12/7 Friday and D-Day Many years ago I was visiting Pearl Harbor on this day. I hope it is as emotional today as it was about 30+ years ago. I am afraid that so many of the members of the Navy that were there back then have gone on to their final reward. I am afraid our nation, the one that seems to forget the history of this country, likely still celebrates the day but less the fervor it had when I was there.
With plans to head to Florida for Christmas, we made a run to Nuevo Progreso to get a little Kahula to carry with us. When we were there last week we found the bottle sold in the US for about $36.99 sells there for 7.80. With out of state licenses, we were able to get 4 bottles each. We did have to pay federal and state taxes of $19, but even with all expenses like tolls, parking, gasoline, we still saved over $220 vs. the same thing here in Texas. Likely we will need to make another run or so to stockpile some of the expensive stuff. Progreso is not a bad place to visit and the second time across is far less worrisome than the first time.
The trip was almost uneventful had it not been for a tanker driver who decided he owned the road and wanted to go faster than the rest of the traffic. To do this, he just pulled into the opposing lane and began to pass everyone and everything. Fortunately the road had a very wide shoulder so opposing traffic could jump onto the shoulder while the traffic he was passing was also heading for their shoulder. Unfortunately there were no police anywhere around. We did see a local slick top on the way home at a fire. He looked like a normal tan car until he turned on his lights. It has been a long time since I saw a police car that had more lights than this one. The side of his car was marked, but by the time you saw the markings, you had already seen his lights and you were so busted.
Friday, December 7, 2007
12-4 It is cold in Mission, Texas and other stuff
12/4 Tuesday We arose to some cold temperatures after having pulled the covers up to our noses in the early hours. At 7 the temp was 49, then 2 hours later it was down to 47 with NOAA showing the official temp at 44. Checking around I felt warmer as Houston and northern Florida are 39. Looking at the New York City area, there high through the weekend will not even get close to our current low temperature.
Thinking back a few days ago when we went to Nuevo Progresso, Mexico, I forgot to mention our experience coming through the border checkpoint into Texas. There was only guard for the walking traffic, thus there was a line. They had widows so you could watch the cars going through. They had a dog that was checking every vehicle. He suddenly acted a bit different on one car. The guards were opening the trunk and the dog walked away a few feet, then turned and jumped into the trunk – busted. The car was moved to another area for a more intense inspection. Meantime the Border Patrol stopped a car that had over $1M in marijuana so there are individuals that are attempting to smuggle drugs into the US. In the case of this driver, he took off and dove into the Rio Grande and swam back to Mexico. Meantime the drugs belonged to the Border Patrol.
Thinking back a few days ago when we went to Nuevo Progresso, Mexico, I forgot to mention our experience coming through the border checkpoint into Texas. There was only guard for the walking traffic, thus there was a line. They had widows so you could watch the cars going through. They had a dog that was checking every vehicle. He suddenly acted a bit different on one car. The guards were opening the trunk and the dog walked away a few feet, then turned and jumped into the trunk – busted. The car was moved to another area for a more intense inspection. Meantime the Border Patrol stopped a car that had over $1M in marijuana so there are individuals that are attempting to smuggle drugs into the US. In the case of this driver, he took off and dove into the Rio Grande and swam back to Mexico. Meantime the drugs belonged to the Border Patrol.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Off to Nuevo Progresso, Mexico
On the bridge over the Reo Grande there is little turning back here.This is the Mexican border check. They are not very worried about what you are bringing in so only one person on duty.
Main street Progresso. It is crowded and there are many vendors set up outside stores to sell their stuff. Walking through is a one-lane operation
most of the time. Several stores are really nice and air conditioned while others; we will just say they were a little rough.This was the most impressive sign of all the many medical related businesses we passed. We have many here at the RV park that have dentists in Progresso.
11/30 Friday I began the post and had to look at the clock that tells me what day it is; ain’t retirement great!! I had it wrong, I thought it was Thursday and I had a day to take care of some business before the weekend – Oh well, who really gives a flip?
The day began a little early as the dog said she needed to take a quick trot outside. Me, once up it is hard to head back to bed. Coffee and looking at the Internet seemed to be important at the time.
We decided to head to Progresso, Mexico today and see what everyone is taking about. Yes, it is a darn sight better than our experience in Reynosa two days ago. Although the streets are not that much better, there is signage we are able to read. There were also lots of cars with Texas plates unlike Reynosa. This town does cater to the American tourist and offers very good dental care are great prices. They also offer medical services, glasses, hair cuts and of course medicines and liquor at much better prices.
We shopped around for a while and then picked up some liquor to see what would happen at the border crossing. As none Texans, we were able to bring back 4 quarts each vs. only one for a Texan. Arriving at the Texas checkpoint for liquor and cigarettes, we were only charged $1.25 for each of two quarts we had and $1.75 for the 1.75L bottle we brought in. Considering we were dealing with Kahula that cost about $35 in the states, we made out well considering we paid $8.70 for the bottle in Mexico. Even with the tax, we were still under $10. So it cost .25 to cross the border going south and .30 going north and $1.50 to park, we still had money in the pocket even after buying gasoline. After all, we were going to go somewhere and do something, so we could have been out some money for travel in any case.
Progresso is not so bad a town to visit. Just like many years ago, the kids are panhandling anyone who comes by. There are also many adults who are sitting out there with a cup (normally a clean, white Styrofoam cup) hoping you will drop in coins or better. Walking back across the bridge there were kids with a hat or cup extended through the railing of the bridge looking for coins. You could not see them at all, nor could they see you until you were immediately in front of them. As an educator, the number of kids begging instead of in school disturbed me. No, I have no confidence that they were home schooled, so what future could they have? Still, it was an experience and causes us to realize just how blessed we are in life.
Thanksgiving and Reynosa, Mexico
11/28 Wednesday Thankfully we are back in Mission! Seems we have been on the road long enough to develop an appreciation for non-chaotic life, one that is quiet, organized and lacks sudden outbursts that grate on the nerves. First night back we slept like we had not in many days. Yes, we did enjoy going and visiting the daughters, but they live in the rush of work and getting it done along with touching base with this person and that person at prescribed times. To us, it was an exhausting race to get things done. Our lives, as retired people living on the road, we have discovered the slow lane and are quite content to stay there. In fact, if the speed limit is 70 or so, we still drive at 61; better fuel mileage at 1600 RPM! If we don’t get there by a certain time, who cares? There is a Wal-Mart just down the road and we can just ‘drop an anchor for the night’ and we will maybe get to where we should have been tomorrow! Our bed was so wonderful; we did not wake up for about 1.5 hours past the normal time. The alarm clock in our life style is not an option. It is funny how your employer gives you a ‘gold watch’ like keeping track of time is critical when you retire. I have not worn a watch since before October 2004; however I know where the watch is but I am sure the battery ran down at least a year ago.
Well, to the more current, we did enjoy some time with the kids in the Dallas and Houston areas for Thanksgiving. We managed to find turkey on Thanksgiving with one group but then switched to Mexican on Friday with the kids. We enjoy Mexican, or more a Tex-Mex food offered by Nifa’s Restaurant. This Houston based chain cranks out some good food; our estimate.
Back in Mission after a 12 day absence finds the weather more pleasant than Dallas or Houston. It got to about 51o here, but the days are more like low 70o. For folks who enjoy the shorts and T-shirt life, this is much better. We actually had to dig out long pants in both Dallas and Houston. I did find a pair of jean I had not had on for 3 years that still fit; Mom says much better fit now than before, something about I have a butt. I will take this as a complement.
Today we made a trip to Reynosa, Mexico. Returning to the campground, we learned you do not go to Reynosa, instead you go to Progresso, Mexico if you are American. The former is just a large Mexican town (by their standards) with many rough edges. Signage in town is very lacking and I went down at least two roads the wrong direction. Unlike the US, Mexico, or Reynosa has no interest in dual signage to aid Americans find their way. One way streets are sometimes marked with an arrow, but the locals are just as likely to park on the left of a road as on the right, so looking at cars does not give you a clew if you are on a two-way street or not. Yes, we did drive the car into Mexico; our first and last such activity. Not sure what the insurance company would say about being less than 5-miles inside the border, but we managed to get home intact. We were really happy to see the Texas sign as we drove back into the state!
What is disturbing to us is the way the border is patrolled, or not patrolled. We went in to Mexico and had to stop because we got a red light instead of a green light; a random check. They looked in the back of the car – no sweat. On the way back, we had to stop at a post and show our passports. Once cleared there we were clear to run through a maze of pylons and structures like those you see at a tollbooth. Once through this, with no stops and no people other than drivers who wanted to get ahead and bet the rest of the drivers into Texas, we saw no American or Border Patrol people or big dogs with equally big teeth. I guess this is why we are finding so many Hispanics on the Texas side of the border.
Listening to the radio here in Mission, we are finding there are about twice the number of Hispanic radio stations broadcasting in Brownsville, McAllen and Mission as English stations. On the TV, it is an even greater number of Hispanic channels. You can tell these stations with the sound muted because they broadcast more exposed flesh than we see on US channels. The only place we have seen more flesh was a channel coming from Canada where full frontal topless was the norm on late evening air signal channels (10 PM and later). We were trying to catch a Fox channel for news at 10 eastern time (regular news was at 11 in this time zone) and found the programming introduced by topless women. The show was presented much like Saturday Night Live. I will admit they were attractive women whether you look more toward the top of the screen or toward the bottom. Unlike the news in England that features the nude news, no subscription was required.
Going to margarita night here at the park, we learned no one goes to Reynosa. Instead they go to Progresso where the town caters to the American public. There it is safe to drive over and this is where you go to get some really good dental work at great prices. We will be checking this out soon. Meantime, Reynosa is off the list of places to visit! Otherwise, we are most THANKFUL to be back safely in Mission!
As we drove around McAllen (who says you need to come home by a direct route?) we saw the Hummer in the picture. I guess this is a step between a normal stretch Hummer and an RV of some description. We agreed it was generally ugly with the exposed shocks and the inability of many people, especially women wearing a dress, to reasonably access the thing. In addition, the A/C unit on the top would make a racket that would make conversation or watching TV difficult. It is understandable that they could not generate enough cooled air to handle this long back section, but I would hate to be the person who paid major bucks to rent this.
As a side note, liquor stores around here are thin. We are guessing this is the result of duty free stores along the Mexican border, but we have no idea how much you can bring back or how much tax you must pay. It would really suck if you found you could have bought the bottle in the states for less or the same as you paid in Mexico, but you had to lug the bottle home you bought in Mexico!
Well, to the more current, we did enjoy some time with the kids in the Dallas and Houston areas for Thanksgiving. We managed to find turkey on Thanksgiving with one group but then switched to Mexican on Friday with the kids. We enjoy Mexican, or more a Tex-Mex food offered by Nifa’s Restaurant. This Houston based chain cranks out some good food; our estimate.
Back in Mission after a 12 day absence finds the weather more pleasant than Dallas or Houston. It got to about 51o here, but the days are more like low 70o. For folks who enjoy the shorts and T-shirt life, this is much better. We actually had to dig out long pants in both Dallas and Houston. I did find a pair of jean I had not had on for 3 years that still fit; Mom says much better fit now than before, something about I have a butt. I will take this as a complement.
Today we made a trip to Reynosa, Mexico. Returning to the campground, we learned you do not go to Reynosa, instead you go to Progresso, Mexico if you are American. The former is just a large Mexican town (by their standards) with many rough edges. Signage in town is very lacking and I went down at least two roads the wrong direction. Unlike the US, Mexico, or Reynosa has no interest in dual signage to aid Americans find their way. One way streets are sometimes marked with an arrow, but the locals are just as likely to park on the left of a road as on the right, so looking at cars does not give you a clew if you are on a two-way street or not. Yes, we did drive the car into Mexico; our first and last such activity. Not sure what the insurance company would say about being less than 5-miles inside the border, but we managed to get home intact. We were really happy to see the Texas sign as we drove back into the state!
What is disturbing to us is the way the border is patrolled, or not patrolled. We went in to Mexico and had to stop because we got a red light instead of a green light; a random check. They looked in the back of the car – no sweat. On the way back, we had to stop at a post and show our passports. Once cleared there we were clear to run through a maze of pylons and structures like those you see at a tollbooth. Once through this, with no stops and no people other than drivers who wanted to get ahead and bet the rest of the drivers into Texas, we saw no American or Border Patrol people or big dogs with equally big teeth. I guess this is why we are finding so many Hispanics on the Texas side of the border.
Listening to the radio here in Mission, we are finding there are about twice the number of Hispanic radio stations broadcasting in Brownsville, McAllen and Mission as English stations. On the TV, it is an even greater number of Hispanic channels. You can tell these stations with the sound muted because they broadcast more exposed flesh than we see on US channels. The only place we have seen more flesh was a channel coming from Canada where full frontal topless was the norm on late evening air signal channels (10 PM and later). We were trying to catch a Fox channel for news at 10 eastern time (regular news was at 11 in this time zone) and found the programming introduced by topless women. The show was presented much like Saturday Night Live. I will admit they were attractive women whether you look more toward the top of the screen or toward the bottom. Unlike the news in England that features the nude news, no subscription was required.
Going to margarita night here at the park, we learned no one goes to Reynosa. Instead they go to Progresso where the town caters to the American public. There it is safe to drive over and this is where you go to get some really good dental work at great prices. We will be checking this out soon. Meantime, Reynosa is off the list of places to visit! Otherwise, we are most THANKFUL to be back safely in Mission!
As we drove around McAllen (who says you need to come home by a direct route?) we saw the Hummer in the picture. I guess this is a step between a normal stretch Hummer and an RV of some description. We agreed it was generally ugly with the exposed shocks and the inability of many people, especially women wearing a dress, to reasonably access the thing. In addition, the A/C unit on the top would make a racket that would make conversation or watching TV difficult. It is understandable that they could not generate enough cooled air to handle this long back section, but I would hate to be the person who paid major bucks to rent this.
As a side note, liquor stores around here are thin. We are guessing this is the result of duty free stores along the Mexican border, but we have no idea how much you can bring back or how much tax you must pay. It would really suck if you found you could have bought the bottle in the states for less or the same as you paid in Mexico, but you had to lug the bottle home you bought in Mexico!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Plano and Sunday = Church
11/18 Sunday We attended church with our daughter and son-in-law at Bent Tree of Life Bible Church where they are members. Pete, the senior pastor was less than our image of a ‘senior’ pastor. He is all of about 45 and now leads a congregation nearing 5,000; we typically see senior pastors with a lot more gray hair. Pete has a real relaxed style but surely gets the message across. He comes from a family with parents and siblings all in various ministries. In early January the congregation will move into their new sanctuary that will seat 5.000.
This week the minister of music had a couple as his houseguests whom he had worked with at a church in Chicago. He handled the piano and she was one of the praise team. Together they all made some great music that everyone wanted to join in singing.
If you want to take a look, their web site is btbf.org. We recommend taking advantage of any opportunity to attend one of their services.
As for the rest of the afternoon, after lunch it was home to catch the final NASCAR race for this season. It was not as nail biting as last week with Jimmy Johnson coming to the front in the last few laps, but it was a good race.
This week the minister of music had a couple as his houseguests whom he had worked with at a church in Chicago. He handled the piano and she was one of the praise team. Together they all made some great music that everyone wanted to join in singing.
If you want to take a look, their web site is btbf.org. We recommend taking advantage of any opportunity to attend one of their services.
As for the rest of the afternoon, after lunch it was home to catch the final NASCAR race for this season. It was not as nail biting as last week with Jimmy Johnson coming to the front in the last few laps, but it was a good race.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Heading for Dallas
11/15 Thursday Today was a long day of driving north. Mom has an appointment with a neurosurgeon to see why she is having problems with her neck and arms. To accomplish this we are going to Dr. Courtney in Dallas as our Dallas son-in-law has seen him with great success. Asking around, we could not find anyone who had first hand information on someone in this specialty. Although the drive was 574 miles from the Valley, hopefully it will be worth the time.
Heading out of Mission, we passed a tire store. What made this special or humorous is their sales gimmick. They rent tires to own. I heard of furniture you rent to own but not tires. Coincidently and likely important was the location of this tire store immediately across the street from the local pawnshop.
Heading north it appeared the Dept. of Public Safety was on focusing on the traffic speed on the road. They had multiple units patrolling in addition to at least two unmarked cars. Obviously one driver failed to recognize the dirty Crown Vic with the very dark tinted windows until the car suddenly lit up with all these pretty red and blue lights – okay, there were also some clear strobe mixed in.
Continuing on we saw a sign saying it was a federal crime to smuggle illegals into the country. Just a bit further all traffic was routed through a checkpoint manned by offices in brown uniforms and big guns. They also had at least one dog that kept reminding everyone both of his presence and how big and mean he could be. A quick salutation and we were on our way.
Fortunately the road is flat and the cruise control was working or I would have had a problem staying at an acceptable legal limit. Knowing we had over 500 miles to cover before seeing a bed, I found myself trying to fug on the speed whenever my foot was used to determine the speed. The only problem on our drive was the almost constant 25 MPH plus winds in our face. Running our gas mileage, on the second fill of the day and with the wind still in our face, we are up 11 MPG over the mileages in the previous 4 fills. I just wonder what the mileage would have been had the wind been on our tail instead of right on our nose.
Arriving in Dallas, we were caught up in traffic, something we have not experienced in over a year; we most certainly have not missed it! We were caught in the wrong lane and suddenly found ourselves on I-30 and off I-35. In this lower section of roads below the city, there is no way off I-30 until you get to I-45 south or US-75 north. Because US-75 is also Central Expressway and the other route to the daughter’s house, we rode this. At 5:50 PM, this is not the thing to have done. Going 30 miles took only 1:20 minutes so next time we will be sure to catch the right road.
11/16 Friday We saw Dr. Courtney this morning. He is younger than envisioned; maybe at our age almost everyone outside the RV park looks younger. Although we had been warned his ‘bedside’ manors were a little short or one person reported him to be a typical arrogant surgeon, he was anything but. He was cordial and took time to have a few laughs while sitting on the exam table and leaning against the wall for support. He cracked a few jokes but you had to listen carefully as his humor can be dry. Careful listening is also needed as he talks fast and he is giving you information you need that is woven into whatever conversation is going on. He gives multi-tasking a new definition.
To our surprise, our appointment was at 9:30; however, we arrived at 8:50 and by 9:50, we had seen the nurse, had X-rays, seen the doctor, talked with the insurance verification person, paid for our visit and were back in the car to leave. Did I mention he is very much business and talks fast?
With Rx for multiple prescriptions in hand we were off to the drug store and breakfast. Unlike our experience with CVS and Wal-Mart, our prescription was ready in 35 minutes. Before breakfast was over we had insurance clearance, two level MRI scheduled and a follow-up appointment with the doctor to discuss the results. We were even ‘back home’ at the daughter’s home before 11:25. This type of speed is unheard of in the general medical community. So, it appears the rest of the day is just kicking back and enjoying the cool (under 70 degree) day.
Heading out of Mission, we passed a tire store. What made this special or humorous is their sales gimmick. They rent tires to own. I heard of furniture you rent to own but not tires. Coincidently and likely important was the location of this tire store immediately across the street from the local pawnshop.
Heading north it appeared the Dept. of Public Safety was on focusing on the traffic speed on the road. They had multiple units patrolling in addition to at least two unmarked cars. Obviously one driver failed to recognize the dirty Crown Vic with the very dark tinted windows until the car suddenly lit up with all these pretty red and blue lights – okay, there were also some clear strobe mixed in.
Continuing on we saw a sign saying it was a federal crime to smuggle illegals into the country. Just a bit further all traffic was routed through a checkpoint manned by offices in brown uniforms and big guns. They also had at least one dog that kept reminding everyone both of his presence and how big and mean he could be. A quick salutation and we were on our way.
Fortunately the road is flat and the cruise control was working or I would have had a problem staying at an acceptable legal limit. Knowing we had over 500 miles to cover before seeing a bed, I found myself trying to fug on the speed whenever my foot was used to determine the speed. The only problem on our drive was the almost constant 25 MPH plus winds in our face. Running our gas mileage, on the second fill of the day and with the wind still in our face, we are up 11 MPG over the mileages in the previous 4 fills. I just wonder what the mileage would have been had the wind been on our tail instead of right on our nose.
Arriving in Dallas, we were caught up in traffic, something we have not experienced in over a year; we most certainly have not missed it! We were caught in the wrong lane and suddenly found ourselves on I-30 and off I-35. In this lower section of roads below the city, there is no way off I-30 until you get to I-45 south or US-75 north. Because US-75 is also Central Expressway and the other route to the daughter’s house, we rode this. At 5:50 PM, this is not the thing to have done. Going 30 miles took only 1:20 minutes so next time we will be sure to catch the right road.
11/16 Friday We saw Dr. Courtney this morning. He is younger than envisioned; maybe at our age almost everyone outside the RV park looks younger. Although we had been warned his ‘bedside’ manors were a little short or one person reported him to be a typical arrogant surgeon, he was anything but. He was cordial and took time to have a few laughs while sitting on the exam table and leaning against the wall for support. He cracked a few jokes but you had to listen carefully as his humor can be dry. Careful listening is also needed as he talks fast and he is giving you information you need that is woven into whatever conversation is going on. He gives multi-tasking a new definition.
To our surprise, our appointment was at 9:30; however, we arrived at 8:50 and by 9:50, we had seen the nurse, had X-rays, seen the doctor, talked with the insurance verification person, paid for our visit and were back in the car to leave. Did I mention he is very much business and talks fast?
With Rx for multiple prescriptions in hand we were off to the drug store and breakfast. Unlike our experience with CVS and Wal-Mart, our prescription was ready in 35 minutes. Before breakfast was over we had insurance clearance, two level MRI scheduled and a follow-up appointment with the doctor to discuss the results. We were even ‘back home’ at the daughter’s home before 11:25. This type of speed is unheard of in the general medical community. So, it appears the rest of the day is just kicking back and enjoying the cool (under 70 degree) day.
Monday, November 12, 2007
11-12 A fun Monday
Dixie says "I hate the vacuum cleaner, so I will just take this and you can't make it work!!"
11-12 Monday We had a very pleasant visit from Bobbie Fosbrink, the one lady welcoming committee from the First United Methodist Church in Mission this morning. For some reason we both came bounding out of bed early this morning. For those who know my wife, ‘bounding’ and ‘early’ cannot be used in the same paragraph. Nonetheless, we launched into a cleaning binge. When dealing with a motorhome, this is normally a hour project on a bad day. Fortunately we were in the put-it-back-together stage when Bobbie called to say she wanted to drop by for a short time. We had a very pleasant time and Bobbie ended up staying much longer than I think she expected.
After other cleaning projects we decided the car needed a thorough cleaning. Neither of us could remember when it was last vacuumed. Dixie, the sweet little dog raised by the Florida granddaughter hates the vacuum cleaner. When it is run and the wife is around, Dixie just goes crazy and attacks something related to the vacuum. When there is nothing related to the vacuum, she attacks pill bottles or toys. Today she was outside when it started, so she found the crevice tool. When we attempted to retrieve it, she was more than a little reluctant to turn loose.
Once completed, it is just amassing how good the car looks. In the morning it gets a bath! When this is completed, our gas mileage is bound to go up at least 5MPG.
After other cleaning projects we decided the car needed a thorough cleaning. Neither of us could remember when it was last vacuumed. Dixie, the sweet little dog raised by the Florida granddaughter hates the vacuum cleaner. When it is run and the wife is around, Dixie just goes crazy and attacks something related to the vacuum. When there is nothing related to the vacuum, she attacks pill bottles or toys. Today she was outside when it started, so she found the crevice tool. When we attempted to retrieve it, she was more than a little reluctant to turn loose.
Once completed, it is just amassing how good the car looks. In the morning it gets a bath! When this is completed, our gas mileage is bound to go up at least 5MPG.
Sunday, 11-11 activities
11-11 Sunday Being Sunday it is time to get to church! Mom decided she wanted to go to the Methodist church, the one with the big banner in front. I head off and start to drop off at the Mission exit when she asked where I was going? I told her the Methodist church and she announced the one she was talking about was on 10th Street in McAllen. I decided to just go along and see what she was talking about since we had time, so about 8 miles later we were on 10th Street and there is no church. I tried, in my nicest voice, to say I would like to take her to the church I remember had a banner. Pulling up in front of the church she said it was the right one.
Charles Baskin is the pastor there and he was outside greeting those arriving for the service. He was most relaxed and acted as if he had all the time in the world to talk. Having now gone to the Good Shepherd UMC in Charlotte, NC and to the Faith UMC in Elkhart where pastors Talbot and Larry, respectively, both took time to walk around and great people both outside and inside the sanctuary, as did Charlie, we seem to be finding a very nice common thread among Methodist pastors. These are not the only churches where this happened, but they are the three most memorable.
Charlie’s wife Heidi plays the keyboards and leads the singing at the contemporary service. She is also the one who makes pumpkin bread in a mason jar for guests. She prepares the mixture, then puts it into the jar and bakes it there. She seals the jar and puts a Bible verse on as a final touch. Bobbie, the one woman welcome committee who visited us this morning (Monday) to great us says we should enjoy the bread, but bringing the jar back does not equate to a refill – Oh, shucks.
Charles Baskin is the pastor there and he was outside greeting those arriving for the service. He was most relaxed and acted as if he had all the time in the world to talk. Having now gone to the Good Shepherd UMC in Charlotte, NC and to the Faith UMC in Elkhart where pastors Talbot and Larry, respectively, both took time to walk around and great people both outside and inside the sanctuary, as did Charlie, we seem to be finding a very nice common thread among Methodist pastors. These are not the only churches where this happened, but they are the three most memorable.
Charlie’s wife Heidi plays the keyboards and leads the singing at the contemporary service. She is also the one who makes pumpkin bread in a mason jar for guests. She prepares the mixture, then puts it into the jar and bakes it there. She seals the jar and puts a Bible verse on as a final touch. Bobbie, the one woman welcome committee who visited us this morning (Monday) to great us says we should enjoy the bread, but bringing the jar back does not equate to a refill – Oh, shucks.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Bentsen State Park
Happy birds enjoying the regular handouts.
Saw these but unable to get my own shot.
Some local residents.
An uncooperative Javelina11-10 Saturday We took advantage of the cool morning and road our bikes through the Bentsen State Park. This is a park that adjoins the campground property. As guests here, we have unlimited access to this park. It is a birding center and one of the reasons we decided on this location in the Valley. The road through the park is four miles. It is an old campground that closed so that it could be better used as a birding center. The campground is still there, but you can see it was designed for RVs that were sold in the 50’s. With only state vehicles allowed in the park, it remains very quiet. One of the workers coming through checking the park on a golf cart was the nosiest thing we heard.
Riding through the park we saw a lot of birds. They were being fed so they are like cats; if you feed them they never leave. We also saw a few Green Jays. They have a nice call to go with their blue heads, black throat, green backs and yellow tails. In flight they are very colorful as well as being fast and agile. Without a longer lens, I was unable to get a picture of a single one.
We had been told the there were Javelinas in the park but did not expect to see any – it is a very large park measured in miles. To our surprise, six ran out of the woods in front of us. They can move quickly so I only got a shot of 3 of them before they disappeared into the woods. A bit further down the road and we spotted another grazing alone. He did not want to turn around and I was not about to get off the bike to get a better shot. Maybe another time one will be more willing to show his or her better side or end.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Things around Mission, TX
11/5 – 11/9 Monday – Friday We are still involved in getting settled and finding our way around. It is interesting how here, like some of the NE states, they don’t bother to put street signs up. You must do a lot of guessing to get around or have a GPS to help navigate.
The homes run from some REALLLLY nice homes to some that look as if they should have been condemned several years ago but no one has gotten around to posting the notice. Concrete blocks are used in much of the construction. One home we saw today was made of poured concrete or thin concrete blocks with stucco outside. I am sure the fire insurance on that home will be much cheaper than that of the neighbors.
Something very prevalent in the area is the use of burglar bars on both homes and businesses, even in some nice areas and serious fences around homes. These are not your typical chain link or board fences, instead they are 7’ and 8’ metal and concrete fences the are all the way around the house with large gates to drive through. Another thing is the amount of graffiti on any flat surface from a highway sign that has nothing but a number to the side of a building or wall. Most of the bridge walls have managed to escape these delinquents attention.
Should you drive in the area, especially on US-83, be warned that TxDOT has designed the road exits where you exit on the backside of a bridge and the road you have exited for may be a mile or more down the service road. This is in contrast to a place like Houston where you exit for a cross street and you can see the traffic light or stop sign as you exit. If you guess wrong on the exit, it is easily 2 miles back to the business you just past. This frequently means you cannot see the business you want to reach and get off the road to pull into their parking lot. Here you must know your exit and get off without the comfort of seeing your destination.
I did some investigating and found the woodshop here at the park is a well-equipped shop in a large metal building. The machines are more of the lighter weight category, but they are all full size. They have wood and metal lathes, table saw, miter saw, grinder and a knife sharpener, routers, jointer, planner, drill press, radial arm saw and band saw; think that is all the power equipment. The tool room is well equipped with air nailers and staplers, Forstner bit sets, sanders, grinders, saber saws, quality bar clamps, just to name a few. Some of the people who come here spend so much time there that they have lockers for their projects. I have not had time to go there to work, but I did get some supplies to use for various projects just as soon as time permits. The only problem I found was the blade on the table saw is a carpenter’s grade carbide blade. I will be encouraging them to get a blade more consistent with cabinetmaking so we are able to do more quality work.
We did go out tonight and found the local Harbor Freight, and then we headed off to a Mexican restaurant that has been around for 24 years and has four locations in this area. It sounded as if this was going to be a good location, but as our RV club says, this was both our first time and our last time there. It is fun checking out places, but we need to work more on not setting our expectations quite so high, instead we should set a middle ground and then be pleased when the food exceeds this measure.
We just read a story in the AARP Magazine about a man who had never driven or camped in an RV who, when loaned an RV for a month and hit the road in the Northeast, found food at local restaurants vs. chain establishments to frequently be disappointing regardless how tasty the name sounded. These same entrepreneurs frequently advertised the best (what ever) in the state or region of the country, and then when you order it you suddenly realized the owner never leaves his or her home county.
At least at this Mexican restaurant the staff was Hispanic and dressed the part. Our waiter was an older man and he was dressed well above the level of the others. It did make for a fun experience in a new town, so the experience on a scale of 1 to 10 was about a 5+.
The homes run from some REALLLLY nice homes to some that look as if they should have been condemned several years ago but no one has gotten around to posting the notice. Concrete blocks are used in much of the construction. One home we saw today was made of poured concrete or thin concrete blocks with stucco outside. I am sure the fire insurance on that home will be much cheaper than that of the neighbors.
Something very prevalent in the area is the use of burglar bars on both homes and businesses, even in some nice areas and serious fences around homes. These are not your typical chain link or board fences, instead they are 7’ and 8’ metal and concrete fences the are all the way around the house with large gates to drive through. Another thing is the amount of graffiti on any flat surface from a highway sign that has nothing but a number to the side of a building or wall. Most of the bridge walls have managed to escape these delinquents attention.
Should you drive in the area, especially on US-83, be warned that TxDOT has designed the road exits where you exit on the backside of a bridge and the road you have exited for may be a mile or more down the service road. This is in contrast to a place like Houston where you exit for a cross street and you can see the traffic light or stop sign as you exit. If you guess wrong on the exit, it is easily 2 miles back to the business you just past. This frequently means you cannot see the business you want to reach and get off the road to pull into their parking lot. Here you must know your exit and get off without the comfort of seeing your destination.
I did some investigating and found the woodshop here at the park is a well-equipped shop in a large metal building. The machines are more of the lighter weight category, but they are all full size. They have wood and metal lathes, table saw, miter saw, grinder and a knife sharpener, routers, jointer, planner, drill press, radial arm saw and band saw; think that is all the power equipment. The tool room is well equipped with air nailers and staplers, Forstner bit sets, sanders, grinders, saber saws, quality bar clamps, just to name a few. Some of the people who come here spend so much time there that they have lockers for their projects. I have not had time to go there to work, but I did get some supplies to use for various projects just as soon as time permits. The only problem I found was the blade on the table saw is a carpenter’s grade carbide blade. I will be encouraging them to get a blade more consistent with cabinetmaking so we are able to do more quality work.
We did go out tonight and found the local Harbor Freight, and then we headed off to a Mexican restaurant that has been around for 24 years and has four locations in this area. It sounded as if this was going to be a good location, but as our RV club says, this was both our first time and our last time there. It is fun checking out places, but we need to work more on not setting our expectations quite so high, instead we should set a middle ground and then be pleased when the food exceeds this measure.
We just read a story in the AARP Magazine about a man who had never driven or camped in an RV who, when loaned an RV for a month and hit the road in the Northeast, found food at local restaurants vs. chain establishments to frequently be disappointing regardless how tasty the name sounded. These same entrepreneurs frequently advertised the best (what ever) in the state or region of the country, and then when you order it you suddenly realized the owner never leaves his or her home county.
At least at this Mexican restaurant the staff was Hispanic and dressed the part. Our waiter was an older man and he was dressed well above the level of the others. It did make for a fun experience in a new town, so the experience on a scale of 1 to 10 was about a 5+.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Home in Mission,TX
Don't know why Google printed the pictures twice, but here goes anyway!
I need to get this out before the grass dries out any more! Yes, it is dry here now, yet it is reported that the grass and everything was so green earlier this spring and summer when the rains were very frequent.
I need to get this out before the grass dries out any more! Yes, it is dry here now, yet it is reported that the grass and everything was so green earlier this spring and summer when the rains were very frequent.
Home in Mission, TX at the park. A few shots of the RV all settled in.
11-1 Thursday - Sunday We arrived in Mission, Texas for the winter. With a bit of difficulty we located the park. Our GPS wanted us to exit well before our correct exit causing confusion. Finally arriving, we were extremely pleased to find this is a 5-year old park and the owner is making it a premium quality park. There is another park going in with considerable similarity to this park that is another venture of this owner. In that case, the lots are selling for $39,900. In this park all the sites are either paved with asphalt or concrete. All the roads are wide, smooth asphalt. All the sites have native plants and other native landscaping.
Everything is clean and well organized throughout the park. I did a bicycle tour of the park in the evening again in the morning. Getting around at night was not especially difficult as there is some lighting around the park but not enough to cancel out the stars. The day tour just showed how neat everything was.
I took some pictures but discovered when downloading them to the computer I had bumped the setting and everything was dark so the pictures reflect day 4 on the site. Things are really dry here after having had a very rainy spring and summer leaving everything then very well watered. We did water the plants and found the dirt here really loses all strength when wet; more than normal mud. Even the stakes I put in the ground to hold the awning are pulling out with almost no pressure.
Doing some scouting around, the park I found it is adjacent to a butterfly park. It must be busy in season as there is considerable paved parking. We have a gate from the park giving us direct access without having to through the front gate and down the road. In addition, there is a state park a short distance down the road that is a bird sanctuary. This area is on the bird flyway coming from Mexico and South America to the northern states and Canada. Right now the majority of the birds are grackles and they are very vocal.
The park has a 4-wheel ATV and kayaks they loan to guests. At first they send someone out with you when you take the ATV the first time to show you the roads and trails so you do not get on the wrong trail and suddenly you are crossways with the Border Patrol. We hope to do this on Monday for the first time. They also have a 12-passenger ‘ATV’ that is a modified buggy operating on large tires to get through mud and swamps. That “GATV” as they call it (G is for giant) and is operated by the park owner for the enjoyment of the guests and their friends on Wednesdays.
The pictures are taken around the park.
Everything is clean and well organized throughout the park. I did a bicycle tour of the park in the evening again in the morning. Getting around at night was not especially difficult as there is some lighting around the park but not enough to cancel out the stars. The day tour just showed how neat everything was.
I took some pictures but discovered when downloading them to the computer I had bumped the setting and everything was dark so the pictures reflect day 4 on the site. Things are really dry here after having had a very rainy spring and summer leaving everything then very well watered. We did water the plants and found the dirt here really loses all strength when wet; more than normal mud. Even the stakes I put in the ground to hold the awning are pulling out with almost no pressure.
Doing some scouting around, the park I found it is adjacent to a butterfly park. It must be busy in season as there is considerable paved parking. We have a gate from the park giving us direct access without having to through the front gate and down the road. In addition, there is a state park a short distance down the road that is a bird sanctuary. This area is on the bird flyway coming from Mexico and South America to the northern states and Canada. Right now the majority of the birds are grackles and they are very vocal.
The park has a 4-wheel ATV and kayaks they loan to guests. At first they send someone out with you when you take the ATV the first time to show you the roads and trails so you do not get on the wrong trail and suddenly you are crossways with the Border Patrol. We hope to do this on Monday for the first time. They also have a 12-passenger ‘ATV’ that is a modified buggy operating on large tires to get through mud and swamps. That “GATV” as they call it (G is for giant) and is operated by the park owner for the enjoyment of the guests and their friends on Wednesdays.
The pictures are taken around the park.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Out of Houston for the Valley
10-31 Wednesday We departed Houston for the Texas Valley today. Although we were in Houston several days, we failed to make contact with several friends we really wanted to see. Not sure how the time got away from us, but it appears to be a characteristic of retirement. At least we managed to get all our Houston doctor business done; not an easy task for sure.
We had a late brunch with daughter Connie who recommended we take Barker Cypress to US-59 south to avoid construction on parts of Houston’s Beltway 8 and Us-59. Likely, in retrospect, we should have taken the Beltway and paid the toll. We drove 40 miles and it only took about 1-1/2 hours. No traffic, but lots of lights and slow zones. Finally we were on 59 and up to a steady 63MPH.
The drive was not bad as US-59 is mostly a 4 lane divided road. It is a little rough in sections, but not to compare with I-10 through Louisiana. As a side note, we hear that section of road may have been paved, but I find it hard to believe. We will learn for sure in December when we head to Florida for Christmas.
We zipped around Corpus and on into Kingsville, still making good time. Finally it was time to give it up for the day so we stopped at the Wal-Mart in Falfurrias. It is not a 24-hour store, but several other RVers and a few trucks made this home base for the night. We are less than 85 miles from our destination, so tomorrow should be an easy drive while putting us into the park with plenty of time to set up and do a little exploring.
We had a late brunch with daughter Connie who recommended we take Barker Cypress to US-59 south to avoid construction on parts of Houston’s Beltway 8 and Us-59. Likely, in retrospect, we should have taken the Beltway and paid the toll. We drove 40 miles and it only took about 1-1/2 hours. No traffic, but lots of lights and slow zones. Finally we were on 59 and up to a steady 63MPH.
The drive was not bad as US-59 is mostly a 4 lane divided road. It is a little rough in sections, but not to compare with I-10 through Louisiana. As a side note, we hear that section of road may have been paved, but I find it hard to believe. We will learn for sure in December when we head to Florida for Christmas.
We zipped around Corpus and on into Kingsville, still making good time. Finally it was time to give it up for the day so we stopped at the Wal-Mart in Falfurrias. It is not a 24-hour store, but several other RVers and a few trucks made this home base for the night. We are less than 85 miles from our destination, so tomorrow should be an easy drive while putting us into the park with plenty of time to set up and do a little exploring.
Monday, October 29, 2007
October catch up
Frankly I got way behind on my blog. Sitting around getting the coach worked on did not make for much good news. Fussing about Dometic falls more in the category of a personal problem, so I became lax. Well, here are a few notes and things that did go on that made our October notable in our travels.
10-9 Tuesday Here we are on day 34 camping at Camp Mandalay Resort, but unlike the many previous days here, we are hitting the road today. Dometic is sending the refrigerator coil we need to a Houston repair facility where we will be for two weeks and at this time, this is the problem area that has held us hostage in Elkhart.
The problem we were having with the front A/C unit appears to be better since I spent an hour taping the transition area from the A/C unit to the RVs duct lines in the ceiling. The unit is still freezing up if run on automatic, so this still suggests there could be a refrigerant problem or poor air flow. I am now banking on the latter. Newmar has much larger vents so there is less restriction promoting greater cooling. Making this change on our coach will be challenging.
As we drove down the road today we saw many trees with their leaves reflecting the fall colors. The temp is high today but obviously there have been enough cold nights to tell the trees it is fall and time to put on the fancy colors. Due to the lack of adequate rains the colors are not as intense yet quite enjoyable to see. We are going to be on interstate roads for the next few days, so it will be interesting to see if the colors continue.
10-10 Wednesday Today will just be covering a bunch of miles quickly. With about 1080 miles to cover in three days at an average of 58 miles per hour, we need to stay focused. We did hit the road early so the 420 miles in one day still had us off the road early enough to have some down time. We took advantage of a Wal-Mart parking lot just south of Little Rock for the night as well as the opportunity to make three trips to the store for groceries and new lounge chairs with the other two trips to get things we missed the first time. We may not have paid rent for the night, but it was clearly not a ‘free’ night!
10-11 Thursday On the road again early, we are headed to Plano, Texas northwest of Dallas. We have stayed at Lavon Lake before but elected to stay at another park so we could have 50-amp power. We are anticipating it will be more than a little warm in Texas, so 50-amp power will allow use of both A/C units. The last time we were at this lake the water was quite low, but this time with all the summer rains, the level was about as high as the lake was designed to hold.
10-12 Friday Daughter Storm took the day off to visit with us. With her work responsibilities, taking off normally means the work is piling up on her desk. Even though she had left messages she would be out until Monday, her Blackberry went off several times. Today was just a fun day of catching up and telling stories. She did get up and make a lemon cake early so we would have a special dessert to enjoy – a dessert we both enjoy but neither of us normally would have otherwise. We were so busy catching up we never left the RV.
10-13 Saturday Today we went to see Storm and Wes at their home. They are very fortunate to have such a nice home and they have worked hard to decorate and do maintenance work around the house creating a very attractive home. They are very particular about the appearance of their property and that of the neighbors. Storm was laughing about how Wes had even gone down the street and edged the neighbor’s sidewalk thinking the house was empty. When he was finishing, the owner came out and thanked him. Seems the owner would rather play golf than edge. Storm prepared a very delicious meal early enough that we had time to all return to the RV so Wes and his daughter Catlin could see our new unit.
10-14 Sunday Leigh has a sister living south of Arlington, TX (between Dallas and Fort Worth). We decided, rather on the spur of the moment that we would try to surprise her and drop in. Leigh called to be sure she was not leaving to go somewhere and Kathy caught on where we were when Leigh called out a highway sign in Dallas as she was trying to keep me in the right lane. If you have driven through the downtown area of Dallas, you will understand why it is wise to have a navigator, especially when you have a rig almost 50’ long you are driving.
We arrived at Kathy and Frank’s and she was standing in the yard waving. The entrance road runs behind the house so she was able to see us turn in; it is really hard to hide a large motorhome. When Leigh let the cat out of the bag, Frank left almost immediately and bought ribs and other food for dinner. The sisters had not seen each other for over 6 years, so there was some catching up to do. Although they communicate by Internet messaging, it is not the same as in person.
Kathy and Frank had moved to this home about a year ago from the Oklahoma City area. The property is on some acreage and they have created a very attractive and comfortable home. Kathy is into irises and the yard is loaded with carefully marked plants. The two of them have some grand plans to expand their activity and enlarge the yard. Frank found himself growing watermelons and his crop is really growing very well. One of the melons caught under the edge of the porch and was forcing the porch up as it filled out. That represented some real power!
Their home is on a hill and they report the wind blows up there all the time. I think they may even look into a wind generator and maybe sell some power back to the local utility company. There is a very informative article in Popular Mechanics about installing a wind generator for the home. For them, this could be a real important addition to their property. While we were there, due to the winds, I even ran two of the RV slides in during the night to lessen the effect of the wind on the RV.
We really had a great time there and look forward to going through Dallas and stopping there again.
Following this visit it was into Houston, it was time to make the rounds of doctors to get things arranged for the next year. It also gave me time to go by Jerry’s tech lab to get a few ‘government’ projects done. It is really nice to work in a facility that has equipment in great condition. The students were very well behaved and knew what was expected of them and what they needed to do in class. It made things move smoothly for everyone in the program and a very relaxed, smiling instructor. I wanted to make a few racks to store things in the RV basement to make thing more organized and neater.
We think that the refrigerator is finally fixed and working. The repair facility replaced the coil on the back as it tested as having a partial blockage. It took them a little over a day to do the work as someone at Mandalay had put a screw in during construction that they had extreme difficulty getting to. Sometimes those making something like this do not consider the possibility of repair and the person who must attempt this repair.
10-9 Tuesday Here we are on day 34 camping at Camp Mandalay Resort, but unlike the many previous days here, we are hitting the road today. Dometic is sending the refrigerator coil we need to a Houston repair facility where we will be for two weeks and at this time, this is the problem area that has held us hostage in Elkhart.
The problem we were having with the front A/C unit appears to be better since I spent an hour taping the transition area from the A/C unit to the RVs duct lines in the ceiling. The unit is still freezing up if run on automatic, so this still suggests there could be a refrigerant problem or poor air flow. I am now banking on the latter. Newmar has much larger vents so there is less restriction promoting greater cooling. Making this change on our coach will be challenging.
As we drove down the road today we saw many trees with their leaves reflecting the fall colors. The temp is high today but obviously there have been enough cold nights to tell the trees it is fall and time to put on the fancy colors. Due to the lack of adequate rains the colors are not as intense yet quite enjoyable to see. We are going to be on interstate roads for the next few days, so it will be interesting to see if the colors continue.
10-10 Wednesday Today will just be covering a bunch of miles quickly. With about 1080 miles to cover in three days at an average of 58 miles per hour, we need to stay focused. We did hit the road early so the 420 miles in one day still had us off the road early enough to have some down time. We took advantage of a Wal-Mart parking lot just south of Little Rock for the night as well as the opportunity to make three trips to the store for groceries and new lounge chairs with the other two trips to get things we missed the first time. We may not have paid rent for the night, but it was clearly not a ‘free’ night!
10-11 Thursday On the road again early, we are headed to Plano, Texas northwest of Dallas. We have stayed at Lavon Lake before but elected to stay at another park so we could have 50-amp power. We are anticipating it will be more than a little warm in Texas, so 50-amp power will allow use of both A/C units. The last time we were at this lake the water was quite low, but this time with all the summer rains, the level was about as high as the lake was designed to hold.
10-12 Friday Daughter Storm took the day off to visit with us. With her work responsibilities, taking off normally means the work is piling up on her desk. Even though she had left messages she would be out until Monday, her Blackberry went off several times. Today was just a fun day of catching up and telling stories. She did get up and make a lemon cake early so we would have a special dessert to enjoy – a dessert we both enjoy but neither of us normally would have otherwise. We were so busy catching up we never left the RV.
10-13 Saturday Today we went to see Storm and Wes at their home. They are very fortunate to have such a nice home and they have worked hard to decorate and do maintenance work around the house creating a very attractive home. They are very particular about the appearance of their property and that of the neighbors. Storm was laughing about how Wes had even gone down the street and edged the neighbor’s sidewalk thinking the house was empty. When he was finishing, the owner came out and thanked him. Seems the owner would rather play golf than edge. Storm prepared a very delicious meal early enough that we had time to all return to the RV so Wes and his daughter Catlin could see our new unit.
10-14 Sunday Leigh has a sister living south of Arlington, TX (between Dallas and Fort Worth). We decided, rather on the spur of the moment that we would try to surprise her and drop in. Leigh called to be sure she was not leaving to go somewhere and Kathy caught on where we were when Leigh called out a highway sign in Dallas as she was trying to keep me in the right lane. If you have driven through the downtown area of Dallas, you will understand why it is wise to have a navigator, especially when you have a rig almost 50’ long you are driving.
We arrived at Kathy and Frank’s and she was standing in the yard waving. The entrance road runs behind the house so she was able to see us turn in; it is really hard to hide a large motorhome. When Leigh let the cat out of the bag, Frank left almost immediately and bought ribs and other food for dinner. The sisters had not seen each other for over 6 years, so there was some catching up to do. Although they communicate by Internet messaging, it is not the same as in person.
Kathy and Frank had moved to this home about a year ago from the Oklahoma City area. The property is on some acreage and they have created a very attractive and comfortable home. Kathy is into irises and the yard is loaded with carefully marked plants. The two of them have some grand plans to expand their activity and enlarge the yard. Frank found himself growing watermelons and his crop is really growing very well. One of the melons caught under the edge of the porch and was forcing the porch up as it filled out. That represented some real power!
Their home is on a hill and they report the wind blows up there all the time. I think they may even look into a wind generator and maybe sell some power back to the local utility company. There is a very informative article in Popular Mechanics about installing a wind generator for the home. For them, this could be a real important addition to their property. While we were there, due to the winds, I even ran two of the RV slides in during the night to lessen the effect of the wind on the RV.
We really had a great time there and look forward to going through Dallas and stopping there again.
Following this visit it was into Houston, it was time to make the rounds of doctors to get things arranged for the next year. It also gave me time to go by Jerry’s tech lab to get a few ‘government’ projects done. It is really nice to work in a facility that has equipment in great condition. The students were very well behaved and knew what was expected of them and what they needed to do in class. It made things move smoothly for everyone in the program and a very relaxed, smiling instructor. I wanted to make a few racks to store things in the RV basement to make thing more organized and neater.
We think that the refrigerator is finally fixed and working. The repair facility replaced the coil on the back as it tested as having a partial blockage. It took them a little over a day to do the work as someone at Mandalay had put a screw in during construction that they had extreme difficulty getting to. Sometimes those making something like this do not consider the possibility of repair and the person who must attempt this repair.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Catching up part 2
Pictures are from the RV and Motorhome Museum in Elkhart. The first picture is an 1913 travel trailer pulled by a Model T; reported to be the oldest travel trailer in the world. It was made for a Cal Tech professor.
The second picture is a 1935 Covered Wagon brand with genuine leaterette stretched over thin plywood.
Next is a 1955 Ranger crank up tent trailer.
Last is a 1931 Mae West Housecar used to carry her and friends between her dressing area and the set. It was also where she could rest between shootings.
9/6 Thursday It was another up and on the road early days. We were due to have some service work done at Equalizer Systems, so we should have been there a little after 8. Instead we were on the road at 8:05 on about a 30-minute drive. It turned out this was not a problem; they were just standing around waiting for something to do. We told them the problem and headed off for breakfast.
We had just finished breakfast when the phone rang and it was Cisco, the tech working on the coach advising us it was ready. We made a tour of Elkhart trying to find Mandalay and managed to get turned the opposite direction from where we needed to go. Finally we found our way in and they said to come in tonight and they would see what might be done to get us taken care of early.
We picked up the coach and headed to Mandalay with a stop at the local Wal-Mart. We settled into Mandalay where we will likely be for several days. Most of our punch list is stuff that should be easy for them, but we will wait and see - quite literally!
9/8 Saturday We had a lazy day with on and off rain, so we headed to a new farmers market we saw under construction when we were here in February. This is a really nice market unlike any we have ever seen before. The floors are thick, clear finished wood as is about everything else in this facility. It is a two-story building with 12” x 4” planks creating the open stairways. The building is about 6-stories high, but the real market is on the first and second floors. It is a large red barn like building that is almost as impressive outside as it is inside.
After getting some produce there, we headed to DeMartini to see if we had any mail. On the way there we passed gasoline at $2.89 vs. the $3.09 elsewhere. We topped off and thought we were doing well. We went up the same road about a mile and found it for $2.74. We could only laugh and drive on.
While in the same area, we found the plant or plants next to each other that build the UPS, Fed-Ex and Centis (sp ?) delivery trucks. The lot is full of units ready to be driven away to their new homes.
Some of the farms here have corn that is higher than my eye level when in the RV driver’s seat. This is by far the tallest corn we have seen and it is advertised as sweet corn like we have been seeing elsewhere, but that corn was considerably shorter; more in the 5’ range.
9/9 Sunday We found the Faith United Methodist Church was about the only one that we could attend. It seems most Baptist churches in the area begin their service at 10:15 and we were unable to dress and drive to any in time. Faith UMC began their service at 10:45. This appears to be a young (both in time in the area and age of the members), but very active in their work. Rev. Larry, Sr. Pastor gave a very strong sermon on the need of Christians to live their lives out in public where others can see Christianity practiced. Further, we need to stop our race to be politically correct and so afraid to offend others with our religious fervor. It appears we are hiding our God and our Savior for fear of offending some while at the same time providing the water and facilities for others to bow to their gods multiple times a day. It is a shame our politicians appear to be at the front leading us in this direction that is contrary to the results of polls where Americans say they are predominantly Christians and want to maintain our Christian heritage.
9/10 Monday We are now having to get out of our RV around 7AM so it can be worked on at the factory service center here in Elkhart, IN. It appears we will be following this early exiting routine for possibly the whole week; we have several things on our list to have done. Meantime we are seeing the sights of the area. We went to the RV & Motorhome Museum that moved from downtown to a new 80,000 sq. ft. facility just off I-80 a year ago. They have started an additional building program to enlarge the building by about another 30k sq. ft.
They have many old cars and RV equipment showing the evolution of the industry. They have many donated units from various RV builders that have been restored to their original beauty.
We had just finished breakfast when the phone rang and it was Cisco, the tech working on the coach advising us it was ready. We made a tour of Elkhart trying to find Mandalay and managed to get turned the opposite direction from where we needed to go. Finally we found our way in and they said to come in tonight and they would see what might be done to get us taken care of early.
We picked up the coach and headed to Mandalay with a stop at the local Wal-Mart. We settled into Mandalay where we will likely be for several days. Most of our punch list is stuff that should be easy for them, but we will wait and see - quite literally!
9/8 Saturday We had a lazy day with on and off rain, so we headed to a new farmers market we saw under construction when we were here in February. This is a really nice market unlike any we have ever seen before. The floors are thick, clear finished wood as is about everything else in this facility. It is a two-story building with 12” x 4” planks creating the open stairways. The building is about 6-stories high, but the real market is on the first and second floors. It is a large red barn like building that is almost as impressive outside as it is inside.
After getting some produce there, we headed to DeMartini to see if we had any mail. On the way there we passed gasoline at $2.89 vs. the $3.09 elsewhere. We topped off and thought we were doing well. We went up the same road about a mile and found it for $2.74. We could only laugh and drive on.
While in the same area, we found the plant or plants next to each other that build the UPS, Fed-Ex and Centis (sp ?) delivery trucks. The lot is full of units ready to be driven away to their new homes.
Some of the farms here have corn that is higher than my eye level when in the RV driver’s seat. This is by far the tallest corn we have seen and it is advertised as sweet corn like we have been seeing elsewhere, but that corn was considerably shorter; more in the 5’ range.
9/9 Sunday We found the Faith United Methodist Church was about the only one that we could attend. It seems most Baptist churches in the area begin their service at 10:15 and we were unable to dress and drive to any in time. Faith UMC began their service at 10:45. This appears to be a young (both in time in the area and age of the members), but very active in their work. Rev. Larry, Sr. Pastor gave a very strong sermon on the need of Christians to live their lives out in public where others can see Christianity practiced. Further, we need to stop our race to be politically correct and so afraid to offend others with our religious fervor. It appears we are hiding our God and our Savior for fear of offending some while at the same time providing the water and facilities for others to bow to their gods multiple times a day. It is a shame our politicians appear to be at the front leading us in this direction that is contrary to the results of polls where Americans say they are predominantly Christians and want to maintain our Christian heritage.
9/10 Monday We are now having to get out of our RV around 7AM so it can be worked on at the factory service center here in Elkhart, IN. It appears we will be following this early exiting routine for possibly the whole week; we have several things on our list to have done. Meantime we are seeing the sights of the area. We went to the RV & Motorhome Museum that moved from downtown to a new 80,000 sq. ft. facility just off I-80 a year ago. They have started an additional building program to enlarge the building by about another 30k sq. ft.
They have many old cars and RV equipment showing the evolution of the industry. They have many donated units from various RV builders that have been restored to their original beauty.
Catching up from early September
9/1 Saturday We are happily back on the road early and headed away from 1000 Trails and toward Elkhart, IN. Although the drive took longer than expected, it was a nice drive. We saw some countryside that you only see when you hit some of the less traveled roads. Our observation coupled with conversation with a few people, it appears there are large areas where the crops have failed due to a lack of rain. The corn is short and burned at the bottom with some crops burned all the way to the top. The soybean crop looks green from the road, but it is reported the beans are limited as compared to the number that should be there at this point. There were very few areas where the corn crop looked good as if there was spotty rain on one farm, but none on the next farm or field. Some of the farmers do carry insurance on the crop, but they can’t use any part of the crop or the insurance company will say it produced and not pay the claim. I would have thought the stalks could be used for animal feed, but that is apparently not allowed.
Arriving into South Bend at the Freightliner dealer, we had been told we could hook to the power at the building, but the gates were closed and locked for the weekend, so we headed for a campground in Elkhart, the closest facility that had space. The park was not quite as advertised with wide spaces, but they were about all pull-throughs, so that made things easy.
9/4 Monday Not sure what happened, but I got on a cleaning streak and cleaned the exterior of the coach. It was not really dirty, but it was spotted from the water at 1000 Trails where I did wash the unit. That done, I looked at the windows and suddenly they just had to be cleaned. To clean the windows you must remove the screens that are on the inside of the window. A look at those and that became the next part of the cleaning project. Well, by the end of the day we had a clean coach inside and out!
9/5 Tuesday Off to Hill Truck Sales, the Freightliner shop for RVers. Well, that is what the Freightliner book tells you, but it is really for trucks and they will handle RVers, but they are not their bread and butter. Unlike the Gaffney, SC location with Wi-Fi, large lounge, big screen TV and lots of other RVers, we were the only RVer, the TV was a little larger than the one in the back of our coach, the A/C in the lounge was either not working or improperly adjusted due to a window that faced east and caught the full morning sun, no Wi-Fi access although we could see Freightliner’s signal, and a tiny lounge with a sofa that was so low it was much like getting up from the floor. I think our positive evaluation form to Freightliner is going to have a less than stellar rating.
9/5 Wednesday We are enjoying the Elkhart Fairgrounds located in Goshen, Indiana. This facility is well designed and ready to host agriscience activities in large buildings for each breed of animal. Although it is not as large or fancy as a similar facility in Perry, Georgia, this one is very functional for its intended purpose and also allows for use by other groups with different, non-agriscience interests.
The facility also has a campground with some of the best power poles we have encountered wired for 20 through 50-amp service. They also have good water and water pressure (likely in excess of 50 pounds, but that is where my regulator caps the pressure), good sewers and good, level, flat gravel sites that are canted to the road meaning backing into a site is much easier and faster. It also means you are very unlikely to find your egress blocked by another RVer. They also appear to take good care of the grounds.
We arrived as the Escapees organization with headquarters in Livingston, Texas were setting up for a 10 day Escapade, one of there rallies for members. Last year they had about 600 rigs show up here and this year they are expecting over 900. It would seem that the membership likes Goshen and this facility. We were able to stay this evening, likely because we are Escapee members and they did not need the site we are in. We had to pay, but unlike all the other campers who were here who had to leave today, we were able to stay the extra night that worked correctly with our having some service work tomorrow and Friday.
Arriving into South Bend at the Freightliner dealer, we had been told we could hook to the power at the building, but the gates were closed and locked for the weekend, so we headed for a campground in Elkhart, the closest facility that had space. The park was not quite as advertised with wide spaces, but they were about all pull-throughs, so that made things easy.
9/4 Monday Not sure what happened, but I got on a cleaning streak and cleaned the exterior of the coach. It was not really dirty, but it was spotted from the water at 1000 Trails where I did wash the unit. That done, I looked at the windows and suddenly they just had to be cleaned. To clean the windows you must remove the screens that are on the inside of the window. A look at those and that became the next part of the cleaning project. Well, by the end of the day we had a clean coach inside and out!
9/5 Tuesday Off to Hill Truck Sales, the Freightliner shop for RVers. Well, that is what the Freightliner book tells you, but it is really for trucks and they will handle RVers, but they are not their bread and butter. Unlike the Gaffney, SC location with Wi-Fi, large lounge, big screen TV and lots of other RVers, we were the only RVer, the TV was a little larger than the one in the back of our coach, the A/C in the lounge was either not working or improperly adjusted due to a window that faced east and caught the full morning sun, no Wi-Fi access although we could see Freightliner’s signal, and a tiny lounge with a sofa that was so low it was much like getting up from the floor. I think our positive evaluation form to Freightliner is going to have a less than stellar rating.
9/5 Wednesday We are enjoying the Elkhart Fairgrounds located in Goshen, Indiana. This facility is well designed and ready to host agriscience activities in large buildings for each breed of animal. Although it is not as large or fancy as a similar facility in Perry, Georgia, this one is very functional for its intended purpose and also allows for use by other groups with different, non-agriscience interests.
The facility also has a campground with some of the best power poles we have encountered wired for 20 through 50-amp service. They also have good water and water pressure (likely in excess of 50 pounds, but that is where my regulator caps the pressure), good sewers and good, level, flat gravel sites that are canted to the road meaning backing into a site is much easier and faster. It also means you are very unlikely to find your egress blocked by another RVer. They also appear to take good care of the grounds.
We arrived as the Escapees organization with headquarters in Livingston, Texas were setting up for a 10 day Escapade, one of there rallies for members. Last year they had about 600 rigs show up here and this year they are expecting over 900. It would seem that the membership likes Goshen and this facility. We were able to stay this evening, likely because we are Escapee members and they did not need the site we are in. We had to pay, but unlike all the other campers who were here who had to leave today, we were able to stay the extra night that worked correctly with our having some service work tomorrow and Friday.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
1000 Trails - Oh my goodness!
8/29 - 31 Wednesday - Friday When you are retired, it is sometimes hard to keep track of the days. I was sitting around and looked at the atomic clock that shows the date and began to question why the 29th seemed important. It was important, as we were due to be on the road to Wilmington, Ohio and the 1000 Trails campground for three nights. About an hour later, we were on the road heading mostly south. A quick trip to Flying J for fuel and propane, when we suddenly decided to be lazy and just eat in their restaurant. About an hour later, seriously stuffed, we were back on the road.
Arriving at 1000 Trails about 6:30, we were extremely disappointed to find it is an old park that is about 8–10 years behind what are now normal amenities. They still have only 30-amp service at all sites; something we normally find only in the smaller, older family owned campgrounds. Although we elected to use a site with no sewer because the rain was picking up significantly and it was a site we could pull through vs. all the sites with sewer are back-ins requiring us to unhook the car in both driving rain and a major lightning storm. We were still surprised to find a major park chain with sites that lacked this basic service. We managed to get into our spot just after the skies open and the thunder really began to roll. We did not even bother to open the slides until after the storm had passed. The winds were severe enough that it fell a Bradford Pear tree with a trunk over 12 inches in another part of the park.
Thursday morning I took a drive around the park to see if our ‘first blush’ at the park was warranted or not; bottom line, it was worse. The roads are one-lane gravel and many were extremely rutted. It is possible the torrential rain contributed to the poor condition of some roads, but others looked like they were already rough to begin with. The tennis court had grass growing through the playing surface. The pavilion by our RV appears not to have had any attention in a long time. There area black cobwebs as well as general trash, dirt and leaves.
When we took the tour and were given the presentation by Greg. Finally, after 2:15 hours he got to the point of, “and all this will be yours for only $17,995” price tag, we knew this was not for us. I think this was just to be a member, and then you still had to pay $700 per year for life (it is a lifetime membership) for the 1000 Trails part (most of their parks are on the west coast where they began in Oregon plus many in the central portion of the east coast, but quite sparse in the other 40+ states). They wanted you to also pay an additional $149 per year for some extra park locations they only partner with. For this latter money, I think you get some phone numbers and two or three books. These parks offer things like one night guaranteed for $8 (no presumption of the services you would have; it might be dry-camping) or ½ off the regular rate; but definitely not free. In any case, it would take a very long time, at three nights here and another three there, to be of value to even someone who is on the road 365 days a year. So, to make the day better, we located a Mexican restaurant run by Mexicans who knew how to prepare food; the first good Mexican food we have found in almost 7 months!
Okay, so here we are on Friday and at 5PM, there is a knock on the door. It is Ruth, the sales manager, telling us we were supposed to leave today. This means that our reservation was messed up yet again by Donna who was to have corrected the 14-day mess-up made by Chris. We began packing and lacked only running the rooms in and starting the engine when she returned to say they had counted the spaces and they just had enough spaces so we could remain for the night on our site vs. dry camping on the parking lot; the original offer. Oh, how quickly can we get away from this place? !!!! We promise not to come back! Someone in our camping group said of another campground, “this is our first and will be last visit to this location”.
Arriving at 1000 Trails about 6:30, we were extremely disappointed to find it is an old park that is about 8–10 years behind what are now normal amenities. They still have only 30-amp service at all sites; something we normally find only in the smaller, older family owned campgrounds. Although we elected to use a site with no sewer because the rain was picking up significantly and it was a site we could pull through vs. all the sites with sewer are back-ins requiring us to unhook the car in both driving rain and a major lightning storm. We were still surprised to find a major park chain with sites that lacked this basic service. We managed to get into our spot just after the skies open and the thunder really began to roll. We did not even bother to open the slides until after the storm had passed. The winds were severe enough that it fell a Bradford Pear tree with a trunk over 12 inches in another part of the park.
Thursday morning I took a drive around the park to see if our ‘first blush’ at the park was warranted or not; bottom line, it was worse. The roads are one-lane gravel and many were extremely rutted. It is possible the torrential rain contributed to the poor condition of some roads, but others looked like they were already rough to begin with. The tennis court had grass growing through the playing surface. The pavilion by our RV appears not to have had any attention in a long time. There area black cobwebs as well as general trash, dirt and leaves.
When we took the tour and were given the presentation by Greg. Finally, after 2:15 hours he got to the point of, “and all this will be yours for only $17,995” price tag, we knew this was not for us. I think this was just to be a member, and then you still had to pay $700 per year for life (it is a lifetime membership) for the 1000 Trails part (most of their parks are on the west coast where they began in Oregon plus many in the central portion of the east coast, but quite sparse in the other 40+ states). They wanted you to also pay an additional $149 per year for some extra park locations they only partner with. For this latter money, I think you get some phone numbers and two or three books. These parks offer things like one night guaranteed for $8 (no presumption of the services you would have; it might be dry-camping) or ½ off the regular rate; but definitely not free. In any case, it would take a very long time, at three nights here and another three there, to be of value to even someone who is on the road 365 days a year. So, to make the day better, we located a Mexican restaurant run by Mexicans who knew how to prepare food; the first good Mexican food we have found in almost 7 months!
Okay, so here we are on Friday and at 5PM, there is a knock on the door. It is Ruth, the sales manager, telling us we were supposed to leave today. This means that our reservation was messed up yet again by Donna who was to have corrected the 14-day mess-up made by Chris. We began packing and lacked only running the rooms in and starting the engine when she returned to say they had counted the spaces and they just had enough spaces so we could remain for the night on our site vs. dry camping on the parking lot; the original offer. Oh, how quickly can we get away from this place? !!!! We promise not to come back! Someone in our camping group said of another campground, “this is our first and will be last visit to this location”.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Lake Erie, PA area activities
The first picture is of one of the five original generators that was in the building that has now been renovated and made into the Maritime Museum. They wanted to keep a part of the history of the area in place.
The next picture is of a model of the Niagara, as she would have appeared under full sail. The topsails would not have been used unless the winds were very light and the captain was trying to take advantage of what little wind there was.
The next two pictures show just how many lines it took to sail this ship. In all there are about 10 miles of working lines.
The last picture represents what would likely have been the damage caused by a cannonball hit in the area. You can imagine what would likely have been the fate of those firing this cannon.
8/25 Saturday We have been visiting the Erie, PA area for the last four days. We came down out of New York and some really nice cool weather into hot and humid conditions. No, it is not near as hot as some are enduring in places like Texas and Florida. We found a nice park in Lake City to hang out for a week. The sites are gravel with 50-amp power but no sewer connections. No real problem as we will go though the dump station on the way out.
We toured the Maritime Museum that was opened in a former power plant on the waters edge. They kept one of the smoke stacks in place as well as one of the five generators. It traced the history of Lake Erie and the battles fought on the lake between the French, English, and the Indians against the Americans. Much of the history focuses on the 1812 War at this museum.
Outside is the Sailing Ship Niagara that fought a decisive battle and established the Americans as a military force to be respected. This ship is about 110 feet long, 30 feet wide and draws about 10 feet of water. There are three levels of sails on three masts. The resulting running lines (ropes) to control the sails, booms, etc. total about 10 miles of lines. There are four men who live on the ship most of the year. The few months that the ship is draped for the winter, these men move to homes or apartments they have in town near the ship.
We went below and found that, because this is a training ship that goes out frequently with experienced and new crew members who are just beginning their training, the Coast Guard required that the ship be equipped with water tight doors. They look a little strange on a ship that goes back to 1812.
We toured below deck and saw the officer’s quarters and those used by approximately the other 180 men. About 70 men manned the guns and 110 operated the ship. There were two crews on 12-hour shifts, so there were at least 80 men below in a space that really looked as if it could not accommodate the number. Each man had his own duffle bag that included his hammock. The advantage of the hammock was its ability to remain fairly stationary from side to side on a pitching ship. The men put a stick in the ends of the hammock to keep it open, otherwise it would close around them and they could not turn, and getting out was almost impossible.
When looking through the officer’s quarters, we were told this is where they took the injured men to be patched up by the surgeon or even to have surgery. It was interesting that this surgeon thought his instruments cut well when he washed them with hot, soapy water before use. Without knowing why, we now know that cleaning the instruments made them more sanitary, so this doctor had a better percentage of sailors he performed amputations on who survived vs. his counterparts who did not clean their instruments.
Lighthouse on Lake Champlain, NY
8/15 Thursday Part two- On the way home we stopped at the Crown Point Lighthouse to see this unique lighthouse. This part of the US has so many old lighthouses one can make visiting these the purpose of a visit. There are more lighthouses in the northeast than in any other part of the US.
This one was originally a round brick structure, but that was later changed to eight columns outside the original brick making it the most unique light we have visited. It is an attractive lighthouse and should be going through restoration by now. This light has concrete wedge shaped stairs with one edge set upon the other to climb to the top in contrast to so many that have metal stairs. You are able to climb to an observation level just below the actual light where you can go outside and walk around. The light area is off limits as this is still a working light and they can’t afford to have people touching the working parts of the light.
Fort Ticonderoga, NY 8-07
8/15 Thursday Part one- Before leaving the area we took some time to look around the Champlain area and Fort Ticonderoga. At Fort Ticonderoga, they have restored the fort to the way it appeared when the French originally built it. When I was there 50+ years ago, it had mostly broken walls and little else. Now it is a real showcase. In addition to the fort complex they are building an educational building.
This fort is located at a narrow part of Lake Champlain so the guns could effectively destroy any enemy ships trying to pass. They have really done a fantastic job of restoring this fort.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Montreal, Canada trip
The first picture is of a major street in Montreal - nothing special about the street. The second picture is typical church exterior. There are a lot of churches around the city and they are all unique. The third picture is of the church we visited. This is often where State funerals are held. The 4th picture is of the organ pipe loft in the main church. Although this looks impressive, there are actually 7000 pipes up there. The final picture is of the 20,000 pound bronze piece at the front of the rebuilt chapel of this church. Note the 3 doors and the people looking up at Jesus and the Sun that represents God in this piece.
8/14 Tuesday The weather is wonderful, so we were off to Montreal as planned. The drive up went quickly and with almost no delay at all, we were on their version of Interstate 15. Most of this road is better than many of our roads. I began to wonder why AAA said the roads could be rough in Quebec, but I was to learn more in just a little while. Driving up, we had a little French lesson given to us by signs. Their deer warning looks more like a deer jumping over a fence with legs stretched out in front and back. Sud is south; Nord is North; Est is east; Fin is end; Sortie is exit; Arret is stop; warning of potential ice on a bridge is a car slipping with a thermometer to the side with a big “0” C reminding you of the freezing point.
As for the road, we were driving 100 – really flying in the little car. Oh, Leigh had switched the units from MPH to Kal, so the 100 was about 62 MPH. As for the temp, the 230C turned out to be 720F. Fortunately the little car easily switches from US to Metric through the computer. We had a problem with this in Campobello when we went to the FDR summer place. At that point we couldn’t find how to change the units. Canada appears to grow what we call Cat Tails in the median that blocks headlights of oncoming cars, but it also blocks your ability to see a problem developing that may require your taking defensive action. They do not keep the edges of the roads mowed. By comparison, New York is not a whole lot better, but NY does mow farther from the road; maybe two passes of the mower. The corn crop in this part of Canada is about as tall as that in New York; however, by comparison the corn in VT is much higher and appeared someone could go through and begin picking the VT corn. The Canadian corn appeared weeks away from being ready to harvest.
Most vehicles are like those we see daily in America; most are American models, but they can have a version that is Canadian that does not meet the safety regulations imposed on vehicles sold in America. We saw one of the amphibious vehicles we have come to refer to as ‘Ducks’, but this one was really finished and painted in a unique way. They had fixed it with clear curtains so the operators could enjoy a longer season. I took a picture of this and of a double decker bus that must have come from England; complete with right hand steering. We did see that the large dump trucks had two steering axles. Many of the larger trailer trucks that had Quebec plates had three axles with considerable spacing between each set of tires; maybe as much as 6’.
We visited the Basilique Notre-Dame De Montreal or Notre-Dam Basilica of Montreal. This structure was built in the late 1800’s with various woods used as the interior building material. As result, the acoustics in the building is superb lending the facility for exceptional for various musical events and concerts. The pipe organ in the back has 7,000 pipes with the shortest reported to be only ¼”. There are actually six organists who play this instrument, but the senior organist has been playing this organ for 36 years. Apparently the organ is only played at the five Masses each week. This facility has been used for many State funerals due to the size of the facility and the combined architecture and music that this building offers. Many celebrities have performed there over the years. This would be like saying you performed at Carnegie Hall in NY; great on your Vita.
Behind the main sanctuary is a smaller chapel. It is more for baptisms and smaller weddings. They have a bronze sculpture at the front that weighs 20 tons and raises a little over two stories. It was cast in England and brought over as 32 pieces, then assembled in its present location. I found it a little to ‘modern’ for my taste having been case about 1976. It shows three doors that represent birth, life, and death. The people are of all kinds, but all are reaching up toward God. God is represented as the Sun at the top while Jesus is a little beside and below the portrayal of God. In this facility, they have an organ that has about 1,600 pipes. The building is constructed of wood up to the top of the second level, then a metal roof and skylights cover the top. The metal is covered with Linden wood (a light wood with straight grain) as is most of the chapel. They did use walnut accents and oak for the pews.
Unfortunately, in 1976 someone vandalized this original chapel and threw a candle into a corner of the chancel setting the building on fire. Because the original building was built in about 1890, the wood was dry and burned quickly. The original building was 3-stories tall, but the replacement building was constructed only to be 2-stories high. It took four years from the time the original building burned until they were in the new facility.
Several observations we made include: 1) Where smoking appears to be on the decline in America, in Montreal it is pervasive. It is hard to walk anywhere outside and not be assaulted by second hand smoke; 2) It appears they have about as much trouble with graffiti as does Los Angeles and it appears much of it is just left there with no attempt to clean it off; 3) The roads within the city are quite rough; and 4) Drivers can be quite aggressive. The worst example we saw was one of the postal truck drivers who needed a class in anger management.
Bicycles are everywhere and the riders would squeeze between you and parked cars, frequently running red lights so they had a clear, or clearer, shot at the next block. We saw one fellow who probably cut it a bit too close and clipped a car sending him over the handlebars onto the pavement wearing shorts and a T-shirt; no helmet. The ground really rang his bell! The driver stopped, but the bicyclist tried to ride away only to realize pain was setting in, so he got off the bike and tried to walk away, at which time the driver just continued on his way.
The city is really quite beautiful with many large structures made of stone. Some of the architecture is quite attractive, but in our judgment, other parts of a multi-dwelling building appeared not to belong there at all. A large percentage of the streets are one way making driving a bit challenging. Most of the major areas had timers on the walk lights. In some cases it appeared the green light would begin to flash just before it went to caution giving the driver more time to react. In other cases the green would flash immediately after it changed from red as if to get your attention.
Parking meters are posts with numbers against the buildings; not at the street edge. You put money into a meter kossic that prints a ticket that shows the amount paid and the time the meter expires. This kossic takes change and credit cards. It costs $ .25 for 5-minutes of parking and you can put in up to $6. This is a very bilingual city, so it was not really difficult to find those who could speak English to help us get around.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Old friends found 46 years later
The first picture shows the lake looking down one of the Lagoon Manor roads past some of the homes Glenn and Susan have built and sold on the property. The next picture is a home that was built in the classic style of the Adirondack Mountains along the lake. The third is the Sagamore Hotel. Likely the rooms here are averaging $800 a night this weekend if there is a view of the water. The hotel is equally beautiful on the landside of the building. The next picture is another view of the lake from one of the few openings on Route 9N that really shows the splendor of the lake and its scenery. Finally is a picture of Glenn and Susan found after 46 years.
8/9 Thursday We were out rather early to do some serious touring around to see how the Bolton Landing area and the area to the north where Lagoon Manor is located. This is where I worked in 1960. Glenn Waehner was high school friend and I had come with his family almost every weekend in the spring to help get their summer resort ready to open. They had a grand manor house set high on a hill overlooking Lake George and about 16 cottage units scattered around the property.
Arriving at the property we found a friendly couple we struck up a conversation with. Telling them I had worked here in 1960 and mentioning Glenn’s name, they said he was due to be in the area on the 10th. I immediately began to try to figure how to stay in the area an extra night as I have been trying to find him on and off for about the last five years. The couple gave me Glenn’s cell number that I immediately called. After his shock of talking to me after 46 years, he asked where I was and I told him by the boathouse. He asked what boathouse and I responded Lagoon Manor boathouse. To my surprise he said he was just getting into his golf cart to come down to the boathouse! In a few moments, he and his wife Susan who is also my classmate were at the lake.
Over the next 3 hours Leigh and I had a wonderful time cruising some of the areas of Lake George in their boat he had pulled from storage after 12 years and made ready to use this weekend. The lake was much as I remembered it. They have restrictions on the number of trees that can be cleared on property, so Leigh was having difficulty seeing the lake at all. She had said she wanted to go on a boat tour, but not in our wildest imagination did we think we would have a ride like this on such a beautiful day on a pristine lake like we did. Finally Glenn and Susan had to get to the things they had come to town to handle, so we parted company, but at least we now know how to find them! This day had to be a God thing as we all had come to town the evening before and due to races this weekend we were only able to get a campsite in the area through Friday morning.
8/9 Thursday We were out rather early to do some serious touring around to see how the Bolton Landing area and the area to the north where Lagoon Manor is located. This is where I worked in 1960. Glenn Waehner was high school friend and I had come with his family almost every weekend in the spring to help get their summer resort ready to open. They had a grand manor house set high on a hill overlooking Lake George and about 16 cottage units scattered around the property.
Arriving at the property we found a friendly couple we struck up a conversation with. Telling them I had worked here in 1960 and mentioning Glenn’s name, they said he was due to be in the area on the 10th. I immediately began to try to figure how to stay in the area an extra night as I have been trying to find him on and off for about the last five years. The couple gave me Glenn’s cell number that I immediately called. After his shock of talking to me after 46 years, he asked where I was and I told him by the boathouse. He asked what boathouse and I responded Lagoon Manor boathouse. To my surprise he said he was just getting into his golf cart to come down to the boathouse! In a few moments, he and his wife Susan who is also my classmate were at the lake.
Over the next 3 hours Leigh and I had a wonderful time cruising some of the areas of Lake George in their boat he had pulled from storage after 12 years and made ready to use this weekend. The lake was much as I remembered it. They have restrictions on the number of trees that can be cleared on property, so Leigh was having difficulty seeing the lake at all. She had said she wanted to go on a boat tour, but not in our wildest imagination did we think we would have a ride like this on such a beautiful day on a pristine lake like we did. Finally Glenn and Susan had to get to the things they had come to town to handle, so we parted company, but at least we now know how to find them! This day had to be a God thing as we all had come to town the evening before and due to races this weekend we were only able to get a campsite in the area through Friday morning.
From NH to NY - a journey
8/7 Tuesday Today was a great day as we heard from good friends in Houston that God had answered several prayers that day. They were given news that her medical tests were clear, the auto insurance company made a settlement they could live with on a wrecked car and he found a CD he had taken out many years ago that had matured yesterday answering prayers for the money they needed to cover some bills. Yes, God does answer prayers!
We drove from Shelburne, NH to Tunbridge, VT to attend the Vermont Good Sam rally. The drive over was pretty going through the mountains and through many towns. I am sure the rig will have some poor fuel mileage with all the hills, but the drive was enjoyable, well, most of the drive. As a traveler in these parts, most of the better roads run north and south because they are running parallel with the mountains; we were running west so we had to go over and through the mountains. Coming into East Berre, VT and picking up SR-110 to head south into Tunbridge, it all got really ‘exciting’; the wife had another description. That road has large sections without shoulders, but no worry about running off the road as the rock faces of the cuts made for the road just beyond the edge of the asphalt will not let you wander off the pavement. Leigh was bracing for a crash or scrapes most of this part of the trip.
We arrived in Tunbridge to find the rally was on a small community fair ground primarily designed around agriscience activities. There were many buildings to house animals, a large show barn and a covered arena. Unfortunately the camping there was more like tent camping in rigs with wheels. The Vermont residents are apparently tougher as the temperature pushed 950 with humidity about the same and no wind as we were deep in a valley. With no power and no use of the generator allowed, we decided to head out in the morning.
8/8 Wednesday As if yesterday lacked excitement on the road, today turned out to have its own challenges. We headed for the interstate following our GPS route down this winding 2-lane road when we saw a sharp curve with reduced speed. I slowed and then saw the sign announcing the bridge height ahead was 12’-1” and we are more than a foot taller. Stopping in the road, we had to disconnect the car to get turned around. I am sure a few drivers failed to appreciate our antics.
Later, going through a town, the road was not marked, so we missed the turn. Circling a few blocks trying to get turned around, we attempted to make a sharp turn at a “Y” intersection, but a sign was in the way. We learned that it is possible to back a rig a short distance with a toad if you have a driver in the toad. Another crisis averted, we were on our way again. We have learned in places like Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, they do not post highway route signs and street signs like most other states and certainly what we normally rely on.
Driving down the winding roads in VT, we pulled into a town that had a cell signal just in time for Sherrell in Florida to call and inform us that the State of Florida had suspended my driver’s license for failure to have automotive insurance. She wanted Leigh to take over the driving immediately. On these twisting roads with frequent narrow clearance, that was not an option. After all, the license had been suspended in April, so what was another 100 miles or so? Seems Progressive Insurance notified the state I had cancelled although they knew the unit had been sold and had given me a refund on the unused portion of the policy. Then the State erred and recorded the insurance cancelled even though they had been notified the unit was sold. Sherrell went to the local driver’s license office in our home county and cleared up the problem and stood at the counter while the clerk completed the paperwork. Life does have its twists and turns. If you don’t believe this, read tomorrow’s blog notes!
We arrived at Lake George, NY and settled into a park. They have a slightly crazy Wi-Fi system here. They advertise it is free and it is, but it times you out after 30-minutes the first use, then you can get four 15-minute log-in numbers a day. The system is apparently a satellite system, but it is slow. Again we are finding cellular phone service is available only in parts of the campground. Given this area and the money here, this is surprising.
Tomorrow is Bolton Landing investigation day. Having worked north of there in 1960, I want to see what has changed knowing it will be a lot as the whole area has become very commercial. Just driving down Route 9 today, there is hardly a spot that does not have a building on it of some description, most of these being businesses.
We drove from Shelburne, NH to Tunbridge, VT to attend the Vermont Good Sam rally. The drive over was pretty going through the mountains and through many towns. I am sure the rig will have some poor fuel mileage with all the hills, but the drive was enjoyable, well, most of the drive. As a traveler in these parts, most of the better roads run north and south because they are running parallel with the mountains; we were running west so we had to go over and through the mountains. Coming into East Berre, VT and picking up SR-110 to head south into Tunbridge, it all got really ‘exciting’; the wife had another description. That road has large sections without shoulders, but no worry about running off the road as the rock faces of the cuts made for the road just beyond the edge of the asphalt will not let you wander off the pavement. Leigh was bracing for a crash or scrapes most of this part of the trip.
We arrived in Tunbridge to find the rally was on a small community fair ground primarily designed around agriscience activities. There were many buildings to house animals, a large show barn and a covered arena. Unfortunately the camping there was more like tent camping in rigs with wheels. The Vermont residents are apparently tougher as the temperature pushed 950 with humidity about the same and no wind as we were deep in a valley. With no power and no use of the generator allowed, we decided to head out in the morning.
8/8 Wednesday As if yesterday lacked excitement on the road, today turned out to have its own challenges. We headed for the interstate following our GPS route down this winding 2-lane road when we saw a sharp curve with reduced speed. I slowed and then saw the sign announcing the bridge height ahead was 12’-1” and we are more than a foot taller. Stopping in the road, we had to disconnect the car to get turned around. I am sure a few drivers failed to appreciate our antics.
Later, going through a town, the road was not marked, so we missed the turn. Circling a few blocks trying to get turned around, we attempted to make a sharp turn at a “Y” intersection, but a sign was in the way. We learned that it is possible to back a rig a short distance with a toad if you have a driver in the toad. Another crisis averted, we were on our way again. We have learned in places like Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, they do not post highway route signs and street signs like most other states and certainly what we normally rely on.
Driving down the winding roads in VT, we pulled into a town that had a cell signal just in time for Sherrell in Florida to call and inform us that the State of Florida had suspended my driver’s license for failure to have automotive insurance. She wanted Leigh to take over the driving immediately. On these twisting roads with frequent narrow clearance, that was not an option. After all, the license had been suspended in April, so what was another 100 miles or so? Seems Progressive Insurance notified the state I had cancelled although they knew the unit had been sold and had given me a refund on the unused portion of the policy. Then the State erred and recorded the insurance cancelled even though they had been notified the unit was sold. Sherrell went to the local driver’s license office in our home county and cleared up the problem and stood at the counter while the clerk completed the paperwork. Life does have its twists and turns. If you don’t believe this, read tomorrow’s blog notes!
We arrived at Lake George, NY and settled into a park. They have a slightly crazy Wi-Fi system here. They advertise it is free and it is, but it times you out after 30-minutes the first use, then you can get four 15-minute log-in numbers a day. The system is apparently a satellite system, but it is slow. Again we are finding cellular phone service is available only in parts of the campground. Given this area and the money here, this is surprising.
Tomorrow is Bolton Landing investigation day. Having worked north of there in 1960, I want to see what has changed knowing it will be a lot as the whole area has become very commercial. Just driving down Route 9 today, there is hardly a spot that does not have a building on it of some description, most of these being businesses.
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