October 3, 2013

October 3, 2013

Besides having a goal of seeing all 400 National Parks, we also want to see all the Presidential Museums.  The last thirteen presidents have their own library association.  We have seen all those but the two Bush ones in Texas.  Knowing that this Library group gets some funding from the Feds, Aimee calls ahead to make sure they are open.  She gets a recording but no mention of a shutdown.  From Huntsville it is an hour west to College Station, home of Texas A&M University and George H Bush Library.  We arrive early to beat the traffic.  On the door we see this sign.  Aimee calls the Library line again to see if there was a late addition.  Only when she dialed “0” in an attempt to reach a human did she get the closed message.  I am a little peeved because we drove a couple hours out of the way in a gas guzzling motorhome to stop here.

We spend the day traveling west through Texas only stopping in the Hill Country town of Fredericksburg for a short break. We stroll the shops lining the towns main street.

The next day we drive non-stop arriving in Tucson after dark.

October 2, 2013

October 2, 2013

Today we continue our long drive home.  We stopped at the travel center on the Texas border.  The Texas versions are usually very nice.  This one not only has free Internet but a boardwalk over the swamp with lots of storyboards.

In Beaumont, we stop for a visit to the Texas Energy Museum. It is well done. It has a little bit on how oil-bearing formations are made from decaying algae, a bit on the technology of drilling, and lots on the refinery process. Surprisingly it has a rather lengthy but interesting summary of US history, especially as it relates to our energy usage. For far longer than I realized, wood was a major power source. The Beaumont area became famous when the gusher well called Spindletop was drilled here in 1901.

From Beaumont, we head northwest to Huntsville, TX. This is the former home of Texas’ most famous President and governor, Sam Houston. Interestingly he also had been a governor of Tennessee and accompanied Jackson at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. He was the general who defeated Santa Ana at the Battle of San Jacinto. We are too late to do his museum justice, so we instead do a quick look around his homes, which were all brought to this memorial park. He died in the last one in 1863.

Outside town, off the highway is an enormous 67-foot white plaster statue of this famous resident. Before we can walk out to see it, we have to dodge a very friendly and talkative volunteer. The statue is pretty cool. Aimee notices a couple sayings of his that she really likes. “Govern wisely, and as little as possible”. She is turning into quite the Tea Partier.

We spend the night at the nearby Huntsville State Park.

October 1, 2013

October 1, 2013

I planned this trip to see the National Parks in the Southeast US. We saw twenty, with many more to go. Sadly, we learned this morning that because of our inept government, they are shuttering every National Park. And just to make sure it stings and they get maximum attention, they are also barricading outdoor memorials and monuments. With no end in sight, we have no choice but to head home. I look at Aimee and she can’t help but have a big smile on her face. She wants to go home.

We drive toward the coast, past the swamps that line this region. In Baton Rouge, LA, the sky opens and we are in a deluge of rain. We pull off and take a nap. That is one of the many benefits of traveling with your bed in the trunk. We can stay as long as necessary, even overnight.

September 30, 2013

September 30, 2013 

We are in the town of Warm Springs, GA. It has that name because of the mildly heated hot springs here. Our first stop is Roosevelt’s Little White House State Historic Site. When FDR contracted polio, he came here in 1924 in the belief the waters had healing properties. He bought the local spa and turned it into a polio treatment center. He kept coming back for over twenty years. We spend an hour going through the museum about his life with a focus on his polio and his time here. It is interesting but way over priced. We take a quick tour of his home that became the second White House during his presidency. He died of a stroke here in 1945 while posing for a portrait. The unfinished painting hangs in the museum.

A few blocks away we stop to see the Historic Pools that Roosevelt and other polio victims used to exercise in.

From Warm Springs, we drove west into Alabama stopping at Horseshoe Bend National Military Park. In 1814 Andrew Jackson led an army here from Tennessee and surrounded 1000 Creek Indians who had built a fortress here on a large bend in the local river. Urged on by the Shawnee leader, Tecumseh, this band of Creeks went on the warpath, during the War of 1812, slaughtering settlers. Accompanying Jackson was a list of future stars including Sam Houston and Davy Crockett. The Creeks lost the battle opening Alabama to American settlement.

We drove around the small battlefield. After 200 years there is not much to see. Aimee and I both think the Alabama countryside is very scenic. Too bad it is so hot and humid in the summer.

September 29, 2013

September 29, 2013 

Last night we took a shuttle bus to the base of Stone Mountain. Here Georgians have carved, ala Mt Rushmore, the likenesses of their three Civil War heroes, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis. The carving was started before Rushmore but because of financial problems not completed until 1972.

We went to see the laser show projected on the sculpture side of the mountain. It was excellent and included fireworks and music to add impact. The lawn seating was packed with thousands of families enjoying the show. It was a very festive atmosphere.

This morning we hiked to the top of Stone Mountain. While most of the mountainside is almost vertical, the west side is a gentler upward slope. The one-mile path is very pleasant. We make it up and down in an hour. We were surprised to see how much company we had. Compared to other cities, Atlantans are definitely active outdoorsy people.

After completing our morning exercise, we head south to Macon and the site of Ocmulgee National Monument. Ocmulgee is another Indian archeology site. This location has had evidence of habitation here for 10,000 years. The most impressive artifacts are from the Mississippian Culture of 1000 years ago, the same time period of Cahokia. The Mississippians built large flat-topped dirt mounds and had a hierarchical society. The museum implied this culture moved in and dominated the previous residents. They must have. How else could you convince people to move millions of basket loads of dirt. This site also has several large earthen lodges. One was reconstructed during the Depression years. It has clay-molded seats for the leaders.

On the way out of town, we stop briefly to see Fort Hawkins. This fort was built in 1806 when the Ocmulgee River became the new frontier with the Creek Indians.

From Macon we drove west to spend the night in Warm Springs, GA. While watching the news Aimee heard the government was going to run out of money and close all the National Parks. She is giddy in the hope we will have to head home.

September 28, 2013

September 28, 2013

We got up early to beat the Atlanta traffic headed downtown. Despite it being early and dark and Saturday, the highway was still crowded. Our first stop was Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site. We had breakfast waiting for the sun to show up. When it finally made an appearance, we walked around the historic district of Auburn Ave. where King was born and spent his developmental years. 

Since the Visitor Center doesn’t open till 9am, we decide to walk the 1.5-mile Freedom Trail to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library. This is Library number eleven on our list. We only have the two Bush Presidential Libraries in Texas to go. The cashier decided not to show up for work, so the guard let us in for free. The Carter Library was interesting but is not as good as most of the others. Nor is it as good as his Carter National Historic Site in Plains, GA.  Carter was pretty conservative as Democrats go. He would have no chance of getting elected today. Unfortunately for him, a lot of bad luck occurred during his presidency, much of it out of his control. The Iranian Crisis probably sealed his fate.

After speeding through the museum, we take a break and walk back to the King Site. We look at some of the exhibits in the museum but both of us feel we have seen this material several times now at other sites. Instead we take a guided tour of his birth home. Aimee and I are both surprised to learn that his birth name was Michael. He and his father both changed it to Martin when he was five. King grew up in an affluent black middle class neighborhood where he had many strong role models that steered his development. It wouldn’t happen today. With today’s misguided social welfare programs, we incent mothers to raise their children in single households devoid of male role models.

Down the block we walk inside the Ebenezer Baptist Church where King and his father preached. Next door is the King Center that displays some of King’s personal items.

The King Site is very busy today because it is National Public Lands Day. Lots of volunteers are on hand painting and doing cleanup of the trail. The new Secretary of Interior, Sally Jewell, is also here. Her former company, REI, is handing out free t-shirts.

It is still early so we head east of Atlanta to Stone Mountain Park where we get a campsite and relax the rest of the afternoon at a site facing the mountain.  When we went to Australia last summer to see Ayers Rock, I didn’t know I didn’t need to leave the US.  Stone Mountain looks exactly like a white version of that Australian monolith.  This barren hunk of smooth granite rises over 800 feet above the flat surroundings.