Journeyin'...living & traveling in a RV

Surprise. . .I loved a sunrise!

2012-01-24T17:25:00.001-08:00

I am definitely not a morning person. I do get up early but don’t function well for a few hours so sunrises generally don’t rate much of my attention. Give me a good ol’ beautiful sunset! But a few days ago I was jarred out of my morning doldrums by an absolutely gorgeous multi-colored sunrise. I grabbed my camera and, from my deck, over the span of two minutes took these five photos.

I'd like mornings better if they started later. ~Author unknown

Overlooking the paddock at the racetrack. The colors were brilliant purples, pinks, and magentas.

“Let every dawn be to you the beginning of life, and every setting sun be to you as its close.” -John Ruskin

Within seconds the colors had softened. The trees silhouetted are coast oaks.

From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD's name is to be praised. ~Psalms 113:3

One minute later the sky had taken on an orang-ish hue. The arc over turn seven at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is silhouetted in this photo.

I can find God in nature, in animals, in birds and the environment. -Pat Buckley

A flock of birds took to the sky just as I was snapping this one.

“With each sunrise,

we start anew” –unknown

Just two minutes after I took the first of the five photos dawn had already started to soften and wash out the vibrant colors. The curve may have been a contrail from a jet taking off from the Monterey airport – I’m not sure.

“You don’t need someone to interpret for you what a beautiful sunrise it is.” -Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

I have always wished I could be a morning person but know my internal time clock is not set for mornings. But I did truly enjoy this particular morning with its special sunrise.

Are you a sunrise or a sunset person?

A day at the race track. . .just how expensive is expensive?

2012-01-21T22:18:00.001-08:00

When not on the road we are live-on volunteers and are also involved in the track rental events at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in our home base city of Monterey, California. I am a Course Marshal and do decibel testing. and Gary is Track Rental Supervisor. The track event last week included some very impressive and expensive, cars: Cobra’s, Porsches, Radicals, Ferrari’s, Jaguar’s, an Astin Martin, a 30’s Ford Deuce coupe (with a very large engine.) A sad note: the Deuce coupe lost a wheel at my turn!

This 1955 Mercedes SLR is apparently VERY VERY valuable because the event organizers advised us to be diligent about assuring that none of the other cars on the track came even close to it! Rumor had it that this car was raced by the famous racecar driver Stirling Moss in several big competitions. How expensive is this car? I’m guessing that is falls into the “priceless” range!

My old 3G IPhone doesn’t take very clear action photos so here is a professional photo of the Mercedes SLR.

And that was my day at the race track, surrounded by VERY VERY expensive automobiles!

New Year’s Day holiday 2012. . .

2011-12-31T18:47:00.001-08:00

But for all intensive purposes it is not happening until January 2nd!

I watch the Rose Parade on TV every New Year’s Day morning but, because January 1 falls on a Sunday this year, it has been moved to Monday.

It just won’t be the same! What will I do on New Year’s Day morning while I am drinking my Mimosa?

Most years I take my Christmas décor down on New Year’s Day. But. . .New Year’s Day is not the New Year’s Day holiday so what’s a body to do? Gary’s Raider’s ornaments: down they come! These are just his Christmas ornaments; he has a whole stash of Raider gear which he places around the 5th wheel on game day!My beach/serenity garden will return to normal. Nativity scene will be replaced by one of my eight Adirondack chairs. The wreath on the chair in the photo will be covered with a shell. (The garden contains a mixture of sand, shells, rocks and found objects I gather from beaches as we travel throughout the country.)My bells will get packed away until next Christmas. Isn’t it funny how a collection becomes a collection? Mine started with the silver bell to the right of the large white bell near the center. Don & Lee gave me this sterling silver beauty many years ago. Some were my Moms and others I have picked up at thrift stores and after-Christmas sales.OK, I am going to stop agonizing, moaning and groaning about New Year’s holiday 2012. The reality is that I am totally off the hook this year because I am kicking back with sister Micki in Ventura! We will most likely watch the new HGTV shows like RV 2012 and the 2012 Dream House. No football-yahoo!

One of my favorite sayings is “I’m flexible” so I will be flexible about this frustrating New Year’s Day holiday situation!

Happy New Year

Blessings to my blogging friends

Christmas Lunch. . .

2011-12-24T21:48:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we met our Fresno Five at one of our favorite restaurants Espanas Southwest Bar & Grill. Los Banos is a half-way point for us to drive from Monterey and Russ and Denise to drive from Fresno and perfect for our Christmas lunch.

It is always interesting to observe what young ones order. Stanley ordered white rice, Mary cheesy nachos and Will, as usual, ordered dino chicken nuggets from the kid’s menu. Will always checks his dinosaur nuggets and identifies each: “yes, this is a bronto…, this a t-rex” etc. This year he ate them unlike last time when he wrapped them up to take them home for his collection!

It was a fun few hours of visiting (everyone talking at once- “I’m in Girl Scouts, I’m playing basketball this year, I read this book. . .”,) eating and unwrapping the presents their older cousin Jorden had bought for them. It made our Christmas pretty complete; all four (of the most wonderful) grandchildren in one place! We are seeing Gary and Vivian tomorrow but will miss Kelle and Joe who live in Texas. Just hung up from talking to Kelle where we compared our nearly identical Christmas Eve dinners: chili, tamales and cornbread, the same Christmas Eve meal we had while she was growing up! Traditions. . .

Before we parted ways, us back to Monterey and them home to Fresno Denise pulled a a pan of her famous lemon bars out of their van. Another tradition. She makes them every Christmas for me! Everyone likes them but I absolutely LOVE them!

Did you buy new p.j.’s for your children each Christmas so they would look good for Christmas morning pictures? This is Gary, Russ and Kelle on Christmas morning a bunch of years ago!

Wishing you a

Blessed and Merry Christmas!

Christmas books. . .

2011-12-18T20:07:00.001-08:00

In addition to loving the whole of Christmas I have a special affection for Christmas books. These are the Christmas books I have in the Christmas décor bin we carry with us. I have more in storage but, as you might guess, space is at a premium in the basement hatches of our fifth wheel RV home.

Among my many Little Golden Books are these three 1970’s Christmas books. Did you know that over two billion Little Golden Books have been printed since 1942? Many years ago I developed a special liking for “The Night Before Christmas” after Gary’s Grandma Lottie gave our two sons (Kelle hadn’t come along yet) this velvety version of Night Before Christmas. The price on the cover is 39cents.

So, my children’s Great-Grandma Lottie got me started on a tradition that I have continued with my grandchildren Jorden, Stanley, Mary and Will and now, this year, with my first great-granddaughter Aubree. On their first Christmas I have given each of them a version of Clement C. Moore’s The Night Before Christmas. The original title of this poem, first published in 1823, was “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” and I’ve also seen it called Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Aubree’s is illustrated by one of my favorite artists Mary Engelbreit. One of my other favorite illustrators is Jan Brett.

The Night before Christmas books in my collection. Cajun Night Before Christmas is a not-so-traditional version I bought in Louisiana.

This version illustrated by Will Moses, grandson of Grandma Moses, included an ornament.

Of course the best night before Christmas story is found in this book! As I was taking photos of my Mom’s Bible I was thinking I should place something a little Christmasy, maybe a red ribbon or piece of greenery, on the page. Low and behold this “The Birth of Jesus Christ” postcard literally popped out of the Bible! “Mom, how did you do that?”

We all know the final words of the poem:

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!

Into the past. . .

2011-12-13T18:26:00.001-08:00

A few years ago I started doing a Christmas newsletter. This 1992 Thomas Times is the first of the series and I have pretty much followed this format on all of them since 1992. I created it on my computer but at that time I was not on-line to download clip art and graphics. (Was anyone?) so this first edition was a bit plain-Jane. The photo was “pasted” on and I then made copies at the copy store. Since color copies were very expensive in 1992 I’m quite sure that it went out to friends and family in black and white format.

For volume number I use the number of years Gary and I have been married.

Page 2

What is your opinion about Christmas newsletters? Do you enjoy receiving and reading them? (Be honest, my feelings won’t be hurt; I know that lots of people REALLY don’t like them!) Do you write one yourself?

I love writing, receiving and reading them – even the bad ones! It is so much more interesting than receiving a card with no message. I also love receiving photo greeting cards.

On a Journey. . .riding the rails

2011-12-12T12:48:00.001-08:00

As you know Gary & I are fulltime RVers whose primary mode of traveling is a GMC truck which tows our Escalade 5th wheel home.

But for the past three months, every three weeks I have been making a round trip from Salinas to Oxnard on the AMRAK Coast Starlight train to be with my sister Micki.

AND. . .I have fallen in love with this new, for me anyway, mode of transportation! This leisurely relaxing way to travel makes me imagine that I have gone back in time to an earlier more simple era. (Yes, it does take longer-about 6 1/2 hours vs 4 1/2 driving time for the 269 mile trip.)

The Coast Starlight runs from Los Angeles to Seattle.

I grew up in Minot, North Dakota (see far right top of map) and was always fascinated by, but never had a chance to ride, the Empire Builder which stopped in our town.

Me and my friends Danny, Evie, Sandy and Bonnie at the Minot Depot. We were seeing Bonnie off to live in far away California.I took this picture from my window. As the train winds up and through California’s Santa Inez mountains the tracks make a huge curve. I can see the engine and first few cars of the train.Listening to the click of the steel wheels against the steel rails is soothing. Take a look at the seat size and legroom compared to the total lack of on a plane. Also, NO 3 oz. restrictions on liquids, sharp objects such as nail files, NO security lines, NO body scans, NO pat-down searches (I ALWAYS get chosen for these.) You can get up and stretch your legs, walk to the Lounge Car, make reservations for lunch and/or dinner in the full-service Dining Car, buy snacks in the Café or Snack Car.One of the train stations along the route is El Paso de Robles --- “The Pass of the Oaks”.We have traveled Highway 101 for years where only the not-so attractive back side of 1797 Mission San Miguel Arcangel is visible. We’ve also visited almost all of of the 21 missions that comprise California's Historic Mission Trail but not San Miguel. It is now on our list!A caboose! Don’t see them very often anymore.Pacific Ocean sunsets taken through my window.

Me, waiting for the Coast Starlight train.

P.S. After all of my talk about loving to ride the rails, I have to tell you that it was 45” late on this day! Still love it!

A Week of Thanks--giving

2011-11-24T17:51:00.001-08:00

It’s Thanksgiving Day. . .giving thanks every day.

Thank you for the food we eat,
Thank you for the world so sweet,
Thank you for the birds that sing,
Thank you God for everything. Amen.

We give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way. -ritual chant

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Week of Thanks--giving

2011-11-23T18:01:00.001-08:00

Two days to Thanksgiving Day. . .giving thanks everyday.

“Grandchildren are the dots that connect the lines from generation to generation.” Lois Wyse

Today I am thankful for generations of dots that connect the lines of my life: my three children, my four grandchildren, and, as of 2:22 a.m. yesterday, my first great-grandchild. I am also thankful for the dots that came before me to create a continuous line, my great-grandparents who were gone before I existed, my grandparents, three of whom were still alive and I grew up knowing and caring about, and my parents, particularly my mother.

The birth yesterday of Aubree also made me reminisce about this new great-granddaughter’s connections to the extraordinary women who came before her in our family: my strong grandmothers, Mabel and Lempi; my talented Mom, Martha; smart daughter Kelle; and sweet pea grand-daughter Mary. And to think that Aubree has the same sort of line of connection through her mother Allison! When I found the quote I thought “Wow, Ms. Wyse has already put into perfect words what I have been thinking.”

Aubree yesterday – just a few hours old! Before she was born I called her “Miss Baby Girl.” Maybe this name will stick?

The dots are not all girls. Grandson Jorden and his new daughter.

This is Papa with our three youngest grandchildren, Stanley, Mary and Will. Our nickname for these three talented youn’uns is “The Little Ones.”

Gary and I are very sure that God blessed us with the best grandchildren in the world!

Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers. Proverbs 17:6 ESV. Ok, I admit I have a teeny little issue with this bible verse. . . I just don’t feel like an aged grandparent.

One thankful Grammie!

A Week of Thanks--giving

2011-11-21T17:37:00.001-08:00

Three days to Thanksgiving Day. . .giving thanks everyday.

"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and avoid the people, you might better stay home."
James Michener

Today I am thankful for my full time RVing lifestyle. Yes, I dearly love the traveling and my fifth wheel home (and my traveling companion-Gary, you know who you are) but today am thinking that I am SO thankful that I travel because I have the opportunity to try so many kinds of food!

“Go thy way, eat thy bread with job, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.” Ecclesiastes 9:7

At one point we decided that we would buy a bottle each of white and red wine made in each of the states we traveled through. This worked for awhile until someone in one of the (not to be named) southern states advised us NOT to buy their wine – said it was terrible. So, we abandoned this plan.

Later at Biltmore Estates winery we had to make sure the wine we bought was made from local North Carolina grapes and not California grapes which is the case for the majority of their wines. This New Mexico Blue Teal Pinot Grigio and Gruet sparkling wine were both good.

Grandson Jorden getting up close and personal to his Texas BBQ and pinto beans at Rudy’s BBQ. Rudy’s is located adjacent to a gas station!

More BBQ-this time Memphis style at Central BBQ.

And more BBQ at the Charles Vergos’ Rendezvoux in Memphis. The entrance to the Rendezvous is in an alley! Sweet tea is a must in the South.

Meat pies are THE thing in Natchitoches (Nak a tish), Louisiana and Lasyone’s Meat Pie Kitchen is THE place for them. The red beans and rice, with sausage for Gary, and corn muffins were also tasty too; the “doggy bag”even tasted good the next day.

Hush puppies, a southern (and my) favorite!

Another favorite is MiTierra Restaurant & Bakery in San Antonio, Texas, Tex-Mex at its best. I was enjoying the company of my long-time friend Sandy so much I forgot to take a photo of the colorful restaurant and/or food!

Hurricane Ike did a real number on Galveston but thankfully El Gusto survived! My favorite there is their $3.99 breakfast burrito.

In New Orleans Beignets at Café du Monde are a must. I bought a mug to help preserve the memory of those hot puffs of dough and hot chocolate. Gary had traditional chicory coffee with his beignets.

We love finding out-of-the-way dives but even we may not have tried Susie’s Seafood in Morgan City, Louisiana if we’d seen it in the daylight! Inside it was packed with families eating at long red-checkered tablecloth tables laden with overflowing trays of crawfish. My first experience of eating crawfish – I was hooked!

My high school classmate, LDee told us that G & M Restaurant in Baltimore serves the best crabcakes. And was he ever right! Yes, we had a “doggy bag” that day too.

I don’t know how often I had lobster during our eleven weeks in Maine but know it was a lot! Gary concentrated on the delicious haddock which is available in the northeast.

Our final day of volunteering at Lamoine State Park was a lobster cookout. Here are lobster all ready for steaming.

Steamed and ready to eat. By the end of the summer I was cracking and eating them almost as efficiently as a Mainer!

And then there were also sopapillias in New Mexico, etouffee in Louisiana, catfish especially in Arkansas, New York and Chicago style pizza, the diners on the east coast, tamales in Natchez, fried chicken at Gus’, BBQ in Arkansas, Five Guys burgers (Gary said I had to add this fast food burger place-he loves it!), and, of course, we were more than ready for calamari once we were back in Monterey

So, this full-time RVer is REALLY thankful that the traveling lifestyle affords me the opportunity to try delicious food all over our wonderful country.

YUMMY

A Week for Thanks---giving

2011-11-20T14:29:00.001-08:00

Four days to Thanksgiving Day. . .giving thanks everyday.

“Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.”—Langston Hughes

Today I am thankful for rain. . .and it is, as my Mom used to say, raining cats and dogs! I also happen to love rain, love the sound of raindrops on the roof of our RV home, love to watch the drops splashing and love walking in the rain – hey, I am waterproof!

Maybe this love stems from the fact that my home has always been in low rainfall states. I am a North Dakota native where the average rainfall is 17.8”, 43rd in ranking in the U.S., and my current home state of California ranks 40th with 22.2” per year.

It’s hard to capture rain in a photo.

The rain barrel is almost full!

“Into each life some rain must fall.”--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.”--Jerry Chin

“Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines.”— Satchel Paige had a way with words, love him.

“After the rain cometh the fair weather.”—Aesop. That’s what is wonderful about living in California, LOTS of fair weather!

“That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.”-- Deuteronomy 11:14

The rain may have not been the primary reason I chose this verse. . . perhaps it was the reference to wine?

And then there is this nursery rhyme which I love except that I don’t want the rain to go away. Yes, it is still raining cats and dogs. . . and I am thankful!

A week for Thanks--giving

2011-11-19T14:44:00.001-08:00

Five days to Thanksgiving Day. . .giving thanks everyday.

Today I am thankful for this beautiful butterfly I am watching (and photographing) from my sister’s dining room.

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God."

Thessalonians 5:18

Our Mom gave each of us, brother Don included, this same Bible for our Lutheran confirmation.

(Special thanks to my sister Micki for use of her home for my photos.)

Who knew??

2011-11-01T12:02:00.001-07:00

“Isn't it astonishing that all these secrets have been preserved for so many years just so we could discover them!” Orville Wright

I have been staying with my sister Micki as she goes through Chemo. Yesterday she received a package from our sister-in-law Lee. In it was this beautiful multi-colored colored shawl.

This beautiful sentiment attributed to “Kentucky Mom” was enclosed with the shawl.

We admired the shawl and wondered who had knit such a beauty. We were thinking that she must know someone who knits so beautifully. THEN, in the personal message on the inside of the card we read: “As I knitted I thought of you. . .” Wait a minute! Did she say “I knitted?” Lee can knit? Did she just learn this art?

Micki gets on the phone and calls Lee to thank her (and to find out about this knitting thing.) Lee says yes indeed, she not only knits but learned many years ago! We have not only known Lee since she married our brother Don over 40 years ago, but Gary and I full-time RVed with them for more than ten years. Yes, we even hit dozens of craft and fabric stores as we traveled together all over the country for ten years and I didn’t know this little tidbit about her.

How well do we really know the people we care about? And, no matter how well we think we know our friends and acquaintances, how much do we really know about them? Sal performs in a band? I didn’t know that! Harold is Finnish! Gary and his parents were extras in a movie! We watch celebrities in the media and like to think we know them. Of course we don’t.

Who knew?

Where did Halloween creativity go?

2011-10-28T16:01:00.001-07:00

Yesterday while I was buying “Trick or Treats” to mail to Stanley, Mary and Will in Fresno I noticed several aisles displaying hundreds of Halloween costumes. And they weren’t cheap! I can only imagine what families with several children must be spending on costumes.

Gosh, I must be getting old! Where are the days when people and kids actually created their costumes? When my three were growing up I kept a big box full of all kinds of piece-parts for costumes. After Russ, Gary and Kelle decided what they wanted to “BE” they would dump the box out onto the family room floor and chose from the many items to create their costume. If need be, we would head out to the fabric store to purchase additional items to finish out their costumes. After Halloween these new fixings would be added to the box.

A few years later, when he was about two, I made grandson Jorden into a bright yellow M&M. Wish I had the pictures with me to show you; I’m not at home this week and have only the photos on my laptop and flash drive to chose from.

Seemed that they got almost as much pleasure in creating their costume as they did in the actual Trick or Treating event. Yes, of course, they did LOVE getting all that candy!

That’s me on far right, Gary is second from left sometime in the 70’s. Our costumes were also created from the “Halloween box.”

Kelle and her brother (Was it Russ or Gary? I can’t tell!)

Gary and I. My “wig” was a floor mop dyed red. Yes, Gary is in dyed red long-johns!

Grandson Jorden- “The Nerd”

When the kids were all costumed and ready to go out trick or treating they grabbed a grocery bag or pillow case for their stash. This morning on the Today Show a guest stated: “It’s over with the paper bags” and displayed various fancy trick or treat containers which seem to be the current must have.

Yeah! At least some people are still doing hand-made costumes. Bobbie Thomas of the Today Show has some ideas: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44991707/ns/today-style/. Loved the Smurfs and Holy Cow and Deviled Egg!

I also found this site with some cute ideas: http://costumeideazone.com/ Bearded Circus Lady and Cute as a Button seem easy and fun.

OK, so creativity is not entirely dead, just lying low.

I do love how Jack O Lantern carving has taken a creative turn. Now, in addition to the traditional “mouth with teeth, triangle nose and eyes:”

creativity has taken jack 0 lanterns to whole new level:

Happy Halloween!

BOO!

A thought on a Friday afternoon

2011-10-21T22:47:00.001-07:00

Or rather, a lack of thoughts on a Friday afternoon!

I was browsing through the “Famous Quotes” app on my IPhone today and saw this quote by William Makepeace Thackeray:

“There are a thousand thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up a pen to write.”

Well, taking up the pen; or, in this case, placing fingers on my laptop keyboard hasn’t brought my thousand thoughts to mind lately!

Maybe it is let-down writer’s block caused by thirteen months on the road! I’m sure I will recover.

Happy Friday everyone!

My Fresno Five. . .how DO they keep up?

2011-10-06T22:13:00.001-07:00

This is a recent E mail from daughter-in-law Denise. In addition to the small slice of life in this re-cap she is a Special Ed Teacher and our son, Russ, is busy with his job. Oh yes, there are also two active Jack Russell terriers in the mix!

From left, Stanley, athlete extraordinaire, Mary, cheerleader and all around girly-girl, Will, just a character!

Friday: 2:30: Stanley is starting QB for Eaton Eagles Flag Football team. They played the #1 school (the GATE school) Our Eagles scored 4 touchdowns in their proud defeat. Stanley had his first bloody, busted lip. his friends ran up to me......Stanley lost a tooth! Thank goodness that wasn't true.

Friday: 3:30: Mom sold snow cones at Powers-Ginsburg Carnival and purchased home made tamales for Dad.

Friday: 7:00: Mary cheered at High School game for Hoover Patriots. The girls even danced on the field at half-time. Awesome job Lil' Pates!

Friday: 10:00: Dad to bed, Mom with feet up and kids playing (are you kidding me?)

Saturday:7:30 : Stanley and Mom to soccer game/ Stan played goalie. Mom held her breathe for two straight 20 min. periods. We lost by one. Our boy did a good job.

Saturday: 8:00: William, Mary, Kylee and Dad head to Wills soccer game. Tie. But they got donuts on the way....so we will call it a win.

Saturday: 11:00: Mary and Mom to Allison's shower. Very nice luncheon, Grandma Lisa made cakes and cookies with Aubree's name in icing. Cute cupcakes she made into rattles uses plastic shovel handles. Creative points there. Good turnout and lots of cute goodies for baby. (Grandma Mary would love all the Oakland A's attire) Mary almost won a game. She did make out with all the balloons.

Saturday: 4:00: Thomas family loads up and heads to Sanger. Mary and her crew, cheer their hearts out for the often defeated Lil Pates. We listen to Fresno State Bulldog game on radio driving home.

Saturday: 8:00: Pizza

Saturday: 9:00: Bed

Sunday: 1:00: Stanley's "bad news bears" baseball team only loses by one run to his old coach's team. A moral victory.

Sunday: 3:00: Mom's birthday dinner out..........yummy! Chicken coconut soup, favorite food on the planet!

Sunday: 5:00: Dad and Stanley jump fence at school and play tennis while Mary and Wills flag down Ice cream truck. Mom watches.....smiling

Sunday: 7:00: Mom writes birthday Thank you notes.

Sunday: 9:30: Everyone full of popcorn and showered. Resting at last. Mom hits computer!

Our lives our full of blessings. Even if we are a bit stressed and fatigued at times.

Oh how I remember the days of baseball, scouts, gymnastics, football, 4-H, cheerleading, band, church, that Gary and I were involved in with our three and, as she states at the end, we were also fatigued and stressed much of the time. Brings back wonderful memories and also makes me tired! Thank goodness I am now the Grammie who can relax and enjoy.

Our three in the 1970’s, these California kids didn’t see snow up close very often: Russ, now Dad to the above, Kelle “Mom” to two cats, and Gary, Dad to Jorden.

Heading west (home) again. . .

2011-09-24T19:38:00.001-07:00

A year ago last week we left the Monterey Peninsula in California for points east, south and who knows where else following the hood of the truck would take us. And we did go to points in the south and east, in fact, all the way to the eastern-most point in the U.S.

About August, while we were in Maine I started missing “home.” But wait a minute, I’m a full time RVer who loves the lifestyle of living and traveling in a fifth wheel RV! For seventeen years home has been where we are for however long we are there, so why for the first time was I feeling this way?

Almost all full time RVers have a “home base”, the place where they return to periodically. For many it is where they lived in a traditional home prior to going on the road. This is often where their primary care physicians, dentists, accountants etc are located. This was the case for us although Gary had elbow surgery and I had dental work done in Louisiana. My brother Don and sister-in-law Lee kept Bellingham, Washington as their home base the 10+ years they full time RVed. Others adopt a home base along the road. Our full timing friends Duane and MaryJane adopted South Carolina as their home base and then settled there when they were done full timing.

Ah ha, so what I am missing is not my home but our home base! The familiar places we love to eat, our family and friends, the roar of the race cars and motorcycles at Laguna Seca Raceway, beautiful Monterey Bay, “my” Safeway market and even the summertime brown hills of the Golden State.

While home is where the heart is, it is also true that home is where the familiar is. Of course this doesn’t mean we are anywhere near settling into a home that doesn’t move. . .not by a long stretch!

And when you are making plans, life happens

2011-08-24T08:03:00.001-07:00

Once again I’ve been distracted from writing about FDR and Eleanor’s beloved island Campobello - who knows if I will ever get back to it!

One of our “words to live by”, “Our plans are like jello, very flexible” took on a whole new meaning last week when we received a call telling us that the grandson we helped raise was in a one car crash and was pretty banged up. Since we are in Maine we couldn’t have been further away from Fresno, California when it happened and because of HIPPA privacy laws we were unable to get very much information about his condition over the telephone. Husband Gary had flight reservations made for me almost before the news had fully registered and I was on my way back to California.

Jorden was wearing his seatbelt and definitely had his guardian angel (us in the family think it was our nephew Michael who was taken from us too soon) in the car with him when he fell asleep, hit a guard rail, flipped, rolled down an embankment, hit a tree and is not only alive but, after only seven days, was released from the hospital and healing. He has a compression fracture to his L1 disk for which he is wearing a back brace for about three months, a broken nose with lots of stitches to repair the skin and which will have to be re-broken and set when swelling is gone, a bruised lung, concussion, all of which, whew, will heal with time. For now his goal is to rest and recuperate.

I won’t show a photo of Jorden but here is what remains of his Honda:

On Thursday he and I joined Gary back in Maine. We flew from Fresno to Phoenix (unbeknownst to us barely missed another haboob, one of the huge dust storms Phoenix has been experiencing this year,) then on to Philadelphia where our flight to Bangor was delayed due to weather. While waiting for our Bangor flight we had four gate changes. Thank goodness for those electric carts that ferry those who need them! And we were safely at home at 3:15am.

Our 49th anniversary happened while I was in Fresno, only the second time we haven’t been together on August 17th! The first was way back when Gary was in the US Air Force stationed in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Here we are back in ‘62.

We are now watching hurricane Iris to see if it truly makes its way all the way up the East Coast as the Weather Channel say is possible. If so, our plans will again be like jello and we will point the truck west pretty quickly --- our fifth wheel prefers not to ride out huge winds!

FDR & Eleanor. . .oops, I got distracted!

2011-08-10T12:03:00.001-07:00

This morning I sat down to write about FDR and Eleanor’s beloved island Campobello and got distracted. I remembered that it was time for Grammie & Papa to send the Little Ones grandchildren their yearly back-to-school shopping money. It is usually a Target gift card which they love but there isn’t a Target here in Ellsworth, Maine so I’m sure they will be quite happy with cash.

It wouldn’t do for Grammie to just throw the money in an envelope! UMMM-what kind of cards should I make? I decided to make little cards and then thought, ah it’s cash, I’ll do cash gift envelopes! I started to draw out a template but wouldn’t checking on-line for a template be a little easier? Yep, Googled it and found a very nice template on Mirwood Designs (I bookmarked that site for future projects; it has lots of neat templates!)

My bone folder is a real bone given to grandson Jorden by an Alaskan artist.I used Printmaster to find some fun back-to-school graphics. Even though I liked the Bulletin Board graphic, when I tried to center the template over it, it just wouldn’t feature enough of the graphic so this went in the trash.Found another cute graphic, printed and cut it out. Oops! Why does the president seems to be peeking though the cutout? I know used the correct template! (Had never noticed before but on older bills the president is centered and on the newer “large face” bills the faces are off center.) Well, I figured out that, in order for the cutout to be in correct alignment, the right side of the template and the printed graphic design had to be facing when cutting it out. Easy fix there.

Here, I have the process down and having fun making personalizing graphics for each “grand.” Colored pencils for ten-year old Stanley, cute paint pots for nine-year old Mary and leaves, pencils and books for seven-year old Will.Finished product, loaded with a “president,” tied with a ribbon and ready to go in a mailing envelope! That was fun for me, hope the “grands” like them too.So now I can get back to FDR and his beloved island!

Fulltime RVing: A SUMMER IN THE “BRIG”. . .

2011-08-03T11:21:00.001-07:00

museum, that is.

Interpretive Hosting at Farragut State Park in Idaho was one of our more interesting Fulltime RVing experiences. My article about this experience was published in the Workamper News photo contest a few years ago. Text of the above:

Few people are aware that 4,000 acre Farragut State Park in the panhandle of Idaho was once the location of a World War II Naval Training Center. The Brig (Navy term for jail) is the only remaining building of about 700 which were quickly built after the Pearl Harbor attack. Farragut Naval Training Center trained 293,381 “boots” for the war effort during it’s short operation from 1942-46.

We thoroughly enjoyed our assignment as Interpretive Hosts at the “Brig” naval museum. We felt we were caretakers of an important piece of our country’s history. A highlight was hearing both the stories of the men and women who trained and worked at the center and those who lived during the war years. Most often they started with “we didn’t do anything special.”

From Park Manager Bryan and rangers Dennis, Al, Jim, Tami, Keith, Pam to Park Interpreter Nancy, friendly helpful park aides, Visitor Center personnel and especially the campground hosts we were made to feel welcome and valued.

Situated in forests of ponderosa and other pines, nowadays this quiet scenic park on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced Pond Oray) hosts campers, bicyclists, horse back riders, Boy and Girl Scout Jamborees, a shooting range, and even a special area, (formerly parade grounds for the training center) for remote controlled airplane events. Abundant wildlife roams the park with an occasional “black dog in the area” alert. Black dog is a code word for bear!

For the 14th time in our eight years of full timing our Workamper assignment was a positive experience. Thanks, Workamper News, for publishing the “Sears catalog” of working and volunteering on the road.

The photo of us and grandson Jorden, a seasoned “Junior Workamper,” is taken in front of the museum map of the naval training center.

The Brig is the only remaining major Naval Training Center building. Unruly “boots” would have entered through the large gates on center front of the Brig. Brig Museum entrance is at left front of the building. Our site was tucked into the Ponderosa pines beside the Brig and entrance to the museum.Before arriving at Farragut we were unaware that the Navy had a land-locked training center during WWII. Makes sense since it was feared that coastal locations would have been vulnerable to enemy attack.Unrestored solitary confinement cells in an area of the Brig not open to the public. Although it is rumored that ghosts of long-gone sailors roam the Brig we didn’t experience any paranormal activity.This cell would have housed four to six inmates. The mattresses aren’t exactly Tempur-pedic are they? And the blankets were scratchy wool--ouch.Another cell without the chain link door and enclosure. Items on the bunks are WWII era Navy uniforms.The display board demonstrates many many sailor knots. Kids, and adults too, I must say, were attracted to the practice rail for learning knots such as clove hitch, anchor hitch and bowline. Signalman operated this signal lamp and also utilized semaphore flag signaling. The red and white flag is a semaphore dating back to the war.A blackout headlight used on military vehicles.In addition to our Interpretive Hosting duties we took on other projects at the Brig. Here Gary is painting a new sign for the museum. Jorden took part in several “Junior Ranger” programs such as tree planting, bike safety and wolf education.

Are you familiar with any of these Nautical quotes?

"Damn the torpedoes, Full speed ahead!" -Admiral David Glasgow Farragut

"Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!"-Lieutenant Howell Maurice Forgy

"Don't give up the ship!"- Captain James Lawrence

"I have not yet begun to fight!"-Captain John Paul Jones

“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning”

“There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea.” Joseph Conrad

"Fifteen men on the dead man's chest -- Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" R.L. Stevenson

Folklore legend update. . .Paul Bunyan number three

2011-07-24T09:04:00.001-07:00

I wouldn’t have an interest in folklore legend Paul Bunyan had I not grown up visiting him and Babe every summer when my family drove from North Dakota to Minnesota to visit my Finnish grandparents Charlie and Lempi. The trip wasn’t complete until we had stopped in Bemidji to see this giant and his blue ox. He and Babe don’t seem quite as large as they did when I was a little girl! At eighteen feet tall he was built to a three to one scale of the six foot tall man he was modeled on.A few years ago I was surprised to see ANOTHER Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe while driving north on California Highway 101 in Mystic Trees near the Klamath River. This Paul Bunyan is tall at 49’; I think Babe is quite a nice looking Blue Ox!So that was number two - and now I’ve seen a third Paul Bunyan in Bangor, Maine, but no Babe in sight! At 31’ this Paul Bunyan claims to be the largest in the world (a discrepancy since California Paul is 49’ tall!) He was placed to overlook the Penobscot River but now looks straight at the casino which was built across the street.

Maine and Minnesota both claim to be the birthplace of Bunyan and Babe. Whichever is true it is told that it took FIVE storks to deliver him! And both Minnesota and Wisconsin lay claim to having him buried in their state. Popular guy isn’t he?

I know there are more Bunyan’s and Babe’s out there. . .will update you if/when I happen onto more!

I’m technology boondocking. . .

2011-07-16T09:09:00.001-07:00

So, here we are, settled in our Camp Host site at Lamoine State Park in Down East Maine. The Maine woods and Frenchmen’s Bay at our doorstep are beautiful---I even have hummingbirds at my feeder! About the second day of wonderfulness, the reality of not having internet hit me. I really can’t sit down at my laptop and log on to Blogger, Facebook, Goodreads, E-Bay, Amazon, Google, on-line banking or E mail! This is not an adventure but a challenge (I won’t go so far as to call it a problem but I am a bit stressed!)

Of course, as with almost every challenge, there are always options. One option is to drive about five miles for wi-fi access in the parking lot of the tiny Lamoine Town Hall but presently this is not doable since my laptop battery lasts about 10 minutes. (I have a new battery and auto-charger for the truck ordered from Amazon.com so this may become my go-to place.)For now we are driving twelve miles to the historic 1897 Ellsworth Library where they have excellent wi-fi and electricity. We found a nice secluded corner table in the second-floor genealogy section and I quite happily settle in. However Gary is ready to go after a few minutes and then sits “patiently” staring at me to see if I’m about done. OK, let’s go.This current situation reminds me of the progress that’s been made in the seventeen years since we started full-time RVing. Back then there was no Internet (well, it was out there but hadn’t been widely commercialized.) I’ve had a personal computer since 1984 (two floppy disk drives) and bought a little Compaq notebook when we went on the road. Of course it didn’t hook to anything but I enjoyed using it for word processing, budgeting, my journal and making greeting cards.

Then, in 1999 our friend Dean introduced me to E mail! He gave me a floppy disk for Juno, I loaded it and was on my way--I had E-mail!

Do you remember floppy disks?I quickly learned that modem access on a road could a real challenge. RV parks were advertising “modem hook-ups” and “modem friendly” which often meant balancing the laptop on a stack of boxes and almost standing on my head to reach the hook-up, normally behind the fax machine in a far corner of the office. But I had E-mail and Internet access! I was thrilled!

Soon most RV parks had comfortable dedicated modem locations, maybe in the office or rec hall but there were surprises. In 2002 when we checked into the beautiful Tom Sawyer RV Park on the Mississippi River in West Memphis my sister-in-law Lee and I asked if they had modem access. Oh yes, of course, it’s at site #12. Wow, we thought, they have a building, so we grabbed our laptops and walked to site #12. It was the utility post with a telephone connector! (Note: when we stayed at Tom Sawyer RV Park again last Fall they had really good wi-fi.)

My denim jacket is over my head to block glare from the bright sunlight!Now, of course dial-up is pretty much outmoded and wi-fi is the thing. In 2006 I wrote in my Christmas newsletter that I feel terribly inconvenienced if I don’t have wi-fi in my fifth wheel! RV parks sometimes neglect tell you that doesn’t reach your site. When making reservations I ask three questions: “Do you have w-fi? Does it work? Will it reach my site?”

In Galveston last December this was the “computer room,” complete with that very uncomfortable metal chair in the lower right corner and a very annoying gurgling water sound, where the wi-fi signal came in clearly! All in all I am more than happy with computer access technology on the road and plan to check further into tethering or an air card, more fairly recent technology. . .it’s hard to keep up! Unfortunately I will be roughing it for awhile but beautiful Lamoine State Park and Frenchman’s Bay more than makes up for the inconvenience.

For now it’s a trek to the Lamoine Town Hall parking lot or the Ellsworth Library so I won’t be posting to my blog very frequently or checking your blogs as often as I’d like! Don’t give up on me, I’ll be popping in and out and will be back with you on a regular basis. . .in a few months!

I’m technology boondocking!

OH, what a day!

2011-07-05T11:13:00.001-07:00

It starts out to be a great day. We are on the road early, eager to get to Lamoine State Park where we have been accepted to be volunteer Campground Hosts. The drive through the woods of Maine from Houlton to Lamoine is beautiful even though we are on an interstate highway. Our goal is to take secondary “blue highways” (often drawn on maps in blue) as William Least Heat Moon calls them in his Blue Highways book but today we take the fast route. We arrive at Lamoine State Park about 12:30PM and are greeted by friendly rangers and volunteers. So far so good! Let’s get our fifth wheel set up! Here’s where the day goes, as the saying goes “to hell in a hand basket!”

UH-OH-the entrance to our site isn’t very wide and there are rain runoff ditches on either side. AND. . .trees, lots of trees, and brush on either side of the road making maneuvering very touchy. Gary, who loves a challenge, gives backing into the site a try --- nope, the wheels of the fifth wheel start falling into the ditch and the nose of the truck is deep into brush and trees across the road.

On to plan B-back in from the other direction. Hey, it’s working until. . .the fifth wheel starts shifting and leaning into what turns out to be soft earth! Oh no! The rather large tree and our home are becoming perilously close - 6 inches or less!!In my mind I envision the side being bashed in and with it the refrigerator which, inside, is exactly beside the tree.Gary jockeys the truck back and forth trying to get out of the rut but the rut only gets deeper. This rig is going nowhere-not forward, not backward without it sliding toward the tree! He and Bob slip boards under the tires by jacking the whole rig up with bottle jacks. Inch by inch it is moved forward but THEN there is no more room for the truck to go forward because of the trees. Can’t go forward, can’t go back!Let’s see now, if we could only swing it around to the left just a bit. Gary unhooks our GMC and very carefully, almost inch by inch, ranger Bob’s VERY HUGE Mack truck pivots the fifth wheel just a few feet. Gary hooks up the GMC again and eases the fifth wheel over the boards, the boulders, a granite slab the Ranger has dropped into the ditch but, oh-oh, the 17,500 lb. fifth wheel is sinking again! Keep it moving Gary! He does and, five hours after this odyssey began, we are safely out. WHEW, WHEW and double WHEW!Now what? Will we be staying at Lamoine State Park or will we have to leave? For tonight we make NO decisions. We boondock in the parking lot for the night (for you non-RVers, boondocking is parking with no water, electric or sewer hookups.) With the electric coffee and tea maker out of commission, I dig out the good old percolator and tea kettle for my morning Earl Grey and Gary’s Maxwell House. The not-so-scenic view of the parking lot from our window.A new day dawns with a decision to be made. Is it back on the road or ?? Dulee and I go for our morning walk and see that they have moved the granite block to the other side and filled in dirt over the ditch to make the entrance about four feet wider. Gary says “piece of cake!" and we’re soon in position for day two’s maneuvers. The fifth wheel moves pretty smoothly over the makeshift arrangement with just a little sinking into the dirt and the boards crack as it passes over but we are soon set up in our Camp Host site. Much better clearance with the tree!

We’re home for the next couple of months!

My age: I’m Beyond. . .

2011-06-22T11:48:00.001-07:00

One of the segments on the Today Show a few days ago was “How to look good in your 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and beyond.” Wow, my age is beyond! BEING a beyond is not a problem, but did I like being clumped into beyond? Well, I wasn’t so sure, so I googled “50 and beyond” and came up with a wealth of BEYOND:

A magazine article Hairstyles for Women 40-50 and beyond is quite positive but still manages to convey the beyond group as being pretty anonymous: “Women who are over forty, over fifty or beyond should wear their hair in any style they choose. If your hair makes you feel good and you like the way it looks, wear it with confidence” Even though I have this hair that does what it wants to with no regard to my choice, this is still good helpful information for beyonds! So far so good.

Loving Life at 50 ~and Beyond This is really a pretty nice blog with a great watercolor background.

Staying Slim in your 40’s, 50’s and beyond. This blog has some good information which is divided into two categories: “40’s” and “50’s and beyond”

A workout video by Angela Rippon Fabulously Fit at 50 & Beyond (No, I don’t workout so didn’t even watch it all the way through!)

Weightwatchers even has a group called FABulously Fit B4 50 & BEYOND!

I found a Beyond 50 Radio blog.

I like the description of Susanna Starr’s book Fifty and Beyond, New Beginnings in Health and Well-Being
“A non-authoritarian approach to fitness and well-being, aimed especially at people approaching and beyond age fifty (50). An inspiration during a time of mid-life for those who are ready for new beginnings. Clear and insightful suggestions for developing our potential through expanding the mind, caring for the body and celebrating the spirit.”

I read a few of this blogger’s very moving posts on Zero to Sixty and beyond and will be following her.

SOOO. . . my conclusion: although it feels somewhat like being in a grey cloud, beyond is not such a bad age. While I have nothing against my chronological age I just may have changed my age to beyond!

Gary & I before we were beyond.

And here we are, both age beyond.

I saw my first moose in Maine!

2011-06-12T19:20:00.001-07:00

Well, it isn’t a real moose but it is life size! A man we talked to in this little park by the Meduxnekeag River (NO, I can’t pronounce Meduxnekeag and YES, I had to look up the spelling!) said that if we stay in Maine very long we will see a live one. I’m on the watch!

Other moose we’ve encountered in our travels:

1998 at Denali National Park in Alaska. This was before digital cameras were readily available---I wish I’d had the 26X zoom Nikon camera I now have!

She(?) was enjoying her lunch! This was taken in 2002, the summer we were docents at the Brig Museum at Farragut State Park in Idaho. We were on our way to visit the Carnegie Library in nearby Wallace and spotted her in a lake beside the highway.

By this time I’d had my Sony Mavica digital camera for a few years and used the 3X zoom to take this photo.

Thanks for stopping by to see my moose!

Why oh why isn’t the plural of moose, meese?

I’m going to make books! Correction: I’ve made a book!

2011-06-05T12:27:00.001-07:00

I found this book in the gift shop of the Renwick Gallery, the Smithsonian gallery which features American craft and decorative arts. Umm, I can do this; I have no artistic talent but am creative and can follow directions very well! Rather than carrying the book around that day I waited, found it on Amazon.com and saved about $10 over suggested retail. I LOVE a deal!

The layout of the book seems to progress from very simple to difficult so I started by making this instant book from Chapter One-Instant Books.

Instructions for making an instant book are quite simple and I mastered it very quickly. Fold, fold, fold, fold, snip, pull apart and re-fold into book form---that’s it! A book!

Combining this newly acquired bookmaking skill with my computer skills I printed an 8-1/2” X 11” sheet of paper with graphics of a daisy, a birthday cake and birthday greetings to my sister. First go-round I had the birthday cake upside down so had to go back to the drawing board/computer. Second attempt was a success!

OK, that’s a little bit TOO simple, I’m moving on to the chapters on accordions, stab stitch, chapbooks, mutant (mutant. . . that sounds intriguing!), long stitch and Coptic books. I’m working my way through the “How to Make Books” book.

Wait a minute! I almost forgot that I made accordion books for our three children a few years ago. . . and I made them without any instructions! I’m glad I took pictures of them.

A message to the kids is on the inside cover.

Three copies of each of the items in her wallet await assembling in the accordion books.

The covers are a stiff cardboard covered with black fabric to simulate the black plastic of Grandma Mary’s wallet. For the title on the front cover I found tiny scrapbooking frames at Michael’s Craft store.

Black poster paper was just thick enough but still folded quite easily into accordion “pages.”

Reverse side of the replica of a wallet photo holder.

I wonder how close I came to author Esther Smith’s method? I’m not going to peek ahead; will wait until I get to that chapter!

This has absolutely nothing to do with books, but have to show you the wonderful lobster we had for dinner last night. Price: including a quart of (the best) clam chowder, the dinner for two was $36.84! (yes, we are in Maine)

Happy Memorial Day

2011-05-30T11:50:00.001-07:00

Hope everyone has their Old Glory flying! Gary dug out the flag my Mom gave him a long time ago and has it suspended from our awning. He’s had it so long that I asked him if it had 50 stars!

As always we have our American, California and racing flags on the front of the fifth wheel.

And look at the cute stylized banner I bought the other day at the Lobster Shack at Two Lights where we had lunch. I thought it would be perfect for Memorial Day. Food Note: the lobster rolls were to die for!

We had lunch today at The Lobster Claw here in Saco, Maine. . .as you can see they are also decked out for the day! Food Note #2: my clam strips were wonderful as was Gary’s haddock!

Is there a better way to honor our military and remember our loved ones on Memorial Day? I don’t think so!

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

Eleanor Roosevelt. . .a Blogger before Blogging?

2011-05-25T17:54:00.001-07:00

We have been visiting the presidential libraries and museums and, so far have managed to do all but Eisenhower, Ford and, of course, since I’m a Californian, Nixon and Reagan’s. (George Bush’s is still in the planning stages, I believe.)

Some are more interesting and personal than others but last week I really enjoyed the home tour and visit of Franklin D. Roosevelt home, Presidential Library and Museum in the quaint little village of Hyde Park, New York. I was struck by the level of Eleanor Roosevelt’s importance and influence in her husband’s career, especially after he was struck by polio at the age of thirty-nine. She served as his eyes and ears while traveling to places he wasn’t able to go. She not only has a wing in the Museum/Library dedicated to her but she is the only First Lady who has been honored with having a National Historic Site dedicated to her! Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site is the location of Vall-Kill, her retreat and later home from 1945 until her death in 1962.

As I browsed her wing in the presidential library I noted that among her many works was a syndicated column she wrote six days a week from 1935 to 1962. Reading a snippet I noticed that it was quite short and written in a chatty personal manner. “Hey, that sounds much like the blogs of today!” Later on-line I found that the columns have been preserved and found subjects as Housewives, the Peace Corp, White House weddings during WWII, various causes she supports and her life and travels. The same type things we all blog about although we don’t generally throw names like “the new king of Saudi Arabia (1954)” and Fidel Castro into our blogs. I liked My Day February 14, 1954 where she mentions attending an executive committee meeting of the United Nations and then later shares the Girl Scouts recipe for s’mores!

This is her May 3, 1943 column: (just happens to be my birthday)

WASHINGTON, Sunday—I have just read a book by Ethel Gorham: "So Your Husband's Gone to War!" It is entertaining and full of good common sense advice. I think pages 122 and 123 should be read and reread by every woman. It is a universal experience and sometimes it isn't only what happens in marriage.

Sisters and brothers, mothers and sons, girls and their sweethearts have sometimes found that furloughs were not all that they had planned. The men they were with were not the men who went away. Somehow, they were entirely different—moody, perhaps too gay, quite evidently covering something by the gaiety, anxious to forget instead of telling all the experiences which they want so much to hear.

This is just a sample of many other things which you will find useful in this little book and which, on the whole, is quite delightful to read. I loved the little bit about the woman who tried to give up her home and send her child away and found that it created for her husband, off at the war, only a sense of terrible insecurity, because he felt he had no real home which he remembered anywhere in the background to which he could cling, and for which he was actually fighting.

Many a husband would not have been honest enough to stop his wife in time. He might have thought he owed it to the woman to let her do the thing she thought wisest. Yet, as a matter of fact, all she needed to make the effort to go on living as usual, was the knowledge that the home he knew meant security to the man somewhere for beyond her ken.

What it must mean to those men so far away to be able to turn their thoughts for a minute to something they feel is fixed and stable in their world of home, something they love, something that is their real life, not this interim which, somehow or other, they must fight through.

And now, to something in lighter vein. Franklin P. Adams has just gotten out an anthology of light verse. It is called "Innocent Merriment," and while I know these poems are his favorites, I am sure you will find plenty of your own there, too. Who does not like Christopher Morley': "The Gospel of Mr. Pepys," ending:

"When kisses are a shilling each
We should adventure on a few."

No one could grow up without, somewhere along the road, having enjoyed Lewis Caroll's "Father William." So, when you want a pleasant hour, pick up "Innocent Merriment."

E.R.

(COPYRIGHT, 1943, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.)

Reads like a modern blog doesn’t it? If you could like to read more: “My Day”

Eleanor Roosevelt’s serene and peaceful Val-Kill.

Our nation’s Capitol. . . cleared security and cleared security and cleared security again!

2011-05-19T10:44:00.001-07:00

Security checks have been the norm at pretty much all of the Smithsonian and government venues we’ve visited during our month in Washington, D.C. Normally they involve a bag check and maybe a walk through a security sensor but during the course of the tours of the U.S. Capitol and Library of Congress we went through SEVEN security checks, and that’s not including the cursory check as we exit the Library of Congress. They begin as we enter the Longworth House Office Building to meet at Congressman Farr’s office. I “beep” when I go through, am “wanded” and pass muster. . .we are in the building! We met our tour guide, an intern from UC Santa Cruz, and set out on the tour.

This is just the beginning! We walk down a long hallway between the Longworth and the Cannon House Office buildings, then another underground hall to the Capitol, stop at the security desk in the Capitol where we are issued clip-on badges and also stick-on Capitol tour badges.

On to the galleries of the House of Representatives and Senate chambers. On the way to the House of Representatives we wait in a line to surrender cameras and other electronics. (I was relieved that I had left my purse with our phones in Congressman Farr’s office.) We walk through the security check point, I “beep” when I go through, am “wanded” and pass muster and we are seated in the House gallery.

Walking through one of the hallways our group is nabbed by a security person: “you don’t need those” and takes the clip-on badges.

We leave the House gallery, wind our way back to the security desk, pick up the camera and follow our tour guide back to the (same) elevator. . .hey, that’s the security person we just passed! Are we stuck in a maze?

Then we are back into another line to surrender my camera --- is that the same room where I surrendered it for the House? No, this is for the Senate. I have no idea how we got here! We weave our way up to the entrance for the Senate Gallery and, you guessed it, walk through another security check point where I “beep”, am “wanded” and pass muster (again,) and we are seated in the Senate gallery where we watch our senators at work. They are taking a vote on a judicial appointment but don’t sit down and vote. Instead they wander in, verbally give the clerk their vote and wander back out of the chambers. We see John McCain!

Us, with Andrew Jackson in the National Statuary Hall in the Capitol.

At the Library of Congress our belongings go through the conveyor belt and we walk through the sensor. Yes, I “beep” again but, OOPS, I forgot about my IPhone in my pocket! Back through the process again and I pass muster!

The Great Hall of the Library of Congress. . .one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen!

During the War of 1812 the British burned the Capitol and the Library of Congress. Thomas Jefferson had acquired the largest personal collection of books in the United States and offered to sell his library to Congress as a replacement. Congress purchased Jefferson's library for $23,950. A second fire on Christmas Eve of 1851, destroyed nearly two thirds of the 6,487 volumes Congress had purchased from Jefferson. Now, the Library of Congress is attempting to reassemble Jefferson’s original collection and it is currently on special exhibit. Couldn’t take pictures but it was awesome standing among books that he actually owned, touched and read! (I know I’ve digressed from my “security story” but he is one of my favorites!)

As we are shooed out of the Library when it closes at 5:30 p.m. I must again open my bag for a final security check! Whew!

Note: At one of the security “wandings” the guard asks me if I have an artificial knee or other part. . .I say no, I am in possession of all of my original parts!

Just an ordinary day in Washington, D.C. . .Wow!

2011-05-06T09:58:00.001-07:00

After visiting the off-the-National Mall beaten path Smithsonian Renwick Gallery we walked by the northern side of the White House. While planning for the President’s House George Washington felt that it should be “Not too grand but grand enough” and that’s what it is.

So, since we were there we thought we might as well walk a little further (my feet weren’t hurting THAT MUCH yet) and go around to the southern entrance.

Security personnel soon moved us away from the sidewalk saying it was a periodic thing they do. When we noticed that the snipers on the roof of the White House and a couple of the nearby office buildings seemed to be especially vigilant we decided to hang around and see why they had shooed everyone away.

Soon we saw people gathering on the lawn near the entrance. Something was going on!

Then one lone helicopter made a pass but flew on by.

Followed shortly by three big copters which flew east to west but these three also flew on by. (Sorry, but I couldn’t get all three in one photo.)

and then behind us from the south came ONE, then a SECOND both of which flew over the Washington Monument and the White House, and THEN a THIRD approaching much more slowly.

--- it was Air Force One with the President aboard! I’m guessing that he was returning from the Ground Zero trip to NYC.

Coming in for the landing. I could see Secret Service agents moving out to various places on the lawn.

On the ground at precisely 4:00 p.m. The observers were clapping and taking pictures. He debarked on the far side but I'm sure I saw his shoes!

A quick couple of minutes and Air Force One took off directly toward. . .

and over our heads!

Quite a special happening we hadn’t planned for. . .WOW!

Lunch. . .and another Carnegie Library!

2011-05-02T08:44:00.001-07:00

Found a Carnegie Library by accident yesterday wandering around D.C. We were driving on Pennsylvania Avenue in the Southeast section of the city when I caught a glimpse (as coach John Madden once said “out of the corner of my right eye”) down a side street. . . Carnegie Libraries have a distinctive architecture. I told Gary to hook a U, which in the traffic took several blocks but we maneuvered back and there it was....sure appeared to be a Carnegie so I snapped a couple of photos through the window. When we got home I looked it up and, yes, it is the Southeastern Branch which opened in 1922. I will have to try and get back and see the interior. This brings my total to seventy-one. I don’t know how many are still standing but Andrew Carnegie gave grants for 1,689. . .I have a few more to visit don’t I?

Had lunch in a Cheesecake Factory in Chevy Chase - Eggs Benedict is probably my favorite breakfast and mine was SO good! Gary had a Monte Cristo sandwich he said was delicious - wish I could have had both! (but no, I didn’t!) We were too full for dessert and passed on their delicious cheesecake but wish I had gotten a piece to-go 'cause it would have gone so good last night! Oh well, saved the calories.

Hoopskirts and homes. . .antebellum Natchez

2011-04-24T17:03:00.001-07:00

It was a pleasant surprise to arrive in Natchez, Mississippi and learn that we were there for the annual Spring Pilgrimage. (Of course I had no idea what a spring pilgrimage was but it sounded good.) I soon learned that it has taken place since 1932 and features tours of thirty historic homes and gardens. Spring Pilgrimage also includes crowning of a king and queen, a Historic Natchez Tableaux, Jazz and Juleps, Flags on the Hill at Sunset, Southern Road to Freedom musical and more but I really just wanted to see the homes. Natchez lays claim to having five hundred historic homes, not all of which are antebellum, but driving around it seems that many many qualify as antebellum! We purchased a six-tour ticket package at the Natchez Visitor Reception Center and later added three more of the antebellum homes to our itinerary. Thought I would share all of the photos I took. . .I’m joking, that would be WAY too many! Instead, here is an exterior photo and a feature I found to be unique at each of the nine.

House on Ellicott Hill

1798

The docent in the first room of this house said it was ok to take photos. . .after I took this photo in the second room this docent quite firmly informed me that NO photos were allowed! I like muli-purpose things so found this to be really intriguing. Behind the top lid is an area to store water and a spigot to fill the wash basin. The water drains out into a container below the wash basin and you can see what you have when you open the bottom drawer! No need to use the outhouse during the night!

Texada

1792

Because the exterior walls had disintegrated into disrepair, during restoration each brick was removed and reversed.

The present owner of Texada costumed in period 1790’s attire.

For decades this fan has been carried by the brides of Texada. Each bride has signed the back of the fan.

This docent’s nickname is “Jiminy Cricket.”

Beautifully costumed docent in the doorway of Greenlea, the 1855 home across the street from Texada.

The kitchen of Texada. Amusing that behind us in this room is a modern kitchen with refrigerator, microwave etc. (Oops, see the flat-screen TV?) Loved her hoop-skirted costume with its yellow sash.

Elms

1850

Elms was originally two-and-a-half stories, with two rooms on each floor. Later, the rear gallery was enclosed and then again later new two-story galleries were added to completely surround all of the renovations of the house. Gary remarked that this should have been a “tear-down and re-build” as the interior is quite disjointed!

The home features many many items of sterling silver. In this room the docent gave complete approval for photos, then in the next room another docent issued a stern NO so I and others in our group gave up. Elms is now a bed and breakfast so I’m sure the guests take pictures! Note the wrought-iron circular staircase in the background.

Magnolia Hall

1858

I thought it was interesting that the owner stuccoed and painted this home to imitate the brownstone homes back east.

An ornate ironwork aquarium/fountain in the garden at Magnolia.

Elgin

built 1792-1840

Unlike most of the other homes we toured which were town homes this is a plantation home. Owners preferred to live in Natchez and their plantations were across the Mississippi River in Louisiana.

We were greeted by the costumed present-day owner of Elgin.

Jib doors functioned to turn a window into a door. I wonder why their use hasn’t lasted?

A punkah fan over the dining table served to circulate air and also shoo the flies away. Of course, it required having a slave to constantly pull the rope! It is said that very rich folks had one slave dedicated entirely to operating the punkah fan.

Elms Court

1837

Fourth generation owner of Elms Court (in turquoise) chose not to dress in costume but talked extensively about the history and architecture of her home.

A cistern in the background and stairs to nowhere in the garden.

Auburn

1812

Freestanding spiral staircase to the second floor. The bannister is one continuous piece of wood going up one side and back down the staircase.

Table set for breakfast. The white cone-shape on the napkin is sugar and the snippers are used to carve off the desired amount. The black block is tea and is very solid-so different from my loose tea leaves.

No one noticed that they had placed this huge mirror upside down until it had been installed. No way were they going to risk breaking it so it stands---upside down! You can see the costumed docent in the mirror.

How would you feel sleeping under a “coffin” style canopy? EWWW!

Melrose

1849

This home was acquired by the National Park Service in 1990 and is probably the most completely preserved antebellum home in the Natchez area. The columns are in the process of being renovated.

Many of the furnishings in this home are original. This parlor is splendid with its gilt and bright green draperies and upholstery.

This punkah fan over the dining table is made of wood and, according to our park ranger guide, very heavy.

Do you suppose this sofa was designed to keep courting couples at a distance? (Just a guess on my part!)

Very romantic room designed by the owner for her daughter Mary Elizabeth as a honeymoon suite. She continued to live here while her husband Captain Farar Conner fought for the Confederacy. After the war he walked back home only to learn that Mary Elizabeth and two of their children had died.

Mary Elizabeth’s beautiful pink and ivory silk wedding dress which was created in Paris by the fashion house of Charles Worth who was THE fashion designer of the time. Because of its age and fragility it is only occasionally displayed-I was lucky to get to see it.

In this letter apparently this slave owner was renting out ten of his slaves to another plantation. Note that he says “ship” as if they were cargo.

Longwood

construction began in 1860-never completed (and never will be according to the terms of the donation)

The brochure states that it is the largest octagonal house in America. The war halted construction and Mr. Haller Nutt died in 1864 but his wife Julia and their eight children continued to live in the basement which isn’t a dark dank space but a rather opulent space which opened out into the gardens.

Looking up at the six-story rotunda.

The original packing crate sits where the Steiff piano was uncrated, in what was to be the parlor. The piano is in the basement home.

Construction stairs which would have been removed had the home been completed. The brick walls were slated to be covered with stucco.

The loom appears to be in working condition. All four of the runners which converted the buggy to a sleigh still hang on the wall.

I kept waiting for Gary to throw up his hands and say enough is enough but he surprised me and seemed to enjoy the home tours almost as much as I did. (At one point several years ago he did this, saying “I’m museumed out!” ) So, for a change we were in agreement-of course lunch at fun places, the Pig Out Inn, La Fiesta Grande, Fat Mama’s Tamales and his favorite Big Momma’s Barbecue, between tours helped keep him interested!

My inquiring mind would like to know. . .

2011-04-06T18:47:00.001-07:00

Question: What do these 11 white steeples have in common? No, silly one, its not that they are all churches!

No, its not that they are all red brick!

Oops, that’s not a white steeple, it’s a space ship! I just threw this in to confuse you.

Well, they all do seem to have white trim but that’s not it either!

Yes, they are all houses of God, but that’s not the answer!

Answer: these white steeples are all on Baptist churches! I took these photos this week while traveling between Tupelo and Chattanooga but they are just a few of the many I’ve noticed during my travels. Whether they are small, medium or huge, white steeples seem to be norm for Baptist churches. Is it coincidence. . .or? I wonder?

Evil Spirits?

2011-03-29T06:42:00.001-07:00

Sometime in the six months since we arrived in the South I noticed bottle trees and was fascinated. Why in the world were people hanging (mostly wine) bottles upside down in their yards? Friends in Arkansas knew all about them and several have the colorful trees in their own yards or gardens. I’ve since learned that this colorful southern folk tradition probably originated in the Congo with the purpose of warding off evil spirits! According to legend it was believed that spirits (usually evil) become mesmerized with the bottles’ dancing colors in the sun, are drawn into the bottles only to be trapped and die in the sunshine.

Upon arriving in Natchez, Mississippi our first priority was dinner and we chose Fat Mama’s Tamales restaurant. Yes, the Gringo Pie, three tamales topped with chili, cheese, onions & jalapenos (I passed on the onions), were delicious -- we even took a dozen tamales home. BUT I DIGRESS! Outside the entrance of Fat Mama’s is a bottle tree. (Ugly utility panel in the background!)

I spotted this bottle tree in a residential yard. Blue being my favorite color, I particularly like this tree.

Of course, if you have no evil spirits (or really don’t believe in evil spirits) to get rid of, it is a great place to recycle and display empty bottles. A nice Southern folk art tradition which I will watch for as we continue our journey east in the South.

Steel Magnolias. . .the movie

2011-03-19T13:33:00.001-07:00

I loved this classic tear jerker/funny movie in 1989 and still love it in 2011. During our month-long stay in Natchitoches, Louisiana I learned that Steel Magnolias was not only filmed in Natchitoches but the story comes from the real life of author Robert Harling’s sister and mother’s life in his hometown, called Chinquapin in the movie. (Robert Harling also appears in the movie as the preacher.)

After reading an article in little tourist newspaper “Historic Natchitoches” I grabbed my camera and set out to photograph as many filming locations as possible. As with the tree sculptures (1-11-11 Blog) in Galveston and “Cars” (9-19-10 Blog) on Route 66 I like taking on a project like this in order to learn more about a community.

The Steel Magnolias house, now a B & B. Do you remember the chaotic opening scene where Drum (Tom Skerritt) is shooting at noisy birds up in these tall oak trees?

Cantankerous Ouiser (Shirley MacLaine) lived next door at 310 Rue Jefferson and, in real life, Lemee House is also next door.

Front Street in Natchitoches, oops Chinquapin in the movie.

House seen at the beginning of the movie.

Bandstand on the banks of Cane River Lake.

Mrs. Robeline’s boarding house at 301 Rue Touline. I don’t remember seeing this in the movie but its where Annelle (Daryl Hannah) lived. Love the white rocking chairs on the porch!

Aunt Fern’s (Ann Wedgeworth) home is the Chaplin House at 434 Second Street

Truvy (Dolly Parton) and Spud’s (Sam Shepard) home - the beauty shop around which the story revolves. I read that when director Herbert Ross reprimanded Dolly Parton and asked her if she could act she replied "No, but it's your job to make me look like I can!" Looks more conservative now than it did in the movie doesn’t it (especially without the Christmas decorations!)

Shelby (Julia Roberts) and Jackson’s (Dylan McDermott) home in the movie. It is the Odalie Lambre-Gwinn House located outside of the town of Natchitoches.

Location of baby Jack’s birth. Since the movie was filmed a large regional hospital has been built adjacent to the small parish hospital.

Interior of Trinity Episcopal Church, location of the funeral.

I walked through the American Cemetery location of Shelby’s funeral and found this photo on a plaque.

Annelle and Sammy’s (Kevin J. O’Connor) home. Updated and remodeled since 1989.

Riverfront area where the Easter Egg scene was filmed.

Spud’s surprise for Truvy: Truvy’s 2 on Front Street. Truvy is excited and exclaims that she is now a chain!

And who can forget the ending scene with the Steel Magnolia ladies: M’Lynn (Sally Field,) Clairee (Olympia Dukakis), Truvy, Annelle, and Ouiser? The little park and fountain were not on my list of filming places; I just happened to see it near the Steel Magnolias house.

Other movies filmed in and around Natchitoches are The Horse Soldiers, (John Wayne) filmed here in 1958 and The Man in the Moon (Sam Waterston, Tess Harper, Reese Witherspoon and Emily Warfield) in 1996. The Natchitoches Walk of Honor includes fleur de lies tiles for many of these actors.

Dog friendly. . .I have a rant!

2011-03-13T11:06:00.001-07:00

We had to spend a night in a motel this week while our fifth wheel (remember this is our home) was in the shop having the large air conditioning unit fixed. I went on-line to dogfriendly.com to find a dog friendly motel, saw Holiday Inn Express in Shreveport, Louisiana and upon calling received: “Yes, we are dog friendly and yes we have a room.” Great, that was easy and we have a room for the night! Then she said that there would be a $50 non-refundable deposit. Fifty dollars, a non-refundable deposit?. . .that is NOT a deposit, it is a $50 fee in addition to the room rate. Dog friendly? Not on my friendliness meter. I said a quick good-bye.

While I have no problem with paying a deposit or even a nominal extra charge for Dulee I feel that $50 is not dog friendly. I think what they are really saying is they want to widely advertise their place of lodging but do not want dogs to actually stay at their facility. I E-mailed the Holiday Inn Express corporation and received this non-committal/cookie-cutter reply:

“Thank you for contacting Guest Relations regarding your experience with the Holiday Inn Express and Suites Shreveport - West, LA. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to bring this matter to our attention and apologize for any confusion surrounding this hotel’s pet fee and policy. (My note: there was no confusion surrounding the pet fee and policy - the hotel clerk stated plain and simple: $50 and non-refundable.)

Many IHG properties are franchised, independently owned and operated. In this case, the hotel management and ownership determine their own rates and pet policy, often times in compliance with local ordinances. IHG is not involved in the development of this individual hotel policy. (My note: had nothing to do with local ordinances. See below.)

Your concerns have been forwarded to the management and ownership of this hotel for review. Your comments will also remain on file at a corporate level, for use in periodic evaluations of the hotel.

Once again, we appreciate you taking the time to share your comments with us. We know you have many choices when it comes to lodging and we hope you will continue to choose IHG for your future travel needs.” (My note: while they may be “independently owned and operated” they do bear the name and logo of Holiday Inn Express and, therefore represent the entire corporation. No, I will not be choosing IHG for my travel needs - ever - with or without my dog.)

We drove into another almost next door, a La Quinta Inn, also listed on dogfriendly.com and the very nice desk clerk said yes, they had a pet friendly room but it was a smoking (ewww!) room on the third floor and we probably wouldn’t care for it. . .their charge is $10. Much more acceptable but we took his word and didn’t stay.

Back to dogfriendly.com. Yes, Day’s Inn has dog friendly, non-smoking room, charge is $10. We checked in and found it to be a very adequate and clean room. (So much for the Holiday Inn’s “local ordinances” statement.)

So, that is my rant! Hotels/motels, pet owners really don’t mind if you don’t want pets, just say so. Holiday Inn Express, you lost a customer, maybe more than one, due to your dog “policy.”

Note from Dulee: enjoyed my stay at the Day’s Inn. . .slept like a log, didn’t ruin anything and most of all, I did not lift my leg anywhere in the room! And, since I’m a Bichon Frise I didn’t even shed!

Moms will relate to this. . .I sure did!

2011-03-06T12:30:00.001-08:00

The Gift Of An Ordinary Day from Katrina Kenison on Vimeo.

Ordinary feelings expressed so beautifully by the author. I am at the “empty nest” part of this reading since my two sons and daughter are grown. (And, incidently loving our empty nest!) Wonderful memories to look back on.

My Spa Day. . .at Walmart!

2011-03-03T11:48:00.001-08:00

One of the big, and rather important in my book, challenges of full-time RVing is getting a good haircut. My strategy often involves “stalking” salons to check out ladies as they come out the door. Do they have an old lady, maybe pinkish-color, doo? Is their hair bright purple shaved up one side? Neither to my taste! Well, I was REALLY in need of a haircut so, before employing the stalking strategy, asked the very nice Denise at the Natchitoches Visitor Center. She recommended Chris at the Smartstyle Family Salon in the Walmart, yes Walmart, store! Certainly not as chichi as my Hair 506 in Monterey but I was looking for a good haircut!

Chris is a tall skinny Goth-type guy who looks about 15 years old but I learned has been a hairdresser for ten years! I was pleased with the result. . .and it cost only $20, tip included!

So, with success and satisfaction in my pocket, or, rather, on my head, I noticed a Regal Nails Salon two doors down - just past the Portrait Studio - hey this is a Walmart Supercenter - they have everything! So I treated myself to a pedicure. ChaChing Cherry - my favorite OPI nail polish color. The vintage Jewelite blue Lucite hand mirror was my Mom’s.

Ah, a very nice, and unexpected, two hour pamper myself time. . .and, go figure, at Walmart!

Brad Pitt’s “Make it Right Project”

2011-02-18T11:37:00.001-08:00

Aha! Bet Brad Pitt caught your attention!

We’ve moved on from New Orleans but I was so impressed with the “Make It Right Project” in the Lower 9th Ward that I wanted to share my photos. According to the website they have completed about 50 of the planned 150 sustainable green homes. The whole area was completely devastated by the 2005 hurricane Katrina and still looks very barren but the construction activity throughout adds a lot of life.

Quite an architectural feature-is that a swoop or a. . .?

The roofline of this yellow home appears to soar! I wonder if the interior ceiling does the same?

Each family picks from thirteen architectural designs and also chose their own color palettes. It makes for a colorful 16 block area!

The homes are designed in a traditional New Orleans shotgun house style – narrow to fit the long skinny lots in the Lower 9th Ward. They also all include porches -- a feature highly valued in the neighborhood that places a premium on sociability and connectedness to the community.

An example of a New Orleans “double shotgun” house-two shotgun houses joined by a wall. A single shotgun house would be half this house. The difference between a shotgun and what we would call a duplex is that there are no hallways- the rooms are lined up one behind the other.

All of the homes in the Make It Right Project are elevated--raised high enough to be above the Katrina-level flooding. On previous trips through the gulf area we’ve been impressed by the many raised houses but there seems to be a movement to raise many more. Both here and in Galveston we noted many businesses devoted to elevating homes and businesses.

My thought about this house is that if not on “stilts” it would be a typical modern home.

Blue and yellow - very cheerful!

The Make It Right Project is an income-based program in which no family pays more than 30 percent of their income, including taxes and insurance, towards their housing costs. On average the contribution at closing from a family is typically about $75,000. Sometimes that's made up in the form of grants, but often by external financing sources like banks: traditional loan sources. That $75,000 cash at closing helps offset the cost of the house, and then usually the difference between the resident's contribution and the sales price, which averages about $150,000, is made up in the form of a forgivable loan. The longer the family lives in the house, the more of the loan is forgiven.

Another interesting curving feature over the door, actually the whole length of the home. All of the homes have solar panels on the roof. In an interview on Treehugger.com, Tom Darden, Executive Director of the project, stated that the energy bills for the homes average $35 per month (versus $350 in a traditional comparably-sized home in New Orleans.)

Interesting filigree ironwork and zigzag roofline on this home.

Another colorful home.

New Orleanians like their porches.

Our first impression was that these homes are WAAAY OUT architecturally and we wondered why they weren’t designed with a more “New Orleans” flavor? Somewhere I read that an attempt at conforming to traditional architecture would result in a faux and not authentic looking neighborhood. Makes sense but they are still WAY OUT!

Happy Valentine’s Day

2011-02-13T19:09:00.001-08:00

Have a lovely lovely day!

Journaling. . .revisited

2011-02-07T10:10:00.001-08:00

Among the many many impressive items I noted in the display cases at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans were the journals and diaries. Just think that it was important enough for them to write about their experiences that they made space for the books, notebooks, or pads in the heavy backpacks or sea bags they carried on their backs! They often wrote in adverse conditions, maybe sitting in a foxhole, in the jungle, or even in a Higgins boat.

Here, surgeon Major Karlin recorded information about those he cared for. He recorded the name and rank of the patient, date and time and the procedures he performed.

In 1942 P-40 Fighter pilot Randall Keator wrote in a little spiral notebook. “… picked up a flight of bombers approaching from the north so all present squadrons took off to try and intercept them.”

In this Jan 28th entry in a pre-dated diary the writer notes “13th Day”, and writes “During the past couple days I have been busy on the flight deck…”

Very fine handwriting in this tabbed journal. Interesting knife handle isn’t it?

April 1944: “The landing itself was slightly opposed. Our Buffalo and combat boat lead by some over anxious officers & NCO’s…” I wonder if this beautiful leather-bound journal was a gift from a loved one? Note the printed motivational quotes on the bottom of each page. One reads “We have met the enemy and they are ours.” Oliver H. Perry and on the opposite page is “A sound mind in a manly body.” Homer

The nurse who kept her journal in this three-ringer binder had access to a typewriter.

PFC James Aloysius kept a diary that eventually filled 12 of these little flip pads. After the war he refused to talk about his service and destroyed 11 of the 12 diaries. (One of his aunts snuck this one out before he could destroy it.) His grandson said that the mere mention of the subject was enough to drive him from the house. On this page PFC Aloysius writes “Gosh, it is hard to describe the way it felt. It was a sensation I’ll never forget.”

A member of the British Airborne kept his diary in his New Testament.

I’m guessing that this is just a sampling of little wartime diaries and journals.

Oh my gosh, they are heavenly!

2011-01-30T18:13:00.001-08:00

You probably know that one of the things New Orleans is famous for is little deep-fried puffed squares of dough blanketed with sifted powdered sugar called beignets.

We’ve been in New Orleans for a week and a half but, since we don’t get going very early, we haven’t gotten around to having beignets. . .until today. Well, we didn’t get a very early start so didn’t drive down to the “Quarter,” locals speak for the French Quarter, but headed over our local Café DuMonde Coffee Stand. We each had an order ($2.25 for three) and watched as they took them out of the big fryer, placed them on a saucer and sifted a generous amount of powdered sugar on top. Oh my, a little puff of steam escaped as I took my first bite of this light warm pillow. . .heavenly! I don’t drink coffee and Gary is a plain black coffee man so neither of us tried their famous coffee with chicory.

Even though we didn’t have chicory coffee I did buy a blue Café Du Monde mug. My morning Earl Grey tea will taste quite special in this mug.

I do love New Orleans!

In the median-Metairie, Louisiana

2011-01-20T09:42:00.001-08:00

Saw these cute sculptures in the street median on the way to Whole Foods (LOVE Whole Foods and hadn't been to one for a long time!)

I’m thinking this red dog may be a George Rodrigue dog?. . . the dog on the other side blue (and I think the third side is yellow.)

Journaling. . .a helpful habit

2011-01-19T10:56:00.001-08:00

As I designed the cover for my 2011 Journal I started thinking about how my Aunt Freda’s daily diaries were an inspiration for me to keep the assorted diaries, journals and other recollections I’ve kept throughout the years. I just wish I’d had the self-discipline to keep them up as regularly as she did!

My aunts Freda (right) and Genevieve in 1976.

She, the busy mother of thirteen, made time to keep a daily diary her entire life. In a book for each year she recorded the daily happenings of her life. This “pie crust” entry was written sometime in the early years of her marriage: “. . . so tough we could only eat the filling. Finally after about five years I was listening to a radio serial, sponsored by crisco, and they were telling how to make a good crust. Well, I got a can and made two pies. John cut through as usual into the pie, with a lot of pressure, and he almost broke the plate. He always tried to eat the crust so my feelings wouldn’t be hurt. The crusts were now so flaky and nice; talk about a surprized look from him. I have used crisco ever since.” This 1943 entry relates how they decided to leave North Dakota and move out west to Washington: “We were getting letters about war work and high wages out West, so we made plans and left.”

The family found her journals to be useful when it came to settling disputes: “What year did we all have the measles?” Aunt Freda would check her diary (no one was allowed to read them) and settle the “discussion” once and for all.

When I was growing up I loved to write in my little Five-year diaries. Each day’s entry had about four closely spaced lines to squeeze in thoughts and activities. Since, at some point, mine were lost this isn’t my diary but it is very similar. Does anyone else remember these little diaries with the little lock and key?

For years I didn’t keep a journal per se but documented my life in other ways. A journal of sorts, I kept a little book of the trips we made in our Itasca motorhome.

I copy and throw snippets of paper with quotes I like in another little book. This is often the source for the “A Thought” section on this Blog.

One of my other “journals” documents my sewing projects. The cover is pretty shabby (chic? No, not in the least!) and inside I’ve taped or stapled in samples of fabric, idea notes, patterns, who I made the project for, and other comments.

The left side details how I refurbished Denise’s childhood rocking chair for newborn Stanley. Making race marshal flags for my friend Dale is described on the opposite page.

This very pretty blue blank book was my journal of choice when I got serious about daily journaling during planning stages of going full time RVing. I have a terrible memory and thought I’d better document the many places we would go. I’m glad I did!

We officially began full time RVing on November 2, 1994 and beginning with 1995 I switched to a three-ring binder. The flexibility of a three-ring binder allows me to add pages/pictures of interest and doesn’t limit me to a certain number of pages for the year. I had a small laptop computer (no internet yet at that time) and my plan was use it to record and print my daily entries for inclusion in the journal.

I did that for awhile but found that my natural rhythm for journaling is writing in bed at night before I go to sleep so that didn’t work for me. Since then I write every night with one of my fountain pens (each pen is filled with a different color ink: Blue, Tobacco, Nightshade, Lie de The, Martin, Lierre Sauvage, Chocolat, Turquoise) - colorful!

Beginning in 1997 I decided to use 6”X9” 3-ring view binders which gives me the opportunity to design my own covers. Sometimes I use clip art but usually chose photos I have taken. Because I won’t be in California most of the year, my 2011 cover is California poppies and lupine I photographed at Laguna Seca in Monterey.

Below is my 2010 journal. The front cover is a photo I took at Luther Burbank Gardens in Santa Rosa, California and the back cover features some words of inspiration I found in a Whole Living magazine.

My journals focus on daily activities rather than personal feelings and thoughts (although they do creep in at times!) I write pretty much what did I do, where did I go, what happened that day. Journaling has gotten to be part of my routine which I very rarely skip.

NOW. . .the challenge is, with so many books of journals and my bad memory, how do I find what I’m looking for, i.e. “when did we eat and listen to Cajun music at Landry’s in New Iberia?” Answer: I’ve started a timeline spreadsheet! (Is that another sort of journal? I don’t know!)

Galveston Island’s Tree Sculptures. . .a second life

2011-01-11T09:07:00.001-08:00

Last week we stopped at the Galveston Island Visitor Center in the historic Ashton Villa. It was a spur of the moment stop--we thought we pretty much knew what we wanted to do and see but were happy we made the stop. Not only did we learn a little more about post-hurricane Galveston, we picked up a brochure about the tree sculptures.

Bit of trivia: see the short iron fence surrounding Ashton Villa? That fence is 6’ tall! Following the devastating 1900 hurricane half of it was buried when the owner built the soil up around the mansion. Consequently the first floor windows are at ground level .

Galveston experienced extreme damage on September 13, 2008 when hurricane Ike slammed onto the coast and the city. Many of the island’s trees were uprooted by the wind and surge waves but salty sea water was responsible for killing thousands more. Remaining after the salt water killed many of the huge old oak trees that lined residential streets were the stumps, many of which have taken on a new life in the form of sculptures.

Brochure in hand, with my chauffer Gary doing the driving I jumped in and out of the truck to take photos of as many of the twenty-six sculptures we could find.

This informational sign is posted in the yard beside the impressive “Herons” sculpture.

This is titled “Birds of Galveston.” I can only imagine how majestic this oak tree must have been!

A creature of the sea: “Mermaid Holding Clam Shell.”

“Great Dane” is Gary’s favorite.

I only got a back view of the mermaid (in Christmas hat) on “Dolphins and Mermaid.” Note the cute little Victorian house in the background. Most of the homes in the area are huge beautifully renovated Victorians.

Ah, isn’t “Squirrel” cute? Appears that he was carved and then placed on the stump. Most of the sculptures are carved in place in an existing stump.

These two, “Owl” and “Wildlife Totem Pole” are in the side yard of a home. I didn’t feel that I should go tromping into the yard to get my photo! (Plus there was an unfriendly-looking barking dog guarding his property!)

I’m guessing that the deck was built around the oak from which “Dolphins” emerges. It is in the same yard as “Owl” and “Wildlife Totem Pole” (and the barking guard dog!)

“Fire Hydrant” and. . .

looking up at the fire hydrant is “Dalmatian” Wonder what he’s thinking about?

Frog? No it’s “Toad!” A clear example of carving in place on a tree stump.

“Yellow Lab” is SO cute! The expression on her face is priceless. . .I think she knows what a handful she has in that basket! (The puppies and basket aren’t carved.)

Interesting bit of trivia about “Tin Man & Toto”

Tin Man appears to have been carved in place while Toto was carved, then moved into position.

Close-up of the adorable “Toto.”

“Monument to Galveston’s trees”

“Large Pelican” I would have titled it “Large Pelican with fish!” Note that this Victorian is still undergoing “Hurricane Ike” repairs. This is a typical scene throughout Galveston Island.

“Geisha” is in the parkway and. . .

“Sister Angels,” my favorite, is in the yard. Love the lacy Gingerbread woodworking on the porch in the background.

“Pelican Sitting on Piling”

Found one under construction! I wonder what it will be titled? Elvis related? Fender guitar? Home on the Range?

All of the above are located in a residential neighborhood of Victorian homes.

“Hand Clutching Diploma” is behind a fence at a neighborhood youth center. The inscription at the base reads “education is power.”

December 21, 2010 Lunar Eclipse

2011-01-03T07:31:00.001-08:00

Yes, I got up to see the December 21st total eclipse of the moon on the Winter Solstice! Just wish I'd woke up enough to get a tripod out - could have gotten better pics - but it was pretty awesome here in Galveston. I shared these photos on Facebook so here they are for my Blogging friends.

This was taken about 1/2 hour into the eclipse. Before the eclipse started the full moon that night was very bright and white.

View of the sky taken about 2:45 a.m. (Central Time). See the little reddish dot? That’s the moon!

Oh, if I'd only got a tripod out! Thought I could hold my camera still. But what a color!

Awesome. I got a crick in my neck from looking straight up into the sky.

Again, no tripod but it was beautiful.

Merry Christmas from Galveston Island

2010-12-24T15:20:00.001-08:00

We wish you blessings, peace, serenity and joy as we celebrate Christ’s birthday. . .

And don’t forget music, presents, good food, friends, family and lots of fun. . .and maybe some bubbly champagne!

I love Christmas lights

2010-12-23T18:15:00.001-08:00

Don’t you just love Christmas lights?

Jerusalem

Baby Jesus’ manager in Bethlehem

A snail

I believe in angels. Inspires me to want to break out in song: “Angels we have heard on high…”

Into the wild with the elephants

Mama giraffe and her child-the dark space behind them is Offatts Bayou in Galveston, Texas.

Christmas lighting is not complete without Santa. . .this Santa is riding the waves!

We’re in Galveston. . . pirate Jean Lafitte's ship?

Another sea creature

Hold it. . .Santa was riding the waves a minute ago. . .now he is snorkeling-this guy sure gets around! Duh!

This looks like Ms. Foxy who used to visit us at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California

Tobogganing. . .reminds me of growing up in the snow country of North Dakota!

We’re in Texas---a cowboy boot and the yellow rose of Texas!

By now you’ve probably guessed that these are not the lights in MY yard! It is the annual Festival of Lights at Moody Gardens--one mile of Christmas lights!

In North Dakota no matter how cold it was we ice skated every day after school. This is a real treat for these Texans. (No, I didn’t get out there-I haven’t been on ice skates for a VERY VERY long time!)

A poinsettia Christmas tree

The very small tree in our 5th wheel home. A couple of years ago Lee & Don gave me “Betty’s Diner” (left of tree), this year we found “Gary’s Gas & Service Station” at Michael’s.

Our Candy Cane themed exterior lighting display on our site overlooking Offatts Bayou in Galveston. A very nice place to call home this Christmas of 2010.

I got it. . .I got it. . .I got it! Wahoo!

2010-12-22T15:02:00.001-08:00

You’ve already heard my whining about going to the RV park laundry room to access wi-fi. (See previous post)

Enuf already! After a couple days of sitting on a very hard metal folding chair in the laundry room I decided to strike out in search of a solution, started by Googling wi-fi signal booster and discovered that YES there is such an animal as a signal booster! Considering my limited knowledge of what I needed and whether or not it would really work for me I really didn't want to order on-line, but; encouraged by my on-line search I set out to the bricks and mortar stores, first, Radio Shack, (why do I ever go there. . .they never have what I need!) Staples, Best Buy--nothing. “Oh, you just need a router,” “No, there is nothing like that” were some of the sales answers I received. I learned that you have to have an idea of what you need or you will be sold something totally irrelevant.

During my research I checked on ATT air cards but the monthly fee is about $59-nope, in my opinion too much. While at the ATT store I learned more about tethering my laptop to my IPhone. For me not an acceptable plan for me for a couple of reasons: 1. Signal not always very strong 2. Have to add an additional data package which is $20 for 2GB a month--- more money plus I would have to carefully watch usage so as to not go over 2GB! (Of course, my dream and the ultimate is a rooftop satellite system but this is VERY expensive both when purchasing the equipment and monthly fees.)

Finally, at Frye's I talked to the perfect geeky salesperson! "Yes, of course we have several choices” and lead me over to show me a couple of Hawking Technology signal boosters. . . I settled on a Hi-Gain Wireless-N USB Network Dish Adapter.

$66 and easy to install! Got it home, took it out of the box, popped the CD into the drive and performed the easy installation, set up the 4” dish in the window and NOTHING! I was too far away to receive the RV park network signal although the good news was I was getting a bunch of networks not previously seen (but neither of the two at our RV park!) Woe is me--$66 wasted although I could tell it was a good product. Oh well, I decided to keep it for future use since experience has shown that a weak wi-fi signal is a common occurrence in RV parks.

The network signal I was attempting to receive is located in this restaurant on the grounds of the RV park. The Silver Stream pull trailer was probably blocking my reception.

THEN, yesterday I moved the dish up to the top of the window and WAHOO, I got the signal. I’m on! No more laundry room!

Ain’t technology wonderful!

Food note: the restaurant, Boudreaux's has great red beans & rice!

It is frustrating!

2010-12-15T13:46:00.001-08:00

Here we are in beautiful Galveston, love our site overlooking the water BUT are getting NO wi-fi at our 5th wheel! So…rather than sitting at my laptop and looking at my Christmas tree and decorations:

I am sitting at my laptop in the laundry room at the park looking at washers and dryers and listening to a leaky sink!

# 41’s Presidential Library & Museum

2010-12-03T19:37:00.001-08:00

One of our traveling goals is to visit all of the twelve Presidential Libraries. (ground was broken for #43’s at SMU in Dallas in November--it will be #13) So far we’ve done Hoover, Truman, Carter, Clinton, and Kennedy. And, of course we’re Californians so we haven’t been to the two in our state: Nixon and Reagan! Our main reason for staying in College Station, Texas was to visit President George H.W. Bush’s Library & Museum which is located on the campus of Texas A&M University.

I particularly like the way it focuses on both his personal and public life.

The special exhibit was one my favorites:

The Heart Truth

first ladies

Red Dress Collection

Jackie O’s is the only one enclosed in a case

Hundreds of area school children were touring the library. Yes, it was noisy until they left! I had to laugh as I watched the kids climbing on President Bush’s shoulders, poking his eyes, sticking their fingers in his ear and up his nose!

Barbara & George were married in January 1945. This is her dress:

The Gulf War exhibit

A real section of the Berlin wall. I wonder why the “graffiti” is all in English?

President Bush loves to fish so his library has a lake…and he fishes in it!

And it is decorated for Christmas!

My Plan Fizzled!

2010-11-30T18:54:00.001-08:00

OH NO! I only blogged to day two of “A week of Food.”

My plan took a turn and pretty much fizzled out when we arrived at Kelle and Joe’s. Those of you who know Kelle will be shocked to hear that she cooked for us most of the week, even Thanksgiving Dinner! Well, we did eat out a few times: Tex-Mex at Christina’s in Southlake one night, seafood at Joe’s Crab Shack another and, of course we had to hit Rudy’s BBQ in Frisco.

And, so I will move on…but stay tuned, more food adventures are sure to surface.

A Week of Food. . .Day two

2010-11-18T18:43:00.001-08:00

Today's food highlight: Ralph & Kacoo’s in Bossier City for the BEST hushpuppies we've had! OK, so Gary's étouffée with catfish and Southern-style green beans was pretty scrumptious and my shrimp "stew" on rice was mouth-wateringly good. (I have leftovers for dinner tonight!)

We found Ralph & Kacoo’s in the same way we often find a place to eat: drive by, name of restaurant sounds good, lots of vehicles outside, yes, we will give it a try. It works!

NOTE: Will Gary ever tire of catfish?

A Week of Food. . .Day one

2010-11-18T18:05:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I had Red Beans & Rice with water cornbread for lunch at the Cotton Boll Grill in Shreveport...yummy! Oops almost forgot: Southern fried chicken, lima beans and purple hull peas for Gary...he says "best fried chicken ever"

When the waitress asked if I wanted water cornbread or regular cornbread I just stared at her, then said I have no idea what that is but I'll try it and I did and I loved it. When we got home I looked it up on-line: just cornmeal, water, a little salt and sugar mixed with boiling water then shaped into a palm-sized patty ( kind of almond shape) and fried. A little crispy outside. (sounds like poor person's cornbread doesn't it?)

Hot Water Cornbread Recipe

(found on http://www.grouprecipes.com/26114/hot-water-corn-bread.html)

2 cups corn meal
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/2 tsp. salt (optional but I recommend this)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. sugar or other sweetener (optional)
vegetable oil to fry in

How to make it

Put the corn meal, salt, and sugar in a bowl that can handle boiling water.
Pour the boiling water in slowly, stirring all the while until it makes a thick paste.
Use your hands (yes, it's hot but you get used to it) and form the paste into palm sized patties, slipping them carefully into hot oil (we use canola or EVOO).
Fry to golden brown, turning once.
Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

I may have to give it a try!

Found in Shreveport. . .Lampshade light poles!

2010-11-16T09:55:00.001-08:00

Are these just the cutest? Yesterday while we were exploring downtown Shreveport we turned onto Texas Street and saw these lampshades on the light poles. Designed by Shreveport native Marjorie Kouns, these realistic-looking lampshades appear to be about 6’ tall. I hope to get back to the area to find the other 34!

Seems that the exhibit was last Spring so maybe the other 34 have been removed! I checked it out on this website: http://artspaceshreveport.com/mainspace/shades-of-shreveport/

In search of Bonnie & Clyde. . .

2010-11-14T12:20:00.001-08:00

But their run from the law ended on May 23, 1934 when they were ambushed by law enforcement near Gibsland, Louisiana. Ted “Boots” Hinton Jr., curator and host of the Ambush Museum in the little town of Gibsland, was the son of Ted Hinton, one of the six officers who finally tracked them down. After two days of waiting on the lonely gravel road (now paved LA Highway 154) and about fifteen minutes before they were to give up on their vigil, Bonnie & Clyde came roaring down the road in their stolen 1934 Ford and the officers opened fire. Both Bonnie & Clyde took at least 50 gunshots thus ending their life of crime and murder. Why didn’t the officers attempt to capture the pair? Bonnie & Clyde and their associates were masters of shooting their way out of a situation; eleven of the 12-14 people they murdered were law enforcement officers!
Photographs are not allowed in the museum which in 1934 was Ma Canfield’s restaurant where Bonnie & Clyde bought two sandwiches just moments before they met their end. (Only two bites were taken from the sandwiches.) We watched a video which features footage commonly seen on the History Channel and also a segment featuring “Boots.”
Even more than going through the Ambush Museum we enjoyed talking to Boots, a retired U.S. Customs Agent, about his father’s (he refers to him as Ted) role in Bonnie & Clyde’s end. Stories abound in newspapers, books, newsreels and magazines about what actually took place the day of the ambush. The six officers involved in the shooting made a pact that none would tell their story as long as any of the others were still alive. Ted Hinton was the last survivor but waited until 1977 to tell the story and, with the help of L. Grove, wrote Ambush (The Real Story of Bonnie and Clyde). It was published in 1979 after his death.

The marker located at the ambush site has been vandalized and

marked with graffiti. Why do people think it is OK for them to take “just a little piece” of a historical marker?

Next month in Dallas, where they are both buried, we will have to continue our “In search of Bonnie & Clyde. . .”

Southern food with a few plantations thrown in

2010-11-10T09:53:00.001-08:00

As usual we made the Visitor Information Center our first stop in Natchitoches, Louisiana (pronounced “Nak a tish” or “Nak a tosh” or “Nak a dosh” or “Nak a dush” but never as it is spelled!)

Of course, after we picked up brochures and maps for the area our next order of business was lunch. While driving through town “Meat Pie Kitchen” caught my eye so we decided to try Lasyone’s (no idea how to pronounce Lasyone’s!) Since it was Homecoming Weekend for Louisiana Tech the place was especially busy-lots of visiting between tables and everyone wearing Tech. purple. (yes, Gary went to the game )

What a find for a great lunch on our first day! A Natchitoches specialty, Meat Pies (shown on the upper plate in the photo) are half-moon pastries filled with a mixture of ground beef, pork, Worcestershire sauce and Cajun spices, my new favorite! My side of red beans & rice was tasty. . .I love red beans & rice. Gary red beans & rice meal featured Andouille sausage (lower plate.) The rice was fluffy and the red beans were perfectly flavored. Needless to say we came home with “doggy boxes. “

The following day we hit the Natchitoches Historic Trail which roughly follows the Cane River which at some point turns into Cane River Lake, which looks exactly like the river, which previously was the Red River. . .confusing? Yes! Why? We do know that the Red River changed its channel but that’s about it.

Oakland Plantation house is a sprawling home. If the Mistress of the house ordered a piece of furniture which turned out to be too large for the room, i.e. the dining room, they simply added a new room! Then added a porch which may later become another room!

The Stranger’s Room was a guest room with a separate outside entrance. According to our tour guide the separate entrance also made it very convenient for the Master of the planation to entertain his mistresses. Oh my!

This is a centuries old bottle garden. Meals typically lasted for hours and hours and involved consumption of multiple bottles of alcoholic beverages. The bottles were then “planted” as borders for the garden. Many of the bottles in the garden date from the 1700’s making it a very expensive and expansive collection! Our guide said the garden most likely includes some Bud bottles since the tradition continued up until 1994 when the National Park Service took it over operation of the Cane River Creole National Historical Park.

Close-up of the bottle garden.

These huge oak trees are quite a contrast to our California Coast Oaks!

Poteaux-en-terre construction sounds so much better than “posts in the ground” doesn’t it? Apparently only about 10 examples of this ancient type of construction still exist.

Back in Natchitoches I kept seeing what I thought were duplexes but the houses seemed too small to be duplexes! Looked it up on-line and learned that they are double pen houses. When an addition was made to a pen house they gave the new room its own exterior door. Similar to shotgun and double shotgun houses we’ve seen elsewhere.

Do you recognize this house? It’s the house from the movie “Steel Magnolias.”

After touring the historic countryside and city of Natchitoches we treated ourselves to an authentic southern cooked meal:

but no, no way was it Baked Opossum!

Journeyin'...living & traveling in a RV

Surprise. . .I loved a sunrise!

A day at the race track. . .just how expensive is expensive?

New Year’s Day holiday 2012. . .

Christmas Lunch. . .

Christmas books. . .

Into the past. . .

On a Journey. . .riding the rails

A Week of Thanks--giving

A Week of Thanks--giving

Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers. Proverbs 17:6 ESV. Ok, I admit I have a teeny little issue with this bible verse. . . I just don’t feel like an aged grandparent.

A Week of Thanks--giving

A Week for Thanks---giving

A week for Thanks--giving

Who knew??

Where did Halloween creativity go?

A thought on a Friday afternoon

My Fresno Five. . .how DO they keep up?

Heading west (home) again. . .

And when you are making plans, life happens

FDR & Eleanor. . .oops, I got distracted!

Fulltime RVing: A SUMMER IN THE “BRIG”. . .

Folklore legend update. . .Paul Bunyan number three

I’m technology boondocking. . .

OH, what a day!

My age: I’m Beyond. . .

I saw my first moose in Maine!

I’m going to make books! Correction: I’ve made a book!

Happy Memorial Day

Eleanor Roosevelt. . .a Blogger before Blogging?

Our nation’s Capitol. . . cleared security and cleared security and cleared security again!

Just an ordinary day in Washington, D.C. . .Wow!

Lunch. . .and another Carnegie Library!

Hoopskirts and homes. . .antebellum Natchez

My inquiring mind would like to know. . .

Evil Spirits?

Steel Magnolias. . .the movie

Dog friendly. . .I have a rant!

Moms will relate to this. . .I sure did!

My Spa Day. . .at Walmart!

Brad Pitt’s “Make it Right Project”

Happy Valentine’s Day

Journaling. . .revisited

Oh my gosh, they are heavenly!

In the median-Metairie, Louisiana

Journaling. . .a helpful habit

Galveston Island’s Tree Sculptures. . .a second life

December 21, 2010 Lunar Eclipse

Merry Christmas from Galveston Island

I love Christmas lights

I got it. . .I got it. . .I got it! Wahoo!

It is frustrating!

# 41’s Presidential Library & Museum

My Plan Fizzled!

A Week of Food. . .Day two

Today's food highlight: Ralph & Kacoo’s in Bossier City for the BEST hushpuppies we've had! OK, so Gary's étouffée with catfish and Southern-style green beans was pretty scrumptious and my shrimp "stew" on rice was mouth-wateringly good. (I have leftovers for dinner tonight!)

A Week of Food. . .Day one

How to make it

Put the corn meal, salt, and sugar in a bowl that can handle boiling water.

Found in Shreveport. . .Lampshade light poles!

In search of Bonnie & Clyde. . .

Southern food with a few plantations thrown in