May 6, 2008

May 6, 2008

Today has been mostly a driving day. From Vicksburg, MS we drove east across Mississippi to Alabama. There we stopped at the Tourist Info center for maps and recommendations. The clerk suggested seeing the bridge in Selma across the Alabama River. An hour and a half later we are taking a picture of it but not really knowing its significance. I must be a little too young and too much of a Yankee.

Our route from Selma to Montgomery is a National Historic Trail. Partway along we stop at the newly built Lowndes Voting Rights Interpretative Center where we learn the significance. In 1965 few blacks in this area were registered to vote. The minority whites kept a tight rein on political power with poll taxes, literacy tests, and intimidation. A particularly draconian sheriff caused events in Selma to boil over. When some demonstrators marching to the capital in Montgomery were stopped at the Selma bridge and beaten on “Bloody Sunday” the situation attracted worldwide attention. Supporters from all over the nation flooded in for protest marches and President Johnson pushed into law a nationwide voting rights bill. Easy registration didn’t immediately result in black political power. Some plantation owners in Lowndes County kicked black registrants off the land and into “tent cities”. The interpretative center is located at the site of one.

In some ways it is hard to believe that southerners practiced such despicable behavior when all we hear all day is ”yes sir, no sir”. It makes me feel really old.

We spend the night a few miles away at the Army Corp of Engineers’ Prairie Creek Campground. Our campsite is very scenic sitting on the Alabama River amidst moss-draped oak trees. We are finding most public parks also have water and electrical hookups available. When convenient public parks are now our first choice. That has not always been the case. Our first trial run at a state park in Wisconsin was a near disaster. Not only didn’t we have water and electricity, the water in the RV had gone “smelly” from lack of use. It was too much like camping everyday for Aimee (if you twisted my arm, me too). Now we know what we are doing and readily trade cable TV and Internet access for a beautiful environment.

May 5, 2008

May 5, 2008

This morning we drove into downtown Vicksburg, MS but we see little that interests us except for the Old Courthouse. Sitting high on a hill, it was the symbol of Confederate resistance and where the Union raised their flag of victory.

After this brief drive thru, we cross the Mississippi to see Grant’s canal, and the scene of one of his several attempts to take Vicksburg. This one was clever. The soldiers dug a canal across the elbow of the river, hoping to divert the flow away from Vicksburg. After suffering disease and heatstroke, instead of scouring a bypass, the slow-moving Mississippi just filled it with silt. All Grant needed to do was wait. About ten years later, Mother Nature changed the course of the river leaving Vicksburg high and dry. If it weren’t for the Battlefield Park and casino boats, Vicksburg would be a ghost town.

The civil war was hard on Mississippi. The state went from being the richest before the war to one of the poorest. Aimee and I decide we need a day of leisure, so we spend the rest of the day at the same RV Park relaxing.

May 4, 2008

May 4, 2008

The Vicksburg, MS RV Park we are staying at is connected with the local casino boat and includes breakfast. So we took the shuttle to the casino for a sumptuous breakfast. It is crowded. This must be the thing to do here on Sunday morning.

After breakfast we drove up to the Vicksburg National Military Park. While the Union army was bogged down in Virginia against Robert E. Lee, General Grant made steady progress in the western theater by working in conjunction with the unmatched Union Navy. Vicksburg was the final linchpin to control the Mississippi. It was a heavily fortified city called the “Gibraltar of the Confederacy”. Grant spent a year trying to take it. Finally one plan worked. He marched his army down the west bank of the Mississippi, while the navy made a daring night passage past Vicksburg. The navy then ferried the army across the river so he could attack from the east. He now had the city surrounded. After several fruitless attacks, Grant settled into a siege. On July 4, 1863, all 30,000 starving Confederates troops surrendered. The Confederacy was cut in half.

We stop at the Visitor Center to look at the exhibits and then purchase an Audio tour for the drive. The park is similar to Gettysburg but since it was a siege, not nearly as interesting. Mostly it consists of earthworks and elaborate monuments everywhere you look. Illinois monuments in particular. It seems every eligible male in Illinois at the time must have fought here. (No wonder the Union won!)

For me the most interesting point of the park is the USS Cairo. The Cairo was an ironclad warship that bombarded Vicksburg from the river, but has the distinction of being the first warship sunk by a mine. In 1964, amazingly, they found it buried in the riverbed, then raised and restored it. It now sits under an open tent. Most of the metal parts are there including the boilers, engines, paddlewheel, cannon, and armor plating. What wood did not survive has been reconstructed. It is really cool! Inside the little adjoining museum they have all the artifacts that were found inside, most in mint condition.

Surprisingly even Aimee is turning into a Civil War expert. I was shocked when during the drive, she noted off to one side, “There’s a couple of Napoleons”. I figured they were just all cannons to her. After spending the day taking the 2.5-hour driving tour, we settle back to the same RV Park as last night.

May 3, 2008

May 3, 2008

Back in Natchez, MS we stopped first at Natchez National Historic Park. This site turns out to be another cotton plantation estate called Melrose. We have seen enough old houses and this one doesn’t seem to have anything unique so we pass on the house tour. I am not sure why the National Park system owns it. We take a few minutes to walk the grounds where we discover a slave house with an interesting museum on slavery. We were surprised to learn that a black woman in New York successfully sued to use the public bus. This was 100 years before Rosa Parks and she was represented by future president Chester A. Arthur!

We drove to the tourist info center where we watched a movie on the history of Natchez. Natchez was the New Orleans of the cotton plantations. Not wanting to really live on the plantation, the millionaire owners had their town homes here.

From the tourist center, we gave ourselves an abbreviated walking tour of the historic downtown. Our first stop was the second unit of the Natchez Historical Park, the William Johnson House. I wasn’t expecting much, but it turned out to have an interesting wrinkle. This city house was owned by a freed black man who became modestly wealthy owning a string of barbershops. He accumulated enough wealth to build a nice brick home in Natchez and purchase a small farm nearby. Oddly enough he even owned slaves. What made his story unique was that he kept a journal of his experiences living as free black in antebellum times. An early blogger!

We finished our walking tour of Natchez admiring the exteriors of some rather large mansions surrounded by flowering magnolia trees. The biggest was 14,000 sq. ft. On the way out of town we stopped at Longwood, the largest and most unique house. Built as a 6-story octagonal tower, the owner had the great misfortune of starting construction in 1860 and he never could finish the interior because of the war. The family ended up living in the basement. At only 10,000 sq. ft., it was hardly livable. When finished Longwood was to be 30,000 sq. ft!

We left town heading north on the Natchez Trace Parkway. It is a little used highway running through the forest paralleling the original trail. Quite nice and peaceful. Commissioned by Thomas Jefferson, this early highway was built to connect the far southwestern corner of the US (Natchez) to Nashville. Along the way we stopped at Emerald Mound, an Indian platform from the Mississippian culture. We spent the night at a private RV Park in Vicksburg, MS.

May 2, 2008

May 2, 2008

Yesterday evening while enjoying my cocktail beside the RV, a red liquid rained down on me. Looking up I discover we are parked under what I learn is a Mulberry Tree and a flock of sweet-toothed Cedar Waxwings gorging (messily) on the ripe fruit. Not one to be left out of the party, I give them a taste too.

In the morning we drive across the street to the Audubon State Historic Site to tour Oakley House. As we approach this state-owned plantation house we are greeted by a tom turkey strutting his beautiful stuff. I sneak up close to get a good picture but before I can he comes and poses in front of me. It turns out “Gus” is an adopted pet of the site and apparently very vain. The Visitor Center has some nice exhibits on the history of the area. We learn that John James Audubon spent time as a tutor here, sketching wildlife, before he became a famous artist. Unlike the plantations near New Orleans, the ones north of Baton Rouge were all cotton farms started by English settlers. The plantations along the lower Mississippi were so lucrative before the Civil War they produced the majority of US millionaires at the time.

Also in St. Francisville is Rosedown State Historic Site, another cotton plantation. This is the most elaborate yet. It is by far the biggest and most opulent house we have seen, but the grounds are awesome too. The entrance promenade is lined with oak trees and there are extensive gardens surrounding the house. After the house tour we would have liked to spend some time wandering the gardens but we got hit with a huge rainstorm. Not in a hurry I sat out the biggest downpour with Miss Aimee, on rocking chairs, enjoying the view from Rosedown’s veranda, pretending we owned the place. All we needed were a couple mint juleps.

From St. Francisville, we drove north to Natchez, MS where we spent the night at Natchez State Park.

May 1, 2008

May 1, 2008

From Houma, LA we drove north to the Mississippi River and the site of one of the more famous antebellum plantation homes in the area, Oak Alley. The lower Mississippi is choked with these homes and you could spend weeks touring them. Oak Alley is a former sugar cane plantation house that was built in the 1830’s by a Frenchman. We start with the tour of the house. It is nice, but only of modest size, and nothing we haven’t seen before. At the end though we are shown out the front door and that is where this place excels. The path leading to the river is lined with twenty-eight majestic 300-year old oak trees that canopy the lane. Awesome and very romantic! So much so that this spot has been in many movies, such as Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt’s “Interview with the Vampire”. I am in big trouble though as Aimee tells me she has found her dream home. I remind her about the bugs and the humidity but she doesn’t seem to be hearing me.

I drag Aimee back to the RV and we follow the Mississippi River north past Baton Rouge to the Port Hudson State Historic Site. In the Civil War, Union troops tried to divide the Confederates by controlling the Mississippi. The river was vital for the south to export their cotton crop. Port Hudson and Vicksburg were the last bastions of Confederate control. Port Hudson was strategic because it was the first high ground of the lower Mississippi. Union Forces conducted the longest siege of the war here and the Confederates only surrendered once they heard Vicksburg fell. Aside from a movie and some exhibits there isn’t much to see aside for a few cannon and some recreated earthworks. Even the Mississippi isn’t visible. Since the war, the river decided to change course and move westward. I spend as much time photographing a colorful caterpillar and a cooperative dragonfly.

We spend the night at a private park outside St. Francisville, LA.

April 30, 2008

April 30, 2008

Our target this morning is just south of Lafayette, LA, Avery Island, a hill in the midst of this swampy land. Once we get there we learn that Avery sits atop a salt dome bulging out of the earth. That is when I remember salt mining is big in southern Louisiana. I just didn’t realize the salt bulges up out of the earth.

Avery Island is the home of the McIlhennys and their family Tabasco factory. This is where they bottle the world’s supply. We take the factory tour where we learn that the pepper sauce is a vinegar solution of fermented Tabasco peppers. The tour was short, thankfully so, because we were accompanied by a hundred screaming middle school students on a field trip. Afterwards we head to the company store to taste the various varieties, and browse the logo merchandise. Amazingly they sell Tabasco Sauce in gallon jugs! Unfortunately after being Tabasco sauce devotees for years, we recently found we like Louisiana Hot Sauce a lot better.

Also on Avery Island is the Jungle Garden, a beautiful park of huge live oaks draped in Spanish moss and crisscrossed with alligator-laden bayous and ponds. One lake has thousands of snowy egrets resting on it.

From Avery Island we head southeast further into Cajun country, passing lots of antebellum homes perched along the bayou. We spend the night in a crummy RV Park outside Houma, LA.

April 29, 2008

April 29, 2008

We spend most of the morning shopping for groceries, and driving east to Lafayette, LA. I also have to spend a bit of time cleaning the bug bodies off the windshield and front end. Since reaching the Gulf Coast and its swarms of bugs, this has been a daily activity. Even then it takes two scrubbings to clean them all off.

Lafayette is the heart of Cajun country. This area is less about seeing things and more about absorbing the culture, so we stop at a country café for an authentic lunch of gumbo and red beans and rice. Cajun country is like another world hidden away in the swamps of Louisiana. They have a distinctly different language, accent, music, cuisine, and customs from the rest of the US. After lunch we walk next door to one of the five sections of Jean Lafitte National Historic Park. This one is the Cajun Cultural Center. Cajuns (Acadians) were the French settlers of Nova Scotia, who were exiled from that land after the British captured it. Eventually many of them settled here and lived in isolation. The center’s movie was good but the exhibits so-so.

We spend the evening in a local public park. After settling in we take a short walk along their Nature trail seeing lots of raccoons and we almost step on a snake. Fortunately it wasn’t one of the deadly ones.

April 28, 2008

April 28, 2008

Before leaving Houston this morning we traveled a few miles south and took a ferry across the Ship Channel to the San Jacinto Battlefield. It is our first time taking the RV on the water. A good test for when we take longer excursions later this summer.

This State Historic Site, where Sam Houston and his Texas militia defeated General Santa Ana of Mexico to gain Independence for Texas, is commemorated with an obelisk similar but ten-feet taller than the Washington Monument in DC. Inside the base of the monument are housed some interesting exhibits on the history of Texas.

Crossing back north on the ferry again to I-10 we continue east to Beaumont, TX where we park downtown in the Museum District. Beaumont claims to be the museum capital of Texas. We park next door to the world’s largest fire hydrant, symbol of the local Fire Museum. East Texas was home to Spindletop, the world’s first oil well gusher so I want to see the Energy Museum and learn more about oil. Unfortunately the museum turns out to be closed on Mondays. I need to remember this isn’t Chicago.

Determined to see something here, we walk next door to what must be the world’s smallest art museum collection. And it’s in a decent size building!! The collection is so small I ask the guard if I missed something. Less than a minute later we are heading back to the RV when we remember the Edison Museum. Despite being housed in a tiny electrical substation building, it contains a nice collection of Edison inventions and does a good job reviewing Edison’s life history. Edison was the most prolific inventor ever. It turns out though he didn’t really invent the light bulb. It had been discovered many years before. But what he did do was find a longer-lasting filament (sort-of) and at the same time develop and build all the necessary equipment for an electrical distribution industry. His light bulb would have been useless without the electricity.

Satisfied we now gave Beaumont a fair tourist opportunity, we get back on I-10 and less than a half hour later, we are finally thru Texas after over 1300 miles. Texas is mind-boggling large. We snag the last site in a private campground just across the border in Vinton, LA.

April 27, 2008

April 27, 2008

We made the short drive into Houston stopping at the Johnson Space Center. Even though I had many business trips here I never got the chance to visit NASA-Houston. It turned out I didn’t miss much. I should have suspected something when I paid an admission price worthy of an amusement park for that is what it turned out to be. Upon walking in we were greeted by a carnival-like atmosphere and hundreds of kids playing in a futuristic jungle gym. Most of the central core was devoted to astronaut-themed kid’s rides. The handful of more serious options included a couple movies (which we passed on), the standard astronaut artifacts (all behind glass and in gloomy lighting) and the highlight, a tram tour of the facility.

The 1960’s-era Disney-style tram took 90 minutes to see three short stops. The first was a viewing of an empty Mission Control room, and the second an astronaut practice center. The third stop was cancelled due to rain. (I guess NASA doesn’t realize it rains every afternoon in Houston). I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. Now that NASA doesn’t have a clear mission or mandate anymore, in many ways they have turned into a sophisticated form of public amusement, with a goal of more funding. The facility here is just a reflection of that.

We ended up leaving the facility early and spent the night at a private park on the east side of Houston.

April 26, 2008

April 26, 2008

Although LBJ was born west of here on the ranch, Johnson City, TX is where he grew up. The second part of the LBJ National Historic Park is here and centered on his boyhood home. We take a guided tour of it and are quite impressed. Although Johnson claims to have grown up poor he lived in the largest house in this small town, one larger than our former house in Lombard.

In the Visitor Center we watch a couple films on his and Lady Bird’s life and then peruse exhibits on his life story and presidency. I have to admit I am not a Johnson fan. For me he left us with a terrible socialist legacy. He believed in big government so much he expanded the role of government more than any other president in history. Something we are paying the terrible price of today! Normally I would have passed this tourist spot by but I was curious to find out how he came to be so misguided. Easy. He grew up the son of a politician, married into a political family, and virtually the only jobs he ever held were as a politician handing out money. Like my wife he thought money just grew on trees and as a politician he thought there wasn't a problem that couldn't be solved with a new law.

Afterwards we spent the rest of the afternoon driving east staying at a private park west of Houston, TX.

April 25, 2008

April 25, 2008

The RV park we are staying at is full of woodcarvers who are attending a convention here. Curious we stop at the local fairgrounds to nose around. The conventioneers are all involved in taking classes covering many facets of woodcarving from sculpting birds, animals, fish, and figures to faces, scenery, and hardware. It is amazing the variety. Aimee likes crafts but for some reason wood is not her medium so we head east out of Fredericksburg, TX.

After a few miles we stop at Wildseed Farms. It is supposed to be a wildflower farm but it seems to have grown into a local attraction selling much more. We browse thru the shops and then stroll thru the local fields. The few fields they have flowering are disappointing.

A little further down the road is the LBJ State Park & Historic Site. There we sign up for the mandatory guided tour of his ranch. During our wait we wander thru the living history farm. We watch a volunteer milk a cow and then demonstrate all the various things they did to milk to preserve it as a later food source. All stinky and nasty! I have seen and heard similar demonstrations and all they reinforce for me is how hard living on a farm in the old days used to be. Aimee and I wouldn’t have made it.

We board a tram for our tour of LBJ's Ranch and Texas White House. Our tour guide has a European accent but he is a local. Much of this Texas Hill Country was settled by Germans and even though our narrator is fifth generation local he still spoke German at home growing up. But like most Texans he is also very proud of the Johnsons and his local area. Lyndon Johnson’s ranch at its largest was over 2800 acres and much of it was given to the national park service on his death. Apparently he got most of his money the old-fashioned way. Marrying it.

We spend the night at an RV park just east in the town of Johnson City, founded by some LBJ relatives. It is hot and the humidity is killing me and it is only April. I think we are going to have to scratch off that Hill Country ranch for retirement.

April 24, 2008

April 24, 2008

This morning we drove back into downtown Fredericksburg, TX and went to the National Museum of the Pacific War. It started out as merely a tribute to favorite son Admiral Chester Nimitz but later the scope expanded. And boy did it. It is quite extensive, well done and full of WWII memorabilia. We thought we were going to be there for just an hour but ended up spending all day. Both of us like history, but surprisingly Aimee is the one who likes military history the most; unfortunately the scope of the museum was beyond her patience level for one day. After we finished we retired back to the same local park as last night.

April 23, 2008

April 23, 2008

South Llano River State Park in Texas turned out to be a gem of a park. We picked it purely by accident. Once we arrived, the ranger greeted us and told us about bird blinds scattered around the pretty park. Aimee loves birds! After dinner we checked out two of the blinds. They are pretty elaborate setups, with stadium seating, identification charts, and numbered feeding stations. By far the most striking bird we spotted was a Painted Bunting, a bird that resembled a small version of a multicolored parrot.

On the walk back we saw a couple armadillos. Being Midwesterners we had never seen one before (at least alive and not dead on the road). They are very unusual creatures looking like a possum in armor. The next morning we went back to the blinds, passing by a couple Rio Grande Turkey toms gobbling away, and found the blinds to be crowded with avid birders. One had a camera with a lens twice as wide as my old telescope. It was comical listening to them talk about the yellow bellied this versus the red-headed that. On the way back to the RV we noticed that every campsite even had hangers for bringing personal feeders along. I guess a true-birders paradise.

I like to look at birds too, but an hour tops. So it was back in the RV heading east. We traveled thru Texas Hill Country arriving in its capital, Fredericksburg. Hill Country is picturesque rolling hills of very rocky terrain filled with stunted growth trees. Although the land looks agriculturally pretty worthless, very fancy ranch gates line the roads. I guess Aimee and I are not the only ones who would love to have a nice ranch by a stream in this area. If it only wasn’t so far from civilization!

We spend the rest of the afternoon shopping in Fredericksburg and spend the night in the local Lady Bird Johnson municipal park.

April 22, 2008

April 22, 2008

My worries about gas became prophetic today. On our travels to and from Big Bend, we have been continually running low on fuel. The little we found near the park was high priced so we only bought enough to get us to the next town. We got caught this time. As we rolled into Sanderson, TX we were greeted with reasonable fuel prices finally. This pleasure turns quickly to dismay when we find the town has no power, they don’t know when it will be restored, and the next gas station is 120 miles farther. We have Emergency Road Service so I decide to risk it. It will be close so I drive at 50 mph and leave the air off to improve gas mileage. Once we leave Sanderson though, I start to sweat and it is not just from the heat. The drive east goes thru what must absolutely be the most desolate part of Texas. There is nothing here. It makes the desert of Arizona look like a jungle. And of course there is no cell phone coverage. That emergency road service is looking pretty useless right now.

After more than an hour of worrying and with the RV on fumes, we pull into the town of Langtry, TX (population 30) to visit Judge Roy Bean’s Historical Courthouse. We stop at an antique gas station knowing it is only for show. Incredibly this pump with gasoline visible in the glass cylinder works and I can fill-up!

With the sweat factor gone, we joyfully tour the site. In the late 1800’s after the southern continental rail line was constructed thru the area, Roy Bean was appointed justice of the peace and he started handing out frontier “justice” from his saloon/courthouse, the Jersey Lilly (named for English actress Lily Langtry). Bean was a legendary frontier character and the “only law west of the Pecos”. Unfortunately the “law” was how he thought it should be and of course all fines went into his own pocket. After a pleasant half hour looking around we continue east, crossing the huge Pecos River gorge and eventually settle for the evening in South Llano River State Park outside Junction, TX.

April 21, 2008

April 21, 2008

Before leaving Chisos Basin Campground, we hiked the two-hour Window Trail. This trails follows a dry creek through high grass and trees to the edge of the Basin. Aimee is a nervous wreck because of the ranger talk on Mountain Lions we went to last night. She thinks every rustle of the brush is hiding a cougar. Unfortunately pumas are mostly nocturnal and they are rarely seen. At the edge of the basin, the dry creek bed becomes a small canyon and suddenly we run into the “window”. The window turns out to be where this dry creek tumbles through a gap in the rock to the Rio Grande valley below. If there was water we would be at the top of a high waterfall. The rock here is all polished smooth and I have to be careful I don’t slide off the top looking out the window.

On the hike back we come upon a couple making hand signals to be quiet because of a big animal. A mountain lion! Yes! Our first! We tip-toe up to them, pull out the camera and see a black bear. Darn! Nevertheless at the Visitor Center, Aimee fills out a sighting report and gets to proudly put a bear magnet on the trail map.

From Chisos, we head downhill to the Rio Grande Village on the east side of the park. We check out the amenities and than drive to nearby Boquillas Canyon. Boquillas Canyon is similar to Santa Elena Canyon on the west side. It is where the Rio Grande River cuts a gorge thru the escarpment. As we begin our hike into the canyon, we notice a sign about frequent theft to unattended cars. Later along the trail are Mexican trinkets for sale and a Mexican yodeler singing for donations. Worried about the RV, we cut the hike short at the mouth of the canyon. Apparently there is a small Mexican mining village on the other side of the river and enterprising crossers stay one step ahead of the border patrol. It is also over 103F and humid. Time to go back uphill where it is cooler.

From the Rio Grande Village we head north out of the park and stay at a private campground in Marathon, TX.

April 20, 2008

Because of the heat we are up early in Big Bend National Park. The hazy mountains to the northeast make for a dreamy scene.

Big Bend is in southwestern Texas where the Rio Grande makes a wide U-turn. It makes this sudden course change because of the mountains. The Mexican side of the Rio Grande is a sheer 1500-foot cliff as far as one can see. The border patrol doesn’t have to worry about this stretch of the river. We are going to hike Santa Elena canyon this morning. We drive west eight miles following the cliff. From a vantage point I notice a notch cut into the escarpment with a stream flowing from it. Wow that must be some Mexican creek to have carved a break in this barrier wall. When we reach the trailhead I see that it is the Rio Grande that comes out of this crevice and our trail follows the river upstream into this narrow slot canyon. It is very reminiscent of the “Narrows” in Zion Canyon National Park. Not as colorful nor quite as narrow but impressive nonetheless. A group of canoers paddle past us on a three-mile journey into the canyon. I am jealous. We would have to backtrack west of the park to participate.

Our next stop is the center of the park where we climb into the Chisos Mountains. There we hike the Lost Mine Trail. This trail goes straight up for nearly 2.5 miles. Despite the steepness it is easy-going and in the end gives us a spectacular vista of the surrounding mountains. It is stunning enough to cause us to sit and stare for a while. Back at the RV we continue a couple miles downhill to Chisos Basin and pick one of the last campsites there. The basin is a high valley completely circled by craggy mountains. It’s beautiful and a lot cooler than the river level. Since the region had a volcanic origin I could believe we are camped inside an old caldera. I told Aimee this would be a great place for a house if we could get rid of all these campers surrounding us.

April 19, 2008

April 19, 2008

From Van Horn, TX we drove south towards the Rio Grande and the border with Mexico. Along the way the terrain changed from flat desolation to mountainous desolation. The only commonality was the lack of people and gas stations. I am beginning to wonder if I have enough gas to get us in and out of this area of the country. Eventually we hit the Rio Grande and drive east along the river. In this area the river carves a deep canyon out of the dry mountainous landscape. The Rio Grande isn’t so grand. I could jump across it with a running leap. But it is green and murky so I am not inclined to try. Besides the other side is Mexico and I would probably be arrested for illegal entry if I did. The landscape is reminiscent of pictures I have seen on TV of the Nile River flowing thru the Egyptian desert.

After slowly meandering up and down and around the canyon floor, we arrive at Big Bend National Park and choose a shady site at the Cottonwood campground along the Rio Grande. It is a grassy Midwest campground kept tended by a troop of grazing javelinas.

April 18, 2008

April 18, 2008

I’m a wanna-be geologist so when I saw our route east passed by Rockhound State Park in New Mexico, I thought that would be a good place to stay. Little did Aimee suspect we were going rock hunting! The park didn’t look like much as we entered, just a barren field up the foothill of a small mountain. But after an hour of decompressing we opened up to its beauty. The craggy hills are unique and the high elevation gives us beautiful views of the surroundings. I had forgotten how nice most state and national parks are to stay at.

After waking to a very chilly high-desert morning, we dress warm and walk to the Visitor center for a brief orientation on the minerals found in the park. After that we were on our own. I brought the hammer from my toolbox along. We hiked a mile long trail up the mountain, with Aimee enjoying nature, and me pounding on volcanic stones trying to free up pretty rocks. Unfortunately there is a reason they say “hard as a rock” and not “hard as a hammer”. The hammer loses. Fortunately I did find a few small pieces of pink Jasper lying around courtesy of Mother Nature and thousands of years of erosion.

The park was a nice place to spend a couple hours but I need a geologist and a jackhammer with me next time. Oh by the way, my golfers elbow is all gone. Yes, it is replaced with miner’s elbow from having my hammer bounce off all the rocks.

We spend the rest of the day driving east thru New Mexico into Texas staying at a private park in Van Horn, TX.

April 17, 2008

April 17, 2008

Opposites attract…. they must. Otherwise how would a nesting bird marry a migratory one. Aimee is not happy I am moving her nest again. But it is not my fault. We still have a lot of country to see and the real estate market has not been quick about correcting to new price levels. Many experts predict it may be another year, or more. Heaven forbid my fellow baby boomers start downsizing before the bottom. Otherwise we may be renting forever.

I have to admit I am having second thoughts of my own. It has been a successful winter for us. We avoided a very snowy Midwest winter and we found an area of Tucson we both could be happy living. Traffic here is more laid back and activities are much closer than on last year’s east side. And finally my golf game has returned better than ever! Finally! Last winter I was downright embarrassing. Now even Aimee is impressed enough she is asking me for lessons! I still can’t seem to break 90 though. I need to eliminate a few flubbed shots and improve my short game before I can join the Senior Tour. If it wasn’t for a bad case of golfer’s elbow I might let Aimee talk me into staying in Tucson this summer.

We have gotten pretty efficient now at changing addresses and packing up. Only a couple days of effort and we are ready to go mobile. This summer we are heading east. The Deep South, our first target. After putting the car in storage and loading up the RV we drive east on I-10 into New Mexico and stay at a state park outside the city of Deming.

April 11, 2008

April 11, 2008

We are going to be hitting the road again next week, so we feel some urgency to see more of the local sights this week. Today we are up early for a drive southeast of Tucson. Our first stop is Whitewater Draw, a lake that lures lots of large waterfowl. I saw a picture of it in the newspaper with thousands of Sandhill cranes. Well, we should have done some homework. The cranes are migratory and like us are only here during the winter. They are long gone along with most of the water. There is always next year.

Next we head west to the town of Bisbee. On the outskirts is a large abandoned strip mine, the source of the town’s former wealth. Bisbee is a former mining town that climbs up the local hill and looks like it is frozen in a time from 100 years ago. As a result many movies have been filmed here. We take a quick walk around the now artsy downtown, have lunch, and then head on to the Sierra Vista, AZ area.

Our last stop is Ramsey Canyon, owned by a local conservation society. After paying a fee, we take a mile hike up through an area that looks decidedly non-desert. We pass up the side of a hill along a stream loaded with trees. This can’t be southern Arizona.

March 21-23, 2008

March 21-23, 2008

We have seen almost every desert creature in the golf course “rough” below our deck except for javelinas. We have been hoping to catch of glimpse of these wild pig cousins before our lease expires. Luckily my bro-in-law Ed spotted a couple this morning, running past the green, unfazed by some golfers trying to putt. A minute later two more javelinas ran directly underneath our deck. While growing up, Ed always bragged about his animal magnetism. I should have taken his boast literally. He is a magnet for “animals”.

Jean and Ed haven’t had a chance to get much exercise during the snowy winter in St. Louis so I make them accompany us on another hike. It also gives us a chance to show off the beautiful Saguaro Cacti of southern Arizona. We drive to Saguaro National Park and take a hike up to the saddle below the summit of Mt. Wasson. Despite my warnings about cactus needles, Ed draws a little blood touching every variety. Aimee says that is the only way men learn.

On Saturday I give my relatives a day of rest and we spend it looking at open houses and a craft show. We have a nice relaxing lunch at the outdoor café of the Tohono Chul Botanical Garden. As Ed and I were exiting the restaurant, I glimpsed something lunge at my right leg. Instinctively I jump back and realize it is a rattlesnake, a venomous western diamondback. #@$%&!!! The rattler coils up, hisses, shakes his very loud rattle at me, and dares me to come closer. He is not big but he sure is mean. With all of our hiking we have yet to see a snake so I have been lulled into thinking rattlesnakes are rare and afraid of people. My soiled britches can tell you the diamondback rattler is not timid.

Aimee and I get up very early the next day and drive Ed and Jean back to the Phoenix airport and send them home on the first flight out. I have had enough animal magnetism to last me a long while!!!

March 20, 2008

March 20, 2008

Our second favorite spot in Arizona after the Grand Canyon is Sedona. So on the drive back to Tucson we detour there. On the way we stop at Slide Rock State Park. Here the rushing waters of Oak Creek have carved a natural water slide. I tried it out on our first visit to Arizona in 2001.

In Sedona we get a hiking recommendation at the Visitor Center. The host suggests scaling Doe Mountain. Both Sedona and the Grand Canyon have been packed (apparently Daytona and Lauderdale are now passé for Spring Breakers) and I am hoping she hasn’t told everyone to go there. It turns out to be a great hike. Doe Mountain is a large plateau that gives us great views of the surrounding red rock countryside. We have lunch while enjoying the ambiance. It is hard to beat the beauty of Sedona.

Before leaving we stop at Red Rock Crossing to take the classic photo of Cathedral Rock. The crossing was the site of many western films.

Back on the highway south we take a short detour to see Montezuma Castle National Monument. My sister was a history major in college and wanted to see an example of the many prehistoric ruins that the Indians built under the cliff overhangs in the Southwest. It is nice but she is disappointed she can’t crawl thru it. From there we make the long drive back to our apartment in Tucson.

March 19, 2008

March 19, 2008

My sister Jean and her husband Ed flew in to Phoenix this morning. We picked them up at the airport and drove to the Grand Canyon. My sister has fond memories of the Canyon from when our family was young and she wanted Ed to see it too. We stopped at the first rim overlook for the required photos and jaw-dropping views and then hopped on the shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead. Ever since last year when Aimee and I hiked to the bottom we have been telling them how wonderful it was. We couldn’t get a reservation at the bottom so we decided to hike partway down and back up. Unfortunately we are a month earlier than last year and the Rim had a big snowfall just a few days ago. The top of the trailhead still has ice on it. Ed took one step down the trail, slipped, and landed butt-first in mud and mule droppings. (He is NOT riding back in my car!) Thinking he barely escaped sliding right off the edge, the girls immediately veto this adventure. Instead we hike leisurely along the rim back to the car. We have dinner at the Arizona Room overlooking the rim and spend the night in Flagstaff.

March 8, 2008

March 8, 2008

Aimee has developed some unexpected hiking courage so we have been attempting some of the shorter peaks in the area. We have summitted Picacho Peak twice and Mt Wasson once. Today we are going off the beaten path a little and scaling Safford Peak. To the locals, it is known as Sombrero Mountain because of its domed top. The trail to the top is poorly maintained so we end up backtracking several times. That is a problem since Aimee’s favorite part of our hikes is when we turn and head home. So every time we backtrack Aimee thinks we are done and wants to head back for good.

What has made the last two hikes memorable has been the sudden explosion of color up the mountains. Rainfall has been heavy this winter giving Tucson the best wildflowers in ten years. Especially bright and cheery are the yellow poppies. They make the hillsides glisten like gold and stand in sharp contrast to the normally subdued desert colors. We need to enjoy them while we can as they wont last long in the desert.

February 5, 2008

February 5, 2008

The list of places in and around Tucson we haven’t visited yet is getting very short. We made the list a little shorter today by visiting the Tucson Botanical Garden. I am glad we waited, as the garden is nice but eclipsed by much nicer spots around town.

The highlight is Butterfly Magic, a special exhibit of tropical butterflies flying free in a small greenhouse. I can at least take pictures of something besides another cactus… or at least I can when my lens stops fogging up. This greenhouse is humid and we are getting soaked waiting. And I never realized how fast butterflies moved until I tried to take their picture. Butterflies are intriguing at a distance but rather creepy-looking up close. I guess something like politicians. A good lesson to remember considering this is Super Tuesday.