillo storage.

Joan watched her soap opera at 1 p.m. and then we headed out for what I believed would be a simple stop at a local RV shop to pick up a couple extra spring pins for my tool box. After bending an important spring pin for the hitch assembly I decided I would have a couple extras on hand so we would not be stranded for lack of a $1 pin.

So we plugged in the address of the nearest RV store and arrived about 2:30 p.m. Unfortunately, they had no pins. So we found a second RV store nearby and drove there and again struck out. A third RV store was unable to find the size pins we needed, but suggested a nearby tractor supply store.

Bingo! They had all but one of the pins that I needed and I already have a back up for that hardware.

So what I thought would be a short trip turned into a 90-minute adventure. On the way home we stopped at the nearest gas station to top off the Tahoe so we will be ready for the long haul tomorrow.

Not sure how the blogging will go for the next few days, but feel free to check in and see what if anything interesting happens on our way home, both with, and without, the trailer attached.

Thanks for following us on our adventure.

A workout, church, laundry and dinner out, almost time for home

2011-10-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

After a good early morning workout in the fitness center here at Voyager, I returned to the trailer and made sure that Joan was up and around as she asked.

We’ve missed going to church for a couple weeks so we found a local Anglican church via the Internet and I talked to the priest by phone on Saturday about the services.

Just because we’re on the road doesn’t mean we don’t miss our church family or our weekly worship, so we usually try and find a nice church to visit. We have never been disappointed by the reception we get or the quality of the services or sermons.

A couple greeted us at the door of St. Jude’s Anglican Church and attesting to the small world we know that it is found out that they were just recently in Fenton, Michigan visiting their daughter who is a nurse at Genesys Hospital in Grand Blanc.

They expressed a desire to come worship with us and our church the next time they come to Michigan to visit their daughter.

The service was beautiful, much like the Episcopal services I remember as a young man in the 1950s. The church continues to use the old Hymnal and the 1928 Prayer Book. It was all very familiar. Fr. Mark preached on the wonderful spirit and gifts of St. Francis.

Fr. Mark is a Marine who later became a police officer and eventually a police chief of a small city in South Carolina, I believe. So we had the service and police work in common.

After church we headed back to the RV park so Joan could do some laundry and so we could both watch the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions football game. That turned out badly for the Lions.

With wheels up day on Tuesday, I began the process of determining what is going to remain in the trailer when we store it in Amarillo, Texas and what will travel home with us in the Tahoe. We are leaving our summer clothes with the trailer, but taking home our more wintry clothes.

We’ll finish that tomorrow and be ready to hook up and get out of here early Tuesday.

It was hot again today and with food supplies dwindling in the trailer we decided to try the little bar and grill in the park tonight. Joan had the Chicken Cordon Bleu special and I went for the Classic Meat Loaf. Both were very good and reasonably priced.

Tomorrow and Tuesday we will clean out everything left in the refrigerator and freezer as we spend our last two nights in the trailer, for awhile.

We are looking forward to a weekend with my sister Laura and brother-in-law Philip in Chicago and then the short jaunt home on Monday (the 24^th).

A big day for MSU and very large cactus

2011-10-15T18:38:00.000-07:00

Today’s activities were scheduled around one thing – the Michigan State versus Michigan football game.

I was up early and went to the fitness center here at the RV park and because of the time difference was able to watch College Game Day while I worked out for 90 minutes. All the “experts” on the show predicted Michigan would win and I was pretty much resigned to the fact our string of victories over the Wolverines would come to an end.

The Spartans had a different idea and by early afternoon it was apparent, although not a pretty win, that we would tack on another victory over the cross state rivals. The Spartans still need to clean up their undisciplined play and certainly the future for the Wolverines looks good with their new coach and quarterback Denard Robinson.

So congratulations Spartans on a hard fought 28-14 win. It is clear that MSU needs work on discipline, but has enough talent, at least on defense, to overcome some of those mistakes.

With the game out of the way and my heart rate restored to near normal levels after the game we headed out to visit Saguaro (pronounced Sa – Wah – Ro) National Park near here. The park is named for the famous giant cactus that is so connected with the old West.

We stopped at the Visitor’s Center and talked to a volunteer who suggested a short walk along the Desert Ecology Trail about half way around an 8-mile driving loop in the park. We needed a short walk because temperatures rose to 100 today in the valley. But it’s a dry heat.

We stopped at all the various view stops on the driving loop and again were struck by the incredible beauty that the Southwest offers.

At the Desert Ecology Trail we spent about 30 minutes walking the level trail and enjoyed the various markers explaining the incredible adaptations that nature has required of plants and animals in the desert.

(After this entry, scroll down and see additional photos of the Saguaro National Park)

Again, we used our new federal senior park pass and were able to tour the park for free.

After our park tour we headed to Frye’s, the local grocery store, to pick up a few things for our last few days on the road. Joan does a good job of planning our meals and holding down any food waste. Because we are leaving the trailer in storage in Amarillo, Texas, we will need to clean out the refrigerator of everything before we drop the trailer.

Once back at the trailer we had hamburgers, sweet corn, mashed potatoes and salad for dinner. We are now out of mashed potatoes, sweet corn and I hope, salad.

It is clear that the snowbirds are slowly filling up the park as more and more folks have checked in during the past few days.

More photos from Sagauro National Park

2011-10-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

Giant Saguaro with Joan

Gotta have a bonnet photo

Sitting on a cactus

The Tahoe and Saguaro

Javalina Rock

Looking toward the mountains

Desert vista

One of the many stops

Joan without the bonnet and in the sun

A little house cleaning and a trip to the Arizona wine country

2011-10-14T18:19:00.000-07:00

We spent another quiet day here in the Southwest. It was a welcome respite from the hectic pace of the last few days during the reunion.

After a leisurely wake up, we had our breakfast (cookie and tea for me, cookie and coffee for Joan) and then I finished a project I had started yesterday, the outside washing of the trailer. I use a wash and wax mixture and with the RV park’s permission I cleaned a month’s worth of road dust off the Laredo.

It looks 100 percent better, especially with the absence of the bugs off the front of the trailer. Most parks do not allow rig and car washing on site, but the rules here specifically allow it. Not sure, I went to the office just to double check.

“We own the water,” the office receptionist said. “Use all you need.”

Dos Cabezas Winery

Anyway, with temperatures predicted to rise into the high 90s, I got about the washing and waxing early to avoid the high heat of the day. On Thursday I did the half of the trailer that was in the shade in the afternoon and today I did the other half early enough that I didn’t get roasted.

After finishing the washing, I washed all the outside windows as they were streaked from the soap and water I used to wash the trailer.

In the afternoon, we made the wine tasting trip that we try to make everywhere we stop for any length of time. Remarkably, there are several wineries in and around Tucson.

Kief-Joshua Winery

We chose four, but found that one of them was closed, literally because the owner had “gone fishing.”

Joan found a bottle of wine at Dos Cabezas Winery in Sonoita, another bottle she liked at Keif-Joshua Wineries nearby, but hit the jackpot when she found three wines she really, really liked at the Charron Winery just off I-10 near Sonoita.

Charron was off the beaten path on a rough dirt road, but its 20 acres of vines apparently produce a product that Joan really likes.

Charron Winery

I would have had more pictures, but SOMEONE forgot the camera today. That SOMEONE, would be me.

On the way home we got stopped in a random U.S. Border Patrol check point on Highway 83. This occurred about 50 miles north of the Mexican border and only took us a few extra seconds to be cleared through. Good to know the Border Patrol is on the job.

We also thought about the boyfriend of a friend's daughter who is down here somewhere training to be a Border Patrol agent.

The agents peeked in our open windows determined we were not bringing any extra garden help home with us and waved us on our way.

We arrived home from the wine adventure about 5 p.m. and sat down to the leftovers from Cousin Cynthia’s Taco Soup, which is really good. It was one of those meals that you are sorry when it’s all gone.
The heat is expected to return here tomorrow and we may hang close to home and watch a little football game, the Michigan State University versus Michigan annual rivalry contest.

As the days wind down we both find ourselves beginning to yearn for home a little, although we really love the Tucson area and have an appointment on Monday to talk to the property managers here about how their long term rentals and park model purchases work. We’re not anywhere near ready to settle in one place, but each of our trips is a kind of an audition for where we might like to land in the future.

Obviously, the audition for Tucson has gone very well.

Great tours and a great reunion come to an emotional close

2011-10-13T21:03:00.000-07:00

Our personal tour at Sonora Desert Museum

It is always kind of a letdown when something you have anticipated for a long time comes and goes in a flash. My USS Cogswell reunion seemed to blow by, but isn’t that always the way when you are having a good time?

The reunion concluded last night with a formal banquet at the Hotel Arizona and the always emotional reading of the shipmates who have died since the last reunion. One of the names read was a chief who was on board the Cogswell in 1966 when I was aboard.

Incredible views

Met lots of new shipmates and also shared old times with some we met at the last reunion. The association has asked me to start assembling biographies of as many of our members as possible. I put out a questionnaire and more than half of the guys responded to it by the time the reunion ended last night. I really have my work cut out for me now.

The reunion always ends with the couples and attendees getting individual pictures taken for the photo book that will capture a lot of the memories.

Sagauro cactus

Some of those memories will include a full last day of touring on Wednesday. It was a very full, but rewarding day of tours and George Overman, a crewmember during the time I was on the Cogs, does a wonderful job of organizing and putting together some wonderful tour stops.

Wednesday started early for us as we had to get to the hotel by 8 a.m. to catch the tour bus, the same one we took on Tuesday as it turned out. Richie was our bus driver and during the rare times he talked on the bus microphone I thought we were being driven around by Joe Pesci. He even looked a little like him.

The first stop was at the Sonora Desert Museum which is an incredible place that replicates many of the varying climates and scenery we have been marveling at over the past couple weeks. On the way to the museum we passed through part of the Saguaro (Saw – war-oh) National Park. The Saguaro is the cactus that grows tall and sometimes has appendages that really symbolizes the old Southwest.

One of the desert habitats at the museum

We only had two hours at the museum, which was not nearly enough to view all the exhibits and native animals on display there. Our docent was great and he was happy to do the tour as his son was a former Navy veteran.

I love cactus and the docent did an excellent job of explaining the various adaptation of plant and wildlife and how it survives in a hot and dry climate like Southern Arizona. He explained the various food and medicinal products made from the various species of cactus.

Sanctuary San Xavier del Bac

Due to the warmth of the day we only saw a few of the animals (a mountain lion, two beavers in an underwater aquarium like display, a native wolf, a couple birds and once again rattlesnakes. Many of the other critters, including river otters and a coati, were doing the smart thing and staying out of sight and cool.

After the abbreviated tour I stopped at the ticket office and asked if there was a special for people who wanted to come back and visit again because they didn’t have enough time to enjoy all the exhibits and the woman at the ticket window gave me a 2 for 1 ticket that will save us $14 if we come back. I’m sounding more like my mother-in-law every day.

The bus picked us up at 10:45 a.m. and drove us to San Xavier del Bac Mission where we had just a very short time to tour this historic and old church. The construction began in the 1700s and continued for several decades until its completion.

Pima Air and Space Museum

You can see from the photo that it appears not quite done, with one tower remaining incomplete. We were told that under Spanish rule there was no taxes on a building until it was completed so the missionaries deliberately left the top of the column undone so they would not have to pay taxes.

The sanctuary is beautiful and all the more so because the work was done so very long ago. It is still an active Roman Catholic Church and school and with we may just attend church there on Sunday and soak in the history and spirit of the place during Mass.

Pima Air and Space Museum

The church is largely attended by a local Native American population and they were out front making something called “fry bread,” which looked delicious, but which is not on our diet, so we passed.

Back on the bus it was off to the Pima Air and Space Museum for an afternoon of airplane viewing. This is our fourth air and space museum in about 8 months, but so far we are not tired of it.

(I have put some additional photos of both the Sonora Desert Museum and Air and Space Museum in a post below this one. Just scroll down and you will see them.)

Fighter jet in the Boneyard

Because Joan and I are on a diet that involves eating a special cookie for lunch we did not have to spend 30-45 minutes waiting in a long line for a sandwich, which gave us more time to tour the museum both during the lunch break and later when we returned for the actual museum tour.

After lunch, about 1:15 p.m., we re-boarded the bus, this time with an Air and Space Museum docent named John Chaffee, who was a retired Air Force fighter pilot and he accompanied us out to the 309^th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) outdoor facility, which is affectionately known around here as “The Boneyard.” The facility is located adjacent to the Museum at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

A retired Air Force executive transport plane

Because the tour went onto a military base we all had to show picture ID for security reasons. The docent could not have been better. As a former military pilot he had great stories about the aircraft and included some anecdotes that involved some of the planes that he had flown, including fighter missions in Vietnam.

The facility has rows and rows of hundreds, probably thousands of surplus aircraft stored in the desert. The desert makes a great storage center because the climate does not corrode the metal and the hard ground makes it possible to park the large planes on the desert floor instead of pouring expensive concrete.

In addition to storage, the base is working on modifications to various airplanes to extend their flying life and the stored planes are also a rich source of spare parts for current aircraft that are so old that parts for them are no longer made. Call it a big military salvage yard.

We spent more than an hour touring the flight line display of the many military aircraft stored at the facility. I couldn’t help but thing of the billions of dollars just standing idle in the desert.

The Air Force "Boneyard"

John pointed out that once an aircraft crosses a highway bridge to the other side of Kolb Road it is highly unlikely that plane will ever fly or leave the facility again. Hence the name, boneyard.

A lot of the aircraft are up on blogs because the landing gear has been removed and used as replacement parts for currently flying aircraft.

“A lot of young pilots must be making some pretty hard landings judging by all the missing nose gear,” John told us.

There are also large chunks of several B-52s at various corners of the facility, which were cut up and destroyed as part of a nuclear proliferation treaty with the former Soviets. The pieces are visible from Russian spy satellites and both sides use the satellites to confirm treaty compliance, John said.

Computer before Steve Jobs

Once the flight line tour was complete, our group headed back to the main museum for the rest of our tour there.

Unfortunately, John took off before I got off the bus because I wanted to talk to him about my stepfather, Ray, who worked in the engineering department at the Lockheed Corporation in Burbank. John mentioned during his tour that he had also worked in the engineering department at Lockheed in Burbank during the same years as my stepfather.

I left a message at the office for John to call me so I could explore any connection between the two men.

Because we had toured the main hangar while others were eating lunch we had time to head out at some of the auxiliary hangars, one which had a completely restored B-29 on the floor. Outdoors I walked the various flight lines that included a wide assortment of fighters, bombers, commercial airplanes and other great displays.

There was also an actual World War II barracks that was filled with model airplanes.

A Lockheed Constellation

Joan tired of the heat and headed back inside while I walked up and down the flight line taking one of more than 100 photos of the museum.

After boarding the bus for our return to the Hotel Arizona, we all mentioned how enjoyable the day had been, especially the wonderful and entertaining presentation by John.

Back at the hotel, Joan and I had made arrangements to change from our casual tour clothes into our formal dining wear by bringing all of our dress up clothes with us in the morning. I went to the parking garage and retrieved our clothing and hair brush and brought it back to the hotel where we changed in the bathroom.

A retired NASA transport

I then walked the three city blocks back to the parking garage in my suit to throw all the casual clothes in the Tahoe so we wouldn’t have to have luggage with us at the dinner.

Back at the hotel I realized I had left my belt back at the trailer, so Joan loaned me her black belt from her casual clothes to hold up my pants.

After my second round trip to the Tahoe I realized back at the hotel that I had left my camera back in the car, which necessitated round trip number three to the parking garage.

At 5:30 p.m. we lined up to have our photo book picture taken and then joined Ron and Margaret Eberle, of Louisville, Kentucky, and John and Louise Helliwell, of Thousand Oaks, California for dinner. We were also joined by Gary Esterby, of Dennison, Montana, for dinner.

Joan

Ron and I joined the Cogswell within a day of each other in 1966 as young seaman, both assigned to First Division (Deck Division) which is basically as low as you get on a ship. Gary Esterby was in an engineering rate and we were not close during the time both of us were on the ship.

I had not met John Helliwell before this reunion, but learned that he came on the Cogswell shortly after I was transferred off to the USS Hoel. Helliwell, like me was a Quartermaster, and it was likely that he was put aboard to replace me.

It was an enjoyable dinner with a lot of laughter, broken up by some sad moments when they read the names of the deceased shipmates and the playing of “Taps.”

After dinner, they treated us to a night of Casino gambling providing us with $1,000 worth of chips for $5. Joan and I sat down at the Texas Hold ‘Em table to learn that game and to play. We had not planned to stay more than an hour, but we had a little luck and stayed until closing at 11 p.m.

Ron and Margaret Eberle

I used to play Five Card Draw poker (not well by the way) so I am familiar with what is a good hand and what is not, but I think I caught on to the Texas adaptation pretty quickly and had some early success.

When the whistle blew I had $2,100 in chips left over, which I thought was pretty good. One of the Craps players rang up $9,000 in chips and won the prize for the evening.

I was calling and raising $100 bets all night, something I would not have been comfortable doing if I was playing with real money.

Hoping to give Joan a little rest from all the walking we had done over the last two days, I offered to walk to pick up the car and drive back to pick her up, which she heartily agreed to. When I got to the parking garage I thought I had made a mistake. There were a couple very unsavory characters hanging out in the structure so I puffed up, looked tough and they left me alone. Was really glad then I had left Joan back at the hotel.

We crashed as soon as we got home, tired but happy from a wonderful day and reunion.

Gary Esterby

On Thursday morning I got up early and headed back to the reunion hospitality room to say my good byes to the few shipmates who had not already departed to the airport. We look forward to seeing everyone at the next reunion in Mobile, Alabama in May 2013.

As I mentioned in a previous post I needed some work done on the Tahoe because of what a tire store guy told me was a partially damaged left front tie rod.

So on my way back from the reunion at 9 a.m. I stopped at O’Reilly’s Chevrolet in Tucson and had a service technician look at the car. Fully expecting a $200 bill for new tie rods I prepared for an all-day wait for the car.

Gilbert, my service rep, came to me in the waiting room and said the mechanic discovered the tie rod was fine, as was my suspension and that the car only needed to have a front end alignment.

An honest car dealer, who knew? Was really glad I listened to my doubts at the tire place and deferred to Tucson the work on the front end.

John and Louise Esterby

While waiting for the alignment to be done, I got a call from Joan about 11 a.m. from a phone number I did not recognize. She asked me when I was going to be home to the trailer because she had locked herself out of the trailer and was in her shower outfit out in the open.

I asked her about the phone and she said the security guard came to her aid and let her use his phone to contact me. “When will you be home and do you have a key to the trailer?,” Joan asked.

“About 40 minutes and yes, I do have a key,” I answered.

It turned out to be about an hour before the car was done and poor Joan sat in the shadow of the trailer for an hour wearing her bathrobe and a towel wrapped around her head until I arrived home.

Always one to explain the obvious, I told Joan it would probably be smart to carry the trailer key with her when she went to the shower. She was not amused.

Temperatures here today were 105 degrees, but it didn’t feel a degree over 99. Despite the temperatures I stuck with my plan to wash the trailer, but only got it half done before the heat got to me. I’ll finish tomorrow when the temperature is ONLY supposed to be 98.

Joan, who was now two hours behind her own schedule, sent me to the nail salon to see if they had a 2:30 p.m. appointment for a “fill.”

I walked into the place as told the woman: “I have no idea what this means, but do you have time to do a “Fill” about 2:30 p.m. today?”

“I know exactly what you are talking about and yes, I can get her in,” Nancy said. I do know that a “Fill” costs $25, so whatever they are filling must be really empty.

Joan fixed steaks, baked potato, corn on the cob and salad for dinner.

More photos of Cogswell reunion Day 2

2011-10-13T20:24:00.000-07:00

Sonora Desert Museum entrance

Our docent at the museum

A Saguaro cactus

Prarie dog exhibit

A blooming barrel cactus

Cactus exhibit

San Xavier del Bac

San Xavier sanctuary

Pima Air and Space Museum

SR-71 Blackbird

Bumble Bee aircraft

A one, or two of a kind prototype transport

Up on blocks

A tour that took us deep into western history and deeper into a copper mine

2011-10-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

The USS Cogswell POW-MIA table

Today we lived vicariously. First we lived vicariously as copper miners and next we were witnesses to a re-creation of perhaps the most famous western gunfight in history.

As part of my Navy reunion Joan and I signed up for all the tours with today’s offerings taking us south (within five miles of the Mexican border at one point) to Bisbee, Arizona and the legendary Tombstone, Arizona, the site of the famous and often inaccurately portrayed “Gunfight at the OK Corral.”

To catch the bus Joan and I had to get up real early, like 5:30 a.m. We headed to Hotel Arizona early to avoid any commute traffic and boarded the beautiful tour bus about 7:45 a.m. for the 90-minute trip to Bisbee.

The Cogswell Miner's

As I sat on the bus looking around at my former shipmates it hit me how so many of them have aged. How can it be that they look so old and yet I know I haven’t gotten any older? Seriously, it is a little sobering to realize that the people you knew in your youth have suddenly become elderly, as have I.

On the other hand, it is comforting to know that the associations and connections you made in your youth can survive the rapid passage of time and distance. There are 85 people at the reunion and they come from all corners of the country. The only thing we have in common is that we all once served on the same floating bathtub.

Joan and her miner's outfit

We all shared common experiences in three wars, World War II, Korea and The Vietnam War. We all knew hardship, separation from family and loved ones, but we also shared a common purpose and the satisfaction of being a member of a team.

One of the recent traditions of our reunions is the POW-MIA table that remains a centerpiece of our hospitality room. The table is set for one, but is never used. It symbolizes those who are missing, either by hostile action or the advance of years. It is also a remembrance for those whose fate is not known.

But let’s get back on the bus. We cruised to Brisbee first, passing through Tombstone which created some momentary fun when the tour director asked us as we entered, passed through and left Tombstone in about 3 minutes, if we had enjoyed our tour of the famous city.

We had a 10:30 a.m. copper mine tour scheduled in Bisbee which is the reason we passed through Tombstone without stopping.

Miner Jim

Just outside Bisbee the bus went through a quarter-mile mountain tunnel and the tour director quipped “Did you like the mine tour?”

Eventually we arrived at the Queen Mine, one of a number of copper and silver mines in the southern Arizona area, but one that has not been mined for about 40 years. Instead of copper and silver, the mine has become an attraction for tourists who can ride the same rails as the former miners and visit the bowels of a real mine.

Only 16 of the 53 folks on the tour bus had signed up for the mine tour and we were dropped off first, while the rest of the group was driven to downtown Bisbee to explore that place.

Once inside the mine building we were outfitted with yellow raincoats, hard hats and a utility belt with a battery pack that powered a small flashlight.

Heading 1,600-feet inside a mountain

Then we mounted the narrow gauge cars and tram that would take us 1,600-feet into the center of a mountain. Our tour guide was once a miner in a nearby copper mine and was very informative.

Looking at the 80-year-old wooden timbers and rusted hardware that held things together you had to marvel at the work that went into boring into the mountain at a time when there were few of the powerful tools and safety devices that were available later in history.

At one point deep in the mine, our guide told all of us to switch off our flashlights so we could appreciate the absolute darkness that we were in. Before the battery packs, miners used candles which produced even less light than the flashlights.

The one-hour tour ended and we rejoined our shipmates on the bus for the real trip to Tombstone.

Timbers that are 80-years-old

The half hour drive back to Tombstone brought us into the famous western town about high noon. (Couldn’t resist).

Our tour guide turned us loose for a four-hour visit to the five block area that has a reputation as “The Town Too Tough to Die.”

Tombstone has survived major fires, the loss of its position as county seat and its reputation as a lawless village to the tourist trap that it is today.

And trap it was, and it caught us several times. We signed on for the 2 p.m. re-creation of the famous “Gunfight at OK Corral,” the “Historama” and a tour of “The Bird Cage Theater,” the one remaining original structure from the time of the gunfight in the early 1880s.

OK Corral set

The gunfight has been romanticized in movies and literature, but much of the information is fantasy and what isn’t fantasy remains in dispute.

I’m not going into a long dissertation about the gunfight, because most people have heard or seen movies about it, but the small troupe of actors did a credible job of laying out the circumstances of the day that led to the fatal shooting of three men.

Doc Holliday and the Earps

My favorite actors were the man who played Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp and Ike Clanton. After the gunfight we stopped at the local Harley-Davidson shop for some photos and then after the Bird Cage tour, which included a visit to the rooms where the ladies of “ill fame” operated we climbed back aboard the tour bus for our return back to Hotel Arizona.

Once back at the hotel I talked to a few more shipmates about the biography project and then Joan and I returned to the trailer for dinner and an early bedtime as we have to get up early again tomorrow for Tour II.

Unfortunately all the photos I took inside "The Bird Cage Museum cannot be used publicly, even on a blog.

The museum was OK with shooting interior photos for personal use, but warned that they did not approve of any other public use of the photos. So I will honor that by not running the photos here. I will say that they had some very vintage furniture, supposedly original to the Bird Cage Theater with representations that Doc Holliday had played cards on the gaming table on display, etc.

We did enjoy the museum tour and were impressed that much of the original wall coverings had been preserved under plexiglass.

I am using the photo we took outside the museum as that is in the public domain.

Nothing better than a bunch of old tin can sailors in the middle of the desert

2011-10-10T20:14:00.000-07:00

Today was pretty much focused on getting ready for my USS Cogswell reunion. This is the second Cogswell reunion for Joan and me. The last one, in May 2010, was in Buffalo.

Obviously this was a little more complicated to get to, but we combined the reunion with some travel that we had wanted to do in the Southwest.

Most of the folks are staying at Hotel Arizona in downtown Tucson, but Joan and I are staying in our trailer just down the road.

A couple newlyweds and a shipmate from the 50s

Tomorrow is the first of two days of tours. The first day’s tour is to Tombstone (The Town Too Tough to Die) and Bisbee, Arizona. The tour includes a stop an old mine, which we are scheduled to go into.

Tonight’s business meeting was a chance to renew old acquaintances and start the usual round of sea stories.

I have volunteered to take on a project which will involve writing the biographies of our members. At least the ones who want to participate. Tonight I handed out sheets for the former sailors to fill out so I can cut through a lot of the routine stuff when I interview them for both their experiences on the Cogswell as well as the years following their service.

It is always sobering to see the list of former shipmates who have died since the previous reunion and a reminder that someday your name will be there also.

There will be a more formal recognition of their passing at Wednesday’s closing banquet.

Three original Cogswell crewman from 1943

When Joan and I arrived we ended up sitting at a table with three of the sailors who were members of the very first crew on the ship in 1943. The ship had a distinguished and active career during the Pacific in World War II, but was known as a “lucky” ship because it was never struck by an enemy shell or Kamikaze during its active service.

It was one of the ships who entered Tokyo Bay with the USS Missouri for the formal surrender ceremony that ended World War II.

Ibought some new Cogswell merchandise as my previous t-shirts and sweatshirts are way too big now. It is time for bed as we have to get up early to get to the hotel for our first tour.

A quiet day in Tucson

2011-10-09T18:41:00.000-07:00

The main office and sales center at the resort

We’ve had a very quiet day today. Laundry, shopping and general house cleaning and trailer maintenance. It was very nice to do very little.

We had one of those interesting marriage moments today. We forgot the map the resort gave us of grocery stores and other businesses near here so we went by memory from our short journey to dinner last night.

On Kolb Street, Joan insisted that she saw the Frye’s store at one intersection and I insisted I saw it at the very next intersection. Being the good wife that she is, she deferred to me and when we arrived at 22^nd and Kolb streets there was the Frye’s store just as I predicted.

The view from my couch.

On the way home we drove past the intersection, which is only about 1/3-mile away from the Frye’s store where we shopped and lo and behold another complete Frye’s store. So we were BOTH right. How often does that happen? And what brainiac thought it was a good business plan to put two identical grocery stores within easy walking distance of each other.

The Voyager Resort is beautiful and I’ve included some photos of some of the amenities available here. Although we are not yet ready for a permanent move or even a selection of a permanent second home in a warm state we are intrigued by this place. Don't quite understand the need for a tanning salon in Arizona but the resort has one.

Later this week we are going to visit the sales folks and just see what it would cost to reserve a spot for an entire winter season or perhaps own one of the smaller park model trailers here.

Joan checks out part of the huge fitness center

Except for filling up your car this place has everything. You would never have to leave here to get anything but gasoline. They even have a small chapel and Sunday morning services are very well attended.

There is a bar and grill and from what our neighbors told us the food is very good and reasonably priced.

To fill out this entry let’s just share a few reflections on the creator’s beauty. On the way to Tucson, Joan remarked that all the different scenery, including some startling changes within just a few miles is a wonderful reflection of the art work of our creator.

When we left Williams, Arizona about 11 a.m. we were surrounded by a healthy pine forest and crisp temperatures in the 40s. An hour later we were in the high desert north of Phoenix and temperatures were in the high 60s. The pine trees were gone, but the red cliffs and rock formations were a beauty all its own.

View of the manufactured homes at the resort (moon above)

As we headed through and south of Phoenix we began to see the massive and instantly recognizable Saguaro cactus that just screams “Southwest.” At some places there were forests of them. Temperatures climbed in the low 80s as the altitude fell from 7,300-feet near Flagstaff to about 1,200-feet in Phoenix.

As we got closer to Tucson the temperatures began to drop again as we climbed to 2,400-feet. By the middle of the night the temperatures had dropped to the low 40s, but quickly climbed back into the low 80s by the afternoon.

Back to the reflections on the Creator’s artwork: No painter uses colors more vivid or eye-popping; no sculpture artist has created more beautiful statues or monuments than the ones created naturally by God. There is no texture artist who can come close to what we have seen and touched on this trip alone.

Some of the amenities including of all things a tanning salon

Human artists do their best to recreate the artwork on canvas or in bronze or concrete, but they don’t hold a candle to the creator. Again we remain extremely thankful for our many blessings and the opportunity to really see our own country and all that it has to offer.

By using our trailer and cooking in rather than eating out it makes the visits affordable on our budget. It also is more homey than stopping and unpacking at a hotel. We always wondered whether our dream of traveling in an RV would live up to the actuality. It has in a big way.

Joan keeps the inside of the trailer clean and I keep working on the outside. A few months ago I purchased some back up pins and fasteners for the trailer hitch and boy did that come in handy yesterday.

I forgot to mention that when I hooked up the trailer I accidentally bent the main fastener pin for the hitch pin to the car. In trying to straighten it out I bent the pin so much I was not confident that its strength had been compromised. I remembered the backup pins and quickly replaced the bent pin which got us on the way and didn’t leave me worried that I would be a road hazard.

The park folks let me know that they own the water for the place and that we are free to wash both the car and trailer on site, which I will likely do later this week.

Tomorrow (Monday, October 10) starts my Navy reunion. Not sure how much blogging I will do each day, but I will try to put up something each night when we return from the day’s activities.

Las Vegas adventure over, Tucson fun begins

2011-10-08T21:12:00.000-07:00

Our space at Voyager Resort in Tucson

Our second full and last day in Las Vegas involved a great deal of walking and sightseeing. By the time we were done late Friday we had walked both sides and the entire length of the famous Las Vegas strip. We gambled at each resort almost exclusively on free slot play that each casino was offering new customers.

(After this new entry there are a series of photos of Las Vegas if you scroll down.)

The day started off ominously when I went for a 3-mile walk on Las Vegas Boulevard and took a header when I tripped on a curb. I skinned both knees, slammed my shoulder into the sidewalk and nearly broke my glasses in the fall. A city bus driver spotted my crash and stopped and offered assistance, but I was back on my feet and just a little embarrassed.

So with two bleeding knees, a bloody knuckle and a sore shoulder I walked back to the Golden Nugget to tell Joan she married an 8-year-old kid with the scabby knees to boot.

Speaking for myself I enjoyed Las Vegas, but probably would not be in a hurry to return and not because of my fall. Joan and I are not “party” people. We are not night life people and we especially don’t like being hounded and pestered constantly to purchase show tickets or having the photos of nude women who are willing to come to our hotel room shoved in our faces every other step along the street.

It seemed like someone would say something nice to get your attention and the next thing they were trying to do was sell me a CD, a last minute show ticket or a tour of the Grand Canyon for “only” $389 a person.

Another photo of our space in Tucson

The dire effects of the economy are everywhere and I guess the steadiest employment in Las Vegas belongs to the street performers who are located about every 10-feet with the desire of parting you from your cash.

There was an Elvis impersonator on every block and in every size. Young Elvis, old Elvis, skinny Elvis and fat Elvis were everywhere. The best combination of street performers was the Elvis, Pee Wee Herman and Michael Jackson trio on Fremont Street.

I tried not to make eye contact with a mime, but he kept staring at me for minutes. I still didn’t drop a dime in his bucket.

Call me a scrooge and an old fuddy duddy, but I just got tired of the constant attempt to separate me from my money. We left with our budget intact, but with no desire to go back anytime soon.

By the end of Friday we were both pretty exhausted and ready to eat. We caught the city bus back to Fremont Street and the area of our hotel and found a prime rib dinner for $7.95 and it was pretty darned good, especially at that price.

We stayed for the Fremont Experience light show, but discovered it was the same show we saw the night before so we retired to our room to get some sleep for what promised to be a pretty long day of driving today.

By 9:30 p.m. we were both asleep and stayed that way until about 3 a.m. when a group of folks decided to have a loud party in the hallway for about an hour. I thought about calling security, but decided that we were in Las Vegas and the odd balls were probably us for not partying all night.

I finally got back to sleep about 4 a.m. with a 5:30 a.m. wake up call. The early call was to allow for a fairly tricky travel day for us.

One of the funnier moments of our stay occurred when an Asian man who had just checked into the Golden Nugget walked by the huge shark tank, which is part of the hotel pool complex. The sharks and large ocean fish swim around the huge aquarium and pool guests can slide down a water slide that goes through the aquarium. The man looked surprised and then laughed and yelled at his friends, "Look at the food swimming around the pool."

We left Las Vegas about 7 a.m. heading to Williams, Arizona to retrieve our trailer and then make the trip to Tucson in the late morning and afternoon. All went as planned until I arrived at the trailer and discovered some very unseasonably cold nights had worn down our trailer battery to the point it would not power the lift for the hitch.

So I backed the Tahoe as close to the hitch as I could so I could plug in the power cord and used the Tahoe battery to power the tool that raises and lowers the hitch onto the trailer ball. With that done we were on our way and made our travels up and down the mountains of Arizona to Tucson.

The park where we are staying, Voyager Resort, is very nice and one of the best parks we have stayed in so far. Security met us at the gate and escorted us to our spot with a golf cart. It took a little longer than usual to set up mostly due to how tired we were.

After we were set up we headed to Tucson for a quick dinner and a gas fill up in preparation for my Navy reunion which starts on Monday. Tomorrow promises to be a quiet day and clean up day for us.

Mileage out: 79833

Time out: (Williams, Arizona) 11:11 a.m.

Mileage in: 80129

Time in: 4:16 p.m.

More photos from Las Vegas

2011-10-08T20:43:00.000-07:00

The pool aquarium at the Golden Nugget. The water slide passes through the shark tank.

The Luxor Resort and Casino

The Luxor.

The MGM Resort and Casino

The real MGM lions in their habitat in the casino.

We walked under a sleeping lion.

The fake MGM lion.

The New York New York Casino and Resort.

The Bellagio Resort and Casino.

The Harley Davidson store.

That's the Las Vegas I remember.

A great visit to California and a trip to Lost Wages

2011-10-06T22:08:00.000-07:00

Badly worn tire

Well, into each trip a little rain must fall. We had some real rain and some unexpected financial rain drop into this trip. We never complain about the real rain as most of the places we are visiting out west can really use the moisture.

But when I went to have an oil change today (Tuesday, Oct. 4) my fears of a left front problem with the Tahoe were confirmed. A couple weeks ago I noticed some excessive wear on the left front tire on the inside tread.

Today, it had gotten much worse and the tread was worn down dangerously smooth on the inside of the tire, which forced me to have the two front tires replaced. These are the original tires on the car and all four have 80,000 miles on them, so not a big surprise.

Jim, Joan, Tim, Brittany, William

Tires for this bad boy are not cheap and what I suspect is a tie rod problem will need to be addressed when we get to Tucson later this week. To preserve the new tires, I had the tire folks put the new tires on the rear of the car and the two older tires, both with acceptable tire tread on the front of the vehicle.

If I’m going to wear down another tire, it’s going to be an old one not one I just bought. The tire folks assured me that while they tried to tighten up the tie rod to minimize the vibration it is safe to drive for another 1,000-plus miles until I can get to a Chevrolet dealer in Tucson.

That was $600 we were not expecting to have to come up with on the trip. It will also put a crimp on our plans for Las Vegas.

Back to our trip to California. We had a good time with the boys and Brittany in Santa Cruz, even if it was kind of a quick visit. We are pleased with the progress Tim and Brittany are making in their education and always enjoy our visits to William in his beautiful mobile home near the Monterey Bay.

We stayed at the Bay Front Inn about a block from the Santa Cruz Wharf and Boardwalk. It was a very nice motel at a very nice price.

Unlike the rest of our trip we ate out most meals and all with the family. It was fun to give Brittany, the granddaughter, rides to some of her work shifts.

Anyway we were back at Cynthia’s Tuesday night for our last night in California before heading to Nevada and then Arizona. Eventually we will be headed to Tucson and my Navy reunion. The weather has taken a sudden turn to the cool side and it looks like it will be unseasonably cool as we head through Arizona.

Cousin Cynthia is a great hostess, cook and friend and we miss her already. This is probably the fifth or sixth time I (we) have stayed with her and we really appreciate all her efforts in putting us up. We look forward to the time we can return the favor.

Joan in "The Habitat" at the Flamingo Hotel

We left Cynthia’s early Wednesday and found the going wet for most of the trip to Las Vegas. Neither Joan nor I have been here for more than several decades and we found the city much changed since the last time we were here.

Joan saw something quite rare on the trip through the Mojave Desert. Torrential rains were falling for much of the trip making the driving interesting and sometimes challenging as the windshield wipers had trouble keeping up with the volume of rain.

At one dry point in the drive we were chasing a tumbleweed down the highway, which may be an indication of how high the winds were.

We also passed a road, I believe in Eastern California that was spelled “Zzyzx Road.” Man, would that be a big Scrabble score if you could use proper names.

With the on again, off again rain (mostly on) the temperatures fluctuated between about 70 and 40 and the 40 came at the top of Tehacapi Pass and for a moment I thought we might get some snow.

It was also incredibly windy, so I was very glad I did not have the trailer in tow on this trip. Traffic was moderate for most of the trip until we arrived in Las Vegas when it slowed to a crawl. We arrived about 5 p.m., but that includes about 40 minutes to drive about 4 miles through the Las Vegas freeway system.

This morning (Thursday) I got up early and walked from the old downtown Las Vegas (that’s where the Golden Nugget is) to The Strip. It took me about three hours and I estimated the walk at about 8-9 miles.

On the way back I took Las Vegas Boulevard so I could walk by the “Pawn Stars” pawn shop, which had a long line out front with people just waiting to go inside for a peek. I like the show, but not enough to wait in a long line to go inside. I will put up some photos after I remember to take my camera on my walk on Friday morning.

Also passed by “The Little White Wedding Chapel” which is the place Joan’s sister Patty and brother-in-law, Keane, had their drive through wedding about 10 years ago. There was a plaque at another wedding chapel announcing it was the location of Jon Bon Jovi’s wedding, but no such plaque for Patty and Keane at the other chapel.

After I returned back to the hotel from my walk I collected Joan and told her I had found cheap transportation down to the strip. For $7 you can talk the bus for 24 hours up and down the line between the old downtown and The Strip.

When we caught the first bus to The Strip the machine that sold the $7 tickets was broken so we rode for free, which meant I didn’t buy the $7 ticket until our return trip back about 6 p.m. so I will be able to use it all day tomorrow saving us another $7.

We gambled a little, but we used the free slot play that was offered at each casino for newcomers who signed up for the various promotional offers. At one casino we got $50 of free play, but most were $5 or $10 and we just went from one to another. At the last one, Joan won $50 and I won $23 on the free play so we are probably a little ahead of the game.

Fremont Street Experience

Tomorrow we are going back to the Strip to see more of the fountain displays and other free stuff. No shows for us on this trip. We had a great Greek salad for dinner at Planet Dailies. Later we watch the beautiful free light and music show at the Fremont Street Experience. The overhead light show is made up of 2 million lights on a metal canopy that is three blocks long.

The old downtown strip has been converted to a walking mall with the classic old casinos and each night there is a light and music show. I took some pictures, but they won’t do it justice. Probably this is the last post until Saturday night as the Internet at the hotel costs $12 a day and I won’t pay that, so I borrowed a signal to put this up tonight.

To end the evening Joan and I watched the end of the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees divisional playoff game in the lobby bar at the Golden Nugget. When Papa Grande through the final strike to end the game in the Tigers’ favor we both yelled out “Yes,” which seemed to attract a lot of attention. We slinked away to our room.

Should also point out that it was warmer in Lapeer, Michigan for the past two days than it was here in Las Vegas. That promises to be the case through tomorrow. It has been cold in the mornings and very mild (60s) in the afternoon.

California dreamin' again

2011-10-02T20:21:00.000-07:00

Keith, Grayson, Lindsey, Cynthia & Joan

On Sunday, October 2, we arrived in Santa Cruz, California to visit sons William and Tim as well as granddaughter Brittany. It flashed in my head that within about five weeks we have been driven to and from Boston, Massachusetts and now Santa Cruz, California. That’s a distance apart of 3,159 miles.

By the time this trip is over we will have also traveled all, but about 150 miles of the old Route 66.

The trip from Williams, Arizona to Danville was pretty grueling. The total distance was 707 miles and most of it was done in temperatures at or above 100 degrees. Part of the journey included some driving on some roads I have not driven on in Southern California for many, many years.

The roads around Edwards Air Force Base have improved since the last time I was on them, which isn’t surprising since it has been about 50 years since I was on them.

Joan at Mondavi Winery

Anyway, we have had a short, but fun time in California. Our plans to see my sister-in-law did not work out, but we are looking forward to our next opportunity to visit with her either in California or in Michigan.

We had a nice short visit with my cousin Cynthia and briefly saw her daughter, son-in-law and grandson just before we left for a spin through one of Joan’s favorite places, Napa Valley wine country.

Heading up the Sterling tramway (see car going down)

We visited Hess Winery and its unusual art collection. We stopped at Mondavi Winery for some free wine tasting as well as a stop at Franciscan Winery where we are members of the wine club for some more wine tasting. Joan does all the drinking and I do all the driving.

Me and Joan at Sterling Winery

While Joan did her wine tasting at Franciscan I sat in the Tahoe listening to the exciting (way too exciting) end of the Ohio State versus Michigan State football game about 3:45 p.m. (California time). Fortunately the Spartans hung on for a 10-7 victory over the Buckeyes.

Usually we travel through Napa Valley during the weekdays, during the off season, but Saturday was almost a solid line of cars through the valley and all the parking lots were full to overflowing at the wineries.

After a stop at the Sterling Winery and a ride up its aerial tramway for even more wine tasting before we headed to dinner at one of my favorite and out-of-the-way restaurants in Occidental, California.

Joan at Union Hotel restaurant

The Union Hotel has been a northern California mainstay for nearly 100 years all through the ownership of one family and its subsequent generations. The atmosphere is basic, but the food is good and plentiful and always family style. We stuffed ourselves and headed to our hotel in Novato, California.

When I booked the hotel I made sure we had a non-smoking room as we are sensitive to the smell of cigarette smoke.

When we arrived about 8:45 p.m., tired and ready for bed, the hotel clerk informed me that they had accidentally overbooked the hotel and all that was left was a smoking room. He asked us to check out the room, but one step inside told us we could not stay there as the odor was simply too strong.

Nothing else was available in the north bay so we ended up driving nearly 90 minutes south until we found a room in Santa Clara at another Days Inn.

William, Joan and Brittany at beach

We drove over the “hill” early today and settled in for a couple days visiting with the boys and Brittany. Once we arrived at William’s place we took him and Brittany down to Brighton State Beach for a pleasant afternoon of sitting by the ocean. The fog rolled in and then promptly rolled away all during the two hours we sat by the beach.

Later we went out to dinner with son Timothy and his daughter Brittany at Hindquarters, a very nice restaurant in Santa Cruz.

When we travel with the trailer we rarely eat out (to save money) so it is fun and a change of pace to have dinner out.

Brighton State Beach

After dinner we took Brittany back to William’s house where she is living and then dropped Timothy back off at his car at the restaurant. We’ll have them all to lunch tomorrow. Probably won’t file another episode for a few days.

Tim & Brittany