2021 Traveling Again

 

I hope I'm not  repeating myself, but 2020, we sold the RV. This is the first time in over 40 years that we do not own an RV. Also, this is the first time that we did not have to purchase a vehicle based on towing capacity or ability to be towed. So, we purchased one that would give us comfort.

 

As Pat tells everyone, we are now officially old farts, driving a Cadillac.

Pat returned from NJ from Sister-in-laws funeral and we started getting ready to head out on our first trip without the RV. Plans are to travel up to NY, visiting with my step brothers, then over to the Boston area to spend time with daughter and step sister, then down to NJ for some time with Pat’s sister and brother Paul then down to Delaware for a visit with her brother Walter. Then back home to Texas. The trip will be leisurely.

Pat was just home and barely unpacked when news of the death of her Uncle John. So, scrap the plans and we head directly to NJ, here’s how it went:

Monday, July 12^th, our first day was over 400 miles and we made all the way to Nacogdoches, TX. Not bad, we are actually going to make it out of Texas in less than 3 days, highly unusual for us. A cute little town where we found a good restaurant for an early dinner. It’s always fun to find someplace local to eat.

Our next day was again over 400 miles bring us to Tuscaloosa, AL. As we were traveling, we looked at the reviews for a SureStay Hotel that were all very high, so, we decided to take a chance and booked a two-room suite for two nights. Well, the reviews were spot on, however, they did not qualify the room, more so the staff. I did get out to the Tall Pines GC for a round of golf, what a disappointing course it turned out to be. We did find a restaurant that seemed to be a great find called Another Broken Egg, where they had the most promising menu we had ever seen, unfortunately their execution left a lot to be desired.

We left Tuscaloosa with a poor taste and traveled another 400+ day to Carlisle, Virginia. We loosened the change purse and stayed at a Hampton Inn, rather nice. We had a rather large brunch in Cleveland, TN on the way in, so dinner was just a snack.

The further we got from home or should I say east of the Mississippi, the more the traffic seemed to be building up. This is our last day to NJ and we will be doing 500+. Our plan is to continue up 81, connect with 78 into NJ the 287 to local road and our destination. We’ve been experimenting between the car GPS and using Google Maps, which connects to the car also. Using Google Maps, we get more up-to-date information, so that’s what we were using with the increase in traffic. We noticed that there was a 20-minute delay on 78 near Allentown. Nothing to worry about, that’s pretty much normal. However, the closer we got to 78 the 20 minutes, became 30, 40, then it was up to an hour. So, at the last minute we shot up to Route 80 and added another 30 miles to the trip but probably saved a half hour. We arrived safe, sound and exhausted.

Govert and Marie welcomed us with open arms. We spent two weeks with them and I’m sure they were glad to see our tail-lights when we pulled out for our next stop. It was nice to see Pat’s brother Paul, we had not spent that much time with him in the past, but did on this stay. The funeral did bring a lot of the family together also, some of whom we’ve not seen in many years.

Pat and Marie were able to get together on their many projects and I’m sure had a wonderful time visiting. Govert and I spent as much time as we could visiting a few of the golf courses in the area. That and Govert kept us fed with his gourmet style of cooking, which was wonderful.

The family joke is that to stay with Govert and Marie is to stay at “Club Meadowbrook,” and our stay was outstanding.

Note: Our plans were to spend two months traveling. The reports on the Delta Variant of Covid-19 have us worried, so, we are going to complete our visits with family as planned, only keeping those visits short, then we are going to turn towards home. We feel safer in our small community.

Saturday July 31, it’s time to move on. We are no longer doing those 400+ days, so our plan is to travel the Northeast without paying any tolls, or as few as possible. We are driving to Danbury, CT via old route 202 which will cross over Hudson River using the Bear Mountain Bridge (yes, we will pay a toll).

 

We did stop after the bridge for a look back to the river. The road is an old highway passing through many villages. We are staying at the Best Western in Bethel, CT for two nights and will be visiting with one of Pat’s cousins Dawn Houle. This is a 2^nd cousin she knew nothing about until she did her DNA through Ancestry. Turns out that the family had been looking for Dawns Grandad only knowing that he had settled in Connecticut. We did a nice little side tour of the railroad Museum in Danbury.

  

And later that night had dinner at the Sycamore Restaurant, where they still make homemade root beer and the parking lot was full of some classic cars. The next night Dawn and her husband Jim took us out to dinner we discussed family trees, what a night.

We are still determined not to take any of those toll roads, so we take US Hwy 20 into Waltham, MA where we stayed at the Best Western. Now we have some points and we thought that the Best Western wasn’t too bad from earlier experience, but I believe this may be the last one, beds are better at the Holiday Inn’s. We’re here to visit with our daughter Kelly and my step sister Susan.

We spent time with both and while I was off playing golf, Pat & Kelly had some time to visit a local museum together. It was a quick visit, but it was great to see everybody and get caught up. Susan is in a new place and we were glad we got a chance to see her new digs. And while we were there we found out that her old place just sold.

We are on our way to Syracuse by way of the old Mohawk Trail. We had watched a documentary last year which had highlighted this route and wanted to drive it. The weather when we started was heavy rain, which got lighter as we headed west. We are keeping our appetites whetted for a restaurant that is at an overview somewhere near North Adams. Our first stop is for some syrup that is supposed to be among the best in New England, the Davenport Farms outside of Shelburne Falls, MA. Yes, we did taste it and it is damn fine. We had to drive down this long road and approached this farm and hoped we had the right place.

 

Then we drove up the drive to find this:

 

After purchasing the Syrup, we asked if we had to go back out the same way and he asked if we didn’t mind a short bit over a well-maintained dirt road, just turn right and bear left at the fork in the road and we’ll come out at the highway in Shelburne Falls. Turns out the road was called Cooper Rd, how cool is that? In Shelburne Falls we found the Bridge of Flowers.

 

 

 We finally got to the restaurant with the fine overlook outside of North Adams and it was closed, I mean “out of business” closed. So, we went down into town for lunch and then did a tour of the MOCA an enormous art museum that Pat had been looking forward to. It was a bit much for me. I’ll let Pat tell you about it;

The Mass MOCA is a series of old mill buildings connected by bridges at the upper stories.  It's huge. We got to see Sol Lewitt's wall paintings retrospective.  He believed that the idea was the art and wrote detailed instructions of what colors to use and exactly how to draw the designs so he did not have to be on site for the paintings to be executed.  Which is all well and good but quilters have been doing the same thing for years.  Yes, I know I filter things through my "fabric lens" but really, how unique is the concept.  Anyway, I loved the exhibit, lots of art quilt ideas. This was just one of the buildings (3 stories), so if you go, plan on spending a lot of time there.

 

 

We finally checked into the Holiday Inn and got settled for the night.

The next morning, we continued along the Mohawk Trail which connected with Hwy 20 in New York State as we traveled through the Troy/Albany area. What a beautiful drive, not the boring big highway drive, but to see all the different towns and farms along the way.

Back to the city, the closer we got to East Syracuse the more traffic, but we persevered and arrived at David and Barbara for a wonderful night of catching up. Peter came up to join us to make it the brothers get together with stories of old, what fun. As I said, it was a quick visit, so the next morning, after a great breakfast, we repacked and headed out.

We’re off the Mohawk Trail and headed for a restaurant in Ithica called Moosewood. Pat has a cookbook for this restaurant that she just loves and wanted to give it a try. I guess she liked it, we came away with another cookbook.

We had hoped to stop and visit the museum at Corning, but with our decision to head home we bypassed Corning and continued on our way with an overnight in Bradford, PA then onto Ohio. A phone call to Tim and Kathy on the way, and we had a restaurant picked out in Columbus for Lunch together. The restaurant was Kathy’s choice and her treat. I have to say she did well on both counts. After lunch we settled about 30 miles away in Springfield for a two-night stay.

 The next day, Tim and I met up at the Elks Golf Course in town to play a round of golf together. What a nice course. That afternoon, Pat and I found a restaurant down the road from the hotel called Teaberries Café that was one of those gems you just happen upon, I know “it’s just another restaurant!”

We are now driving on those big highways and headed for an overnight in Troy, IL. We looked up a BBQ place for a late lunch and found a place called Fire and Smoke which just happened to be in front of our hotel. The kick was after our late lunch, we pulled into the wrong hotel. They were very nice and pointed out that the correct hotel was next door.

Our next stop was going to be 3-night stop in Bentonville, AR. Pat wants to visit Crystal Bridges Museum and of course I plan to play some golf. Then we’ll have an extra day for whatever we want. We were thinking of going over to visit with Chip and Daisy, but Daisy was still recovering from her time in the hospital so we decided to let her heal. Chips advice to a golf course was a bit hard to figure because they had 7 different courses. So, I chose a course over in Pea Ridge called Big Sugar, what a fun choice. Pat had a really great tour of the Museum. I’ll let Pat tell you about that;

Crystal Bridges is another museum I got to visit, and another museum that I did not get to see in its entirety, but I did get to see the Modern wing and one of Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Rooms.  A lovely young man lifts a curtain and you are in a darkened, mirrored room with spotted balls hanging around you that are reflected in the mirrors.  When he knocks you move along the path to let the next person in.  It was definitely disorienting, but interesting, I'm glad I got to experience it.

 

And they had a Sol Lewitt wall there, that referenced the wall in Mass MOCA so that was intriguing.  I did not get to walk the grounds and see the outside art but I would recommend the museum, the architecture is fascinating.

We had a great breakfast at the Buttered Biscuit on our last day, but we kind of got rained out for anything else on the day.

The sun’s back out and we’re headed to gay Paris’. No, not the one on the other side of the Atlantic, the one in Texas. Yes, they have a tower and again it’s not the Eiffel tower, just the Paris tower.

 

 

No, we didn’t find a fine French restaurant, but we did find Jaxx Gourmet Burgers, does that Count?

Well at least we’re off the big Highways. You’ve got to love the back roads here in Texas.

 

Our next and last stop is Bastrop (I keep wanting to call it Barstow), Pat and I had stopped here earlier in the year and had breakfast at a restaurant called Maxine’s, worth a stop. And we found another called Neighbors & Iron Bridge Icehouse which will give you another dinning thrill. We stayed an extra night for, you guessed it a golf day for Tom at a course that was highly recommended to me.

Playing Pine Forest Golf Course in Bastrop along the Colorado River had its issues. The first was that I ran into a traffic jam. I captured the last of it with my phone, there were half a dozen deer crossing the fairway in front of the green that I had to wait for and they weren’t in a big hurry.

 

 

They told me that the course was under new management and would be undergoing improvement. Let’s hope so, it’s a great course, just in need of a lot of help.

 

Tuesday the 17^th of August we arrived home, and once again we realized that we had not taken enough pictures. This was a very different trip for us, many hotels and restaurants. I tried to mention only the restaurants that we found interesting or good. We did decide that we preferred the Holiday Inns. We enjoyed our travels, had a great time visiting with all of our relatives and friends. We were glad that the house was in good shape when we got home, there’s no place like home. oh yes, the rain gauge, had 6 inches of rain in it, an unusual summer.

We are thinking of next years travel. We hope to get a place in Michigan and just go and vegetate for a month. Perhaps we'll get a place big enough for you to come and visit, eh? 

Thanks for following our blog, I know this one wasn't as exciting as our past ones, but after 2020, it was great to get out. See you in the funny papers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Big Celebration

The time has come for the big celebration event. Yes, we have been enjoying mini-events all year to celebrate our 50^th anniversary, but our stay at Mackinac Island will be the Big Event marking the 50^th. We are driving north to cross the Mackinac Bridge to St. Ignace where we will park the RV for the time that we travel over to Mackinac Island for our adventure.

  

Here’s a nice look as we start to cross the Mackinac Bridge.

We really liked the campground. I made the reservation for the campsite back when all of the area was just opening after there winter hiatus. I guess it pays because it seems we got the best site in the park.

This was the view out our front window of Lake Huron, not bad, eh?

The next day we were off with our bags, golf clubs and headed to the ferry dock. We arrived, dropped everything and had them sent onto the Grand Hotel, parked the car and got in line for the ferry ride to the island.



Oh yes, remember that bridge that we approached yesterday? Well here it is in all of it’s glory, The Mackinac Bridge. It’s been standing like so since the 1950’s. 

We were deposited at the ferry terminal on Mackinac Island where we walked through and felt that we had stepped into another time. The first thing you see is all of the bicycle rentals. They do not allow motorized vehicles on the island with the exception of some emergency vehicles and electric carts on the golf course. Our luggage was picked up by a horse drawn cart and delivered to the Hotel.

Our first order of business was to find a tour “cart” to get the lay of the land. This was the grand tour which took us through town and then after changing to a larger cart we then went out to tour the countryside. Then back to barn and a walk down the hill with some great views to the main town. No, the island is not all that large. Our entire tour took about 90 minutes. 


The town was kept quite clean by a group that would ride around pulling a little cart and cleaning up all of the road apples it could find. We were told that about half of the horse manure was shipped off island and sold to farmers for fertilizer. 


Our next goal was to get a taxi to the hotel.

This certainly was breathtaking as we pulled into the entrance of the Grand Hotel.

We stopped in the Parlor to wait until the room was ready. We got a phone call shortly after taking this picture, that the room was ready, and off we went.

Just the layout and fancy trimmings made you feel special. When we booked, we did not specify the view, but we were hoping that it would be a front view.

We weren’t disappointed. Not only a front view, but we could sit and watch the carriages as they discharged and picked up their fares below. 


Five minutes after we had entered our room, there was a knock on the door and our luggage was delivered. The golf clubs were delivered directly to the golf course next door. 


Well enough lollygagging around, it’s time for tea. So, off we went to have our first tea at the Grand. For this we returned to the Parlor. We sat in some comfy chairs with a nice little table between us. They asked if we would like some sherry with our tea, which seemed fine to us. They came out with a little three-tiered stand full of tiny sweet treats and small cut sandwiches, one for each of us. Also, tea in a small pot and a sherry in a glass.  This we sat and enjoyed as a young lady plucked the strings of a harp. So very civilized, wouldn’t you say?


After our 3 o’clock tea, we returned to the room where we sat enjoyed the view and read for a while awaiting our next adventure which would be dinner at 6 o’clock. This we would have to dress for. 


After putting on our finery, we went down to the enormous dinning room and got in line to be seated. The line moved quickly and soon we were following a young lady with her hand in the air to our table. We were promptly handed our menus and asked for our preference of drink. You had a choice of an appetizer, salad, soup, and entrée (at least 2 different choices of each). Once your choices were made, the food would start arriving. As soon as we were both done with one course, the table would be cleared and the next course would arrive. When all was done, the dessert menu arrived. Everything was done efficiently, but you never felt rushed, but you sure felt full when you were done.

This is an after dinner picture, yes, we’re quite content. 


Did I mention that Pat got the tea for two package. That means tea, tee for two. First, we head back down to the dinning room. Again, we are seated, but now we have a choice of ordering our breakfast off the menu or going to the buffet. We opt for the menu. They keep the juices and coffee flowing as we enjoy our wonderful breakfast.


Now Pat doesn’t play golf but our package does allow me to go out and play golf. So, Pat is headed for the labyrinth and wandering the hotel grounds and I am headed for the course. I walk over to the pro shop next door and they have my clubs there ready to go. Off I go on my own on the front nine using an electric cart.  

This is a view back at the hotel from hole #1. On hole #2, I caught up with the largest single group I have ever seen playing on a course, there must have been seven of them. Fortunately, they let me play through. When I got on number nine, I looked back and saw this group.

You’ve got to love this group playing in period costume. However, they are using modern equipment. When I asked if I could take their picture they agreed, with the young lady on the left running from about a hundred yards out over to get in the picture.

This is my next golf cart taking me to the back nine where I will get another electric cart to finish there. Once done with the back nine I’ll be back on this buggy to return to the hotel. I told them that I will be returning to St. Ignace on the following morning, and they would take care of the clubs. 


The rest of the day was much like the previous day. Rest after a round of golf, wander around a bit then head for our afternoon tea. Follow that up with our wonderful dinner.


The next morning is our last on the island. We slept in a bit later, after all the bed was quite comfortable. Then we went down and had a wonderful breakfast, afterwards we went back to the room, packed up the bags and put our tags on them and put them outside the door. Then we went down and checked out. We went to the doorman and told him we needed a taxi and he took our name and told us he would call us when it became available (a lot of people were waiting). So, we found a couple of rockers and enjoyed the view from the porch. 


We did a little sightseeing around town, purchased some fudge (the largest export next to manure). But, it’s only about 4 blocks long. We decided that they should have our luggage over to St. Ignace by now, and it’s time for us to bring our little event to an end. We went to the ferry and headed back to the RV. Picked up our luggage and golf clubs when we landed, loaded them in the jeep and headed back to the campground. 


It was an adventure that we enjoyed to the max. We can say that we did it. Would we return? Probably not, after all, we have been there, haven’t we?


More traveling to do as we head home…… more to come.

Midland, MI

Seven cousins, that seems to be the official count up to now. I love it when we travel and visit family and friends. We are still in Muskegon and are heading north to visit with my cousin Dena who is, if I have it figured out correctly, my third cousin on my father’s mother’s family. I’m constantly amazed by how far we’ve come in technology. Pat and I were stopping for breakfast on our way to meet with Dena when she sent me a text with her picture.

Trust me when I tell you that she has a wonderful smile. Of course, I had to send back mine with my goofy look.

Needless to say, we found each other and had a wonderful meet where we shared some memories of family. And no, she’s not one of those Cooper’s who don’t seem to want to meet other members of the family. She is one of the Ross clan. We met up in Cadillac which is about half way between Muskegon and East Jordan where she is currently on her summer holiday. Next month she heads back to the Detroit area where she lives. 


So, more cousins to come but these are those pesky Coopers. You know the ones, those that don’t want to meet. Well, I take that back these do want to meet, maybe because they are my first cousin’s family. Mike and his two sons Evan and Seth. Both of the boys have certainly grown since we saw them last and are into their own businesses. As soon as we get someplace that has Wi-Fi, I will be sending copies out of the family tree and stories. I’ve talked with other members and they all remember “The Colonel.” That was Colonel Airel (Chick) Burr Cooper, my uncle and grandfather to Mike who we met up in Ludington the other day. That brings our total of cousins met on this trip to seven, so far.


As I was getting ready to go out and play some golf the other day, I looked out the window and saw the strangest RV across the lot.

Ok, it’s not an RV, it’s a full-sized ship in our little boat channel and it’s spewing salt out onto the shore on the other side of the channel. Quite a site to wake up to, eh? What, you don’t believe that it’s a full-sized ship?

How about now? Yup, if you can’t make out the name, it’s the Algoma Compass and it’s one of the ore ships that ply the great lakes.


When we got back from golf the Algoma Compass was just finishing up with the delivery of salt and then she backed out of the channel and into the lake where she will turn around to head back out to Lake Michigan.

She has to get all the way out into the channel where she can swing the full length of the ship around to face outward.

It’s amazing how much salt she delivered. The dark mass on the left is what was left from last winter and the white stuff is what was just delivered. I believe there will be one more delivery this summer. That’s a lot of salt.


Pat has been getting together with her “yarn” ladies each week and has taken on a couple of projects. So, what’s new, and as I know she is enjoying every minute of her “projects” she is also complaining, no not complaining, just fretting? well I know there’s a word but It’s not coming out but I know she is having a good time. I know one project was her trying to explain how easy something was and then ending up doing it.


Both Pat and I have been enjoying all of the social events that our friends Al & Mary have been getting us involved in as well las the many card nights with Al & Mary. And don’t forget the many restaurants that they happen to have in the area the need to be appreciated. We are busy, busy, and busy.


I mentioned golf. I did happen upon #228 up in Fremont. Not the best of courses, but it did add to the total. I took this snap the day before the 4^th of July while we were playing the Meadow course at the Old Channel Trail Golf Course up in Montague, MI.

I liked how the dead tree on the right stood out. 


This is the fourth time we’ve been to Muskegon and the first time we’ve taken the time to visit the USS LST 393 Landing Ship Tank that is located just down the street from our campground.

Yes, I’m a Navy guy, but the ship I served on was an aircraft carrier, a bit larger than this. However, it was fun to see how this ship had served us during WWII. I was amazed at how much they could put on her, with all of the tanks below decks and the trucks above decks, it was quite a few vehicles. This was also used to ferry troops and prisoners of war. It was a quick but fun tour, well worth the 8 bucks. 


We are currently in Midland, MI getting ready to head out for the much anticipated visit to Mackinaw Island for our 2 day stay and celebration of #50.

2019 Muskegon

Our decision to leave on Memorial Day or the day after was based on the weather. We decided to follow a storm on Tuesday instead of arriving in the middle of one on Monday. Our timing was such that we had to stop at a rest area for about an hour to allow a storm to pass through ahead of us. When we arrived at the fairgrounds in Des Moines, we found some very wet campsites. As a matter of fact, the sites were so wet that we ended up parking in the roadway across a couple of sites running our electric and water all the way back into the sites. It was a good thing that there were very few campers in the 600+ sites. Even some of the roads need to be repaired because of water washouts. What a mess.


It was a great stop for a visit to our friends Bob & Rita that we haven’t seen in a few years and we spent a few hours and a nice dinner catching up. Thank you, Bob & Rita, for such a great time. Oh yes, I did try to get out and play some golf but it was so wet they weren’t even letting the golf carts out on the course. That is something I’ve never come across. Another thing we learned that was a bit upsetting, after leaving KC, they experience and EF4 tornado south of the city. 


After our 2-night stay in Des Moines, we again headed north for our next stop. This is our reason for heading over to this area of the country. Over the winter I have been in contact with my 3^rd cousin William Lyttle. We share a great, great grandfather John Lyttle who with his wife Mary Hughes raised a family in Northern Ireland. We are booked into the Bunker Hills Regional Park in Coon Rapids a township located in northern Minneapolis. And yes, I did get a round of golf in at the Bunker Hills golf course the morning after our arrival.


Bill is residing in a retirement home located in Mounds View and we arrived there Friday night and met with he and his daughters and their husbands. What a wonderful time we had. I love meeting with family and getting to know those I’ve not yet met and be able to add them to our family tree. And hopefully add some stories. My intent is to get our tree filled for any of our future generations who might become interested in it. 

Lyttles & Coopers

Here we are, that’s the patriarch of the family, William, in the middle. There are some family members missing, but all in all we were able to get some information to flesh out the family tree. We did stumble upon one fact, that we may have some French Huguenots’ in the family. We will have to investigate further. 


We had more visiting to do while we were here in the area. The next day we headed south to visit with Ron & Lynn to see their new digs in Farmington, which is about 50 miles south of us. Of course, we had to stop at a famous yarn shop in the middle of Minneapolis on the way. The new digs were perfect for them, close to medical and with all the features they were looking for. We hope them all good luck with the new home.


Speaking of 50^th wedding anniversaries, we headed south again to attend Jerry and D’s. We got there just in time. Wow, do they have a lot of friends. I don’t think they ever got a chance to sit down during the entire 4 hours. What a blast we had with them, it was go, go, go all the time. We left with full tummies and 3 jars of jams, what a time.


Our stop in Illinois had us worried. We had called the campground and they had to go out and check to see if the site they wanted to put us in was dry enough. They told us they would call if it got worse, but for now it was ok. Nothing like worrying about sinking into the mud. When we got there, we were surprised that there was a problem. The campground was on top of a hill. They showed us 3 sites and we chose the best of them which was ok. That night we watched the news as they showed the Mississippi in Davenport, IA out of its banks and covering the railroad ties with just the rails above water. The scary thing was that they were running trains on those tracks. Just another example of the flooding we passed on our travels. 


Our luck held because the rain seems to have been put on hold for a few days and the ground is still solid as we pulled out in the morning. Our next stop is to see our friends Mike and Karen in the Benton Harbor area. Yes, we finally made it to Michigan. We stopped at their restaurant on the way in, and had the rig parked across a few spaces out by the road. Then after a delicious lunch, Mike led us to their house where we are going to park for two days. 

Mike & Karen's Restaurant in Sister Lakes, MI

Mike has this smoker that you can’t believe, so dinner was some really delicious chicken off the smoker. The smoker automatically feeds wood pellets into the firebox and keeps the temp at a given setting. How cool is that. The next morning, Mike and I went into the restaurant for breakfast and then down to La Porte, IN for a round of Golf where we met up with Steve from the park. For you golfers, the name of the course was Briar Leaf and I would not recommend it, poor layout. Even with the poor layout, we had a good time. Anyway, we had told Mike and Karen that we were going to take them out to dinner for all of the wonderful things they were doing for us. So, Mike decided he was going to treat lunch at the course. He told me he was going to make sure we went to an expensive restaurant. On the way home he asked what I liked to eat. Well, here on the lake, the best meal is Perch. He told me he knows the best place. You got it; he opened his restaurant for us to eat what was undoubtedly the best Perch / Bluegill dinner we have ever had. We owe Mike & Karen big time!


Well here it is June 8^th and we are pulling into Fisherman’s Landing Campground. We are back in our old site #44 and we have some friends we made last year who moved in next to us. We also have Al & Mary our good friends from Texas here as well. Life is good. 


We will be here until the middle of July. So, the blog will probably start again toward the end of July. I hope you are enjoying my rambling.

2019 Independence, MO

We left Arlington under cloudy skies which is nice when driving, but it did mean that there was rain coming down somewhere in the area. We are driving two overnighters and then we will settle down for Memorial Day weekend in Independence, MO.
As we drove north along I35 we noticed a lot of high water with creeks and rivers out of their banks. Also, the wind was blowing quite hard. Lucky for us the wind was quartering a bit behind us decreasing our fuel consumption to 11.6 mpg, go wind. When we stopped for the night in Guthrie, the young lady that checked us in told us that it was the first time in her memory that she had seen such flooding along the Cimarron River. Later that night we drove into town for dinner at the #2 restaurant in town and saw first hand that indeed some of the roads were closed due to the flooding.
I would like to tell you all about the fantastic dinner that we had at the #2 restaurant in town but I shall not even name it. Although, the fellow that waited our table was nice enough. That evening the wind continued to blow causing the canopy over the slide to lift several times. The next morning when we went to put the slide in, we found that the canopy was folded on itself from the wind. So, out came the ladder and with a little coaxing, we had it straightened out.
We continued north on I35 with Homewood, KS our next stop. We continued to see high water all along the trip. There was one point that the water needed only another 2 feet and it would be covering I35. Our plan was to sleep in and go out for breakfast leaving late in the morning for our next leg into Independence which was only 78 miles. When I asked the young lady if there was a good place to go for breakfast in Homewood, her answer said it all. “This is Homewood” she said with a grin. That night we sat and watched as some pretty bad weather passed to south of us. The next morning, we watched the news to find out that 13 tornadoes had touched down just across the line from us in MO. With our going out for breakfast in the gutter, we stayed in and Pat made French Toast. However, we noticed water coming out from under the counter near the bathroom, “Ut-Row.” We cleaned up and got on the road, we’ll deal with it in Independence.
We checked in early and while setting up found that one of the safety cables had come loose and dragged for a few miles and was worn down to a nubbin, another “ut-row.” Anyway I started with the leak and found that my sink drain going over to the grey tank had come loose and there was no way I was going to fix it. So, we called a mobile RV guy, they’ll call back.
Next, we went to Camping World for a new cable. No, they don’t have that length go to a truck place near where you’re camped.  No, we don’t carry that, go up to Liberty, I’m sure they have it. No, we don’t but let me make a call. Yup, here’s a place that has it, out by the airport. Bottom line was that after 3 hours of running around we got a new cable. On our way back to the RV the mobile guy called and said they would be there in an hour or so. They came in figured out what they needed, went and got it, came back and fixed the broken pipe and we were exhausted. And this was supposed to be a short, easy day.
Ok, next day, the major problems seem to be done for now and I’m out on the golf course playing a course called WinterStone. It’s number 223 for me, but I’m only playing 9 holes. It, like every golf course within 50 miles is cart path only. The staff is very friendly and the course is very wet as well as hilly.
 

WinterStone GC Independence, MO

I’m not sure which hole this is, but you can imagine how much you have to walk after hitting the ball. And yes, every hole is like this. I would love to play this when I could use a cart on the fairways.
Did I mention where the campground is located? If you’ve been to Independence and visited the home of Harry S. Truman, the campground is a few blocks southwest of the house.
Back in 2000 we did a tour of the Truman house and enjoyed it thoroughly, but decided once was enough. Our main purpose is to visit friends here in the area and we are doing just that. However, there is a display that did catch our attention.
 

Stonehenge in England

No, we didn’t find a portal to England. We went to Union Station in Kansas City where they are doing a fine display of facts and artifacts along with some mock-ups from Stonehenge in jolly old England. We found the 90-minute tour to be fascinating, if you’re into that sort of thing. With modern science they have been able to determine a lot of information about this monument that they did not know just 40 years ago.

I snapped this pic as we were leaving Union Station, thought you’d get a kick. Look to the top of the building above the train and you’ll see the Western Auto sign. I wonder if they are still in business? Anyway, we’ve had a blast here in KC/Independence and are now looking forward to our next leg of the trip. Wouldn't it be nice if the rain would take a break. Last report we heard there were over 200 tornadoes here in the midwest and I can't tell you how many floods.

2019 Arlington, Texas

Here I am starting our 2019 blog. For those of you that know me I was the in computers most of my life but I now find myself falling behind the times with this social media thing. Last year I fell off Facebook, not because of equipment failure but because of data overload. So, now I only use it occasionally, like now to let you know that my blog is up and running. Ok, that’s out of the way.


Welcome to our 2019 celebration of the 50^th.  That’s right, Pat and I have been together for 50 years. And in the middle of 1969, we got married (right after some dudes walked on the moon). May 18^th, we started a journey northward towards KC where we will spend Memorial Day. We did an overnight in San Antonio and did not even drop the car, we were that tired. 


Day two of our journey we arrived in a fancy RV Resort called Treetops in Arlington, located between Dallas and Fort Worth. Fortunately, we were able to get it at half price, else it would be $70+ per night. Our first night in we found a restaurant that had been on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives called Taste of Europe featuring Russian, Polish & German food. Average food but fun because of the people and the place. They sold a lot of Russian stuff.

Taste of Europe

I was able to get out and add number 222 to my golf courses by playing a course called Waterchase here in town. The course was in good shape, especially after all of the rain they have been getting and the staff was exceptionally friendly.

View of the 9th hole at Waterchase Golf Club in Arlington, Texas

After my round of golf, Pat and I drove around checking out the sights of Arlington and Fort Worth. Arlington is mostly just a college town, but Fort Worth is a place we think we should come back and spend some time in. 

Knights of Pythias Building Fort Worth, Texas

The above is a perfect example of the old architecture with the modern throughout downtown. Next installment we will be parked in Independence, MO.

Turning Towards Home

Have you ever heard of a round “tuit?” Well I found one and decided to use it to finish my blog, we’ve only been home a little more than 3 months.

 We pulled out of Bowman, ND heading south to Black Hawk, SD on the 22^nd of Aug. At some point we found ourselves close to the town of Sturgis, SD and decided we just had to stop.

Thank goodness that it was not during Bike week, that would have been way too busy for us. We found a place to park and walked over to the main drag where we found Wieners Diner & Donuts on Main Street and had a second breakfast.

For all of my Biker friends that have gone to Sturgis during bike week this is what Main Street looks like without all your compatriots.

After we had a bite to eat, we continued on down the road to our stop at 3 Flags RV Park in Black Hawk, where we will be tourists for a few days. Our first stop is Mount Rushmore.

Gee, which picture do I choose? I had to put this one in showing us both at Mount Rushmore, HERE WE ARE! But I decided to go with a more traditional

Rather than showing the heads through the state flags. We talked about going over to Crazy Horse, but decided that it was not complete and we were not really in to it, but….

We took this picture when we drove by the Crazy Horse Site.

We also drove through the Custer State Forrest hoping to see the large herd of buffalo purported to be in this park.

We couldn’t find the herd, but we found a few males out grazing. Here’s one fellow that was by the side of the road and no we are not that close, I used a telephoto lens.

Several times as we have been traveling we’ve seen antelope. This is the first time we were able to stop and take a picture.

This fellow we were able to get close to. It’s a sculpture we found in Hill City across the street from the restaurant we just had to go for dinner. We had a $12 Fillet at the Alpine Inn. Of course, you had to get there early and you had two choices for dinner it was steak or some vegetarian dish. And it was all cash. When they opened the doors, the line was out into the street. We got there early enough to make it for the first seating. You got a wedge of lettuce with a drizzle of their dressing, the steak dinner with a baked potato, Texas Toast and if you paid extra you got a dessert.  Was it good, or worth the wait? You just have to go and decide for yourself. By the time we got home we were exhausted.

The next day I got up early to go and play a round of golf while Pat stayed in bed for a bit of a sleep in. As I was eating breakfast I noticed a rig across the way that looked familiar but dismissed it as “no it couldn’t be.” When I got back from golf I walked over to that rig and sure enough it was a fellow that is in my Friday league down in Pharr, TX. We went out to dinner with Brad and his wife the next night. We’ve run into folks we’ve met in our travels many times and it never gets old.

Our last day finds us on another tour heading out to the badlands. While you know that Badlands are called that because they are lands that are useless and not good for anything. Well, these lands were certainly not that. There was plenty of life.

This is the first of the Badlands life we came across as we entered the park. Later we came across more of these mountain goats grazing in some grass land.

Even though it was quite cloudy as we started out, I was quite taken with amount of color shown in the bands here in these hills.

Looking at other areas it was interesting to see how they erode and don’t have any growth areas on them. You can see the various geological layers in all of the hills.

Couldn’t resist through in some of these prairie dogs. We also saw some single buffalo, again no herds. At one point I got excited and took some pictures of what I thought might be a buffalo herd but when I blew the pictures up, I found the were beef cattle. This was not our year to see a herd of buffalo.

Our route out of the badlands took us through the town of Wall. So we had to stop at the famous “Wall Drugs” for a malted milk. Wall Drug reminded us of “South of the Border” on the east coast. In other words, “a tourist trap.” We were going out to dinner with our surprise couple, so not much to eat till dinner.

We are traveling again on the 26^th of August and doing an overnight in Chamberlain, SD. As we cross the Missouri River we spot a statue that we just have to come back to for a photo.

She’s called “Dignity” and she is in the Rest area overlooking the River. She honors the Lakota and Dakota peoples of the Dakotas.

The next two days were spent in Sioux Falls, SD.

Yes, these are the falls. We ate lunch in an old pump house next to the falls, it was quite nice. I also got a round of golf in.

Pat was looking forward to our next stop in Lincoln, NE where she wanted to go to the quilt museum which is run by the university. She dropped me off at the golf course and then headed for the museum where she came across this useful item.

That is if you have a camel you want to fancy up. Pat tells me she really enjoyed the display. Most of the collection came from the far east but it was certainly different than anything you would normally find here in the US.

Well we turned the camera off as we headed south towards home. So, the rest is just some story telling. As to the time frame, we are in late August and Hurricane Harvey has been ravaging the coast of Texas as we are heading south. We arrive in Guthrie, OK on the 1^st of September and the reports of damage are still not complete, but we know that our normal route would take us close to Corpus Christi and we are not sure if the flooding has not reached some of the highways we plan to travel.

We pulled out of Guthrie and headed for Wichita Falls avoiding the whole Dallas mess. Then went down through Brady to Carrizo Springs. This was a little town the first time we had stopped here, but, after the oil boom it is now full of campgrounds, man-camps, hotels and restaurants. When we made reservations at the campground, the night before, we were told they had plenty of room, the refugee’s had just left. When we arrived the lady told us they had every place full, all lawns full of tents and the neighbors were taking in the overflow all from refugees from hurricane Harvey just a few days ago.

The next day, we drove down through Laredo and continued on to our home in the Rio Grande Valley. How many miles? We started with our Easter trip to Port Aransas for about 365 miles, then up to Denver for around 1,300, over to Watsonville for another 1,400 then 1,200 up to Washington. A couple of thousand across the top of the country then back down to home for another 1,500 or so. Anyway, the total came in around 7,950 miles. With side trips in the car, we were well over 10,000 miles.

Pat had a class she need to attend in Dallas mid-September. We chose to go home rather than camp in the Dallas area until the class started. Campgrounds are hard to come by and I was ready to get home. So, after a week at home we were off to Dallas with the car to get Pat to her class and me to a couple of new golf courses that got me to 201 different courses throughout North America.