Travels in 2008, and 2007

Thermometer Readings are Scary

27 Jul 2008 - Happy Birthday yesterday to Eliza!
Oklahoma City, OK

We were heading for Austin, when the weather reports got to us. Let's see: 10 days of 100+ degrees forecast in Austin, or 10 days of 90+ degrees in Amarillo?  Hmmmm. We haven't been in Amarillo in a while.

Our stopover in Fayetteville, Arkansas was fun. Chris & wife Kathy first moved to this area in 1970; their first home in the States after leaving Africa. They arrived in winter, in time for multiple ice storms. ("We're not in Kansas Africa anymore, Toto!") They didn't stay long. In fact, Kathy didn't stay long in the States - she moved back to Africa very soon.

-We visited a Civil War battle site - Pea Ridge. Interesting and informative. One of those that helped the Union win the war in the west. Having a fairly incompetent Confederate general didn't hurt.

-We visited Bentonville - home of Wal-Mart! Downtown is a shrine to the Waltons - one of their first stores has been turned into a well-done museum. They really were terrific people who gave back to the community and the nation. Why did I feel I should have genuflected as I left?

-We visited downtown Fayetteville, with its old downtown post office (now a restaurant) building surrounded by flower and plant gardens that are fantastic.

-We visited the Razorbacks' bookstore and purchased a sweatshirt - Go Hogs! Sorry, couldn't resist. We did not visit the "Clinton Museum" - I may not have been aware that the former Prez was a professor at the University before beginning his political career. Nor do I care.

 

Life is Good, Again!

23 Jul 2008
Springfield, Illinois - still

It has been in the 80s with medium humidity today!!! The door has been ajar; the windows open; I sat out and carved on a couple of gourds; Life is Good. Chris says I'm so much easier to live with when I'm happy with the weather.

We visited Lincoln's Tomb - excellent site and setting. Last night was a well-done flag retreat ceremony by a Civil War re-enactment group.

We visited the Illinois Military Museum - small but significant. Would you believe our favorite item was the actual artificial leg previously owned by Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (the Mexican General whose forces conquered the Alamo, of course.) The 4th Illinois Infantry captured said leg at the Battle of Cerro Gordo. Wow. The things you didn't plan to see...

We drove around the Oak Ridge Cemetery - this is a classy old-time cemetery tucked into a bunch of hills and valleys. Way cool.

We visited the Museum of Funeral Customs! Hey, it was right there near the gate into the Cemetery. It was well done; if the cost hadn't been excessive, I'd have purchased a sweatshirt.

Tomorrow we head for Missouri.

Photos are in Picasa.

I'm a Weather Wuss!

22 Jul 2008
Springfield, Illinois

I'm a wuss, and easily admit it. Last night was spent listening to our noaa radio squeak about Severe Thunderstorm Warnings!!!! "What county are we in, again???" It rained. It lightninged. It blew. The little fiberglass house held together. We did not go to the Storm Shelters in the basement of the office (also referred to as the bathrooms...) I do not care for breathing air that is wet. I especially don't like it when the exterior temps are in the high 80s and the humidity is even higher.

But I retrieved my sense of humor and focus on reality when I saw this sign at the laundromat where I took our dirty throw rugs:
 

I saw no ice, nor slipperies...

We've enjoyed meeting Mr. Lincoln in Springfield. It's been an educational opportunity, even. I guess I never knew much about the man. There are fairly new centers here (2005) -  the Presidential Museum and Library, which are modern, up-to-date technology and cover the subject fairly well.

My favorite visit so far was to the Lincoln Train Station, where he gave a farewell to the town in which he had come to maturity, married, worked and raised children. He didn't return - except in his casket.

The Lincoln Home is well taken care of, as is the neighborhood in which it is set. Much better than just a single house alone. It was more enjoyable because the house was given to the state by Lincoln's son - no buying and selling over the years. Most of the furnishings were actually owned by the Lincolns.

The Old State Capitol building is fully restored and gorgeous inside - I love the 4-way staircase!

Today we will finally visit Lincoln's Tomb and the cemetery - as well as the Museum of Funeral Customs! Cool.

Later this week we have to decide where we are going next. I talked with the Austin, Texas family yesterday and the heat and humidity are even worse there. Plus a hurricane is moving in from the south. Let's see, Colorado is sounding good...

"If you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there." --Sterling Holloway

The Green Mid-West

16 Jul 2008 - Happy Birthday, Dawn!
Davenport, Iowa  

We took a scientifically-based poll - counting the two of us, and Pancho - and decided a few important things:

1. The State Animal for Iowa is the Riding Lawnmower, usually Green in color.
2. The State Plant for Iowa is Corn, with its Green Leaves.
3. The State Color for Iowa is John Deere Green

There must be hundreds of thousands of large grassy areas that have to be cut weekly, or twice a week, in Iowa. Moms, Pops, kids - they all serve their time.

There must be hundreds of millions of acres of corn in Iowa. With a few acres of soybeans thrown in. We have seen few cattle, and only pigs on remote farms.

There must be hundreds of gazillions of John Deere dealerships, farm vehicles, mowers, tractors, cultivators, used dealerships, junk yards - all filled with Green machines. We are not speaking of the Jolly Green Giant that we saw in Minnesota and forgot to comment on.

How much pollution is generated by all those residential (if you can call 3 acres of lawn residential) lawn mowers? I'm thinking it would be doing the planet a favor by outlawing them. We certainly did it in our lives. Desert, rocks, gravel, sand... Yes! Well, we might be around green grass in the summer, but someone else waters and mows it. Okay, you can throw in a shade tree occasionally.

I might have liked lawn mowing better if I'd had one of these!

Our park on the outskirts of Davenport not only has THREE riding lawnmowers working this morning, they also have a colony of what appears to be prairie dogs out our front window toward the farmers' fields. And some beautiful flower beds. And a welcoming Pig.

 When told the reason for daylight saving time,  the old Navajo said...

"Only a white man would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket and sew it to the bottom of a blanket and have a longer blanket."

The Field of Dreams - Dyersville, Iowa

13 Jul 2008
Dyersville, Iowa

   I'm sure it will be a great disappointment when we visit The Field. It's too early for the corn to be high enough to hide the ghosts - corn had a bad year in Iowa anyway. But, we had to stop by.

Dyersville is just a little Iowa village, with some terrific points of interest:

• The Field of Dreams movie site, where the Kevin Costner movie was filmed is apparently still there - not commercialized nor for rent. Just there. Bring your own bat and ball.
• 
• The National Farm Toy Museum and the RC2 (formerly Ertl) Outlet Store - we may spend some money here guys...
• 
• The St. Francis Xavier Basilica was worth the visit all by itself. Mass is still done in Latin (which, speaking as an outsider, is the way it should be! Whatever happened to tradition?) - people come from miles and miles around to attend. It is gorgeous, besides! We felt it matched any of those European beauties. (See our Picasa link above. The photos didn't look as good in a slide show. I have to start remembering that photos are better in the slide show when they are horizontal, not vertical.)
• 
  

   Our campground is an adventure, in and of itself. This area was part of the massive floods a month ago. I could find no RV park in or about Dyersville, so we opted for the county park. The same county park that has no address nor directions in any book. Nor a review on any of my normal check-it-out sites. So, we came here anyway. I figured out about where it should be. Did I call? No. Did we just show up on Sunday afternoon? Yes. Did we continue on past the "Pavement Ends" sign? Yes. Do we have a 40' coach and a tow car that don't back up? Yes.

   And then we meandered down (literally) a very narrow country road into the low-hanging trees, and then up a little hill, around a corner, across the extremely narrow one-lane bridge with no load limit sign on it, and dropped down into a terrific little campground. 

The narrow little bridge... and below - the footings...

   Last month it was a terrific little lake, from what people we've talked to say. The debris is still very evident along the creek/river - huge trees gave up their lives and roots. Much of it piled against the footings of that same bridge that we have to traverse going out. There are 30 & 15 amp plugs at each site, and a water connection.

   Half a dozen sites have had gravel laid as a base, so we don't sink into the still-wet grass. There is a dump at the central building, a nice little playground and portable toilets. What more can you ask for? Of course, there is one other thing - yes, the satellite dishes both work! Life is good!!

Photos: the other end of the campground; Pugs sits in all his glory in a green field - you can't see the gravel under him, or he'd sink to his knees.

And, as a special present tonight, the fireflies came out in droves to entertain us. Fantastic!

 

"Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to
hope for." ~ Joseph Addison

Welcome to Iowa!

12 Jul 2008
Clear Lake, Iowa

Wow, today was a fun day. We pulled out of the Steele County Free Fair grounds about noon, and headed south. Iowa has been one of the few blanks in our list of states visited (it had a lot to do with tornado warnings 3 years ago when we came through the upper Mid West) - but today we remedied that problem.

The wind blew from the west the whole way, at about 25 miles an hour. But the nasty front has supposedly gone through. Sure.

See the welcome to Iowa sign!

 The big red barn is the welcome center for Iowa.

The funnest part of the day was at the rest stop just into Iowa - we stopped for some maps and brochures and were impressed with all they had to offer, as well as the beautiful big red barn, and the friendliness of the staff. We helped explain to people why they were passing hundreds of motorhomes heading north along the freeway. (While we were going south...) And I photographed some cute gourd ideas in their gift shop.

As we were about to leave, I turned to find Chris, and there was a familiar face - besides his, I mean. I seldom really look at people because I never see anyone I know, in the remote places we tend to wander. It was another Chris! My Idol and Guru of Computers and Satellites and Blogs Chris. As in Geeks On Tour Chris. I've followed her stuff and instructions for a couple of years - ever since the Kerrville DataStorm rally. I almost hugged her, but restrained myself.

However, when she came out at the same time, and walked to her RV parked next to our RV, I couldn't resist. I begged a photo opportunity. She dutifully dragged Jim and Odie the dog out for the formal portrait! What a nice person!!! And thanks for all the help, Chris - I signed up as soon as possible for their new membership help service. (Check out all their fantastic instructional stuff on computers and Picasa and blogs.)
 
Chris, Jim, Odie and Chris

Tonight we're in a terrific campground near Clear Lake - with sites measuring 35' by 140' - no, that isn't a typo. Wow! With grass, and picnic tables, and concrete pads outside the door. Even of more interest, after 10 days of no sewer, they have full hookups. All for $25 a night!!! I managed to complete 3 loads of washing before bedtime. And most of them got dried. I did drool just a bit over the new motorhomes with stacked washers and driers, instead of our combo., But I love my combo! I'm not complaining. I don't have to go to the laundry room...

Owatonna, Minnesota

11 Jul 2008 - Happy Anniversary Chris & Beth!
Owatonna, Minnesota

We've been here a week; it's been lots of fun; we're glad it's over...

We've seen and hugged lots and lots of old friends...
We've eaten and eaten and eaten...
We've seen the sights and farms and factories...
We've been entertained every evening...
We've seen all the new model Beaver coaches that cost lots of money...
We've caught up on people's lives we haven't seen since Alaska, or Maine, or Wyoming, or...

Time to move on. Most of the crowd of 125 or so motorhomes is heading for Minneapolis this morning for the lots bigger FMCA Rally. I love the sights and sounds the morning after a rally - It's the "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines" effect. When over a hundred behemoths start their big Cat engines (and start maneuvering for a way out in front of everyone else) it's like a symphony.

A few of us are left to relish the quiet and space - we were parked cheek by jowl in our neighborhood this week. We'll pull out tomorrow heading south. The RV parks should be empty. (Afternote: we had the joys of a Mid West "Severe Thunderstorm Warning" in late afternoon and evening. But the next morning, all is clear.)

Fun highlights from the week:

-The tour of the pig farm. Our rallymaster owns a huge corporate series of pig farms which he and his sons and grandsons have been building on for years. Claire was actually a vascular surgeon - farming and pigs were a sideline. Now one of their sons runs it, and hopes his sons will take over. They also grow their own corn, which accounts for a lot of the feed.

-The tour of the Ethanol plant. Just outside of town is a large coop ethanol plant - they brag of being one of the 30 largest in the country. The highly articulate 'guide' - I think he was the CEO - discounted a lot of the stories and statistics the oil people give out. But we didn't know how much of his to discount.

-The tour of the Spam Museum. We didn't go on this one - we visited a couple of years ago and loved it. But it's definitely a been there, seen that kind of place.

-The facilities. Owatonna is only 25,000 population, but they have a terrific town, with warm, friendly people. The city/county fairgrounds and 4Seasons Center are fantastic. Ice hockey is big in Minnesota, of course, (hard to think of in hot, humid days) and the Center has a terrific indoor rink and facilities. We could watch the hockey camp goings on from our seminar rooms upstairs. The park has an old village for tours, a huge outdoor arena, lots of grass, and parking with hookups for over 120 RVs, plus 4 softball fields that were used every night.

-The Softball games. Every night the lighted fields were full of young men, women, old men (didn't see any old women except us), spectators, kids, moms, dogs, etc. Right out our front windows. Lots of us picked favorites and sat in the stands to cheer.

-The 4th of July Firework Show - in the arena, right out of front windows. The town folk brought their bbqs and chairs and kids and just sat around us to watch it - the big crowd of RVs hadn't moved in yet, so we were just part of the locals.

-The craft lessons. This year I learned two new important skills: how to fold butterflies out of magazine pages, and how to make a plant dish into a stained glass creation. I also learned some new convection oven tricks - like start the generator when it isn't powering clear up to 'broil'. And I bought some cool new silicon dishes and cooking stuff.

-The new coaches. It is always fun to see the terrific and ridiculous new features the factory comes up with on motorhomes. This year there were several I would really, really like. Not like $500,000 worth, but really, really. The new front window coverings, fur instance. They've eliminated the cloth draperies and made a double pull down sunscreen and black out curtain. Cool. Wonder how much Jim Sizemore will charge to duplicate? And the electric window on the driver's side - I don't think that's a retrofit possibility.  

-The renewing of friendships and making new ones. The Beaver Owners club has been a constant in our life since 1999, when we purchased Pugsley. Many of the members are close friends, but we only see them once or twice a year. But that's okay. We have common ages, interests, attitudes, independence, and disregard for the conventional lifestyle.

Our slide show from the week: For any other photos you want to see, of course, you can click on the Picasa link at the top.