Getting Home Again

I think it is fair to say that I am back home now. Or better back to my winter home. We got into Bentsen Grove in Mission this afternoon. We have already seen quite a few people that we know from years past. It is good to see them and good to know that every day or every few days there will be more coming in that we know. Any where I turn off the ignition of the Vectra is home. That is one of the nice things about living in a home with wheels. It is rather funny that I feel at home several place in the USA. There is one in New York, one in Colorado, at least two in Texas, and officially one in South Dakota. I also have a home in Kansas sorta.

We drove about two hundred miles today to get here. A lot of the way I was thinking about how today contrasts so much with a hundred or so years ago. Today I drove my 40 foot home along paved roads at 50 to 60 miles an hour being pushed by 350 horses. There were only small potholes in the road and there was no dust to of which to speak. Every stream and gully had a bridge across it that did not even slow me down. My home had AC and a heater to adjust the temp to whatever I wanted it to be. I had entertainment at the touch of a switch that I could change as I wished. At anytime I could stop and have a meal that could either be hot or cold or a combination of both. I carried fresh clean water with me to drink or wash or anything else I could think to do with it. Part of that water was frozen into ice cubes. I had with me phones that would summons help for any problem that I might have had. I had at least three devices that would tell me exactly where I was and where I needed to go, I only used one but I had three. There was not one time that I felt there was any danger from any other human being and I was not concerned about what the weather was like.

When the country was still being settled things were very different. The homes, if they could be called that, were maybe ten foot long and were pulled by two horses or often by two ox. If they had a good day ten miles might be covered. On days that things did not go so well, perhaps with mud mired to the axles, a half mile might be all that covered. There were holes and rocks in some places that could break wagon axles or the legs of draft animals. When the days were dry the dust would get into every part of wagon and into the lungs of all the people. Every stream and gully could spell disaster or loss of property. The people were subjected to high heat, freezing cold, driving rains, snow, wind, insects and hardships that the modern person does not even think about. The food they had was subject to spoilage and would be called coarse today. They carried water in a barrel that at best would be warm. When water was found it was often or usually muddy and many places there were days between refills. If there were problems the people had to solve themselves or perhaps die. At any time it might be a guess as to the location where they were and where they needed to go was by landmarks. During certain times and in certain areas there was danger from Confederate or Union soldiers, Indians, bandits or highway robbers. And of course the weather was always a danger along with disease and accidents.

I have often heard some comment about life in the past being good and in a lot of respects that is right. I think it mostly is a matter of comparison. Do you compare today to then or should you compare then to another area of the country at the same time. I believe that the latter makes more sense than the former. We really do not know what it was in another time unless we have lived in that time. But we can imagine a lot of it must have been. Between what I know of today and what I imagine of times past I am glad that I live in these times. I wish that I could experience other times so that I could know more of those times.

I am hoping that Bentsen Grove does not have mosquitoes like we left in Rockport. With the exception of Mosquito Pass in Colorado I have never been around as many mosquitoes as there were around where we were parked in the campground. I know that it was just the fact that the weather condition were perfect for breeding, because in past visits and areas a mile or so away this year there were a lot less of the critters. I know that there are several varieties of mosquitoes and we saw at least three different size in the past weeks. As you know Texas people always brag about the size of everything. No matter what it is Texas is supposed to have the biggest. That was especially true before Alaska became a state. I can assure you that I am glad there were not a lot of mosquitoes the size of this one that I found trying to make a hole into the side of the Vectra. If it had gotten inside it might have carried both the wife and myself off in the woods for private consumption.


TEXAS SIZED MOSQUITO

We always have fun feeding the seagulls in Rockport. As one of the last things we did there before we left was to have a final feeding to get rid of the last of the gull food. The place we picked was near a kids playground where a little five year old girl and her grandmother was playing on the swing. Erma asked the girl if she would like to feed the gulls. She was eager to feed them as long as she was close to Erma. There were times that she hung on to Erma's arm with one hand and tossed food with her other hand. Also she would lean against Erma's leg whenever the gulls got to close and when Erma moved back a step she would move closer too. As I have said months ago "If you want to increase your pleasure share it with a small child." This little girl was a great delight to us.


FEEDING SEAGULLS BY THE BAY

Till later this is Uncle Duck

New Friends

Before we started full timing we went to a Life On Wheels Conference and I heard an interesting quote. I wish I could remember exactly how the quotation was said because I would expect that it was better in the original than I will be able to come up with. It was something like, "The first time you meet new people it is pleasant. The second time you meet them you say, 'I remember you." The third time you meet them you remember their names and where they are from. The fourth time they are good friends that your are glad to spend time with." While this quote may have been meant to cover several weeks or at least several camps it sometimes works in a shorter time, or at least the time table can be varied. We have met some new friends here.

We are staying in Bayview RV Resort in Rockport Texas. This a camp and area that we have enjoyed six times over the years. One of the places that we enjoy here is a restaurant called The Big Fisherman. It is an early stop for us when we get to Rockport. The fish that they serve is so good and the price is quite reasonable. After we got our motor home set up we were ready for a fish fix. We asked our neighbors, Floyd and Shirley, if they would like to go with us to eat at The Big Fishermen, and they did. In talking to them we decided that we had spent a evening at the same club house table with them during one of our previous visits. During the week we went to several restaurants with them and spent several evenings playing cards and learning new games. We line danced at the club house a few times too. Bayview is one of the few places that there has been a good area to dance. We found out that we have a lot of interest that are similar so now we are looking forward to getting together with them when we get down to the Valley to winter and also introduce them to some of our Bentsen Grove friends. We think that there will be a very good likelihood that additional friendships will develop.

One game that we learned, and really enjoyed, was called Fast Track. It is a card game that uses a board set up that is similar to Pegs and Jokers, but it has a twist or two. I am sure that other people would enjoy playing this game. I may have to buy the boards. The fellow that makes the boards live in Kansas and comes to McAllen to winter. So maybe he can send a set by mail or bring it to Texas when he comes.

There is a ferry that goes back and forth between Aransas Pass and Aransas Port that is always fun to take. The Aransas Port side ends on Mustang Island not too far from a beach that can be driven with cars and even motorhomes. You can drive along the beach for roughly eight miles and camp along most of it. I think it would be fun to spend a few nights within seventy-five to a hundred foot of the active surf. At least if it was not during a storm. But on the other hand I am not sure that I would want to expose my Vectra to the salt spray that would be created there. There were a couple small motor homes along the beach when we drove along it earlier this week. As we drove down the beach there was one spot where the seagulls were just going after something like mad. We drove up close and could see a pile of something that appeared to be a pile of dog food. The gulls would fly up as a group and then plunge back as a group. It was something to see. They will eat almost anything that people eat except salads.




We try not to waste food. Both of us were raised to conserve food but once in a while some thing goes wrong and we have to throw out some. We had some cereal that picked up moisture and was not good any more so we took it out to see if the gulls would like it. They like anything. So now we know that we can have fun with them using cheap cereal or cheap dog food. As you might expect the instant that the gulls determined that we were out of food they left in a mass exodus.



Till later this is Uncle Duck.

Willis, Texas

We are just about ready to leave Willis and head towards Rockport. That should happen tomorrow. We hear that some rainy weather is supposed to be moving in early in the morning. I am hoping that is does not get here too early. In the morning I need to be hooking on the Jeep, loading up the bikes, hooking up the tire sensors and several other items that are required before we move. But raining or not we will move. If it is raining too bad I suppose that we could stay an extra day.

We have been here for three weeks and have not really done a whole lot. I have to admit that I have enjoyed having some time to relax. I had a bunch of things that I wanted to do on the computer and I have been able to complete the items of highest priority. Some of the other ones will take several more years to complete.

We have taken a couple trips down into the Houston area. One thing I wanted to do was to go to the Johnson Space Center. I have driven close to it several times but have never had the time to stop. So that was one of the objectives while we were here. When we went down it was not really a hot day. I suppose that it was in the upper 80's or low 90's but one thing that we decided was that we would never want to take their tours on a hot day in the middle of summer. At a couple points on the tour we were told to be very quiet so we didn't disturb the working personnel. For the life of me I do not know who we would have disturbed. First of all because there is very little or nothing going on in space right now besides the International Space Station activities there were barely any people at work. Especially since it was a Saturday. And then we were never anywhere except in areas partitioned off with glass so I don't know how any worker could have heard us. But in places that quiet was not requested the people on tours talked so loud that it hard to hear the guides. It was a good tour at any rate. I was very surprised that a large building was devoted to activities that would be best described as kids games and activities. If it sounds like I am talking "sour grapes" maybe it is because only kids can play the games that were set up. If a person was skilled on Nintendos, and Pac-Man and Mario they would do better than I could ever dream about. The games were beyond my skills. We had a fun time. This picture shows the main control center at Johnson Space Center. During a normal space flight this would have every chair manned. It would likely be more fun to go back during those times.


MAIN CONTROL CENTER AT JOHNSON SPACE CENTER

On another trip to the Houston area we went out to the Forbidden Gardens. That was almost a wasted trip. The information that we had indicated that it was open until 5:00. We did not rush to get to the place because we did not figure that we needed a lot of time to see it. So we did not get there until shortly before 3:00. They had changed their closing time to 3:00. We had just a few minutes to look around and take a few pictures before the gates closed. Forbidden Gardens is a miniature replica of the tomb of QuinShi Huang-di the First Emperor of China with the 6,000 piece terra cotta army which was discovered in 1974. It is replicated at 1/3 scale. This was about all that we were able to see. The part that we were not able to see, except for a few roof tips, was the 1/20 scale replica of the Forbidden City which was the home to the Imperial family of China for over 500 years during the reigns of two dynasties. The little bit that we could glimpse in the time we were there looked to be impressive. We had called to check to be sure that the place was open before we went there but as many places do their phone answering machine did not have any useful information.


6,000 PIECE TERRA COTTA ARMY OF QUINSHI HUANG-DI

In our travels we have seen many turtle that were extremely shy of people. When they would see movement they would go into the water and disappear from sight. At the Forbidden Gardens they actually swam to the bridge going across the pond TOWARDS the people as soon as they saw movement. I had a hard time believing that they did that until I found out that they had gotten accustomed to getting food which is thrown into the pond by the visitors. Between the turtles and the huge coys it was quite a show.


SOME OF THE RED EARED TURTLES AND THE COY

Our next destination is by a bay where I should be able to get some good pictures of some of the Texas water fowl.

Till later this is Uncle Duck

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