December 16, 2011

Friday, December 16 (the second time)
We are here!  We have made it across the continent and arrived in the Los Angeles area this afternoon in time to set up camp and make it to Kath’s home around four o’clock.  We knew we had arrived there because Chelsea and Calvin were outside the house waiting and waving and jumping up and down.  Now we know how royalty feels when they drive down the streets and have everyone watching for them to arrive.   It was another joyous time for Dan and me, and the grands and Kath seemed very glad to see us, too.
Now, why did she say Dec. 16 (the second time)?  I am using a laptop that has a clock at the bottom and it is set on EST while we are now on Pacific time.  It’s after 1 AM where you are and it’s 10 PM here.  So, yesterday when I told you it was the 16th, it was really the 15th.  No wonder I’m always getting so confused about things. 
The scenery is lovely in this area, too.  There is more green than we expected and they have familiar trees.  Trees we know are mixed in with the new trees we have met on our way here.  We saw sycamore trees beside the Palo Verde with date palms  and cedars thrown in the mix, and we’re camped under a male mulberry.  At least I’m hoping it’s a male.  Those purple berries can create havoc on everything they touch.
Traffic in Phoenix was bad.  Traffic around here is horrid.  Fortunately Kryn had suggested alternative routes and we skirted LA proper and did not have to drive in that traffic, but what we did travel was nerve racking enough, especially hauling a trailer.  I missed lots of the scenery because I was trying to navigate for Dan, reading directions on where to go and which exit to take.  Unfortunately the exit number is at the exit.  If you do not know the name of the street that is the exit number you want, you might pass it before you know which one to take.  We managed to stay OK with me reading, Dan driving, Junnie behaving and my eating my fingernails!
Calvin’s scout troop went ice skating tonight so immediately after supper he and Karl headed out the door.  Chelsea sang “The 12 days of Christmas” for me.  I learned some new things.  There’s one partridge in a bear tree, three French friends, four CALLING BIRDS (YELLED AS LOUDLY AS  POSSIBLE),  and Kath told me yesterday she learned there were 10 vipers viping.  She said she was so sorry she had corrected her.  I had to tell Chelsea I had never heard that song ever sung exactly that way and that it was wonderful. .. and it was.
There will now probably be spaces in my blogging.  I doubt seriously you need to know a blow by blow account of our time with our family, but I will tell you about some of the things they have planned for us.   I just don’t know when that will be.  I’ll do intermitten blogs.  At least that’s what I’m thinking.   When we head back across the country I plan to do a daily blog again.  This is what I’m planning.  Only heaven knows what I will actually do!!!
Know that you are loved dearly, thought of often, and held within our hearts.
Blessings,
Dan, Fran, and Junnie

December 16, 2011

Thursday, December 15, Indio, California

Junnie nearly gave me heart failure.  While Dan was taking the trash to the dumpster and I was checking to make sure our facilities function properly, he hopped down on the computer and when I came to start this blog, the screen was displaying everything turned sideways.  The cursor is really difficult to control that way, plus I’m not sure how it would be to type and read with my head at a 90 degree angle.  Fortunately my tech man straightened it out for me.  I was about to tell this crazy cat to sit up and down on the key board until he was able to get the orientation to something familiar for me.  Whew!

We left the fascinating town of Quartzsite and headed for the Pacific Ocean and the mountains just disappeared.  Poof!  They weren’t there anymore.  They vanished into flat desert with scrub oaks, stunted mesquite, and other moisture starved vegetation.  We did get a short glimpse of the Colorado River.  The bridge had high wire fencing on both sides and it was hard to get a picture of it, but the border patrol wanted everyone to stop, so I did snap a shot, complete with fencing, as they waved us through.

Just inside California a haze seemed to be growing in the near distance, and as we approached the haze, it was virtually blinding.  The fog (we finally decided) was so thick it was almost impossible to see the truck in front of us.  As we approached the town, the fog disappeared immediately until we were on the outskirts where it enclosed us again, just as suddenly as it had disappeared.  On the south side of the road was an orange grove that went for miles.  The oranges were even visible from our moving vehicle even though they were on the opposite side of the road from us.  That’s how big they are.  It was a gigantic area of fresh fruit.  I wonder if they allow people to pick their own?  As we neared Blythe, the mountains magically appeared bursting from the earth and the cacti vanished.  What a place of contrasts! 

We saw almost immediately that California is a fertile state.  Wal-Mart animal skins grown in abundance along the side of the road and black strips of a rubbery material with designs on them, were everywhere.  Sometimes they even produced completely round black bushes with concentric circular, horizontal designs.  Some  of these bushes even grew into the desert.  What prolific crops!

We had time to spend in the General George Patton museum on the very edge of the Joshua Tree National Park .  There is memorabilia from WWI to the Iraqi war going on today.  Tanks of all shapes and sizes, as well as medical wagons and fire engines are there, too.  It was a very moving place for me as I looked at the WWI exhibits , knowing my father was engaged in the” war to end all wars”.  That war wasn’t called WWI until WWII came along!  Daddy was in the medical corps and they had stretchers and some medical implements.  He often wondered if he killed more of our soldiers with used needles than the enemy killed with guns.  He said sometime he cringed having to give shots and could see the rust on the shafts as they were plunged into the arm.

The sky was cloudless by noon as we drove into Joshua Tree Park.  A plethora of vegetation greeted us everywhere we looked.  This is an arid area with the Sonora desert on the south side and the Mojave in the north.  Each desert has a totally different type of vegetation and wildlife.  It’s like being in two different worlds from one side of a mountain to another.  The mountains appear, in some areas, to be huge hairy sand dunes while others are boulders upon boulders; then again others are sheets of granite rocks aiming for the skies with jagged peaks  beyond belief.  We stopped at Cholla Cactus Garden to feast our eyes on a field of cactus that looks like antlers covered in bristly fur.  They were quite wonderful to see.  I am so glad we stopped at our National Forest and got an ” Old Lady Handicap Pass “ to all national parks and preserves.  We have been enjoying using the pass.

Arriving in Indio has given us another contrast in sites.  This is a verdant, fertile, flower filled area with immaculately clean streets, parks, roadways and lawns.  Any flower you can imagine is here and everything we see is perfectly beautiful.  There is no way Dan nor I could have imagined what polar sights we would see today.  What a glorious day this has been.  I think snow is just about the only possible type of weather extreme we have not seen.  We rode with windows open part of the time and the heat on at other times.  From one extreme to the next was today’s offerings, and they were all wonderful.

Blessings,

Trio Tripping Travelers

Wednesday Dec 14, 2011

Bright sunshine awakened us this morning and we had a leisurely time deciding what to do.  It’s hard for me to realize that this is the third day I’m telling you something about the Camel Corp!  Just a flicker in my mind, and a whole new experience has opened for us.  Kryn said Hi Jolly’s burial site was near here.  We had seen a brown sign telling us there was a museum on the main street in town.  Bless Dan’s heart.  After years of marriage he has learned that if his wife sees the word museum he may as well stop.  Both of us carry books or magazines in vehicles with us at all times.  Yeah!  Today is Wednesday and they are open.  Outside there was a large display of the miniature town of Tyson’s  Well (the name before quartz was discovered).  The gentleman who built the depiction of the town also had a model of his birthplace home in …Farmville, NC.  North Carolinians have left their mark all over this great country.  All the building are built using indigenous stones.  The museum is an old stage coach stop and post office from the early 1800’s.  Mining equipment, rail carts for the lode stones, and chains with ore buckets, gas lantern head gear, picks, shovels,  all kinds of tools were displayed. 

There was furniture made from the Saguaro  cactus ribs and a baptismal fount (made from the same material) was for the Episcopal church, the first church established in the area.  Then, of course, there was Hi Jolly.  We learned that he was Greek who had embraced the Islamic faith and came to the US to be the camel driver for the US.  There was a picture of his wife and him on their wedding day, a picture of him with a newspaper article about him, and a larger one of their son.   As we left the museum the docent told us how to get to his grave site.  It seems they found him dead in the desert beside his favorite camel, brought him to Quartzsite and buried him in the local cemetery.  His monument is a large pyramid with a camel on top.  We were also invited to attend the ceremony on Dec. 17^th as his grave site becomes a National Register landmark.   No more about Hi Jolly (until I can find the information I have on him that tells me his adopted Islamic name!)

From there we went to one of the hundreds of flea markets that pepper the town.    It was Dan’s time to go hunting and finding things he loves.  I had my Kindle with me and had a super time as I read and he went looking.     I’m not sure he saw everything he would like to have seen, but I think he had a good time.  Rocks and tools, petrified wood and kitchen implements, books and carpets,  leather goods and iron wheels, antique cars and tractors, gem stones and minerals of all kinds,  cloth and women’s clothing were there.  They even had cowboy boots and moccasins.  Flags from everywhere were for sale, too.  I could see all this just sitting in the car and looking up every now and then.

If the area is not a flea market, it is an RV Park.  One park right after the other is to the north, to the south,  to the east, to the west and we’re in the middle of them all.  We did see some wild life today, thought.  We were perusing one of the parks when Dan saw it and stopped the car so I could get a picture.  I silently rolled down the window, making no sudden movements.  I did not want to alarm my prey.  Carefully I raised the camera and took measured aim, hoping and praying I could get a picture before the wild  thing bounded away.  I was rewarded with my quietness and carefulness with two great pictures.  Success.  We have pictures of identifiable wild life.  A cottontail bunny rabbit!  Just call me a qualified safari , big game hunter.  If I could roar like Tarzan, I would have!  What a feat!

Arizona has land set aside for camping.  You are allowed to stay on some state lands for two weeks at a time.  That is as long as you may stay “dry” camping  in one area, but you may move 25 miles away and stay there for another 14 days.   Perhaps other states have this policy, too, but it was a new concept to us.  We found Greasewood bushes, Paloverde trees, Ironwood, and Eucalyptus today.  What an array of wonderful trees and bushes!  We have a phenomenal world to love and tend.

This is the most unique town we’ve seen.  We have been told that from January through March, we may as well bypass the town because there will not be a place for us to camp.  The local census as of 2010 was around 1500 permanent residents.  In January the population increases to over one million.  They come essentially to swap what they have for what they don’t have, trade in their camper for another one and to see what’s new in the field of camping..  It is the largest swap meet in the US and one of the largest RV camping display sites with people coming not only from our country, but an international event.  Perhaps we’ll drive through  on our way back just to see the added congestion!

Good-night to all and blessings, too!

Traumatized trailer troopers

December 13, 2011

December 13, 2011

Greetings to one and all from the Shady Lady RV Park in Quartzsite, Arizona. 

What a crazy mixed up day this has been.  The weather positively could not decide what to do.  It was off  and on clouds and rain and then there was a very short period of sun as were were leaving Apache Junction.  Phoenix is an interesting area.  Within its borders is Scottsdale, Tempe, and Mesa.  This is probably the cleanest area we’ve been in.  We did find something amazing today.  In Scottsdale there were houses with green grass.  In such a short period of time for us, it seems strange to see growing grass.  While the entire area is lovely, the traffic is very congested with six lanes headed west and no one wanting to be in the lane they are in.  Cutting, weaving, crossing several lanes at one time, seems to be the rule.  We got in the right hand lane and stayed there except when we were warned it was a turn only lane.  When that occurred, we eased to the lane immediately to the left and stayed there.   The sound barrier walls displayed angular designs which I really like.  I prefer angles to circles any day and the slopes of the roads were banked in light pebbles with geometric designs of darker stone imbedded in them.  The entire roadway had a very pleasing effect.      

Outside the city limits we were again surrounded by miles of rimmed barrenness.  I’m sure that is not true, but I have no idea what we are seeing.  The landscape is quite strange to us.  At one point I saw something.  It was either a big feline or a small canine.  I don’t know which.  Dan missed it and I just described it to him as I described it to you.  He was no help in identifying what I’d seen!  Can you imagine that?  And the rain came again.  Several of the mountains we see must be kin to Mount Olympus.  The tops are hidden in the clouds.  So far there has been no thunder or lightening in the mountains as we drive.  The rain is finally beginning  to  collect in places.  As we left Apache Junction, there were large puddles in the road and later we were seeing more puddles.  I was wrong about maybe seeing rivers today.  So far all we saw were patches of connected puddles along the side of the roads.  We noticed something else we had not seen until today.  We were doing 60 in a 75 zone and we could see man made berms across the landscape.  They occurred every time I counted from one one thousandth to five one thousandth.  Now, if you can do the math, you will be able to know how far apart these berms were.   I took Latin in college in place of math.  It was allowed to substitute that way when I was in school.  That’s a good thing or I’d still be there.

After these berms, the land was covered in black rocks among the different cacti.  Whether the rocks were coal (doubtful), obsidian (very doubtful), charred stones (possible), grey stones black from the rain (conceivable) of basalt (probably) I’m not sure, but they stood out against the sandy soil of the desert and the vegetation.

We pulled into the Shady Lady around 2 pm this afternoon.  In the park are bougainvillea, oleander, tamarisk, cottonwood and weeping something or other.  I’m not sure what.

We called Kath to tell her we plan to be at her house on Friday and called Kryn to tell him where we are.  He had a message for me.  Not having heard of the camels in the southwest before, he looked it up and found that there was a Camel Corp set up in the 1850’s and the fellow they hired to be the camel trainer had an unusual name for the Army fellows.  They could not pronounce his name and they Americanized his name by calling him , “Hi Jolly”.  All this information is in Wikipedia and even the fact that the ferial camel descendants were still roaming the deserts in the 1940’s.  It seems there’s a statue of a camel and “HI Jolly” here and we’re going to see if we can find it tomorrow.  Imagine that.  We just picked this place to stop and Kryn says the Camel trainer is here, too!

This is a most unique place.  From what we’ve been able to tell so far, it’s one RV park after the other.  We plan to stay here tomorrow and hope we have sun so we can do some sleuthing.  There are roadside sales, antique sales, flea markets, outlet stores, etc. everywhere.   Let’s see what we can find.

Type at ya later!

Blessings,

Travel Treasures Trustees

Monday December,12,2011

Heavy, heavy overcast skies above us, and as we hurried down the road, the mountains began playing Peek-A-Boo with us  through the veils of rain close to their faces.  The rain was still far enough away that we weren’t getting wet yet.    We have seen many plains, but there are no deer or antelope playing.  Where is that range where they play?  So far we must not have found it.  

As we drive along, I vaguely remember either reading or learning in a history class, that before the War of Northern Aggression, the U.S. government imported camels to be used in crossing the deserts of the southwest.  It was soon discovered that we also needed to import people who knew how to ride, train and tend camels cause we had no idea how to take care of them.  Whether there are remnants now, I do not know, but I think it’s a really neat piece of history.    Those camels wouldn’t need as much water as horses and mules and it was a practical idea, in theory.  Today the rains came.  Perhaps the dry river beds will hold some water tomorrow.

We did see the first sign saying, “Canyon” today.  Each was quite deep and at the bottom there are winding, dry river beds.  The topography is completely different again today.  There is a cactus that blooms with a white flower and reminds us of the sourwood we see along the roads in N.C.  I wish I could find someone who could tell me the different names of the various cacti we see and about their life cycles.  I guess I should do some research on the internet, but I probably won’t.

 The storm is coming from the northwest and an hour into the storm, some of the river beds are beginning to have a slick glaze on them giving the impression that the ground is more clay than soil.  Yesterday, and the day before, we saw lots of pecan groves.  Today there are cotton fields after cotton fields and huge bales waiting to be carried to the gins.

The brown sign says, “Casa Grande Ruins, a National Register site” and we veer to the right to follow the road.   We travel about 20 miles through more cotton fields and see our first Saguaro (sp?) cacti.  They essentially have one huge trunk and various numbers of arms…I suppose they’re branches.  The ruins are in the town of Coolidge, not the town of Casa Grande (Sorta like Beaufort isn’t in Beaufort County, I guess.)  Anyway, there was a well done museum of the Hohokam culture of the ancient Sonora Valley people of the Gila River area.  It was a fascinating culture beginning around 300 AD with pit houses.   Basically they dug a square pit in the ground and erected four mesquite poles and stuffed the spaces between the poles with twigs and grasses and covered them with mud that hardened in the baking sun.  The roof was an arc built of the same materials as the sides.  It was a sleeping room and all other activity occurred outside.   Later they built taller rectangular areas above ground with thicker walls and another opening other than the door.  What we saw was a four story house made of caliche, a calcium carbonate material that they found about three feet under the soil.  They knew it was there, because they had come into contact with it as they hand dug canals from the Gila river for over 16 miles and about 20 feet wide.  Each of these canals also had smaller canals running off the larger ones so that they could be used for irrigations of the three sister crops they grew.  Corn surrounded by beans (that would climb the corn), and then squash planted around the beans because the leaves would shelter the beans from the sweltering sun.  I would never have thought to do that on my own. 

We left there and headed toward Phoenix and our destination for this evening.  Apache Junction, just to the east of Phoenix.  On the outskirts of Phoenix we saw crape myrtle, roses, petunias,  geranium,  and lantana all in bloom, and orange and grapefruit  trees bending under their fruit.  They won’t be ripe until February.  Darn!!!

Years ago Kryn and Kath gave their father a bumper sticker that informed the entire world, “This car stops at all Big Lots”.   We found one today.  What we need now is a bumper sticker that announces, “This car has to stop at all Walmarts in order to survive”!

We made it to the campground and had just gotten inside the camper when just about every cloud we saw today dumped their loads of rain on top of us.  Bet we see water running in the ditches, at least, tomorrow.

Blessing,

Tromping trailer travelers

Sunday in Benson--December 11, 2011

I awakened to hear Dan asking on the phone, "And what time does your service start?"  "9:30?" "We'll try to be there." It was 9 o'clock.  I want you to know we made it, and with clothes on.  In fact, we were hurrying so much we missed the drive way to the church and turned in at the one next door.  Jehovah's Witnesses Assembly, but there was no pass through to the Methodist Church.  We still made it in time.  They had a guest minister today.  The mother of the assigned pastor.  She is third generation in her family to become a pastor and has been retired from the NC Conference for 6 years and lives in New Bern.  Can you imagine!  We heard Rev. Margaret Foote tell us about John the Baptist telling everyone that there was a light coming into the world and to prepare the way.  Then she told us that the "Light" told us WE are the Light of the world.  The congregation, once again, was very welcoming and friendly, but no free lunch.

We came back to the camper and checked on Junnie and did some things around here before making sandwiches for lunch and heading farther south  on Arizona 80.  I don't think anyone in Texas or Arizona owns a lawn mower.  There is no grass in yards.  Most yards are swept dirt and if there's anything growing, it cacti.  Barrel, yucca, aloe, century plants, short and tall, bushy and trim.  Every now and then there are things that look very much like a splayed bunch of stick covered completely with thorns.  I'll bet they hurt something fierce!  We continued down 80  and saw signs telling us to "Watch for Animals".  We've been doing that for 2,000 miles and so far we've only seen two roadrunners and one dead armadillo.  Where are the animals?  As Dan said, "The only animals we've seen so far are dead Walmart animal hides!"  They're everywhere, they're everywhere!

 We've also learned to take signs at their word.  We have crossed many places that have been called _______ River, but there's no water in any of them, in fact there are tracks of four-wheelers in the dust of the beds.  This part of the country has not seen rain for a while and what little water we have seen has been from melted snow.  We know Texas had a horrendous summer with all it's heat, evidently Arizona did, too.  at the end of this portion of our ride, we were in the town of Tombstone, just in time to witness a shoot-out.  The guys in the black hats were shot dead!  There were to stage coaches giving rides; we saw the OK Corral Wells Fargo Company office, Tombstone courthouse and the Gold Nugget Saloon, Tombstone Epitaph, lots of "respectable folk"and some "soiled doves", as well as some of the "soilers", I suspect.   On the way out of town we stopped at Boot Hill .  It was a fun time and Dan had a super time pushing me around.  I finally got him to let me push myself around except I had to get out of my transport chair in order to do that.

On our way back to town, we found some back roads and had a great time having our liver lights shaken out of us.  That's what my mother told me I was doing while she was trying to teach me how to drive a straight shift car.  Today is the 27th anniversary of her death.  In some ways it seems longer; in other ways, much shorter.

Around here they call dirt roads "primitive" roads and they definitely fit the adjective.  I would also add that they are corduroy roads as well, too.  Dan stopped  at one of the road side booths and bought me some local pistachios.  They are really good and one of my favorites.

We sat outside some this evening.   It was cooler than I liked, but we had lively conversations with some other campers.  Once again, we find people are friendly and helpful. 

I don't think I took as many pictures today.  It's a good thing they're digital or we'd be bankrupt~

Blessings of the season to you "lights"!
Trippin'Travelin' Trekkers

Saturday December 10, 2011

Saturday, December 10, 2011

We left the campground just outside Deming today.  This has been a restful area for us.  The views were spectacular and Judy and Maurice certainly know a lot about the area and about rocks.  Dan and Judy had a great time discussing the rocks all over the grounds.    Deming is about 30 miles north of Mexico.

As we were leaving the area heading back to I-10, we were traveling the back roads on the open range and had to stop for the cattle on the road.  Dan got a good picture of one that was on his side of the truck.  There is a different type of vegetation today from what we’ve seen so far.  It’s clumpy and green and bushy.  I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about from that description.  What else would you expect as you approach the continental divide? 

Again I am enthralled by the scenery and as we headed toward Arizona there appeared in the distance on the right, a magnificent mountain, purple-hued, and I could not help by think of “purple mountain majesty”.  I cannot describe the feeling it gave me.

When we saw a gas station in the distance we decided to head in and give Junnie his break (not to mention one for us).  It was all Dan could do to open his door the wind was so strong.  We had not felt it at all.  We’ve been asked several times if we had had trouble with the strong winds and we have not felt them in the truck and I hope we don’t.  Dan looks so cute chasing his hat across the parking lot.  He retrieved it before it was flattened by anything while I pumped gas at $2.97 a gallon.  That was much better than the $3.29 we paid last time.

Down the road, the outside hatch door popped open so we stopped at the first rest area we found and there were several other campers there.  We got to talking with a family from Ottawa.  They’ve been on the road for two months. They were a young couple with three children.  We got lots of good information from them about places to see and things to do.  You meet the nicest people on the road! 

Arizona   has no welcome center on I-10 and that bummed me out!  I like maps because I need to see where we’re headed and where we’ve been.  Besides, I might find some place we really need to see and if I don’t know it, we’ll miss it.  Seems logical, doesn’t it!  That’s OK.  We sometimes go on old I-10 and it is devastating to see the ghost towns that are a result of being bypassed by the new highway.   We saw three such towns today and it’s been that way through Texas, as well.  It must have been hard for the people in the towns to see their environment dry up, and for them to have to move elsewhere in order to make a living.  We did see one place right off the interstate that advertised, “fresh jerky”.   Dan whipped the truck so fast I had to hang on and tell Junnie it was not anything to be concerned about as I watch the trailer careen around the corner.  Seems to me we didn’t need fresh jerky, but I guess I was wrong.  While he went in to have a sample (ha), I watched dust devils curl across the parking lot, one right after the other.

What came next just left us in awe.  Up ahead there was a mountain that looked all craggy and sharp every which way.   As we drew nearer, we had trouble believing what we saw.  Mountains upon mountains of boulders piled on top of each other and precariously balanced…both sides of the road.  The only thought that ran through my mind, other than the fact that we have a phenomenal world in which to live, was ,  Ï sure hope we don’t have an earthquake while we’re among these stone monuments.”  “ We’ll not make it out, if we do.”  I remember being amazed by the Alps and the jutting slanted slabs of the rocks in the mountains there, but  this was even more exceptional, I thought.  What a wonder and marvel it was to see.  What beauty God has provided for our enjoyment!

I must also report that the lost has been found.  Several days ago Dan’s cell phone went missing.  Today it re-appeared, fully charged and turned off.  No wonder it wouldn’t ring when  Kryn , Kathryn, and I were calling it.  It’s time to turn mine off for a day or so!

Tomorrow is the third Sunday in Advent.  We’ve been told of a little Methodist church down the road a bit.  Hope their service is at 11 çause that’s probably when we’ll get there.  We just hope they are serving lunch after service.

Blessings,

D., F., & J.

Friday in Deming, NM

What a fantastically gorgeous day in New Mexico.  We had a leisurely morning of sitting and sipping coffee and discussing whether or not the traffic was one or five miles away.  That makes, no-never-you-mind.  What is impressive is the fact that we can see the interstate from our table in the camper, yet hear nothing.  Minuscule 18  wheelers roll by and even tinier (sp?)...I guess iddy biddy would be a better description... cars.  Our window is about five feet in length and we can see an entire train on the tracks from engine to caboose and there were so many cars I lost count.  Now where on earth could we see anything like that in Bft?  I never thought of us as living in a crowded town.  Next came a wonderful HOT shower in The Room, and after lunch we headed to town.  From the kitchen sink window you can see vague outlines of buildings on the horizon and that's the town.  It's about 10 or 12 miles from where we are camped.

New Mexico has seven inactive (I hope) volcanoes.  That's probably why the mountains seem as though they just jumped out of the ground.  Many of them look like piles of rock and I suspect they are, come to think of it.  I'm still marveling at the landscape that is so foreign to Dan and me. 

On the way to the Deming Luna Mimbres Museum in an old armory building in downtown Deming, Dan saw a road runner that was running down the road.  I asked what they called them before roads came to the area and he sagely said, "Birds".   Never mind what I thought.  The armory was built in 1914 and housed munitions and had an indoor rifle range which is now a doll room.  There are dolls of all shapes and sizes from all countries along with all the bells and whistle that go with dolls and toys for girls and boys.  There were soldiers from different periods, baseballs and bats, card games, books, paper dolls, doll houses, and tea sets.  I shan't tell you how many I recognized from my past.  What I will say is that having sisters older than I was an advantage in recognizing some of the things I saw and in have a daughter much younger than I.

There was china from everywhere, a full size chuck wagon complete with tin plates, cups and copper covered over-the-fire "cooking pots" and meat forks and knives for cutting slabs of beef; water pots and dishpans for washing and rinsing the dishes.  One of the rooms was dedicated to formal dining, another to pottery from many different Indian tribes along with woven baskets and bone needles, bracelets sliced on the bias from clam shells and rooms of beautiful dishes, each with a hole broken in the bottom.  These dishes were burried with the dead and the hole was broken in the bottom so that the spirit could escape.  There were arrow heads from teeny tiny ones to hand size quartz ones.  One was a lime green, translucent quartz and it was gorgeous.   Farther in the exhibit, were examples of yesteryear with old dentist chairs and equipment, a lawyers office, a kitchen store for the missus and a clothing store.  Don't let me forget to tell you about the beauty parlor with the huge dryer and electric curlers that I'm sure Frankenstein would have lusted after.  An REO automobile and an old fire equipment vehicle.  There was also a room with the most unusual collection I think I've ever seen.  It was full of liquor bottles.  Wild Turkey had eleven different bottles each a different wild turkey design.  Crown Royal had a foot high chess set and each player was a liquor bottle. There were politicians, Friars and missions, beautiful birds, Scottie dogs...black ones and white ones, Elvis, Marilyn, an Ohio state one with all the presidents from that state.  Another display had a donkey in Uncle Sam's hat and across from him wan an elephant in an Uncle Sam's hat, too.  Then they had miniature ones that could sit out in any home as a lovely nick knack.  Dan said at first he though some of them were bisque figurines.  They were most attractive to see, no matter the size or shape...even Cleopatra, et. al. were there.  I forgot the seven dwarfs and King Arthur along with Guinevere and Lancelot.  I wish I could dump what's in my head for each of you to see.

 There was a large display of geodes from all over the world in the museum, some granite slabs and a meteorite from Africa.  There was a display of sharks teeth from New Bern NC!  Wow.  Whadda ya know...in Deming NM, NC is displayed, too. .We left there and went to Rock Hound State Park and Dan went in search of rocks and geodes...one of his favorites.

On the way to the State Park, I saw a road runner and it was running along the side of the road.  (I must unthink what I didn't tell you I was thinking earlier...see above.)  Those "birds"are funny looking as they run along.  I expected to see Wilie Coyote at any moment.  While Dan went rock hunting, I finished Caravans.  I do enjoy Michner's books.  He, uh, Dan, that is, brought a bag of rocks back to the truck and by that time it was heading back time.  Junnie must have thought we'd gone off and left him.  I hope the moon was as lustrous for you as it has been for us tonight.

Blessings to each of you,
Three Traveling Troopers

December 8 in New Mexico

The day dawned bright and beautiful in El Paso, with one neighbor beating on something just as he was doing when we went to bed and the other neighbor being evicted.  Things are interesting all over everywhere.  We continued on I-10 along more straight roads.  After three days of bright sun, there's still snow in gullies and on the north side of taller structures.  Tall structures, much less tall trees, are hard to find, though.  What is most amazing about New Mexico so far?  There were several varieties of cacti at the welcome center.  Junnie and I sent Dan in to get maps, tour information, guides, camping guides and whatever else he could find while I tried to take some pictures of the cacti and wide vistas of mountains and desert areas.  How is it possible for land to be so flat, have little vegetation, scrubby bushes, dun colored dirt with occasional black cows grazing on the tufts of grass and be perfectly gorgeous.  The blue hazed mountains in the far distance and the closer granite ones with rivulets of snow still visible show a beauty I've never seen before.


We found a camping store along the road just as we were about to enter New Mexico.  It was fun going up and down the aisles seeing what is available and wishing we had places to put some of the things they had.  We did buy a converter to change electricity input from 50 to 30 amps.  We only have 30 amp and even though it seems, to us anyway, that if you provided 50 amps, surely you'd have thirty.  That's not so.  A few times of renting a converter at a campsite would cost more than the converter.  Now we're the proud owner of a converter and we'll be glad to show it to you at any time!


As you enter the state on I-10, the first town of any size you approach is Las Cruces and just outside the town is Old Mesilla.  I doubt seriously that the adjective was part of the original name.  Anyway, it's a lovely little town with Spanish influence.  Adobe is the building material of choice and they have a center square they were decorating with Christmas trees.  Around the square were silversmith shops, restaurants, the basilica, a tortilla factory, pottery shops and chili pepper processing places.  Dan insisted on wheeling me all over town, not letting me walk anywhere.  I suspect there was a motive to his actions.  If he pushed me, how could I go in stores and spend money?  He's cagey, but more than that, he's extremely thoughtful and takes excellent care of me.


We were intrigued by all the rv campgrounds in Deming, New Mexico.  If there are so many sites, there must be lots to see and do there.  We found a Passport America campground that read really interestingly in the directory.  It's an adult only park where you may hear a coyote yipping and open range cows lowing.  Great.  This is where we're going to stay!  As we get to the exit, I begin reading the instructions to Dan on how to get there.  Now this is a site he read to us last night and we thought we'd go there.  Directions are to be read as needed.  We turned off I-10 and drove to state road something and turned left to go over I-10.  At the first intersection, turn right and watch the mile markers.  When you get to mile marker 9 slow down and turn right onto another state road and go 2.5 miles on the gravel road.  Turn right at another place and follow the signs.....  Well, we got here, but both of us were beginning to wonder if perhaps we should have called first.  Judy and Maurice are really nice people and have helped us tremendously.  They even told us a short cut to get to Deming.  Thank goodness because we were at mile marker 19 when we started this venture.  They have a huge place called "The Room".  There you can watch TV, play cards, use the exercise equipment and they have heated showers!  YEAH!!!

Our supposition was correct.  There are lots of things to see and do here.  There's no telling what tomorrow will bring and that makes things all the more fun.


We hear our precious kitty in Beaufort is doing well as are the plants in our house.  We are blessed with amazing friends.  Thanks for being one of them!


Blessings.
Junnie and company

December 7,2011 El Paso, Texas

In my head I heard Marty Robbins singing for all he is worth!   We are in the west Texas town of El Paso.  It was not our destination, but we’re glad to be here. 

Today is D-Day and I want to thank everyone who has ever served in our armed forces in any capacity. Dan and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your service to our country and for our freedom.  You are our heroes.

We were greeted by a breath taking 22 degrees when we stepped outside the camper at nine this morning.  The sky was clear and Carolina Blue.  When we lived in Columbus,  Ohio, as I passed the church parking lot one day, I saw the sign … Ïf God’s not a Tar Heel, how come the sky is Carolina Blue?” and I thought, “Yeah, that’s right!”  Today would have been a good day to have that sign on the back of the camper.

Before leaving we went to the see the fort at Ft. Stockton.  It was a Buffalo Soldier fort.  If I knew, I had forgotten that the Indians had given the black soldiers the name, “Buffalo Soldiers”, because the dark curls on the heads of the soldiers reminded the Indians of the Buffalo.  There were many photographs of the fort, the soldiers, and the town in the 1880’s.   Rifles lined the walls and one of the barracks was open for inspection.  I will never complain about a hard bed again.  The mattress was thinner than the 4 boards it was laid upon.  Each bed had a locker at it’s foot  and a place to hang a uniform and a couple of hats on the wall at the bed’s head.  The sketches in the museum were of the soldiers and they were done by Frederick Remington.  You’ve probably seen them at some time or another.

In the town, we began seeing some signs of Spanish influence in the area in the architecture and the numerous  houses with red tile roofs.  Their streets were broad and had very little traffic. 

As we drove from there, it became apparent that whoever built the road seriously took J.B.’s instructions to, “ … make straight in the desert a highway.”    We drove straight out of Ft. Stockton for 41 miles, literally, before the road curved in a very slight arc and then headed to the horizon again, straight ahead.  We didn’t have to worry about falling off the flat earth, everywhere we looked we were surrounded by mountains.  So, the flat earth is secure because  it is hemmed in by a rim of mountains  all the way around,  keeping everyone from falling off… or so it seems.    The mountains slowly appear  on the horizon and after an hour or so they are really coming closer and then after more time, there they are.  Mammoth, sharp structures erupting from the flat areas  of the earth with no introduction at all.  We’re used to the Appalachians being approached by the piedmont area.  No such thing here.  The mesas and other mountains look as though they just sprang up from the earth in various materials and colors from sandstone, to limestone to huge iron colored bedrock, and areas of talc that is being mined.  We saw no oil rigs today.  It’s as though they do not exist.  It seems the bleached blond tufts of grass have taken the place of the oil wells and are everywhere among the mesquite, yucca, pear pads and tumbleweed bushes along the road’s edges.  At one point we were warned not to pick up any hitchhikers.  It seems we were in a prison area.  We greatly appreciated the advice and heeded it!  Besides, there is no room for anyone (or much of anything else) in the truck cab.

I must tell you that Dan is really upset.  He is truly disappointed that we have not been driving on roads paved with squished armadillos and flattened birds.  Other than the one armadillo on the side of the road looking up at the sky, we haven’t seen another armadillo dead or alive.  We’d been led to believe they were everywhere along with the roadrunners.  Today we only saw two birds.  It is really unusual, we think, that we have seen  wildlife.  There are cattle, horses, sheep and goats, but nothing else so far. Ah, tomorrow is another day.

 A thought that ran through my mind while I was looking at a side saddle in the Ft. Stockton museum.    I wonder if the women , having to ride side saddle with their left foot in a stirrup and the right leg dangling over a pummel , ever suffered from their right leg  falling asleep?   Chew on that for a while and if you know, let us know!

Blessings,

Texas Trooping Travelers

Tuesday December 6, 2011

So much for Texas being hot!  We awakened to freezing temps again and overcast skies.  There’s a lot to do to get underway when you’re camping.   Whatever you took out of cabinets or drawers must be returned to a safe place.  Jostling down the road can really lead to lots of problems.  The coffee pot needs to be emptied…onto our cups …then placed in the sink so it doesn’t fall and break.  The toaster oven has to be put under the bed in it’s storage place or bungeed to itself so that it doesn’t  open.  If we watched TV, we need to remember to lower the antenna, unplug the TV and make sure it is secured.  All the doors are bungeed even though they have catch latches because if something shifts, they may open and there will be the contents all over the floor.  Be sure the toilet has no water and the trap is open; Junnie’s water bowl needs to be emptied and all these things need to be done inside.   Outside, Dan needs to lower the jacks ; unhook us from water and sewer; check to be sure the lights are connected to the truck and working; coil all the hoses and stow in the outside carriers and lock the outside hatch.  Be sure the trailer is attached to the truck and the brakes are, too!  Now it’s about time to leave.  All the prep work takes about an hour and no matter how much we try, we don’t seem to be able to cut the time any.

Driving down the road a patch of blue began appearing in the north and pretty soon it was gobbling up the grey skies to reveal a glorious day!  We have decided to go farther south since the weather promises to stay cold.  Last night I went to wash my hands and we had no water which sent Dan outside to disconnect the water hose and blow it out.  We thought this morning to add some windshield washer antifreeze to the black water and the grey water,  except the back of the truck was frozen shut and we couldn’t get the gate open.  We checked the fluid levels and they were only about 1/3 full each, so we knew they had room to expand.   But the frozen conditions added even more time to our preparation to leave.

Junnie continues to complain the first hour of the trip until we let him come back into the trailer to make sure we have all his things with us and then he calms down.  We’re not quite sure what all this means, but we are getting better at being trained by him!

We stopped to visit a meteorite crater today outside Odessa as we were  on the way to Ft Stockton.  We had the opportunity to see lots of meteorite fragments and the affects meteorites have on the surrounding areas.  The first hole (the second largest meteorite hole in the US) had no fragments of the meteor.    It was a concussion hole caused by the explosion of the meteor above the earth.  It was so immense that it blew a hole 550 feet in diameter and 100 feet deep.  The second hole was about 75 feet in diameter and 18 feet deep.  The second hole  is an actual meteorite hole.  The first one is called an explosion hole and the second one is an impact crater.

  I don’t think there’s an interstate more south  than the one we traveled  this afternoon,  unless we decide to go into Mexico,  and we did not bring our pass ports this trip.  To go south from I-20 to I-10, we took a road labeled F.M. 1053 (or something like that) for 60 miles and could not believe the humongous amount of open space.  To us, it looked as though nothing was there except scrubby mesquite bushes topped with snow, looking like yummy cotton candy bushes, and oil rigs that reminded me of giant preying mantises.  They were everywhere.  Some working and some just sitting there.  Those just sitting there looked as though they were waiting for a morsel of food to come by so they too could bow their heads and take a bite before coming up to chew.  Far, far away we could see the beginnings of the Pecos mountain range with their flat tops, rocky sides and goats  feasting on the scrub grasses growing between the rocks.  But the most amazing sight we saw today was miles and miles of sand dunes in the  absolute middle of nowhere under a perfectly beautiful blue sky.  Today was, once again, amazing!

You can tell we’re in oil country.  Everywhere you look today there are oil wells, cracking plants and storage facilities and some of the highest prices we’ve seen on gas so far on this trip.  Is this considered an oxymoron?

We are safe and sound, warm, comfortable and dry with a little kitty who is curled up on the foot of the bed.  He is now sleeping with us…   Must be cold outside if a furry kitty wants to be in a warm, cozy bed!

Blessings,

Texas Transit Trio

Sitting Tight in Texas

At least three inches of snow greeted us this morning when we awakened.  After checking the Internet weather and the TV (we are so glad we finally decided to install one) we decided it would be a good day to write out Christmas cards.  I think we've gotten most of the cards written... well, the ones for whom I have addresses, that is.

It is gorgeous outside.  I have peeped out, but at 30 some degrees, I'm not about to go outside and check farther.  Icicles on the handrail outside the door are more than enough to discourage me.  Some high school student being interviewed on the news station just said, "Snow in Midland!  It's really cool!" The news commentator said it will probably be a long time before they have another snow day at school, but with the crazy weather we've been having all over the country during the last few months, I'm not putting money on his statement!

That's it for today.  Go ahead and say , "Whew!" "She can be brief!!!"

Blessings to each of you,
Trapped Trailer Travelers

We're in Big Spring, Sunday, December 4

Up and out by 9 A.M.  Some of you are having a hard time believing that!

We left early so we could be down the road some before we began looking for a church.  We came to the little town of Baird, TX about 10:30 central time and began looking for a Methodist Church.  We saw a Presbyterian one and the top of another.  Churches often cluster together in towns, so we drove over to the "top"church and it was First Baptist.  There was a couple going in, so we stopped and I rolled down the window and said, Ï want to ask you a question you may not like." The lady told me to go ahead and when I asked where the Methodist Church was, she said we were a long way from it.  Her husband did come over and give us directions, telling us it was just beyond the Dairy Queen.  As I thanked them, she told me the cemetery was also there and all four of us got to laughing!

Both were correct.  The church was just beyond the DQ and the cemetery is just across the street.  Going to church toting a trailer presents potential problems.  Where does one park.  A gentleman came up beside us as we sere creeping along the parking lot and told us there was one in the back.  Junnie was thrilled we had stopped and we put him in the trailer.  I  wasn't sure the church was ready for a kitty to attend ... especially when no one knew any of the three of us.

We walked in the back door and almost literally ran into the preacher.  I'm not sure who surprised whom the most.   He graciously told us where to go and we felt it was our duty to check out their facilities to make sure they were working properly.

It was good to be in church.  The minister spoke on John the Baptizer telling people that God was going to do something fantastic that had never been done before and he was going to do it for them.  After we had communion, we were invited by several people to join them in their monthly first Sunday covered dish.  We accepted with pleasure.  While we were on the road Dan had said it would really be great if we could find a church that was serving lunch and I told him I had had the same thought.  No matter where you go, Methodist are super cooks!  The meal was delicious and we were invited to stop by on our way back home and to be sure it was another first Sunday and we could have lunch with them again.

After lunch we headed on down I-20.  We traveled a little over 100 miles today.  That's about what we do in a day, give or take 20 miles.  Our Walmart card is almost out of money.  Yesterday in Ft. Worth we paid $2.99 a gallon and to day the price was $2.98.  Without the card, the gas is advertised as anywhere between $3.06 and $3.29.  The price was about the same in Arkansas.

We left early so we could be down the road some before we began looking for a church.  We came to the little town of Baird, TX about 10:30 central time and began looking for a Methodist Church.  We saw a Presbyterian one and the top of another.  Churches often cluster together in towns, so we drove over to the "top"church and it was First Baptist.  There was a couple going in, so we stopped and I rolled down the window and said, Ï want to ask you a question you may not like." The lady told me to go ahead and when I asked where the Methodist Church was, she said we were a long way from it.  Her husband did come over and give us directions, telling us it was just beyond the Dairy Queen.  As I thanked them, she told me the cemetary was also there and all four of us got to laughing!


Both were correct.  The church was just beyone the DQ and the cemetary is just across the street.  Going to church toting (spell check is NOT working) a trailer presents potential problems.  Where does one park.  A gentlman came up beside us as we sere creeping along the parking lot and told us there was one in the back.  Junnie was thrilled we had stopped and we put him in the trailer.  I  wasn't sure the church was ready for a kitty to attend ... especially when no one knew any of the three of us.


We walked in the back door and almost literally ran into the preacher.  I'm not sure who surprised whom the most.   He graciously told us where to go and we felt it was our duty to check out their facilities to make sure they were working properly.


It was good to be in church.  The minister spoke on John the Baptizer telling peole that God was going to do something fantastic that had never been done before and he was going to do it for them.  After we had communion, we were invited by several people to join them in their monthly first Sunday covered dish.  We accepted with pleasure.  While we were on the road Dan had said it would really be great if we could find a church that was serving lunch and I told him I had had the same thought.  No matter where you go, Methodist are super cooks!  The meal was delicious and we were invited to stop by on our way back home and to be sure it was another first Sunday and we could have lunch with them again.  Ain't God good?  He  even had lunch prepared for us as we drove down the road!

After lunch we headed on down I-20.  We traveled a little over 200 miles today.  That's about what we do in a day or maybe 30 miles more.  Our Walmart card is almost out of money.  In Ft. Worth we paid $2.99 a gallon and to day the price was $2.98.  Without the card, the gas is advertised as anywhere between $3.06 and $3.29.  The price was about the same in Arkansas.

As we drove farther west we saw miles and miles and miles of turbine wind mills on the very edge of the earth where it meets the sky. We have no idea how long we drove seeing them a good ways off in the distance, and finally we found ourselves in a huge field of windmills turning in the wind.  We never heard a sound from them.  We never heard a sound from the windmills in Greece, either.  Where the windmills weren't mesquite vied with pear pad cacti for every inch of ground.  In one of these areas I saw a black "medium" horn cow.  Is there such a thing?  Anyway, the cow did not have the long horns we see in books, nor did he have the short horns we are used to seeing on our cows in the east.  A magpie also lit on the grass on my side of the road.  I cannor remember how long it has been since I have seen one.  I had forgotten they are larger than a crow and have a double band of white stripes on each wing.

The minister today went to Duke and he attended Orange UMC in Chapel Hill while he was there.  It was interesting to hear his description of NC.  He said we have towns, shopping malls and forests.  He always had to look up to see the sky.   Today Dan and I recognized why so many people used to think the world was flat.  Out here, today, the majority of what we saw was sky.  It is huge and lends itself beautifully to the idea that the world is flat.  Today's leaves are a brilliant red and lime green!  What a fantastic fall we are having.

I know I'm typing long blogs, but we are so excited by what we are seeing, the people we are meeting and the grandure of this country. We  just want to share our joy with you!

Blessings,
Triple Traveling Trekkers
 

Today is Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011

After lots of talking and wawtching the news, we decided to stay put today.  The weather that's coming in is not to our advantage, but this Coffee Creek RV Park in Santo, TX is a really nice campground with friendly, helpful people.  We have been most fortunate in the campgrounds we have visited, but I suppose I have a special place in my heart for this one. They have several huge, tiled, WARM bathrooms with showers I am able to use.  It's the first one we've seen that we can "cuss a cat" in.  Not that we need to cuss a cat!  I'll bet the bathroom isn't much smaller than our entire mobile house.   The particular one we used also had a laundry and we have all clean clothes and everything.

The sky today has exhibited a large array of black clouds varying in intensity and ability to drop massive amounts of rain wherever we might want to go.  In fact, we had a shower on the way to having a shower, but the rains abated while we made our way back to the trailer, for which we gave thanks!

We managed to order Christmas presents this afternoon and have most everything ready except for wrapping.  That we'll do at Kath's.  Calvin is planning on calling us tomorrow.  He has an assignment to do a family tree and needs help from both grandma and granpa.  Hopefully we'll have the information he needs in our brains.

We have had some emails making suggestions to us about our blog, so this afternoon the "technical"one worked on setting perameters so that people who want to post a comment can, and maybe we can figure out how to see the comments.  Remember:  machines HATE me.  The "logical"one (uh...the one who types this blog) read on her Kindle.  I'm reading "Caravans" by Michner.  It's a fascinating book about Afghanistan after the Second World War and the insights and friendshipe of a young American attache with several Afghan and German people and their perceptions of life, not only there, but in our country as well.  It has given me a different view of life in Afghanistan and the mud complex where Bin Laden was.  The only thing I cannot find out (while reading on Kindle) is the copywrite date...remember:  machines hate me!

One of the things that concerned us the most in planning this trip was how to exercise Junnie.  He's only a little over one year and usually tears through our house at least once a day.  With the hardwood floors, it may take him several tries before he is able to get up enough traction to go flying forward and putting on brakes takes him skidding to walls, chairs, tables or whatever is in his way.  We have found a wonderful use for flies.  Junnie has chased, jumped, twisted, chirped frantically, lashed his tail, batted at and run all over the camper, getting lots of exercise.  When he catches his prey, he gets extra protein while cleaning up from his catch!   I shall have to think long and hard in the future to wonder why God chose to send so many flies into out world.  I know they do lots of good things for us, but they can be a pain, too.  Now, I wonder of what use is the mosquito?

Blessings,
Chillin' Trio Trekkers

December 2, somewhere in Texas

Friday, December 2, 2011

The day began as mild and slightly overcast with an occasional patch of blue, and proceeded to go downhill from that point on as we left Mt. Pleasant, Texas to go farther west.  By the time we had gone through Dallas and were approaching  Ft. Worth, we were almost completely socked in by fog.  It was really eerie to be in the middle of the Dallas/Ft. Worth area with their huge buildings and not be able to see any structures and those we were able to view had no tops!  That’s how low the visibility was by the time we’d gone a little over one hundred miles.  But what a view we were accorded during that time.  Everywhere we looked on both sides of the highway were gently rolling, grassy fields with cows grazing; huge tracts of land protecting beautiful horses and huge mansions hemmed in by fences having ornate gates with signs proudly announcing which ranch we were passing.  The openness of the land reminded us of Australia’s vast  fields with their “wool  bushes”.  No sheep here, today, that we saw but we did see an armadillo lying on it’s back with the four feet in the air and staring blankly at the misty sky above.  The long-horn cow Dan saw was really big, according to him.  I’ll have to take his word.  I was too busy looking at all the muted fall colors.  It’s almost winter and the hardwood trees in this area still are clothed in leaves of various shades of rust, olive green, deep maroon, with an occasional  burst of yellows from willow trees.  The dark green of the cedars were almost black until you saw them close up and could see their splashes of grey-blue berries.  After we passed Ft. Worth on our way to our campground for the night, we were surprised to see cacti growing on the banks of the road under the shade of the cedar trees.  There were also straight live oak trees.  We are so used to seeing wind-swept ones we forget not all live oaks lean to the north!  If we have seen Mesquite before, it was when Kryn was thirteen months old and we camped from Columbus, Ohio to Richardson, Texas to see one of our professors from Indiana University.  He was also Dan’s best man at our wedding.

We did ask as to why there are so many brown cedar trees mixed in with those lining the roads and were told they were dead from the drought of this past summer.  Lakes and rivers we crossed were low and docks jutted out into dry land.

Since my right shoulder and my left hip are becoming more and more  sore each day, we decided to get a mattress topper for our bed.  I had hoped I’d get used to feeling every joint in my body with no problem, but that was not the case.  You should have seen the two of us trying to make the bed in a fully loaded trailer with a cat chirping and running around chasing another fly that had gotten in today.  On second thought, maybe not!

Dan was thrilled.  He found a Cici’s Pizza for lunch.  We had salad for supper.

December 1, Mt. Pleasant, TX

Somewhere in NC there's a place that must be missing some ants.  I'm not sure whether they're capital ants or mountain ones, but they are enjoying the travels too, unless I find them before they see me...


This a.m. started off with temps at 31 degrees and the sky had  very few wispy thin clouds stretched across the beautiful blue.   As we went down the road the temperature rose rapidly in the cab, but there was a chilly wind outside.

We really enjoyed our time in Arkansas, but it will be a few years before they are awarded the "Good Road" medal.  It was quite a surprise to us, as we drove down the roads, to see acres and acres of solar panels.  That was something we had not expected to see.  After asking around, someone said they thought that Maybelline was doing something about trying to become more of a green company and trying to use solar power, but they weren't sure.

I-30 took us by the town of Hope, President Clinton's birth place and we just drove into town to ride past the house and got a good chuckle as we passed a laundry mat named Hog Wash.  I thought that was a good pun on the Razorbacks of Arkansas.  Yesterday at the Clinton Library they had a really interesting and fascinating exhibit of Lego art.  As you walked in the door there was a life-size razorback hog in Lego red and the entire Clinton complex along the Arkansas River.  After passing that part of the exhibit there were life size people in red, green yellow, orange and white bricks.  One in particular was entitled "X-Ray".  The person was there except for the hole in the chest in which hung a heart.  Another that I really liked was a four foot head minus a skull and out of the open crown there were small machines, books, people, spilling out and strange things that I could not identify.  "Ideas" was it's name.   The artist had also done a big buck!  There was a three foot one hundred dollar bill complete with a portrait of Franklin; self-portrait of the artist; a grey man kneeling and looking at the ground.  He was missing his hands that were in piles below the ends of his arms.  I suppose the piece most people will remember the longest is the one of a giant pop-up storybook.  Coming up from the pages was an almost five foot castle complete with towers and turrets and a sail boat on the moat.  The artist had written a poem and it was on the pages of the story book as well as the wall.  It seems the prince lived in the castle with the cleaning lady and the girl who was in love with him sailed around the moat endlessly because she was afraid to leave the boat.  After years of asking her to take the risk to jump, promising to catch her,and she not doing it, the prince finally jumped into the boat with her.  Now neither could return to the castle and the cleaning lady was the lady of the house.  Moral:  If you never take a chance, you may never go anywhere. 

Junnie is training us.  We are learning that if he rolls on his back and gives a persistent mew it means, "You want me to use the litter box---NOW!" At lest he has calmed down three times in a row after we put him in the bathroom of the trailer for a few minutes about an hour into our daily travels.  He has also decided he is a Lemming.  He sits on his haunches and has a wonderful time looking, sniffing, ear twitching and chirping ... especially at the fly that beat me coming inside tonight.

Well, that's it for today.  The weather does not look too promising for Saturday and we want to get beyond Dallas-Fort Worth.  I know there are lots of things to see there, but there's also lots of traffic and with pulling a trailer, I'm a chicken.  I suppose I should re-read what I wrote about the moral of the storybook Lego piece.....

Type at ya later and blessings,
Two brave and one timid traveler

The last day of November, 2011

My bad habits must be infecting Dan!  He didn't wake up much before I did and I am a night person.  We decided to stay around camp, have an early lunch and go the the Clinton Presidential Library.  It is the first one I have seen and I hope all others are as well done as it is.  The building is quite impressive; on the banks of the Arkansas River... (across from our camp site) and because of the work they have done and the green techniques they have used, they have a platinum Leeds award.  We were able to see an accurate replica of the cabinet office, the oval office, and many of the gifts and much of the memorabilia given to them while he was in office.  There are areas that display the work that was done during his years as governor of Arkansas and his two terms as Presidentt.  His failures as well as his successes where displayed and open for all the world to see.  He looked just like like any other chubby, bare-butt baby lying on his tummy, in the first picture we saw of him!  The authors he loved to read the the friendship he had with  Mandela were things that had dimmed in my mind.  The film of his life and private times and memories of his childhood as well as the public Clinton were interesting to see.  It's so easy to forget some of the things that were so important at other times of our lives.  >>>Point of interest ... It was cool and Dan dropped me off at the entrance and I sat outside and watched the school children as they left the Library.  Even before they came out I had noticed a fairly young man with an elderly couple just standing near the pool of water that was near the entrance.  We were paying no attention to each other.  As I was sitting there on my walker, someone drove up to the area and I heard the younger man say as he walked the couple to the car, "Don't overlook the good in all people just because you are afraidd."  I hope I can remember that advice.  Both Dan and I really enjoyed our time at the Library.

As we left we asked if anyone could tell us where Heifer International building was.  We knew it was founded in Little Rock and she took us to the door and pointed across the parking lot to where they are located.  How's that for choosing to see things so close together and not even knowing what you're doing!

Heifer International is also an interesting structure as is the Library.  Both use recycled materials, bamboo flooring, natural lighting as much as possible and local materials.  Both buildings are impressive in style and in the percentage of re-purposed elements.  The Heifer is also a Platinum Leeds award building.  The building is only sixty feet wide and runs from east to west in an arc shape so that they can use the sun's energy to light and heat the building.  The south side has a large overhang on each floor.  The sun in the summer is at a higher altitude and hits the overhang and is reflected back into the air, while the lower winter angle is able to enter the windows to help heat the rooms of the 6 floor building that is decorated in artifacts from all over the world.  Rain water is collected and used to flush toilets, water the grounds during droughts and replenish the moat that surrounds the complex.  Local flora is evident outside with easily grown plants of the area.  Both the Library and H.I. areas have been built on reclaimed lands.

Kryn called last night and suggested we change our plans to continue on I-40.  He had carefully checked all weather conditions and feels we need to head farther south.  It seems Oklahoma City and other areas on this route may have more snow than we have already met.  We will take his advice.  It's wonderful to have him checking on things for us.  We appreciate his care and love more than he will ever know, but please, don't tell him we said so!

Tomorrow is December 1st.  Don't forget to say, "Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit!" first thing in the morning....

Blessings to all,
Triple Trailer Travelers