Yarning Down the Road

Gated Community Living

2011-10-25T13:27:00.002-05:00

As gate guards we are truly living in a gated community. Well, the rig is 6.5 miles down the road so we aren't exactly in a community! Here are photos of our nearest neighbors.

This Cattle Egret hangs around to eat bugs drawn by our security lights.

Aligator, about 3.5 feet long.

We just saw the gator crossing the road to get to another soaking pool. First time we had a really good look at it but couldn't get any photos.

Our sunrises and sunsets here are spectacular, especially when there are a few clouds around. In many ways they look the same with the red, pink, peach, orange to purple shade. Here is a sunrise for illustration.

Dawn is breaking

The sun has risen!

The rising sun causes long shadows.

Workcamping in Texas

2011-09-26T13:40:00.000-05:00

We are trying a new job on for size. So far the fit is pretty good. We are working for a contractor who supplies gate guards primarily for oil field drilling and rig rework. Our job is to log in the trucks entering the gate and log them out as they leave. Very easy and we meet some nice people.

We are located in the coastal plains just a couple of miles from the coast. Our main scenery consists of ripening rice fields. The nearest city is Bay City but smaller Palacios will supply some of our needs since it is closer.

Our contractor supplies us with utility trailers with fresh water, a BIG generator and sewer pump and storage. Thank goodness the generator is big since we need both air conditioners running all day long. In case you don't know, it is HOT and HUMID in this area. There also are two bell cables that ring when trucks drive over them to alert us to the traffic. Just like the old time service stations had.

Our trailer hides the signs for the other businesses inside the gate but they are only open to the public by appointment so we don't have too much traffic from them.

We are thinking that we may keep doing this through the winter although it is likely we will be moved to other locations when this site is finished.

Walnut Canyon National Monument

2011-08-31T21:34:00.000-05:00

In the high desert just east of Flagstaff, AZ is a deep canyon with an "island" configuration that housed the Sinagua people 800-900 years ago. We had visited it almost 20 years ago and today, as a final celebration of my 65th birthyear month, we wanted to see it again to verify our memories. The dwellings were built under cliffs around the perimeter of the island and along the walls of the canyon. They had a leak-proof ceiling of the cliff overhang and draft-proof rear wall and floors. They built front walls and side or dividing walls. The rooms seem tiny to us and very low.

The walls are ruins that have been stabilized by the National Park Service. Think there was a little rebuilding too just to show what it probably looked like. There is a narrow path around the outside of the dwellings near the cliff edges.

Limestone forms the canyon walls

First sighting of cliff dwellings across the canyon

I could stand straight near the rear wall in this one

Ron could only stand at the very front

Visitor Center on rim where we started our walk.

Interior doorway

Ron would not easily fit through this door!

More dwellings on the other side of the canyon

Very first of the steps up out of the canyon

View of the Visitor Center from the other side of the Island

Sorry, no photos taken at the top, we were POOPED!

It's A Slopper!

2011-08-17T14:18:00.000-05:00

This is the slopper that Ron ate for lunch at the Sunset Inn in Pueblo, CO. It is a huge pork burger pattie made as a cheeseburger on a local bakery bun and smothered with a green chili sauce. The photo does not really show how big the bowl is but it is a large salad bowl, not a soup bowl. The slopper filled it. I realized how big it was and found the sauce a bit too spicy so I ordered a half size Italian sandwich. My sandwich became pretty spicy by the time I was through. I did have a few bites of the slopper and it is delicious. After Ron polished it off, he groaned "I can't believe I ate the whole thing!"

Here is the website for the Sunset Inn type of Slopper & sauce.

I was impressed with the dome on the Pueblo County courthouse but it doesn't show well in this photo. Pueblo has long been a steel mill town and was formed by merging 4 or 5 towns along the Arkansas River.

The next photos show that we are not in Texas in August! These were snapped in Idaho Springs, CO west of Denver on IH 70. Lovely to see the baskets of colorful flowers. The old fire station was sandwiched in between other buildings in this old mining town.

Storrie Lake State Park, Las Vegas, NM

2011-08-12T20:18:00.000-05:00

I have been calling it Storrie puddle since the lake is so low. A park employee told us that the lake was near full at the beginning of the summer. It is not now. The lake is quite low and seems rather uninviting. Here is the link to the park website so you can see how it should look. http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/PRD/storrielake.htm

Doesn't look much like a nice wind-surfing lake now with the heat and drought.

Three Rivers Petroglyphs Site

2011-07-31T15:22:00.000-05:00

Petroglyphs are rock carvings, pictures scratched or chipped into the surface of the dark patina of rocks. This site has more than 21,000 petroglyphs with some dating at least 1,000 years old. At Three Rivers Petroglyphs Site these were made by a group of prehistoric Native Americans that are referred to as the Jornada Mogollon. Yesterday, in spite of the rain, lightning and thunder, we explored part of the site.

This one is my favorite. It is three-dimensional with the face centered on a ridge of the rock so the nose is very prominent.

Almost Wordless Saturday

2011-06-18T15:02:00.000-05:00

In October 1999 we brought Mother to explore Ruidoso and Ruidoso Downs. She finally got to see what we had been raving about for years. One of the sights were the new horse statues at the Hubbard Museum. We had a lot of fun there.

Iris and Others

2011-06-05T10:26:00.000-05:00

Wikipedia reports that iris is a genus of 260 species of flowering plants with showy flowers. Hondo Iris Farm only had 2 with beautiful blooms and a couple with very faded, droopy blooms. The iris season ended a week or more ago, much to our unknowing dismay. Even the roses were past blooming. We did see some interesting plants and blooms, though.

Not sure what the purplish leaved tree was but has some interesting mossy effects.

Poppies are scattered around the trimmed iris plants and even the poision oak makes a display.

Lillies were the blooms of the day and made quite a show of it.

Blooms in Ruidoso

2011-06-04T11:22:00.002-05:00

Don't know what these blooms are but they make a beautiful display. There is a single bloom behind our trailer that had a hummingbird sipping on it this morning. Edited to add: Friend Jamye says they are Red Hot Pokers. Sure look like it. Love it when a flower is named for what it looks like. Gives me a little break on remembering their names!

We had a wonderful afternoon at the races yesterday. Sat in the shade with a gentle breeze cooling us and watched the beautiful horses. I knit in between races and enjoyed being outdoors.

Memorial Day 2011

2011-05-30T10:06:00.000-05:00

Time and miles have flown by since I last posted. We are cool, dry and blowing in the wind in Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico. Plans are to spend the summer here but, as usual, our plans are set in jello and can change any time.

As a tribute to those who have given so much for our country I am sharing the poem "In Flanders Fields" written Canadian Lt. Col. John McCrae, a medical doctor.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

A big thank you to those who are currently serving, also.

Snow in Alpine, TX

2011-02-03T16:48:00.000-06:00

Snow, sub-freezing temperatures and icy winds have been the rule of the day since Monday, 1/31. That day was warm and great for being outside. That evening the temperatures dropped. I don't remember ever having this many days of sub-freezing temperatures in Texas. Snow has been light powder but does build up. We took a drive this afternoon to get the engine fluids circulating in the truck and attempt to alleviate the cabin fever. When we got home we snapped a few photos.

Marfa, Texas

2011-01-06T17:17:00.000-06:00

Does the name Marfa evoke any memories or associations? The first time I heard it was as the setting for the 1956 movie Giant with Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean starring. A tiny town with big name stars, must have been an electrifying time. The Paisano Hotel housed the stars during the filming and has many photos of them.

Another Marfa association is the mystery of the Marfa Lights, ghost lights that appear in the desert. Several times Ron & I have looked for them but have never seen them.

Over the years we've made lots of visits to the town and are pleased to see how everything looks now. Lots of repaired and freshened up buildings, some artist galleries and small shops. Check out these PHOTOS for a walk down Main Street, Marfa TX.

Geocaching and Waymarking

2011-01-05T15:06:00.000-06:00

Game, treasure hunt, scavanger hunt, orienteering, historic site locating....any way you define it, geocaching and waymarking mean outdoor fun for us. We began in 2002 with a Magellan handheld GPS gift from our daughter. She also gave us the address of the Geocaching.com website which had info on what the game was all about, how to locate a cache and directions to a large list of caches. Geocaching.com has since added thousands of caches, getting so large that they split out the historic markers and other virtual caches into another website Waymarking.com.

We haven't been geocaching much in the last 3 years but we have marked a lot of historic markers and historic buildings. Some of the directions to caches and waymarks have taken us down roads we probably would not have explored on our own. We've learned a lot of history and some oddball info about different locations. Some of the caches we've found are:

The corral setting in SE AZ for the John Wayne movie "McClintock".

Grave marker for camel driver Hi Jolly in Quartzite, AZ.

One of the Quartzite, AZ Intaglios, many hundred years old Native American markings.

Anchor from sunken ship US Arizona displayed on the Capitol mall Phoenix, AZ.

Zero stone by the Pecos County Courthouse, Fort Stockton, TX.

Confederate graves in southeastern AZ.

6 Months Time Capsule

2010-11-14T11:37:00.000-06:00

Since I am such a bad blogger I have let this one slide without posting for far too long. Guess I had better get you up to date. Lake Cochiti did get back to normal levels by the end of May; we had a wonderful summer enjoying being outdoors as much as possible; we saw the aspen starting to change on the mountains above Santa Fe; we bought a new truck and fifth-wheel trailer, selling the motorhome quickly and are parked at Hords Creek Lake near Coleman, TX.

On Thursday, Veterans Day, we drove some roads we had never driven and a few we had been on before. Our wanderings took us to the tiny community of Paint Rock, TX. It is a county seat but isn't a big shopping area. One business caught our eyes, Ingrid's Custom Hand Woven, Inc, a rug weaving company. They are dealing mostly in alpaca and llama fleece now, although they do some in wool and mohair.

The owner, Reinhard Schoffhaler, gave us a tour of the operations from the bundles of raw fleece to the finished products. Since it was Veterans Day several of the employees were attending festivities so we didn't see all the actual washing fleeces, combing & spinning but had a great explanation of how it was done on the big machines. They are using the underbelly and other parts of the fleece that are second quality, not for fine yarn but still wonderfully soft. Think I could have set around petting some of the gorgeous fleeces for a while. Eveything is naturally colored so there were shades of white, black, gray and browns.

We watched a weaver who told us just what she was doing and how she made transitions with color and pattern. A beautiful rug was developing before our eyes.

Their website has descriptions of the operation and photos. Ingrid's Handwoven Rugs

Lake Cochiti Is Rising

2010-05-02T18:30:00.001-05:00

Lake Cochiti is a flood control and recreation lake on the Rio Grande River. Right now it is also a water sorage facitility to hold water for controlled flooding of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Since about April 16 the lake has been storing water. On April 30, 2010 the lake had risen approx 13 feet. The Corps of Engineers Rangers told me that it would probably rise another 9 to 10 feet.

These photos of Cochiti Lake rising should tell the story from 4/22 to 5/1.

Scenic Drive

2010-04-26T11:23:00.000-05:00

We took a beautiful drive on one of the 26 Scenic Byways in New Mexico, the Santa Fe National Forest Scenic Byway. We traveled from the city of Santa Fe at 7,000 feet elevation past Hyde Memorial State Park to the Santa Fe Ski Basin at 10,360 feet elevation. The ski lifts take skiers another 2,000 feet higher to the multiple ski runs.

We had not risen very far in elevation, probably around 8,000 feet when we began to see snow patches in the shade like this one.

We passed alongside & through Hyde Memorial State Park which is not yet open. Beautiful campsites but really remote. We continued up the mountains seeing mainly pines then began to see aspens. This area has the most aspens in all of New Mexico so it will be something to behold in the fall. We have read that the ski lifts operate in the fall so you can look down at the golden leaves.

We stopped at an overlook with a sign naming the view points. I put a red arrow on one to show the peak that we can see from our campground. This campground is named for Tetilla Peak.

Our camera didn't cooperate at the ski basin so no photos from there. We could identify several ski runs with snow on them still. They had stopped operation though since lots of snow had melted.

When we arrived back in Santa Fe we drove past a building with very large sculptures. I couldn't resist snapping a couple of photos from the Jeep window as we drove past. One day we'll go back and see just what they are all about.

View the photos at Santa Fe Nat'l Forest Scenic Drive .

Up the Rio Grande

2010-04-18T11:04:00.001-05:00

While we were enjoying the warmer temperatures of the Rio Grande Valley in January and February we visited the Riverside Diner on the banks of the Rio Grande River. The elevation was about 50' above sea level and there was a low dam downriver for power generation so the water level made a nice wide river there. Here are a couple of photos taken at the diner.

Now we have a different view of the river. We are at Cochiti Lake in New Mexico. It is one of three flood control dams on the Rio Grande River in northern New Mexico. The normal lake elevation is 5,300+ feet above sea level. That makes us more than a mile high! As Park Attendants for Tetilla Peak Park we have a great site with a beautiful view of the lake, dessert and mountains.

Home Sweet Home

Yep, our site looks bare but we love the wide-open feel and can see for 20+ miles on a clear day. Here are some photos of our views.

From our patio - looking southwest over the lake and dam

From our site - looking northeast

From our patio - looking south

From our patio - view south across part of the main campground

We are looking forward to exploring new sites in the area and revisiting ones we have enjoyed before.

A Visit To The Zoo

2010-03-01T17:16:00.000-06:00

In January the cold chased us south to the sunny and windy Rio Grande Valley. Texas weather has been exceptionally cold & wet this year & even the RGV got cooler than last year. We have been able to get out many days in t-shirts or with a light jacket so we have explored and enjoyed.

On a cloudy morning with promise of sun by noon, we headed south to Brownsville to tour the Gladys Porter Zoo. It has the reputation of being one of the finest zoos in the country. We found it very nice but a little confusing in the layout. We zigged and zagged our way through and watched the animals. Most were sleeping or lounging around. A couple of spider monkeys demonstrated their rope swinging abilities and showed off their long arms.

The gorillas are the zoo's real claim to fame but they all sat or lay with their backs to the watchers and ignored everything. I didn't even take any photos of them.

One peacock was strutting his stuff and showed off his tail fan. When he had impressed us enough, he gently folded it away to wait for the next photo op.

I took a few photos, the clouds, sun and animals non cooperation didn't call for lots of photos. We have enough, though, to remember our day at the Gladys Porter Zoo .

Hello From the Texas Hill Country

2009-11-28T16:32:00.004-06:00

Way too long since I posted. We just celebrated Thanksgiving and our 45th wedding anniversary in Fredericksburg, deep in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. That seems to be the date of launching the Christmas season. Now, doesn't this say Christmas to you?

Fred the Bull masquerading as a deer or is it a reindeer?

We toured south to Bandera to see the leaf changes. Lots of color but fading fast. My little camera just couldn't get true colors so I gave up on that. We did see a couple of interesting ranch gates. One glowed brass in the sun but was only brass paint. Really great detail, though. Photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/patjreece/TexasHillCountry#

Friday, Nov 27, we went to the arts & crafts show at the Fredericksburg Marktplaz. There I took some photos of the Christmas Pyramid that was to be dedicated & lit that night. There is one poor photo of it lit up. The bottom level is the manger scene, the next has carolers, middle tier has nutcrackers, next level up is St. Nicholas and the top level that doesn't turn contains angels. BTW: we didn't find anything at the arts & crafts show that we wanted but saw lots of beautiful items.

Fun and Work

2009-04-29T09:09:00.003-05:00

Why haven't I been blogging? Choose your answer: a) we've been too busy sightseeing and working; b) internet has been iffy; c) I'm too lazy to get the photos and text together; d) all of the above. If you chose (d) then you win the smiley face of the day prize!

When we left the Rio Grande Valley in February we traveled to an area east of San Antonio, then moved further east & north, traveling through the Piney Woods following the dogwood, wisteria and azalea blooms north. More about those travels another time.

We are now workcamping at Long Point Park, Table Rock Lake near Branson MO. We are Gate Attendants for the Army Corps of Engineers. We staff the fee booth and have a great chance to visit with campers & boat launchers. We get to enjoy the lovely spring flowers, trees and birds of the Ozarks, batten down the hatches for spring storms and tour the sights of the area.

One place we visited was Edwards Mill on the campus of College of the Ozarks. Edwards Mill was built in 1972 as a student industry project. The Mill is built in the style of the old mills and operates like the 1880's mills did. The day we were there they weren't actually grinding any grain but there are packages of ground meal to buy. A sign inside the door reads:

Back of the loaf is the snowy flour

And back of the flour the mill

And back of the mill the wheat and the shower

the sun and the

Father's Will

The lower level of the mill contains a museum of old harvesting and milling equipment and some baking pans. The top floor is a weaving and crafting workroom. We saw lots of big looms but only two in use that day. There were also two students basketweaving and one making beaded jewelry.

Photos are found in my Picassa album: http://picasaweb.google.com/patjreece/EdwardsMill#

Enjoying The Rio Grande Valley

2009-01-25T12:00:00.004-06:00

This photo is of the southeastern-most point of Texas where the Rio Grande River meets the Gulf of Mexico. We drove to Boca Chica point where the pavement ends on the beach, turned right (south) and drove on the sand for about 3 miles to the mouth of the Rio Grande River. There were a lot of people on the beach fishing the Gulf waters with super-long poles in spite of the strong, chilly wind. Over on the Mexican side, people were mainly fishing the river with throw nets (not legal in Texas) and wading out into the water. What is cold when a fish dinner awaits!

This post has few words, mainly a link to the photographs of various sights around the Valley. Most photos are captioned, so click on the link, click on slideshow and enjoy. http://picasaweb.google.com/patjreece/RioGrandeRiverValleyTX

A Day of Celebration

2008-11-27T20:35:00.003-06:00

The sun shone, the wind blew and the temperature was perfect for being outdoors exploring. To celebrate Thanksgiving Day and our wedding anniversary we went to South Padre Island and to Port Isabel. On SPI we mostly drove and looked at all the construction since we were there years ago. We went into the big county park to check out the RV park there and watch people on the beach. We even saw a man surf fishing catch a manta ray! Once on the beach his friend tried to remove the hook from the manta ray. The fisherman picked up a heavy 5 gallon bucket and placed it on the tail of the ray so it could not sting them. They worked the hook out then used a pole to push it back into the water. The whole sight was a first for us landlubbers!

We went back across the causeway into the harbor area of Port Isabel. The historian in me must tell you that Port Isabel is the oldest city in South Texas, having been charted by a Spanish explorer in 1519. It was inhabited by pirates and Indians. With all good intentions of climbing to the top of the lighthouse, I headed up the steps to the entry door. When my knees and hips protested, I settled for photos and a walk around the port area. Of course, all the museums, except the lighthouse, were closed as were the lighthouse keeper's cottage and the shops by the fishing pier. We walked and looked and enjoyed the wind. Just being out in such beautiful weather and fun suroundings was a celebration of thankfullness and togetherness.

Check out the web album for pictures of this fun time.
http://picasaweb.google.com/patjreece/PortIsabel#

Taliesin West

2008-11-17T16:40:00.006-06:00

We are fans of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. A few years ago we had an opportunity to tour Taliesin West in Scottsdale AZ. There was a large tour group and we were almost rushed through and around the campus but I did manage to snap a few pictures. Some of the memorable things we saw included a theater where the acoustics are so great that the back row can hear a whisper on the stage and the seats are angled exactly right for a person to sit with legs crossed and possibly with an arm on the back of the seats and still comfortably face the stage. We saw how the minimalist approach to living quarters didn't mean small tight spaces or discomfort. All in all, a very memorable experience.

My photos are found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/patjreece/TaliesinWest#

More info about it can be found here: http://architecture.about.com/library/blflw-taliesin.htm

Update on Clyde TX Property

2008-11-14T12:59:00.006-06:00

Long time, no blog. We have been having too much fun out on the road again. Here are pictures of the sign on the interstate service road side of the property.

We were denied the zoning change on the Clyde property that would allow us to live in our rv. We subdivided the property into large manufactured home lots and have it for sale.

We are spending time in south Texas right now. More about that later.

So THAT'S What It Was All About!

2008-07-07T16:56:00.001-05:00

Clyde City Picnic

2008-07-05T21:35:00.003-05:00

The City of Clyde TX held a 5th of July picnic at the Clyde Lake City Park. The day began with a bass fishing tournament. The winners were anounced about 1pm. The biggest bass caught was 7.875 lbs. The next biggest died before weigh in even though they tried to revive it. The rest were released back into the lake for another fisherman's dream catch.

The cookoff started with judging desserts, then beans, chicken, ribs and brisket, in that order. The food all had to be cooked on grills or smokers. We walked through the campground to see the cook teams setups. Many were almost outdoor kitchens. The man who won first in the dessert competition had an oven in his smoker grill. He cooked a cobbler as the first thing he had ever cooked. His cobbler was gone before we had a chance at trying any but another team gave us a serving of their peach cobbler with gingerbread topping. They also had a blueberry pie they had cooked. The picnic organizer said that next year another catagory of cooking would be added to the cookoff, All Other. People cook salsas, veggies and many other things on a grill so this will be their catagory.

There were about 12 servings of chicken that I tasted, cleansing the palate with dill pickle slices and drinking water between the servings. Since the servings were identified only by numbers I have no idea how my judging contributed to selecting the winners. R's rib-tasting was handled the same way. We stayed around until the points were all tallied & watched the first, second and third place winners receive their plaques and checks.

The wind blew and kept us cooler when we were in the shade but after being out for more than 5 hours, we were ready to head for home. The music was still playing, different bands every two hours, and other events were going on. The fireworks would start about 10pm but we were tired and wanting to put our feet us & have some peace & quiet. Photos found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/patjreece/ClydeCityPicnic

Fort Griffin Fandangle, Albany Texas

2008-07-02T16:10:00.003-05:00

Every year the last two weeks in June sees Albany decked out as Frontier Texas. Their celebration of the history and settlement of this area of TX is boisterous and colorful. The prairie is filled with music, gunshots and the jingle of horse bridles. There are many events and shows that happen, but I will only tell about the ones we attended. You can learn more about the Fandangle at this website: http://www.fortgriffinfandangle.org/

We started the fun on Friday afternoon with an organ concert at the Matthews Memorial Presbyterian Church. The church was founded in 1880 and the present stone structure was erected in 1898. The church was remodeled in 1954 and the present organ was installed. The organ was given in memory or Caroline Spears Matthews, by her children. The pipe organ was built by Otto Hoffmann of Austin TX and used some parts from a 1910 organ. This was the first modern tracker organ in the US to be permanently installed in a contemporary case. We heard Sandy Abel play a wonderful mix of classical, patriotic and religious music. Although we felt the concert was over too soon, the audience was invited to get a closer look at the organ and ask questions of Ms Abel. She gave us information such as the organ keys were ivory overlaid with wood.

We then visited the Shackelford County Courthouse where we admired the great woodwork that was restored recently. Then on to the Courthouse grounds to see the history reenactment of an officer’s camp. On display were many articles from a typical camp site, Including two plaques. These were made in China of compressed tea leaves. One for green tea and one for black tea. The wealthy people of the nineteenth century often had these plaques displayed on their walls as artwork. The poorer people could only afford a tiny corner of a plaque to use to make a cup of tea. Also on the Courthouse grounds were some actors ready for a showdown and gunfight. We made a brief stop by the pen where a longhorn was a very disinterested observer.

In a small city park, we saw the old Ledbetter Picket House built near Ft Griffin in the 1870’s. In the dog trot area was a quilt frame with a quilt in progress on it. Behind the house were kettles from the 1860’s Ledbetter Salt Works, a major supplier of salt to the Confederacy. Also in that park is the Georgia Memorial, a beautiful fountain built in 1976 to honor the Georgia Battalion who joined Texas troops at Goliad in March 1836. Eighty three Georgia Volunteers died during that battle. Also in the park is an artwork of Three Avacodos.

Around 8 pm we went to the Prairie Theater to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Fort Griffin Fandangle. This show was first produced by high school students at their football stadium. The city of Albany adopted the show as a theme for the city and began to produce it with all ages in the cast. On this anniversary year two men who were in the original productions participated once again. The show begins with a beautiful flag parade of galloping horses crossing the huge grassy stage. The horses weave in and out at what seemed to me breakneck speed without every colliding or stumbling. Graceful women riding sidesaddle joined the male flag bearers. The narrators are the only spoken voices during the show. The music & dancing is very good. For a small town, Albany has produced many excellent voices. The show is long (about 2 hours) but there are very few slow moments. It carries you along on the magic carpet of music, laughter and pure enjoyment.

Photos are at: http://picasaweb.google.com/patjreece/FortGriffinFandangle

Made Me Look Twice!

2008-06-15T12:15:00.002-05:00

This caught my eye in downtown Abilene TX.

Changing Landscape

2008-06-01T21:57:00.002-05:00

The snapshot downloaded from GoogleEarth shows our property in the red outline. It is the full length of the unpaved street and covers 2/3 of the depth of the block. The north edge is on the I20 service road. The deed actually says that some of the property was sold to the state when Hwy 80 became I20 and added service roads. A lot of brush clearing has gone on since I last posted. The majority of the property received some attention from the shredding machine over two days.

Some work was started on the 3rd day when the machine broke down but not before a neighbor's corner fence post got knocked down. He traded off some of the work time for us doing the repairs on the fence. We'll call him to come back to finish later.

The post has been replaced and most of the chain link fencing reattached. Two of the brackets were bent too much so they will need to be replaced. Temperatures in the high 90's keep us from working steadily.

You can see photos of the shredder, the start of the work and the results:
http://picasaweb.google.com/patjreece/52308Clyde

Progress & Relaxation

2008-05-20T10:24:00.003-05:00

While taking cool down breaks we sit in the shade and watch the wildlife. Ok, wildlife is limited to birds, squirrels, butterflies and bugs. There are at least two pair of bluejays, a pair of cardinals and a couple of squirrels. Earlier we saw some finch but they aren't making an appearance now so must have migrated. One day a squirrel ran up a live oak, leaped over to the hickory tree and ran out a branch just over me. He was being harrassed by a big bluejay, so after looking down at me the squirrel ran up another branch & launched himself into the big bur oak (we were told that was what it was) and disappeared among the leaves.

The utility pole has a guy wire running into some bushes out by the street so we started cutting out the bushes so the shredding machine could get in to the area without snagging the wire. To our surprise we discovered another guy wire that was broken from the pole and coiled around in the bushes. We took lots of photos & sent them to the power company. They don't understand what we are telling them. They think we are talking about the line to the house!

I not only have a black thumb when it comes to growing flowers, I really can't identify many of them. I have included photos in my album with some that I think I can identify. Any help you can give on what they really are will be appreciated.
http://picasaweb.google.com/patjreece/51608Clyde

The Work Goes On

2008-05-14T13:18:00.003-05:00

We are progressing on our cleanup. It is taking a long time to do the manual labor. This week we were told that the shredding machine was in the repair shop so that work on our property will be delayed at least a week. That means we can finish the fence post removal. R got some of Dad's old tools from his workshop when we visited Mother for Mother's Day. My Dad collected old, usuable tools for many years, both from individuals and old oil field pump stations. I think we now have a couple of pipe tools that were used in oil field work. We rigged up a boomer/come-a-long & chain and use it to pry out the poles that were cemented in. Still have to dig out around the concrete but it saves some steps. Here is a link to some photos of the piles of stuff we have dug up and pulled out.

http://picasaweb.google.com/patjreece/5908ClydePropertyWork

Our New........Adventure???

2008-05-09T10:17:00.004-05:00

It's been a long time since I wrote in this blog so I'll try to get you up to date. Fuel prices have doubled since we started our full-time rv living so we thought to be stationary for a while. We have bought some property in Clyde, TX. Clyde is about 15 miles east of Abilene on IH 20 and is about 1/2 way between Midland and Dallas, with about the same distance to Austin. The original ad for the property was for 8.6 acres in the city limits with city water & sewer, starting at the IH service road and running south. We later learned that it actually is 6.8 acres but decided it was still a good buy. There are a lot of trees, mostly oaks, and a tremendous amount of brush with prickly, spiney vines & bushes since it has not been cleared between the trees since the early 1960's. Our first thoughts were of an RV Park so we could continue to visit with some of the greatest people ever. The city had zoned this property for manufactured homes and are indicating that they are not favorable to rezoning for rvs. The neighbors don't like that idea, either. We are now thinking of selling some of the cleared property as mobile home lots since there is a great need for them.

There is a small house in very bad condition inside and poor condition outside. It was originally built as a garage & turned into a house for a widow. Building codes are iffy that we could actually clean up and remodel the house & live in it. It is much too close to the street according to the codes. We would have to put some money into the house with a new kitchen & bath, new wiring & plumbing, some new windows and general paint, light fixtures, etc. That is a lot of $$$ to put into it. We are glad right now that it is concrete block and would be safer than our rv in a tornado!

You can see some pictures taken in April of the property & the blooming iris garden. The photo above is hubby on the first day of cleanup.

http://picasaweb.google.com/patjreece/2008_04ClydeTX

East TX Dressed in Spring Colors

2008-04-03T10:03:00.006-05:00

Saturday, March 29 was a cool, cloudy gray day with rain forecast but we went off to explore. The trees have really leafed out in the last week or two & the flowers are blooming everywhere. The photos do not show the true colors of the flowers but they do give some idea. For photos click on this link http://picasaweb.google.com/patjreece/EastTexasFlowersTrees02

We saw a lot of interesting old houses & store buildings. The small town of Mount Vernon has a neat little town square with well-restored store fronts and a wonderful Genealogical Society library & research room. Since none of our ancestors had been in that area we didn't dig through any records but had a good visit with the president of the society.

We also stopped in at the Pine Mills Pottery Studio & Gallery. They have lovely art pieces with graceful shapes and gorgeous colors. The link to their site is http://http//www.pinemills.com/

I snapped this photo as we passed a pied donkey farm.

Chicago-Why Cities Are A Fun Place To Visit

2008-03-28T11:13:00.008-05:00

Two years ago in May we spent one day in Chicago. We spent a Friday night in an RV park in a suburb and Saturday morning drove the motorhome to the train station, parked it in a neat little space & rode the train to the city. Round trip was $5 for each of us. Pretty cheap. Certainly would have cost more than that in gas & parking fees had we driven the Jeep. We walked & oohed & aahed over all the building & people. Since we had few destinations in mind, we just wandered and explored. We weren't on a guided tour so we could spend as much time at any one place as we wanted. We examined all the stone pieces we could see in the Tribune building including a stone from the Alamo. It gave us a strange feel to see a little bit of TX in this far-off state. Then we remembered that the actual mileage from Texarkana TX to Chicago IL is less than the mileage from Texarkana to El Paso TX.

We skipped the Sears Tower tour to go up to the top of the John Hancock building. My vertigo did not kick in at all as we stood at the glass windows looking out over the city and port. Lake Michigan was beautiful.

I even posed for a photo for my moonlighting job application!

After our day of touring we rode a bus back to the train station and drove off in our little house into Michigan.

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T21:27:00.005-05:00

The morning dawned with bright sunshine, cloudless skies and a light breeze. It was a perfect day to get out & see the beautiful day. We had charged the camera battery so stopped by the Wood Co. Courthouse & photographed the beautiful dogwood tree. Then we drove around part of Lake Fork and saw lots of flowers.

An old and beautiful legend has it that, at the time of the crucifixion, the dogwood was comparable in size to the oak tree and other monarchs of the forest. Because of its firmness and strength it was selected as the timber for the cross, but to be put to such a cruel use greatly distressed the tree. Sensing this, the crucified Jesus in his gentle pity for the sorrow and suffering of all said to it: "Because of your sorrow and pity for My sufferings, never again will the dogwood tree grow large enough to be used as a gibbet. Henceforth it will be slender, bent and twisted and its blossoms will be in the form of a cross -- two long and two short petals. In the center of the outer edge of each petal there will be nail prints -- brown with rust and stained with red -- and in the center of the flower will be a crown of thorns, and all who see this will remember."

Quitman TX

2008-03-22T14:33:00.002-05:00

We are enjoying clear sunny skies and mid-70's degrees temperature here in Quitman. We drove around small Lake Quitman and saw some beautiful dogwood trees blooming, a strand of blooming wisteria and blue jays flashing among the trees. Lovely and, wouldn't you know it, my camera battery said "Feed Me." I have it charging now and maybe I can get a few pictures after a while. Of course Easter Sunday is forecast to be cloudy, cool and a 30% chance of rain.

First Monday Trade Days, Canton TX

2008-03-21T14:32:00.002-05:00

In the 1850's people of the area began gathering in Canton on the first Monday of the month. They began to use that day to trade and sell produce, goods, and livestock. From those days it has grown to be "THE biggest open-air trade days in the world." The Trade Days take place the Thursday through Sunday before the first Monday every month.

For more info visit their website: http://www.firstmondaycanton.com/

Tyler TX Azalea Trail 3/14/08 - 4/6/08

2008-03-18T18:47:00.004-05:00

On Sunday 3/16 we drove to Tyler for the Azalea Trail. This was the first weekend of the Trail this year and we knew there was a chance the blooms would not be at their fullest. Not only they weren't at their fullest, there were very few azalea blooms at all. Most of the blooming flowers were tulips, pansies and daffodills. One yard did have some impatiens, along with several blooming rose type trees and a beautiful blooming tulip tree. There were other blooming trees but we only saw one dogwood in full bloom so it is probably a little early for them this year, too. You can check out the info on the Trail at this link: http://www.tylerazaleatrail.com/
For more photos click on this link. http://picasaweb.google.com/patjreece/EastTexasFlowersTrees

Places We’ve Visited – Killdeer ND

2008-03-08T09:59:00.002-06:00

We stayed in the Killdeer City Park that has electrical hookup, water & dump at the edge of the park. There are wonderfully fresh & clean restrooms with showers. The town has fewer than 800 people but is supported by the oil industry, a small high-tech manufacturing firm and agriculture. We ate at the steakhouse where I had a FLEISCHKUECHLE, a local favorite. It is a hamburger patty wrapped in piecrust and deep fried. It was good but not something that I would want often. Ron had a chicken fried steak with white gravy that was NOT the same as Texas-style. Interesting to experiment.

I expected North Dakota to be fairly flat, open prairie, something like western Kansas and Nebraska. On the eastern side, along the northern Red River it is flat delta land that is farmed in big fields like in the south. The only differences are the trees planted as wind-breaks and the crops are mostly sugar beets. Across the northern part of the state lies the Turtle Mountains, highest points about 3000 feet, and rolling plains. As we came south, we crossed the Missouri River at New Town where the river has been dammed into a very long Lake Sakakawea. The lake was named for the Indian woman with the Lewis & Clark explorers. They had camped in the New Town area.

Further south is the Little Missouri River, which starts in South Dakota and runs north to the MO River. The Little MO River has cut through the landscape to form the North Dakota Badlands. The Badlands are so named because of the difficulty to travel through. General Custer named them when he was on his way to the Little Big Horn. Along the river is the Little Missouri National Grasslands and the north and south units of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We drove to the north unit but did not tour it since we wanted to drive through the grasslands to the south unit and tour it.

The village of Grassy Butte has a 1914 log post office building that was covered with adobe. It has been turned into a museum with lots of old settler artifacts. By the post office is a wooden frame church from the 1920’s, St. Peter Canisius Church.

Places We’ve Visited – Hoh Rain Forest, WA

2008-03-07T10:59:00.002-06:00

We set up camp in the Willoughby Creek campground beside the Hoh River. There are no hookups & only 3 campsites. The river was just a few yards away, down a slope beside us & the spruce & black cottonwoods towered over us. We drove along the Hoh River to the Hoh Rainforest trailheads. The Hoh is a glacier-melt river. that is colder, and often higher, in the summer from ice melt, and warmed in the winter when it is fed only by winter rainfall. The Hoh is the premier temperate rain forest in the United States because of the warming trend of the Japanese Current. While the forest is dominated by the Sitka spruce, it is the big leaf maple whose arching limbs provide the framework to support the mosses which give the forest its mellow feeling. One of the finest examples of a temperate rain forest left in North America, the Hoh has been named the third best hike in the world. A rain forest is defined by a lot of rain - an average of 150 inches a year - which makes this the wettest spot in the United States outside of Hawaii, where Mount Waialeale has an annual rainfall of 460 inches. In 1997 a new record of 190.42 inches was set. Protected by the mountains: to the east, the mild temperature seldom drops to below freezing in the winter or rises above 80 degrees in the summer. The Hoh Rain Forest, which contains more than 3,000 species of plant life, abounds in Sitka spruce and western hemlock, some reaching 3OO feet in height and 23 feet in circumference. Douglas fir, western red cedar, big leaf maple and black cottonwood are also found throughout the forest. The forest floor is carpeted with ferns. Nearly every bit of space within the forest is taken up with a living plant, and its biomass may be the greatest in the world. In some areas of the forest the vegetation is so thick that snow cannot reach the ground. We walked the Spruce Trail 1-1/4 mile 1-1/2 hour hike only we took more than 2 1/2 hours to do it. So much to see. We experienced everything this quote says, "As you walk through the forest, green draperies soften the outlines of the forest. you experience damp smells which are a mix of decay and fresh new growth, and hear sounds of water from streams and dripping leaves. You see the different textures of a variety of plants, and feel a cool breath of fog against your cheek."
We were visiting with our neighbors at our campfire as it grew dark when we heard splashing in the river. We couldn't see thru the brush & trees in the dark to see the elk that must have been making the splashes.

Places We've Visited - Greenville MS

2008-03-06T09:06:00.004-06:00

The Delta of Arkansas, northern Louisiana and Mississippi is flat land with large field after field only separated by trees in the drainage areas. It is pond after pond of catfish farms and occasional processing plants for the fish. It is a port in every little community on the river for shipping. It is antebellum homes, modern mansions, houses from the turn-of-the-twentieth- century, ordinary houses and shacks. There are so many areas of poverty and a few areas of wealth. The Delta is not just the river, it goes away from the river quite a distance and may have hills and forests along the many creeks and rivers. There are lots of pecan and fruit orchards. There are many lakes formed by the Mississippi River when it has changed courses. The lakes are shaped like commas from the curves the river had cut.

Warfield Point Park, Greenville, MS is a very nice county park on the Mississippi River side of the levee just south of Greenville, MS. The park has electric & water hookups and a dump station. There are nice shower/restroom buildings. Warfield Point was named by Thomas B Warfield in 1831. He was traveling down the Mississippi River from Kentucky and came upon this high spot along the river. Mr Warfield settled here and named this point Warfield Point. Since that time the Point has been a ferry landing. Today a marine company (tugboat service to the port) operates next to the county park. It is fun to watch the boats and barges and speculate where they came from, where they are going and what the load is.

East of Greenville is the community of Leland. It is the home of a Blues music museum and festival. There are murals depicting blues greats. Deer Creek goes through Leland on its way to the Yazoo River. The creek is as large as many rivers in west Texas! The land around the creek is said to be the most fertile in all of the US. The Leland Welcome Center houses the Jim Henson Muppets museum. Nearby is the Belmont Plantation. The house was built in 1857. It is a private residence and the gate is kept locked but what we could see looked very interesting.

This 'n That Shop I&II

2008-02-29T09:54:00.000-06:00

Great little jewels of shops in the tiny Texas towns of Robert Lee & Bronte. The tag line for the shops is: Gifts: Past & Present. They have antiques, new and nearly new furniture, glassware, pottery, toys, children's books, cookbooks, hand crafted items and other stuff of interest. It is so much fun to browse and discover beautiful colored glassware that gleams on the shelf, 70+ year old doilies, china that we remember from our grandmothers' tables and a beautifully made wooden chest. Lots of fun browsing and chatting with the manager, Cyndy. Just one of the joys of being retired and being able to take life at your own pace while traveling in you rv.

Hords Creek Lake

2008-02-28T13:46:00.000-06:00

This lake is totally new to me, I never knew it was tucked into the rolling plains just 8 miles west of Coleman TX. There are 2 lovely Corps of Engineers campgrounds here, only one of which is open for use during the winter months. The lake is rather small but beautifully clean and seems to have good fishing. There are even some Group Shelters where large groups could have reunions, etc. On the weekdays we have a large area of the campgound to ourselves. On the weekends it gets busier and they tell us that during Spring Break weeks it gets crowded. We have enjoyed being outside when the winds aren't blowing 30+ mph as they have been the last 4 days. At least the sun is shining and it isn't cold.

Living Small

2008-02-21T08:48:00.001-06:00

In our Campground Crafters Yahoo Group we discuss living in recreational vehicles (rvs) full time or for extended times. There are challenges to this style of living, such as finding enough storage space and organizing it for your stuff. No one type rv is ever perfect for every person so we adapt, customize and get very creative. Our Class C motorhome has a surprising amount of exterior storage for it's size. We have a full-width and height storage at the back called the "garage" where we put the lawn chairs, campfire starters, hanging bags filled with cables & awning tie downs and plastic storage boxes. There is a compartment just outside the entry door that I call the "trunk" that carries our slow-cooker, the tool box and plastic storage boxes of my out-of-season clothes. There is another compartment that carries our leveling boards and water hoses and another one that holds some seldom-used stuff. When we are traveling down the road we put our satellite internet dish in the back of the Jeep we tow (the toad) which also has a tote bag of my yarn. So you can see that there are ways to adapt and adjust to small spaces. Any time I have a flash of wishful thinking for more room, I remember that it only takes a couple of hours to thoroughly clean & freshen up the whole interior. After all we can move to a new location for a new yard view any time we want.

The Permian Sea - Don't Expect to Surf

2008-02-20T09:52:00.001-06:00

We are homebased in Midland TX, one of the largest population centers of the Permian Basin. The Permian Basin was formed as a sea 230 million years ago. You can learn more about it at this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian_Basin Midland has a great museum of the petroleum industry and an exhibit of Chaparral race cars. http://petroleummuseum.org/

Recently we had a Sunday outing with friends to the town of Iraan about 85 miles south of Midland. We were fossil hunting for their rock garden & water feature. When hubby was a boy in the area he found many large fossils while roaming the mesas. We drove to a mesa top and found a few small fossils. My big find looked like a closed clam shell protruding from the top of a rock. Others were various kinds of coiled shells. It was a cool, windy day but still pleasant to be out and the view from the mesa top was great.

2/17/08 Day One

2008-02-17T17:13:00.001-06:00

I caved in to the pressure and started a blog of our travels and miscellaneous things that interest us. I've written journals to share with family & friends by email. My family doesn't think I ever stop talking. I've been accused of being gabby on a Yahoo group, Campground Crafters. So naturally a blog filled with my blathering should be a cinch. After all, we travel in our motorhome, I knit, we watch animals, we are history buffs, we geocache and waymark and love exploring all sorts of places so what is so difficult about finding something to talk about? Is this a version of stage fright?

We have spent a year in West Texas. This area is not really the Texas of western movies with a strong emphasis on cattle and ranching. This is oil country. Few people were here before 1900 so the history of the area is not as obvious as it is some other places. The land of the southernmost tip of the Great Plains is flat, sandy and mostly dry.