March 31 - Home Again

We are now home, safe and sound, after having spent our last night at Lake Pueblo State Park, Colorado. It is bittersweet, for we could have just kept right on traveling, but it is good to be back with family and friends, especially for Easter at Lord of the Mountains Lutheran Church. Until next time...

March 26-28 Guadalupe Mountain NP and Carlsbad Caverns NP

Off to Guadalupe Mountain National Park where we braced ourselves for 50 and 70 mph wind gusts. What a fitful night after a wonderful hike up the Devil’s Hall Trail. We even closed up the slides in order to give us stabilization. We got out of there fast and headed for Carlsbad, NM, and saw the Carlsbad Caverns. Here we did the King’s Palace Guided Tour and then the Self-Guided Natural Entrance tour into the cave. After descending over 800 feet, we saw many stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, draperies, columns, popcorn, and mirrored ponds. The Big Room was the size of 14 football fields.

March 23 Davis Mountains State Park

Thanks be to God – Jackson Jordon Ohler was born to Libby (my niece) and Jordan on March 22. On to Davis Mountains State Park where we went to a Star Party at the McDonald Observatory. Through high powered telescopes we saw the moon (you could see the craters on the surface), 7 sisters (which is about 100 stars up close), Orion’s Belt nebula. Unfortunately, it got too cloudy to see Saturn. We went back the next day for a tour of the buildings that house the Hubble-Eberly telescope for which astronomers from all over the world come to use. And, also, learned about and saw up close the star we see throughout the day – the Sun. Amazing.

Throughout this trip, we have stayed mostly at state parks, many of which were built by the CCC – Civilian Conservation Corp. This group was formed back in 1933 to give men and women, age 18-25, a job for $30/month, of which $25 was sent back to their families. We are so thankful for their hard work to provide these beautiful places to stay.

March 19-22 Big Bend National Park

The big bend is the Rio Grande River which runs 118 miles through the park. The park itself covers 800,000 acres over the Chihuahua Desert, the Chisos Mountains (the only mountain range that is completely contained within the boundaries of the park), and the Rio Grande River. On the other side of the river is Mexico and were we ever treated as we walked the Boquillas Canyon. Victor was sitting up on a rock and began to sing as we approached the area, as he is hoping for a donation. Other Mexicans are across the river and either come across on a horse or paddle a canoe across offering you their souvenirs. We later learned that it was against the law to buy their wares for it is considered contraband. We visited the Santa Elena Canyon which is along the Rio Grande, stopped at many scenic overlooks, did nature trails full of cactus, and walked rancher house ruins. We also took in a hike on the Lost Mine trail that provided gifts of breathtaking scenery around every corner.

March 14-18 Amistad National Recreation Area

Our travels took us to Laredo, Texas, for a couple of nights. The interesting thing about this place was watching the families of Mexicans. They are so family-oriented where many get together under one roof, and party – they just seem so happy. Then on to Amistad National Recreation Area in Del Rio, Texas. This is a huge reservoir and nearby is the Seminole Canyon of which we took a tour and learned about many characteristics of early settlers and saw pictographs and petroglyphs. A state park ranger gave a program describing the local cacti including claret cup, torrey yucca, prickley pear, pickle shaped, leucheguilla, and more. Plus we learned all about scat…you know, animal poop.

March 8-13 At The Beach

Here on the Corpus Christi beach at Mustang Island, for most of the week we woke up to fog until the sun burns it off around 2:00. The winds were powerful the first day but have since died down, until Thursday, when they changed direction. It’s been fun riding our bikes on the beach. On Saturday, we got up early to watch the sunrise over the ocean. There are hundreds of spring breakers on the beach now; it was vacant Thursday. Families and students old and young; radio music; bands; concessions; horseshoes; bag toss; sunbathers; string of cars; volleyball; frisbie; football; grills; police. It is quite a sight and sound. The weather is perfect this weekend with no fog, blue skies, and in the 70’s. And the seashells…like we need more, but sand dollars, pen shells, scallops; and lots of dead cabbage head jellyfish and man-o-wars.

March 6-9 Austin and Corpus Christi

We toured the Texas State Capitol building and the Texas History Museum. Then Saturday night we kicked up our heels at the Broken Spoke after famous country fried steak. $8 lessons and $12 cover charge and a great time! And on Sunday, did we ever find a gold mine in Austin. A church with 2 organs, soon to have 3; a very gifted organist; choir; and a Symphony of Winds band complete with woodwinds, brass, and drums. It was outstanding; I had tears in my eyes. It was even an ELCA church with a female interim pastor that was quite good, and friendly people. We've always been welcomed no matter where we've been, but I miss seeing people I know. Then on to Mustang Island State Park at Corpus Christi - right on the beach; well, on the other side of the dunes anyway. A very quick walk to the beach and we did so this morning with a mug of coffee. So nice. Water's not bad, but I wouldn't want to swim in it. Boy, is it ever damp here with the humidity, but bearable.

March 1-4 LBJ and Hill Country

Visited the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, and found him to be a very interesting man and quite a story teller, humorous, at that. Of course, he took the oath of presidency when President Kennedy was assassinated; there was no VP then until he campaigned and won with Humphrey. He signed so many bills that became law including Civil Rights; Education; War on Poverty; The Environment; Medicare; National Endowment for Arts and Humanities; Job Corps; Head Start to name a few. The one event that plagued his presidency was the Vietnam War. He worked tirelessly and knew how to work the Congress and Senate. Staying in Blanco State Park, on the Pedernales River (which LBJ just loved). A quaint little town and central to Fredericksburg, Enchanted Rock, Johnson City (where LBJ was born), and LBJ’s ranch. We toured the “Western Whitehouse,” where he spent a lot of time conducting business and entertaining heads of state. He chose not to run for a 2nd term and so returned to the Ranch where he died of a heart attack and is buried there.

February 26 - George H Bush Presidential Library

President George H was a very family oriented man, humble, and with integrity, and loves Barbara and his family. He believes in faith, family, and friends and in that order. I found it fascinating that whenever he got on Air Force 1, the “football” went also – a briefcase that could launch a nuclear attack. The president doesn’t carry it; someone else is the “ball carrier.” During his term Kuwait was freed and the Berlin Wall came down.

February 24 Johnson Space Center, Houston

Today we moved into Texas and went to the space center for a tour. We saw the Control Center – the old one and the one from which they made a replica for the movie Apollo 13. The head of the Control Center is the one in complete control of the mission – “Houston, we have a problem.” There are ongoing simulations going on in the present day Control Center, as well as in this huge warehouse looking building that houses shuttles, robots, capsules for training purposes. Astronauts practice weightlessness in a 3-story swimming pool. They lose a lot of body mass while in space. Picture here of Saturn V also – it’s amazing the complexity of this massive piece of equipment – rocket engines and all.

February 18-22

We moved onto Faussee State Park near Jeanerette, LA, where we took a delightful tour of a museum and learned about the growing of sugar cane. We were then directed to a bakery that makes the best French Bread and Ginger Cake. At Avery Island, near New Iberia, we took a tour of the Tabasco Company. This is the only plant in the world, but the red pepper which is only hand-picked when it is a perfect red, is grown here on just 50 acres, plus South and Central America. If you look on the bottle, you’ll see the name McIlhenny – he invented the product, and Avery Island, L.A. or New Iberia, where it is made. We drove to Sam Houston Jones State Park at Lake Charles, where we can bike ride through cypress groves (uniquely beautiful), swamps, bayous, and also hike. Oh, and we got to experience Crawfish Etoufee (a stew) at Steamboat Bill’s – twice, because it’s so good!

February 16-17 Mardi Gras

We were up at 5:00 a.m., left the house at 6:00 to get to our spot at the Zulu Parade which started at 8:00 a.m. with a temperature of 36 degrees. These parades have lots of colorful floats and marching bands and last about 2 hours. We don’t have to bare anything to get beads; just put your hands in the air and be ready to catch whatever is thrown to you and hundreds of other people. Tradition has it that the baking of the traditional King Cake begins on January 6 – Epiphany – the celebration of the kings going to see Jesus. A small plastic baby Jesus is included with the Bundt shaped cake with frosting and sprinkled sugar in colors of purple, gold, and green for power, faith, and justice. This token is placed in the cake and whoever gets it in their piece has to bring the cake and have the party next year. 58 billion beads are thrown throughout the Mardi Gras season. No more cakes are made after midnight Mardi Gras, and no more beads are worn – party is over. Mardi Gras is so big that it’s actually a holiday and one big party for family and friends. The stores are packed the night before with people buying all kinds of food and drink.

On Wednesday we went to Mardi Gras World and took a tour of how floats are made. Lots of styrofoam, paint, and imagination! Each Krewe comes up with their theme and approximately 25 floats will be made for their parade. It’s quite an honor to be on the float throwing beads…you have to apply to be a member of the Krewe then pay a fee which could be $1000 and up; plus, buy beads to throw which could be another $1000.

February 13-15 Mardi Gras

We went to the Krewe of Endymion Parade Saturday night and got tons of beads that are thrown off float after float. It's very colorful and crazy with thousands of people begging for these beads! There are other prizes, too, like frisbies, tomahawks, cups, coins, etc. You don't even get to see the float because you are trying to grab beads being thrown. “Throw me something mister!” is the appropriate chant. And the marching bands – lots of them!

It's amazing to see the spirit since the Saints won the Super Bowl. Signs, billboards, flags, T-shirts are everywhere. It's definitely a Who Dat Nation! They are chanting that all the time. Who Dat? Who Dat? Who Dat Going to Win Da Super Bowl? They are so proud and they say crime has actually gone down (see how long that lasts!).

Today we visited the 9th Ward; the worst struck from the hurricane. So many homes are still abandoned, boarded up, torn down, rebuilt, etc., and many still have on the outside of the house the date and how many found inside dead or alive. Then to see downtown and where the Super Dome is; it's amazing that people walked that far.

We'll be going to another parade tomorrow morning - more beads and junk! Wednesday to the French Quarter and to see how they build the floats - it's quite a business.

February 1-4

We are now in Panama City, FL, at St. Andrews State Park. It’s cold! We tried the beach, but by the time we got there, it was cold, cloudy, and windy. Oh well, it’s winter!

January 29 - Sandy's Birthday

Today’s the day! Sandy’s birthday and she does like to celebrate them. We’re at St. Joseph State Park in Appalachacola, FL, where our site is about 100 yards from the ocean which has a white sandy beach and pretty sunset. The vacation homes here are built on stilts and come in all different shapes and sizes and colors, and seemed to be placed on land any which way.
We went into Appalachacola for lunch and ice cream, then dinner at home for burgers and chocolate cake – oh so rich that it tickled the roof of your mouth. My gifts were many phone calls and messages on Facebook, plus a Panini Press – yeah! (Bill really wanted this!)

January 25-27 Manatee Springs State Park

Manatee Springs State Park was beautiful to ride bikes through with all the saw palmetto trees; pine trees; the springs in which you could swim at 72 degrees with a manatee; cypress trees; and more.

January 21 - The Ringling Museum

We visited Bill’s cousin Artie and Barb Polk. They treated us to the Ringling Museum which was so fascinating and beautiful. John Ringling and his wife had no children but lots of money to buy anything including land, a yacht, antiques, Long Key, and this amazing home that they built. Unfortunately, he lost it all and, in fact, he died 3 days before he was to go bankrupt. The miniature circus display had over 50,000 pieces including the Big Top itself and all that goes with it, as though you were there when the circus came to town.

January 20 - Edison and Ford Museum

Next is Little Manatee River State Park near Bradenton, but we first stopped in Ft. Myers to go through the Edison and Ford Museum and their winter homes. It is amazing how much Edison invented. At an early age he decided he was going to be an inventor. He had 1063 patents; besides electricity and the light bulb he invented the movies, phonograph, and more. He was very impressed with Ford and likewise, so they had winter homes beside each other. Ford loved to square dance and so he would move the furniture onto the porch so that he could have dances in his home.

January 19 - Naples/Marco Island

Naples, FL is now home for a couple of nights and here we went to Marco Island and walked the Tiger Tail beach. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many seashells, nor so many different shapes and kinds, including sand dollars. We had dinner at NeNe’s – filet and lobster tail for $19.99!

January 14-17 Everglades

We loved the Everglades National Park at Flamingo for it was all about nature. We participated in a nature hike; saw alligators, crocodiles; biked; and took a canoe trip through the mangroves. Every evening we walked to the amphitheater for a presentation on various topics lead by park rangers. The last day we walked the Antinga (bird) Trail – a must see for it was kind of a culmination of all that we had seen and learned throughout our stay.

January 12- Florida Keys

Starting with the Florida Keys, we stayed in Marathon and drove to Key West. We took our bikes and did most of the touristy things including going to the southernmost tip of the US; eating key lime pie at the Rooftop Café; browsing around President Truman’s summer home; and seeing the sunset and performers at Mallory Square.

November 2009 to Beginning of Adventure in 2010

Our adventure has begun in the New Year 2010. It actually began November 2009 so we’ll bring you up-to-date from there.

Starting out November 2, our destination was Ft. Pierce, FL, to Sandy’s folks for Thanksgiving. Our route was through Dodge City, KS with a stop at Boot Hill Museum and Cemetery; one of the best museums I’ve been to for it was very descriptive of the lives of Indians. On to OK and what a surprise of how western this state is versus being a southern state. But before we took in the cowboy thing, we were humbled at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum – the Murrah Federal Building that was blown up. When exiting the elevator you enter the museum as though you were there the morning of the tragedy. Kids voices, people talking, and then the explosion. It is a beautiful tribute to those who died. There is an outdoor memorial with chairs that light up in the evening; miniature chairs for the children who perished, and regular sized chairs for the adults. We went back to Oklahoma City the next day to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. An amazing place with artwork and everything you would want to know about cowboys, real or otherwise as in John Wayne. Then on to see our friends and fabulous hosts Mel and Diane Swafford in Tulsa. A special treat was receiving a grand tour by our hostess and experiencing incredible worship at the historical Boston Avenue UM Church with Pastor Mouson Biggs.

Moving on now to Texarkana, AR, by way of Robbers Cave State Park (where Jessie James is said to have hidden out); and the Talemena Trail with a 13% grade! We got to have lunch with some of my childhood friends ~ Nancy, Darel, and Connie Bair. My family vacationed with them for many years on Coldwater Lake, MI, and boy did we catch up and go over old memories.

Our next stop was in Pittsburgh, TX, to see Bill’s cousin Karlene and Ken Wolff at Camp Shiloh. We were treated to the East Texas Oil Museum; the Ezekiel Flying Machine and Depot; s’more pizza (complete with marshmallows, chocolate, and crushed graham crackers); and the Sweet Spot USA. These two are Builders for Christ, and are fabulous hosts and a delight to be with. It was sure fun catching up with family here.

Backtracking to AR again we went to Hot Springs and only toured the Forsythe Bath House, which was free. Now to the good stuff…Clinton’s Presidential Library in Little Rock. This was fascinating seeing his limousine; the Cabinet room; the Oval Office which was set up to look just as it did when he was in office; gifts of the people; dresses of First Lady’s; description of preparations for State Dinners; and, of course, his daily schedule; a time line; and how great he and Al Gore were, in addition to Hillary being the first woman elected into office as Senator of NY.

On the way to the Town of Helena-West Helena we saw cotton fields and rice fields in the Delta. Now, you wouldn’t think this town was anything to see, but Bill and I both agree that this was a highlight of the first leg of our trip. We started out thinking we would tour through here quickly and be on our way to Vicksburg. NOT! After reading some literature that sparked our curiosity, we went to the Welcome Center and picked up information for a driving tour and had a ball. Once we got to the Delta Cultural Center we were hooked. Here there were exhibits on how the Blues music was started. We were guests on “King Biscuit Time,” a radio show aired daily for 45 minutes on KFFA with host Sonny Payne since 1951 (actually started in 1941). I even got to read an advertisement, welcoming people to the area. Guests also included 5 young men and one woman from Canada and Australia who had built a 7’ x 32’ boat and were rowing it down the Mississippi. They had been on the river for at least 2 months (maybe 3) starting in MN and will end in the New Orleans area. We wanted to see The Depot, too, for it had Civil War exhibits in it. There we met Harold (age 80), a delightful black man with lots of information. Exhibits showed a lot of the history of the place including the 1927 flood that hit everywhere but here because of the levee. We learned that Walnut Street was where the blacks could hang out and Cherry Street was for the whites. Harold said a black person couldn’t park on Cherry, but they could shop their stores. If a white woman was walking on the sidewalk, a black man had to go into the street to pass her. We drove to the Confederate Cemetery where some tombstones said Dead Confederate – as in Unknown Soldier. In 2005, 6 soldiers were found at Battalion C. It was an awesome day – one full of surprises and definitely a “GEM.”

In Vicksburg, we took a 16 mile driving tour of the National Military Park, starting with the Union history. Besides learning a little about the Civil War, we were also taken in by the history of segregation along the way – specifically the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma where a protest took place because Negros were not allowed to vote.

Into southern Georgia and down to Ft. Pierce, FL, in time to see the Jigu Drums of China at the Sunrise Theater where my mom ushers. Thanksgiving was a wonderful celebration with my parents; brother Tom and his wife Tina; Aunt Carolyn; and great Aunt Obbie and Uncle Bill, and cousin Linda. YUM on the turkey feast and good family time! After everyone left, we traveled in the RV to St. Augustine with mom and dad. What a touristy spot, but a good time.

We traveled home to Colorado the 2nd of December and celebrated Christmas with my brother Steve’s family and Bill’s sons Mike and Jay and their families. It was so good being home with our church family, too. We flew back to Ft. Pierce January 5 and stayed with my parents for a week where there were record low temperatures for a record length of time. There we had an elk stew dinner with more of my childhood friends, Jack and Lu Dunlap and Nancy and Phil Scott. Boy did more memories of Coldwater Lake fly there, too. AND, we got to spend an afternoon with my nephew Travis and his girlfriend Jaime~a very good time getting caught up.

And now we are ready to begin the next leg of our adventure.