Jan 23,2012

Monday, January 23, 2012

Around 10:30 this morning, we left Goldsboro and headed east.  I’d never really seen the Black Angus  in eastern N.C., or the emerald green fields behind the fringe of long-leaf pines that line the straight stretch between Kinston and New Bern.  There are rows and rows of newly planted pine trees behind the fringe.   Planted at different years, these pine groves are in various heights.  Collard patches beside homes, and camellias ready to burst open, are in the yards of the homes along the road. 

Conversations contained questions.  “Do you remember that?” “What was on that piece of property?”  “Something has changed, but I can’t remember what was there, do you?”   “That’s got to be new!”  “When was that built?”  It is amazing what we do not see when things are so familiar.   I once asked my mother where she used to hide Christmas presents and she told me they were always in sight.  We grow older and we no longer see the “new” that is in front of us.  At least that is what has happened to me.

It is wonderful to be home.  We have had a fantastic time traveling.  I have seen things I never thought I would ever see and gone places I have only read about.  What a privilege, gift, and blessing we have been allowed, and you have been a huge part of our blessing.  Thank you for your interest, your emails, the phone calls, your comments and questions.  All of these things encouraged me to be accountable to you, and to ourselves.  A trip of this duration has all run together in our heads.  We keep questioning each other about what we saw where and when.  Because of you and our doing this blog, we’ll be able to answer our own questions and piece together the blogs and the gazillions pictures we took.

Thank you for caring and for your love.  We could feel them all and knew we were engulfed by your prayers.   We are most indebted to you, and thankful.

Continued blessings always,

Dan, Fran, and Junior

Jan 22, 2012

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Today was a perfect day for driving.  Overcast skies are so much easier on the eyes!   We wound our way around the campground at Mocksville.  It is a huge place with lots of summer cottages of underpinned travel trailers.  Many of them had a golf cart stored on the porch that had been attached to the trailer or under a tarp in the garage built into the hillside under the home.  Several of the set-ups led us to wonder how they will ever be moved they are so tucked into the spaces.  Trees are everywhere and the roads curve and twist to miss the trees.  There is a large soccer field, horseshoe area, an Olympic size pool beside a wading pool and a conference center that could easily seat 500 persons.  Two fishing ponds are near the entrance with canoe docks, and vacation cottages around the shore.  There are two water baggans.  I had never heard of water slides being called that before.  I’ll bet this is a busy place during the warm months.  I’m sure other campers were there last night, but not many of us.  The four white geese came to see us again as we prepared to leave.  Junnie couldn’t decide whether to watch the geese on the ground or the squirrels in the trees.

We arrived back at Bermuda Commons around 10:30 to see Neva.  It does my heart good to see how well she is doing.   

She’s had a rough time of it, though.  The physical therapist and an occupational therapist work with her daily during the week.  Her husband, Gene, was there, too.  We were glad to see him.  It is close to  impossible to get down their driveway while towing anything.  They live on a very busy divided highway and access to their home is down a steep, curving driveway.  It’s sometimes nerve wracking trying to turn into their driveway with just an ordinary car.  You turn your blinker on at the top of the hill hoping everyone one will see you by the time you reach the bottom of the hill and have to make a sharp right!  And to think, when they bought their house it was on a dead end street, which now leads to Wake Forest University.  Talk about change…..

We spent a thankful hour with Neva and Gene before we left the Commons and began making our way across this gorgeous state.  Sometimes it is too easy to take what we have for granted.  Our grass is just as green as the grass in other states!  There was a huge flock of Canada Geese by the side of the road, so I suppose you could say that the largest number of wild life we saw on the trip was this group of grass grazing geese along the highway of North Carolina.  There’s just no place like home!

Kryn flew to Atlanta today for the CDC and we didn’t get to see him, but we did stop by his home to deliver Christmas present packages too large for his suitcase for the plane from California.  Of course our key to his house is at our house, but we managed to put things where he said we could, so he can find them when he gets home and then we went in search of a Trader Joe’s.  We had gotten a really good chicken lasagna just right for two people at the one in Arizona.  It was so good we made sure we had room in the fridge to get a couple.  If only this Trader Joe’s had had them!   We did find some tamales which Dan and I both love and a few other things for the fridge.  Nature is not the only thing that abhors a vacuum.  Check out our pantry.  Did I really say that?

Being a person who is confused by the literal meaning of things, this thought occurred to me today.  Do birds become as disoriented as humans sometimes do on an overcast day?  We know we’re headed east and we’re pretty familiar with the roads, but there are hawks sitting in the trees.  We have seen them the past three days which have been overcast, misty, or drizzly.  We rarely, if ever saw a hawk sitting in a tree on a sunny day.  For me it’s a, “ hummmmmer”!  What about other animals?  No one has told me yet their thoughts about tag less clothes.

We arrived in Goldsboro and set up early enough to have time to spend talking with Nancy and Charles before we went out to dinner.  It’s been a fun day.  We compared notes with Neva and Gene about their trip out west in the late 70’s and tonight we did the same with Nancy and Charles about their camping adventures.  We swapped stories all day long with family and friends and we’ll be telling others about what a great time we have had.  Tomorrow we should arrive at home.  I’m looking forward to being there, but I am also sad this wonderful experience is closing quickly.  We’re not there yet, so there will be at least one more blog!

Blessings,

Three Tearing Travelers

jan 21,2012

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Drizzle, drizzle, fires will fizzle…I don’t think Shakespeare has anything to worry about from this corner of the globe.  The drizzly, misty, foggy day found us moving up on US 221 and then US 64 to I-40 in western NC.  As we passed Rutherfordton, I yelled hello to the Best family there.  Please tell Mary Lou and Merle we couldn’t pass that way without sending greetings to their son and his family.  I doubt they heard me, though.  Try saying Rutherfordton quickly three times.

What a beautiful drive through the woods on those windy country roads.  Oaks and dogwood trees are covered in leaves which leaves me very confused.  That old wife’s (or is it wives)tale of leaves left on trees means a cold winter, is either wrong this time, or there’s going to be one “mell of a hess” before March 21!  Views of the tree covered mountains would come and go as the clouds thinned and the mists lessened and then crowded back in to protect the privacy of the landscape.  Pasture lands sported sheep, cattle, and horses.  Smoke curled lazily from stone chimneys providing peaceful pastoral places.  Junnie wanted to stop and relax a bit in the trailer so we pulled into a church parking lot and shared a tangerine.  We are so kitty-cat trained!

The rains really descended as we drove up the ramp to I-40 and headed to Winston-Salem.  My sister is at Bermuda Commons Convalescent and Rehabilitation Center.  We found a campground at Tanglewood about two miles east from where she is, so we called her husband and told him we’d be camping there and going to see Neva.  It was good to see her.  She still has a long way to go, but she is doing so much better than she was.  She has no recollection of having been in the hospital.  We stayed and visited with her for a couple of hours.  When the rain slacked, we decided to take advantage and set up camp.  We didn’t want to tire her too much.

We arrived at Tanglewood campground about 5 minutes after leaving Neva and were told they’d be glad to have us return around March 1.  Until then, they are closed.  Mocksville is only about twenty-five miles west of W-S, so off we went heading west.  We are definitely here and set up for the night.  Four geese do not make a gaggle, I don’t think, but they came to watch Dan set up while I kept Junnie sane inside the truck.  The ground is not level and we’re doing a great job of listing to starboard.  I hope Dan doesn’t roll out of bed during the night.  I’ll never be able to pull him back in and as narrow as the aisle is, he would probably get stuck.  Horrors!

Tomorrow’s church service will be spending time visiting my sister.  Thank you for your prayers.  Please continue to pray.  Later in the day we will head closer home.  Nancy and Charles in Goldsboro have a perfect place for us to camp for the evening tomorrow night.  No matter how hard we tried, we just couldn’t work it out to go to St. Paul tomorrow.  One day soon, perhaps, we’ll be able to visit with other friends in Goldsboro.  We loved living there and miss our wonderful friends there and at home.

Blessings,

Three Tranquil Travelers

jan 20, 2012

January 20, 2012

Grey, overcast skies greeted us this morning as we prepared to leave Stone Mountain in Georgia.  We listened to the Canada geese honk into the night, but there were no other sounds.  What a view of Stone Mountain lake.  The setting of our camp site was lovely and we could have stayed there for another day or two.   But…we can smell home!  We returned to the carving in the mountain to see the half-hour movie about Georgia’s part in the War Between the States and then there was a short movie about the creation of the carvings on the mountain.  The fellow who began the sculpture was stopped by the advent of the first world war and after a huge fight with “money” people, he went on to do the sculptures at Mt. Rushmore and others worked on the project.  Interruption after interruption caused the carving not to be completed until the 1960’s.  It is magnificent.  You can easily pick out Jefferson Davis, R.E.L. and Stonewall Jackson.   The master carver did a wonderful job of carefully representing the likenesses of each of these persons.

After the movies we moved upstairs to the museum which outlines the history of Georgia and Stone Mountain from prehistoric humans to the completion of Stone Mountain in the 20^th century.

After we left there we headed north on I-85 and we are camped for the evening at Forest City in North Carolina. It is good to be back in our home state.

The rain is coming down in the quiet area where we are.  Cold weather may not be the most conducive time to camp, weather-wise, but for finding places to camp it is GREAT!  We have only found one place that we could not stop because they were full, but there was another campground directly across the street.  Oh yes, it’s the campground in Quartzsite I said was Shady Lady.  I discovered the name was really Shady Lane, but I liked the name I gave it better, so I didn’t tell you about that mistake!  I don’t want you to know how often I am mistaken.  It spoils my persona for the public.  Do NOT talk to Dan!!!

We will communicate tomorrow!

Blessings!

Triple Traveling Troopers

jan 19, 2012

January 19, 2012

Is today Robert E. Lee’s birthday?  Lots of things happened in January!

The road was an avenue of pines as we left Montgomery on our way to Atlanta.  Hawks circled in the air and the cedar trees lining the road reminded me of lollipops, showing three feet of trunk before they began to branch, and then the bamboo.  It is everywhere.  Someone must have given somebody one of those cute little curly bamboo plants and they had the great idea to plant the gift outside…or…a little fellow had a fresh bamboo fishing pole and when he was tired of waiting for the fish to bite, he stuck it in the ground and went in search of rocks, forgetting where he stuck his bamboo.  From Montgomery to Atlanta, there are bamboo forests.  Pandas could live for years in this area!

As we passed Auburn, I yelled “Hey”, to Patty Springles’ relatives and friends.  Ten miles later at Opelika, I yelled greetings to Kay Allen’s relatives and friends.  If you see either one, please tell them I shouted at their loved ones.  I also yelled, “Hey” to Ty Pennington’s relatives and friends.  His mother is from Opelika, too!   None of the Pennington’s know me, nor do I know any of them, but it’s always good to be friendly.

Who is Robert Trent Jones?  We’ve passed three golf courses named for him since we entered Georgia.  He must be really famous in the golfing world.

At 11:53 AM we crossed into Georgia and it immediately became 12:53 PM.  No wonder we’re hungry.  As we were looking for a place to stop and fix lunch we passed a billboard for Frisky Whisky and I was reminded of the time Kathy and I passed an ABC store in Columbus, Ohio and she told me we’d passed the Frisky store!  Kids do say the darndest things.

In Alabama we passed a huge Hyundai manufacturing company.  They’re the ones who advertise they have a 100,000 mile warranty.  In Georgia we passed the Kia plant.  Dan…the proud owner of a Toyota truck…informed me there’s no way he’s buying a foreign car.   I slid my eyes in his direction!

Most of the day was spent on the road from Montgomery to outside Atlanta, Georgia at Stone Mountain state park.  It is a beautiful site on the lake that sits at the foot of Stone Mountain and January is a good time to camp here.  We arrived in time to visit the mountain, set up camp and enjoy a bonfire.  The smell of wood burning  is wonderful.  We have a good view of the lake and Stone Mountain, with stones of our own on our camp site.  We are the only campers on this leg of the campground.  “Peace and Quiet!” my father’s favorite request when asked what he would like.

Years ago, mother went to Georgia State Normal for Girls in Athens.  It just so happens to be the University of Georgia today.  She was living with a cousin and her family in Athens when the figures of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis were being carved on the face of the mountain.  Often several friends would drive out to see how things were progressing, and there are pictures of them sitting on rocks at Stone Mountain.  Evidently she wasn’t very knowledgeable about the social mores of the time.  At one time, she had accepted fraternity pins from three different male friends.  I gasped in horror when she told me this!  Joseph Jarrell and his wife used  to visit us when we lived in the house on Marsh St. and then on Front St.  He was one of the three who had given a pin to Mother.  I’m just glad to have been able to be so close to the mountain and to have stories to remember about her being here.

Blessings,

Thinking Thankful Thoughts

jan 18, 2012

January  18, 2012

Drumming rain with an erratic light show and accompanying sound effects,  escourted us into deep sleep last night.  Falling temperatures sent Junnie scurrying onto the bed and I felt his frantic digging at my back, trying to get under the covers.  Failing to accomplish that, he curled up behind my knees as I slept on my side, only groggily aware he had joined us.  Fickle, cold weather cat!

As we left this morning, we were surprised to see azaleas in bloom, tulip trees waving their lavender and white blossoms, and the red buds trees along the road we were traveling.  Has spring really come to Mobile already or is this Mother Nature’s wishful thinking?

We’re heading north on I-65 from Mobile to Montgomery, Alabama.  For sure the 18-wheelers love this road.  It must be one of their most favorite avenues for fast transportation of goods.  We could certainly understand why because it is a well maintained and clean road.  After two hours traveling the road, we had not seen a single dead specimen of anything.  There are long stretches without exits…even rest areas, and most unusual, the absence of birds.  We saw none flying, none roosting, none congregating on the ground.  Strange.  Of course, as soon as we mentioned the lack of rest areas, we came upon one after we had stopped to give Junnie his morning break. 

The minister at the first church we visited was correct.  We were driving through pine forests and there was a little bit of sky that we could see above.  It seems so normal to us, but it must be so different to persons from the mid-west and beyond.  From what we saw, their sky is a huge dome visible at all times.  Often we just have patches of sky.  The minister had said that what he remembered most of being around Duke, was the tall forests and tiny bit of sky.  Perception is often all we have.

Alabama red clay is home to millions and millions of fire ant hills.   Once in Goldsboro I stepped on a fire ant hill.  Because of the lack of sensation in my extremities, I did not know they were all over my feet until I looked down and saw them.  Immediately I “ran” to the water spigot and washed my feet.  Dan counted over thirty bites on one foot and at least 14 on the other foot.  Did you realize that it takes over a year for the little red freckle from each bite to disappear?  Isn’t learning new things fun?  I had no bad reaction from these bites, but I am extremely careful not to step on those little critters’ homes!

Drat!  I missed taking a picture of the dead tree with two big birds.  The birds were either buzzards or vultures.  It’s hard to tell what they are when you’re riding down the road at 60 MPH and you’re looking up.  They were surveying their kingdom from a great lookout point.  It would have been a super shot!

As we moved along I was struck by the stark beauty each deciduous tree skeleton made.  Some trees were draped in Spanish Moss; some sported mistletoe growths.  Other trees were calmly waiting to don spring green.  When the leaves are gone the structure, the bark, and the branches have a beauty of their own.

We reached the Southern Montgomery RV Park and set up in time to have lunch before heading to  The Rosa Park Museum and Library, housed on the campus of Troy University located in Mobile.  The museum is at the place where Mrs. Parks was removed from the bus and arrested.   It is a well thought out museum.  You enter a theater where a brief history of Mobile (really the south) is given from both blacks and whites, then the doors open into a room that contains a bus with holograms of blacks and white passengers entering the bus and sitting.  You hear conversations on the bus and then, as the bus takes on more people, the driver demands Rosa give up her seat.   The drives leave the bus and you hear him call his boss who tells him to call the police.  We watch and listen as the police  enter the bus and escort  Mrs. Parks off.     We then move to another room where there is a step-by-step progression of what happened within the next three days that led to the almost 15 month boycott on Mobile’s bus company; the rise of a young minister named Martin Luther King, Jr. and his non-violent  resistance movement.  The exhibit ended with a commentary about Mrs. Parks, the awards  and accolades she has received from all countries around the world.

It has been a good day.

Blessings to one and all,

Three Thankful Travelers

jan 17, 2012

January 17, 2012

It’s Tuesday and we’re outside Mobile, Alabama.   We left Louisiana this morning and drove into Mississippi under overcast skies that sometimes splattered an occasional rain drop on the windshield.  Junnie totally ignored us last night.  The weather must be moderating and he didn’t need warmth from the two of us.

The drive today was through pine forests that were familiar and comforting.  Had we not known better, we could have thought we were on the straight stretch between Kinston and New Bern…even 70 MPH there, too.

So Far, Mississippi wins the most beautiful welcome center award.  The interior is reminiscent of an old southern plantation with the beautiful side boards, settees, marble top tables and gilded mirrors. There were two rooms  on both sides of a huge entrance/reception room where you are immediately offered  a cup of coffee.  The reception people were very well informed and were able to give lots of help to those of us who really know very little about their beautiful state.  In each of the four parlors were manikins dressed  in Mardi Gras costumes.  They were all designed and made by Carter Church from Bay St. Louis.  The elegance of each costume was magnificent. One head dress alone (with NASA   identification on the back) was over 5 feet tall.   Whoever wore it must have had a football players’ neck, for sure.  The men’s costumes were as elegant as the women’s’ costumes.  In fact, the King’s costume, head dress, cape and shoes were the most beautiful and intricate of all the costumes.   The handwork of beading and jewelry work must have caused many headaches.

Once again as we left a stop, we headed in a different direction from what we had  planned.  We headed south to the scenic US90 highway along the Gulf Coast through Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Gulfport,  and Biloxi, to Pascagoula.  90 actually runs beside the water of the Gulf of Mexico.  The beach is 300 feet wide and from Bay St. Louis to Pascagoula.  Miles and miles of white sand and the beautiful quiet waters of the gulf, along with humongous homes, are along this road .  There is still destruction from Katrina, but a lot of building and rebuilding has gone on as is the repair work still being done.

We found Jefferson Davis’ last home around noon and decided to eat before going on the tour.  The guard at the entrance suggested a place.  It was closed.  We had seen a sign touting the Rotary meeting on Tuesday.  Yeah…so we tried it.  It was closed.  We began to think that maybe no one eats in Mississippi on Tuesdays, but the Picayune cafeteria was open and Dan had catfish while I had a stuffed pepper.  We didn’t think it Kosher to ask for LA crawdads in Miss.  Sure would have loved to have had some beans and rice.

Just inside Biloxi we came to Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis’ home.  What a magnificent house.  It was built by a cotton farmer and the Davises bought it from them for $5,500.   Extensive damage was done by Katrina in 2005.  Even though Beauvoir is built on piers to catch the gulf breezes and to have magnificent views of the water, gale force winds ripped the roof off the house and allowed the floors and furniture to be soaked.   Renovation and restoration has taken over three years for just the house.   Each ceiling in the two parlors and two bedrooms on the entry floor have trompe faille work on the ceilings and the entrance reception room even has beautiful “fooling the eye” archway designs.   The docent was well versed, not only in the history of the house, but also in the history of the area and the other families who have lived in the home.  At one time it was used extensively by Civil War veterans.  Jefferson Davis’  library was available for them to use.  Do not forget that Davis was a US Senator and Secretary of War before he was President of the Confederacy.   The Library is under construction.  It was cheaper to build a new one than to try and restore the old building.

After leaving Beauvoir we headed back to I -10 and over to I-65N.  We are camped on the west side of Mobile, Alabama and will be heading farther north tomorrow. ( And below in typical Fran fashion is a question which has nothing to do with anything in the previous paragraph – Dan)

Wonder what exciting things we will encounter tomorrow?  Have you ever considered who is affected more?  Many in the clothing industry are going tag less in all garments.  Will a person who depends on feel (sightless) have more of an advantage or disadvantage than one who relies on their eyes in getting dressed?  I would really be interested in your answers and how you reached it.   That should give you something to contemplate for a while.

Blessings,

Triple Tripping Trekkers

jan 16 2012

Monday, January 16, 2012

I awakened with a start, realizing Evangeline and Hiawatha were not mixed up together.  Longfellow wrote both of them and I confused my poems.  At least I got the poet correct, if nothing else.  I was not upset that I was wrong, (that often happens) I was upset that I had imparted my faulty knowledge.  Longfellow wrote lots of epic poems and  my professor, Mr. Jordan (he pronounced it JERdan) would not be happy I confused them.  Please do not tell him!

Our camp ground was in a lovely wooded area beside a very busy highway.  Dan said it kept him awake most of the night.  Sometimes it is so handy having a literal deaf ear.  We called Don Bell in Baton Rouge, La. To ask him and his wife, Eva, to meet us for lunch today.  Let’s see how I can explain my connection to Don.  Dan and I live in the Caleb Bell house.  Caleb had several sons.  There was Jacob, Joseph, William, Caleb Norris, and daughters.  I’m going to ignore the daughters so I won’t confuse you any more than is necessary.   Caleb Norris and Jacob (or Joseph) were the first two persons from Carteret County to become circuit riders.  Making a really round-about story shorter, Caleb Norris ended up in Kentucky where he married his second wife and built a Bell’s Chapel  just as the chapel of his grandfather's was named.     Don Bell is descended from Caleb Norris Bell.  Caleb’s brother, William, decided to stay in Beaufort and become a dry goods merchant.  I am descended from William.  In May of 2001, Don hosted a Bell family reunion at Bell’s Chapel in Kentucky, and we were invited because we live in the house where Caleb Norris was born.  Now, aren’t you delighted to have read all this?

Don and Eva opened a touring travel business after he retired at the age of 57, and he suggested we do ourselves a favor and leave early so we would go through the Atchafalaya Swamp before the sun was too high overhead.  We took his advice.  What a beautiful drive we had.   He told us to stop at the Welcome Center there.  It took me several  tries to figure out how to pronounce Atchafalaya, and asking many people, too.  It sounds closest to,  “Uh-chaff-fuh-LIE-yuh”.   The center is beautifully done.   There are exhibit stations of low-water living, high-water living with crab pots, rifles, washboards and tubs, and cooking tools for each section.  One fascinating display depicted this area of Louisiana from 10,000 years ago, to 7,000, to 3,000 to present.  It depicted the future places of Baton Rouge, where we were standing, New Orleans future place (all originally in the ocean), and the delta area of today.   There were animated exhibits of the fauna in the swamp area along with the plants.  The raccoon peeped up from a tree stump and the terrapin stuck out his head and opened his huge jaws.  I am really happy they did not include an animated alligator.  The beautiful bronze figurines of alligators and bears, egrets, cranes, pelicans and muskrats were place in inconspicuous places to startle you as you walked around the center.  The black bear was inside a glass case, and stuffed!  They had an informative and well done 5 minutes movie about the swamp as it is today.  The movie was introduced by a mechanical stork and he also told us when to leave and where we could go, but gently.  There are many books and poems done by local people.  The entire time you are there there’s a conversation being held between a couple and they are speaking with the Cajun accent and the colloquialisms.

As we left, we decided to explore a bit and drove south.  We shook, jiggled, jostled, quaked, chattered and tried to talk, with little results.  This was probably the worst road we have encounted on the trip.  The more we drove, not finding a place to turn around, the more I became convinced we should not turn around.  After having our inside massaged all over everywhere, we came to a Y in the road and I saw a name I had seen on the map of Louisiana.   We headed that way.  It took us over a really interesting bridge and led us back to the west end of the swamp, so we were able to go over the swamp again.  It was as compelling as it was the first time we crossed over the swamp on an elevated bridge road.  The elevated road ran about ten to twelve miles.

We spent three delightful hours with Don and Eva Bell.  They insisted we eat with them, so we would have more time to talk.  Eva had a boneless chicken stuffed with a savory cornbread dressing,  a green bean casserole, and for dessert there was a King cake.  Since 12^th night we are in Carnival, preparing for Mardi Gras and Lent.  No matter how much of the scrumptious King cake we ate, none of us found the Christ child!  I suppose Don and Eva will find it before too long.  We had a wonderful and tasty meal.  Their idea of staying in their beautiful home was a great idea.  Everyone was relaxed and we did not have to rush to leave a restaurant.

It was a busy and fulfilling day, so we stopped soon at Jellystone Park at Robert, La.  Tomorrow we will reach Mississippi and hope to visit Jefferson Davis’ home.  We’ll let you know if we’re successful or not!

Take care and blessings,

Trippin’ Trailer Travelers

jan 15, 2012

Sunday, January 15, 2012

A heavy, heavy mist rising from Trinity Bay greeted us this morning as we arose.   We had checked on church last night before retiring and Beaumont had a Methodist church that had services starting at 11.  We usually leave between 8:30 (groan) and 10 (much better).  It seemed to us that if we left at 9:30 we would have plenty of time to drive the 53 miles to the church, especially since the speed limit is 70.   We were up, dressed, stowed inside, and unhooked outside by 9, so we had plenty of time for a leisurely trip east.

We arrived shortly after 10 and were able to find a parking spot for the truck and trailer that would not deny anyone a parking place.  What a beautiful church.  First Methodist in Beaumont was built in 1968.  We had a chance to see some things before entering the sanctuary.  There were stained glass windows from the former church along with the pulpit and silver communion paten and chalice.  Depictions of the 12 disciples lined the walls of one corridor with a traditional history of each.  The comments from the artist about Judas were interesting and insightful.  He had decided not to include Judas in the portraits.  He didn’t want to ask anyone if they would mind being the model for Judas, then his daughter asked him that since he was going to leave Judas out, did he think he knew better than Jesus.  Perhaps asking the model to allow himself to be presented as Judas changed his life.  Who knows?

The stained glass windows were breath-taking.  The one behind the altar is a representation of the Apostle’s Creed.  It is huge and is done in tiny pieces of brightly colored glass.  The side windows represent different aspects of stories from the Old and New Testaments and the rear stained glass above the balcony again represented the disciples and the traditional deeds and deaths of each.

Would you believe they had a covered dish luncheon after the service to which we were invited!  As best we can figure it, they have these meetings once a month and then all the committees meet after the covered dish.     Somehow the church or a committee or SS class provides the meat, staffs the kitchen, sets the tables and cleans up, while the rest of the congregation brings side dishes and desserts.  Per usual, Methodist are fantastic cooks.   We were invited time and again to come back.

The sermon was about our responsibility to invite others to Christ by asking them, as Philip and Jesus did, to “come and see”.   It is not our responsibility, nor can we convince anyone.  Convincing is Jesus’

job.  She asked that we not tell anyone they were condemned by not accepting Christ.  We do not know and our responsibility is only to invite and  to plant seeds.  God is responsible for the rest.  But no one comes to Christ alone.  Everyone who has accepted has had a Philip.

Well, it is Sunday and that’s my repetition of today’s sermon, and meal.  Oh yes, I didn’t mention we also had communion.  BTW.  The meal is the second Sunday of each month unless something changes it to another Sunday.  They had a church wide retreat last week, so the meal was postponed until today.  I shall let you ponder that!

We crossed the Sabine River into Louisiana around 2 this afternoon. We didn’t see any of those super gorgeous Sabine women the Romans were always talking about.  We traveled 890 highway miles in Texas.  Chicago is closer to Beaumont than El Paso!  The welcome center gave us a big, beautiful, official map.

Sheep, cows, and mules are at home on the same range.  We’re in Cajun country.  There are places named for Evangeline and I’m quoting poetry about Hiawatha…”By the shores of Gitchy Goomy (sp?), by the great sea shining water stood the wigwam of Nokomis.” …or is it the teepee?  I forget.  (I cannot tell you how long ago I learned that and even if I could, I will not tell you how many years ago that was.) That’s all I remember about Evangeline and moving from Arcadia, Canada to the south and all the people with her and meeting the Spanish, the Native Americans, the Black, intermarrying and producing the Cajuns.  Enough of history lessons for today, too.

The clouds that announce a front coming through have traveled faster than we and we’re now under a complete cloud cover.  Wonder what tomorrow will bring.  The most outstanding feature on the countryside has been the rice patties that are home to crayfish (crawdads), too.  The paddies are planted and when the rice is harvested, the crayfish feed on the stubble that remains of the reaped rice.  Egrets like the fields, too.  I’ll bet the crayfish farmers are not happy to see them.   Many of these rice and crayfish paddy/ponds have signs saying they are research areas for LSU.

Now that I have given you more information than you ever wanted, I shall stop for the night.  It’s been a good day for the three of us.    Junnie is pleased we have ceased  traveling for the day.

Blessings,

Terminated Texas Travelers

sat Jan 14, 2012

Saturday, January 14, 2012…Kathryn’s birthday!

Even though the sky was a bright blue and the sun was shining brightly, 28 degrees is cold.  We dressed in sweatshirts to stay warm and prepared the trailer to leave DeLayne’s  driveway.  We still had time for a cup of coffee with DeLayne and thank him for taking such good care of us and for inviting Odette over last night.  It was almost like 1976 again except there were four short little people missing.   (You must do the punctuation.  I am not capable.)

As we went down the road, the only things breaking the far horizon were water towers and granaries.  Several hawks were lazily circling in the air over the gently rolling green pastures where cows and horses grazed.  Highway 290 is a nice divided 4 lane road with a wide median and speeds conducive for lower trailer traffic travel.  Sandy Creek even had water flowing.  There wasn’t much, but the river was not a dry bed this time.

We have discovered a new Murphy’s Law for travelers.   “Whatever you are looking for is only to be found on the opposite side of a divided highway and with no turn lane in sight.”  Cows, horses, and farm equipment seem to be the major sources of income along this stretch of road.  Non interstate driving is much more relaxing, if you can afford the time to go that way.

A day or so ago, we were reminded that we will not see where the deer and the antelope play until after we see the amber waves.  Fortunately  “of grain” was omitted.   Are bleached blonde tuffs of grass the same as amber waves?

The countrysides are beautiful green pasture lands with herds of cattle and horses free to roam and graze.  These scenes are much more “humane” than some of the “sardine” cowpens we’ve seen along the interstates.  There are watering ponds with actual water.  We rarely ever saw any suggestion of water on other free range pastures.   We passed a ranch that boasted of having angus and brangus cattle.  We’d never heard of brangus cows before.

We stopped in the town of Chappell Hill for lunch at a deli that sold colaches as well as hamburgers, bbq, sausages and pork plates.  The store was also a bakery and they made and sold sausages, canned jams and jellies.  I didn’t get the opportunity to ask what a mawberry was.  It dawned on me that I had on a UNC sweatshirt so Dan took my picture in front of the store.  We thought that was pretty neat.  This store was not the only one we saw that had meats and “made-on-site”  sausages.  Some of these meat markets were big enough to be small grocery stores.

We passed  Brahma Bulls in Brenham.  How’s that for alliteration?

There was only one garage/flea market to be found today.  It was huge with lots of cars and all kinds of tents and booths…on the other side of the divided highway with no turn lane in sight!  I began driving after lunch and I must say Dan does not like to take pictures as much as I do, but he did tell me he saw a sign in Houston that advertised Gentle Dental.  He also reported we had seen some unique wildlife with the dead skunk near a bayou.

We are camped at Sunset RV Resort on Trinity Bay just north of Galveston Bay.  One of our neighbors had his kettle grill warming and I asked what was for supper and he grinned.  We walked down to the Bay and enjoyed sitting near the picnic tables for a while and taking some pictures.  This is a very nice park, too.  We had tried one earlier and the showers that were advertised did not exist, so we went searching for another place to camp.

 As I was cooking our ground beef stroganoff, there was a knock at the door and it was our neighbor bringing us fajitas, homemade guacamole, homemade salsa, grilled skirt steak and short ribs.  I was floored.  When Dan took them a jar of Ann Street peanuts, they wanted to know if we’d like to have more.  People are fantastic, aren’t they?   These fellows are working for a seismograph company.  They work 21 days straight before they have a week off.  Dan asked if they discovered oil, did they get a bonus.  They replied that the boss might! ( can you believe Fran wanted me to ask them “what was shaking? Since there were four of them I did not ask – Dan)

Ta-ta!

Blessings

Texas Traffic Travelers

Friday Jan 13, 2012

Friday, January 13, 2012

We have spent a delightful day of relaxation and conversation with wonderful friends whom we have not seen in over 35 years.  Catching up is a good thing to do.  Hope your Friday the 13^th has been a good one, too.

Blessings,

We three

jan 12, 2012

Austin, Texas…January 12, 2012

GEE-MOW-NEE-CHRISTMAS!  It is cold.  The upper left quadrant of a witch’s upper torso couldn’t possibly be any colder and there are 40 MPH winds.  The sky is overcast, too, hoping the sun above will warm the clouds somewhat.

Junnie and I were rocked in the truck cab while Dan ran into Wal-Mart to see if they have any “Aromatherapy for cats”.  We do not want to travel without it and our supply becomes less each day.  All three of us will be even loonier if it gives out.  I was going to say that we’d be “loony”, and then my mind heard someone mutter---“they already are”, so I chose a different adverb (or is it an adjective?  I’m leaning toward adverb.  It’s been so long since elementary school!)  I HEARD THAT! We have stopped at Wal-Mart, a veterinarian and a tractor supply place (I’m sure everyone wants a calm farm cat!) looking for Junnie’s “happy smells”. 

We passed Peach orchards, horses, cows, sheep, goats, wineries, fields of dead Live Oaks with a scattering of live ones, vineyards and a meat market and taxidermy shop.  Thankfully our freezer is stocked with all the meat we need for a while.

When we arrived in Johnson, TX., we drove past LBJ’s home.  Johnson was his hometown.  His home is a lovely 1900’s farm house with a nice front porch from which he announced his candidacy for every race he ran.  The yard sports yaupon, crape myrtle, magnolia, cedar, chinaberry and sycamore trees.  There are live oaks in the back near the elevated water tank along with a lean-to work shed and there’s an outhouse in the back corner.  The back yard has a split rail fence, but the front yard is surrounded by a two level picket fence.  Each of the rooms were designed to have windows on three sides to take advantage of all available light.   Johnson, Texas even has grakles.  Talk about having a lot in common with Beaufort.  BTW did you hear that Beaufort is in the top three candidates in “The Best Small Towns in the US”?

The highway system over Austin afforded us with a wonderful panoramic vista of the city.  We arrived in the afternoon and went to the home of Dan’s first boss after he graduated from IU.  Dan, that is.  Dan and DeLayne worked together at the College of Pharmacy at The Ohio State University for  over five years.   It was good to see him again.  Unfortunately he and his wife have divorced, but she and their daughter and son-in-law who live in Austin will be coming over tomorrow evening.  We called Lin and Beverly Shivers to invite them out to dinner for tonight.  They are the parents of Michelle who was the youth director when Kryn and Kathryn were in MYF.  Last February they stopped by the house to take us to dinner and we were trying to do the same to them tonight, but Beverly had a PPR meeting.  Their minister is moving and it was imperative she go to it.  That’s what happens sometimes.  We were only able to give DeLayne a 2 hour notice as to when we’d be arriving this afternoon.  He did, though, have some inkling we were on our way.  Lin has had some severe health issues and we didn’t want them to make any plans for us so we just took our chances.  This time they didn’t work out, but it was good we  were both able to talk with both of them.

We finally found a Petsmart in Austin for Junnie’s favorite fragrance.  Our GPS told us the nearest one was over fifty miles away…note to self…Get an update for the GPS!  On this trip we’ve been to several places that are no more, too.  I may not change, but other things do.

Signing off for today.  Hope you’ve had a great day.  It is still cold and promises to get colder as the evening progresses.  I’m delighted we have so many blankets and heavy clothes, but I thought they’d be for more northerly climes.  Ah well, the weather here is as changeable as it is in Beaufort!

Blessings,

Trailer Traveling Tourists

jan 11, 2012

Jan. 11, 2012

Das ist Fredericksburg, Texas!   We arrived around two PM this afternoon in this charming German town in the middle of the hill country in mid Texas.  The day has been beautiful with warm temperatures and pleasant breezes to enjoy when we stopped along the way.  I have decided that Junnie does not need to go to check on the trailer, he has just trained us to stop about an hour into the day.  If we don’t stop soon enough for him, he starts mewing and keeps it up until we stop and then he’s fine for the rest of the ride.   It must be that he has trained us.  Nothing else makes any sense.  After all this time he knows we did not leave the trailer behind.

Unfortunately we did not have time to stop and see the town.  It is difficult to find a parking spot toting a trailer behind a truck.  They use “strassa” for street, and  “haus” for house in many areas, along with Bavarian Haus Restaurants,  German meat markets, and Amish vegetable grocers.  The architecture has a definite European and Victorian influence.  The RV park is nice and has a wonderful handicap shower and bathroom available.  Not all campgrounds are as well equipped for those who have challenges doing things.  Dan’s doing the laundry at the moment.  He takes such fantastic care of me.  How blessed I continue to be in my life.  No complaints!

Evidently the weather in this area must be a lot like the climate and weather in Beaufort.  There is an abundance of Live Oak, Cedar, Sycamore, Pecan, pear pads and Yucca growing in the sections we drove through today.  We also saw some Tamarack trees like the ones in Beth and Julian Arrington’s front yard.  Some people call them Tamarisk, so I’m not positive which they are, but grew up hearing they were the ‘rack ones.  Pittosporum abound, too, as well as Crape Myrtle.

We left I-10 at exit 477.  I’m not sure how many more miles we have in Texas.  It’s hard to believe we’ve been for over 477 miles.  We drove about 50 miles on 290 to get here and then a few miles south on 16.  I am so glad we have an RV book that gives good directions on how to get where we’re going.

As we drove down 290, we were surprised to see wildlife in the Live Oak forests munching on the grass.  Dan saw an antelope, but I missed it.  We both saw lots of goats and black faced shorn sheep.  The fences have changed from just horizontal wires to goat/sheep fences.  They are considerably taller than the cow fences and have a wire grid.   Several ranches were goat and sheep ranches, but we also saw an Emu who walked along the fence as we slowed so I could get a good shot of him.

There were a great number of dead Live Oaks because of the drought they have had.  We had seen large numbers of Cedar trees with deep burn orange foliage and asked what type they were.  We were told they we dead.    You know how grey dead Live Oaks look.  Now, translate that shade of grey to pasture lands of those who were not fortunate enough to be able to irrigate the land.  I do not think I’ve ever seen grey pasture lands before.  We passed several church bulletin board signs asking for people to pray for rain.

My sister is in a convalescent center and is receiving physical therapy.  Gene  says she is still very weak;, but has a good attitude and is eating much better.  Thanks for your prayers; please continue.

Blessings,

Touring Texas Travelers

jan 10, 2012

Caverns of Sonora, January 10, 2012

While supper cooks, I think I’ll get started.  After yesterday’s gloom, the sun was a welcomed sight this morning when we awakened.   Even with all the sunshine, the desert was frozen.  There was a plowed field we passed, and at first we had thought it was a lake.  The snow was reflecting the sunlight because of the thin layer of ice that formed overnight.  The glare hurt our eyes.   The terrain is so flat you can see things that are miles away before you come close to them.  It’s also a strange sight to see a herd of Black Angus crossing a snow covered field.  There’s no way to hide them.

We have discovered the range where the deer play.  I-10 is littered with the bodies of dead deer.  We counted 22 and possibly 23 coming here.  That’s the ones we saw.  We have no idea how many others we missed.   Once again we see working oil wells and huge, flat mesas; lots of windmill farms and singular old-fashioned windmills, all silently working.  The elevation is definitely dropping from yesterday’s mile high views to under 1100 feet, and the vegetation is increasing in numbers as well as height.

Both Dan and I saw 4 cute little black bristled piggies on the side of the road in a wash.  I have no idea what they’re called, but we know they’re wild.  When we got to the campground we found out they’re called Javelina (sp?).  It’s pronounced just like the oil, Haveline with an ah sound at the end and we have been told they are MEAN!  But they’re so little and cute!  The campground also has an Angora goat.  She slipped off the ranch that borders the campground and refuses to go back home.  I managed to get a picture of her eating a prickly pear cactus and then she ate some dead leaves off a live oak tree.

We were not only greeted by the goat when we arrived, there is a peacock and peahen on the premises along with a large flock of Guinea hens and one wild turkey who all grew up together and   think they’re one big family.  The ground is covered by rocks, rocks and more rocks…all white.  Dan said most of the area is covered in sandstone.  They have made it clear that my touring the caverns will be difficult especially with some 350 steps out at the end and Dan chose to stay with me instead of going.  Whitewashed gourds hang from cross arms and await the purple martins that will inhabit them in warmer weather and there is something that looks like an F-troop outdoor shower.  Many of you are way too young to remember that TV show.  I can barely remember it myself.  Want me to tell you another?

We were given a treat this afternoon at 5 by one of the managers.   He spread feed all over one of the roads and told us to go sit quietly near one set of picnic tables that are under a couple of live oak trees.  One, than another, and another, and then more does appeared along with two bucks.  The drought has been so severe they have had to begin feeding the deer.  What a wonderful way to spend time before preparing supper.

Tonight we had tortellini with stir-fry vegetables and roasted chicken breast strips in a mushroom sauce with a corn and bean salad.   Fresh basil really set off the main dish.  Are you drooling yet?

Ah yes, we just tried to make a phone call and there’s no service, so this won’t get posted until tomorrow.  Here I was thinking I’d get things done earlier today.  We’re going to watch a movie since there’s no TV signal either.  We both have lots to read anyway.

Blessings to each of you,

Three Texas Trespassers

jan 9, 2012

Somewhere in West Texas!

A cold, wet, rainy, grey day awakened us.  Reason?  No sun shining in on us while we slept.  We were up and out before the coffee timer reached one hour and headed east out of New Mexico.  For years I had thought Wisconsin was the dairy state, but I’m beginning to think New Mexico might be.   There are milk cattle ranches or holding places everywhere.   Even as we entered Texas about ½ hour after getting on the road, still more cows after we passed through El Paso.  Snow is beginning to show itself on the sides of the Rocky Mountains to our north.  Junnie was getting restless, so we stopped at the first rest area we saw.  We were not prepared for open air bathrooms and did not loiter!  Gives new meaning to the word “Outhouse”.

West Texas is rather bare with lots of cattle and horses munching on the stubble of reaped fields. And the sun keeps trying unsuccessfully to break through the clouds The temperature is at 48 degrees, that’s a 10 degree rise since we started driving.  Hum, the snow is beginning to accumulate on the eastern sides of the cacti and scrub bushes at our 4500+ foot elevation.    It’s our turn to be stopped by the border patrol again and to assure them we are citizens and have no one in the trailer behind us.  The police were decked out in knit caps, leather gloves, heavy down jackets, and boots and having German shepherd drug dogs.  Each of the border patrol workers spoke with Spanish accents.

Today I saw three hawks sitting atop cacti.  One had his head leaning on his shoulder, not quite under his wing.  Dan said the only reason I saw them was because their wings were iced over and there was no de-icer around for them to use.  He amazes me!  Visibility is lessening.

Roaming the open range are black angus.  Here a few, there a few.  How cold does it have to get before a cow freezes?  How do the ranchers round-up these cattle?  How do they know how many cattle they have?  We’ve only seen dry river beds and no watering troths.  Where do they get water?   Do they ever see the inside of a barn?  I suppose they sleep on the ground all huddled together at night.  So many questions; so few answers.

Snow is flying around us.  They’re tiny flakes, yet there is no water on the windshield or the side windows of the truck.  I guess we push enough air ahead of us to keep the tiny flakes away from us, but they’re sticking to all the vegetation, not just the cacti.

We have crossed into the central time zone so it was an hour later than we thought and understood why we were hungrier than we were a moment earlier.  We were coming to Van Horn, TX on I-10 and I spied a Mexican Restaurant that has been there since 1959, so it has to be good!  It was.  We had a delicious meal.  I love Mexican, so long as it’s not hot.  Dan’s gorditos were wonderful.  My stuffed chilis were HOT.  Dan likes hot; I do not, so we changed and both really enjoyed our meals.  Usually the stuffed chilis I have are only mildly warm, not hot.  I was thrilled Dan enjoyed his meal.  He usually does everything he can not to have to eat anything Mexican.

As we left Van Horn, we both saw a really big, sandy colored, four legged beast in the field.  It was eating a late lunch, too, but did not raise its head, so we have no idea what it was.  I wanted to tell you about it though.

We passed Rex Allen Drive yesterday and I got to wondering if Hopalong Cassidy really did hop? (This is one of those Franisms which our Sundayschool class will understand- Dan comment)  My favorite was Gene Autry because he sang all the time about friends being friends, longhorn cattle  feeding on lowly gypsum weed, and totin’his  ole’ 44.  My children are learning so much about their mother.  So is their father!    Snow covers everything now, and it’s still coming down.

We did descend about 2000 feet and the snow has lessened, but it’s still coming down.  We are stopped at least for tonight.  We have no idea what tomorrow will bring.  There’s 8-10 inches east of us, but we’re headed south east, so we should be OK.

Not only is today’s Kate Middleton  Mountbatten’s birthday, it’s our Cindy’s too.  Happy Birthday, Cindy.  Have lots and lots more.

Love to you and blessings,

Three chilled travelers

jan 8, 2012

((( For some reason I lost the ability to add pictures to the blog---))) Dan

Greetings from outside Las Cruses, NM!

We are so glad to be inside and warm.  Temperatures  plummeted during the last hours of our driving.  We could see ominous skies to the south and blue skies with billowing cumulous clouds, north of us …yet with flat bottoms that were turning grey.  But I am ahead of myself.

Our campground this morning had homemade waffles and hot coffee for all the campers.  We had checked on a church for services and allowed time to be ready, but it does NOT take me as long to get dressed as Dan thinks it does and we were ready to go to the 10:30 service (that was held 3 miles down the road) at 9 AM.  Shoot, we were ready to go, so we did.  I punched in “Methodist Church” on the GPS and the nearest one sent us north to the little town of Safford, Arizona.  Have you ever been on a road and there was no one else in sight for miles?  That’s the situation we had.  It was a beautiful drive and not broken anywhere by traffic.  We passed a huge sign telling us to watch for animals.  We’ve been doing that all along, but still no luck, so far.

  As we approached the town we discovered lots of churches and each one had pretty full parking lots and signs that encouraged everyone to worship with them at 10:00.   According to them, we were late.  We trudged on and reached a lovely Methodist church that encouraged passers-by to worship with them at 10:30 AM.  We had 10 minutes to spare!  YES!

The church was lovely.  Behind the altar is a huge contemporary styled, stained glass window of the Jordan River, with a baptismal font pictured in the foreground.  Above this was a brilliant star and a beautiful dove descending toward the river.  The colors were very soothing and it was apropos to the sermon.  Once again we heard of John the Baptizer and his proclaiming the arrival of one greater than he.  The emphasis today was that we are to show Christ to others by our actions, our attitudes, our grace and our love, all of which we have only when we have Christ.  The minister used to visit his uncle who was stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB, in Goldsboro.  I’m amazed that our huge country can be so small!

Before we reached Safford, I had checked to see how to best return to I-10 and behold…US70E was the  route to take.  I remember, years ago, learning in school that US 70 went from NC to California.  Dan looked at me with raised eyebrows when I told him this on the way to California.  Whew!  I have been justified about that remark.  On the drive through the vast areas of stark beauty on our way to New Mexico, Dan saw an Emu (so he said).   I saw a flock of geese, we both saw ducks, horses and cows as well as one yapping dog before arriving in New Mexico.   US 70 brought us down to Lordsburg, NM.  When we crossed over into NM, the mountains disappeared and there was nothing except what I grew up calling, Yucca bushes.  Sometimes people called the plant, Spanish Bayonets.  At the Joshua Tree National Park they call the ones with bunches of arms at the top, Joshua trees and those of Mexican descent say there are pronounced as YUUUka, not Yuck-A.   I secretly think they’re all the same plant, but don’t tell anyone I said it.  I still have a spot on my leg where one of the spikes on the yucca we had at the corner of our yard, bit me!

After crossing into the area of NM that is devoid of mountains, I want you to know I saw a Looong horn steer on the north side of the road.  On the south side we passed hundreds and hundreds of Black Angus, free---range cattle and calves.  Both sides of the road are always fenced even when they don’t say anything  about being free---range.  That seems to be the norm.  Fences everywhere even when we can see nothing that’s eating, or anyone who is walking or any reason to be in the fenced area.   We’re back to seeing bleached blond grass again and this time the cattle were feeding upon it.  There were also huge areas of dairy cattle and buildings telling us to drink at least three glasses of milk a day and to eat ice cream.  Sounds good to me.  I must remember to do that sometime.

As I drove, the black clouds hinted at earlier opened themselves and began washing the truck and trailer for us.  We did have enough time between downpours to set up for the   night.  What a shock when we opened the truck to discover how much the temperature had dropped from the last rest stop.  There’s mention of perhaps one to maybe three inches of white stuff by morning.  At one point when we were near Phoenix, I had thought about asking if we could head north to the Grand Canyon since the weather had been so beautiful and everything seemed to be quiet.  I am glad I let that thought pass!

We’re snug and full from the evening meal and Dan’s relaxing while I salve over this blog.  I shall turn everything over to him to find an appropriate picture/pictures to go with these ramblings.

We’re having a wonderful time, but we’re missing each of you!

Blessings,

Trailer Trekking Troopers