Good Timing

There are times that simple luck or just being out of the wrong place at the wrong time is beneficial. We have been in Willis Texas for a week now. The weather has been cooperative without a lot of rain and some nice sun. There has been some rain, some cloudy day, and quite a bit of fog. We are not far from the large Lake Conroe so the fog is understandable. Some of the areas that we were in just before we came here have been getting extreme amounts of rain, up to twelve inches in a day. We have seen the pictures of flooded streets and submerged cars and all the other stuff that goes with that much rain. Our timing has served us very well by getting us out of those areas. It is good timing.

We have had one thing here that we could have done without. There was evidently a massive hatch of some small flying insect happened shortly after we got here. These little insect were just slightly larger than gnats. Most of the insects were black, perhaps five to ten percent were either white or almost colorless. We stayed inside unless we really needed to go out. Whenever we did the insects swarmed inside. It did seem that most of them would land on the ceiling and then stay there, most but not all of course. Evidently there is a spider that is living in the cabinets at the front of the Vectra. While I was working on the computer one evening I saw a jumping spider creeping across the ceiling toward one of the insects, it crept slowly to what it determined a proper attack position and suddenly it would jump and grab its meal, and then go back to the front cabinets. Over the period of the evening I think that spider grabbed at least a dozen of the insects. Normally I would have caught the spider and put it outside, but in this instance it was so fun to watch that we allowed it to stay.

Over the time that we have been traveling there have been several times that we have had spiders that would make a web from the windshield wipers to some convenient location. When we started to drive the spider would run to a location that was safe from the wind, sometimes it took up to fifty miles for the spider to seek shelter. When we would get to a new location it would come out and rebuild the web. At least one spider traveled with us for several relocations. I did not know that we had a spider web built on our wiper here until the insect hatch happened. We opened the curtains at the front and saw a spider web with most of the radials and the spirals marked with insects that had been caught by the sticky web. I have been tempted to try and count the insects that have been caught on the web, but I think I have other things more valuable to do. I will just say that there has to be several thousand.


INSECTS CAUGHT ON THE SPIDERS WEB
(Double left click on the picture to get a bigger view.)

In the week that we have been here we have not done a lot of sightseeing. It has been nice to be able to catch up on some of the computer work that I needed to do. For the first time in (likely) over a year I have all my pictures labeled and have written the description of them in the word document that goes with them. Now I have time to write other things, like a posting to Uncle Ducks Tracks and even put out another POTR. One thing that I noticed is that over the last almost five years is that my word processing descriptions of the pictures has made a rather subtle change. In the beginning I might write, "This is a building on the Jones Farm." Now I might write, "This is the cantilevered barn that was built by William Jones in 1893 to protect his cattle ---------- and it is the -------- which is the last standing ------. In other words I have graduated toward a much more informative dialogue. I have to wonder if the writing that I do will ever be read or appreciated by someone besides myself. It is enough to be written for me. It has given me solid information to support my beliefs about travels that we have done when there is a disagreement with my wife. Also it have proved me wrong a time or two. But then it has sharpened the memory of both my wife and myself.

Before I close here I want to thank all of you who have left comments in the blog or written me e-mails with a comment. I enjoy sharing with you and it increases my pleasure when I know that others are reading my offerings. I have been told that over two thirds of all blog are laying fallow and I do not doubt the authenticity of that statement. I also saw a tee shirt that says a lot about blogs. It said, "More people have read this shirt than your blog!" He was probably right.

Till later this is Uncle Duck

Half A Million Dollars

We got through with our week in Vicksburg and have moved to the Lake Conroe, Texas area. We are back in a campground that we have been in before and will never forget. Slightly over three years ago when we were here we were awakened by sirens. A motor home was on fire just down the street from us and the fire fighters were getting it under control. The lady that lived in it was severely burned and taken to the hospital. We never heard how she was, except bad, before we left. We asked if there was more information when we checked in. It was bad for sure. The burns of the lady became infected and caused her death. The worst part was that we learned that she had gone back into the motor home to get a roll of money and because of that her husband had to drag her through the flames to get her out at all. Sometime after the fire was put out and someone went through the ashes the roll of money was found. The bank was able to replace all the partly burn money. She lost her life for a roll of money that was replaced. The only thing that was good that we heard was that the husband recovered from his burns and has gotten life back together and is actually camping here in the resort now. I am thinking that I might go see him. I liked him when I met him before the fire. The thing that keeps going through my mind is that the things that are lost in a fire are replaceable, but the life that might be lost is not. I don't know what I would think in a similar situation, but right now I plan to run FAST and FAR.


THE RV THAT BURNED IN 2006 NOT A WHOLE LOT LEFT

Have you ever seen a half million dollars, or a million dollars. I have never seen it in an intimate way. I have seen a million dollars worth of gold in the Denver mint. I have also seen over a million dollars in twenties in the Bureau Of Engraving in Dallas, Texas. At neither place was very close. I was closest to the gold, it was perhaps eight foot away, behind a very thick glass window. Both piles were rather small. In Jackson, Mississippi I saw a half million dollars that was a pretty good sized. But then it was all in pennies. That was impressive and I was closer to that than I have been to any other large amount of money. Right across the street from the Capitol Building was a display, I guess that is what it was, that was made of Plexiglas and had fifty million pennies in it. It was impressive to say the least. I could not help but wonder about the time that a car or truck misses the corner and plows into it. That is going to be a lot of pennies to pick up. I also hope that I never get the job of putting all those pennies into rolls to take to the bank. It will take a million rolls to do that. No one will ask me to help.


FIFTY MILLION PENNIES IN A DISPLAY IN JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI

The last week has been a problem week with my computer. It would start up, run a minute or two, and then shut down. It took a while but I think I have solved the problem. I have been working today for several hours and it is still running. Knock on wood for me. But be sure you only wake up the good spirits.

Till later this is Uncle Duck

River Murals

Today is Sunday and we are in Vicksburg Mississippi. We have been here for three days now and have been keeping busy. We are camped next to some people that made an interesting comment to me. "There is nothing to see here." I guess that I simply have a different outlook on life. To me there is a lot to see here. There is the Vicksburg Battle Ground. The Mississippi river. Not far away is the only petrified forest east of the Rocky Mountains. There are many antebellum homes and plantations. I don't know how many, if any, we will visit, but they are here.

We are only a few miles from the Mississippi River. It is one big river. In the downtown area there is a river wall set up for flood control. Along the street side there are thirty two murals that depict different aspects of the culture and history of Vicksburg. A lot of the history of the area can be learned just by looking at the murals and reading the signs that are with each one. It is a great panorama of murals. One of the murals is about the Vicksburg garden club.

We looked for a restaurant to go eat Sunday dinner. There was one called Walnut Grove that sounded good. When we got there it was in an 1860 or 1880 house. We walked in and they asked, "Do you want a round table or table for two?" A round table seated maybe ten people and had a lazy Susan in the middle. You would sit at the table with other people, possible strangers, and eat family style from bowl that were place on the lazy Susan. There was something like four meats, eight vegetables, a couple desserts and everything was all you could eat. The other gave a choice of three vegetables, a meat, and dessert for about 2/3 the cost. We chose that option and still had more than we could eat. While we sat at a table for two we were next to another interesting couple at a table for two. (Now you notice that I said "another interesting couple. I hope that they found us interesting) We started sharing conversation and found out the lady had been been one of the speakers at the dedication of the mural of the garden club. This is such a small world. What are the chances of meeting a person like we did. We get lucky at times.

My picture of the Garden Club mural did not come out well so instead of it I will show you one that i thought very impressive. From 1885 until 1930 steam trains were taken across the Mississippi River aboard steam powered paddle boats. The ferries operated day and night. Prior to that time the trains were off loaded to the boats and reloaded to trains on the other side. In 1930 the first highway rail bridge was built across the river.


THE TWO TRAIN TRANFER RIVER BOATS ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER

Later this afternoon we went a ways to the north to the Tara Wildlife Refuge. It was a beautiful drive through the farms and along the mighty Miss', but we did not see any birds or animals that were worth photographing. Tara is a privately owned refuge that apparently allows the public to at least visit. The refuge was gated, but the code to open the gate was written on a professional sign along the road. We punched in the code, drove in and looked around. When we got ready to leave the gate would not open. There is a joke that I have heard since I was a small boy that goes something like, "You can get in for free. It costs a dollar to get out." Also there was an exit fare on Boston's Metropolitan Transit Authority subways that inspired the 1948 MTA song lyrics, "When he got there the conductor told him, "One more nickel" Charlie could not get off that train. " This song became a big hit for the Kingston Trio in 1959. As it turned out we did not have to pay an exit fee, but my wife had to crawl through the fence and activate the entrance code to open the gate so that we could get out. I am glad that we did not have to spend the night there.

Till later this is Uncle Duck

Signs

Along one of the Interstates that I traveled within the last week there was a large sign that said, "Fasten Seat Belts -- Next Million Miles." I have been in favor of people wearing seat belts long before seat belts were anything more than an add on that people could put on cars themselves. I had a 1949 Plymouth that I added seat belts to with parts from a auto supply and a drill that I borrowed from my brother to put holes through the floorboards. That was in 1962. My next car had brackets for the belts but you had to get the parts from a auto supply and install them yourself. There are many signs that fit with exactly what I believe.

Today I saw a sign that I really hoped was wrong. We were again on an Interstate, but this time we were moving at perhaps 5.2 miles per hour. Maybe we going 5.3 MPH I forgot to check for sure. Along the side of the road there was sign that said, "Speed Reduction Ahead." Oh how I hoped that the sign was wrong. If the speed was reduced any more it would have to be to a dead stop. I wanted to get to the campground before dark. Fortunately in about 15 minutes more the traffic broke free and we did get to a camp near Birmingham, AL.

As to the third and last sign I saw I really have to wonder what the person that created the sign was thinking. It was a sign on the column of a bridge that said, "Trust Jesus." It can be said the the spirit of the sign is good. There are a lot of people that believe in Jesus and try to live by the precepts that he set forth. Most of these people also try to convert others to those same beliefs. But it seems to me that there is nothing in the Christian creed that says it right to go out and deface the property of others, even if those others happen to be the state highway department. A Christian has the responsibility to act as the teaching of Jesus Christ are laid out in the Bible. As far as that goes I do not think that any person has any right to deface any property unless they own it themselves.

Every once in a while in our travels we go through a cemetery for some reason. In November 30, 1864 the battle of Nashville was fought between the North and the South near the town of Franklin. On December 1 the 900 residents of the town awoke to find almost 2500 dead soldiers in the farmers fields. The Union bodies were buried by their comrades without consideration of their identities. Most of the Union bodies were removed by to a Union cemetery or claimed by their families. On the other side the Confederate bodies were buried with great care by burial details that collected details like name, rank, and regiment and company. Each grave was marked with wooden markers. These grave were prove to be temporary. In the spring of 1866 the markers were fading, some of the markers had been taken for firewood. The identities of the soldiers were in danger of being lost. A local farmer gave land for the interment of nearly 1500 soldiers of the Confederate army. He and four helpers disinterred the bodies from temporary graves and moved them to this permanent place. Each body was placed in an area that was designated for the mans home state. The work of moving the bodies was "done in order to have removed from fields exposed to the plow-share, the remains of all those who were buried," In 1890 funds were raised to replace the wooden markers with stone. Each and every stone is a sign that represents a tragedy that we call the Civil War.


THE McGAVOCK CONFEDERATE CEMETERY IN FRANKLIN, TENNESSEE

It was not really our intent to visit cemeteries this year. But they are interesting at times and they have a lot of history "buried" there. Yes pun intended. When we were in Charleston, IL we went to the Last Farm Of Abraham Lincoln's father and mother. It was a very interesting place to visit with reenactors, gardens, and some animals. On the way back to Charleston and Mattoon we stopped at the cemetery where Abraham's father Thomas was buried. We looked around the old gravestones and also we drove through a newer section. One of the stones was decorated in a manner that I have never seen before. It did not seem to be engraved or painted. I would be inclined to say that it was decorated with a laser in some manner. There is no indentation of any of the letters or roughness in any of the design. Within fifteen foot of this stone was another done the same way. I was very impressed with the work.


GRAVESTONE IN CHARLESTON CEMETERY

We took a couple trips up in Smoky Mountain National Park. It is a beautiful place. There were a lot of families that lived in the mountains there. In driving around the two areas we visited I was never able to figure out what the "actually" did to make a living. Every place that we visited was called a farm. I have made many jokes about farming in the hills with a crow bar and a shotgun. The crowbar is used to lift the rocks and the shotgun is used to plant the corn under th rock. That no longer is a joke. I do not know where there was a piece of ground that a kernel of corn could be planted. If there was a semi-flat spot there was a house or barn on it. And even then there were boulders the size of a VW poking out of the ground. Yet these people had fully functional farms, stores, home industries, a dozen or so tub grist mills, schools, many churches and all the other things that make up a community. I was never able to figure out where they could have had a single corn field. On one farm there was a double corn crib with a drive through section in the middle. Each of the cribs could not have held more corn than my father would have put in one wagon load of corn. It was indicated that one of this farmers neighbors quipped that he likely never grew enough corn to fill the cribs. Even if he could have grown that much corn I am not sure how he would have gotten through the passage way because of the large rock in the middle.


A DOUBLE CORN CRIB ON A SMOKY MOUNTAIN FARM

I would have liked to spend some more time in the area but instead I spent the day driving to Birmingham, Alabama today and will go on to Vicksburg, Mississippi tomorrow.

Till later this is Uncle Duck

My 32 Ducks

A week ago today I was at party in Charleston, Illinois and today I am in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. It seems a lot longer ago than that. When we are traveling from place to place it seems that time has little meaning. I think that fact is very desirable. I have known people that thought that every day was a week long, and that would not be a desirable to live. I like what I do and the way I am living.

One the way down here we stopped a couple days in Nashville, TN. I did not know that the town was as large as it is. We drove across town a couple times and I was surprised at the distance across town. Across town was the Hermitage, the home of Andrew Jackson. I was very surprised to find out that he was the only President to ever pay off the national debt, and leave the treasury of the USA in the black. We sure need another President like him. We had quite a tour. We were given a set of ear phones and a small device that had a recording for numerous stops around the plantation. It was recommended that we allow two hours for the tour and we could have taken twice that much without any problem except we were getting hungry and to be honest tired of walking. It was a great place to visit. One of the buildings was a detached kitchen that was built of brick with deep grooves between the bricks. Evidently there were bugs that would get in those spaces because there were the prettiest little yellow birds that clung to the bricks and seemed to be getting bugs. With all the people around in the area scaring them I felt lucky to get a picture. They did not spend much time on the side of the building. I have not had a chance to find out the variety.


YELLOW BIRD SEEKING BUGS ON THE SIDE OF THE SEPARATE KITHEN

Every person has heard about the Country Music shows and performers that call Nashville home. It is also the home of the only full scale replica of the Parthenon. It was built in 1897 for Centennial Exposition. It was only supposed to last a few years but it proved so popular that in 1920 it was repaired and converted to a museum. The building is used as a backdrop for plays in the summer and has been featured in scenes in movies. It is impressive. I will never go to Athens, Greece but at least I have seen a replica of one of the most famous building in that city.


THE NASHVILLE PARTHENON AT NIGHT

We had barely gotten into this camp before we had a bunch of two legged visitors. There must be at least fifty small brown ducks running around the camp. Some of the little guys came running around hoping for handouts. I promise you that when a duck comes around wanting to be fed if I have anything available they will be fed. We had thirty two (if I counted right) that came around to the Vectra the next morning. These are wild ducks technically, but when they are willing to sit on the ground six inches away from your feet the word wild does not seem to be proper. It would be better to call them free roaming ducks I think. This town must have ducks near any body of water or river that is around here. Some business's have signs that encourage the people to fee "their" ducks. When we drove around the camp to check out the route that I will use to leave in a few days we saw small groups of ducks sitting close to many of the campers. I think that they get fed by every person that sees them. A lot of them are very young ducks or at least they looked young to me.


FOUR OF THE LITTLE BROWN DUCKS BY OUR VECTRA

Tomorrow we are going to meet with some friends that we made when we were down in Florida. It has been several years since we have seen them so it will be a good day. They are very familiar with this area so they may be able show us places that we should see.

Till later this is Uncle Duck (I would like to think I look like the one on the upper left.)

Its Party Time

This has been an amazing day. This has been a party day. This has been a fun day. This has been a day that was a spur of the moment that took three days to cause happen. Earlier this week we had planned to head down to Smoky Mountain Parkway area. We would like to see the country and we have some friends down there. So we were working slowly that way. I had two days of driving and needed a day of rest. Well at least a day of not driving. We did go to a glass factory and visited a covered bridge on the day of rest. That was fun and relaxing. That evening, Thursday, I got an e-mail about a party for a Bentsen Grove friend about 450 miles away. Somewhat back tracking north so we did not know if we really should try to go. We slept on it all night and had not made a decision even after we were moving along the road on Friday morning. About a mile from an intersection where we had to go left to the Smoky Mountains or right to the party we finally decided that this is the reason we are traveling. We turned right and headed to the party, a surprise party. So Friday and Saturday we drove towards Effingham, IL. We could have driven the distance in one day but that is simply too long to drive. I want to start late and stop early and NEVER drive too far in one day.

This morning we got up, went to church, and then tried to find out where the party was going to be held. It was not on any of my mapping systems and we wanted to arrive without anybody knowing that we were going to be there. After all if it was going to be a surprise party why not made more surprises. The firemen in the local city gave us directions to the address. One of them knew Popham Lake and the two brothers that owned it. After a few wrong turns and a few u-turns we found the location. And we were surprised too. We expected that there would be people that we knew from Bentsen Grove in McAllen, Texas but there were a lot more than we ever guessed there would be. Tammy Popham, the one that sent us the E-mail was so surprised that she had tears that ran out of her eyes when she saw us. The surprise was perfect. And George and Janet Whalen had not even arrived when we got there so that was perfect. It was George's 75th birthday party and he did not know that anybody besides his immediate family would be there. He did not know that the Bentsen Grover's that live near his hometown would be there and he had no clue that we would be there. It was perfect. The picture below has perhaps a third of the people from Bentsen Grove.


SOME OF THE PARTY ATTENDEES MOST OF THESE WERE FROM BENTSEN GROVE

We had a great time talking to friends from Texas. We had platefuls of good food. The scenery around the lake was a lot better than I would have dreamed. The place that the party was held was by a pond that has existed for an unknown number of years and had been joined to an old limestone quarry to create a 21 acre lake. There was a really nice lake cabin with everything that can be desired. A lot of effort has been put into making it an enjoyable area to spend time.


A VIEW OF THE POPHAM LAKE FROM THE CABIN


THIS HAS GOT TO BE A GREAT VIEW ANY TIME OF THE YEAR

We did not spend all the time on the road just getting from one point to another. As we came across Ohio we stopped in Cincinnati to see an Aunt of my wife's. And we also spent some time going to see the largest free swinging bell in the world. It is called The World Peace Bell. Most bells of this size are fixed to a solid mounting and the clapper is swung into the bell to make it ring. With this one the bell is allowed to swing and it hits the suspended clapper just like a hand held bell. It is really impressive. The time that we were in Cincinnati was short but it was great. To see family is always nice. When we have been in Cincinnati before, both times were during their Tall Stacks Festival for river boats, there was so many people in the area of The World Peace Bell that we would have had a hard time taking pictures.


THE WORLD PEACE BELL WITH WITH MY WIFE AND HER AUNT

Till later this is Uncle Duck.

A Funny Day

No matter how many years we do this full time RVing there will always be new things that happen or at least thing will happen that out of the ordinary. Today has had several of those happenings.

We left the campground near Rochester that we have stayed in for slightly more than two months this morning. We needed to get some propane, which was available at the the camp it self and we needed to pay for the days over two month plus the electricity that we had used in the last month. The male owner got us our propane and asked me to double check his figure for the cost. He said "I don't like calculators. I have never liked using them." No problem, his figure was right. Then he was unsure of how to calculate the charge for the extra days based on a monthly charge, so I did that for him. Then I guess that his wife, who works one day a month at another place, reads the electric meter and figures the charge. He did not know how to do that. Now this is a man that can fix almost any piece of equipment and build anything that a person might want. Tomorrow we will call and find out how much we owe for electric and figure out a way to get them paid.

We decided to go to Mercer, PA to spend the night, and likely go on in the morning. They assigned us to a very nice site, a bit narrow but nice. As I turned into the site there was a picnic table that making the turn a bit tighter. I figured at worst I would have to move it and/or jockey the motor home to get parked like I would like. Erma was outside making sure that I did not hit any of the trees, which is like a thin forest here. Suddenly there were two young women that came up to her and said that would help her move the table, which they did. I was not going to disconnect the Jeep for the night. I positioned myself and extended the jack on top of boards that I had placed under them. The slope was such that the jacks were not long enough to level the Vectra. To put blocks under the front wheels and more blocks under the jacks I had to disconnect the Jeep. So much for not disconnecting for the night. I repositioned with four inches under the front wheels and six inches of blocks under the jacks and the leveling computer still said I had excess slope. But my level bubbles indicated that I was so close to perfect that I accepted the level. I am unsure why sometimes it quits when it does and sometimes it will lift the wheels off the ground before it quits.

This is the first time we have tried our new satellite dish anywhere except near Rochester. I guess that it worked the way it was supposed work, but it seemed to take a long time to find the satellites. I think I was also lucky to have an available shot in amongst all the trees. As long as it is not raining hard I have TV and it has been raining hard some of the time.

I have a system that monitors the air pressure on the tires of both the motor home and the Jeep when I am driving down the road. There are little sensors that screw onto the tire stems and send a signal to a monitor in the motor home. I can see the pressure of all my tires anytime I choose to look. Also if I lose ten percent of the pressure in any tire I will get a warning. Each sensor has a small battery in it that will have to be sent to the factory for replacement when it goes dead. The guy that I bought the system said that his had been running for four years and did not need replacement yet. To extend the life of the battery I remove them from the Jeep and loosen them on the motor home when I am not driving. This will extend the life substantially I have every reason to believe. This afternoon for the first time ever I decided to only loosen the ones on the Jeep. Bad mistake on my part. A little later we decided to take a short drive with the Jeep. I had two flat tires on the passenger side. Since the Vectra has air brakes it has an air compressor on the engine. I started the engine and inflated the one tire I could reach with my hose. Then I had to turn the Jeep around on its flat tire so I could inflate the other tire. First of all I will not just loosen the sensors on the Jeep again, I will take them off. It is not hard to do that. Second, I have thought many times that I should have an extension hose for the air so that I can reach the rear of the Jeep when I am attached to the hitch. I may have to buy a twenty five hose to carry for times like this. Then I will NEVER need it.

When I had a home with a foundation I had several hoses in the garage. When I moved into the Vectra I figured I would never need them so I got rid of them. I did not figure I would want my shop vacuum cleaner either, but recently I bought one to carry with us. To be sure the new one is smaller. I also had a boom box that I figured I would never need. Recently I bought another one because I do need it. Again it is smaller than my old one, much better suited to my lifestyle. Another thing that I have bought is a battery charger to replace the one (actually two) I did not think I would want. Again it is smaller. What this makes me wonder is what will I come up with next that I had before and will have to buy a replacement. Oh yes, add to the list a small hand saw. I need it to cut 2x8's to create blocks to go under the motor home jacks and wheels.

I have not been taking any pictures lately but I would guess that will change shortly. We are heading to meet some friends along the Smoky Mountain Parkway. That is beautiful country and should give me scenes that I want to photograph. Since I have a video camera now, don't know much about using it yet but maybe in the future there will be something worth putting in here. In fact I think I will try it here. The big dog, Hagrid, belongs to some friends of my daughter. He has been a companion of a two year old red headed girl since before she was born. The little girl with him here is three. Hagrid is a huge gentle dog that is nearly as big as a small horse. He is a beautiful dog.



I did not know how that would work. It took quite a while to load but I guess it is okay. Maybe I will have something that is not an experiment soon. You are being a test trial for me. So, thank you.

Till later this is Uncle Duck